Radu-Epilogue (A Novel by Patrick Kelley)

Links to all previous chapters follows this epilogue
Radu-Epilogue (A Novel by Patrick Kelley)
6pages approximate
Phelps barreled through the Virginia countryside. Only a few months had passed since the last time he was through here, but it seemed like more than a decade-like another lifetime, in fact. Every mile he drove in the old van brought back yet another painful memory. Although he knew that it was only the mountains and forests of southwestern Virginia through which he traversed, in many ways it seemed like some kind of primeval forest, unseen or untouched by any human eyes or hands.

When he got to the final road, the first change since his last journey through the area was immediately apparent. Someone had paved and widened the formerly narrow gravel road that led to the old Leighton Farm. In fact, there was a sign, identifying it as Leighton Road, while an arrow pointed in the direction of the Martin and Louise Krovelescu Orphanage.

He was almost there, but knew he had to hurry, before the children returned from their weekend excursion to Washington DC.

“What exactly are we supposed to find out here?” Cruiser Dietrich asked him. “This had better be good, Phelps. I’m too old to be out this far from civilization.”

“Have you heard any word from Carter yet, or from his wife and kid?” Phelps replied.

“I already told you no,” Cruiser replied glumly.

“That’s what we’re supposed to find. That was really a bad idea sending them out here, pretending to want to adopt a kid, and it was especially stupid for them to take their own kid along to make it look good. I don’t know why in the hell I agreed to that.”

“It was a good plan,” Cruiser replied defensively. “If there was anything that warranted looking into”-

“Which you didn’t think there was, or you would never have sent the three of them out here, admit it,” Phelps said. “Look, there it is. Damn, that place looks like it could hold fifty kids, at least.”

“According to Carter, they come and go,” Cruiser said. “There’s something like thirty-seven there now.”

“We need to find some of the kids that have been adopted out,” Phelps mused. “If we can get into their records, and find some of them, maybe we can find out what’s going on in there. After what I went through, I know that place isn’t just another run of the mill orphanage and adoption center. So far, three people that have tried to adopt kids from the place have turned up dead. Guess where the bulk of their estate went?”

Cruiser could not hide the level of concern he felt at the implications of Phelps’s comment.

“I know it’s suspicious, but”-

“All three of them had some of these kids staying with them on a trial basis,” Phelps continued. “All three of them were widowers, with lots of money-powerful individuals with positions of authority in Washington. For God’s sake, one of them was a Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury. He was in the picture of health, yet he falls over dead from a heart attack? Come on.”

Phelps pulled up a respectable distance from the newly constructed mansion, and opened the door to the van. As he got out, he looked toward Dietrich.

“Well, are you coming?”

Dietrich moaned and, deciding he did not want to be alone out here, he reluctantly opened his door and stepped out of the van, as Phelps began shooting pictures of the property and the house.

“We’d better hurry,” Dietrich said. “If we get caught, you know it’s breaking and entering, right?”

“If we get caught, that will be the least of our worries.”

Suddenly, both men stopped in their tracks as they heard in the distance the voice of an apparently young girl calling to someone.

“Cynthia!” she shouted, several times.

“Jesus, somebody’s here,” Dietrich said, almost relieved that now there would be no possibility of realistically going through with this foolhardy scheme.

“Can we help you?” a girlish voice addressed them, whereupon they turned to see the bizarre sight of a half-dressed teenage girl, who proceeded to introduce herself as Elena. As she did so, several others joined her, including some young boys.

Phelps was beside himself with worry, but Dietrich managed to spit out an obvious excuse, one he had planed and rehearsed for the last several days for just such an occasion.

“Well, hello, young lady,” he said. “We are newspaper reporters, and we are here to do a story on you, and on your orphanage.”

“Are Mikhail and Nadia expecting you?” she asked, whereupon several of the other children whispered furtively at each other while casting suspicious glances in the direction of the obviously unwelcome intruders.

