5
Definitely a loose cannon, Jack thought, watching Zaleski go. Ready to blow somebody away at the slightest provocation—if he hasn't already.
Jack hung around a little longer, checking out the goodies. He found a wristwatch in the shape of a gray alien's head, with flying saucers on the hour and minute hands. He bought it for Vicky. She was going to love it.
He sighed as he stuffed the watch in his pocket, fighting the feeling of futility that was slowly enveloping him. At least he'd come out of the morning with something. He sure as hell hadn't got any closer to finding Melanie Ehler.
Jack had been giving some thought to this gig while browsing the exhibit area. The nightmare last night, the weird crate in his bathroom…something very wrong here…and a damn certain feeling that things were going to become much more wrong before the conference was over. His gut urged him to cut and run now.
At least the tension he'd sensed coiling in the hotel all yesterday seemed to have eased this morning, as if a pent-up charge had been released.
He spotted Lew in the common area outside the exhibit room, and ducked toward the escalator, hoping to get away without being seen. He was itching to get over to Gia's.
But no such luck.
"Jack!" Lew called, hurrying toward him. "Have you found any leads?" he asked when he reached him.
Jack shook his head. "Nothing useful. Look," he said slowly, not sure exactly how to phrase this, "I don't know if I'm the right guy for this job."
Lew stared at him with a stricken look. "You can't be serious."
Yeah, he could be…pretty much.
"I'll give you the money back, Lew."
"I don't care about the money. It's Mel I want!" His face screwed up. He looked like he was about to cry.
"Easy, Lew."
"Don't say that when you don't know what she means to me. I was nothing before I met her."
"I thought you said you owned that plant over in—"
"Yeah, sure, I owned it, but I was letting it go to hell. I thought it was too much for me, that I wasn't up to running a business by myself. I was trying to sell it when I met her. She turned me around. She told me I could do it. She said I was perfectly capable of handling it, and she helped me. She showed me how. And you know what? She was right. I damn well could do it. I just never believed it. With this gimpy leg, I was never able to keep up with the other kids while I was growing up—couldn't run worth a damn, couldn't climb worth a damn—and that's how I began to think of myself: not worth a damn."
"Yeah, but—" Jack said, trying to sneak a word in. He didn't need to hear Lew's life story.
"But Mel changed all that. In my whole life I've never felt so good about myself. And it's all because of Mel. That's why you've got to find her, Jack. Without her, life means nothing to me. And you're the only one. 'Only Repairman Jack can find me. Only he will understand.' Remember?"
"Yeah," Jack said glumly, feeling trapped. "I remember."
"So please, I'm begging you—"
"All right. I'll keep plugging, but—"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you!"
Lew tried to wrap him in a bear hug but Jack dodged clear.
"Hey, hey. None of that. We haven't even known each other two days. But I've got to tell you, it's not looking great."
"You're the one," Lew said with a burst of confidence. "Mel said you're the one and Melanie's never wrong."
"Let's hope so," Jack said.
6
Roma stood with a group of SESOUP members, trying to appear interested in their vacuous blather as he kept an eye on the stranger. The man who called himself Jack Shelby was in animated conversation with Lew Ehler at the far end of the common area. He wished he knew the connection between those two.
He heard a sudden burst of high-pitched screeching and turned to see Mauricio scampering toward him across the floor. Something in the creature's voice sounded almost like…terror.
Roma stooped and extended his hand toward Mauricio, to allow him to scamper up to his shoulder, but Mauricio, eyes wide with apprehension, was having none of it. He grabbed Roma's fingers and began tugging him toward the elevators.
A prickle of apprehension urged Roma to follow him. Had he found the device? Had something gone wrong with it?
He put on a wry smile and turned to the knot of attendees. "Excuse me, but apparently Mauricio wants lunch. We'll finish this discussion later."
They laughed as he moved off. At least he was free of those dullards, but what could have put Mauricio in this state? He saw the elevator doors open and half a dozen attendees step out, leaving the car empty. He hurried inside and pressed the "8" button.
"The Twins!" Mauricio said breathlessly as soon as the doors slid shut. "I saw one of the Twins!"
A chill rippled down Roma's back. "Impossible!"
"Don't say it's impossible when I saw him with these two eyes!"
"Where?"
"On the eighth floor—your floor."
The chill became a frozen hand against his spine. "Lots of other people on that floor as well. Just one Twin? What was he doing?"
"Sneaking along."
"Near my room?"
"No. He was at the other end of the hall. I didn't stay around to see any more. I was afraid I'd be recognized."
Roma glanced up and saw a red "6" on the floor indicator. Quickly he jabbed the "7" button.
"Good idea," Mauricio said. "You wouldn't want to step out of the elevator and come face to face with the Twins."
"They cannot possibly know who I am. But your true nature is not so well insulated. They might spot you. As for me, I'm sure I could walk right past them without their guessing."
"Why else would they be here? It's obvious the Enemy knows—"
"Hush," Roma said as the car stopped. "Let me think."
The doors opened onto the seventh floor elevator alcove. Roma stepped out, pressed the down button, and checked the hallway. Empty. As the elevator doors closed, he paced the alcove, trying to order his thoughts.
The Twins—ruthless, relentless agents of the opposition. Created sometime during World War Two as watchmen, after the first guardian was released from his duties, they had proved to be a nettlesome pair, barging into areas where the Otherness was making inroads. But their ham-handed methods often proved effective, and the men-in-black myth that had sprung up around them tended to work in their favor.
But now they might prove more than nuisances; now they could ruin everything. Worse, they would destroy him on sight—if they recognized him.
"Let us consider this logically," Roma whispered. "We can assume they do not know that I am The One. If they did, they would have grabbed me at the first opportunity—they would not care where, public or private…while I was giving the welcoming address last night, for instance—and torn me to pieces in front of everyone."
"But they must know something," Mauricio said. "Why else would they be here? Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless they know what the Ehler woman discovered."
"Good thought, Mauricio. That might be it. Although, I will bet they know only that Melanie Ehler discovered something, and not what, and that is why they are here. They must have followed her husband right to our doorstep."
The slam of a door down the hall jolted Roma. It was followed immediately by the chime of the elevator car heading down. Roma leaped inside and jabbed the lobby button until the doors closed.
"Now will you abandon this folly?" Mauricio said quickly—neither knew how much time they had before the elevator picked up another passenger. "As I've said all along, it is not yet your time. Too many things have already gone wrong, and even if they hadn't, the arrival of the Twins alone is reason enough to abort it."