Chapter Twenty Two

 The stinging in Alex’s eyes was beginning to subside and he was able to keep them open for a couple of seconds at a time.

Alex, Harold and Kaylee sat at the table in her kitchen.  Alex and Harold had already established that they knew Dr. Porter was currently in possession of the Thomas Smith artifacts.  They also established that they weren’t planning to involve law enforcement in the matter.

“What I want to know is, how did you know when Harold and I were back from California?”  Alex said.

Kaylee smirked and said, “That was easy.  The folks on the Guild of Smiths forum posted about the strange happenings they experienced.  It wasn’t that hard to put it together that it was you two, and that you’d probably be returning as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” Alex said.

“Why does Dr. Porter want these artifacts so badly in the first place?  She claimed that she isn’t even that interested in Thomas Smith any longer,” Harold said.  “Obviously, that wasn’t strictly the truth.”

“Obviously,” Kaylee said.  “You guys caught her off guard, and she hadn’t known that they had been stolen in the first place.  Once she put it together that there was an opportunity to get her hands on them, she sent me after you so she could keep tabs on what you were up to.”

“OK, how did either of you know what the Guild of Smiths were up to?” Alex said.

“We didn’t, until they posted about it.  Dr. Porter just happened to stumble across their posts about their activities, and had me forward the information to you,” Kaylee said.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Harold said.  “Why does Dr. Porter want them?”

“She wants them as part of some research she’s doing.  She thinks she’s figured out a piece of the puzzle, but she needs those artifacts in order to validate her idea,” Kaylee said.  “She claimed she was going to have me as co-author on the paper, too, until the artifacts were delivered and she went off the grid.  I haven’t been able to get ahold of her at all, and I went to see if she was home tonight.  She wasn’t there.”

“That sucks,” Alex said.

“It sure does.  Being co-author on a paper would have really helped my chances of getting into grad school.  Also, I still need her to sign my time card so I get paid for the last two weeks,” Kaylee said.

“So have you got any idea where she might be now?” Alex said.

“I know she’s got a cabin up near Brainerd. It’s possible she went up there to work in solitude.  She could have at least let me know she was going, though,” Kaylee said.

“That was pretty rude of her,” Alex said.  “Have you got any idea how we can find her up there? Or do you have the address?”

“Not really,” Kaylee said.  “She’s only mentioned the cabin in passing.  I have no idea if that’s where she actually went.  I’ve been around to her usual haunts, though, and no one has seen her for a couple of days.”

“OK, thanks anyway,” Alex said.

“Do you have any idea why she would want my luggage?” Harold said.

Kaylee looked completely baffled by the question.  “Your luggage?” she said.

“Yes,” Harold said.  “Your goons took my luggage the other night as well, after destroying Mr. Minor’s car.”

“They wrecked your car?” Kaylee said, shocked.  “I didn’t know about any of that, I just let them know you were back in town.”

“Yes, they beat the hell out of my car, and shot it, twice,” Alex said.

“I didn’t know.  I’m sorry,” Kaylee said.

“And she never mentioned anything about my luggage?” Harold said.

Kaylee shook her head.  “No, she never said anything to me about it.  Why would she want it?”

Harold seemed to relax a bit.  At least, he relaxed as much as Alex had ever seen him relax.   “That’s what I want to know,” he said.

They were quiet for a few moments until Kaylee said, somewhat coldly, “Is there anything else you need?  Because if not, I have other things I need to do.”

“No, I don’t need anything else, thank you,” Harold said.  “Mr. Minor, do you have any other questions for her?”

“No, let’s get moving,” Alex said.  He was finally able to keep his eyes mostly open again, though they still felt hot and painful.

He and Harold stood up, and went to the door.  Kaylee followed them.

As they left, she said, in a disinterested way, “Sorry about the pepper spray.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said.

They heard her close the door behind them, and lock it, as they walked down the hallway to the building’s entrance.

“I can’t believe she pepper sprayed me,” Alex said.

“Mr. Minor, you did run up behind her in the dark, after we’d been following her all the way from St. Paul.  I’d say you’re lucky that a face full of pepper spray was the worst of it,” Harold said.

“Thanks for the sympathy, Harold,” Alex said.

“Have you ever been to Brainerd before, Mr. Minor?” Harold said.

“I’ve passed through once or twice, but that’s it.  How about you?” Alex said.

“No, I’ve never been.  Tonight seems like a good night to visit, however,” Harold said.

Alex glanced at his watch.  It was close to midnight, and he was pretty sure it was at least a two hour drive to get there.

“Are you sure you don’t need some rest?” Alex said.  “It’s been a long day, and it’ll be a long drive to Brainerd from here.”

“Don’t worry about me, Mr. Minor,” Harold said.  “You can sleep in the car while we’re on our way.”

“OK, if you’re sure you don’t need some rest.  You know we’re going to have to haul ass to Brainerd to keep the van from skipping all over the road, don’t you?  I hope you’re going to be alert,” Alex said.

They got in to the minivan, and Harold said, “I am always alert, Mr.  Minor.”

Harold found directions to Brainerd using the GPS, while Alex did a little searching to see if he could find out where Dr. Porter’s cabin might be.  He hoped that she had a landline phone in her cabin.

Finding her address didn’t turn out to be as easy as searching the White Pages for Jacqueline Porter, but there were several addresses listed for people named Porter.  They would have to check them all and hope that one of them was the right one, unless they were able to find more information about her.

Getting back on to the freeway was a hair-raising experience, but once they were going faster than seventy five, the minivan settled down again as it had before.  Before long, Alex did fall asleep.

He woke up again just as they were reaching Brainerd.  Alex knew they had made it, because they passed by a statue of Paul Bunyan on the side of the road.

“Which address should we try first, Mr. Minor?” Harold said.

“I’ve got one here for Andrew Porter,” Alex said, and gave him the address. 

The roads were completely empty, apart from their minivan.  It was roughly two thirty in the morning, and the neighborhoods they passed through were all completely dark, except for the occasional light left on, or blue flicker from someone’s television.

They reached Andrew Porter’s house, and drove past slowly.  There were no lights on, and there wasn’t a car parked in the driveway.

“I guess this one wasn’t it,” Alex said.  “On to the next.  Let’s see…”

Alex had a look at the list of names.  Up next was Danielle Porter.  He gave Harold the address.

Danielle’s house was on the other side of Brainerd.  They arrived after ten minutes or so, and rolled by her house.  This house had several cars, in various states of repair, in the driveway.  Parked on the street out front was a huge lifted truck.  The porch light was on, and there was blue light flickering in one of the upstairs windows.

“I doubt it’s this house,” Harold said.  “This one doesn’t seem like much of a retreat.”

“It really doesn’t.  I’m not sure that huge trucks are Dr. Porter’s style, either,” Alex said.

Harold took a deep breath, and said, “What’s the next address?”

“We’re going to visit Lena Porter next,” Alex said.

They spent the next hour driving around Brainerd, hoping to find some sign that indicated that Dr. Porter might be there.  It wasn’t until they reached R. A. Porter’s address that they’d felt even the slightest bit confident that Dr. Porter might be in residence.  Once they did reach R. A. Porter’s house, however, they got a big sign.

Harold had slowed so they could check out the house.  It was definitely more of a cabin than a house.  The house itself wasn’t very big, and only one story tall.  There was a small detached garage at the end of a gravel driveway.  It had a very large wrap-around porch, with an assortment of outdoor furniture and an old charcoal grill that looked as though it was probably only held together by the soot from meals past.  There were garden gnome statues, pink flamingos, and a tin sign next to the front door with a thermometer in it.  Also, in the driveway, there was a brown station wagon with a University of Minnesota sticker on the back window.

That would have been enough evidence to convince Alex and Harold that this cabin was worth coming back to check on to see if Dr. Porter was home.  What convinced them, however, was getting hit with a familiar wave of cold, and a feeling of electricity in the air.  It was exactly what they had felt in the campground when they were trying to find Noah and his friends in Eureka.

“This is the place,” Harold and Alex said simultaneously.

Harold pulled to the side of the road and stopped the minivan.  They got hit with another wave of the strange sensation.  Alex shivered, and said, “I hate that.”

“It’s nothing to fear, Mr. Minor,” Harold said.  “I think we have an answer to our question why Dr. Porter wanted the artifacts so much.  I think we can rest easy knowing that my luggage is safe, however.”

Alex looked at Harold as if he’d lost his mind.

“Yes, I’m deeply relieved knowing that she’s in there doing some kind of sorcery that seems to be having an actual, tangible effect on us, but at least your luggage is safe,” Alex said.

“You should be relieved, Mr. Minor.  If she knew about my luggage, things would be much, much worse,” Harold said.