Stealing Silence(12)
“Sewn into the lining of this jacket is a thumb drive with all of our research. They may have stolen the laptops but you have all the evidence you need to get help. Do not go to the police. We do not know which government agencies are involved and which are not. There is only one person at the police station I would trust, and even then, you must use caution. That person is Mitch Anderson.
“I have made arrangements for my brother to care for you should something happen to us. Darren will come for you. I am sure we will see each other again soon. Do not let the thumb drive out of your sight. It could save your life.
“We love you both very much. We will be together soon.
“Love, Mom and Dad.”
Chapter 8
The First Peek
MITCH GENTLY FOLDED the much-read letter and handed it back to Avalon.
“Do you still have the thumb drive?” he asked. His quiet, calm voice belied his pity and fear for the two girls. Mitch’s heart raced as he waited for their answer.
“Yes, it is still sewn inside the coat. I thought it was best to leave it in there. That way it couldn’t get lost. One of the two of us is always wearing it. Alexa shrugged her arms out of the bomber style jacket and handed it forward into the front seat. Avalon took it from her then turned the right sleeve inside out. Just above the elbow area, a series of neat stitches mended a seam in the jacket lining. Mitch felt along the area with his fingers and sure enough, there was a hard, flat object sewn in place. With a sigh of relief, he pulled his car key out of the ignition and slid it under a couple of the threads and tugged sharply, breaking them. The rest parted easily and he plunged his fingers into the opening to fish out a grey thumb drive. Written with a black marker on the grey casing was a date, three weeks prior to the Gainsborough’s disappearance.
“Do you mind if I take this, for safekeeping? It might provide some clues as to where we could find your parents.”
Alexa and Avalon nodded their approval and Avalon handed the jacket back to Alexa. Mitch slipped the thumb drive into his wallet and then back into his pocket.
“So, Alexa, your sister Avalon is a fugitive from the law.” Alexa’s eyes widened, in surprise. “And so am I, they just don’t know it yet. Avalon has agreed to do something very dangerous for me. She is going to sneak into the government facility where they make the fertilizer for the lottery distribution and ‘borrow’ a sample, so that we can try to replicate it. That may even be the information that your parents discovered, the formula that will make things grow again. Whatever it was that they discovered, it was important enough for the government to kidnap them for it. I say it’s time we knew what it is that they discovered.”
“Daddy was very smart. So was Mom,” said Alexa, proudly. “They knew all kinds of smart things.”
“And so are his daughters.” Mitch smiled warmly at them. “I cannot think of any other children as smart as you two. To stay alive and as healthy as you are in this environment with no adult help is simply amazing. Well done.”
Alexa grinned and Avalon gave her a thumb’s up, grinning back at her.
“Avalon is going to sneak into the facility, with some help from a confidant. She is small and wiry and with the map that my friend is creating, she should be able to navigate the facility and gather the sample we need. I will not lie; this will be dangerous for her.” His eyes caught Avalon’s to gauge her reaction.
Avalon sniffed and folded her arms. “This facility is nothing compared to sneaking into the bank last summer.”
Mitch raised an eyebrow at her and in a mock stern voice said, “You are a bank robber too?”
Avalon laughed. “No, I am not a bank robber. I stole nothing. I had just forgotten my coat and it was a cold night and besides, I wasn’t about to lose the thumb drive!”
“What was your jacket doing in the bank?”
“I was cold, and so I wandered in just after it opened and crawled under an empty desk to take a nap. When I woke, it was to the announcement that the bank was closing and I slipped outside without them noticing me. I watched them lock up the doors and set the alarms, only to realize that I had forgotten my coat.”
“Why didn’t you just wait till it opened in the morning?”
“Where is the fun in that?” She laughed, eyes sparkling. Avalon’s face always came alive when she spoke of an adventure. She lit up like a firecracker.
“OK, I’ll bite. How did you get past the alarms?”
“Through the milk box.”
“The milk box?”
“Yeah, the bank has a milk box on the side of the building. It was covered up with a board, but I knew it was there. I pried off the cover and crawled into the milk box. You would not have fit. I pushed open the door on the other side that emptied into the staff room. From there it was a simple matter of keeping to the walls and moving slowly so as to not set off the motion detectors.”
Mitch shook his head. He knew about the milk box too. It was only about a foot square. That, my dear, is why you are perfect for this task.” He twisted back around and stuffed the key in the ignition, starting the Mustang once again. “It is time for you to meet Peet.” He swung back out of the rest stop and stepped on the accelerator, picking up speed.
The telephone poles whipped by, blurring into the baked landscape. True to form, the sun popped over the horizon, a blistering red ball of heat that warmed the interior of the car to the point that they rolled down the windows despite the dust. A half hour later, they turned off onto a side road that wound its way along the banks of a dried up river, then took another turning down a dirt lane way. The gravel crunched under the tires as they drove through a short stand of pine trees and out into a clearing, where sat a small stone cottage with red shuttered windows. The land was clear of brush and trees for about a hundred feet in all directions, some of the stumps freshly cut. As the Mustang pulled up in front of the house, the door opened and a man limped out, carrying a shotgun tucked under his arm.