The Adamas Blueprint (21 page)

CHAPTER 29

It was Saturday, and the sun shone brightly through a cloudless sky. The commuter parking lot was still filling with cars, many with Virginia Tech banners flying from their antennas. Erica was surprised how many of the cars had University of Miami flags. She didn’t know much about football, but for the past week, the entire town had been consumed by the impending game, and she supposed that Miami fans would be equally ardent. The faculty lot had filled hours ago, and it didn’t look like many spots were left in the commuter lot. It was 12:25. The game would probably be starting soon, since most of the tailgaters were packing up their barbecues and heading toward the stadium.

The door to Ted Ishio’s office opened. Erica turned away from the window to see Kevin enter and close the door behind him.

“How’s it look?” he asked. “Crazy?”

“I’ll say. I’m glad we aren’t in it.”

“I will be in a little while. I’m starving, and the last of the pizza is gone.”

“We could get another one delivered,” she said.

“No, I’m sick of pizza, if you can believe it. I’m going to Wendy’s. You want anything?”

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Erica was feeling slightly claustrophobic and wanted to go with him, but they had already agreed that she should show her face in public as little as possible to avoid running into someone who might recognize her from the grocery store incident.

“A grilled chicken salad if they have it. Vinaigrette dressing on the side, please.”

“Okay, but first I have something to show you.” The look on his face was noncommittal as to whether it was a good something or a bad something.

“What?”

“Come with me.”

He led her to the lab. It was totally quiet for the first time in days. None of the equipment was running.

“What’s wrong?” Erica said. “Is something broken?”

“Nope. I ran out of raw material to make more buckyballs, but I think what we have is enough. Take a look in the chamber.”

Erica went over to the chamber’s window. She gasped when she saw the specimen. She hadn’t seen it since Thursday night, and it was now ten times the size it was then.

“By my calculations,” Kevin said, “it should weigh between 35 and 40 grams.” He tapped the Adamas Blueprint, which was lying on the workbench. “Looks like old Mike and I had ourselves a winner.”

Erica smiled and shook her head. “This is incredible. You’re going to be famous.”

“Maybe. I know I won’t be rich. The university will own the patent. I guess I can see why Ward tried to sell it instead. I have to say, it’s hard not to be tempted.”

Kevin saw how she was looking at him.

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“I’m not saying I
agree
with him,” he said, “just that I can understand why he did it.”

“So what do we do now?” she said.

“The only thing left is to remove the specimen from the chamber and take it to Washington.

The chamber is still hot. It’ll be an hour or so before we can take it out.”

“How?” She had been gone during that part of the setup.

“I soldered the target to the top of a quarter-inch diameter nut. Then I just screwed it on to a bolt that was out of the laser’s path. Not pretty, but it worked. All you do is unscrew it. If you’d like, I’ll let you do the honors when the chamber’s cooled.”

Erica did a slight curtsy. “It would be my privilege.”

“Now, before my stomach implodes,” Kevin said, “I am going to get some food.” He handed her Ted’s keychain. “Keep both rooms locked, even if you’re just going to the bathroom.”

“I think I’ll hang out in the office. At least I can get some sun there.”

“Oh, and one more thing before I leave.” He drew her to him and kissed her, then drew his lips down her neck. The feeling was delicious. “While I’m gone, you can think about how we’ll pass the time until we leave tomorrow.”

With a wink, Kevin was gone.

* * *

“Mr. Lobec, I’ve got something.” Francowiak handed a notebook to Lobec. He flipped it open.

“This isn’t it. Keep looking.” They’d been in Ted Ishio’s house for over an hour and had nothing to show for it. The house had been searched from top to bottom, and they’d found no sign of the notebook. They had, however, found the bed in the guest bedroom unmade. A MORRISON/THE ADAMAS BLUEPRINT

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Northwest Airlines itinerary on the kitchen counter said the Ishio’s had left three days ago and wouldn’t be back until Monday. Strange then that the towels in the bathroom were still wet after all that time. Strange, that is, unless the Ishios had houseguests.