“You mean the caretakers?” Dietrich asked. “Well, no, we never seem to be able to get a hold of them, unfortunately.”

“We sure have had a lot of visitors lately,” Elena said. “You don’t know about the cop, do you?”

“The cop-what cop?” Phelps asked.

“Oh, it’s not important, Phelps,” Cruiser said. “Here, young lady, you seem to have something on your mouth.”

As he said this, Dietrich reached out with a napkin he just procured from the pocket of his blazer and, before Eleana could react, he wiped her mouth.

She jerked back slightly as she mumbled a thank you, while Phelps looked on in amazement.

“How about a picture of you guys?” he asked.

“We’re not allowed to talk to strangers nor have our pictures taken,” the boy named Eitan responded. “You’ll have to get permission from Nadia for that, or Mikhail. Shall we tell them you are here?”

The two men both reacted with silence, unsure of how to respond, when a man suddenly rounded the corner, a man whom Phelps recognized, yet was surprised to see at this place.

“Well, I was wondering when the two of you would get here,” Detective Anderson said. “I just had a nice long talk with the caretakers of the orphanage. Nice little place here.”

“We have to go inside and clean up for dinner,” Elena said. “If you need anything else, just talk to Elena and Mikhail.”

With that, the children turned and made their way toward the house, as Phelps, looking around the corner, noted the presence of the Land Rover and the menacing eyes of its driver, Mercury Morris, who gazed upon the three visitors with malicious intensity.

“I’m glad your boss told me what the two of you were up to,” Frank said to Phelps. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, I’m afraid. There’s nothing out here. It seems to be just what it’s supposed to be-an orphanage, and actually a pretty damn good one.”

“There’s nothing out here, huh?” Phelps said. “What about Gordie Carter, and his wife and son? We sent Gordie here to look into this place three days ago, and we haven’t heard from him since. He and his family have vanished, and no one knows where they are. Explain that one.”

Frank Anderson looked at Phelps in seeming amazement.

“You are kidding me, right?” he asked.

Before Phelps could respond, two figures made their way towards them from out of the woods. To the horror of both Phelps and Dietrich, one of the children was Danny Carter-the son of the missing undercover tabloid news reporter.

“Danny, what are you doing here?” Dietrich asked.

“Mr. Dietrich-it’s good to see you again. Didn’t you know? Mom and dad have moved to Bolivia, and they left me here. They gave me up for adoption.”

“Oh-my God,” Phelps said after a moment of stunned silence.

“Danny, are you sure?” Dietrich asked. “I’m sorry, but I”-

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Danny said. “I love it here. I have a lot of friends, and we have a lot of fun here. We learn a lot of cool things, too.”

“Thats-that’s real good, Danny,” Cruiser replied.

“Well, we’ve got to be going,” he said, as he and the young girl who stood by his side turned to walk off back into the house. Danny walked inside, but the girl stopped at the door, and watched them quizzically.

“Something’s definitely not right here,” Dietrich said.

Anderson, however, was firm.

“Look, I’ve had the Department look into this place. There is absolutely nothing out of the way here, as far as we can tell. I’ve been out here for more than five hours now, and frankly, it would trickle me to death if all orphanages were as well run as this one is. They have a well-rounded educational curriculum-state accredited, by the way-and they seem to exercise appropriate discipline when needed. They take field trips to Washington and other places on a regular basis. From what I’ve gathered, the kids live a balanced, well-rounded life. Hell, they even grow their own food here, and sell some of it in the nearby town. They are happy, happier than any kids I’ve seen in other places, and in fact seem better adjusted than most kids living in two parent families.”

“And you came to this conclusion on the basis of a five hour visit?” Dietrich replied. “Detective, I understand your reluctance, but I know Gordon Carter, and his wife. They would never go off to a place like Bolivia, with no word to anyone, and just leave their only kid in an orphanage, one which their only familiarity with is as a place I sent them to investigate-on pretty disturbing grounds at that.”

