Izzy hadn’t known exactly what would happen when she mingled her blood with Black’s, but she hadn’t expected this. Black healed and younger, yes, because that’s what had happened to her after she mingled blood with that pregnant woman in Reno. She’d been thinking that had to be the cause of her miraculous recovery and sudden youth. That was confirmed now, as far as she was concerned.
But this, this was impossible and she said so.
“ It’s happened,” Lila said. “So it’s possible. Besides, look what happened to you. If you can accept that, you can certainly accept this.”
“ I don’t think I can,” Black said. Her voice had sort of a melodic ring to it. “How do we change it back?”
“ I don’t know,” Izzy said. “I don’t think we can.”
“ Christ.”
“ You’re a chick now, sister,” Lila said. “Get used to it.” She smiled.
“ Not funny,” Black said.
“ How about we call you Blackie.” Lila’s smile got bigger. Clearly she was amused.
“ Don’t like it,” Black said.
“ Tough shit,” Lila said. “You’re Blackie now and I’m guessing Blackie you’re going to stay.”
“ No, I think I’ll just stick with Black.”
“ Suit yourself,” Lila said.
“ It could be worse,” Izzy said.
“ Yeah, how?” Black said.
“ You could be dead,” Lila said. “You would’ve been if Dr. Eisenhower hadn’t healed you.”
“ She’s telling the truth. If I hadn’t done what I did, you’d be dead now.”
Black got off the bed, went to the mirror above the washbasin, looked at herself.
“ Damn,” she sighed. “I’m pretty good looking and those are the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” She looked over at Izzy. “I’m thinking our DNA got mixed up. Your white skin, my black, we get coffee with cream. But the blue eyes, you don’t have those.”
“ My granddaughter does. It’s a recessive gene.” Izzy got up from the bed, walked over to her, looked her in the eyes. She was still having trouble coming to grips with everything that had happened. She felt faint.
“ Easy, Dr. Eisenhower,” Black said. “You don’t look so good, maybe you better sit down.”
“ You’ve gone from bewilderment, to rejection, to acceptance awful goddamn fast,” Lila said.
“ Yeah, the courage to accept what you can’t change, or something like that,” Black said.
“ So, now what?” Lila said. “We can’t stay here forever.”
“ I’ve got a winter job up at Howard Prairie Lake,” Black said. “It’s a camping resort up in the mountains east of Ashland. I’m up there all winter, November to April. Other than me, the resort is deserted.”
“ Deserted,” Lila said, “why?”
“ Usually, the place gets snowed it.” Black was still looking in the mirror.
“ Sounds perfect,” Lila said. “We should be going.” She smiled. “And I thought I was going to have to leave my car. If we’re going to be out of sight all winter, there’s no reason why I can’t bring it along.”
“ No reason.” Black turned away from the mirror.
“ What about the policeman next door?” Izzy said.
“ He’ll be fine,” Lila said. “The drug will wear off and he’ll go home.”
“ What policeman?” Black said.
“ That reminds me,” Izzy said. “I left the girls at a motel in Susanville. My daughter-in-law was supposed to pick them up and keep them out of sight. I should call and make sure they’re okay.” She got up, started for the phone, picked up the receiver.
“ What policeman?” Black said again.
Lila told him, then to Izzy, “You think it’s safe to call? Is it possible the cops know about her? Could they be waiting for your call, so they could track you?”
“ I hadn’t thought about that.” Izzy cradled the phone.
“ I’ve got a satellite phone up at the lake,” Black said. “Completely untraceable.”
“ You’re sure?” Lila said.
“ I’ve had my own reasons for not wanting my phone calls traced,” Black said. “I’m sure.”
“ Then it’s settled,” Lila said. “We’ll pack up and hide out at this resort. Dr. Eisenhower can check on her granddaughter when we get up there.”
“ Call me Izzy.”
“ We got nothing to pack,” Black said.
“ Figure of speech.” Lila started for the door, opened it. “Let’s be on our way.”
Izzy took the new Charger. Hunter rode with her. Black rode with Lila and directed her out of the parking lot and onto the freeway, heading south. Izzy stayed right on their tail. At the second Ashland off-ramp, she followed them off the freeway, stayed right behind as they turned left onto Dead Indian Memorial Road and headed up into the mountains.
