The Adamas Blueprint (12 page)

“We were thinking earlier that we shouldn’t be using our credit cards because the records might be available to the people that are after us.”

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“Smart move. If they have a halfway decent hacker, they can get into your credit card company’s database as easily as I accessed the credit bureau. Tracking you that way would be a cinch if you weren’t careful.”

Kevin looked at Erica, who furrowed her eyebrows in a puzzled expression. “Then maybe you can help us get a little breathing room.”

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CHAPTER 14

After they finished their business with Daryl, Kevin and Erica needed to get supplies so they could hole up for the night. Kevin would have to treat his contacts, but his lens storage case and cleansers were at the apartment. They found a Wal-Mart and bought his supplies as well as a change of clothes for the two of them.

They’d decided not to call their friends, not only because they didn’t want to endanger them, but also because they didn’t want to go anywhere they might logically be found. That meant they had to lie low for the next day and a half. They would retrieve whatever was in the safe deposit box when the bank opened on Monday morning.

Erica wheeled the Honda into the back parking lot of the seedy-looking Tidal Moon motel.

They would have stayed at a nicer place, but this was the first one they’d found that didn’t require identification. The grimy man at the registration desk made them pay cash up front.

While Erica dumped their meager belongings on the bed, Kevin locked the door behind them, then peeked through the torn and spotted drapes. From their first floor viewpoint, he could see that it would be difficult to spot the car from the road. Satisfied, he pulled the drapes so they were completely closed. Although it was safe for now, he didn’t want to get complacent.

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Erica announced that she wanted to take a shower before she ate and began running water in the bathroom. Ravenous, Kevin opened the bag from Antone’s and began munching on a shrimp po-boy.

As he ate and sipped his drink, he watched TV to see if he could find any more news on Dr.

Ward or Herbert Stein. He saw stories about each of them, but nothing more than they had learned earlier. Apparently the police were still treating the fire as an accident without ruling out the possibility of arson.

Kevin sat dejected, listening to the water run in the bathroom. He tried to understand the reason for what was going on, but the more he thought about it, the more confused he got. He could now reasonably assume that Dr. Ward and his wife were murdered. But why? What was in the safe deposit box that somebody would kill for? How did Dr. Ward get the money to buy that house and car? And why did he write that email to Kevin? They wouldn’t find out the answers to any of the questions until Monday morning.

The worst part was that he had dragged Erica into this with him. He thought about leaving, doing the rest of it himself, but how would that help? Erica was already involved up to the hilt.

She wouldn’t be any safer without him than she would be by staying with him. Besides, once they had more proof—whatever that was—together their story would be much more convincing than from either of them alone.

The water shut off, and Kevin heard Erica take the towel and begin to dry herself.

“Any news?” she said from the bathroom.

“No, nothing new.”

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She came out with a towel wrapped tightly around her, accentuating her figure. It barely reached her legs. Despite being exhausted, both mentally and physically, by the day’s events, Kevin couldn’t help feeling both turned-on and embarrassed at the same time. She grabbed the extra-long T-shirt she had bought and retreated to the bathroom.

“I’m starving,” she said. “I hope the sandwiches are good.”

“Of course they are. Haven’t you ever had a po-boy?”

Erica came out of the bathroom, her hair still wet. The T-shirt was almost as revealing as the towel. “You forget. I didn’t grow up in Texas.” Using the wrapper as a place mat on the stained table, she sat and began to eat one of the sandwiches. “Hey, these are good.”

“See. You should trust me.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.”

“Good. Now it’s my turn.” Kevin took his shower while Erica finished her po-boy. After he was done, he put on a T-shirt and boxers from their stop at the store.

When he came out of the bathroom, Erica was lying in bed holding the remote.

“Now I remember why I stopped watching TV,” she said, turning it off and putting the remote on the nightstand.

“I thought it was because of med school.” Kevin pulled a pillow off the bed and walked over to the chair.

“That too. What are you doing?”

“Getting ready to go to sleep.”

“Over there?”

