Page 16 of The Secret

Brown took a step forward. “Let go of my cat.”

The first woman’s face cracked into a smile. She said, “Dr. Brown, we’re glad you’re back. Your cat doesn’t seem to like us. Please, sit. I’ll drop him on your lap.”

Brown stayed where he was. “I recognize your voice. You called me. Pretended to be from the FBI. Why?”

“I apologize for the subterfuge. We didn’t mean to mislead you. We just need to talk. Privately. And two men were watching your house so we couldn’t just knock on your door. We figured they would follow you if you went somewhere. Give us a chance to get in, unobserved.”

Brown crossed to the window, peered around the side of the drapes, then turned back. “The blue sedan? What the hell’s going on?”

“What I told you on the phone? Aside from me being an agent, it’s true. Particularly the part about you being in danger. We’re here to help you.”

“Help me? How? Who are you?”

“We’ll come to that. But we need a piece of information first. Please sit. Let me explain.”

Brown shuffled across to the chair and lowered himself into it.

The woman handed over the cat. “Your research team in India, in 1969. There were eight people on it.”

“India? Never been there.”

“Don’t waste time. The threat against you is imminent. Believe me. So, eight people.”

Brown shook his head. “Seven.”

“Eight.” The woman took the handwritten list out of her pocket and passed it to Brown. “We know seven names. You need to tell us the one that’s missing. So that we can protect the surviving members who were involved.”

Brown glanced at the piece of paper. Owen Buck’s name was written in a different hand. He must have given up the rest of them. He always had been the weakest. Always talking about coming clean. But he must have been slipping if he could no longer count. “There were seven people. Their names are all here.”

“There were eight. See the question mark? One name is missing. You need to tell us who it is.”

“There were seven. I was there. You weren’t. So I know what I’m talking about. You don’t. And you shouldn’t be asking questions about ’69. No one should. It’s time to close the book. Time for you to leave.”

“You live in a nice neighborhood, Dr. Brown. Although there are a lot of busy roads around here. Lots of drivers in a hurry, not concentrating, not looking where they’re going. It would be very easy for a person to get run down. Even easier for a small animal. Like a cat.”

“I’m not going to listen to this. You need to leave. Now.”

Brown held Hercules to his chest with one hand and used his other arm to start hauling himself out of the chair. He made it halfway then the second woman darted around behind him and leaned on his shoulders, forcing him back down. His elbow shot out to the side, almost knocking his pipe and tobacco pouch off his side table.

The first woman said, “If a cat did get hit by a car, would it be killed right away? Maybe, I guess. But maybe not. Imagine finding yours, all crushed and bleeding. Scooping him up. Racing to the veterinarian’s office.”

“No.”

“Waiting outside the operating room door. Praying he can be saved. Worrying that the damage is too severe.”

“I swear, there are only seven names. Anyone tells you otherwise, they’re wrong. You want to cause pain to prove I’m not lying, hurtme. I don’t care. Just leave my cat alone. He hasn’t done anything to you.”

The woman took the list back and slid it into her pocket. “OK. We’re done here. I believe you. And I apologize. This is important so we had to be sure. I’m sorry we upset you.” She paused for a moment, then said, “You know, you’re looking very pale all of a sudden. Can I get you some coffee before we go? Tea? Something stronger?”

“Are you kidding? You break into my house and threaten to kill my cat and think I’m going to drink anything you give me? Forget it. You can show yourselves out.”

The women made it as far as the door then stopped and turned around. The first one said, “Where are our manners? We forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Veronica Sanson. This is my sister, Roberta.”

Brown didn’t answer. He hugged Hercules a little tighter.

Veronica said, “Our father was Morgan Sanson. It’s important you know that.”

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