Crazy in Chicago (30 page)

“Wow!” she murmured as she typed. She paused to catch her breath. She still could barely believe it. Erik was an alien. Cody had been abducted by aliens. Her hunch had been right after all. This was better than anything she had imagined.

She started to type again, eyes glowing, heart speeding. The world needed to know about the fact that aliens, and humanoid aliens at that, were coming to Earth. And she would be the one to tell them. The case would be so unusual, so different, it would be the talk of UFO journals for years.

She paused again, that thought inserting a grain of worry into her head. Or maybe not tell them. She hadn't had time to consider the hows and whys of telling the world, or the implications. She just knew she had to get this stunning information down while it was vivid and alive in her mind. Time for the details, the lengthy interviews with Erik and Allie and Cody later.

That thought brought her to a full stop. She loved Cody. She really did. She knew he didn't want to be a “case”, didn't want anything “weird” revealed about him. In fact, she thought guiltily, he probably was struggling right now with the shock of finding out what had happened to him. And she wasn't there!

Her hands tensed on the keyboard. I will help you. I'll help you accept this and live with it, Cody. I will, I will. I'll make sure no one is hurt, no one is exposed, she promised. But I need to do this now, before I forget.

She knew Cody would be distressed that she was writing it all down. He wouldn't understand her need to document his story. In fact, if he were here, he'd probably try to stop her.

Abruptly she shut off her computer and got up. She'd have to go to a hotel. Cody would be sure to look for her here. Guiltily she zipped the computer into its case. She grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste and threw them into her purse.

She felt guilty and edgy as she slunk from the apartment. I won't hurt you, Cody. Or Erik or Allie or Star, she promised over and over in her head. But I have to get this down. I just have to.

She got into the elevator and shifted impatiently as it made its slow descent to the parking garage. Despite her worries, excitement got the better of her again. She could hardly wait to get started once more. She'd write all night, and in the morning she'd go straight to Garnet.

He'd know how to present this case so no one would get hurt. No one at all.

* * *

One minute after midnight, the Corvette squealed to a stop in front of the building housing SUFOW. Cody, his heart pounding, squinted through the window. The building was shrouded in darkness. If Roberta was inside, writing about what had happened this evening, she was doing it in the dark.

Leaving the car running, Cody jumped out, and ran up the walk and the front steps, the pounding of his feet echoing in the silence. He yanked at the door. Locked. He peered through the front window. Nothing.

He stopped and considered. If she was working in Garnet's office, perhaps the light wasn't visible from the street.

He jumped the porch railing and jogged along the driveway to the parking lot in back. He frowned. Roberta's car wasn't in the lot, nor did any light shine from the window of Garnet's office. Where is she?

More troubled with each passing moment, Cody trudged back to the street. He stopped beside his car and, in a effort to clear his head of the wild and panicky thoughts whirling through it, took a deep breath. He had to get a grip. Had to think clearly.

He took another deep breath. If Roberta wasn't here, where had she gone? And why? For a fleeting second, fear gripped him: had the aliens taken her, too?

Swearing violently, Cody dismissed that idea. Even if he still didn't trust Erik, he had to believe what he'd seen with his own two eyes: When he'd arrived home, Roberta's car had been missing from their building's underground garage. That could mean only one thing. She'd grabbed a taxi outside Allie and Erik's apartment, gone home, and then left immediately. But why? To go where? And, more importantly, to do what?

Slowly he slid back into his car. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and stared sightlessly ahead. What now? He'd fully expected to find Roberta at SUFOW, pounding out a story about him and Erik and Allie. A story that would have lit her enthusiasms, that would have seemed a repudiation of all the ridicule she had suffered, and a vindication of all her hopes and dreams.

All her hopes and dreams. Cody grimaced. In her enthusiasm, in her hunger to make her mark, would she fail to see the potentially devastating effects on Allie, Erik, and their daughter? Would she ignore the fact that he, Cody, didn't want to be publicly branded as an alien abductee? That his mind, his senses, his heart and soul were struggling to come to terms with the unbelievable, to accept as true something that as little as a few hours ago he had not only considered incredible, but laughable.

He gritted his teeth. Roberta didn't have a mean bone in her body. But would the stars in her eyes, the excitement of finally having her dream within reach, overwhelm her kindness and her common sense? Could she possibly believe she could pull off this career coup without causing any harm?

If she was, indeed, writing a report on his abduction and return, he had to find her. He had to find her before she told Garnet and set off a chain reaction that could destroy them all.

* * *

Despite more than twenty-four hours without sleep, Roberta all but skipped into the office. Immediately she popped a disk into her computer, and printed out the summary she'd stayed up all night to produce.

Humming, she put the pages in order, then inserted them into a gold folder. She still lacked many details—she could get those later from Allie and Erik—but the broad outlines of Cody's abduction, as well as the more startling information concerning the presence of aliens and their mixed Earthling/Alien children living right here in Chicago were all there.

Now all she needed was Garnet's input on how best to present this discovery to the world. No doubt they would have to be careful. It would require a delicate balancing act to provide both the need for proof of some kind and the confidentiality and anonymity that she knew Allie and Erik, and most likely Cody, would demand. Who better to advise her than Garnet, who had brought not only his own story, but those of many other abductess to the world?

Roberta frowned. Perhaps Garnet had done it in a more melodramatic fashion than she would have chosen, but, well, that was a personal choice.

She glanced at the clock. Ten to nine. She should make coffee. Garnet would arrive any minute.

She filled the coffeemaker with water. Her hands shook when she measured out the ground coffee. She laughed nervously. It was just adrenaline. Adrenaline and lack of sleep.

