"You're a piece of work, Doc," Vinnie said. "I gotta give you credit for that."
"Perhaps I can offer another year of free tuition," Raymond said. "That's very generous of you," Vinnie said. "But you know something, Doc, it's not enough. In fact, I'm getting a little fed up with this whole operation. And I'll tell you straight: if it weren't for Vinnie Junior's kidney problems, I'd probably just ask for my money back, and we'd go our separate ways. You see, I'm already looking at potential problems from the first favor I did for you. I got a call from my wife's brother who runs the Spoletto Funeral Home. He's all upset because a Dr. Laurie Montgomery called asking embarrassing questions. Tell me, Doc. Do you know this Dr. Laurie Montgomery?" "No, I don't," Raymond said. He swallowed loudly. "Hey, Angelo, come over here!" Vinnie called out. Angelo slid off his bar stool and came to the table. "Sit down, Angelo," Vinnie said. "I want you to tell the good doctor here about Laurie Montgomery." Raymond had to move farther into the booth to give room for Angelo. He felt distinctly uncomfortable being sandwiched between the two men.
"Laurie Montgomery is a smart, persistent individual," Angelo said with his husky voice. "To put it bluntly, she's a pain in the ass."
Raymond avoided looking at Angelo. His face was mostly scar tissue. Since his eyes didn't close properly, they were red and rheumy.
"Angelo had an unfortunate run-in with Laurie Montgomery a few years back," Vinnie explained. "Angelo, tell Raymond what you learned today after we heard from the funeral home." "I called Vinnie Amendola, our contact in the morgue," Angelo said. "He told me that Laurie Montgomery specifically said that she was going to make it her personal business to find out how Franconi's body disappeared. Needless to say he's very concerned." "See what I mean," Vinnie said. "We got a potential problem here just because we did you a favor." "I'm very sorry," Raymond said lamely. He couldn't think of any other response. "It brings us back to this tuition issue," Vinnie said. "Under the circumstances I think the tuition should just be waived. In other words, no tuition for me or Vinnie junior forever." "I do have to answer to the parent corporation," Raymond squeaked. He cleared his throat. "Fine," Vinnie said. "Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Explain to them it's a valid business expense. Hey, maybe you could even use it as a deduction on your taxes." Vinnie laughed heartily. Raymond shuddered imperceptibly. He knew he was being unfairly muscled, yet he had little choice. "Okay," he managed.
"Thank you," Vinnie said. "Gosh, I guess this is going to work out after all. We've become sort'a
business partners. Now I trust you have Cindy Carlson's address?"
Raymond fumbled in his pocket and produced Dr. Levitz's business card. Vinnie took it, copied down the address from the back, and handed it back. Vinnie gave the address to Angelo. "Englewood, New Jersey," Angelo said, reading aloud. "Is that a problem?" Vinnie asked.
Angelo shook his head.
"Then, it's arranged," Vinnie said, looking back at Raymond. "So much for your latest problem. But I advise you not to come up with any more. With our current tuition understanding it seems to me you're out of bargaining chips."
A few minutes later, Raymond was out on the street. He realized he was shaking as he looked at his watch. It was close to five and getting dark. Stepping off the curb, he raised his hand to flag a cab. What a disaster! he thought. Somehow he would have to absorb the cost of maintaining Vinnie Doinick's and his son's double for the rest of their lives. A cab pulled over. Raymond climbed in and gave his home address. As he sped away from the Neopolitan Restaurant, he began to feel better. The actual cost of maintaining the two doubles was minuscule, since the animals lived in isolation on a deserted island. So the situation wasn't that bad, especially since the potential problem with Cindy Carlson was now solved. By the time Raymond entered his apartment his mood had improved significantly, at least until he got in the door.
"You've had two calls from Africa," Darlene reported. "Problems?" Raymond asked. There was something about Darlene's voice that set off alarm bells. "There was good news and bad news," Darlene said. "The good news was from the surgeon. He said that Horace Winchester is doing miraculously and that you should start planning on coming to pick him and the surgical team up."
"What's the bad news?" Raymond asked.
"The other call was from Siegfried Spallek," Darlene said. "He was a little vague. He said there was some trouble with Kevin Marshall."
"What kind of trouble?" Raymond asked.
"He didn't elaborate," Darlene said.
Raymond remembered specifically asking Kevin not to do anything rash. He wondered if the researcher had not heeded his warning. It must have had something to do with that stupid smoke Kevin had seen. "Did Spallek want me to call back tonight?" Raymond asked. "It was eleven o'clock his time when he called," Darlene said. "He said he could talk to you tomorrow."
