“Those with technology to replace those lost tools will be able to rule the world.”
“Exactly.” Jax swept an arm out. “There is a whole world of technology here for the taking. Last night you went out and bought that magic glue—”
“Superglue.”
“Right, superglue. We use magic to heal in a similar way, knitting wounds closed much like you did. But if our ability to do that is gone, we will have no way to heal the wounded. Imagine the advantage Cain’s side would have with something that simple. How many people would give in to his side just to be healed with the technology only Cain could provide?
“But there is a great deal more. There is a whole world here full of things we wouldn’t have. They could walk into a store and buy things that would be invaluable in my world, if everyone in my world were stripped of their abilities. They could take that technology back through a gateway. Cain would be the sole source of the things that people needed to live, and only he would have weapons to enforce his rule.”
“But do you think this Gateway Theory is really right? That people could take things back through it to your world?”
“I imagine that Radell Cain must have reason to believe so.”
Alex sat down on the edge of the bed. “What is it I’ve heard you say. .? ‘Dear spirits’?”
“Yes, if things are bad enough.”
Alex rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. “Dear spirits, they want a gateway to run guns to another world.”
“Any ideas?”
“Sure, let’s call in ATF.”
“Who?”
“Nothing,” he said, waving off his flip remark. “That still doesn’t really explain my part in this. I’ve never even heard of a gateway. What would I know? What do they think I can do?”
“You’re a Rahl — a Rahl specifically identified by the Law of Nines. It was a Rahl who created the gateway. I think that if they could simply find the gateway and use it they would have done so ages ago. Since they haven’t, that means they can’t. For some reason they need you.”
“Do you honestly think that they intend for me to open this gateway for them? Do you really think they believe I can?”
Jax let out a long sigh. “I don’t know, Alex. Do you have any better explanation?”
“I guess not,” he said.
“So what now?”
He went to the desk and retrieved one of the phones he’d bought the night before. “I think I had better call Mr. Fenton, the lawyer for the land. I think we need to get ourselves to Boston, take title to the land, and then go up to Maine and have a look for ourselves.”
“I agree. It’s our only lead now.”
45
ALEX DIALED THE NUMBER. “I’ll put it on speaker so you can hear,” he told Jax.
“Lancaster, Buckman, Fenton. This is Mr. Fenton.”
“Mr. Fenton, hi. It’s Alexander Rahl.”
“Mr. Rahl, I’m so relieved to hear from you.” The man sounded like he meant it. “I was beginning to worry. Is everything all right? I mean, it’s been over a week since you had said that you were going to call. I was beginning to get concerned.”
Alex hadn’t realized that he’d lost track of that much time drugged up in Mother of Roses. “I apologize. I was distracted by some things for a few days, but I’m free now.”
“That’s good to hear. Say, I’ve been seeing on the news about the big fire you had out your way, at Mother of Roses. Do you know anything about it?”
Alex wasn’t sure what he should say, so he decided to be vague. “Some. Why?”
“Well, the thing is, one of my associates, Mr. Buckman, took ill earlier this year. His doctor thought that he was possibly suffering a breakdown of some sort, and as a result had fallen into a rather severe psychosis. They couldn’t seem to get to the bottom of it, so Mr. Buckman was sent out your way to Mother of Roses Psychiatric Hospital for extended care. I guess they specialize in that sort of thing. It’s a private care facility where he has been receiving specialized evaluation and treatment.”
Alex’s mouth went dry. “Treatment? From who? Do you know his doctor’s name?”
“The specialist in charge is Dr. Hoffmann. I was just wondering if you knew anything more about the fire. You know how unreliable the news can be. I haven’t been able to find out anything about Mr. Buckman. I don’t know if he’s all right or not. The news reports said that a number of patients died in the fire, most of them on the ninth floor. That’s where Mr. Buckman was confined.”
Alex shared a look with Jax. “I’m terribly sorry. My mother died in the fire at Mother of Roses. She was on the ninth floor.”
“Dear God.” He was silent for a moment. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. You have my deepest sympathy, Mr. Rahl.”
“Thank you.”
“I remember very well your mother not being able to take title to the land because she fell ill, but I had no idea that she was at Mother of Roses. What a strange coincidence that Mr. Buckman was at the same institution, and on the same floor.”
“Yes, that is quite the coincidence.”
Alex didn’t generally believe in coincidences. His mind raced as he tried to fit the pieces together.
“Have you tried contacting the authorities here in Nebraska to find out if Mr. Buckman might have been one of the people who escaped the blaze? I’ve heard that it was quite a chaotic scene but most of the patients did manage to escape.”
“I heard the same encouraging news. I’ve tried to get more information, but there seems to be quite a lot of confusion right now. Being a lawyer, I was able to get ahold of the state hospital authority, but no one can even find a patient register.”
“Are there other records?” Alex asked.
“I was told that the records at the hospital were destroyed in the fire. There were supposed to be backups of all the patient files kept off-site but there was apparently some kind of problem with the backup — they said it might have been a computer virus or something. No one knew about it until they went to retrieve the information and discovered that it was corrupted beyond recovery. So, the authorities there are in the dark even about how many people might have been under care at the facility. That makes it even more difficult to determine how many may have died.
“—Oh, I’m sorry. Here I am going on about Mr. Buckman and side issues when you lost your mother there. You probably need to get back to making arrangements.”
“No, it’s all right. There aren’t really any arrangements to be made. I don’t have any living relatives. My grandfather died a short while back. Being confined in a mental hospital all these years, my mother didn’t have any friends or really even know anyone. There’s actually nothing to be done. I will have to wait for any remains to be found — if they ever are. The fire was pretty intense. For now, there’s really nothing I can do.”
“I see. Are you headed here, then?”
Alex thought that he detected an odd tension in the question. “Yes. I will need to look into what flights are available. I’ll try to get the earliest flight we can going to Boston.”
“We? You have someone with you?”
“My fiancee.”
Another pause. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. You’ll get to meet her. She’s a wonderful person. She has been helping me get through the loss of my mother. Her name is Jax. She’s here with me now. I have you on speaker if you would like to say hello.”