Bern walked up to him. “We’ve been all over this house twice. We would have found it by now if it was here.”

Lobec looked around at the torn furniture and papers strewn around the living room. “I think you are right, Mr. Bern. I was hoping they would be careless, but one of them must be keeping the notebook close at hand. Have you been successful in determining where Mr. Ishio’s office and laboratory on campus are?”

“Yeah. It was in a personal phone book in the den upstairs. 504 Jacobson Hall is his office.

The lab is 514.”

“I expect Mr. Hamilton has put Mr. Ishio’s lab to good use in his absence.” Lobec turned to find Francowiak. “You stay here in case they come back. Call us if they do. Capture them, but do not kill them. We have to make sure we have the notebook before that happens.” Lobec opened the front door and turned back to Bern. “Shall we go take a look at Virginia Tech?”

* * *

It had been 20 minutes since Kevin left, and Erica was beginning to wonder where he was.

The lot was almost devoid of people now, the last few making their way to the game.

The sound of thunder rattled the windows, startling Erica, who peered out at the sunny sky in amazement. Then she remembered something she’d read in the school paper during her long stretches of boredom in this room. A cannon was fired by the corps of cadets every time Virginia Tech scored. They must have just gotten a touchdown.

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Erica found herself absently tapping on the desk and stopped. She chuckled, amused that she was starting to pick up Kevin’s bad habits. It was the first time in years she didn’t have to study, and now she didn’t know what to do with herself except stare out of the window, imagining everything that could go wrong in the next two days. What if their appointment got canceled?

What if Congressman Sutter didn’t believe them? Would the Washington Post help them? And most of all, what if they were found by Barnett and Kaplan?

As the thunder faded, Erica heard a new sound. It was faint at first, but grew steadily louder.

The sound of dress shoes on the linoleum hallway outside the door, two pairs. Both had the slow rhythm of men’s loafers marching in lockstep rather than the quick staccato of women’s heels.

They were probably fifty feet away by now.

They suddenly stopped, to her left, just about where the lab would be. Erica pressed her ear against the door. She heard low mumbles. Definitely two men. Odd that someone would be dressed up on a Saturday, especially the Saturday of a big game. One of them knocked on a door.

She thought,
What if it’s them?
But that was absurd. Nobody knew where they were except Ted and Janice, and they were in Minneapolis. No, she was just being paranoid.

So why don’t you open the door and take a look?

She put her hand on the doorknob. More footsteps. Another knock, this time closer. More mumbling.

She hesitated.
You’re just being silly. Just a couple of students trying to find one of their
friends.

How many students do you know that wear loafers on a Saturday?

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Even if it was them, what was she going to do about it? Her purse was in the lab along with her mace. The gun was in the truck’s glove compartment, although all she’d do with it would be to try and bluff them. No, might as well open the door now while she had a chance to run.

Erica turned the knob as quietly as she could, waiting to pull the door toward her until the latch was totally disengaged. The door was hinged on her right, so she’d have to stick her head out to see who it was. She eased the door inward and peered down the hall to the right. No one was in the field of view. As the door opened wide enough for her body, she yanked the door open, slid to the right and turned in one motion, tensing her muscles for flight.

When she saw the two men, she almost ran, but then she realized they were wearing dark blue maintenance uniforms and both had on tool belts. They turned at the sound of the door hitting her back. One was about Kevin’s height, blond, and had a gap where a tooth should have been.

The other was about five inches shorter, with dark hair and a pug nose. Neither of them was the one who had ambushed them in Dallas, the man with the black hair and steely gray eyes. Both smiled when they saw her. The taller one spoke with a heavy Virginia accent.

“Excuse me, Miss. We’re looking for Dr. Haber. He said he was going to be in one of these labs, but we can’t find him.”

Erica let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Miss?” the man repeated.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not really familiar with this building.”

“I thought he said 519, but...”

A door opened beyond the two maintenance men, and a pudgy, bald man stepped out.

