Opening the file, it became apparent that the project the clinic’s funds were being funneled to was one called HAITI.
Fabi leaned back in her chair and considered the name. Sounded logical enough, pretty straightforward. Probably it was some charity initiative designed to help low income people. She still wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but with the project name she was sure she could find out more, both here on the computer network and tomorrow with a little “social engineering.”
Chapter 23
Maddock and Bones pulled the dinghy up onto the rocky pebble beach and tilted up the outboard motor. The Sea Foam lay at anchor a few yards away in deeper water. Willis remained aboard, though reluctantly. This wasn’t a place to leave their boat unattended.
After getting back in touch with Jimmy, Maddock had learned from him that this location — home of yet another defense installation, Fort de Rocher, was the site of the earliest recorded zombie activity in the region. Set on a remote island off the main coast, and long associated with pirates and treasure, Maddock decided it was worth investigating in person.
Bones gave a low whistle in appreciation of the fort that dominated the island’s central plateau. “Now that is what I call a fort.”
Maddock finished dealing with the dinghy and also eyed the historic building. An imposing stone facade was situated atop a towering rock spire.
“What’s the deal on this place?” Bones asked.
Maddock recalled what Jimmy Letson had told him. “This is a really old one, erected during the 1600s by buccaneers to defend against the encroaching Spanish. Two dozen cannon overlooked the natural harbor, there.” He turned and pointed to where the Sea Foam rocked gently at anchor.
“So how do we get up there?”
Maddock squinted into the sun as he tried to pick out a route up the near vertical rise leading to the fort’s plateau. “Should be a road on the other side. Let’s check it out.” He walked off the beach into a lightly wooded area. Passing through this was easy going, and soon they emerged onto a plain of knee-high grass that directly abutted the stone spire. Seeing no breaks in the smooth stone face, the duo made their way around the spire though the grass. As they turned the first corner and headed left along the wall, Bones suddenly cried out and began flailing his arms.
“What is it?” Maddock jumped to out to the side so as to get a better look at what was ailing Bones. “What the…”
A brown, furry blob about the size of a bean bag had dropped onto Bones’ head from somewhere higher up on the wall.
“Get it off me!”
Maddock rushed to his friend’s aid, but before he could reach him the big Indian rolled out from under the thing and kicked it away from him. It landed on the grass a few feet away, moving.
“Spider!” Bones yelled, watching the oversized arachnid churn its legs in the air while it lay overturned on its back. He assumed a defensive posture, still ready to fight, but he relaxed when it became clear the huge arachnid was now in its own struggle to regain its feet.
“Come on, Bones, you never shy away from a gunfight but you’re scared of this brainless creepy crawly. We’ve got work to do.” Maddock waved an arm and continued moving at a near trot along the wall.
“That’s the biggest freaking tarantula I’ve ever seen! Weird.” With that he joined Maddock on the path around the wall. “Besides, it just surprised me. I’m not…” He cut off when they heard something shuffling their way from around the next corner. Maddock stopped moving and held out a hand. They paused and listened. The shuffling noise continued, like feet sliding across bare earth, moving leaf litter and cracking twigs.
Bones drew out his knife again, and the two men advanced.
Chapter 24
An old man hobbled around the corner. Maddock, after checking his hands to see that they were free of weapons, signaled Bones to stand down. Bones exhaled heavily and sheathed his knife.
The man, a local Haitian by the look of him, merely nodded and set about continuing on his way, giving the two Americans a wide berth. Maddock watched him walk for a few seconds but then decided he might know something about this place that could help them.
“Excuse me, sir?” He didn’t know if the man spoke English, but it was worth a try.
The elderly person shuffled to a stop and slowly turned around, shaking his head. “Leave me be. I got nothing you want.”
Maddock held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Relax, please. We’re not going to hurt you. We just wanted to ask you a few questions about this place…” He swept an arm up at Fort de Rocher, then decided he better follow up quick with something specific to engage the man.
“We’re looking into some of the legends that have been told about this island, the fort.”
The man’s look softened somewhat. “There are many legends.”
Bones, who had been looking more and more impatient, blurted out, “What about zombii?”
The old man moved to a lichen-covered rock and sat down. “I tell you what. There have always been instances of zombii, and not only humans. Animal zombii, too. But at some point in the last ten years they all disappeared. The human ones, anyway.”
Bones sat on the ground cross-legged in front of the man so as to be eye-to-eye. “Why did they disappear?”
The longtime local shrugged. “Folks disappear all the time. Tortuga is and has always been a hub for illegal migration, so it's expected that people will come and go, and sometimes disappear.”
To Maddock, the answer seemed too simple. “Could anything else have affected it? Any other changes?”
Again, the local shook his head. “No. The only thing that was different at all was that people came in and started exporting lots of a particular local plant, a kind of fern — very primitive — that releases spores that appear to have some medicinal effect.”
Bones smirked, and the old man went on. “Not long after that began, airplanes started crop-dusting regularly. Weekly at first, then monthly, until now it's twice a year. Some people take ill after the crop dusters pass by, and the government has been petitioned for answers, but they always deny they are behind it. They say they have launched an investigation, but nothing ever comes of it.”
Maddock nodded, then shifted tack. “What about a legend of a lost shipwreck treasure, or a lost Spanish sailor?”
The old local cackled with gusto. “This island of Tortuga was a hotbed for piracy.” He threw his hands up in the air. “One legend is much like another and ships wreck all the time.”
Maddock tried a few more questions but it was clear the old man had already offered what he knew, and so they thanked him and asked him if he needed any assistance.
“I’ll be fine,” the oldster said as he pushed himself onto his feet from the rock. “But you boys… .” His eyes took on a faraway look, as though seeing something related to their future. “You boys be careful.”
Chapter 25
Fabi heard the clinic manager — not Dr. Avila but another physician in charge of day-to-day operations— close his office door. She heard his key turn in the lock and then listened as his footsteps approached her office. The closest building exit to him was in the other direction, so Fabi guessed he was going out of his way to stop by her office, since her light was on and the door open. Anticipating his arrival within seconds, Fabi cleared her screen of the document she had been looking at and replaced it with a routine accounting form.