Page 60 of Identity Unknown
“Yes, it sure as hell is. Death and every fucking thing leading up to it. And then what it leaves you with.” I’m dismayed by my flare of temper.
I grip the handles of the steel tray, helping Tron lift the body as Lucy stands back from the iron door, using the hooked tool to pull it open. We’re slammed with a wall of searing heat, the blast of the fire deafening. The tray makes a dreadful grating sound as it slides into the raging maw, the plastic pouch instantly melting and smoking.
“Should take a couple hours.” Lucy clanks the heavy door shut.
The air is instantly cooler, my heart beating hard, and my vision seems to black out. I’m lightheaded.
“Are you okay?” Lucy’s voice as I feel her hand on my arm.
“Yes.” Taking a deep breath, I step back from the oven.
“Do you need to sit down before I get you out of here?” she asks.
“I’m fine.” I take off the heavy Kevlar gloves while silently lecturing myself to control my emotions. “When I leave tomorrow I’ll bring the ashes with me. I’ll hold them safely at the office until we know what to do.”
“We’ll have them ready for you in the morning,” Tron promises.
Feel nothing.
Picking up my bags, I shoulder the straps as Lucy and I return to the stairwell, my thoughts racing and colliding, my attention fragmented. I don’t want to envision what’s happening inside the oven, and I’ve seen it before.
Feel nothing!
“I expect that his sister will want the ashes sent to Italy,” Lucy is saying as we begin climbing the four flights of stairs.
“The Giordano family has a mausoleum in Campo Verano,” I reply. “I saw it long ago, huge with Baroque marble sculptures near where the poet Shelley is buried. It’s hard to imagine Sal wanting anything so grand. And most of all, he didn’t get along with his parents worth a damn.”
“Why not? He was a Nobel laureate. They must have been proud.”
“They wanted him to take over the family business of managing their wealth,” I explain. “He wasn’t supposed to work for a living. What should I expect next?” I then ask her. “The evidence, for example.”
“We’ll get it to your labs and ours ASAP, and a forensicteam will go over his truck,” she replies. “It was delivered a little while ago.”
“Delivered where?” I envision the vintage blue Chevy dangling and spinning from the long orange tether, trees thrashing under our feet.
“On the other side of the fence.” She’s saying that it’s at NASA Langley. “In hangar eleven-twelve near the gantry if you want to take a look in the morning before heading back to Alexandria.”
“Yes, I’ll want to see,” I reply as we continue to climb, my bags bumping against my thighs.
CHAPTER 22
The dust is making my eyes water, no air stirring as we reach the top floor, shadows moving on the walls. A large moth bats against the caged light overhead, the V-shaped wings the same greenish camouflage as the blockhouses.
I’m familiar with Pandora sphinxes. During warm months, they frequent my garden at night, alighting on the white champion and petunias, drawing nectar like aircraft refueling.
“Shoo!” I wave my hand at the crazed moth as Lucy holds open the door. “Leave while you can!” I wave my hand some more.
The moth darts out of the stairwell and into the bright receiving area, flying toward the light, confused and frantic.
“The inevitable has happened.” Lucy walks me to the entrance. “News about Sal’s disappearance and death have hit the internet. As of a few minutes ago.”
“Do we know who released it?”
“I know it wasn’t us. We wouldn’t do that before the next of kin has been notified.”
“I’ll try to take care of that right away,” I reply.
“Your ride is in front. Room two-eighteen. Benton’s therewaiting.” Lucy hands me a plastic keycard that hasLangley Innprinted on it.