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“Thank god your here,” he said in a thick German accent. “I was in the back of the lab, but I thought I heard knocking. The air conditioning is completely broken now. Come. The equipment will be ruined soon otherwise.”

“I think we found him,” said the blond, and the two men followed Dr. Haber into the lab.

Erica retreated into the office and closed the door, chiding herself for being so foolish. The phone rang. Kevin had told her to answer Ted’s phone in case it was him. If it was somebody else, she could just take a message and let the person think it was an answering service.

“Hello?” she said.

Kevin’s voice answered. “Hey, it’s me. I had a hell of a time just getting some food.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you when I get up there.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the truck. Ted’s cell phone was here, so I thought I’d put it to good use. I’ve been looking for a parking spot for the last ten minutes. Can you see one from up there?”

Erica smiled and went to the window, scanning the parking lot for a second. There he was.

The huge dualie was slowly turning a corner and heading up the fourth row from the building.

“Yeah, I see one. You’ll have to go up the next row and come over to the other side of the lot. It’s almost at the back. I think you’ll be able to fit.”

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

After a few more instructions, Kevin found the spot.

“Thanks,” he said as he opened the truck door. “This is kind of cool. I’ve never used a cell phone before.” He waved and began walking toward the building.

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“Can you see me?” she said, waving back.

“Sure. The fourth window from the right.”

“I’m glad you’re back.”

“Hungry?”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“Oh really?”

“That’s not what I meant. Where were you?”

He held up a white bag and pointed at it. “You’re the reason I’m late.”

“Me?”

“I made sure and checked the order after I came out of the drive-through. They messed yours up and I had to go back in and wait to get it right.” He was about halfway to the building.

Another car pulled into the parking lot.

“That was awfully thoughtful of...” Erica froze. The car, a brown Taurus, stopped about seventy-five feet from Kevin and its occupants got out. Both were dressed in suits, the driver a beefy guy with a crew cut, the passenger with jet black hair and sunglasses. They were far away, but she thought of the moment in Dallas when another Taurus had stopped in front of them in that rainy LuminOptics parking lot. Even though it seemed impossible, she had no doubt. It was them.

“Kevin!” she yelled. “Get down!”

His bewildered voice replied. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh my god! It’s them! Barnett and Kaplan! Get down before they see you.”

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“Shit!” Kevin dropped to his knees behind a blue sports car, but it was too late. They saw him. Barnett and Kaplan crouched down, drew guns from their jackets, and began creeping toward Kevin.

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CHAPTER 30

The commuter parking lot had eight rows parallel to the building, with four lanes connecting each row. A hedge-lined central divider split the 1500-foot-long rows, leaving only one way between the two halves. Entrances to the lot were on either side, as well as in front of the building she was in and to the street bordering the far side.

In the fourth row, about 300 feet to Erica’s left, Kevin crouched behind the sports car, the bag of food spilled at his feet. Kaplan, the burly one, edged one row toward the building and continued moving in Kevin’s direction. Barnett circled around the other way with the fluid motions of a practiced hunter.

“Are they still there?”

“Yes,” Erica said. “Stay down.”

She searched the lot for other people. There had to be someone left. There! To her far right were a couple of stragglers walking toward the stadium. Then she realized they would be of no use. Even if she could get their attention, what could they possibly do to help?

“Kevin. I’m going to hang up and call the police.”

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“No,” he whispered. “There isn’t time. They’ll find me before the police get here. You have to tell me where they are so I can get back to the truck.”

He was right. If she hung up, Kevin would have no way of knowing where they were. As long as they didn’t know she was up in the office spying on them, she and Kevin had an advantage.

“Where are they?” he said. “Why didn’t they just run over and get me?”

“Five days ago you shot at them. Would you take a chance on running at someone with a gun?”

“Good point. Only one problem. The gun’s in the truck.”

“I was afraid of that,” Erica said. “Okay, start moving toward the back of the blue car, and when I tell you, run to the next row.”

“Okay.”

