Conspircaies

Lew grinned. 'Here's the beauty part: you never reported the incident to anyone, not even your own family, but then, out of the blue, Melanie Ehler called you and asked him to come to New York to talk to her about it.'

'But how did she know?'

Lew's grin broadened. 'That's what everyone will be asking. That will make you a very interesting experiencer. Everyone will want to talk to you about it. And the thing is, you've never met Mel, never even heard of her, so you're free to ask all sorts of questions about her.'

Jack looked around. 'But here I am, sitting with you for all to see. How come I know you?'

'You showed up at the house, looking for Mel. But she's gone. So I brought you along to help me look for her.' He beamed with pride. 'Isn't that great? All bases covered.' His smile faltered and his Adam's apple made a single convulsive bob. 'Mel would be so proud.'

It was great. Brilliant, in fact. But Jack saw a way to improve it.

'I'm sure she would. And I'm impressed too. But let's ratchet it up one more notch. Let's say that I heard from Melanie Tuesday.'

'Tuesday? But that was after…'

'Right. She called me after she was abducted.' If she was abducted, he mentally added. 'That ought to shake up the guilty party and bring them sniffing around, don't you think?'

'I guess it would.'

'And as for you—play it straight.'

'What do you mean?'

'I want you to pretty much tell it like it is: Melanie took off Sunday on some last minute research and you haven't seen her since. Despite the fact that she told you she'd be gone for a while, you're worried about her—you even suspect foul play. The only thing you hold back on is who I really am and the, er, TV message you got from her Monday night. Got that?'

'Yeah, sure. I guess so. But what—?'

'Lew?' said a woman's voice.

Jack turned and saw a matronly woman, maybe fifty or so, approaching them from the hotel entrance.

'Oh, hi, Olive,' Lew called, then spoke hurriedly in a low voice from the corner of his mouth. 'Olive Farina, one of the cornerstones of SESOUP. A born-again everything.'

'Lew, it's so good to see you again!' she said, smiling warmly and opening her arms.

Lew stooped for a brief embrace. 'Good to see you too, Olive.' He turned to Jack. 'I'd like you to meet…'

Jack saw Lew's face go blank, no doubt mirroring his mind. They hadn't settled on a name.

'Jack Shelby,' Jack said, extending his hand. 'Lew and I met only Tuesday. Nice to meet you.'

Olive Farina had a sweet face and short graying hair. She wore a white turtleneck with flower-embroidered collar, a brocade vest that looked like it had been cut from a wall hanging, maroon polyester slacks and matching stockings with flat black shoes. Jack figured this was how nuns must dress when they resign from their convent. Her jewelry reinforced the ex-nun image: silver crosses as earrings, a gold crucifix as a ring, and a big silver crucifix suspended on a long chain necklace.

'Bless you, and nice to meet you as well.' She turned to Lew. 'Where's Melanie? I'm so anxious to speak to her.' She grinned and lowered her voice to a stage whisper. 'I'm hoping she'll give me a preview of her address on Sunday.'

'I'm sorry, Olive,' Lew said, 'but Mel's not here. Frankly, I don't know where she is, and I'm getting worried.'

He launched into his story, then worked Jack's 'experience' into it. Jack watched Olive's expression carefully during the whole exchange, but saw nothing suspicious.

'I'm sure Mel's just fine,' Olive said. 'You know how she is. She's like a bird dog once she gets on the trail of something. She's probably lost all track of time. Don't worry, Lew. Melanie will be here as scheduled on Sunday to tell us what she's discovered, and I know in my heart she'll prove that Satan is the master manipulator. He has to be—the devil is the source of all evil. Why just last night as I was praying I—'

Her voice cut off as two long-haired heavy metal types strolled by on the sidewalk. Her head almost managed an Exorcist swivel as she fixed on the one with the Black Sabbath T-shirt. Her expression grew furious.

'Excuse me,' she said and hurried after them.

Jack watched as she grabbed the Black Sabbath guy by the arm and got into his face.

'Are you a Satanist?'

'Sod off,' the guy said in a British accent and kept walking.

'Even if you're not a follower, you're doing the devil's work!' she said, following him. 'You're spreading the Evil One's message with that shirt!'

The voices faded as the trio moved off:

'As you can see, Olive is a bit, um, intense,' Lew said. 'She represents the thinking of a fairly large segment of the membership—fundamentalist Christian types who believe the End Days are near and that Satan is preparing the way for the Antichrist.'

'Keep thinking those happy thoughts.'

'She's a nice lady, really,' Lew said. 'Just don't push any of her hot buttons. The one you really have to be careful with is Jim Zaleski—a real hot-head, and a diehard ufologist.'

'You—follow what?'

'Ufologist—an expert on UFOs. He's a spokesman for the alien contact faction of SESOUP.'

'So SESOUP's not a united group.'

'About as united as the United Nations. Each subgroup pushes its own theory as the Real Truth. The other bigwig is Miles Kenway. He's ex-military and…well, a little scary. He speaks for those who believe in the New World Order conspiracy. If I had to pick one of them as most likely to be behind Mel's disappearance, I'd pick Kenway.'

I love this, Jack thought. It's like an alternate reality.

'Have you seen either of those two around?' he said, wanting a look at them.

'No. But I'm sure they'll be at the cocktail reception later. And Roma's giving the welcoming address. You can meet them all tonight—if we can get you in.' Lew glanced at his watch. 'Registration should be opening soon. Let's get up there early. Let me do the talking.'

Back inside, they took the escalator up one level to the meeting floors and found the registration desks in a corridor. Lew was pre-registered so he simply had to sign in. Jack stood back while the thin, middle-aged brunette behind the desk assembled Lew's badge and program. Movement to his right startled him—something small and brown with a long curved tail scurried along the floor. It disappeared behind the registration table.

Jack was bending into a squat to check it out when the thing jumped up onto the table.

A monkey. One of those cute little organ-grinder types with the pale face and the dark fur on the head—a capuchin, or something like that. It sat on the far end of the table and stared at him.

Jack heard Lew say, 'I'm also going to pick up my wife's registration packet.'

'Sure, Lew,' the woman said, digging into an accordion file folder. Her badge read Barbara.

Still staring at Jack, the monkey moved closer. Barbara glanced at it but said nothing. Jack didn't understand why it was staring at him like that. Didn't much like it, either.

What's your problem, little guy?

He pointed to the monkey. 'Is he a member too?'

Barbara smiled. 'No. He belongs to Sal. Isn't he cute?'

'Sal?' Lew said.

'Professor Roma. He tells everyone to call him Sal.'

She handed Lew an envelope. 'Ask Melanie to stop by and say hello later.'

'I'm not sure when Mel's arriving,' Lew said. 'In the meantime, I'm going to let Mr. Shelby use her badge and pass.'

Jack noticed that the monkey shot upright onto its hind legs, almost as if it were alarmed at something.