into the woods.
And the whereabouts of Joe Keller's missing finger would forever remain a mystery.
CHAPTER 26
It was past two in the morning when Matt and Nikki found a motel vacancy just outside of Stamford, Connecticut. Confused, bewildered, and more than a little frightened, they checked in and carried their small cache of belongings up one flight to a fairly standard, well-maintained room with a view of 1-95.
After leaving the shambles that was Nikki's apartment, they had ridden south in light traffic through Providence and on into Connecticut. It was a somber, silent ride, made well under the speed limit. Each of them was experiencing some tension born of Nikki's continued determination to involve themselves with the police and possibly the FBI in the face of Matt's desire to remain as much of a mystery to Bill Grimes as possible until his business with Belinda Coal and Coke was completed. Two exits past Providence, she asked him to leave the interstate. There, at a rest stop, she called the Boston police.
'There's been a double murder at the medical examiner's office on Albany Street,' she said, surprised by the composure in her voice. 'Chief William Grimes, G-r-i-m-e-s, of the Belinda, West Virginia, Police Department is responsible.'
A minute later they were back on the highway.
'Feel better?' Matt asked over his shoulder.
'Not much. Grimes will probably say that he doesn't know anything, and that some nutcase he once arrested is out to cause him trouble.'
'Once those bodies are discovered, I'm sure the police will begin to search out everyone who works in your building. It won't take long for them to figure out that it might be you who made the call.'
'I don't care. I know you do, but I don't. You and I are the only ones who can connect Grimes to Joe. It'll be our word against his, but two M.D. degrees have to count for something. After we wake up, I want to go to the FBI to report the murders and also being kidnapped. That's definitely a federal offense. If you want, I'll tell them I don't know where you are. That way you can get to Washington and meet with the guy your uncle spoke about.'
'Do whatever you have to do,' Matt replied.
'I'm really sorry if I end up interfering with your plans.'
'Let's hope it doesn't come to that.'
'You're angry.'
'I'm not angry. I would have liked to have, I don't know, solidified our position before involving the police — maybe speak to a lawyer.'
'Sorry.'
'Don't apologize. You've been living a nightmare ever since you set foot in Belinda. You have a right to do whatever you want.'
'And so do you,' she said.
'So do I,' Matt replied, just before accelerating up the entry ramp and back onto the interstate.
So do I.
Nikki showered and dressed for bed in the bathroom. Matt had changed into sweats by the time she emerged. He was reading a hostelry magazine in the armchair beside the small writing desk, as far away from the bed as possible.
'You coming in?' she asked unemotionally.
'Soon, maybe,' he responded in the same tone. 'I'm a little wired from the ride and all that's happened. Will the lamp bother you?'
'Not really.'
'Good.'
There were differences between Ginny and this woman, Matt was thinking, but not when it came to digging in. God, but he wanted to take her in his arms right now. Instead he stayed in the chair, flipping pages one moment, staring sightlessly at a bland photo of some snow-covered mountain inn the next.
Nikki rolled onto her side, facing away from him, but he could tell by her breathing and posture that she wasn't asleep.
'You sleeping?' he asked finally.
'No.'
'This has been a really hideous night.'
'Yeah. Joe was such a wonderful man.'
Several silent minutes passed.
'You know,' he said finally, 'in case you couldn't tell when I didn't even know how to pronounce the word, I don't know an awful lot about prion disease. If you're up to it, since we're both still too awake to drift off, I was wondering if you might be able to share some of what you know from your reading and that guy's presentation you went to.'
Nikki slowly rolled over to face him and propped her cheek on one hand.
'You mean Stanley Prusiner?'
'Yeah, him.'
'Is this a ploy because things are a little tense between us right now?'
'No… Well, I mean, yes… I mean I really don't know anything but the basics about prions, so I wouldn't exactly call it a ploy. More of a fact-finding mission.'
'You going to stay over there?'
'I don't want to.'
'And I don't want you to.'
'So, what am I doing over here?' He sat down beside her. 'Tell you what. How about I work some of that tension out of your shoulders while you enlighten me on spongiform encephalopathy?'
'I think Stanley would like that.' She turned onto her stomach as he began to knead at the considerable tightness radiating from the base of her neck. 'Mmmmm. Just a little softer. Oh, that's it, that's perfect. Okay, let's see, you already know that prions are little particles of protein that have the ability to reproduce themselves. No DNA, no RNA, yet they can reproduce. Amazing.'
'That's pretty much the sum total of my knowledge.'
'You're slowing down. You want to learn about this stuff or not? Much better. Okay. Prions are present normally in humans and possibly in every other organism with a nervous system. PrPC is the abbreviation for these normal prions. Some people and animals are unfortunate enough to have a mutation occur in one or more of their PrPC prions. The result is a gradual buildup of a toxic prion known as PrPSc. The brain and nervous system unknowingly adopt this imposter prion. Then the normal nervous tissue slowly comes apart, and the host organism dies.'
'Humans and cows.'
'And minks, and deer, and cats, and even monkeys. I suspect that the more we look, the more spongiform diseases we'll find. And prions may be at the center of some other neurodegenerative diseases, as well, such as Alzheimer's.'
'My mother's disease,' Matt said.
'Yes. That made me so sad this morning when you told me about her.'
'Most of the time I think she's handling it better than those around her.'
'Well, it's still too early to know, but possibly she has a prion-mediated disease. Are you getting tired doing that?'
'Nope.'
'In that case, a little farther out toward the shoulders, please. Nice. That's it. Oh, doggies, that feels good.'
'So, is mutation the only way to get prion disease?'
'No. Any means that gets the germs into the body will do the trick. The prions that cause Mad Cow disease or
