Erased, page 4
Eventually, she turned her head and was startled to see a young woman standing a few feet away, watching her. She had a milk chocolate complexion and ebony hair, cut short and straight just below her ears. She wore a pastel blue smock and shoes that looked like dancer’s slippers. She was lithe and fragile-looking with pale skin and black eyebrows that arched in the center, giving her a look of mild surprise.
Just as Dani was about to speak, the woman said, “You are awake.” She was at her side instantly. “How do you feel, Daniella Barsetti?”
“Like crap.” She licked her dry lips and the woman handed her a cup with a straw to take a drink. Despite the slippers, she was apparently a nurse.
“Some discomfort is to be expected,” the woman said.
“Is it?” She looked down at her body to see she was wearing a loose-fitting smock that covered her arms to the elbows and her legs to the knees. She tentatively moved her legs. There was no pain. “Was I shot?”
“Shot? We injected you with an antiemetic.”
“No, I mean with a gun. A bullet. Was I hit?”
“You are not wounded.”
With that knowledge, Dani relaxed and lifted her head to take a sip through the straw. She looked past the woman at the seamless white wall, then searched the other walls, finding no door to the room. The walls themselves were mostly empty except for one abstract piece of art, a frameless print in midnight blue, white and yellow.
Looking back at the nurse, she asked, “Where am I?”
The woman’s smile was practiced. “Dr. Swenson will answer your questions.”
“Who’s Dr. Swenson?”
“She is the director of this facility.”
“What hospital is this?”
“Dr. Swenson will answer your questions. I am Lara. If you need anything, please ask.”
Dani attempted a nod, then sucked more liquid through the straw. It tasted odd. “What is this?”
“Fortified water. Do you want something to eat?”
She shook her head. “My stomach’s too upset.” She peered at the colorless liquid in the cup. Fortified with what? she wondered.
“Your nausea will wear off in an hour or two. It is just one of the side effects.” Lara took the cup from her.
“Side effects of what? What am I doing here? Am I sick?”
Lara smiled again. “Dr. Swenson…”
“…will answer my questions. Right.”
She leaned her head back and stared at the luminescent ceiling, searching her memory. She’d been chasing Agent Bryan and Darius through an apartment building. Bryan had been shot. Darius escaped or was captured by someone else. She’d picked up an object, a silver tube with three blue lights. That’s the last thing she remembered. Now she was lying in a hospital bed feeling like she’d been tossed into a concrete wall, her mind muddled. Maybe Darius had attacked her and knocked her out while she was preoccupied with Bryan. Maybe she had a concussion.
“How long have I been here?” she asked.
“One hour.”
“Did they get Darius?”
Lara tilted her head to the side, as if perplexed. “I do not understand.”
She’s an odd little thing, Dani thought. “Did the police arrest Darius?”
“I do not know. Perhaps Dr. Swenson can answer that. Can I get you anything?”
“Yes. I want to see Dr. Swenson.”
“I will take you to her as soon as you can walk.”
Dani sat up, her head swimming. When it settled down, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and touched down on the floor. She wasn’t sure she could walk and she didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she was impatient for answers.
“I will tell Dr. Swenson you are awake,” Lara offered. She walked toward one of the walls, which slid aside for her with a swishing sound, creating a doorway. It closed after her, blending into the wall nearly seamlessly.
Dani stood beside the bed, keeping still and willing the nausea to subside. She’d never been in a hospital room that looked like this, so stark with no machines and no sounds. And no light switches. She visually searched the walls for electrical outlets. There were none. No switches and no outlets. They must be hidden somehow. Behind a panel or inside a cupboard.
Lara returned in a few minutes with a pair of elastic-waisted pastel blue pajama pants. “Please put these on,” she said.
Dani already felt stronger. She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on the pants. They were thin, but the material felt strong, like Tyvek but much softer.
“Where’s my phone?” she asked. “I want to call home.”
A look of perplexity greeted her request before wan-faced Lara said, “You may ask Dr. Swenson about that?”
Dani groaned her frustration. “Fine! Take me to Dr. Swenson.”
She followed Lara down a circular hallway to another door. Beyond this the hallway curved out of sight. The room they entered looked substantially the same as the first one except that it was larger and furnished more like a conference room. It contained an oval table surrounded by swivel chairs, a counter along one wall and an inset panel above it that Dani imagined might move up or down to reveal a video screen. Again, there were no light fixtures, but the room was lit. As they entered, the light level rose automatically.
“Please sit,” Lara said. “The others will be here in a minute.”
Dani sat in the silent, windowless room for fewer than five minutes before three people came in, an attractive woman in her thirties and two men, one young, small and dark-complexioned, the other older, about sixty, with hollow cheeks and salt-and-pepper hair. Both men were clean-shaven, and all three wore light-colored slacks and coordinating shirts of a material similar to Dani’s pajama pants. The woman, whose auburn hair was thick and shoulder length, walked with self-assurance, her chin tilted up slightly, an attitude conveying the message that she was in charge. Dani rose to her feet, noting that she still felt shaky. With a welcoming smile, the woman held out her hand. “Hello, Officer Barsetti,” she said, her voice composed and even-toned. “I’m Pamela Swenson.”
So this was Dr. Swenson, the woman with all the answers.
“This is my associate, Dr. Gavin Hale.” Swenson indicated the young man, who put on an unconvincing smile and reached in to shake Dani’s hand limply. “And this is Filbert Moon.”
Moon, trim and alert-looking with bushy sideburns that might legitimately be called muttonchops, gave her hand a quick shake. He did not smile and his eyes betrayed concern. Dani noticed that Swenson’s introduction of Filbert Moon neglected to identify his role. She also noticed a small device attached to his left ear. Hearing aid? Glancing at Gavin Hale, she saw that he had a similar device on his ear. Because of Dr. Swenson’s hairdo, her ears were out of view.
All of the newcomers sat at one end of the table near Dani, forming a close-knit foursome.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” guessed Swenson. “So do we. Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, thanks.”
“Before we answer your questions, which is going to take some time, I’d like you to clear up a few things for us. First of all, where is Agent Bryan?” She leaned toward Dani, folding her hands together on the table.
Dani was completely thrown by the question. Up until now, she had thought she was in a hospital and would be meeting with her doctors. Now she had to start over figuring out what was going on.
“You know,” she said cautiously, “maybe it’s just my police training, but I’m not comfortable with the whole Q and A thing just yet. I don’t know where I am or who you are. I don’t know how I got here or what happened to me. All my stuff has been taken, including my badge, my weapon, my wallet and my phone. I want all of my stuff back. And I want to see some ID from you three before we go any further.”
Swenson gave her an indulgent smile, then glanced at Moon, whose face remained passive.
“I understand how you must feel, Officer Barsetti. We will answer all of your questions in time, believe me. But, please, where is Frank Bryan? We are his colleagues.”
“You’re FBI?”
She shook her head. “No. Neither is he. He’s undercover. The FBI story was designed to get the cooperation of local law enforcement. Frank was on a very important mission. He should be sitting here with us now instead of you.” Her tone had become stern. “We want to know how that happened. Why are you here?”
Dani didn’t know how to answer the question. From the expressions around her, the narrowed eyes of the older man and the antagonistic set of the young man’s jaw, she felt that she was being accused of something.
Swenson nodded at Hale, who placed a silver, lipstick-sized tube on the table, the same device Dani had found next to Bryan’s body. The blue lights were dull, no longer glowing.
“When you arrived,” Swenson said, “you had this. It belongs to Frank. How did you get it?”
“Look, I don’t remember arriving. I don’t even know where I am. Where is this place? At least you could tell me where I am.”
“It’s San Francisco, Officer Barsetti,” offered Moon matter-of-factly. “You’re in San Francisco.”
That was a relief if it were true, but it wasn’t very specific. She began to believe that nobody here would tell her anything until they had the answers to their own questions. She had nothing to hide anyway, she thought, whoever these people were.
“I picked that thing up,” she said, nodding toward the silver tube. “Maybe Bryan dropped it. He called for backup and my partner and I answered the call. Darius shot him just before I arrived. As far as I know, Bryan’s dead. This thing was lying beside him. The blue lights were glowing. I picked it up to see what it was. That’s all I remember.”
Swenson’s eyes widened in shock. “Dead?” She glanced at Hale, who also looked stricken.
Dani realized she had just dropped a bombshell on these people. She had forgotten that they knew Bryan, that he was their coworker and, probably, friend. She remembered her own similar recent loss. “Oh, geez, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m pretty sure he’s dead,” she reiterated more gently.
Swenson stood and walked toward a blank wall, facing away from the group. Hale lowered his head. Moon seemed unmoved. Perhaps he had not been a friend of Frank Bryan’s. He simply stared at Dani with displeasure.
“What about Darius?” he asked. “You said Darius shot Bryan. What happened to him?”
“I’m not sure. The SFPD might have gotten him. We had quite a few units there. But I didn’t see where he went and then…well, I woke up here.”
Moon stared hard at her, his bushy eyebrows knit together. “This is a disaster!” he finally announced, then addressed Swenson impatiently. “We have to be sure he’s stopped. Even if the police arrested him, how do we know they’ll keep him locked up? What if they let him go? He can pay money to get out of jail, right?” His last question seemed aimed at Dani.
“You mean bail? Sure, as long as the judge…”
“That’s beside the point,” Hale interrupted, his voice soft and feeble. “Bryan is dead.”
“I’m very sorry about that,” Moon said, his eyes darting to Swenson, who still stood facing the wall. “But we still have a serious problem to deal with that is not at all ‘beside the point.’ Darius is still alive.”
Swenson turned to face Moon, her expression cold and challenging. “What do you propose we do?”
“How do I know! This is your project. You need to fix this.”
Swenson closed her eyes, clasping her hands together in front of her.
Moon stood and took a step toward her. “This is a big setback, Doctor. Not only did you lose Bryan and your chance at Darius, but now we’ve got her.” He pointed at Dani, clearly unhappy about her being there.
Dani glanced from one to the other of them, wondering what kind of operation this was. She’d thought from the beginning there was something fishy going on with Agent Bryan. Who was behind him? If not the FBI, who? Some other government agency? A foreign government? Nothing about this place or these people suggested anything to her. All of the usual clues were missing. But she did gather from Moon’s comment that she was a liability. This was a covert operation and she was not supposed to be here. She wondered if that put her in danger. Could they let her go without compromising their plans? She now knew Bryan had been an imposter. Her knowing that couldn’t be okay with these people.
If it were true that she’d only been here an hour, it was still Monday afternoon. Gemma would be at her office, unaware that anything had happened. At least she wouldn’t yet have any reason to worry. If things worked out, Dani might be walking into the apartment at the usual time and Gemma would have never had a moment of concern. Well, not the usual time. She had that appointment at the bridal shop first. She’d go pick up a carton of ice cream after that, Gem’s favorite, dulce de leche.
A smile tugged at the side of her mouth as she imagined herself walking in, giving Gemma a kiss and an apology. Gemma would melt just like her bowl of ice cream. But that nice little scene depended on her getting safely out of whatever mess this was. So, Barsetti, she said to herself, make yourself an asset to these folks instead of a liability.
“If this Darius guy is really that dangerous,” she said, “maybe I can help keep him behind bars. Or, if he isn’t already in custody, I can put some pressure on the force to take him in. I know Bryan had information he wasn’t sharing. I’m guessing you know what it was. If you give me something to work with, I can help. All I know about Darius so far is that he blew up a research lab. You obviously think he’s got a bigger plan. Let me in on it. I have a few connections and I’m already on the case, right? Let me go after him.”
