Chapter Five
'The alarm sounded with all it's glory. Jondy had the urge to cover her sensitive ears with her hands but the task at hand kept her from doing so. Instead she concentrated on watching in front and to the side of her to make certain Max was still there. Despite what Zack had ordered, both she and her youngest sister had secretly promised to look out for each other. X5's didn't break their promises.
Jondy snuck a quick glance over her shoulder and the sight of the dogs being turned loose made her pump her short legs even faster. With a graceful leap, she and Max simultaneously soared over the barbed wire fence and managed not to break stride as they landed side by side. They continued to sprint.
They had just made it into the cover of the woods when Max suddenly broke through a thin sheet of ice and disappeared into the freezing water, barely two feet away from Jondy.
"Max!" Jondy screamed, instantly dropping to her knees and watching anxiously for her sister. Jondy was forced to move back further from the spot Max had disappeared as the ice started to give way more.
"Max!" she cried again, pounding her small, cold fists on the frozen bed of ice. Jondy looked up in alarm as she heard the dogs getting closer. For a fleeting instant she thought maybe she should stay, in hopes that the guards might be able to pull Max out. But as soon as the though came, it vanished. Max, no matter what happened to her, wouldn't want Jondy to forfeit her own freedom just for her.
With tears streaming down her pale cheeks Jondy fled. The sounds of the dogs were getting closer and she could hear the guards yelling and guns firing as she tore across the ice-covered ground. Then from out of nowhere-.'
Jondy bolted upright in her sleep. She was breathing hard, as if she had just been running just now and not a whole decade ago. Her clothes and sheets were drenched in sweat and she could feel tears descending along her cheekbones. Jondy let out a sigh. She pulled back the sheets, put her feet down on the frayed carpet, and trotted silently to the kitchen for some water. She was surprised to find Molly up too.
"Couldn't sleep?" her friend asked her sympathetically. Jondy had told Molly about the nightmares she had after she'd successfully woken up the heavy sleeper several times when they'd first moved in together. Jondy lied however when she said that she could never remember what the nightmares were about. In reality, she recalled only all too well.
"Nah," Jondy replied, her voice still hoarse with sleep. She took the water jug out of the fridge and took a long drink directly from the bottle. With an X5 immune system, Jondy was worried about neither catching sicknesses nor giving them to her roommate. Molly, obviously skeptical of her friend's supposed extra-good health, still preferred to have her own supply handy.
"So what are you doing up at this un-Godly hour?" Jondy asked as she plopped down in a chair across the table.
"Oh, I don't know. Guess I've got a lot on my mind right now. The Sarge is putting the pressure on me to either find more information or close some old case that seems to have nothing but dead ends everywhere I look"
Jondy shrugged, "So why don't you close it then?"
Molly sucked on her bottom lip, something Jondy noticed she had the habit of doing when thinking deeply about something.
"Well, it's just that it's a really interesting case and I have this gut feeling that it could really lead me somewhere big. Maybe even something national. Not to mention that I'm the one that dug it back up in the first place," she paused, still gathering her thoughts. "It's some pre-pulse file that happened to find it's way into my folder and it doesn't even say who the original investigator was. I don't know. Maybe I should give it up."
"Hey, I've got some detective skills," Jondy offered, attempting to lighten the mood. "Why don't you test my knowledge of the world?"
Molly gave her a sideways glance.
"Oh, come on! Really, I'm not as dumb as I look."
With this, she received a smile from Molly.
"Okay," Molly consented, "What the heck? Ever heard of something called 'Manticore'?"
Jondy's heart nearly stopped. No... Not Molly. She couldn't have stumbled onto Manticore. She was a good detective, sure, but her skills weren't that good. And how much did she know from that other detective? How in danger was her life already?
"Uh, Manti-what?" Jondy attempted to reply in a joking tone. But she could hear her voice and she knew it was completely devoid of any humor at the moment. She swallowed, praying to be able to regain her composure but mostly for Molly not to notice the sudden change.
"Well, all I know officially is that it's some old government cover-up where they started secretly producing 'weapons of mass destruction' or something."
"And un-officially?" Jondy probed, hoping she didn't sound too anxious.
"Un-officially, I've dug up files about civilians that were brought into the operation about twenty years ago. I don't why or how but I do know that they're almost all in mental institutions now. The problem is, their names are all classified obviously so I have no way of locating any of them to do interviews or what not. Like I said, a bunch of dead ends."
Jondy swallowed.
'Our mothers...' she thought with a mixture of sad and angry emotions.
"Joanna?"
Jondy jerked her head up, oblivious to the fact that she'd been staring at the floor for some time.
"Yeah...yeah, sorry. Guess my mind was wandering."
"So what do you think?" Molly asked.