The door swung open; Roberta jumped, then beamed at Garnet.

Garnet shot her a dirty look and dumped his briefcase on her desk. He clenched his fists. “What's going on with you and that maniac reporter?” he demanded angrily.

“Ma—maniac reporter? What are you talking about?”

“You know who. Walker. Cody Walker. That reporter from
The Streeter
that you brought in here.” Garnet strode jerkily across the narrow room then whirled about.

He waved his hand in her face. “D'you know what that maniac did last night?”

Roberta frowned. What was going on? “No, I don't.”

“He called me at two a.m. Two in the morning, Roberta. He called me at home. On my unlisted number.” Through his glasses, Garnet's eyes flashed anger. “And do you know why?”

“Not really.”

“He was looking for you. You! I told him I wasn't your keeper. To try your home. But he insisted you were with me.”

Garnet appeared more agitated than Roberta had ever seen him. He waved his hands in the air again and stomped his feet. “Then do you know what he had the gall to do?”

Garnet barrelled on, propelled by growing fury. “He showed up at my door forty-five minutes later. Still asking for you. Still demanding to see you. And the fellow wouldn't even tell me why.”

Roberta had to suppress the urge to laugh. Instead, she tried to sooth Garnet. She did, after all, need his reasoned opinion and thoughtful advice. As long as he was in such a foul mood, it was unlikely she'd get it.

“I'm sorry, Garnet. I don't know how Cody got your phone number or address. I didn't give it to him, I can assure you. And I'm sorry you were disturbed last night.”

She paused, choosing her words carefully. “But I think I know why Cody wanted to find me.” She reached for the gold folder sitting on her desk. Holding it in both her hands, she looked at Garnet. “This is a summary I wrote last night. A summary of an alien abduction—Cody Walker's abduction, to be precise.”

Garnet's sharp intake of breath was audible. His eyes narrowed. “I thought we'd determined he couldn't have been abducted by aliens. Abducted, yes, but not by aliens.”

“I've got new evidence, new proof. I hypnotized him again and discovered several new facts about his abduction. Facts corroborated by witnesses living right here in Chicago.”

“Witnesses, huh?” Garnet's lips narrowed. He seized the folder from her, picked up his briefcase, and headed for his office. “I'll read it right now. Bring me some coffee.”

Roberta stifled a twinge of indignation at his peremptory manner. He would have been wounded if she'd reacted that way when he'd come in with the big story of his abduction. She'd had to hold his hand for the better part of a day while he relived the terror over and over.

She tamped down her indignation. Oh, well. That was Garnet. He'd change his tune as soon as he read the summary. Then his seasoned analytical mind would go to work on how best to present the story to the public. A story that would have earth-shaking effects on what was currently believed about aliens visiting the Earth as well as the purpose of their visits.

Roberta hummed as she prepared the coffee. A moment later, still humming, she brought a cup of steaming brew to Garnet, along with her own. Garnet looked up from the summary only to nod and raise the cup to his lips. Then he resumed reading.

Pride and anticipation grew in equal measure, giving Roberta a warm feeling inside. She drummed her fingers on her knee, waiting for Garnet to finish. Would he recommend writing a book? Or would they introduce the idea of humanoid-type aliens visiting the Earth via UFO journals and newsletters first? How would they maintain the confidentiality she was certain Allie and Erik and Cody would demand? And what, she suddenly wondered with a new stab of worry, what if they wouldn't co-operate?

Suddenly the fears she'd pushed aside earlier in her eagerness muscled their way back in. What if Cody refused to accept his abduction by aliens? What if he began to believe once more that she had used him, that her only interest in him was as a “case”? Even if she protected his identity, if she didn't expose Erik and Allie and their daughter, would he ever trust her again? Certainly running out as he'd faced his worst fears could hardly have inspired increased trust.

Gripped by worry, Roberta didn't hear Garnet address her. It was only when he slapped the folder on his desk that her unhappy thoughts abated.

“Oh, yes,” she stumbled. “Well?” She nodded at the folder.

Garnet steepled his fingers and sat back in his chair. “Where did you get this from?”

“Hypnosis, the psychic, and the two people I referred to as A and B. They—”

Garnet slammed his hands on the desk and leaned towards her. The folder slipped off the desk and onto the floor. “I've never read such drivel in my life. Humanoid aliens, blue lights! None of this ties in with any of the cases documented in recent years.”

“But what difference does that . . .”

Garnet continued as if she hadn't spoken. “That reporter put you up to this, didn't he? I wondered why you wanted me to hypnotize him, and now I know. You're setting me up so he can make me look like a fool.”

“What?” Roberta stared at her boss. She couldn't believe his response. That he could not only dismiss her work but turn it around to look like an attack on him.
 

“This has nothing to do with you, or making you look foolish,” she retorted. “Cody—that reporter was suffering because he didn't know what happened to him when he was missing last year for six weeks. You read what I wrote. All his recent symptoms were in keeping with radiation sickness—the same symptoms that you and most of the people you've accepted as abducted by aliens have suffered. Why is it so unbelievable that he could have been abducted by aliens?”

“There are no documented aliens that look like human beings! It's an impossibility. Besides, even if it isn't just ridiculous drivel, who's going to believe you? Especially,” he sneered, “since it appears you have some kind of personal relationship with this guy.”

Roberta ignored Garnet's last jab. She clenched her fists to keep from leaping over the desk and slapping him. “The same people that believe you will believe me,” she grated out. “I'm a graduate of Chicago State. I helped write your last two books—the ones, I remind you, on which we have a private, legal contract giving me a portion of your royalties. I'm perfectly capable of carrying out some simple research. I did most of the research for your last two books!”