Transparency: Bio-Tech Cavern Secrets Untold (18 page)

Part Four

Transparency

Halliday removed his Glock from its holster.

Bright ceiling lamps flooded the large basement. Halliday stood on the stairs, about half way down. His feet were anchored to the steps.

Eyes and ears.

The basement door slammed shut behind him. “Shit.”

The door must have shut by itself. It could only be locked from the inside. Halliday prepared for the unexpected. Intuition told him that something or someone hunkered in the basement in front of him.

A slight rustling sound ahead gave Halliday an adrenaline rush. He lifted his arm, pointing the Glock.

“Detective Halliday, is that you?” a voice called out, oozing from the depths of the basement. “Please be you, detective.”

“Laurel?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

He scanned the room. The sound of her voice had come from everywhere yet nowhere. He saw nothing. “Where are you hiding?”

“I’m here on the couch.”

What? “I’m staring straight at the couch.”

“What happened to your face?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s not play games, Laurel. Tell me where you are.”

“You can’t see me unless you turn the light off. I’d prefer that you didn’t do that.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Please, stay where you are.”

She must be hiding behind the couch. He felt silly talking to someone he couldn’t see. “Laurel, the game’s over. I know you’re behind the couch.”

“I’m sitting on the couch. See the pillow?”

“Yes, I see it,” he said.

The pillow floated up. It remained suspended in the air.

“What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?” Every con had an explanation.

“I’m holding the pillow in the air,” she said.

When would they unveil the ruse? First, the creature in the guesthouse. Now they were using cheap magic tricks. He waited, expecting Palmier’s voice to screech out of a speaker anytime.

“Detective?” she said.

“Why all the subterfuge Palmier? You can come out now. The show’s over.”

“No subterfuge. It’s just me, Laurel, sitting on the couch.”

“You’re telling me that you are invisible?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a mermaid’s siren from within a grotto pool. “I had planned to reveal myself to you under different circumstances.”

Halliday retreated up the stairs. His hand brushed over a light switch. She had said he could see her if he extinguished the lights. Against better judgment he flipped the switch.

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

“Detective, you shouldn’t have done that,” she said.

Fear of the unknown held him on the stairs. Always before, adrenaline had overcome fear. This time he had no reference. Dull images emerged. He squinted.

It stopped his breathing.

“My god,” he gasped. He fought to catch his breath. The effects were staggering compared to the embryonic stage of the green translucent cow he had witnessed the other night in the cornfield.

“Detective, wait.”

He retreated up the stairs. His legs wobbled. He held on to the stair railing.

“I know. It’s hard.”

He witnessed an incredible transformation. As her features began to fill, he staggered back. He tripped and grabbed for the rail.

Astonished at what he beheld, he said, “Who? What are you?”

Her skin gave off the same greenish glow as Gennie the cow, although a thousand times more potent. It appeared as if an artist had experimented with translucent colors. Unlike the old sci-fi movies her invisibility included her clothes.

“I’m Laurel, that’s it.”

Laurel’s face somewhat resembled her photo. She appeared much older. Her charcoal hued hair fell in a haggard mess.

Denial became Halliday’s only weapon. “This is a high-tech hoax. Palmier and Genevive Labs manufactured you. You’re a better scare than that creature they hung in the guesthouse hallway.”

“What creature?”

“You know.”

Her eyes were verdant, diaphanous pools of sorrow.

“Believe me, detective.”

Were they measuring him for a strait jacket, his ticket to the asylum at the state hospital in Atascadero? Who were they?

“Who put you up to this?”

“Please believe, detective. Believe
me
.”

Halliday tried to imagine how a ghost would act. Weren’t they supposed to move around a lot? That’s why people chased them. Despite his uneasiness he holstered his Glock. His need to investigate slowly overcame his fear. He advanced one step at a time down the stairway.

She had stopped sobbing.

“In my current condition its better if you don’t see me up close, detective.”

His eyes darted around the room searching for the source of a hologram. He had seen apparitions created by electronics on the Syfy Channel.

“Please don’t come any closer. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m a cop.” He didn’t know what else to say.

“I should have returned to the cavern days ago to replenish my transparency. Jillian couldn’t take me.”

“Transparency?”

“That’s what I call my condition brought on by man’s misuse of science. Although Genevive Labs created me, they don’t even know it. Security men have been watching the house 24/7. Jillian had planned to risk taking me to the grotto tonight, but now… she’s gone.”

Her quiet sobs reverberated in his head. Halliday felt like a kid at a freak show, at the circus.