“Maybe they would if the kid is on drugs,” Anderson said plainly. “As for Bolivia, maybe that’s just what they told him. As for these charges you’re investigating, you can take my word for it-you’re wasting your time.”

“What about Mercury Morris?” Phelps demanded. “What’s that punk doing out here? Do you consider a former Seventeenth Pulse member and accused murderer and terrorist bomber an appropriate guardian?”

“No, but then again, the operative word, as you said, is ‘former’. So far as I know, he’s their driver. He runs errands, takes them to the doctor when necessary, and takes them on field trips. As far as this other stuff you‘re accusing them of, if you can come up with something concrete, I will gladly listen. In the meantime, there is nothing I can do. I am sorry.”

He stood there silently, giving them a chance to respond while hoping what he said sunk in and anchored to some level of inner acceptance, but neither of the men replied.

“Okay, I have to go,” he concluded. “I’ve been here long enough. Naturally, I’ll keep up with them from time to time, and I’m always open to new information. Honestly, though, gentlemen, I’ve been in this business for more than thirty years now, and I think I can promise you that you are definitely barking up the wrong tree.”

“Very well, Detective Anderson,” Dietrich replied. “Maybe you are right.”

“Goodbye, then,” Anderson said, whereupon he turned to walk toward his vehicle. In disgust, Phelps turned toward his van, only to see the unnerving site of the big black vulture perched on a branch above where he parked the van. It was staring at him knowingly, as though peering inside his soul.

“Where in the hell did that thing come from?” Cruiser asked as he stepped up to the side of Phelps.

Phelps remembered the first time he saw the bird, feeding off the carcass of a dead cow, on a remote part of this property.

“How do you know it’s the same one?” Cruiser asked.

“Believe me, it’s the same one,” he replied as they were suddenly joined by the young girl they had earlier seen with Danny Carter, and who had watched them curiously from the doorway of the house.

“Hello, how are you two doing?” she asked.

Cruiser looked at the girl in heightened awareness that she, of all of the children they had seen, seemed different somehow-perhaps even special. Moreover, something about her was unnervingly familiar.

“Hello, young lady-what is your name, if I might ask?” Cruiser asked.

“Grace Rodescu,” came the reply, and as Cruiser and Phelps looked at each other in shocked awareness, Lieutenant Frank Anderson went driving by them. Grace with a smile cheerfully waved her hand in his direction. She turned back toward the two, but focused her attention on Phelps.

“Have you found what you’re looking for?” she asked.

“I think so,” Phelps replied gravely.

“I’m sorry you had such a hard time there,” she said. “Everything worked out fine in the long run though, huh?”

Phelps didn’t know quite how to respond, and could not hide his obvious shock.

“Well, it’s about time for dinner, so I have to go join the others. I do hope the two of you will come see me again.”

She smiled winsomely at the pair, and then turned and bounded off toward the house.

“I don’t believe this for a minute,” Cruiser said.

“Yes, you do,” Phelps replied. “Come on-let’s get the hell out of here.”

They climbed inside the van as the vulture made its way now toward the roof of the house, from whence it perched and gazed in their direction. As Phelps started up the van, Cruiser extracted the napkin from his blazer pocket.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“I’m almost sure this is blood, and some gore,” he said. “I’m going to have it tested, and if it turns out to be what I think it is, Anderson will have to listen. If he doesn’t, somebody will.”

“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you,” Phelps replied as he pulled out onto the little narrow road. He wanted to get away from there as quickly as he could. As he drove, the vulture followed above them, but suddenly veered off to the left, and toward a clearing in the thick woods, where the two bodies waited.

Cynthia dove down onto the closest body, the one of the man, and hungrily tore into his rotting corpse. She was hungry, and this afternoon, she would dine well.
Links to Previous Chapters
Part One
Prologue and Chapters I-X
Part Two
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
PartThree
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XXXX
Chapter XXXXI
Chapter XXXXII
Chapter XXXXIII
Chapter XXXXIV
Chapter XXXXV
Chapter XXXXVI