Raymond groaned inwardly. Now he'd have to spend the entire night worrying. He wondered when it
was all going to end.
CHAPTER 11: MARCH 5, 1997 11:30 P.M.
COGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA
KEVIN heard the heavy metal door open at the top of the stone stairs and a crack of light cascaded in. Two seconds later, the string of bare lightbulbs in the ceiling of the corridor went on. Through the bars of his cell, he could see Melanie and Candace in their respective cells. They were squinting as he was in the sudden glare.
Heavy footfalls on the granite stairs preceded Siegfried Spallek's appearance. He was accompanied by Cameron McIvers and Mustapha Aboud, chief of the Moroccan guards. "It's about time, Mr. Spallek!" Melanie snapped. "I demand to be let out of here this instant, or you'll be in serious trouble."
Kevin winced. It was not the way to talk with Siegfried Spallek on any occasion, much less in their current circumstance.
Kevin, Melanie, and Candace had been huddling in utter blackness in separate cells in the oppressively hot, dank, jail in the basement of the town hall. Each cell had a small, arched window that opened into a window well in the rear arcade of the building. The openings were barred but without glass, so vermin could pass through unimpeded. All three prisoners had been terrified by the sounds of scampering creatures, especially since they'd seen several tarantulas before the lights had been turned out. The only source of comfort had been that they could easily talk to each other. The first five minutes of the evening's ordeal had been the worst. As soon as the sound of the burst of machine-gun fire died out, Kevin and the women were blinded by large hand-held lights. When their eyes had finally adjusted, they saw that they'd walked into an ambush of sorts. They were surrounded by a jeering group of youthful Equatoguinean soldiers who'd delighted in casually aiming their AK-47's at them. Several had been brazen enough to poke the women with the muzzles of their weapons. Fearing the worst, Kevin and the others hadn't moved a muscle. They'd been scared witless by the indiscriminate gunfire and terrified it might begin again at the slightest provocation. Only at the appearance of several of the Moroccan guards did the unruly soldiers back off. Kevin had never imagined the intimidating Arabs as potential saviors, but that's how it had turned out. The guards had assumed custody of Kevin and the women. Then the guards drove them in Kevin's car, first to the Moroccan guard building across from the animal center, where they'd been placed in a windowless room for several hours, and then finally into town, where they'd been incarcerated in the old jail. "This is outrageous treatment," Melanie persisted. "On the contrary," Siegfried said. "I have been assured by Mustapha that you have been treated with all due respect."
"Respect!" Melanie sputtered. "To be shot at with machine guns! And kept in this shithole in the dark! That's respect?"
"You were not shot at," Siegfried corrected. "Those were merely a few warning shots directed over your
heads. You had, after all, violated an important rule here in the Zone. Isla Francesca is off-limits. Everyone knows that."
Siegfried motioned to Cameron toward Candace. Cameron opened her cell with a large, antique key. Candace wasted no time getting out of the cell. She hastily dusted off her clothes to make sure there were no bugs. She was still dressed in her surgical scrubs from the hospital. "My apologies to you," Siegfried said to Candace. "I imagine you were led astray by our resident researchers. Perhaps you were not even aware of the rule against visiting the island area." Cameron opened Melanie's cell and then Kevin's. "As soon as I heard about your detention, I tried to call Dr. Raymond Lyons," Siegfried said. "I wanted to ask his opinion as to the best way to handle this situation. Since he was unavailable, I have to take responsibility myself. I am releasing you all on your own recognizance. I trust that you now know the seriousness of your actions. Under Equatoguinean law it could be considered a capital offense." "Oh, bull!" Melanie spat.
Kevin cringed. He was afraid Melanie would anger Siegfried enough to order them back into the cells. Benevolence was not a part of Siegfried's character. Mustapha extended Kevin's car keys to him. "Your vehicle is out back," he said with a heavy French accent.
Kevin took the keys. His hand shook enough to cause them to jingle until he got his hand and the keys into his pocket.
"I'm sure I will be speaking to Dr. Lyons sometime tomorrow," Siegfried said. "I will contact you individually. You may go."
Melanie started to speak again, but Kevin surprised himself by grabbing her arm and propelling her toward the stairs.
"I've had enough manhandling," Melanie sputtered. She tried to pull her arm from Kevin's grasp. "Let's just get into the car," Kevin whispered harshly through clenched teeth. He forced her to keep moving.
