PART FOUR: CLONED AND DANGEROUS

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CHAPTER SEVEN

     “I don’t believe in ghosts,” Chase told Gunther. “But I find rumors interesting, and I'm suspicious when they spring up for no obvious reason.  I want to check out that building.”
     “Totally out of the question.”  Gunther folded his arms across his stocky chest.  “We may not understand unexplained things, but they deserve respect.  If I did have a key to the building, I wouldn't take you there.”
     Eric turned to Tracy.  “Can you help us?”
     “I'd like to but-” Tracy gestured to Gunther, her expression  uneasy.  “I-I can't. Sorry-”
     “It’s okay.  I understand.”  Eric smiled at Tracy.  “You've been great.  Maybe we can talk again sometime.  Thanks for everything.  We'll look in our own way.” 
     Chase understood Eric’s meaning, and nodded in agreement.  Ordinary methods weren't getting them anywhere.  
     They left Gunther and Tracy, careful to walk in the opposite direction of the forbidden building.  Once they were turned a corner and were out of sight, they faced each other with a shared look that launched them into action.
     Eric removed his glasses.
     Chase touched his ear and concentrated, filtering childrens’ exited voices and low growls from caged animals. His world closed in.  He shifted through noises, searching for that special voice.  Varina, he thought anxiously, where are you?  Talk to me.
     Another part of him was aware of Eric, his glasses clenched in his fingers and his gaze ripping through matter.
     Sounds swirled around Chase, until he felt a sense of Varina pulling him near.  He didn't hear her voice, but he knew she was close -- and afraid.  Shivers tingled through him as he shared her fear.  She was trying to give him a message, warn him of danger, something small but deadly.
     “A weapon?” he puzzled out loud, his head swimming with images of fire and death.  But whose death?  What sort of weapon?
     At the same time, Eric let out an excited whoop. “I found her!”
     “You did!  Where?”
     “In that haunted building.”
     “I knew there was something weird about that place.  Tell me what you see.  Quick!”
     “Ohmygod!”  Eric’s dark face paled.  “She’s not alone ... she’s with a woman.”
     “Jessica Hart?” Chase guessed.
     “No.  Although she’s really familiar.  I'm sure I've seen her before.”  He let out a sharp gasp.  “No way!  It can't be-”
     “WHO?” Chase demanded.
     “Geneva Victor!”
     Chase didn't need to hear anymore.  He and Eric were already moving.  They hurried toward the fence, pushing through groups of people, rushing before it was too late.
     When they reached the area of fence where Varina had last been spotted, only a few zoo visitors were around but no one was paying any attention to them.  Chase moved quickly along the fence, searching until he found a broken section of barbed wire.  Then he swung up to the top, carefully easing the barbed wire out of the way.  He found a firm foothold and reached down to give Eric a boost over.
     “Do you see a weapon?” Chase asked Eric as they faced the boxy cement building.  “Is Geneva holding a gun on Varina?” 
     Eric focused with his vision, his body tensed and sweat beginning to glisten on his forehead.  “No gun.”
     “But Varina’s in danger.  I felt it.”
     Narrowing his eyes, Eric stared deeper through solid walls.  He begin to shake, as if the effort was too much for him, but he didn't give up.  Finally, Eric blinked and turned back to Chase. He was still shaking, and didn't refuse when Chase held out a steadying hand.  “There are . . . are wires,” Eric said weakly.  “Around the door.”
     “Wires?  Like explosives?”
     Eric nodded, breathing heavily.  He withdrew his glasses which he'd tucked into his shirt pocket, and put them back on.  “Varina is ... is standing there . . . afraid to move.”
     “Is there a back door?”
     “Yeah.  Only it’s pad-locked.”
     Chase swore.  If only Allison were here, she was the strongest of the clones.  She had the power to break through heavy locks or crumple steel doors like tissue paper.  Unfortunately Allison was still in Seattle.
      “There has to be another way in.” Chase scanned the building and studied the high windows.  He could probably get up there, but the windows looked too small for him to squeeze through. 
     “Gunther might help,” Eric suggested.“I could get him-”
     “Forget it.  How could we explain how you looked through cement walls and how I could hear far away?  It’s up to us.  We have to get Varina out before someone triggers that bomb.”
     “So let’s get to it,” Eric said, stumbling over a clump of weeds and nearly falling over. 
     “Not so fast.  You’re too weak you can barely stand up straight.    Take it easy while I check out the building.  Stand guard.  If someone comes, stall them.”
     “No one will get past me.”  Eric nodded.  “And I'll be fine if I rest a bit. Don’t do anything risky, okay?”
     “Me?  Take risks?  No worry,” Chase teased with a wicked grin.  Then turned from Eric and headed for the building.
     Moving cautiously, Chase sharpened his hearing and strained to pick up sounds from inside the building.  Water drips, metal creaking, whispers, and an eerie ticking.
     “I'm coming, Varina,” he said.   
     “Hurry,” he thought he heard in reply, but he couldn’t be sure.
     He detoured past the wired front door to the back of the building.  He went to the rear entrance, and tried the door.  Locked.  There had to be another way in.  His gaze traveled up to four windows.  Three small rectangular windows and one large square one.  He eyed the large one with hope.  If he could reach it, could he squeeze through?
     It was worth a try.
     He resisted calling out to Varina.  That would only alert Geneva, and risk Varina’s life.  Dr. Victor’s wife wouldn't hesitate to harm Varina to save herself.