“Yeah. Well, you know, one bed...” He shrugged. “I thought...”

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“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to make you sleep in that chair.”

“You sure?”

“I just took a shower, so I can’t smell too bad. Are you afraid I’m going to bite you?”

“No, just trying to be chivalrous.”

“Well, stop it. We’re both adults. Now come on.”

Kevin climbed into bed as Erica switched off the lamp. The bed seemed even smaller now that he was in it. Erica was only a foot away.

“Isn’t that more comfortable?” she said.

“Mm-hm,” Kevin responded, although he felt extremely uncomfortable. She was turned towards him, her light breathing raising the hairs on his neck, the warmth of her body flowing to his.

“Do you think we’ll get out of this?” she said, her voice groggy with fatigue.

Kevin wanted to lie and say that everything would be all right, but he didn’t think she was asking to be reassured. She wanted the truth. “I don’t know. If we can get into the safe deposit box, I think we have a shot at it.”

“Ha ha.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s okay. I’m too tired to think about it any more anyway.” Within a minute she was asleep. She had the med student gift for being able to sleep anywhere at any time.

Kevin gazed at her profile outlined by the weak light coming through a crack in the curtain and envied her. He stayed awake a long time.

* * *

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“This is it,” Lobec said, pointing at the Best Western. The last of the twilight was dwindling.

The clock on the bank across the street flashed 9:03.

“You sure?” Bern replied, turning the rental car into the motel’s parking lot. “Mitch said there were two along this strip.”

“He also said it was the one closest to the interstate. The next one is almost in downtown New Orleans. Furthermore, it matches the directions from the airport. Go in and see if they are here.”

Bern climbed out and lumbered into the lobby. Lobec saw him flash his police ID. That seemed to get the clerk’s attention, and he began tapping at the computer’s keyboard. After a few minutes, Bern trotted back out to the car.

“This is it, all right. But they haven’t checked in yet. Probably just getting some dinner first.

I’ll bet we have them in less than two hours. What do you think?”

“I will be surprised if it’s this easy.”

“Man, you’re hard to please. Mitch said they made the reservation at this motel six hours ago, guaranteed it with the girl’s credit card. Then they stopped in Baton Rouge for gas two hours ago, also paid with the girl’s credit card. What more do you want?”

“I want them in this car with us. When that happens, I will be satisfied. Not a moment earlier.”

Lobec was right to be cautious. An hour and half passed with no sign of the couple. He was thinking that he’d wait another half hour and no more when his cellular phone beeped.

“Yes.”

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“It’s Mitch. Thought you might like to know. Erica Jensen just canceled the reservation at the Best Western. She also just charged $11.58 for gas in Biloxi, Mississippi five minutes ago.”

“Has she made any other reservations?”

“No. But if they stay at another motel without making a guaranteed reservation, all they’ll do is make an imprint tonight. It won’t be run through the machine until tomorrow morning.”

“That’s no good. They’ll be gone before we can get to it. They must be going this way for a reason. Check to see if they have any family or friends in the area.”

“I’m already searching the Biloxi area for matches.”

“No. Search Mississippi, then Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.” Lobec heard muffled curses at the end of the line. “Anything else?

“Yeah. Jensen called the hospital to tell them she wouldn’t be in today or tomorrow. At their apartments, one call was made to each answering machine. The one to Hamilton’s was a guy named Nigel asking if he wanted to grab some dinner. The one to Jensen’s was a telemarketer.

Neither machine was checked for messages.”

“Do we have the trace set up?”

“All ready. The machine doesn’t even have to answer. I love Caller ID.”

“Fine. Advise me when you have something.”

Lobec terminated the signal and began to dial another number.

“Who’re you calling?” Bern asked.

“The Gulfstream.”

“We going back to Houston?”

“No. Biloxi.”

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CHAPTER 15

For the next day and a half, Kevin and Erica bided their time until the bank opened on Monday morning. They drove around or ate in quiet out of the way restaurants, any place where they wouldn’t see familiar faces, then spent another awkward night in a motel.