He scooted to the back of the car, which was flush with the open space of the next row, and began to peer around the corner.

“Don’t do that!” Erica said. “Keep your head down. Let me be your eyes. I’ll tell you when it’s okay.”

The parking spaces in each row were offset. It looked to Erica like it would be difficult to see between cars beyond more than one row. As long as Kevin kept ahead of them, he had a chance.

Barnett nodded to Kaplan and they raced to the next row, only one away from Kevin’s.

“Now!” Erica said.

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With a gait that would have been comical in any other situation, Kevin scuttled like a crab to the next row. Kaplan ducked behind a sedan and Barnett stood behind a minivan. Then Barnett flattened himself on the ground.

“Kevin! Barnett’s trying to look under the cars for your feet.” Kevin was almost to the next row. “Get behind the tire of that green car you’re coming to.”

Kevin ran the last few feet and huddled against the green car beside its front tire.

“What’s he doing...”

“Shh! He’s only about fifty feet from you now. He’s still down.” Barnett’s head rose into view. “Now he’s getting up. I don’t think he saw you. No, he’s pointing to the left of you and peeking around the minivan toward his partner.” Suddenly, Kaplan began running toward the back of the lot. Erica heard Kevin curse under his breath. “Move back!” she yelled.

Kevin edged toward the open part of the row.

“No! I mean in between the two cars in your row.”

Kevin turned and reached the point between the two cars just as Kaplan entered the open drive five cars to the left. If Kevin had still been at the front of the car, Kaplan surely would have seen him. Instead, Kaplan kept his head down, running toward the far end of the lot.

“What’s he doing?” Erica said.

Kevin whispered a reply. “I heard Barnett yell something about the truck. That thing is so huge he must have seen it. They’re trying to cut me off.”

* * *

The cellular phone was slick in Kevin’s hand. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans.

“Erica, if anything happens to me, call 911, and then get out of there.”

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“Nothing’s going to happen. Now just be quiet. Kaplan’s to the row just before the truck now. That’s about three rows past you. Barnett’s still two rows back toward me. He’s moving now. He’s looking between each pair of cars. Kaplan’s doing the same thing.”

“How far down the row are they?”

“I think Kaplan’s too far from you to see you if you stay down. But Barnett will see you.

He’s six cars to the east, but he’s not moving as slowly now. He’ll see you in a few seconds unless you go behind the red car.”

The red car was a Chevy sedan behind the green Mazda he was next to. He scurried behind it so that the Chevy and Mazda were between him and Barnett. His heart pounded as he listened to Erica give the play by play.

“Five cars now. Four cars. Three cars. Two cars. One. He’s right behind you. Okay, he’s past.” She waited a few seconds. “You can talk now.”

“This isn’t working,” Kevin said. “A few more times looking under cars and they’re going to see where I am. The driver’s window on this green Mazda is open. It has a fold down back seat.

If I can get in, I can crawl into the trunk through the back seat and hide there until they leave.

Keep me posted if they get near me.”

“Okay,” said Erica.

With his back to the Chevy, he slid around to the opposite side until he was at the driver’s door of the Mazda. The Mazda’s window was only half open. He tried the door handle, but it was locked. Looking through the window, he could see the passenger door’s lock release was on the inside of the door, next to the handle. It would be the same for the driver’s door.

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“Erica,” he said, “I’m going to have to stand up to get to the lock release. Are they looking this way?”

“No. Another car entered the lot on the other side from you. It’s a Jeep. They’re both looking at it. It’s going slowly, on the other side of the divider near the back entrance.”

Good, Kevin thought. It was a perfect distraction. They were both looking away from him.

He stood, trying to keep his head behind the car’s door pillar. He snaked his arm through the window opening and felt the velour cloth of the door’s interior. He reached forward. His fingers ran over the nubby plastic of the area surrounding the lock and then rested on the smooth contour of the lock mechanism. He pushed it forward and heard the whine of the locks. A red indicator on the passenger lock appeared.

Kevin pulled his arm out and bent down again.

