Curse (Blur Trilogy Book 3) (28 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

8:30 P.M.

30 MINUTES

The general sat at Adrian’s desk studying the Telpatine analysis and data sheets.

Adrian excused himself for a moment and, taking both the radio and the satellite phone with him, caught up with Sergei and Deedee in the hall.

“Petra’s upstairs,” Sergei said. “She’s secure—but there is one thing.”

“Tell me.”

“We saw a car parked by the gate, down at the base of the road.”

“A car?”

“Yeah. A sedan. I didn’t recognize it, but I did see that it had Wisconsin plates.”

“What? Wisconsin?”

“Yes.”

“Was anyone there?”

“No. We wanted to get Petra up here first before checking it out. I think one of us should go back and take a look, though.”

“I agree. Deedee, why don’t you stay here. I want you stationed outside Petra’s room. Sergei, drive down, see what you can find. Get the license plate number and we’ll run it when you get back.”

Through the woods, Nicole caught sight of the Estoria Inn about two hundred feet ahead of them.

They crouched low and studied it.

“What does the book say?” Mia asked her.

Nicole flipped to the chapter. “Four floors. We definitely want to avoid room 113—that’s the haunted one. There’s also an old maintenance shed out back.”

A burst of lightning slashed through the sky and thunder followed right on its heels, booming above them.

“Okay, that was close,” Kyle said. “I say we try that shed, get some shelter and then figure out what to do next. Is it big enough?”

Nicole consulted the diagram. “Looks like it. But I don’t think we should just walk up the road, even with our cover story.”

“We’ll cut through the woods. C’mon.”

As they did, Nicole noticed the white minivan driving off again, away from the hotel.

Adrian tracked Henrik down.

“What is it, Doctor?”

“Where’s Zacharias?”

“I moved him to the tattoo room so we could leave Petra upstairs. I was going to do the other eye.”

“Is he secure?”

“Yes. Strapped in the chair.”

“Leave him there for now. Sergei saw a car down by the gate. He’s on it, but I want you to check the motion sensors. I sent Deedee to guard Petra’s room. Garrett’s manning the security center.”

“And the general?”

“In my office. I need to get back in there.”

“I’ll radio you.”

“Good.”

As we reach the top of the hill, the old hotel, imposing and formidable, comes into view through the trees.

Just like the facility in Wisconsin, this one has a metal mesh fence running around the property.

Lightning spiderwebs across the sky.

Even the thunderstorms I’ve watched roll in across Lake Superior weren’t like this.

Those were slower moving, with steady cloud banks powering in across the water, but here, there’s a primal ferocity to the storm. The sky boils with layers of clouds all somehow moving at different speeds, the lower ones skirting ahead of the storm as if they’re trying to get out of the path of the dark thunderclouds right behind them.

As the thunder explodes, it startles Alysha, and I realize it’s because she can’t see the lightning preceding it.

As we hurry toward the fence, I warn her every time the sky flashes.

Adrian was nearly back to his office when Henrik radioed him.

“The motion detectors have picked up something over on the west perimeter.”

“What? Deer? Bear?”

“No. We have three blips and the way they’re moving isn’t like any deer or bear I’ve ever seen.”

“Are all the subjects accounted for?”

“Yes. I believe we have some uninvited guests.”

“Go check it out.”

“Taser?”

“Take it with
yo
u, but if necessar
y,
use something a little less ambiguous.”

“Right.”

When Adrian entered the office, he found the general studying the camel figurines on his desk.

“You like camels, I see,” she said.

“It has to do with an old riddle my brother told me years ago. Look, I’m—”

“How does it go?”

“Um—”

“Adrian, I’m not driving down the mountain with the storm this close. You’re stuck with me for now. Tell me the riddle.”

He didn’t like the idea that she would be around when the deadline arrived, but decided he would deal with that, if necessary, when the time came.

Outside the box.

Always be ready to think outside the box.

He explained the riddle to her. “It’s a Sufi story. A teacher knew he was dying and he wanted his three students to find a worthy master after he was gone.”

“Okay.”

“He owned seventeen camels.”

Adrian separated seventeen of the figurines from the rest.

“In his will, he dictated that, upon his death, the oldest of his students would receive one-half of the camels, the middle student would get one-third, the youngest would get one-ninth.”

“One-half. One-third. One-ninth. Got it.”

“After the master died, the three students tried to discern what to do with the camels. But no one could figure out how to divide them up.”

“Do they cut up the camels?”

“Even then it wouldn’t work.”

She thought about it. “No, I suppose not.”

“So, finally a caravan owner who was passing by heard about it and offered them the solution.”

“And that was?”

“I—” A text came in from Deedee asking if he wanted her to confirm that Senator Amundsen sent his email at nine. They had a means set up to monitor his outgoing messages, but one of them needed to verify things.

“I’m sorry, General. There’s a small matter that requires my attention. I’m afraid I need to step out again.”

“What’s going on, here, Adrian?”

“What do you mean?”

“These texts, carrying your radio around—is there something I need to know about?”

“Just some added security precautions in case the power goes out,” he lied. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Mia and Kyle got to the shed first. As Nicole dashed across the road to join them, the rain began.

It started with large raindrops that seemed to be the size of dimes as they splattered onto the ground.

A few splashed against her arms, her head, her back.

Slow at first.

But growing in intensity.

She made it to the shed.

The overhanging roof would allow them a little protection, but whoever was in the Estoria would easily be able to see them if they waited out here.

Drop. And drop.

And drop.

Faster now.

Kyle tugged at the door, but it refused to open.

However, the nails securing the hasp that held it shut were loose and rusted.

He threw his weight into it, but it still wasn’t enough. “If we could get that latch off, maybe I could—”

Mia snapped out her knife and handed it to him. “Try Lucy.”

“You named your knife ‘Lucy’?”

“Daniel named his basketball ‘Alfie.’”

“That is true.”

He inserted the blade in between the wood and the clasp and tried to pry it off.

Tane clambers over the fence and then helps Alysha climb down to join him.

Because of my shoulder, it’s tougher for me to scale it, but I manage.

All around us, the wind is gusting through the trees. Almost as one, the branches bend before the storm as if they’re bowing to allow it to pass.

The Estoria sits between us and an outcropping a hundred yards away.