"Well," Jondy replied, attempting to keep her voice steady, "it sounds interesting all right but don't you think it's more of a job for the feds to figure out? I mean, shouldn't you be concentrating on all the murderers and stuff just in San Diego? It's not like there's not enough of them."
"Besides the fact that the Feds probably already know about it?" Molly sighed, "I know you're right, Jo, I just have this problem with letting stuff go. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I gotcha."
"Then, of course, good ol' Joanna doesn't hold grudges against anybody does she?" Molly teased.
She was always telling Jondy that she was too forgiving of people. In truth, Jondy held the over-all "grudge" of probably anyone in the city. She just couldn't see other more material stuff in life as being nearly as important so she figured, why not enjoy life? That was what she and the others had escaped Manticore for after all. Again, this was something else she had to keep secret from Molly.
They sat in silence for several minutes with only the soft drop...drop...drop of the coffee maker to fill out the thick silence.
Unawares to both of them however was that they were not completely alone.
Across from their third-floor apartment Cole was crouched on the roof, watching silently through the kitchen window. He had cursed in anger when he'd first seen Jondy there but now he was concentrating on formulating a plan to somehow keep her out of everything. What were the odds, he'd asked himself, that, of all the people in San Diego, the two he would have anything to do with were not only connected but also good friends and roommates? Anyways, someway or another, Cole was determined that no mention of a third-party would go on his official report he'd hand in to Manticore. No matter what the consequence was.
Cole stood up unhurriedly and, as he moved to step onto the lower ledge, a piece of the cement on the edge gave way and went crashing to the pavement below, running into a few more barriers along the way. He immediately dropped to his stomach and prayed he was well enough hidden so that even Jondy's superior sight couldn't locate him amongst the shadows.
He waited several minutes before he dared to inch his way across to the opposite side of the roof before successfully getting down without causing another commotion. He would be back tomorrow.
Meanwhile, although both occupants of the apartment had heard the rather loud noise, neither of them had paid much attention to it. First of all, they were much too tired and, also, it wasn't uncommon for kids and young teenagers to be climbing around on the roofs at even this time of night. It wouldn't surprise either Jondy or Molly in the least if it had been one of them who had fallen off the side of the building. Of course, they hoped otherwise.
Jondy never could fall back asleep that night. She was much too concerned for Molly's well being. When she finally did start to drift into a light state of unconsciousness, her dreams were once again plagued by thoughts and memories from her childhood.
Only this time, it was Molly who fell through the ice.
'The alarm sounded with all it's glory. Jondy had the urge to cover her sensitive ears with her hands but the task at hand kept her from doing so. Instead she concentrated on watching in front and to the side of her to make certain Max was still there. Despite what Zack had ordered, both she and her youngest sister had secretly promised to look out for each other. X5's didn't break their promises.
Jondy snuck a quick glance over her shoulder and the sight of the dogs being turned loose made her pump her short legs even faster. With a graceful leap, she and Max simultaneously soared over the barbed wire fence and managed not to break stride as they landed side by side. They continued to sprint.
They had just made it into the cover of the woods when Max suddenly broke through a thin sheet of ice and disappeared into the freezing water, barely two feet away from Jondy.
"Max!" Jondy screamed, instantly dropping to her knees and watching anxiously for her sister. Jondy was forced to move back further from the spot Max had disappeared as the ice started to give way more.
"Max!" she cried again, pounding her small, cold fists on the frozen bed of ice. Jondy looked up in alarm as she heard the dogs getting closer. For a fleeting instant she thought maybe she should stay, in hopes that the guards might be able to pull Max out. But as soon as the though came, it vanished. Max, no matter what happened to her, wouldn't want Jondy to forfeit her own freedom just for her.
With tears streaming down her pale cheeks Jondy fled. The sounds of the dogs were getting closer and she could hear the guards yelling and guns firing as she tore across the ice-covered ground. Then from out of nowhere-.'
Jondy bolted upright in her sleep. She was breathing hard, as if she had just been running just now and not a whole decade ago. Her clothes and sheets were drenched in sweat and she could feel tears descending along her cheekbones. Jondy let out a sigh. She pulled back the sheets, put her feet down on the frayed carpet, and trotted silently to the kitchen for some water. She was surprised to find Molly up too.
"Couldn't sleep?" her friend asked her sympathetically. Jondy had told Molly about the nightmares she had after she'd successfully woken up the heavy sleeper several times when they'd first moved in together. Jondy lied however when she said that she could never remember what the nightmares were about. In reality, she recalled only all too well.
"Nah," Jondy replied, her voice still hoarse with sleep. She took the water jug out of the fridge and took a long drink directly from the bottle. With an X5 immune system, Jondy was worried about neither catching sicknesses nor giving them to her roommate. Molly, obviously skeptical of her friend's supposed extra-good health, still preferred to have her own supply handy.
