Ground Zero

Not too bad for Jack. He didn’t know what it would take to get Goren to open up about what happened down there in the bowels of Ground Zero.

He followed him across a small concrete bridge where they skirted a red-striped car gate and stepped onto an uphill dirt path. Jack noticed fresh tire tracks.

“Somebody’s been driving along here.”

“Looks like it, but you need a permit. I don’t want to get hassled.”

And Jack knew why. But then, he didn’t want to be hassled for pretty much the same reason.

Goren waved ahead along the incline. “Earth vs. the Spider had a few scenes right along here.” He pointed left to a break in the rocks. “Recognize that?”

Jack stared a moment, then saw Kevin McCarthy, in full- blown panic mode, scramble into view and run toward him.

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

Goren gave him an appraising look. “You do know your stuff.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

He looked puzzled. “Do I?”

A couple of bends in the road, then over a low rise where Goren stopped and gestured.

“We’re here.”

It all looked smaller than he’d expected, but he immediately recognized the dark maw in the rocks he’d seen so many times on reruns.

“The Bat Cave!”

“Except it’s not a cave. Take a look.”

Jack stepped closer and saw daylight on the other side.

“A tu

“Yep. The Bronson Caves are really a tu

Robot Monster . . . one of the worst, cheapest-looking, most laughable sci-fi films ever made, yet Jack felt a tingle of anticipation as they entered the cave-tu

Okay, rein in the geek. That’s not why we’re here.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t soak up some of this film history. He couldn’t help it, he was psyched.

The shaft ran straight through the mini-mountain, maybe a hundred fifty feet from end to end. As they walked, Jack kept Goren on his left and stayed half a pace behind, keeping an eye on him.

About three quarters of the way through, side shafts to the left and right came into view. The openings were too small to walk through upright so he and Goren continued along the main shaft into the quarry beyond. As they stepped out into the light, Goren pointed to the left.

“Take a look.”

As Jack turned, Goren grabbed his right wrist in an iron grip. Before Jack could react he heard a woman’s voice behind him.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot you dead.”

Jack half turned to see Alice pointing a small, nickel-plated semi-auto his way. Looked like a .38. She’d been hiding behind an outcrop along the edge of the mouth. He noticed her hand shaking, but also saw murder in her eyes.

Jerk. He’d known Goren was suspicious of him, but never dreamed he’d involve his daughter like this. The co-conspirator theory was looking better and better.

Best course: Play dumb.

“What’s this? You’re mugging me? I don’t have much left after that two hundred I gave—”

“Drop it,” Goren said, tightening his grip. Jack could have broken it, but not a good idea with a pistol pointed at him. “We know you followed Alice from Newark.”

They did?

“What makes you think that?”

“You looked familiar last night,” he said, “but I couldn’t place you. Then I remembered seeing you at the airport. You passed within ten feet of us. When I asked Alice if you’d been on her plane, she remembered you.”

Well, damn. He tried so hard to be easy to forget. But with a hyperaware fugitive, expecting trouble from all quarters, the rules changed.

Time for a change of tactics.

He heaved a sigh of resignation. “Okay. You got me. But you don’t need the hardware. I’m not a cop.”

“I never thought you were.”

“Then who—?”

“You killed my mother!”

The words came at screech pitch, forced through Alice’s clenched teeth. She looked bug-eyed scary, ready to pull that trigger, like she knew of nothing else in the world she wanted to do more.

And at this range, she couldn’t miss.

So much for the theory that she was in on her mother’s death. But if she didn’t blame her father for it, then who—?

Later for that. Had to keep her calm.

“I killed your mother?” He pointed to Goren. “He killed your mother.”

“He did not!”

“That’s what everybody thinks.”

“But you know better!”

Who did she think he was?

“Look, I’m not here about any of that. I simply want to ask your father some questions.”

“Bullshit!” That screech again. She inched the pistol forward. “She was burned alive and now you’re here to finish the job!”

The new angle on the pistol allowed Jack a look at its safety . . . she had it in the on position.

Sweet.

“Easy, Alice, easy,” Goren said. He faced Jack. “We don’t want to hurt you—”

“I do!”

He ignored his daughter and spoke in a rush. “Look, we could kill you here and now and get away with it, but I’m sure you’ve reported back already, and they’ll only send someone else. All I want is to live in peace. You can go back and tell them I won’t say anything. I haven’t breathed a word in all these years and I’m not about to change now. I’ve proven I can keep silent. Please, there must be a way we can work this out.”

“Don’t beg, Dad.”

Baffled, Jack said, “Who do you people think I am?”

A hint of uncertainty crept into Goren’s tone. “You . . . or someone co

That could simply be the story he concocted to square himself with his daughter. But he seemed to believe it himself.

Jack looked around. “Did they ever film The Twilight Zone here? Because I feel like I just stepped into it.” He faced Goren. “I’m not who you think I am. Let go of my arm. She’s got the drop on me. Let’s discuss this like civilized people.”

“Civilized?” she screeched.

Goren hesitated, then released him.

“Dad, no!”

Jack had had enough. He took a quick step toward Alice, saw her finger pull against the trigger, but it wouldn’t move. He snatched the pistol away and pushed her into her father.

“You forgot the safety.”

He made a show of flicking the lever as he trained it on them.

Goren pushed her behind him. His mouth worked but no words would come. If this were one of the movies they tended to film here, he’d be saying, It’s me you want! Kill me if you must, but let my daughter go!

Or something like that.

Jack popped the magazine from the grip, ejected the chambered shell, then tossed the pistol to Goren. He caught it and gave Jack a baffled look.

“I don’t . . .”

“Like I said: I have no idea who you think I am, but I had nothing to do with anything that happened to you in the past. I heard your name for the first time yesterday. I just want to ask you some questions.”

“Oh, God!” Alice said through the fingers pressed against her mouth. “If the safety had been off, I could have killed you.”

Jack smiled. “Trust me, lady. If the safety had been off, I wouldn’t have made that move.”

“How did you know to follow Alice?”

He looked at her. “If you’ve got something to hide on your computer, Wi-Fi is not a good choice. An investigator tapped into your e-mails.”

“Investigator?” Goren said. “Who’s investigating Alice?”

“Someone unco

“Are you with the government?”

“Not likely. But let me get this straight: You didn’t torch your house and you’ve been on the run from somebody other than the police?”