“That should work,” JD said. “Okay, I’ll talk with him and let you know.” JD then drained his beer and put the empty bottle down on the granite countertop. “Next issue and the most important: I know you people were aware of how pissed Ethan was getting that only Alexei and Dmitry were showing up for our maneuvers and even for most of our lectures. He wrote in his notes after Sunday night’s operation that he was going to terminate your role with us and kick you immediately out of this mansion. He even wrote that he’d threatened you, Alexei, saying that he’d get the Essex Falls police involved concerning your IDs if you didn’t do it. Whether hewould have followed through, we’ll never know. Nonetheless, the more I think about the situation, the more I find myself agreeing with Ethan and his conditions. We Diehard Patriots haven’t been getting what we signed up for, and considering all the money we’ve been paying, it’s pissing me off, too.”
For a few moments silence reigned as the five men stared at each other across the expanse of the kitchen island. For several beats no one moved or even breathed. The only sound was the distant melody of summer songbirds drifting in through the open windows.
“Well,” JD broke the silence he’d created. “It seems to me that there is an easy solution here.” He looked directly at Viktor. “How about making some changes. Let’s sit down and plan some very specific militia and weapons lectures for this coming weekend as well as another major nighttime operation. We can include some combat tactics of your choosing. Commander, you are the authority, and I’d like to announce to my members that you will be involved personally. We all look up to you.”
“Done!” Viktor stated without the slightest hesitation. “But I’ll need some time. What I’ll do is work on it this evening and come up with a number of lecture ideas and a proposal for a special operation.”
A lopsided smile appeared on JD’s face. He shook his head in surprise. “Well, that was easy,” he said.
“In fact I’ll get right on it this afternoon,” Viktor assured him. “Alexei will be in contact with you about it all tomorrow. However, since it is already Thursday afternoon, planning a major operation for this weekend and expecting it to be successful is too optimistic. After all, there wouldn’t even be enough time to procure the necessary ammunition.”
“Understood, Commander, thank you!” JD said. He saluted andthen got to his feet, as did Alexei and Dmitry. Viktor and Nikolai stayed put.
“One final thing,” JD added, switching his attention to Alexei. “I hope you’re planning on showing up for basketball again this afternoon. If you do, there might be enough for full court five-on-five. I heard from Dr. Bob that the visiting doctor from New York City is bringing one of his friends who’s supposedly quite a player.”
“Sorry, but please let them know I won’t be able to make it,” Alexei said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do out in the brewery.”
“That work can wait,” Viktor interjected to Alexei’s shock. Viktor then added: “He’ll be there.”
“Perfect,” JD said. “Okay, see you later, Alexei!” With a wave to the others, he turned around and headed out of the kitchen on his way to the back door.
For a few beats the four Russians stared at one another. No one spoke or moved. They all knew that JD had suddenly changed from a useful simpleton to a potential threat. The rear door was heard opening and then slamming shut. Viktor broke the silence. “We need to talk,” he said.
Alexei and Dmitry dutifully regained their seats, and the moment Alexei was situated he said: “Why the hell did you tell JD I’d come to basketball today?” he questioned. Although he knew he was overstepping his bounds by speaking up in such a fashion, he couldn’t help himself. There was too much irony involved. The one time since they arrived that he didn’t want to participate, Viktor was directing him to do so. “I was thinking I shouldn’t play today,” he continued. “Yesterday afternoon I was forced to approach the forensic pathologist and start a conversation, which was very uncharacteristic behavior for me. The reason I gambled doing it was because it was the only way to possibly find out why he was here in EssexFalls. Tonight, he’ll undoubtedly expect to pick up where we left off. He actually specifically said as much, and there’s not going to be any way for me to avoid it. Heaven knows what he might ask. I sense that he is a hell of a lot smarter than these local imbeciles, and I worry that he’s even been to Amsterdam, which will put me in a difficult position, to say the very least.”
“I trust you will be able to handle it,” Viktor said with a wave of indifference. “At the moment, the pathologist is not our problem. JD is our problem. He made reference to our IDs and the police but didn’t elaborate. I need you to find out from him as discreetly as possible what he knows of our origins from Ethan’s papers.”