He could imagine Palmier announce, “Right this way.”

He had been lured into the dark tent by the smooth talking barker wearing Palmier’s face who boasted, “She came from a grotto, half woman, half amphibian. Like nothing you’ve ever seen my boy.”

Just the facts. He relied on his training to bring him back to an even keel. “Jillian left you in here before she went to work this morning.”

“How did you know?”

“The rug over the door wouldn’t have been in place if you shut the door from inside. How did you find out about Jillian?”

“I listen—”

“Do you have other contacts? Who else knows about your
condition
?”

“I listen to the radio. There’s not much else to do. News of Jillian’s death blasted out on every local channel... No one else knows about me.”

Laurel’s body form had returned in its entirety. She wore a Navy blue T-shirt with CAL BEARS printed in gold over jeans. Her head tilted forward, as if she had difficulty sitting up straight. In his confused state Halliday formed an image of a wild animal that had been clothed. Small phosphorescent streams trickled from her eyes. Her absolute fatigue showed. “Are you hungry? Do you need water?”

“No thank you detective.”

What should he do now?

“Now that Jillian is gone no one else knows about me except you.”

Whatever happened, the loneliness in Laurel’s voice would haunt him for a long time. The chief had said he needed to trust someone. He stumbled down the remaining steps toward her.

“Detective, there’s no one else here,” she said, as though they were the last two people left on earth.

He approached her, his eyes searching for wires, laser beams, anything that would explain it. If this was all staged someone went to incredible lengths.

Laurel’s utterances belonged in a grotto, far beneath the earth. Soft sobs, low in frequency, accompanied her trembling hands. She reeked of despair fraught with desperation. Her dank body odor, although noticeable, didn’t repulse him. In an odd way the smell reminded him of newborn puppies.

Halliday reached over. He touched her bare arm then pulled back, as if her skin had burnt his hand. Her affliction could be contagious.

Despite his doubts, he reached toward her again.

She appeared to be real. This bothered him.

Her ethereal eyes narrowed to thin green lines. “Please accept me, detective.”

Contagious or not, any damage had been done. He touched her again. Her skin felt rubbery, the texture of cooked asparagus. This was no hoax, although he knew little of apparitions. “Who did this to you, Laurel? Have the mad scientists been conducting experiments on you at Genevive?”

“What you see is a byproduct of the refuse they have been flushing down the well beneath Genevive Labs. I must return to the cavern, to the pool. You see, it replenishes me. I have no other choice. Otherwise, I’ll shrivel up and die.”

“How is it you appear out of nowhere?”

“My transparency is dependent on light. It’s an incredible story. You just have to trust me for now.”

He didn’t understand any of this. Despite his concerns he draped his arm on her shoulder. He didn’t know what else to say so he blurted out, “You’ll be all right.”

Despite her earlier objections she basked in his comfort. He could sense the tremendous tension in her shoulders melt away along with her tears.

“We’ll find someone to help you,” he said, but hadn’t the slightest notion who or how. “Where is this cavern?”

“The entrance to the cave is near Genevive Labs, at the base of the dome that juts above the campus. I know a short cut that will not arouse suspicion. Can you take me there?”

A buzzer screeched.

“What was that?” Halliday said.

“Someone’s on the front porch,” Laurel said, her body trembling more. “Jillian had an electronic alert installed.”

He patted her shoulder. “I’ll go check it out. Can you lock the basement door after me?”

“Yes.”

“When I return, I’ll knock three—two—three. Otherwise, don’t open the door.”

“Please leave the light on when you leave.”

Halliday raced to the top of the stairs. He flipped the light on. He glanced back in amazement.

Laurel McKittrick had disappeared into another world.

Halliday hurried out of the cellar. He kicked the rug back over the entry. Muffled voices from the living room were moving in his direction.

It must be Genevieve security. Halliday took a strategic position near a wall that jutted out from the laundry room. He removed his Glock.

“Halliday, what are you doing here?”

He lowered the weapon.

Chief Brayden’s face demanded answers. Behind him, Detectives Leo Bergman and Rich Gladstone expressed surprise. A key to the front door dangled in Gladstone’s hand.

“What the hell are you doing here?” the chief said.

“A lead I had regarding the missing ammunition didn’t pan out.” Halliday lowered his voice and said, “What brings you here?”

The chief said, “Let’s go in the living room,” showing Halliday a look that told him he didn’t need to give him a reason.

Halliday followed the three men, unsure as to why he harbored guilt.

They stood around the couch. The chief said, “We couldn’t find any trace of ammunition at the spa. It’s unlikely that Miss Andrews would only have the cartridges in the rifle, don’t you think?”

