Argent Glass

Chapter 14 - Access - Carrel

Dr. Carrel drove directly up to the security gate that sat beside a run-down guard shack with a rusted tin roof. He stepped out of a light-colored sedan to look in the shack. It was empty, void of any furniture and the floor rotted away where rain had collected in the corners.

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe security wasn't after him. The police had certainly thought he was crazy when he tried to explain what he had discovered.

"You have anything to corroborate your story? Anything besides a couple medical reports?" asked the officer again.

"Only the people in the–"

"Now, look, you can't go breaking into that–"

"Then do something!" Carrel slammed his palm down on the table in frustration.

"Mr. Carrel–"

"Doctor," he corrected tersely.

"Dr. Carrel. We can't storm a research facility any more than we can let you break into it."

"Of course not! But surely you can have someone look over my research. Someone who will understand it."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Carrel. Why don't you find someone who can help corroborate your story and get a lawyer. Follow proper procedures."

"You don't understand. I'm going to end up a news clipping." He ran his hand across his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Am I free to go?"

Polite nods and murmured uh-huhs...and now an abandoned guard shack.

He shaded his eyes to look down the road on the far side of the gate. Other than one small dust devil kicked up by the light wind, there was no movement anywhere. He glanced around searching for a camera and found one at the corner of the shack. Someone had smashed it with a rock and left the rock sitting on the ground amid the chips of glass from the camera's lens.

Carrel walked to the front of the car and leaned against the hood with his arms crossed, a casual observer of the beautiful landscape if anyone stopped to inquire what he was up to. In the bright sun, the colors washed out to flatter tones. Even the sky looked almost white, only taking on a deeper blue near the horizon. The arid void before him, with its swirling dust and scrub brush, spread out for miles until rocky, darker-hued mountains suddenly sprang up shimmering in the distance and obstructing the flat plane. The desert was an optical illusion to appear so level when there were crater-sized dips and deep gouges crisscrossing the plain.

Clouds moved fast in a wind that barely touched the ground with anything more than a light, hot breeze. Their shadows raced toward him across the dusty plain, suddenly casting him in a grayness that was cooler for the fraction of time before it passed on. Just as suddenly, sunlight glared off the white-washed wall of the guard shack, almost too painful to look at.

Carrel uncrossed his arms long enough to check the time on his watch, then tentatively pushed himself back to sit on the hood and recline against the windshield. His Land Rover would have been a better choice for tooling around the desert landscape, but the metallic red finish he loved when he bought it would stand out starkly against the muted colors of the desert. He needed a low profile and Leslie's taupe sedan blended better on the highway and in the desert. It was cooler to the touch too.

The quiet settled on Carrel. He listened to the sand from his boots blow across the hood of the car in a quiet whisper. It was peaceful. He should have spent more time with Leslie finding peace here in Zen country and less time working furiously against a clock that had no intention of stopping.

"I'd like to go to the Tanque Verde Swap Meet."

"I don't think it's a good idea."