“Wel , whoever it was, they didn’t come to harm us, just take back what was theirs.”
Weezy grabbed his arm and squeezed. “The Xeroxes! Do you have them?”
He nodded. “Safely hidden away.”
“You’re sure?” Her eyes bored into his. “When was the last time you saw them?” “Um, last night.”
Her grip tightened. “Last night! Then the copies could be gone too! Go check.” “Weez …”
She was squeezing hard now. “Please, Jack. I’ve got to know. I mean, what if
that whole operation we saw last night was just a ruse to get us out of our rooms?”
Jack shook his head. She was getting way far out now.
“I can’t see them going to al that expense and taking al that time just to get hold
of our little cube.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But you heard that cop say they could have come by
another route, from the south, but no, they flew right over Johnson. Why would they do that, hmmm?”
“Just coincidence.”
“And weren’t we wondering why they locked us in the car instead of shooing us
home?” She was on a rol now. “Maybe they wanted to give their
operatives back here enough time to get the job done.”
“‘Operatives’? Weez, do you hear yourself?”
Her tone turned angry. “Yeah, I hear myself. Now you hear this: The cube is
“Okay, okay. But that doesn’t mean the helicopters and the excavating had
anything to do with the cube disappearing. Someone may have been
watching your house, spotted you leaving, saw his chance, and took it.” “Just check for me, Jack. Please?”
He didn’t feel like going back into the house, but had to admit that whoever had
stolen from Weezy’s room while they were out could just as easily
—more easily, since he was on the ground floor—have stolen from his. Plus he found it hard to refuse that pleading look in her eyes.
“Okay. Be right back.”
“If they’re there, don’t bring them with you. Don’t let anyone know you have
them.”
Wondering at the bizarre turns of events since he’d dug into that mound, Jack
hurried inside. He passed Mom on his way through the living room. She was giving him a funny look.
“Is anything wrong?”
“Weezy lost something—that little cube I showed you the other night. She thinks
someone stole it. That’s why she’s upset.”
“She should report it to Tim.”
On his way out of the living room, he said, “She’l probably do that.” But as he
headed down the hal , he thought, Then again, she probably won’t.
If Jack were betting on it, he’d go with
department, which routinely traded information with the state police. And the state police often wound up working with the federal government—the
“feds,” as they said on TV. And the feds worked with the CIA, which was part of a network of global organizations.
In Weezy’s world they al had secret agendas. Not that she didn’t trust them to
do their jobs; she did—as long as those jobs didn’t interfere with their
secret agendas. And number one on their list of agendas was guarding the
secret history of the world, which included the secret history of America, which in turn involved the secret history of the Pine Barrens.
No, Weezy would expect no help from the authorities.
Jack had always laughed off her theories as wacky. After the events of this past
week he was finding that a lot harder to do.
Once in his room, he closed the door, then lowered the shades, thinking, I don’t
believe I’m doing this.
