Water Walker: Episodes 1-4 Part 4

She punched up the line.

"Mr. DeVoss?"

"Please, call me Andrew."

"Andrew. This is Olivia Strauss, special agent in charge of an active missing-persons case involving a child who left your orphanage a few months ago."

"Oh my," he said. "Who?"

"Alice Ringwald."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Oh, no."

"We've pulled our best resources, but I've run into a snag. I'm hoping you can answer a few questions for me."

"Of course. Anything."

"What can you tell me about Alice's history? We suspect that someone from her past, possibly a close relative, is involved in the abduction."

The phone went silent.

"Andrew?"

"She's . . . Oh my . . ."

"What is it?"

"You must find her!"

His intensity surprised her.

"We're trying. But to do that I need to know who from her past might have had any reason to take her."

"No, no, it's not that. She has no past outside of the orphanage."

"She had a birth mother and a birth father."

"Yes. Her father was James Paul Ringwald-"

"The congressman who was killed in the plane crash a few years ago?"

"Yes. He had an affair with a woman right before his presidential bid. When he discovered she was pregnant he cut her out of his life. Several years later, she committed suicide."

"What was her name?"

"Catherine Miller. But you see, they've both pa.s.sed. As to Alice's missing years . . . I doubt any information I could give you would help you find her."

"It's my job to determine what information will help us. If I'm going to find her, I have to know more about her past."

"It's just that . . ."

"It's just what?"

She heard him take a deep breath.

"This is very sensitive information, you understand. No one must know, for Alice's sake as well as the others."

"What others?"

"The other children. Promise me that what I tell you goes no further."

She thought about his request.

"I have to file-"

"No files. Just you. Promise me."

"Okay. Just me."

"I can trust you?"

"You have my word."

Another short pause.

"A project was established in the Colorado mountains. Thirteen years ago, thirty-six orphans were legally adopted by a cla.s.sified orphanage, totally isolated from the rest of the world. I'm not at liberty to reveal any specific details about the location or the project . . . It's best for the children, and there's nothing there that would help you find her."

She doubted that.

"Then tell me something that will help. What happened at this orphanage?"

"You should know that Alice isn't just any girl. She, like the others, is quite special."

Special. Alice is a very special girl . . .

"What do you mean?"

"Before the project was shut down, some of the children were able to affect the world in ways bordering on the paranormal. Some of it got out of hand, but it was all self-contained. It was why the project was shut down, you understand? Fortunately, none of the children has any memory of their years at the monastery."

"Monastery?"

"The orphanage was located in an ancient monastery."

"How did they lose their memory?"

He hesitated.

"They were exposed to a substance that had some side effects, one of which was to eliminate memory. It was the only way they could be reintegrated into society."

"What kind of substance?"

"A poison of sorts, produced by an extremely rare species of worm. It's no longer of relevance. Either way, you must find Alice. Beyond this, I'm afraid I can be of no further a.s.sistance."

"What about the other children? Isn't it possible that someone who worked with them is now targeting all of them?"

"Highly unlikely. We have our ways of monitoring them."

"Ways that obviously failed Alice."

He didn't respond. So she pressed.

"It could happen again."

"That's our concern. Yours is to find her."

"That's not enough."

"And yet it has to be." He paused. "Find her, Agent Strauss. Find her quickly."

WYATT, THE MAN who'd taken me, said that he would tell me everything, and that I could ask him anything. So I did.

"Are you my real father?"

"Yes." He shifted in his chair. "Well, not by birth, no. Which is why your last name isn't Ringwald anymore either. It's Lowenstein. My name. Your birth father was James Ringwald, a senator from Nevada. He died a few years ago. He was the one who took you away from your mother because he wanted nothing to do with either of you after you were born. Sent you away to an orphanage and forced Kathryn into an inst.i.tution to cover his tracks and save his career."

"Now you're doing that to me?"

"Doing what?"

"Forcing me."

He looked horrified. "No, it's not like that. Those people have no right to you by blood. You belong with your mother. And me. It's the way G.o.d designed it. Sometimes the law just isn't on G.o.d's side, is all."

"Shouldn't I have a say? I know I'm only thirteen, but I'm not a n.o.body that can be pushed and pulled around."

"No, sweetheart! No, of course you're not."

"What if I want to go back?"

Judging by the look on his face, this seemed like a new idea to him. So I continued.

"You frightened me and hurt Louise, who loves me very much. Why didn't Kathryn just come to the door and ask to speak with me?"

"You don't understand. They put her in an inst.i.tution to get her away from you! You think they would just let her take you back?"

"Why would they want to keep my mother away from me?"

"Because James Ringwald was an evil man. He didn't want Kathryn to mess things up for him-he was married to someone else and he wanted to keep her quiet so he accused her of being crazy and sent her to an inst.i.tution. When she got out, you were gone and there was no way for her to find you."

It sounded like it could be true, but I didn't know if I could believe him.

"I may be young and I may have lost all my memory from before I was thirteen, but I can still make my own decisions. If my mother loves me, she would understand that."

"You lost your memory?"

So he didn't know.

"You don't remember anything?"

I wondered if I should explain. Then thought it would better not to.

"Everything up until six months ago."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know."

"You see? You poor thing, you've been hurt. You belong with your mother. I promise, after you meet your mother and brother in a few days, you can make your own decision. Kathryn would never make you stay. That wouldn't be right."

I stared at him, confused.

"I have a brother?"

"Yes. Bobby. He's ten and I know you're going to love him. He needs his big sister, you're going to see that too. You belong with us, Eden. But you can decide for yourself. Promise."

He used that word a lot. Maybe he meant it. Maybe he didn't. But the idea of having a brother worked its way into my mind-one more thing to make my head spin.

"Then why not just take me now and let me decide?"

"I'm going to, but I can't yet. Zeke says the first two or three days are the most critical. I can't be on the roads. He set it up so we could spend three days here-it's an old 'shiner's place, empty for a couple months. Right now the FBI's all over the place hunting for my truck. It's got Tennessee plates so they'll think I've gone there, but we're right here, hidden in their backyard. We'll leave the truck here when we go. They'll eventually find it but we'll be long gone and back home. Then, if you decide not to stay, you can come back."

I could leave a note, I thought. When they did find this place, they would find the note.

"Where are you taking me?"

"A long way away. But I can't tell you where, not yet. You'll see for yourself. No one can know. If they find us, they'll put your mother in jail. Both of us. Even if you decide to leave us, you can't ever tell them where we live. You have to promise me that much. Okay?"

He was going to trust me? Maybe he really did mean everything he said. Or maybe he had no intention of ever letting me go.