The Third Twin Page 0,178

all over, and she had lost.

The guard took her firmly by the arm and pushed her toward the door. She could have fought him off, but there was no point.

She passed Berrington and saw him smile. She felt tears come to her eyes, but she swallowed them and held her head high. To hell with you all, she thought; one day you'll find out I was right.

Behind her, she heard Caren Beamish say: "Mr. Madigan, if you would care to resume your remarks?"

As Jeannie and the guard reached the door it opened and Lisa came in.

Jeannie gasped when she saw that right behind her was one of the clones.

It must be George Dassault. He had come! But one was not enough - she needed two to make her point. If only Steve would show up, or Mr. Oliver with Harvey!

Then, with blinding joy, she saw a second clone walk in. It must be Henry King. She shook off the security guard. "Look!" she yelled. "Look here!"

As she spoke, a third clone walked in. The black hair told her it was Wayne Stattner.

"See!" Jeannie yelled. "Here they are! They're identical!"

All the cameras swung away from the platform and pointed at the newcomers. Lights flashed as photographers began to snap the incident.

"I told you!" Jeannie said triumphantly to the journalists. "Now ask them about their parents. They're not triplets - their mothers have never met! Ask them. Go on, ask them!"

She realized she was sounding too excited, and she made an effort to calm down, but it was difficult, she felt so happy. Several reporters leaped up and approached the three clones, eager to question them. The guard took Jeannie's arm again, but she was now at the center of a crowd and could not move anyway.

In the background she heard Berrington raise his voice over the buzz of the reporters. "Ladies and gentlemen, if we could have your attention, please!" He began by sounding angry but soon became petulant. "We would like to continue with the press conference!" It was no good. The pack had scented a real story, and they had lost interest in speeches.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jeannie saw Senator Proust slip quietly out of the room.

A young man thrust a microphone at her and said: "How did you find out about these experiments?"

Jeannie said into the microphone: "My name is Dr. Jean Ferrami and I'm a scientist at Jones Falls University, in the psychology department. In the course of my work I came across this group of people who seem to be identical twins but aren't related. I investigated. Berrington Jones attempted to have me fired to prevent my finding out the truth. Despite that, I discovered the clones were the result of a military experiment conducted by Genetico." She looked around the room.

Where was Steve?

Steve gave one more kick, and the drainpipe sprang away from the underside of the washbasin in a shower of mortar and marble chips. Heaving on the pipe, he pulled it away from the sink and slipped the handcuff through the gap. Freed, he got to his feet.

He put his left hand in his pocket to conceal the handcuff that dangled from his wrist, then he left the bathroom.

The VIP room was empty.

Not sure what he might find in the conference room, he stepped out into the corridor.

Next to the VIP room was a door marked "Regency Room." Farther along the corridor, waiting for the elevator, was one of his doubles.

Who was it? The man was rubbing his wrists, as if they were sore; and he had a red mark across both cheeks that looked as if it might have been made by a tight gag. This was Harvey, who had spent the night tied up.

He looked up and caught Steve's eye.

They stared at one another for a long moment. It was like looking into a mirror. Steve tried to see beyond Harvey's appearance, read his face and look into his heart, and see the cancer that made him evil. But he could not. All he saw was a man just like himself, who had walked down the same road and taken a different turning.

He tore his eyes away from Harvey and went into the Regency Room.

It was pandemonium. Jeannie and Lisa were in the center of a crowd of cameramen. He saw one - no two, three clones with them. He pushed through to her. "Jeannie!" he said.

She looked up at him, her face blank.

"It's Steve!" he said.

Mish Delaware was beside her.

Steve said to Mish: "If you're looking for Harvey he's outside, waiting for the elevator."

Mish said to Jeannie: "Can you tell which one this is?"

"Sure." Jeannie looked at him and said: "I play a little tennis myself."

He grinned. "If you only play a little tennis, you're probably not in my league."

"Thank God!" she said. She threw her arms around him. He smiled and bent to her face, and they kissed.

The cameras swung around to them, a sea of flashguns glitered, and that was the picture on the front page of newspapers all over the world the following morning.

Chapter 63

NEXT JUNE

Chapter 63

FOREST LAWNS WAS LIKE A GENTEEL OLD-FASHIONED HOTEL. It had flowered wallpaper, and china knickknacks in glass cases, and occasional tables with spindly legs. It smelled of potpourri, not disinfectant, and the staff called Jeannie's mother "Mrs. Ferrami," not "Maria" or "dear." Mom had a little suite, with a small parlor where visitors could sit and have tea.

"This is my husband, Mom," Jeannie said, and Steve gave his most charming smile and shook her hand.

"What a nice-looking boy," Mom said. "What work do you do, Steve?"

"I'm studying law."

"Law. That's a good career."

She had flashes of rationality interspersed with longer periods of confusion.

Jeannie said: "Daddy came to our wedding."

"How is your father?"

"He's good. He's too old to rob people anymore, so he protects them instead. He started his own security firm. It's doing well."

"I haven't seen him for twenty years."

"Yes, you have, Mom. He visits you. But you forget." Jeannie changed the subject. "You look well." Her mother was wearing a pretty cotton shirtwaist with a candy stripe. Her hair was permed and her nails were manicured. "Do you like it here? It's better than Bella Vista, don't you think?"

Mom began to look worried. "How are we going to pay for it, Jeannie? I don't have any money."

"I have a new job, Mom. I can afford it."

"What job is that?"

Jeannie knew she would not understand, but she told her anyway. "I'm director of genetics research for a big company called Landsmann." Michael Madigan had offered her the job after someone explained her search engine to him. The salary was three times what she had been making at Jones Falls. Even more exciting was the work, which was at the leading edge of genetics research.

"That's nice," Mom said. "Oh! Before I forget - there was a picture of you in the newspaper. I saved it." She delved into her handbag and brought out a folded clipping. She straightened it out and gave it to Jeannie.

Jeannie had seen it before, but she studied it as if it were new to her. It showed her at the congressional inquiry into the experiments at the Aventine Clinic. The inquiry had not yet produced its report, but there was not much doubt what it would say. The questioning of Jim Proust, televised nationwide, had been a public humiliation such as had never been seen before. Proust had blustered and shouted and lied, and with every word his guilt had become plainer. When it was over he had resigned as a senator.

Berrington Jones had not been allowed to resign but had been dismissed from Jones Falls by the discipline committee. Jeannie had heard he had moved to California, where he was living on a small allowance from his ex-wife.

Preston Barck had resigned as president of Genetico, which had been liquidated to pay agreed compensation to the eight mothers of the clones. A small sum had been set aside to pay for counseling to help each of the clones deal with his troubled history.

And Harvey Jones was serving five years for arson and rape.

Mom said: "The paper says you had to testify. You weren't in any kind of trouble, were you?"

Jeannie exchanged a smile with Steve. "For a week, back in September, I was kind of in trouble, Mom. But it worked out all right in the end."

"That's good."

Jeannie stood up. "We have to go now. It's our honeymoon. We have a plane to catch."

"Where are you going?"

"A little resort in the Caribbean. People say it's the most beautiful place in the whole world."

Steve shook Mom's hand, and Jeannie kissed her good-bye.

"Have a good rest, honey," Mom said as they left. "You deserve it."