"So what are you doing up at this un-Godly hour?" Jondy asked as she plopped down in a chair across the table.
"Oh, I don't know. Guess I've got a lot on my mind right now. The Sarge is putting the pressure on me to either find more information or close some old case that seems to have nothing but dead ends everywhere I look"
Jondy shrugged, "So why don't you close it then?"
Molly sucked on her bottom lip, something Jondy noticed she had the habit of doing when thinking deeply about something.
"Well, it's just that it's a really interesting case and I have this gut feeling that it could really lead me somewhere big. Maybe even something national. Not to mention that I'm the one that dug it back up in the first place," she paused, still gathering her thoughts. "It's some pre-pulse file that happened to find it's way into my folder and it doesn't even say who the original investigator was. I don't know. Maybe I should give it up."
"Hey, I've got some detective skills," Jondy offered, attempting to lighten the mood. "Why don't you test my knowledge of the world?"
Molly gave her a sideways glance.
"Oh, come on! Really, I'm not as dumb as I look."
With this, she received a smile from Molly.
"Okay," Molly consented, "What the heck? Ever heard of something called 'Manticore'?"
Jondy's heart nearly stopped. No... Not Molly. She couldn't have stumbled onto Manticore. She was a good detective, sure, but her skills weren't that good. And how much did she know from that other detective? How in danger was her life already?
"Uh, Manti-what?" Jondy attempted to reply in a joking tone. But she could hear her voice and she knew it was completely devoid of any humor at the moment. She swallowed, praying to be able to regain her composure but mostly for Molly not to notice the sudden change.
"Well, all I know officially is that it's some old government cover-up where they started secretly producing 'weapons of mass destruction' or something."
"And un-officially?" Jondy probed, hoping she didn't sound too anxious.
"Un-officially, I've dug up files about civilians that were brought into the operation about twenty years ago. I don't why or how but I do know that they're almost all in mental institutions now. The problem is, their names are all classified obviously so I have no way of locating any of them to do interviews or what not. Like I said, a bunch of dead ends."
Jondy swallowed.
'Our mothers...' she thought with a mixture of sad and angry emotions.
"Joanna?"
Jondy jerked her head up, oblivious to the fact that she'd been staring at the floor for some time.
"Yeah...yeah, sorry. Guess my mind was wandering."
"So what do you think?" Molly asked.
"Well," Jondy replied, attempting to keep her voice steady, "it sounds interesting all right but don't you think it's more of a job for the feds to figure out? I mean, shouldn't you be concentrating on all the murderers and stuff just in San Diego? It's not like there's not enough of them."
"Besides the fact that the Feds probably already know about it?" Molly sighed, "I know you're right, Jo, I just have this problem with letting stuff go. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I gotcha."
"Then, of course, good ol' Joanna doesn't hold grudges against anybody does she?" Molly teased.
She was always telling Jondy that she was too forgiving of people. In truth, Jondy held the over-all "grudge" of probably anyone in the city. She just couldn't see other more material stuff in life as being nearly as important so she figured, why not enjoy life? That was what she and the others had escaped Manticore for after all. Again, this was something else she had to keep secret from Molly.
They sat in silence for several minutes with only the soft drop...drop...drop of the coffee maker to fill out the thick silence.
Unawares to both of them however was that they were not completely alone.
Across from their third-floor apartment Cole was crouched on the roof, watching silently through the kitchen window. He had cursed in anger when he'd first seen Jondy there but now he was concentrating on formulating a plan to somehow keep her out of everything. What were the odds, he'd asked himself, that, of all the people in San Diego, the two he would have anything to do with were not only connected but also good friends and roommates? Anyways, someway or another, Cole was determined that no mention of a third-party would go on his official report he'd hand in to Manticore. No matter what the consequence was.
Cole stood up unhurriedly and, as he moved to step onto the lower ledge, a piece of the cement on the edge gave way and went crashing to the pavement below, running into a few more barriers along the way. He immediately dropped to his stomach and prayed he was well enough hidden so that even Jondy's superior sight couldn't locate him amongst the shadows.
He waited several minutes before he dared to inch his way across to the opposite side of the roof before successfully getting down without causing another commotion. He would be back tomorrow.
Meanwhile, although both occupants of the apartment had heard the rather loud noise, neither of them had paid much attention to it. First of all, they were much too tired and, also, it wasn't uncommon for kids and young teenagers to be climbing around on the roofs at even this time of night. It wouldn't surprise either Jondy or Molly in the least if it had been one of them who had fallen off the side of the building. Of course, they hoped otherwise.
Jondy never could fall back asleep that night. She was much too concerned for Molly's well being. When she finally did start to drift into a light state of unconsciousness, her dreams were once again plagued by thoughts and memories from her childhood.
Only this time, it was Molly who fell through the ice.