"What a night!" Melanie complained. At the base of the stairs, she managed to yank her arm free. Irritably, she started up.
Kevin waited for Candace to precede him, then followed the women up to the ground floor. They emerged into an office used by the Equatoguinean soldiers that were constantly seen lounging in front of the town hall. There were four of them present. With the base manager, the head of security, and the chief of the Moroccan guards in the building, the soldiers were a good deal more attentive than usual. All four were standing in their interpretation of attention, with their assault rifles over their shoulders. When Kevin and the women appeared, their
expressions suggested they were confused.
Melanie gave them the finger as Kevin herded her and Candace out the door into the parking lot. "Please, Melanie," Kevin begged. "Don't provoke them!" Whether the soldiers did not understand the meaning of Melanie's gesture or were bewildered by the anomalous circumstances, Kevin didn't know. One way or the other, they didn't come flying out after them as Kevin feared they might.
They got to the car. Kevin opened the passenger-side door. Candace climbed in eagerly. But not Melanie. She turned to Kevin with her eyes blazing in the dim light. "Give me the keys," she demanded.
"What?" Kevin asked, even though he'd heard her. "I said give me the keys," Melanie repeated. Confused by this unexpected request but not wishing to incite her more than she already was, Kevin handed her the car keys. Melanie immediately went around to the other side of the car and got in behind the wheel. Kevin climbed into the passenger seat. He didn't care who drove as long as they got themselves out of there.
Melanie started the car, spun the tires, and drove out of the parking lot. "Jeez, Melanie," Kevin said. "Slow down!" "I'm pissed," Melanie said.
"As if I couldn't tell," Kevin said.
"I'm not going home just yet," Melanie said. "But I'd be happy to take you guys home if you want." "Where do you want to go?" Kevin asked. "It's almost midnight." "I'm going out to the animal center," Melanie said. "I'm not going to tolerate being treated like this without finding out what the hell is going on." "What's at the animal center?" Kevin asked. "The keys to that goddamned bridge," Melanie said. "I want one, because for me this affair has gone beyond curiosity."
"Maybe we should stop and talk about this," Kevin suggested. Melanie jammed on the brakes, bringing them to a lurching stop. Both Kevin and Candace had to push themselves back into their respective seats. "I'm going to the animal center," Melanie repeated. "You guys can either come along or I'll drop you off. It's your call."
"Why tonight?" Kevin asked.
"One, because I'm really ticked off right now," Melanie said. "And two, because they wouldn't suspect it. Obviously, they intend for us to go home and quake in our beds. That's why we were so mistreated. But you know something, that's not my style." "That's my style," Kevin said.
"I think Melanie is right," Candace said from the backseat. "They were deliberately trying to scare us." "And I think they did a damn good job," Kevin said. "Or am I the only sane one in the group?" "Let's do it," Candace said.
"Oh, no!" Kevin groaned. "I'm outnumbered." "We'll take you home," Melanie said. "No problem." She started to put the car in reverse. Kevin reached out and stayed her hand. "How do you propose to get the keys? You don't even know where they'd be."
"I think it's pretty clear they'd be in Bertram's office," Melanie said. "He's the one in charge of logistics for the bonobo program. Hell, you're the one who suggested he had them." "Okay, they're in Bertram's office," Kevin said. "But what about security? Offices are locked." Melanie reached into the breast pocket of her animal-center coveralls and pulled out a magnetic card. "You're forgetting that I'm part of the animal-center hierarchy. This is a master card, and not the kind that competes with VISA. This thing gets me in every door of the animal center twenty-four hours a day. Remember, my work with the bonobo project is only a part of the fertility work I do." Kevin looked over the back of his seat at Candace. Her blond hair was luminous in the half light of the car interior. "If you're game, Candace, I guess I'm game," he said. "Let's go!" Candace said.
Melanie accelerated and turned north beyond the motor pool. The motor pool was in full operation, with huge mercury-vapor lamps illuminating the entire staging area. The motor pool's night shift was larger than either the day or evening shifts since that's when truck traffic between the Zone and Bata was at its peak. Melanie zipped past a number of tractor trailers until the turnoff to Bata fell behind. From that point, all the way to the animal center, they didn't see another vehicle. The animal center worked three shifts just like the motor pool did, although in the animal center the night shift was the smallest. The majority of the night staff worked in the veterinary hospital. Melanie took advantage of this fact by pulling Kevin's Toyota up to one of the animal-hospital doors. There the car had lots of company.
Melanie turned off the ignition and gazed at the animal-center entrance that led directly into the veterinary hospital. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.