“It’s unlocked. I’m going to open the door now. Am I clear?”

“They’re both about fifty feet from you, and facing the other way, but they may turn around any minute. You’d better do it now.”

As he lifted the door handle and popped the door open, the shriek of a car alarm rent the air.

* * *

Even from the enclosed office, Erica could hear the alarm easily. Through the phone, it was piercing. She yanked the phone away from her ear instinctively.

Kevin fell backwards in surprise, and Erica could see him drop the phone. Barnett and Kaplan were already running in his direction. In his attempt to get away from the green car, Kevin scrambled around the corner directly into Barnett’s vision.

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Erica felt helpless as she saw Kevin stand and look around desperately and then begin running away from Barnett.

“The Jeep!” she screamed at the window. “Get help from the people in the Jeep!”

As if on command, Kevin veered, heading in a direction that would cut off the slowly moving car. Barnett followed, but Kaplan ran toward the brown Taurus sedan they had arrived in.

Not knowing what else to do, Erica hung up the phone and dialed 911.

* * *

Kevin had never run faster in his life, glad he had lost those 30 extra pounds from high school.

If he had still been as heavy as he used to, he would have been winded by now, and Barnett and Kaplan would be on top of him. As it was, his long legs were giving him a slight lead.

A sidewalk split the parking lot in half. He leaped over a row of hedges lining the sidewalk and leaped again into the other side of the lot where the Jeep was cruising, looking for a spot. He could see the passengers now, four of them, all adults. They weren’t even looking in his direction, apparently ignoring the car alarm.

When he crashed into the hood of the car, it screeched to a halt. The driver yelled at him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Kevin ran around to the driver’s door. “Please, sir, you’ve got to help me. These two guys are after me. They say they’re the police, but they’re not.”

The driver, along with the other passengers, stared at him incredulously. Through the window, Kevin could see Barnett approaching the Jeep.

He knew he must have sounded as if he were raving, so he tried to calm his voice. Still, he must have sounded like a lunatic. “Please let me in!”

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“Freeze!” Barnett was pointing a gun at him from the front of the Jeep. He circled slowly around, keeping the gun trained on Kevin.

With his left hand, Barnett withdrew a wallet from his jacket and flashed a badge at the occupants. “Virginia State Police. This man’s wanted for car theft.”

“He’s lying!” Kevin said. “Look at his badge. He’s not a policeman.”

The Jeep’s passengers, however, were not about to question a policeman apprehending a crazed criminal. Especially when the cop was holding a gun. They said nothing.

“That car alarm you hear,” Barnett said, “was the result of this suspect attempting to break in to a vehicle. We caught him in the act, and now he’s trying to get away.”

Kaplan stopped the Taurus in front of the Jeep and got out. He walked around, pulling handcuffs from his pocket.

Kevin knew it was no use trying to get help from these people. He didn’t resist as Kaplan pushed him against the Jeep, patted him down, handcuffed him, and led him to the car. Barnett rounded the car to get in. In the distance, Kevin heard sirens.

“You’re not going to wait for the Blacksburg police, Barnett?” Kevin said, sneering the name.

Kaplan shoved Kevin into the back seat. The man who had called himself Barnett six days ago slammed the door and looked back at Kevin from the front seat, his hollow gray eyes smiling.

“Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Hamilton. My name is David Lobec.”

* * *

Erica bounded down the staircase two steps at a time. To get the police’s attention quickly, she’d told them that somebody had been shot in the commuter parking lot during a fight. When MORRISON/THE ADAMAS BLUEPRINT

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she was convinced that the police were coming, she hung up and ran for the stairs, stopping only to retrieve her mace from the lab.

She got to the first floor and burst into the hallway, her lungs burning. She ran through the outer door, squinting as she stepped into the sun, and stopped.

To her right, the Jeep was slowly moving toward the main campus.. To her left, the flashing lights of a police car were visible cresting the hill. She quickly scanned the rest of the parking lot, but there was no sign of the brown Taurus.

They were gone.

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