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The door closed and Riley looked over at Günter. He was taking a nap. There were no windows in the room. The television screens had all gone black. The air filtration system hummed in the background. She felt herself nodding off and jerked herself awake. If she was to be drugged or killed, she wanted to see it coming. She didn’t want to be killed while she was asleep.
As the minutes dragged on she became increasingly worried. She didn’t trust the Grunwalds. They were all psychopaths, and she was sure they were capable of the most terrible torture. A wave of nausea slid through her stomach at the thought of Emerson alone with them. When Werner said Rollo would flay Emerson alive, she didn’t think it was a threat. She thought it was a promise.
She went to the door and looked out. Armed guard.
“I thought I’d go for a walk,” she said.
He drew his sidearm, and Riley popped back into the room and closed the door. Fifteen minutes later the door opened and Emerson walked into the room, followed by Werner.
“We’re free to go now,” Emerson said to Riley.
“What about Günter and Xandy?”
“They’re free to go as well,” Werner said. “Rollo will escort you out.”
Riley stood and made a pretense of looking relieved. She knew Emerson was playing the game, waiting for his moment. She’d play along too. She’d wait for the moment. She hoped the moment happened soon, because she knew Werner couldn’t allow them to walk away. It had gone too far for that. Werner had to kill them. It was just a matter of how and when. Riley figured Werner wanted them off the military base so he wouldn’t be implicated. That was a good thing. It gave them more time to find the moment.
There were six armed guards plus Rollo waiting in the hall. Xandy was with them, looking like she might bolt and run at the first chance. One of the guards collected Günter and rolled him out of the room, and everyone walked en masse to the freight elevator. Rollo pressed the button to summon it.
“One last thing,” Emerson said to Werner, “how will I get my gold?”
“Oh, that. You won’t be getting that,” Werner said.
“I won’t?”
“No, no,” Werner said.
“So you lied to me?”
“Yes, we lied. We do that. We’ve been lying for years. Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t see that coming.”
“I considered the possibility.”
Werner turned to Rollo. “Take them out and kill them. Make it look like suicide.”
“A group suicide?” Rollo sounded skeptical.
“Yes, I see the problem,” Werner said. “Murder-suicide then. Emerson killed them all, then killed himself. Make it colorful. Emerson is such a colorful character.”
—
Werner took a step back and everyone else got into the freight elevator. Xandy’s eyes were darting around like the little steel balls in a pinball machine. Günter looked like he was still smelling rainbows. The six guards were stoic. Rollo was smiling.
They stepped out of the freight elevator onto a loading platform where a large panel van was waiting. Günter was rolled in first and laid flat. Emerson, Riley, and Xandy were handcuffed with plastic ties and herded in next. One of the guards got behind the wheel, and Rollo took the seat next to him. Two of the remaining guards came on board and closed the back doors.
It was early Friday morning and the sun was blazing over Groom Lake. The air shimmered over the salt flat and neighboring runways. The sky was azure. The van was white and utilitarian with no seats in the cargo area. Emerson, Xandy, and Riley sat on the floor with their backs resting against the side panel. If they looked forward between the two front seats they had a glimpse of sky and whatever lay ahead of them.
After a half hour on the road, Riley had exhausted all her hopeful anger and was left with such deep and debilitating sadness she could barely breathe. She knew she was supposed to be waiting for the moment, but honestly she didn’t have a lot of faith that the moment would save them. Her life was going to be cut short. She’d never again sit down at the dinner table with her parents and her brothers. She wouldn’t have a family of her own. No more sunrises and sunsets. No chance to use her education to help people solve their financial problems.
She looked over at Emerson. His eyes were closed and he was gently rocking with the motion of the van. He didn’t look sad or scared. He looked peaceful. Of course he’s not worried, Riley thought. He’s been working on his karma. He’s already got one foot out the door for a better afterlife. He’ll probably move on to some astral plane for superior souls. My fate isn’t so rosy. I just tried to kill a man…twice. And I haven’t been to church in ten years. I could end up coming back as a snail.
—
Rollo had instructed the driver to head for Vegas. He had four people to kill and he needed a location that would draw attention away from Area 51. Even more troublesome was the fact that he’d been instructed to make it look like a murder-suicide. He’d like to think he could put a gun in Emerson’s hand and get Emerson to shoot the two women and stupid Günter, but he didn’t think that would happen. And he couldn’t shoot them himself and blame Emerson, because the gunshot residue wouldn’t show up on Emerson’s hand during the postmortem examination. Damn CSI shows, he thought. They’d spoiled murder for everyone.
—
Emerson opened his eyes and turned to one of the guards. “I’m curious about you,” Emerson said. “What’s your story? How did you get here? Why do you do this?”
