Exponential

  *

  She smiled a bit but kept quiet, still unsure of his real position. He seemed to express genuine and caring concern, but he also always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. She realized her thinking was rather paranoid, but after the last few days – especially with her discussion with Professor Tattinger and not to mention the murder of her mother – she felt she had good reason to be paranoid.

  “Mara, I’ve been starting to go crazy here!” he began. “I was really getting nervous as it got later and later. I’m glad you’re OK! By the way, I have to say again, the new hair looks great!”

  She was pleased with the attention she was receiving and began to relax a little. She couldn’t help feeling a little self-conscious dressed in the disheveled clothes she was wearing. They both ordered breakfast when the waitress came by and were served coffee.

  “I’m sorry. I got wrapped up in some research and by the time I was through, it was pretty late. I just crashed and didn’t set an alarm or anything. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

  “Well, I was very glad to see you – once I recognized you that is!” His broad, easy smile was warm and she mellowed as she sat for a while not saying anything.

  After a moment, Dell went on, “I have some news, some good, some not so good. Let me start with the not so good.” He lowered his voice and leaned toward her a bit to maintain a little privacy in the cramped diner. “I have been strictly banned from working on this case. In fact it was more of a threat than an order. Whoever is pulling the strings here has quite a lot of weight. The State Police are apparently under this same ‘influence’. The whole thing really has me pissed. I hate corruption and now it’s become personal. I want to get to the bottom of this but I’ve got to try to do it with one hand tied behind my back. No ‘official’ involvement.”

  “What’s the good news?”

  “The New Hampshire police are pretty convinced you did not kill your mother. They suspect foul play from the evidence at the scene. You didn’t tell me about the gun!”

  “Gun?”

  “Yes, they dug a bullet out of the back of your car. They also had to admit, beating your mother to death and tossing her into a trunk of a car would be pretty tough for one your size…” From the grief stricken look of misery on her face, he instantly regretted bringing up the graphic description of her mother’s demise. ‘What an Idiot!’ he thought to himself.

  The food came and he dug into his eggs with robust zeal. She played around with the food on her plate a bit and took a tentative bite. She noted with surprise a tear had fallen from her face onto her plate. She began to feel embarrassed at becoming emotional with someone she hardly knew. It surprised her how much his mention of her mother affected her. Rather than fussing about it though, he seemed to understand and remained silent as he continued eating. Although Mara felt like there was a toad caught in her throat and her stomach turned, she realized she was starving.

  They ate in silence. She couldn’t help but review with regret the events that had occurred during the past few days or so. There was the inevitable ‘if-onlys’. If only she hadn’t deleted that original e-mail message from Chris. If only she hadn’t involved her mother. If only she had gone to the police sooner. Now with grim resolve, she was determined to get back at the invisible garbage that seemed bent on torturing her. She had no idea where to go from here and she was only one small girl against… who knew what. The odds were definitely against her. No doubt the organization standing behind her feeble, threatened existence would not give up – whether it was Viiradium or someone or something else.

  Hopefully, she knew more than they thought she knew. Somehow, she was able to stay one small step ahead. Albeit a small step that cost her family their lives. She simply had to continue to stay ahead and bring this thing to an end before they brought her to an end. Staying a step ahead was the only way she could defeat them. She would have to be incredibly cautious.

  Could she trust Dell?