There must be a safe in the basement. “Chief, I’ve searched every square inch of this house along with guest house, twice. I found no evidence of fire arms or ammunition.” He thought for a moment and added, “I’ve come to the conclusion that it had to have been Jillian’s boyfriend.”

The chief exchanged glances with Leo and Gladstone. “What boyfriend?”

Palmier said he had told the chief about the boyfriend. “I understand her boyfriend Jack introduced her to firearms.”

The chief lifted his fat chin and said, “How did you find out about this boyfriend?”

“During my interview with Miss Andrews yesterday she opened an address book and a photograph fell out. It showed a smiling Jillian in the arms of a man holding a hunting rifle.”

Halliday cleared his throat of the fabrication. With eyes glued on the chief, he added, “Miss Andrews mentioned her boyfriend, Jack. I suspect the photo burnt up in the fire.”

The three men exchanged surprised looks. Chief Brayden squinted as if he had just noticed something. “John, you look terrible.”

Leo raised his eyes. Rich Gladstone’s face flushed to match Jillian’s Valentine’s Day colors.

Halliday dropped on the couch, clasping his head in his hands. “I’ve been getting migraines since that cowboy clobbered me,” he said to the floor.

Laurel’s revelations had affected him more than he realized. His fellow policemen gave him a few moments to collect himself.

The chief said, “You’d better stop by the hospital on the way back. Have an ER doctor take a look at your face.”

Had he lost his mind? Betsy always said that he spent too much time alone. He should have taken her advice, gotten married and settled down in Santa Reina with a houseful of screaming kids. He had been stuck on Judy’s memory for three years. Now, the delicate creature downstairs replaced it. Maybe the Hispanic woman, Señora Martinez, had known all along. The Martinez’s ghost at Santa Reina Sur
had
followed him home. Now it resided in Jillian’s basement.

The chief sniffed the air. “What’s that odor?”

“The intruder’s body odor, I suspect.”

The chief glanced around the room. “What intruder?”

Under the chief’s scrutiny, Halliday felt like a perp. He replied, “The intruder left prints. That should tell us something. I figured he’s a member of the Genevive security force.” He glanced at Gladstone. “I’m betting the same man who abducted Lamar Festus.”

Gladstone’s jaw dropped. Leo remained attentive. The chief’s eyes widened. Brayden said, “Lamar Festus was abducted?”

The young detective glanced at Halliday and Leo. He said to the chief, “Don’t you remember? Festus came up missing from over in Redwood Bluff.”

The chief appeared to gather his thoughts. Then he addressed Halliday, “You say Genevive Labs abducted Lamar Festus. Mind telling me why?”

Halliday went further out on the limb when he said, “Festus found out something he shouldn’t have. I don’t know what… yet. Before Festus ran off the other day he told me that Genevive security had been abducting animals throughout the area. That Genevive scientists had been performing weird experiments on them. He said they were after him now. At the time I thought the old guy was nuts. I’m not so sure now.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“Not yet,” Halliday said.

The chief shook his head. “Okay John, fulfill my fantasies. Tell me why you think Genevive Labs is involved in Miss Andrews’ death.”

He didn’t like the chief’s condescending attitude. “It’s linked to Palmier’s ex-wife, Laurel McKittrick. Whether she’s real or the concoction of a computer nerd I have to consider her. Brad Palmier and Genevive Labs have more than just a casual interest in her.”

“Of course they do,” the chief said in a gruff voice that left no doubt who led the investigation. “One of their executives has been threatened. We need to put an end to these shenanigans right now. Forward me all your voicemails and e-mails.”

“Yessir.”

The chief continued, “Festus’s disappearance proves that there is a missing person issue that we need to get to the bottom of.”

The chief’s eyes darted back in forth between Bergman and Gladstone before they settled on Halliday. “Starting tomorrow I want you to stop chasing ghosts.”

The chief’s voice held anger mixed with frustration. His eyes settled on Gladstone. “Rich, you work with Halliday. Let’s make this missing vagrant issue a top priority. Leo and I will follow up on the Andrews case.”

Gladstone nodded as Halliday said, “We need to call in forensics and have this place dusted for prints. It may lead to… the intruder.”

The chief smirked and said, “You think the prints belong to Laurel McKittrick or her imposter?”

“Chief, I don’t know.”

“Where is she, John?”

“I talked to her earlier on the phone. She wouldn’t tell. I asked her to contact me this evening. She hasn’t returned my call yet.”