Kevin had looked in the phone book on Sunday and found that there were seven First Texas branches within five miles of the campus. Luckily, Daryl was as skillful as he claimed and helped them find the correct branch. Ward had only one deposit box with First Texas, but no accounts or loans. The bank was located in the Village, next to the Rice University campus, and the safe deposit box had been leased only two months before. Ward had used a different bank from the one he normally patroned near South Texas. No one would know he had the box unless they knew where to look. At ten after nine on Monday, Erica stopped the Honda next to the huge bank’s front entrance.

“This shouldn’t take long,” Kevin said, glancing at his watch. He was supposed to be at the graduate school an hour ago to meet with Dean Baker. “Damn!”

“What?”

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“Nothing. I’m just ready for this whole business to be over with. I hope your idea works.

The last thing we need is for them to call the police.”

“I guess it’s possible the bank officer knows Ward, but I doubt it. They get people opening and closing boxes all the time. This branch is so big, you probably won’t even get the same person that helped him lease the box.”

“Probably. Thanks.” Kevin pulled in a deep breath. “Cross your fingers.”

Kevin stepped out of the Honda and walked into the immense lobby. Even at this early hour, the bank was bustling with activity. Several lines were already forming at the teller windows, and well-dressed men and women moved about with determined authority. Kevin was dressed in a polo-type shirt, khaki pants, and loafers. He had bought the clothes yesterday in the hope that they would make him look more like someone who would have a safe deposit box.

Standing next to the central pillar, a security guard surveyed the lobby in slow glances. Kevin avoided his eyes and walked past. He clasped the fake ID in his pocket tightly.

He approached one of the dozen desks situated near the vault. Seated behind it was a young brunette with a name tag that said “Martha Warsett” and then below it “Management Trainee.”

She looked up at Kevin and smile broadly.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Yes,” Kevin said as he sat. “I would like to get into my safe deposit box.”

She turned toward the terminal on her desk. “Your name.”

This was it. “Michael Ward.” He bounced his foot, praying that she didn’t recognize the name.

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She typed the name into the computer. After a second, she turned back to him. “Yes, Mr.

Ward. Box 645.”

Kevin stifled a sigh of relief. She didn’t know who Ward really was.

As she opened a drawer to her left to retrieve some papers, she said, “I’ll just need to see two forms of ID and we’ll get you signed in.”

Kevin felt as if he’d been punched in the kidneys.

“I...I only brought my driver’s license.” He pulled the license out of his pocket and showed her.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Ward. We require two IDs. Several incidents of fraud have forced us to make that change. It’s for our customers’ safety. I hope you understand.”

Kevin didn’t want to chance going back to Daryl Grotman and getting another ID made.

He’d risk coming back and getting the person who had opened the account for Ward. “I really need to get into my box. My tuition is due today, and I have a bond in my box that I need to cash. Is there any way you can make an exception?”

“I’m sorry, sir. Any form of ID will be acceptable. Credit card, student ID,...”

“I’ll have to go all the way back to my apartment, and by that time it’ll be too late...”

Kevin felt a hand grab his left shoulder. “What are you doing here?” a female voice said.

He spun and was stunned to see a short blonde with her hair pinned up, wearing glasses and a dark gray business jacket and skirt. He was speechless, primarily because he didn’t recall ever seeing her before.

“Don’t tell me you forgot me already. We met at Nigel’s party Friday. The jazz band was great, by the way. Sorry you missed it.”

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The recollection of the tight black leather dress hit Kevin. He never would have recognized her if she hadn’t spoken to him. Then he remembered her mentioning that she worked in a local bank.

He nodded. “I’m glad.” he said, trying to regain his composure. He glanced at her name tag, which said “Heather Whitcomb” and underneath “Loan Officer.” He hadn’t remembered her name from the party. He hoped her memory was just as bad.

“I mean, I’m sorry too. Of course, I remember you, Heather.”

“Is it Kenneth?” she said.

“No,” Kevin said, smiling. “Mike. Michael Ward.”

