WATCHERS by Dean R. Koontz

kill Ted Hockney because no man could’ve torn him apart like that. So they won’t

put a lock on my accounts.”

“If federal agencies are behind the research that produced Einstein and this

creature,” Garrison said, “then they’ll be hot to get their hands on you, and

they might freeze your accounts.”

“Maybe. But probably not right away. You’re in the same town, so your bank

should clear my check by Monday at the latest.”

“What’ll you do for funds in the meantime, while you’re waiting for me to send

you the forty thousand?”

“We’ve got some cash and traveler’s checks left over from the honeymoon,” Nora

said.

“And my credit cards,” Travis added.

“They can track you by credit cards and traveler’s checks.”

“I know,” Travis said. “So I’ll use them in a town where we don’t intend to

stay, and we’ll scoot out fast as we can.”

“When I’ve purchased the cashier’s checks for forty thousand, where do I send

them?”

“We’ll be in touch by phone,” Travis said, returning to the couch and sitting at

Nora’s side. “We’ll work something out.”

“And the rest of your assets—and Nora’s?”

“We’ll worry about that later,” Nora said.

Garrison frowned. “Before you leave here, Travis, you can sign a letter giving

me the right to represent you in any legal matters that may

arise. If anyone does try to freeze your assets, or Nora’s, I can beat them off

if at all possible—though I’ll keep a low profile until they connect me with

you.”

“Nora’s funds are probably safe for a while. She and I haven’t told anyone but

you about the marriage. The neighbors will tell the police I left in the company

of a woman, but they won’t know who she is. Have you told anyone about us?”

“Just my secretary, Mrs. Ashcroft. But she’s not a gossip.”

“All right, then,” Travis said. “I don’t think the authorities will find out

about the marriage license, so they might take quite a while to come up with

Nora’s name. But when they do, they’ll discover you’re her attorney. If they

monitor my accounts for canceled checks in the hope of learning where I’ve gone,

they’ll know about the twenty thousand I paid to you, and they’ll come looking

for you—”

“That doesn’t give me the slightest pause,” Garrison said.

“Maybe not,” Travis said. “But as soon as they connect me to Nora and both of us

to you, they’ll be watching you closely. As soon as that happens . . . then the

next time we call, you’ll have to tell us at once, so we can hang up and break

off all contact with you.”

“I understand perfectly,” the attorney said.

“Garrison,” Nora said, “you don’t have to involve yourself in this. We’re really

asking too much of you.”

“Listen, my dear, I’m almost seventy-one. I still enjoy my law practice, and I

still go sailing . . . but in truth I find life a bit on the dull side these

days. This affair is just what I need to get my ancient blood flowing faster.

Besides, I do believe you have an obligation to help keep Einstein free, not

just for the reasons you mentioned but because . . . mankind has no right to

employ its genius in the creation of another intelligent species, then treat it

like property. If we’ve come so far that we can create as God creates, then we

have to learn to act with the justice and mercy of God. In this case, justice

and mercy require that Einstein remain free.”

Einstein raised his head from the attorney’s lap, gazed up admiringly, then

nuzzled his cold nose under Garrison’s chin.

In the three-car garage, Garrison kept a new black Mercedes 560 SEL, an older

white Mercedes 500 SEL with pale-blue interior, and a green Jeep that he used

primarily to drive down to the marina, where he kept his boat.

“The white one used to belong to Francine, my wife,” the attorney said as he led

them to the car. “I don’t use it much any more, but I keep it in Working order,

and I drive it often enough to prevent the tires from disintegrating. I should

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *