When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [63]
Each visitor had been assigned to a specific Colorado town. They had been requested to dress and act like vacationers; to stay in smallish lodges and inns like the Black Dog Bed & Breakfast, the Hotel Boulderado, the Briar Rose. As important as all of the visitors were in their own sphere of influence, they did exactly as they were told.
They could see the larger picture: the history of humans was about to change.
Chapter 65
THERE COULD BE NO EVIDENCE.
There could be no witnesses.
Harding Thomas led a dozen hunters walking “the grid” from Rough Rider Road out toward the Peak-to-Peak highway. They had dogs now, hounds stoked on the scent of the winged girl. The paired men and dogs were spaced ten feet apart. They marked off parallel lines as they cut back and forth through the woods. They were mostly former army officers. They chose to believe this exercise was in the spirit of national defense, and maybe even America’s survival.
When they had walked the full length of the grid they stepped out of it. Then they would mark the next section. They methodically searched grid after grid for any traces of the missing girl.
They didn’t speak or joke around or even light up smokes today. The only sounds were their heavy boots trampling the underbrush, and the constant snuffling of the frantic, overtrained hounds.
On the other side of the Peak-to-Peak were the impressive foothills of the Rockies. Two choppers were presently scouting up there. They were equipped with infrared equipment that could scan wide swaths of the landscape below. It reported back on a view screen every warm-blooded creature that it passed over. Deer, moose, bears, rabbits, birds, all creatures great and small.
The girl wouldn’t get away now. There was zero chance; zero possibility. She couldn’t hide from the infrared for much longer. Or from the hunters, the methodical trackers, the trained dogs.
But somehow, that’s exactly what she was doing so far. The girl seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
They’d been out here for several hours. The sun was going down in a hurry. It didn’t matter. The intense search would continue through the night if necessary. More help had already been called in—very worried and concerned doctors and researchers from the Denver and Boulder area. Men and women who worked at the School, and could be trusted with the truth.
They already had a cover story, and it was the best kind because it happened to be true—they were searching for a young girl who was lost in the woods.
Max was now a threat to everything.
Chapter 66
I FELT as if I desperately needed to come up for air. I simply couldn’t breathe. Kit had suggested that I go about my normal business for a couple of hours, take a break, and I figured that was a good idea.
Gillian and I had agreed to get together again soon, anyway. We’d made plans the night Frank McDonough drowned in his pool. Gillian had even made me promise to come. The circumstances of Frank’s death still upset me terribly. I just couldn’t imagine Frank drowning.
One of the reasons I don’t go to her house more often is that it’s about an hour ride. On the trip there, I started to have some really bad thoughts. First, David had died; then it had been Frank; now, I started to worry about Gillian. There wasn’t any logical reason for my fears, but I had this feeling she might be in danger.
As I drove, I had the unwelcome fantasy that I might arrive at her house and find police cars and EMS. The only saving grace was that I knew it wasn’t likely. But then, neither was David’s death. Or Frank’s.
I put my mind in a more positive place. Mind over paranoia. Visiting with Gillian was always one of the high points in my week. After David’s death, no one had been more supportive, more of a friend, not even my sister Carole. I could talk to Gillian for hours, even over the phone, but in person was always the best. Gillian had lost her husband about two years earlier. That was part of our