was so, but it was very much true that no visitor ever left the area without hearing that story at least three times.
Beale had endured the ups and downs of the economy and the whims of the rich, while its more moderately well-off citizens went about their ordinary lives in ways that occurred throughout much of the country. That was so except for one recent development in the area.
And that was a place called Babbage Town.
Sean King’s small plane landed smoothly on the asphalt of the lone runway and came to a stop, its twin props winding down. A slate blue Hummer pulled up to the aircraft and a young, lanky black man in a private security uniform got out and helped Sean with his bags.
As the Hummer rolled along, Sean sat back and thought about his visit with Michelle before he’d headed to Babbage Town. He’d called Horatio to make sure it was okay to see her before he left. And, in turn, the psychologist had asked to see Michelle’s personal things at the apartment Sean had leased for them both. Horatio had also wanted to see Michelle’s truck.
“Just wear a mask and gloves,” Sean had warned him, “and make sure your tetanus shot is up to date.”
When Sean had seen Michelle in the visitor’s room his spirits had been lifted by her healthy appearance. She even gave him a hug, listened to what he was saying and answered directly the questions he put to her.
“How long will you be gone to this Babbage Town place?” she’d asked after he’d told her about his new assignment.
“I’m not sure. I’m taking a private plane down that Joan arranged.”
“And how is your paranoid schizophrenic slut of an
He took the comment as a sign of her returning spirit and said, “Well, she won’t be coming with me. There’s a guy down there named Len Rivest who’s head of security for Babbage Town. He was with the FBI, knows Joan and recommended her firm. He’ll be my main contact there.”
“You said a man was murdered?”
“We don’t know for sure. His name was Monk Turing. He worked at Babbage Town.”
“What exactly is Babbage Town?”
“It’s only been described to me as a secret think tank working on some important stuff.”
“Who runs the place?”
“According to the file a guy named Champ Pollion.”
“Monk? Champ?”
“I know; it’s weird right from the get-go. But there’ll be a nice payday if I can find out what happened to the guy.”
“Is that how you can afford this place? I know my insurance doesn’t cover it.”
“All you need to do is get better. Let me worry about the rest of it.”
“I am getting better. I feel good.” Her voice sank lower. “And there’s something weird going on
“Weird? What do you mean?”
“Sounds in the night. People moving around in places they shouldn’t be.”
Sean took a deep breath and said in a mildly scolding tone, “Will you promise me you won’t get mixed up in it, whatever it is? I won’t be around to help if you do.”
“
“I promise I’ll be careful.”
“As soon as I’m out of here I’ll come down and help you.”
“I hear you and Horatio have really hit it off.”
“I can’t stand the son of a bitch.”
“Good, then you
A few minutes later he’d started to leave when she clutched his arm. “If things start getting really wild, call me. I can be down to help in a flash.”
“I’ll watch my backside.”
“I don’t think you can watch your front and back at the same time.”
He pointed a finger at her. “The most important thing is for you to get yourself right. Then we can start being our perfect opposites-attract all-star detective team again.”
“I’m looking forward to that.”
“Me too.”
Now he was heading to Babbage Town, alone, and regretting more than ever that Michelle wasn’t with him. Yet his partner had a long road to travel back to good health and his mind was constantly preoccupied with the possibility that she might not succeed.
As they drove along beside the York River a scattering of birds rose into the air at the same time a half-dozen deer flew across the road. The driver barely tapped his brakes. The flank of the last whitetail deer came within a couple inches of meeting the fender of the pumped-up SUV. All Sean could envision were antlers coming through the windshield and impaling him on the deep, rich Hummer leather.
“Get that a lot this time of year,” the driver said in a bored tone.
“What’s that, instant death?” Sean snapped.
He looked to his right where he could see the river through the patches of cleared fields. Beyond that he made out, just barely, the shiny chain link fencing topped by razor wire surrounding the land just across the York River.
“Camp Peary?” he asked, pointing.
“CIA spook land. Call it the Farm.”
“I’d forgotten it was down here.” Sean knew perfectly well it was there, but he was pretending ignorance in the hopes of getting some local intelligence.
“People who live around here never have trouble remembering.”
“Small animals and children disappearing in the night?” Sean asked with a smile.
“No, but that plane you came in on? You can bet that a surface-to-air missile from the Farm was trained on your ass until you touched down. If the plane had wandered into restricted airspace, you would’ve come down out of the skies a lot faster than you would’ve wanted to.”
“I’m sure. But I guess they bring a lot of jobs to the area.”
“Yeah, but they also took stuff.”
“What do you mean?” Sean asked.
“The Navy ran it first. When they came here they kicked everybody out.”
“Everybody out?” Sean looked confused.
“Yeah, there were two towns over there: Magruder and Bigler’s Mill. My grandparents lived in Magruder. During the war they got moved to James City County. Then the Navy vacated the place after the war but came back in the early Fifties. It’s been off-limits ever since.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah, wasn’t so interesting for my grandparents. But the military does whatever the hell it wants.”
“Well, you should take comfort in the fact that now it’s just your neighborly CIA over there watching you through binoculars.”
The man chuckled and Sean changed the subject. “Did you know Monk Turing?”
The man nodded. “Yeah.”
“And?”
“And he was like everybody else at Babbage Town. Too much brains. We didn’t exactly speak the same language.”
“How long have you worked there?”
“Two years.”
“Why does this place need security?”
“Important stuff they’re working on.”
“Like what?”
“Asking the wrong person. Has to do with numbers and computers. They’ll probably tell you, if you ask them.”
