The Chemist

Her throat was tight, and she marveled as she blinked furiously to keep the moisture in her eyes from pooling. She’d cried in grief, in pain, in loneliness, and even in fear, but this was the first time in her life she’d had tears of joy in her eyes. It seemed a strange response, something she’d never truly taken at face value when she’d read about it. This was the first time she’d understood that joy could be even more severe than pain.

She would happily have never left the bed, but eventually they had to eat. Daniel didn’t complain, but she could tell he would be pleased when he had access to real food again. It was strange, as they sat at the little table in the alcove eating jerky, peanuts, and chocolate chip cookies, laughing and scratching the dogs’ ears – of course they’d caved quickly and brought Einstein and Lola inside; if you were going to break and enter, you might as well do it in style – to think that they didn’t have to get back into the Batmobile and drive tensely through the night again. They had a dozen empty hours ahead of them, open to fill in any way they wanted. She had a fairly good idea of what they would probably choose to do, but the point was the freedom. It felt too good to be true.

So, naturally, Kevin had to call.

“Hey, Danny, you guys good?” she heard him say. His voice was, as always, penetrating.

“I’m excellent,” Daniel said. Alex shook her head at him. No need to elaborate.

“Uh, great. You got to the McKinleys’, I presume.”

“Yeah. The place hasn’t changed.”

“Good. That means it still belongs to them. Did you get enough rest?”

“Er, yes. Thanks for inquiring.”

Alex sighed, knowing Kevin would never ask just to be polite. Too good to be true, indeed. She held out her hand at the same time that she heard Kevin say, “Let me talk to Oleander.”

Daniel looked confused, clearly not following, but he handed her the phone.

“Let me guess,” Alex said. “You need us to join you as soon as possible.”

“Yes.”

The corners of Daniel’s lips turned down.

“What did Deavers do?” Alex asked.

“Nothing… and I don’t like it. Because of course he’s doing something, but he’s being more cautious now. He’s not letting me see anything, because he guesses that I’m watching. He must be making calls from other people’s offices so I can’t hear. What did the e-mail say?”

She recited it to him word perfect; she’d known he would want the details, so she’d memorized it.

“Not bad, Ollie, not bad. Maybe a little smart for me, but that’s okay.”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I want to strike within the week, which means you need to get here and get set to move at the same time.”

She sighed heavily. “Agreed.”

“Is the Suburban still there?”

“Um, I haven’t checked yet.”

“Why not?” he demanded.

“I slept in.”

“You need to toughen up, sweetheart. The beauty sleep can wait for a few weeks.”

“I’d like to be in top form for this.”

“Yeah, yeah. When can you move?”

“Where are we going exactly?”

“I’ve got a place for us to crash. Do you have something to write with?”

He gave her an address. It was in a part of DC she wasn’t familiar with. She thought the area he was sending them to was in a rather posh part of town, but that didn’t fit with her idea of a bolt-hole. She must be picturing the wrong neighborhood. She’d been out of the city for a while.

“Okay, let me get our stuff together. We’ll leave as soon as we can… if we have another car option available.”

“You’ll need to stop outside Atlanta sometime after nine a.m. I found a place for Lola.”

“What did you tell them? About the bullet hole in her leg, I mean?”

“You were in a carjacking. Both you and the dog were injured. You’re heading to Atlanta to stay with your mother for a while, but she’s allergic. You’re very traumatized, and they shouldn’t ask about it. Your name is Andy Wells, and they know you’ll pay cash. I’m your concerned brother in this scenario, by the way.”

“Nice.”

“Of course. Now go check the garage and call me back.”

“Wilco, sir,” she said sarcastically.

He hung up on her.

“Are we really going to steal the McKinleys’ car?” Daniel asked.

“If we’re lucky, yes.”

He sighed.

“Look, we’ll leave the Humvee in the garage. It’s got to be worth four or five Suburbans at least. If we aren’t able to bring their car back, they won’t take a loss, right?”

“I suppose. Kevin won’t like his favorite plaything being offered as collateral.”

“That part’s just the gravy.”

The house key fit the garage door. Daniel promised that inside and just to the right of the door, next to the light switch, there would be a little hook with two sets of car keys hanging from it. He flipped the switch.

Alex gasped. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

“Huh, they got a new car,” Daniel said, less excited. “I guess the old Suburban must have finally quit.”

Alex moved around the vehicle, stroking its side with her fingertips. “Look at this, Daniel! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”