The Law of Nines (Sword of Truth 15.50)

“Dear God.” He was silent for a moment. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. You have my deepest sympathy, Mr. Rahl.”

“Thank you.”

“I remember very well your mother not being able to take title to the land because she fell ill, but I had no idea that she was at Mother of Roses. What a strange coincidence that Mr. Buckman was at the same institution, and on the same floor.”

“Yes, that is quite the coincidence.”

Alex didn’t generally believe in coincidences. His mind raced as he tried to fit the pieces together.

“Have you tried contacting the authorities here in Nebraska to find out if Mr. Buckman might have been one of the people who escaped the blaze? I’ve heard that it was quite a chaotic scene but most of the patients did manage to escape.”

“I heard the same encouraging news. I’ve tried to get more information, but there seems to be quite a lot of confusion right now. Being a lawyer, I was able to get ahold of the state hospital authority, but no one can even find a patient register.”

“Are there other records?” Alex asked.

“I was told that the records at the hospital were destroyed in the fire. There were supposed to be backups of all the patient files kept off-site but there was apparently some kind of problem with the backup—they said it might have been a computer virus or something. No one knew about it until they went to retrieve the information and discovered that it was corrupted beyond recovery. So, the authorities there are in the dark even about how many people might have been under care at the facility. That makes it even more difficult to determine how many may have died.

“—Oh, I’m sorry. Here I am going on about Mr. Buckman and side issues when you lost your mother there. You probably need to get back to making arrangements.”

“No, it’s all right. There aren’t really any arrangements to be made. I don’t have any living relatives. My grandfather died a short while back. Being confined in a mental hospital all these years, my mother didn’t have any friends or really even know anyone. There’s actually nothing to be done. I will have to wait for any remains to be found—if they ever are. The fire was pretty intense. For now, there’s really nothing I can do.”

“I see. Are you headed here, then?”

Alex thought that he detected an odd tension in the question. “Yes. I will need to look into what flights are available. I’ll try to get the earliest flight we can going to Boston.”

“We? You have someone with you?”

“My fiancée.”

Another pause. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. You’ll get to meet her. She’s a wonderful person. She has been helping me get through the loss of my mother. Her name is Jax. She’s here with me now. I have you on speaker if you would like to say hello.”

Jax leaned in at Alex’s urging. “Hello, Mr. Fenton.”

“How do you do? I’m so sorry to hear of your unexpected trouble.”

“Thank you. We’re doing the best we can.”

“I look forward to meeting you soon, then.”

“We can’t get there fast enough,” Jax said.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I have a flight number,” Alex put in.

There was a long pause. “Mr. Rahl, I suggest that you not fly.”

Alex’s antennae went up. “Why is that?”

Again a pause. “Mr. Rahl, may I be honest with you?”

“I wish you would.”

“I fear that certain people may be watching the airlines, trying to find you.”

Alex’s blood went cold. “Certain people?”

“It’s possible that you could be in danger from these people. They might be expecting you to head here. They may be watching airports and bus stations—any kind of place you would go to take public transportation. I don’t mean to alarm you, Mr. Rahl, but I believe that these people could possibly be dangerous.”

“I think I know what you mean.”

Another pause, longer this time, as if the man was considering what to say, or maybe how much to say. “Have you been approached, or . . . threatened by anyone?”

“I think we’re talking about the same people. I’ve run into them already.”

“Are you all right?” he asked in a rush. There was genuine concern, even alarm, in his voice.

“Yes. Right now I think it best if I get there as soon as possible. I have your address—”

“No.”

“No?”

“Well, the thing is . . .” There was another pause before the man went on. “I fear that these same people might be watching my offices. I don’t really have any way to tell. I’m sorry—I don’t mean to alarm you unduly. It’s possible that I’m simply being paranoid.”

Alex took a deep breath. “Mr. Fenton, this is too important for us to keep up this pretense. You were honest with me, I’m going to be honest with you. You need to listen to me and listen carefully. These people are killers.”

Alex didn’t know if the man would scoff, or hang up.

“I’m listening, Mr. Rahl.”

Alex thought that it was a good sign that the lawyer didn’t try to minimize the danger. In fact, the man sounded concerned, even frightened.

“First of all, I’m Alex.”

Alex could imagine the man smiling with relief. “My first name is Myron, but if you call me by that name I’ll sue you for pain and suffering. Everyone calls me Mike.”

Alex smiled. “I have enough on my plate without a lawsuit. Mike it is. I know it may sound far-fetched, but you need to trust me about all of this. I know what I’m talking about. I need you to do exactly as I tell you. First thing, does this number show up on your phone?”

“Yes. I’ll have it in the caller ID memory.”

“No, you won’t.”

“But my phone—”

“I don’t want you using any phone you have now. These people can somehow track you with your phone. From now on I don’t want you to touch any phone you presently have. Don’t use your cell phone. Don’t even take it with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

Alex thought that it was promising that Mr. Fenton wasn’t freaking out or recommending that he see a shrink, and even more significantly, he wasn’t arguing. “Memorize this number. Don’t say it out loud. Don’t write it down. Memorize it.”

“Done.”

“Good. It’s possible that the phone I’m talking on is now compromised because I’ve called your regular phone. I’ll have to throw this phone away after I hang up. I have another. Add one hundred forty-three to this number and you will have the number of the new phone. After you leave your office, buy a disposable cell phone and call me back on my new number.”

“All right.”

“Are you married? Do you have family?”

“No. Not close family, anyway. I have . . . good friends that I will need to talk to.”

“All right, but don’t take any phone that you have now with you. Best to get several cell phones. Use one of those others to call your friends. Make up some excuse—tell them that you will be away on business or something for a while. After you talk to them, throw that phone away; it could become compromised by calling them and then the people you’re worried about could use that new phone to track you.”

“All right. What else?”

“We’ll need a place to meet. Don’t say it now. Wait until we talk later. I know that these people have the ability to track people through phones, but I don’t know if they can listen in on conversations. I don’t want to find out the hard way that they can. I’d rather be too cautious than spend eternity in my grave wishing I’d been more careful.”

“I understand. I will pick up some phones and call you then.”

“When you leave your office, go home and pack a bag. You need to stay away from any place you are known to frequent. Don’t go stay with a friend. Don’t stay at your office or at a club if you’re a member of one. You need to go somewhere tha

t you don’t frequent, a place you’ve never been. Make sure you aren’t followed. Once there, don’t go back to a known location or these people could be spooked enough to pick you up right then and there.”

“I understand.” There was a pause. “Alex, are you sure that such extreme measures are necessary? I mean the staying away from any known locations and all?”

“The fire at Mother of Roses was set deliberately. They murdered my mother and I would bet that they murdered Mr. Buckman as well. They killed a number of innocent people just so that they could destroy any records of what they were up to.”

“Dear God. You really think so?”

“I don’t think so, I know so. I was there. I saw Dr. Hoffmann set the fire to cover their tracks.”

Alex waited for a moment, trying to guess at the silence.

“I must tell you, Alex, you have just confirmed my worst fears. We’ve been trying to gauge if the danger is real. You have just answered a lot of our questions for us.”

“Who is this ‘us’? Who are you talking about?”

“I think you’re right,” Mike said. “It would be best if we talk later.”

“You’re right. That makes sense.”

“I’m going to be leaving my office immediately. I will take all the title documents with me. I will have everything we need to transfer the land into your name. I realize that it may seem like a silly formality in the middle of all of this other business, but I assure you, it is vital that it be done.”

“I’d like it taken care of myself. I want that land in my name.”