Page 34 of Maverick

“Yes, sir. Was there ever anything strange happening out there?” asked Mav.

“Strange? The whole damn place was strange. Why put a girls’ school in the middle of nowhere? It wasn’t near a city or hospital in case the girls got sick. They couldn’t interact with the other children in the area. They never went into town and shopped. And there were no adults other than a dozen or so schoolteachers.”

“Did the girls appear sick or hurt in any way?” asked Mav. He pursed his lips and thought for a moment.

“I never saw bruises or anything. I can’t say that. But the girls always seemed, well, like robots. They were told to move and moved. They were told to eat, and they ate. It was all just strange.”

“Were you allowed to speak with the girls?” asked Saint.

“Never. I’m an old man. I wasn’t interested in nothing but to speak to them children. My children and grandchildren live in Florida now. I just wanted to know them,” he said with a sad expression. “They said if I tried to befriend them, they’d call police on me. I needed the money.”

“I’m sorry they did that to you,” said Mav. “Were you able to speak with the teachers?”

“You mean the wardens,” he said with disgust. “They weren’t teachers. Not like any teachers I ever knew. Those girls were teaching themselves. I think the adults were there just to be sure they didn’t mess up or run off. I told the sheriff I was worried, and he told me to shut up and mind my own business. Two weeks later, they were gone, and so was the sheriff.”

“I see,” said Saint.

Their food came out hot and delicious, and they had to admit the moose burger was better than they expected. When they got ready to leave, Pax handed the old man a large paper bag.

“What’s this?” he frowned.

“Looks like you need a better coat,” said Pax. “According to Ruthie, there’s at least another eight weeks of hard winter. This one should fit you, and there are a few warm long johns in there and some flannel shirts. We also sent some boys down to your place to fix the gap in the doors and windows and work on your heat.”

The old man stared at him, tilting his head.

“We noticed it was almost as cold inside as it was outside,” smirked Pax.

“You don’t owe me nothin’. You didn’t have to do that,” said the old man. “I didn’t do anything except talk to you.”

“You might have done more than you think,” said Mav. “See, my fiancée went to that school, and now, we believe that the men and women running it are after her for some reason. You just might have helped me stop them. This is the least we could do.”

They shook the old man’s hand and left him standing in the diner. Ruthie walked up to him, grinning.

“Boys bought you enough groceries for a whole month, Truck. Sam just called from the grocery and said he delivered it and put it all away for you. You gotta learn to lock your doors.” She kissed his cheek, handing him another sandwich and a piece of cake to take home. The note on the bag was simple.

Thank you for your service Sergeant Jeffers.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Luke, Eric, all of you,” said Suzette, standing with Ashley and Rachelle. “This is some very nasty shit they were giving the girls. It’s compounded, meaning they had someone there mixing these drugs for them. Most of it is designed to put the girls into a lethargic but obedient state. They were obviously giving them orders to complete things, but somehow, their brains weren’t impaired.”

“There were ninety sleeping rooms in that place. Ninety,” said Hex. “That means we’ve got at least eighty-eight girls out there, probably more, that were taken somewhere. How in the hell do we find them?”

“We have an idea,” said Victoria, standing with Chelsea and Katelyn.

“We’re all ears,” smiled Eric.

“We obviously don’t know for certain whether the girls were moved to another facility or if they were allowed to leave like me and go off to college,” said Katelyn. “But, and it’s a big but, if they were allowed to leave, most young women would be surfing the internet on occasion.”

“Okay. I get that,” nodded Luke. “What of it?”

“We want to put out an AI generated message to them. Something that the agency wouldn’t understand, but these girls would. They were all like us,” said Katelyn. “They were all geniuses in their own right.”

“Honey, that’s awful risky. You could be sending this to millions of people,” said Cam.

“We’re going to target young women of a certain age,” said Chelsea. “By my calculations, considering the date the school started, the number of rooms, and the ages of the individuals, we should have approximately three hundred and sixty girls under the age of twenty-eight.”

“If they’re all alive,” said Victoria. “Some could be gone.”

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