After about five minutes winding upward, they came to tall pines, a forest right out of Hansel and Gretel, Izzy thought. Fifteen minutes more of the winding road and Izzy saw the lake as Lila made a right. Izzy followed and in a couple minutes was parking next to a log cabin nestled in tall pines, overlooking a mountain lake that took her breath away.
Izzy got out of the car, let Hunter out. The dog took off running and barking toward the lake, as if he knew they were safe, as if he knew he didn’t have to protect her, as if he knew he could just be a dog for a while and chase whatever it was he smelled on the wind.
“ Home sweet home, such as it is,” Black said. “We’ll be safe here for a few months and with a little luck, that’ll give us enough breathing room to figure this all out.”
“ I can’t believe you’re not totally freaking out,” Izzy said. “I would be.”
“ Actually, maybe not, Dr. Eisenhower,” Lila said. “You seem to be doing okay.”
“ You can call me Izzy,” Izzy reminded her. “And yeah, but so much more has happened to him.”
“ You mean her,” Lila said. “And yes, it’s amazing. She’s great under pressure. You should’ve seen him, I mean her, when these bad guys came at me in a helicopter. She was awesome, shot ’em out of the sky. It’s kind of scary how quickly she adjusts.”
“ I’ll say.”
“ When you’re as old as I am,” Black said, “you learn to take life as it comes and when you’ve lived the kind of life I have, you learn to react without thinking.”
Izzy grabbed her upper arms, rubbed her hands up and down them. “It’s kinda cold.”
“ Let’s get inside,” Black said. “I’ll start a fire and fire up the sat phone, so you can make your call.”
But when Izzy called, all she got was a voicemail message. This was the first time she’d heard her son’s voice in more years than she cared to remember. He still sounded the same after all this time as he said they were out and to please call back after 6:00. She sighed. Nothing for it but to wait. She hung up without leaving a message.
“ They’re not home.”
“ That doesn’t sound good,” Lila said. “Your picture is all over the TV and your granddaughter looks just like you.”
“ The message sounded pretty ordinary, not like anything was wrong.”
“ I hope you’re right,” Lila said. Then, “I wonder if that detective is going to call it quits and head back to Reno.” She rubbed a hand through her hair. “So many people give their word when their back is up against the wall and go back on it later.”
“ He had an honest face,” Izzy said. “I bet he keeps it. I bet he gets in his car and goes home.”
“ Again, I hope you’re right.” Lila rubbed her hand through her hair again. “I really need a shower.”
“ Back that way.” Black pointed to a doorway. “Down the hall, second door on the right.”
“ Thanks.” Lila started for the bathroom, muttering, “I do really hope he goes home, because I’d hate to shoot a man with an honest face.”
Bob Mouledoux came out of it slowly, with a groan. His head felt like someone had dropped a refrigerator on it, his stomach like he had the flu and the inside of his mouth was bone dry. His tongue was like coarse sandpaper.
He forced himself off the bed, started for the bathroom. At the sink, he stuck his mouth under the faucet and drank, gulping water like a man who’d been too long in the desert. Thirst satisfied, he felt pain in his thigh, in the same spot a gangbanger had smacked him with a tire iron a year earlier. That left a bruise that hurt for days. This was worse.
And then it all came flooding back. Usually he was faster on the uptake, but his memory was vivid now as he remembered spotting the elusive Dr. Eisenhower in the parking lot as he was heading toward his room. He’d walked right up to her, pulled his piece without thinking and that had been stupid. There were two of them in the Fred Meyer store. He should’ve scoped out the situation.
But he hadn’t.
And that other woman had gotten the drop on him.
He limped to the bed, head a muddle. He assumed whatever drug he’d been shot with was messing with his thinking ability, because instead of calling it in, he was actually thinking about doing as he’d promised. Going home and forgetting about the two women.
But he banished that thought after he’d called Peeps.
“ Where are you?” his partner asked him without even saying hello.
“ At the Marriott Suites, in Medford, came back for a shower.”
“ You’ll never believe what’s happened.” Peeps sounded like a kid who’d just gotten what he’d wanted for his birthday.
“ Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“ Remember I told you Manny Wayne and I were friends?”
“ Yeah,” Mouledoux said.
“ He wants to meet you and trust me, you want to meet him.” Now Peeps Friday sounded even more enthusiastic, as if that were possible. “He’s been on top of this Isadora Eisenhower thing from the get go and now he’s got the means to catch her.”
