Exit God Out - Book One - The Unexpected Terrestrial

Exit God Out Book One: The Unexpected Terrestrial Chapter 35

A lone figure stood on the other side, silent and still. She ran up and raised her left hand to the fence. The man did the same. They looked at each other, transferring information in the quiet recesses of their minds.

"Soon?" she asked.

"Soon."

They stood in silence for a few more minutes, and the man nodded and ran up the hill at a speed no antelope could keep up with. Maggie ran back to the lab and quietly snuck down the hallway and into the white room. As she went past a small mirror, she noticed the streak in her hair had become lighter again.

Amarr checked on Maggie every few hours until Dr. Rosenthal came in around 5pm. They gave her strict orders to stay in the white room and locked the door from the outside. Maggie could hear them talking just outside in the hallway through a small crack on the intercom. It never did work properly but she was not going to give that secret away to anyone. Already Anna was filed in a missing person's report, and investigators were out looking for her. Only Maggie knew the truth of where she had been, but she couldn't tell Amarr or Dr. Rosenthal for fear they might slip and say Anna's daughter told them. There were so many games to be played, so many actors pleading their parts and scripting their lines as they went along. A six year old should never have to navigate such an experience. She sat up on her bed and closed her eyes, desperately trying to speak to Anna, to tell her that they would see each other again and to consider sticking around for a while, as much was to be done in the next year. A myriad of voices came through, voices of many languages and eras, all supporting her and holding her in grace to get through. This day in 2007 would look completely different, and she apologized to Anna for not being completely honest about who she was. It's okay little one, I know now. That's the beauty of being on the other side. Everything is transparent. Maggie smiled.

Amarr was becoming agitated from what he thought was the lack of care the local police showed, but many hours later a car drove into the parking lot. The detective, as he fashioned himself to be though only a local Sheriff from Boulder, appeared at 7pm. Being a small town of little happenings, any event out of the ordinary was a perfect excuse to play the part of someone diverse in forensics. He walked through the front door of the lab, scrutinizing every detail and running his hand along Meyer's oversize painting in the hallway. Amarr had to work hard to keep him in the front of the building. He and Dr. Rosenthal prayed Maggie would stay quiet and not give away the room, so neatly tucked away where no one would consider going. It was well conceived: the first door had a Janitor sign on it, and after walking six feet past buckets and brooms that were never used, a door you would have to know about to find led into the large white room. It was constructed after Maggie's birth, the day the lab was filled with FBI agents and SWAT teams. Meyer was not interested in getting that close to being discovered again, especially now when the big payouts had just been issued and the project was going successfully, so a reconstruction project to hide the room was built. Amarr kept reminding himself that there was no connection for police to believe the lab had a child captive inside, especially Anna's, so he could stop sweating and just answer the detective's questions truthfully, somewhat.

It was like being in a movie: the detective roaming his office, picking up papers and flipping through file tabs as if it was his right. Amarr really didn't mind as they did legitimate research but the man's attitude kept him on the edge of his seat. Dr. Rosenthal was more relaxed, enjoying the odd man's appearance and mannerism. He reminded her of Columbo from an old TV series in the 70's. He had an oversized manila colored overcoat heavily wrinkled, and his black hair swept across his forehead, attached to the other side by a heavy gel. His face had deep lines, and he spoke with an inconsistent New York accent. He leafed through the papers he had asked Amarr to have ready for him, focusing on only a few details.

"So, this Anna girl worked here for how long again?"

"This was her sixth year." Amarr kept his answers short. He remembered how it worked on a movie he had seen only days ago. The ways of Americans were still a bit unusual to him.

The Sheriff turned to Dr. Rosenthal. "And she did what exactly?"

Rosenthal lied with all the brilliance of a calculative sociopath. "She really didn't have a job title," she explained. "She cooked, cleaned, kept the offices and labs stocked and answered phones."

"I just don't get one thing," the Sheriff turned away. "She was here an awful lot. You must have a great deal of staff here to support such an employee. She worked mainly in the night?"

"The night and some of the days," said Rosenthal. "She was on contract, and wanted the overtime, plus because of the nature of this lab having intellectual property and patents, we needed someone very trustworthy."

"So when she didn't show up for work, you panicked," and the Sheriff whipped around to see the doctor and Amarr's face.

"It was highly unusual," said Amarr. "She was never late or disruptive. We fear the worst."

"Yes I see that. Hrmph," and he tossed his black hair across his forehead and patted the greasy ends back down. "It's just odd that she didn't have an address. You would think she would have an address. People have 'stuff' and he waved his hands in the air. "Where did she put all her stuff?"

"Boston Meyer has a house in town where she had been staying. It's used for guests, but William Meyer didn't mind her using it as she kept it clean and ready for when others needed it. She often slept here as well. She was young. She had no place to go and we are her family." Rosenthal's convincing argument had the Sheriff nodding his head as he scratched his chin and looked around some more. "I'll get out of your hair; you both probably want to get home to your families," and he turned and just before walking out he stopped. "One more thing. The CIA was here on April 1 2000 I believe? Something about a white light shining on the lab?"

"FBI," said Amarr. "They took samples of the grounds where it landed and then left."

"What were they looking for?"

"We were never privy to that," said Dr. Rosenthal. "We were inside eating dinner when it happened and never saw the light."

"Thank you. Can I come back again sometime, uninvited?"

"Of course," said Amarr, and the doctor got up and walked the Sheriff outside to his old car. He was most unusual and difficult to predict. He didn't seem too interested in knowing much about Anna. He was just as interested in the office routine as he was in the missing girl. Amarr took a long breath and watched the Sheriff drive away. Interesting man. Friend or foe?

April K. Reeves, Author. Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved.

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