“Oops. I think I met about twenty people that night.”

“That’s okay. I cheated.” He pointed to the name tag.

Heather looked down and chuckled. “I didn’t know this was your bank. I’ve never seen you here before.”

“I, uh, just have a safe deposit box here. I opened it a couple of months ago and haven’t been here since.”

Martha spoke. “Mr. Ward was trying to get into it, but he only had his driver’s license. I was explaining our policy...”

“I think one ID will be enough for Mike.”

“Maybe I should check with Mr. Halmin,” Martha said, still unsure if she was doing the right thing.

“No, he’ll just say the same thing. You don’t have to be a stickler for the rules if you know the customer.” Heather winked at Kevin.

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“Thanks,” he said. “You just saved my life.”

“Can you remember my name now?” Heather said.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

“Then maybe I’ll see you around.”

She started across the lobby, glancing back as she did.

Kevin’s knees stopped shaking now that he had passed inspection. Martha led him to the vault, where she looked through a box of cards, removed one, and handed it to Kevin. On line one, it had Michael Ward’s signature and the date the box was leased. Line two was blank, meaning Ward had never reopened the box.

Kevin tried to nonchalantly sign and date the card. He had practiced the signature for two hours yesterday. As he returned the card to Martha, he thought the resemblance to the original was close enough. Martha replaced the card after a thorough inspection.

Ward’s box was one of the larger ones, about 10 inches across and 4 inches high. Kevin gave Martha the key, and she used it to remove the long box from its sheath. By the way she handled it, it looked fairly light, which he confirmed when she gave it to him. It rattled a little as he took it along with the key.

“Would you like a private booth?”

“Please.”

Once inside the booth, Kevin took a deep breath and lifted the lid.

At the front of the box lay an 8mm camcorder videotape, the kind they used in the lab to record experiments. He took it out. It had been rewound to the beginning. The label on the tape said “NV117.” He slipped the tape into his pocket.

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Kevin tilted the box toward him, and a laboratory notebook slid to the front. He reached into the covered area at the back of the box, but nothing else was in it.

He carefully lifted the notebook out and turned it over. Three words were handwritten on the front cover. In all capital letters were the words “THE ADAMAS BLUEPRINT.” It was an odd title for a lab book.

He opened it. The front page looked as if it had been torn out. A date in June was printed at the top of the second page. The first line started with “Adamas—Greek for an impenetrably hard stone. To whom it may concern: Adamas is also the name of the process I’ve described in this notebook. Since you are reading this notebook...”

Kevin quickly read the next few paragraphs, stopping to reread every sentence to make sure he had understood it correctly, not wanting to believe it. He skipped to the pages detailing the technical aspects of the process. As he read the setup and methodology section, the only words running through his mind were “Holy shit!” Then he saw the data. After five minutes, he was almost convinced. Adamas probably worked.

Now he fully understood the danger they were in. The people that were after them would stop at nothing to get this notebook and kill them both for even knowing of its existence.

He shut the notebook, tucked it under his arm, and left the booth.

He passed Martha, who said, “Is that all, Mr. Ward?”

Kevin didn’t stop, but mumbled his thanks as he strode by her and out the bank exit.

He yanked the Honda’s door open. As he jumped into the car, Erica said, “There you are. I was beginning to get worried.”

“Let’s get out of here,” was the only thing he said.

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As Erica drove, Kevin remained silent, turning over their next move in his mind.

“Okay. I can’t stand it anymore,” she said. “What did you find? You were in there for a long time. I thought they had spotted the fake license.”

“No. I had a little problem, but I got into the box.” He showed her the notebook, and she glanced at the cover.

“What’s Adamas?”

“You may not believe it. I’m not sure I believe it myself yet.”

“What is it? The formula for Coke?”

“No,” Kevin said, staring at the notebook. “But it’s probably worth just as much. It’s a blueprint, just like the title says. It has schematics, experimental data, methodology, everything.”

“A blueprint? For what?”

“For making diamonds.”

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