Oh Christ, Peeps, what have you done, Mouledoux thought, but instead he said, “Tell me.”
“ We’ve got her granddaughter and her friend up at Mansfield’s place.” He sounded smug now and Mouledoux didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“ And why are you where you are and not at the station?” Mouledoux was afraid of the answer.
“ Because Manny Wayne just made me rich as God and he wants to do the same for you.” There it was. Peeps had sold out, was trying to trade Eisenhower for money. Obviously, Mansfield Wayne was chasing the Fountain of Youth. He had half a mind to tell Peeps just what he thought about him and his pal Mansfield, but he held his tongue.
“ Why me? What does he want with me?” he said, instead.
“ Because, with the exception of me and Manny’s hit woman Lila Booth, nobody else knows about what happened to Eisenhower and Manny wants to keep it that way.”
“ Can Wayne hear you now?” Mouledoux thought so, but he wanted to be sure.
“ Yes, he didn’t want me to tell you at first, but I told him you’re our kind of person, that you’d come on board.”
“ What’s he offering?” Mouledoux said, remembering the dead doctors and that dead lawyer. Maybe it wasn’t Eisenhower who’d killed them. If Peeps thought he was on easy street, maybe was dead wrong.
“ More money than you ever dreamed of and an eternity to spend it.”
Again, he thought about telling Peeps where to shove it, but he was a cop and he needed to see it through to the end. And, if at all possible, he needed to keep his word to Eisenhower’s protector, who must be this Lila Booth hit woman Peeps just told him about. But again he said the opposite of what he’d wanted to.
“ Tell Mr. Wayne I’m his man.” He bit his lower lip. He hated betraying his badge, even if only in a lie. “After all, who wouldn’t want to live forever.” He didn’t know how he was going to do it, but he was going to get those girls free, without involving the cops or the feds. He’d given his word to this Lila Booth person and Dr. Eisenhower and when he gave his word, he kept it. Besides, Peeps was his partner. The last thing Mouledoux wanted was to see him arrested, tried and sent to prison. He sighed. He’d promised those women he’d stay out of it, but under the circumstances, he reasoned, they’d forgive his continued involvement.
“ That’s my boy,” Peeps said. “I knew we could count on you. How fast can you get up here?”
“ I’m five hours away, maybe a bit more.” He looked at his watch, 4:30. “Give me the address and I should be getting there around 11:00 or so.”
“ Great, let me put Manny on the phone.”
Showered and rested, Lila sipped at her tea. It wasn’t the Earl Grey she was used to, but in a pinch Lipton would do. She thought about her future as she took a second sip. This was the life; a wooden rocker in front of a fireplace, tea with cream, well, evaporated milk, but it was a good substitute, and not a care in the world.
Her house in Reno was secure, but even if it weren’t, there wasn’t anything there she couldn’t walk away from. Her savings were stashed away in Switzerland and the Caymans and that’s really all she needed. That, and the passports in her bag. With those, she could travel anywhere, start over anywhere.
She got out of the rocker.
“ Okay, I’m going down to the lake.”
“ We’ll be here.” Black was engrossed in a camera magazine. She said she’d taken up photography a year or so ago and was getting good at it, but she hadn’t felt she’d had enough years left to be great. Now, it looks like she did.
“ You wanna come, Dr. Eisenhower?”
“ No, but can you take the dog? He could use a little exercise. And for the last time, call me Izzy.”
“ Alright, Izzy.” Then, “Are you sure you don’t wanna come, a walk in the fresh air might do you some good, might clear your head.”
“ My head’s pretty clear. Besides, I want to keep trying my son’s. I’m starting to get worried.” She’d called several times, despite the fact that the voicemail message said to call after 6:00. She was worried and that worried Lila, because Izzy Eisenhower was one cool customer.
“ You got twenty minutes. If he doesn’t answer then, then you can start to worry. Right now, it’s pointless.” She went to the door, turned to the dog. “Coming?”
At the lake, Lila reveled in the solitude as Hunter ran ahead and she wondered what it would be like, to be old, thinking your life was almost over, then to wind up with a second chance. Izzy made the most of her first go round, but it looked like Black maybe hadn’t.
