Page 83 of The Paradox Club

Tess closed her eyes again, but she couldn’t find the island. She couldn’t hear Harry’s voice. But she knew what he wanted. And if she couldn’t do it, if this man couldn’t provide what she needed, the voices would return in all their chaos, and she wasn’t sure she could stand that. She wasn’t sure she’d survive.

“We’re here,” said Richard, stopping the car.

Tess threw open the door and a second later felt the warmth of Vivian’s embrace. Tess burst into tears, but not because she was hounded by the voices or overwhelmed by panic. She couldn’t remember the last time she had wept tears of joy, but they felt glorious. Vivian held her so tightly she could barely breathe, and she didn’t care. She had understood the story about the blind boxer; she had forced Montag 5 to make a bad decision; and they had both escaped. She had found Vivian, now she had to get to the island.

“You three ride together,” said Valentine 6, a new authority in her voice. “Nemo 7 will take everything out of Montag 5’s trunk and put it in yours.”

“In case…” began Nemo 7.

“Not in case,” said Valentine 6, “but because there’s no doubt Montag 5 has a tracking device on this car. Once you decide where we’re going, call me. In the meantime, best for us to go in different directions.”

“We’ll go—” said Nemo 7, but Valentine 6 cut him off again.

“We’ll go south. You go west. But stay off the highway and keep to small roads. It won’t take long for Montag 5 to get a car. Now go.”

Valentine 6 opened the back door of Richard’s car and pushed Tess and Vivian, still locked in a hug, toward the opening. “Get in,” she said firmly. “Now.”

Nemo 7 popped the trunks of the two cars and quickly transferred the contents from the black sedan to Richard’s rental car.

Thirty seconds later, Richard pulled out of the McDonald’s parking lot and headed out of town.

“That was impressive work,” said Nemo 7.

“No time for patting ourselves on the back,” said Valentine 6. “Let’s get out of here.”

She was just about to pull away when Nemo 7 said, “Wait. One more thing.” He jumped out of her car, opened the door of Montag 5’s rental, popped the hood, and disappeared for a few seconds. When he reemerged, he held an assortment of hoses and wires in his hand.

“What did you do?” asked Valentine 6.

“I don’t know,” said Nemo 7. “But if Montag 5 finds the car, I don’t think he’ll be able to drive it.”

Five minutes later, they were in Indiana.

TESS LEARNS (PART OF) THE TRUTH

“I don’t suppose either of you would like to tell me what the hell is going on,” said Tess, when they had cleared the Sturgis city limits and were zipping down a two-lane road lined with fences and punctuated with long dirt driveways every half mile or so.

Richard caught Vivian’s eye in the rearview mirror. “It’s time she knew,” he said. “Time she knew about Harry.”

Something about the way Richard said about Harry made Tess think there must be other things she did not know, but for now she’d be happy with any information that helped explain her current predicament.

“All right,” said Vivian, nodding. “Your father and I both belonged to an organization called the Paradox Club.”

PC, thought Tess, remembering the lapel pins on Montag 5 and Nemo 7.

“Were you part of this club, too?” asked Tess, turning to Richard.

“My dear,” said Richard, sitting up a little taller in his seat, “you see before you the president of the Paradox Club.”

“What is it?” said Tess. “Some sort of club for scientists?”

“We have many members who are scientists,” said Vivian, “and your father was chief among them. But we have philosophers and politicians and archeologists as well. The mission of the Paradox Club is to locate, retrieve, and secure UFOs.”

“I don’t need to remind you, Vivian,” said Richard, “that there is some debate over what the mission of the Paradox Club ought to be.”

“Wait a minute,” said Tess. “Are you telling me Harry was involved in something to do with alien spacecraft?”

“Goodness, no,” said Vivian. “You should know from talking to Harry that he didn’t believe in such things. No, I mean UFOs like the radio.”