Swenson gazed at her a moment, her expression unreadable, then glanced from Moon to Hale in turn. Neither of them reacted. When her eyes met Dani’s again, she said, “We’ll need to discuss your proposal, Officer Barsetti. May I call you Daniella?”
Dani shrugged. Nobody called her Daniella except her mother, but she wasn’t prepared to engage in chitchat about nicknames with Dr. Swenson.
“Please give us an hour or so to talk. Meanwhile, Lara can bring you something to eat if you’re hungry.”
Dani glanced around the room for a clock, but the walls were empty. “How do you tell time around here?”
Swenson’s eyes darted slightly to the side, then she said, “It’s nearly three o’clock.” Dani looked in the same direction and saw nothing but a blank wall.
“You know, I’m supposed to meet my sister this afternoon. Do you think we can hurry this whole thing up a little?”
Another indulgent smile from Swenson. “We will do our best. Lara will let you know when we’re ready for you.”
Dani wished she could stay around for this discussion. She had a bad feeling about all of this. She couldn’t help believing there was no way in hell they were going to let her walk out of here alive, wherever here was. She wasn’t supposed to be here, they didn’t want her here and at least one of them, Muttonchop Moon, was fuming about it.
Chapter Six
Young Dr. Hale brought Dani back to the room she’d awakened in, leaving her there with the request, “Please wait here.”
Once he had gone, she conducted a thorough search of the room, looking for her possessions. Not only didn’t she find them, but she found no drawers, no cupboards and no closets. There was nothing of interest in this room, which was probably why she was being kept in it. Deciding to go exploring, she stepped toward the door just as it whooshed open.
Lara came in with a tray, which she placed on a wheeled cart by the bed. “Dr. Swenson said you might want to eat.”
Dani’s stomach was still a little queasy. Besides, the contents of the plate did not look all that tempting. “Naw, I had a big lunch earlier, which I’m sort of regretting now.” She peered at the food, a beige cube about two inches high and some green things that looked like baby pinecones or bumpy Brussels sprouts. “What is this stuff anyway?”
“This is a protein portion,” Lara answered, pointing to the cube. “Soy-based with teriyaki flavoring. And the vegetable portion is rukor.”
“Rukor?”
“You are not familiar with rukor?”
Dani shook her head.
“Most people enjoy it.”
“What’s in the glass?”
“That is peach-flavored tea. I will be back in a moment.” Lara left the room.
Dani took a sip of the tea. It reminded her of something from a juice bar that she would never have ordered. All in all, the food was right up Gemma’s alley. She stabbed the vegetable with the fork and, out of curiosity, took a small bite. It was okay. She wondered if Gemma knew about rukor. She’d be thrilled and impressed if Dani introduced her to a new vegetable. She put the fork down and pushed the cart up against the wall.
She realized she felt a lot better than she had when she first woke up in this place. The nausea and headache were nearly gone.
Lara returned with Dani’s uniform and let her get dressed, for which she was grateful. She felt like herself again in her own clothes. Her utility belt, which contained her weapon and her phone, was not returned.
“I am sorry,” Lara answered when Dani asked for it.
“Look, I need my phone. I just want to call my sister. She’s expecting me this afternoon and I need to tell her there might be a delay.”
“I am sorry,” Lara repeated, her expression indicating no sorrow, just the same perverse smile and arched eyebrows.
“Then could I use your phone?”
Lara shook her head. Dani pondered twisting the woman’s arm, literally, to get her phone back but decided against it. The time for violence had not yet come. When it did, she felt confident against this group. She’d seen nobody so far who could pose any physical threat to her. Two small women, a spindly nerd and an elderly man. If she had to break out, she was sure she could do it.
By three forty-five, she was led to the conference room with the same group as before. They all looked so serious, it made her nervous. She didn’t know what to expect, if she was in danger or why she had the persistent feeling she wasn’t in San Francisco after all. The two rooms she’d been in had no windows. For all she knew, she could be anywhere. And she didn’t trust anybody here to tell her the truth.