She hadn’t either, but fortunately she didn’t have to wait till she was at death’s door to turn her life around. She’d done some bad things in her life, but that was all over now. No more killing. When winter was through, she’d find someplace to settle and she’d do something worthwhile with her life, make something of the new person she planned on becoming.
“ Lila!” Izzy’s shout sounded desperate, distressed. Lila started for the cabin at a full run. The dog did, too. She saw Izzy and Black on the front porch. They looked okay. A quick look around, everything seemed normal, no black Suburbans. Lila slowed to a jog. It must’ve been the phone call. Amy Eisenhower must be in some kind of trouble.
At the cabin, Lila caught her breath, said, “Your granddaughter?”
“ They have her,” Izzy said. “I have to go.”
“ Tell me.”
“ When my son got home from the prison-”
“ Whoa, stop!” Lila said. “The prison?”
“ He’s the warden.”
“ At the prison in Susanville?” Lila said.
“ Yes.”
“ Ah, okay, go on.”
“ When he got home, he found his wife tied up in the bedroom with a note telling him to have me call Mansfield Wayne and nobody else if I want my granddaughter back.”
“ Of course you called,” Lila said.
“ He says if I come up to his home outside of Reno and give him some of my blood, that he’ll let her go. He says he won’t harm me, Amy or her friend. All he wants is some of my blood.”
“ He’s lying.”
“ I know, but I have to go.”
“ I’ll get my gear.” Lila went inside, got her duster from the closet where she’d hung it, put it on. In the bedroom that had been assigned her, she got the dart gun and the envelope with her cash and papers out of her bag. She took her passports and additional driver’s licenses out of the envelope, put them in the bag, then she zipped it up, slung it over her shoulder. She found a pen on the nightstand, she took the pink slip to the Jag out of the envelope, signed it, put it back in the envelope.
In the living room, she found Izzy and Black, ready to travel, Hunter between them by the door. He was ready too.
Lila turned to Black. “You can’t come.”
“ And why not?”
“ Because there’s something going on here bigger than us, maybe the biggest thing that’s ever happened to mankind. We’re most likely going to be fine, because Manny Wayne won’t expect me to be coming along with Izzy. I know him and how he thinks. His home up on that mountain is almost a fortress and he thinks he’s safe there, that it’s impregnable, but I know it’s weaknesses. I know how to get in and get out without being seen and I know how to deal with Manny. Chances are very good we’ll be back with the girls.”
“ But,” Black said.
“ But in case we’re not, in case it all goes south, somebody who knows about this incredible thing that’s happened to you and Izzy has to survive, has to figure it all out, has to use this thing, whatever it is, for good.”
“ I’m an action kind of person,” Black said.
“ Yeah, I get that.” Then, brushing aside what she’d said, she tossed the envelope on the coffee table. “The title for the Jag is in there along with some cash. The pink slip is signed, so the car’s yours, all you have to do is phony up a bill of sale, that shouldn’t be too hard. I wish there was more I could do for you, but there isn’t. If we don’t make it, you’re going to be on your own.”
“ I’m not a staying behind kind of person,” Black said. “I’m going, that’s final.”
“ Alright,” Lila said. “I can see there’s no talking any sense into you.”
“ Nope,” Black said.
“ Okay, then you can follow us in the Jag,” Lila said, “because more than likely we’re going to need two vehicles. Are you up for a five hour drive? If not, you can ride with me and Izzy can drive the Jag.”
“ I’ve been a long haul trucker for over four decades,” Black said. “I think I can handle the drive.”
“ Good, then we should be on our way.”
“ Let me get my guns.” Izzy said. Lila wasn’t the only one with a carry on bag with a couple guns in it. She went to her room, got her bag, unzipped it on the way back to the living room, pulled out the forty-five. “It’s big and it’s loud and it’ll stop anything short of an elephant.”
“ Good,” Lila said, “because when we get there you’re going to have to think fast, shoot fast and shoot anyone up there who gets in your way.”
“ What are you saying?” Izzy shivered some as she put the gun back in her bag.
“ Manny has a security crew who guards his place. Six men. He’s given them ranks, like they’re his personal little army. The man in charge of this mini army is a major named Gerald. Under him he has one captain, two sergeants and two corporals. No privates in Manny’s army. Gerald and two of the enlisted are on duty from 6:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening. The captain and the other two enlisted take the nightshift. Then there are two Rottweilers. They’re fierce.”
