The Dark Remains - Mark Anthony [185]
“So how did you know? How did you know where we were, and that we needed help?”
Mitchell’s eyes were puzzled in the rearview mirror. “You mean you didn’t know she called us?”
“Who called you?”
“It was your Denver friend, Marji.”
Travis felt Grace’s hand tighten around his.
“Marji called you?” she said. “When?”
Davis checked his watch. “Must have been a bit over two hours ago. As soon as Mitchell hung up, we hopped in the truck, and Mitchell drove like a shot down the canyons.”
Travis looked at Grace, but she shrugged. She didn’t know either why Marji would have called. Travis didn’t even know how she had known about Davis and Mitchell—
—and then he remembered her question, wondering who might know about them, and Travis had mentioned his friends up in Castle City. She must have remembered, then gotten the number from information. But that still didn’t explain why.
Travis folded his arms on the back of the seat. “What did she tell you?”
“Not a lot,” Mitchell said. “Just that you were in trouble, and where we could find you. She said you’ve been … that you’ve been somewhere far away, and that you need to get back. Only that pack of wolves from Duratek have something you need. And a friend of yours, too. Is that right?”
Travis gripped cracked vinyl. “That’s pretty much it.”
“You have put yourselves in great danger by coming here,” Vani said.
Davis made a dismissive wave. “It was nothing, ma’am. Mitchell will bang those dents right out of the hood. Won’t be the first time.”
“Thanks to your driving,” Mitchell said.
“Hey, it’s not my fault half the bucks in the valley are suicidal.” He glanced back at Grace. “You’re a doctor, ma’am. Is there such a thing as Prozac for deer?”
“I’d suggest counseling,” she said. “They might have elk envy. You know, bigger antlers.”
That elicited another whoop.
“Travis,” Mitchell said, his deep voice solemn, “there’s something else you need to know.”
At once Davis’s laughter ceased. Mitchell kept talking.
“On the way out of Castle City we saw something, on Summit Road. I think you know it, Travis. Dirt road, runs just east of our ranch. Just about no one uses it these days except for us, and only when we want a shortcut to the highway. But today we saw a car, and a couple of those black-suited men.”
Travis said the word through clenched teeth. “Duratek.”
“That’s right. We know the two. They came by our ranch looking for you a couple of days after you called us. We didn’t tell them anything. But then we saw you on TV, just for a second, in a news story about that new cathedral they’re building in downtown Denver, so we called Deputy Windom. And …”
Mitchell’s melodious voice faltered.
“What is it?” Travis said, his mouth dry and metallic.
Davis answered. “There was a sheriff’s vehicle next to the black-suits’ car. We saw her, leaning out the window, talking to them. It was—”
Connections sizzled in Travis’s brain. “It was Jace—Deputy Windom. She’s been talking to Duratek. That’s how they found out Grace and I were in Denver.”
“I don’t know why she’d do it, Travis,” Mitchell said, eyes sad. “I don’t know why she’d deal with those wolves.”
But Travis did. She had loved Max, and Max had burned. Because of Travis.
He leaned back, rubbing his right hand. How many more people would be drawn into the web around him? How many more people would be harmed because of what Jack had done to him?
You should never have come, he wanted to tell Davis and Mitchell. You should keep away from me. But his tongue was so dry he couldn’t form the words.
Davis scratched his neck. “So, do you mind if I ask what those animals were back there? Whatever zoo they escaped from, I think they’ve been feeding on toxic waste in the meantime.”
Grace sat up straight. “That’s it. That’s why they looked so familiar. They’ve taken Earth animals and altered them.” She curled a hand beneath her chin. “But how? Cloning? There’s no time to have grown adult animals from embryos. Gene therapy—that has to be it. Encase the genetic material in a virus, infect them, or