“Hoping for another voicemail, huh?” The chief paused, wearing a tired, impatient look. “Where were you planning to meet?”

“I suspect at the shopping mall or someplace where there are a lot of people around.”

In the brief silence, the chief’s heavy breathing, that of a thirty year smoker, sounded raspy. He kept suspicious eyes on Halliday. “Damn, this gal might as well be invisible. How is it she’s evaded you and Genevive security?”

Halliday shrugged.

The long day had drained the chief’s face. Halliday had never seen him look so old and tired.

The chief rubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, let’s go over what we know, or at least what we think we know.”

Halliday waited along with Leo and Gladstone for Chief Brayden to formulate the right words. Through the windows he saw a uniformed policeman patrolling the grounds.

The chief began, “Laurel McKittrick’s imposter contacted John regarding a threat against Laurel’s ex-husband Brad Palmier, but there was more to it.” He glared at Halliday. “According to what we’ve learned the woman
may have been
in cahoots with the deceased, Jillian Andrews, to bring down Genevive Labs for whatever reasons.”

Halliday said, “Jillian
Foxworth
Andrews is a descendent of the original owners of the property now occupied by Genevive Labs. Genevive with the apparent support of the federal government steamrolled her relatives into selling out dirt cheap.”

Once again the chief looked flabbergasted.

Halliday continued, “Jillian and Laurel’s imposter believed both Brad Palmier and Genevive Labs, and the federal government, were at fault for the Foxworth family’s misfortune. Apparently, they discovered some wrongdoings that caused Genevive to place them under their microscope.”

They were all ears.

“I didn’t know of Jillian Andrews’ war with Genevive until today. I questioned Laurel, or whoever, over the phone. She confessed that she and the deceased girl had been working together. She said they had evidence of illegal cattle rustling by Genevive. I expect to learn more about it today. She wouldn’t reveal any specifics over the phone.”

The chief stared at him blankly. Then he glanced at Leo and Gladstone. “Killing animals to save human lives,” he said, “people are going to accept that as a necessary evil. Don’t you agree John? Genevive Labs has done a lot of good for our town and society as a whole.”

Leo said, “I’ve been taking Lupron for two years. Hell, my arteries are as clean as the inside of my gun barrel.”

The chief didn’t mention his prostate treatment. Halliday wouldn’t mention the dumping of human skeletal remains beneath Genevive’s science lab.

“The suspect is scared to death of Genevive Labs,” Halliday said. “She’s convinced that Genevive security murdered Jillian. She thinks she’s next. I’ll get the truth out of her.” He searched the chief’s eyes for understanding.

“Inform me as soon as you learn anything.” The chief motioned to Leo and Gladstone. “You guys head on out to the car. I want to have a quick one-on-one with John.”

After the door shut the chief sat down next to him on the couch.

“I want a report of everything you know about Miss McKittrick before lunchtime tomorrow,” the chief said. “John, don’t go soft on her. We have to get the truth out of her. I’m giving you some leeway because of Miss Andrews’ death.”

Because Halliday had withheld information, the onus of the entire case weighed on his shoulders. The chief and his detectives knew nothing of the earth changing event he had just witnessed, the significance which would dwarf their lives. Besides that, one of them might be working for the other side.

“What do you know about Miss Andrews’s boyfriend Jack?”

Halliday said, “Just his name, nothing else.”

“I’ll look into it,” the chief said. “It’s odd that no one knew anything about him.”

Maybe you should ask your pals at Genevive Labs?

“Quite frankly, John, I believe that for whatever reasons you’re not being forthright. That’s a side of you I’ve never seen before.”

The chief gave it some time, waiting for him to confess.

“Let me make sure it’s clear. I want you to give Brad Palmier and Genevive Labs your full support. Is there anything about that that you don’t understand, John?”

“No sir.”

“The Andrews’ case is a suicide. I don’t see that changing.”

Halliday had no response.

The chief contemplated Jillian’s doll collection, the photo albums, and the way her collectibles were so perfectly organized to appeal to the eye. He shook his head and said, “Too bad, she had a full life ahead of her,” in a voice not directed at his own demons.

The chief stopped at the door. “Detective Faulkner from LAPD called again. I told him you’d be available for an appointment in L.A. next week after the bio-extremists’ visit blows over.”

Halliday nodded.

“Are you coming back with us John?”

He sank in the couch. “No, I’ll wait here for the suspect’s call. My car’s in the garage, no use attracting attention.”

“I expect results, John,” the chief said over his shoulder in a
do it
or else
voice as he shuffled out of the house.

The door slammed.