“ Christ,” Black said, “he doesn’t sound sane.”
“ Plus,” Lila went on, “he’ll have his son Tucker up there with him and who knows who else. And I’m guessing he’ll have both his security shifts on duty, because he might be expecting you to try something. Manny Wayne is thorough and he doesn’t take unnecessary chances.”
“ That’s eight men minimum,” Black said.
“ A lot of people,” Izzy said.
“ Yes, eight minimum,” Lila said. “And we’re going to have to kill them all.”
“ What?” Izzy said.
“ That’s the only way you’ll be safe is if everybody who knows about what happened to you is dead.”
“ She’s right,” Black said.
“ But, what if we can get the girls out of there, without killing anybody?” Izzy said.
“ We’re not even going to try,” Lila said. “Manny and Tucker are horrible people. Users, takers, they’ve ruined a lot of lives and I’ve helped. This is a chance for me to atone a bit, to make sure they can’t hurt anyone else.”
“ What about the security?” Izzy said.
“ They’re not nice people either. Manny wanted men who were ruthless and that’s what he’s got. The planet will rotate very nicely without them.”
“ Still, if we don’t have to kill them-”
“ It we don’t,” Lila said, cutting her off, “they’ll come after you. Manny Wayne will never let up and if he dies, Tucker’s just the same. And if they told their security people about you, well they’d rip your heart out and eat it while it was still beating if they thought it would make them like you.”
“ I get it,” Izzy said, but it made her sick to think they were intentionally going to set out to murder eight people. She didn’t know if she could do it, no matter what kind of people they were.
“ The hard part for me,” Lila said, “will be killing the dogs.”
“ What?” Izzy said.
“ Woof,” from Hunter, almost as if he understood.
“ Yeah, the dogs, Hitler and Stalin.”
“ Woof,” again from Hunter.
“ Hitler and Stalin?” Black said.
“ Yeah,” Lila said, “But despite their names, I like them. We were close once. When I was growing up there, I used to sneak out at night, the dogs looked the other way if my treat for them was good enough. Once they sniff me out, they’ll come to me without raising a fuss.”
“ You grew up there?” Black said.
“ Long story.”
“ Don’t tell me this Wayne character is your father,” Black said.
“ No, but he made me what I am. I’ll tell you on the way.” Lila turned toward the door. “Come on, let’s go.”
Lila led Izzy to the Charger. Hunter got in back. Black got in the Jag as Izzy started up the Charger. With the car running, but still in park, Lila got out, pulled her Glock and shot out both front tires of the Jag. Then she hopped back in the car, shoved it into drive and peeled rubber as she shot down the drive. She pointed the car toward the resort’s exit and when they were at it, she stopped, put the car in neutral and turned to Izzy.
“ Holy shit!” Izzy said. “What’d you do that for? I was just starting to like you and now you do something like this!”
“ Because what I said back there is true. One of you has to survive and since Amy’s your granddaughter, I get it that you have to try and help her, though I would have preferred Black on this rescue mission, because she’s darned good with a gun and not afraid to use it.”
“ I’m not afraid to use a gun,” Izzy said, not sure she was liking Lila’s take charge attitude.
“ I know, but are you good with a gun? How much practice have you had? Can you hit what you’re shooting at?”
“ You’d be surprised.” Izzy grinned, despite the fact that she felt awful about Black, who was probably furious.
“ You can hit what you’re shooting at?”
“ Every time.” Izzy tried for smug, but she didn’t think she was pulling it off.
“ That’s good to know.”
“ So let’s get out of here.”
“ Not just yet,” Lila said. “The dog can’t go.”
“ What?”
“ Think about it.”
Hunter whined.
“ She’s right, boy, you have to stay and take care of Black.” Izzy got out of the car. “Come on.”
The dog jumped from the backseat into the front, got out of the car. Izzy scratched him behind the ears. She didn’t want to part with the dog. Hunter had become almost a part of her. It was as if he knew what she was thinking, as if he understood her. “We’ll be back, but just in case we’re not, take care of Black like you’ve been taking care of me.”
Hunter looked up at her, met her eyes and Izzy could almost believe he was about to cry. She held an open hand out and the dog nuzzled it, then he turned and ran back into the resort, she watched him, till he made the turn toward the cabin and was out of sight.
“ I swear,” Lila said, “that is one smart dog.”