“Why didn’t you ask him when he brought it up a few minutes ago?” Alexei questioned irritably.
“Simply because it would have given the issue too much emphasis. At that moment he was obviously vexed and uptight, which had to be handled with delicacy and which I believe I did. As you plainly saw, he immediately calmed. But we have to be certain where his mindset is. Ethan I trusted, or we wouldn’t be here. I spent almost two months communicating with him daily before offering to come to Essex Falls. JD is a total unknown, particularly this new JD who seems to have found a new persona in his new role. What worries me is that we might have to rely on Novichok once again if he knows too much, because I’m absolutely committed to one more theta prion release. Theta prion deserves a bigger calling card than a mere dozen cases. Personally, I’d like to see double that, which brings me to the status of the fermenter. How is this current batch of yeast doing?”
“I was just about to add the colorimetric dye to estimate the theta concentration, if there is any, when Dmitry burst into the barn and dragged me up here,” Alexei said with frustration. Itseemed totally unfair to him that he was the one who most wanted to have already left Essex Falls, and yet here he was the one who had to do the most work to keep them there.
“Well, get your butt back down there and do it,” Viktor commanded. “As soon as we do this final release, we can get the hell out of here.”
Chapter 19
Thursday, July 24, 4:10p.m.
Essex Falls, New York
Braking rather abruptly after coasting at a rapid clip around the corner where Main Street dead-ended into Bennet Avenue, Jack stopped his Trek just outside the Bennet Clinic’s double front door, throwing up a spray of gravel in the process. After dismounting he stood still for a moment, supporting his bike and breathing heavily to allow, as he explained it to himself, his cardiovascular system to pay off his oxygen debt. He’d ridden the four miles from the Hiram House into town in just a tad over ten minutes while entertaining himself with the foolish notion that maybe he could keep up with the peloton in the Tour de France.
Jack was in a good mood after Warren’s arrival and had decided to come into town a bit early for basketball, for two reasons. The first was because Laurie’s little lecture on their drive back to the Hiram House had served to free him up from his attempt to keep from getting pulled into Bob’s current enigmas. He had been fighting his urge to honor the mini-vacation he was on with Laurie, but nowthat she had in essence given him the green light, there were a couple of things he wanted to do right away. The second was that Warren had offered to drive himself to the playground, which freed Jack up until five. After a quick check with Laurie to learn that she and Jada were going to the Pilates class while he and Warren were at the park, Jack had jumped on his bike.
As a tribute to the physical shape Jack was in, his breathing returned to a semblance of normal within a minute or two. At that point he gave some thought to what to do with his bike while he was in talking with Bob and Melanie. He’d not brought any of the various locks he religiously used at home. When he’d put the bike in the rental car, he had briefly thought about the issue but he couldn’t imagine that there would be much risk of bike theft in such a small, peaceful country town. Yet now he had second thoughts after spending an evening with the chief of police. Considering that his Trek had cost about ten times more than his first car, Jack thought it was the better part of valor to bring it inside. With that idea in mind, he opened one of the double doors and struggled to wheel it in against the automatic closure.
Bob’s office was to the left. Turning to the right, Jack guided his bike into the empty suite opposite Bob’s and leaned it against that office’s unused reception desk. Returning back the way he’d come, he entered Bob’s waiting room. There was one elderly female patient waiting, and looking up from her phone’s screen, she politely smiled at Jack, who smiled back. Since Melanie’s desk was vacant, he walked around it and passed through an open door into the clinical area. In what seemed like a replay from the day before, he found both Bob and Melanie in the same treatment room with Bob doing another suturing job. This time it was on the base of a woman’s thumb, which she had sliced while trying to peel a mango.
Bob introduced Jack to the patient, whose name was Agnes Ferguson. While Bob continued his struggle with the very fine 5-0 silk, Melanie came out of the treatment room into the hallway to talk with Jack, closing the door behind her.
“We’re surprised to see you,” she said. “What’s up?”
“I had a sudden urge to follow up with you after our lunch conversation,” Jack said. “I wondered if you’ve had an opportunity to look into those issues we talked about involving the dementia cases?”
“I’m assuming you’re talking about the patients’ eating habits and addresses?”
“Exactly.”
