Джеффри Дивер - The Goodbye Man

This was spoken for Shaw’s benefit. There would be no search party. Things had worked out for the best. The only other complaining witness in the statutory rape would be dead in a day or two.

Eli’s eyes went to Hugh. “Such a shame,” he repeated.

But the missing persons and their convenient demise seemed to vanish from Eli’s mind. He moved on, turning his magnetic blue eyes on Frederick and Shaw. “Thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Foundation.” A salute Shaw’s way. Then Eli’s eyes abruptly narrowed and he said, “Those men? In the helicopter? It’s all a pack of lies.”

A frown crossed Shaw’s face. “Of course. People envy greatness.”

“Yes! I like that! ‘Envy greatness.’” Eli glanced toward Steve, who wrote in his thick notebook, apparently memorializing the phrase. Shaw wondered if he’d just coined a new chant.

Eli, Hugh and the AU goons returned to the main residence, where presumably a war room had been set up to consider how to confront the investigation into Gary Yang’s death.

Leaving Shaw to shoot a glance to Frederick, whose eyes said, Yes, let’s talk.

The man waited until no one was within earshot. “I saw you on that hill — above the cliff where Journeyman Adam jumped.”

“I thought somebody was there,” Shaw told him. “The orange sunglasses.”

Frederick said, “Not really part of the Foundation uniform. Eli likes to see people’s eyes. But I’m good and obedient. He doesn’t mind some harmless nonconformity. That’s what he calls it. So. You’re wondering why I didn’t turn you in to Hugh.”

Went without saying.

“Gut feel, I guess. I saw your face after Adam died. You were upset, man. But I couldn’t figure it out when I saw you here a couple of days later. You didn’t seem like a cop. Maybe a reporter, investigative reporter, you know, writing about the Foundation. Master Eli warns us about them all the time. The Toxic Media. But Adam hadn’t been involved in the Foundation for a while, so you probably didn’t know he was a Companion.”

Shaw had to add, “No. I didn’t know anything about the Foundation then.”

Frederick’s eyes burned, angry. “A month ago I would’ve said his death doesn’t matter. His True Core would surface in the Tomorrow. But now? Hell, it’s all bullshit: everything Eli’s trying to sell. Now, I’m awake.” Frederick examined Shaw. “What were you doing there?”

“Adam was wanted for a crime near Tacoma.”

The man was surprised. “Adam? He was messed up. But he wasn’t into anything criminal — not for years.”

“A shooting. I think it was self-defense.”

Shaw realized now that Adam had been in the cemetery, where he met Erick, to kill himself by his mother’s grave. That was why Adam had had the pistol. Now that Shaw knew Eli’s poisonous teaching, he realized that was the man’s mission. He’d changed his mind — at least temporarily — when he saw he could help Erick get over the loss of his brother.

Shaw explained about the shooting and about the case, that Adam probably would have gotten off.

“That son of a bitch. Eli. He teaches everybody, oh, just go ahead and advance — just kill yourself — and you’ll wake up in the Tomorrow. Some little setback? You can start over and everything’ll be great. And Adam was just the kind to believe that bullshit. He was depressed, lonely. Those’re the ones Eli preys on.”

Shaw asked, “Why’d you stay?”

“I was leaving at the end of season. He pays well. Need the money.” Frederick shrugged. “Haven’t exactly built up a lot of skills here that translate to the outside.”

“You were close to him?” Shaw asked. “Adam?”

The man hesitated. “I wanted to be more than friends, you know, but he wasn’t interested. That was fine, once we got it established. Fine with me. I liked, you know, talking to him. It’s tough here. It gets lonely.

“We could bitch and moan. I had my problems too. I came out when I was sixteen. My stepfather exploded. He screamed and raged that I was going to hell.” Frederick’s face was almost amused. “I never really got why he was upset. He never liked me, doesn’t like gays. So wouldn’t he be happy I was going to hell?” Frederick looked over toward Shaw. “You’re not ‘Carter’ then?”

“No. I’m not.”

The rich scent of damp smoke wafted their way on a cool breeze.

“You’re an undercover cop?”

“Like a private eye.” He added that he’d come here to see why Adam died and if he could help anyone else at risk, like Victoria. He told Frederick about how Hugh bullied and tried to grope her on the cliff.

“I saw that. Hugh’s an asshole. He’s got a whole system worked out. If you break the rules, or just seem to break the rules, he’ll give you demerits. That can set your training back. Enough of them and you might not become a Journeyman, and have to start all over again. At the cliff, he was spouting Rule 14 at Victoria. You can’t be upset when somebody dies. It means you don’t believe in the Process.

“Of course, if you’re a woman, and willing, you can come visit him and he’ll erase the demerits. That can also accelerate your training.” He looked Shaw over. “And then there’s the fee arrangements.”

“You mean the bequests in the will for lifetime memberships?”

“No.” Frederick gave a cynical laugh. “You pay a fixed fee, seventy-five hundred, right? Except not. Remember, you have to send a picture in? Why do you think that is?” He gave a cynical laugh. “Pretty young girls and guys get in for a hundred, two. Sometimes for free.”

“The Study Room.”

A nod.

Shaw was surprised he hadn’t figured that out. Nearly all the women here were under thirty and attractive.

“You saw me helping Walter, Sally and Abby. You’ve been following me for the past couple of days. It was you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You did a good job. Are you military?”

“No. Just I used to go hunting with my father. My real father. We were close. Lost him a few years ago. That’s why I’m here. It was tougher than I thought, him dying.”

“I can usually spot tails. You were good.”

Frederick said, “I was in camo. There’s some outfits for the Selects. So? Walter, Sally and that girl?”

“They’re nowhere near here.”

“Why’d you get them out?”

“Abby’s sixteen.”

A look of dismay crossed Frederick’s face. “Jesus. Eli took her to the Study Room? He’d go down for statutory rape.”

“You hear about the car fire?”

“What fire?”

“John — the Novice — found out about Abby. Eli and Hugh had a Select kill him then himself. Murder-suicide. Eli was going to get rid of Abby too, I was sure. I asked Walter and Sally to get her out.” Shaw looked over the slim man’s face. “What’s going on in the camp? What did Eli say about the helicopter?”

“He told the Inner Circle that some Toxic trumped up charges against him. He told the police that. They believed him and they went away. That’s what he said.”

“It’s not going away.” Shaw explained about the death of the journalist in San Francisco.

“And you’re worried it could get ugly here, if the police come back. You know, standoffs like at Ruby Ridge, Waco, Jonestown?”

“I’ve seen the faces of the staff and some of the Companions. They’d fight for him. Some of them would die for him.”

Frederick asked, “That’s why you didn’t leave with the others.”

“I’m going to bring him down.”

“What’re you planning?”

“I need evidence before he destroys it. Business and phone records, emails, memos. Something that shows money laundering, extortion, orders to kill the journalist, other people who’re threats.”