Page 83 of Facade

“If you’re ready, Russell, I think we’re all interested in hearing what you have to say,” Heath commented. “Having no idea how long this meeting might go, I put out some snacks in case any of you are hungry. We can graze while we talk.”

007 nodded. “That works for me,” Clarke said. “Thank you, Heath.”

“I never turn down free food,” Russell told them. “My momma trained me better than that.”

Heath waved them into the dining room, and they all settled at the table. Jace and Clarke passed plates and bowls around as Heath poured glasses of lemonade.

Russell took a chair facing the whiteboard. Placing his satchel on a corner of the table, he withdrew a tablet, pad of paper, and a pen. He perused Heath’s notes on the whiteboard without commenting.

“Don’t keep me in suspense, Russell,” Clarke said. “Have you discovered anything?”

“I don’t have any actual leads yet,” Russell replied. “I’ve been organizing my thoughts and researching Dr. Lauren Prentis for the most part.”

“That makes sense,” Heath said. “We don’t know if the missing students are connected, and investigating each of them could turn into a wild goose chase. It would also be time-consuming, with no guarantee of results.”

Jace grunted before speaking, “But we do know that she is linked to Charlie, and he wasn’t the target.”

“Exactly,” Russell confirmed with a nod at Jace. “Hunting for leads on the students is important, but not what I feel we should be dedicated to in the immediate sense. The Clementine police department has open cases on most of the missing alumni from Mars and Venus. We’ll let them handle that end of it. I do think everything is connected, although I have nothing to back up that theory, currently.”

That made sense. Several of the graduates had last been seen in town. All of them had strong ties here, making it logical for police to gather information from friends and neighbors. Letting the locals do that legwork for them was smart.

None of the detectives in town were investigating the disappearance of Dr. Prentis, who may never have set foot in Clementine. Yet that could be a factor, and thus it would be their priority. Heath liked the way Russell’s mind worked.

“You think Dad, Dr. Prentis, and the missing students are all in the same place?” Clarke asked.

“They may or may not be,” Russell said. “Attempting to determine a location is jumping ahead. What I have learned about the alumni missing from Mars and Venus shows some similarities between them and Dr. Prentis, albeit they are considerably younger. That could be coincidental, but I doubt it. Since there is much more information available on Dr. Prentis, it’s logical to focus our investigation on her.”

“Whoever is targeting these people wants the best of the best, those with the highest potential in their field of study, sport, or power,” Heath mentioned.

“Exactly,” Russell agreed. “That is one of the common denominators. And we need to exercise great care. Dr. Lauren Prentis is a renowned veterinarian. Zoos all over the world beg her to visit, and make lucrative offers, hoping to lure her away from the Denver Institute of Evolved Studies. There is a waiting list as long as my arm of the zoos and colleges that have extended invitations to her.

“She was taken from a luxury tour bus at a remote rest stop. Yet, there were no witnesses. No one noticed she was missing until hours later. It’s damn suspicious, leading me to think the driver may be complicit. All of this indicates that the abduction of Dr. Prentis was meticulously planned and orchestrated by a large, well-funded organization with a dedicated goon squad at their disposal.”

“Shit! You’re right,” 007 said gruffly.

“The same can be said for the students, meaning it could be the same organization,” Heath guessed.

“Yeah, that’s why I think they are probably connected, despite the lack of evidence,” Russell said.

“Wherever Dad and Dr. Prentis are, it has to be large enough to accommodate a number of animals, probably a variety of species,” Clarke said. “I can’t think of any other reason for someone to go to such effort to kidnap her. It must involve animals somehow.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Heath agreed. “That won’t necessarily make it any easier to find them, though. These people have probably been careful to cover their tracks.”

“So, we somehow need to put all the pieces together, and compile a list of places that house a large number of animals that aren’t zoos. Doing that would include every college with evolved students, which is a lot,” Jace said. “Could the barns north of town be connected to this organization? Heath, you put that on the board due to the strange behavior of the animals.”

“The barns are owned by Mars and Venus,” Heath said. “There’s plenty of foot traffic. Wouldn’t someone have noticed something hinky?”

“And why didn’t my vision show the barns instead of Mars College if that’s the case?” Clarke asked. “The main clue probably isn’t in the barns.”

“I agree with all of you,” Russell said. “It isn’t likely that so many people could be hidden on college property unbeknownst to everyone. But it wouldn’t do to ignore the possibility. Better to cross that off the list.”

“Heath can put me in a meditative state, and you guys can ask me questions,” Clarke said. “I’ve been looking forward to exploring that further.”

“Your power is our best resource, Clarke,” Russell said. “We can use it to determine where best to put our focus. I have noted some topics and questions to ask with that goal in mind.”

“Not wanting to push her limits, we stopped after twenty minutes last week,” Heath said.

“I wasn’t tired at all,” Clarke told them. “We could go for longer.”