     Chase began to climb.  The cement blocked wall offered tiny footholds; inch widths that were sturdy enough to hold Chase.  One foot up, then the other, over and over.  Every muscle in his body tensed as he struggled to be silent.  He was close now.  The window was only an arm-distance away. One more foothold and he was there.  He reached for the window frame and took a deep breath.  Now or never.
     He grasped the edges of the window with both hands and pushed.  It lifted open with a loud squeak, sliding open. 
     “Chase!” he heard Varina cry.
     “Help!” a woman called. 
     Chase gritted his teach, recognizing Geneva’s voice and fighting rage.  None of this made sense, but whatever was going on you could bet Geneva Victor was to blame.  The conniving witch. She was evil and deserved to be punished. 
     Anger pulsed through Chase, and he fought to control himself. His violent side had pushed him toward murder once, and he vowed never to let it happen again.
     He crawled through the window, looking around for the bomb and barely make out a silvery shine of wires at the base of the door.  Across the room, two shapes huddled in a corner.  His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he met Varina’s frightened gaze.
     With a nod, he sent her the assurance that everything would be okay.  “Stay there,” he whispered, growing puzzled by Geneva’s part in this.  She acted more frightened than Varina -- and she was handcuffed.  What was going on? 
     He swung forward and jumped, landing with his legs bent in the middle of the room.  He glanced at rows of cages lined on a far wall; most cages were small but a few were large enough for bears, lions, or even people.
     Varina rushed over to Chase.  He met her with open arms, and pulled her close, overwhelmed by a swell of emotion.  She was so important to him, and it wanted to hurt anyone who tried to hurt her.  He held her tight and murmured that everything would be all right.  Her hair smelled like sweet strawberries and her skin was so soft.  His heart lurched with longing.
     “Chase,” she said, her voice weak and breathless.  “I'm so glad You’re here.”
     “Me, too.”
     “There’s a bomb-”
     “I know.  I heard you.”
     “And I felt you.”
     He wanted to go on holding her forever, but they had to get out.  He snapped to alertness and focused on the wires around the door. 
     His memory flashed back to another bomb.  Sadness gripped him, bringing images of fiery death.  His foster parents had perished in a burst of flame; explosives targeted at him.  Chase had no proof, but knew the Victors were to blame.
     Geneva huddled on the floor, dirt streaked on her face and her arms clasped in handcuffs.  She looked helpless and frightened, but he knew knew at the core she was pure evil.  Once they got out of her, he'd deal with her -- one way or another. 
     Chase turned away and headed for a large cage propped on a counter across the room.  It wasn’t heavy, only awkward, and he managed to push it below the window.  Then he grabbed the edges and climbed to the top.  Once he was balanced there, he called over to Varina.  “Come on, jump up beside me.”  He held out his hand for her.  “I'll help you through the window.”
     Varina reached out for the slender dark-haired woman cowering next to her.  “Let’s go.”
     “Not her.”  Chase’s voice was icier than a glacier.  “Geneva Victor can blow up for all I care.”
     “Chase, you don’t mean that,” Varina object.  “You can't leave her!”
     “She can find her own way out.”  Chase’s gestured for Varina come up with him.  “Once we're out of here, we'll notify the police and they can deal with her.  Hurry!"
     But Varina stood protectively in front of Geneva, much the same way she'd defended Kitty earlier that morning.  “I won't leave her with that bomb. I don’t go unless she does,” Varina said firmly.  “She goes with me.”
     “Don’t be ridiculous!  She’s Dr. Victor’s wife!  She can't be trusted.”
     “She stood up for me against her husband.  Then she helped me escape from a horrible basement.  If she hadn’t warned me, I would have set off the bomb.  I can't desert her.  I owe her my life.”
     Chase saw the stubborn set of Varina’s face, and knew there was no use arguing.  He gave a weary sigh.  “You win.  I'll help both of you out the window.”
     “Thanks.”
     “Now hurry!”
     “I will,” Varina told him, already scrambling to get on top of the cage. Within seconds, she was out the window, climbing down toward Eric who was ready to help. 
     Chase felt a wave of revulsion when he touched Geneva.  Hate oozed through him like burning acid.  He wanted to push her away, to destroy her as she helped destroy his parents. But he fought against violence and focused on the task at hand.  Closing his mind to everything but getting out alive, he boosted Geneva through the window.
      Then he was on the ground and running with Varina, Eric, and Geneva.  As they raced toward the fence, Chase caught Eric’s curious look at Geneva and gave a grim shake of his head.  Explanations would have to wait till later.
     They hurried across low weeds and loose gravel, then up and over the fence; safe.
     Chase stared at the slim black-haired woman who clung to Varina’s hand, and wondered if safety was only an illusion.  How could anyone be safe in the company of a viper?  Befriending a snake usually resulted in a poisonous bite.  And Geneva was a snake, no doubt about that.  But what was her game?
     A burst of noise startled Chase out of his thoughts.  He spun around as the ground shook.  A blast, like a thousand firecrackers, exploded.  Beyond the fence, a thin line of smoke curled toward the sky. The brick building stood dark and smoky, intact but damaged.  Where there had once been a door, now there was a only a fiery black hole.
     “The bomb!” Geneva choked out.
     “Well I'll be!”  Eric’s mouth dropped open.  “The front door spit right out like it was shot from a cannon.  People will really think the building is haunted now.”
     “Maybe it is,” Varina said grimly.
     “At least it’s still standing.  It survived.”   Chase gave Geneva a suspicious look, then added, “And so will we.”

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