GET BACK HERE ASAP
Great. Angrily, I shoved the pager back into its holster, looking behind me to take one final glance at Chase’s now darkened window.
“Goodnight, Chase.”
With a running start, I leapt from building to building, diving face first into the alleyway concealing the motorcycle, my head careening towards the pavement. Halfway through my freefall, I snapped my wrist to release the hidden cable tucked away in the arm of my suit. The cable whipped out in the direction of its intended target: the first landing of the fire escape. I reeled some of the cable back to avoid impact on the pavement below. It was the first time I’d tested the cable out in a true freefall and I prayed my training had paid off or it would be the last test I would ever do. Success. Eight feet from hitting the ground, the cable tensed, allowing me to swing safely underneath the fire escape. Flicking my wrist again gave the cable more slack so that my feet could gently hit the ground. I unhooked the cable from the fire escape and proceeded to uncover the motorcycle.
****
His day at the hospital had been exceptionally grueling. Not only had he assisted in the amputation of a six-year-old boy’s leg, but he also had to tell the parents of a nine-year-old girl that their daughter had leukemia. As a doctor, he tried not to become too consumed with his patients, but when your patients are doe-eyed children, that was nearly impossible. Until a month ago, whenever he had a bad day, Celaine had always been there to lift his spirits, often breaking curfew to do so. Now, he had no one.
His emotions had waxed and waned during the last month. As to be expected, he had experienced both good days—-though sparse—as well as his fair share of hard ones. On the outside, he appeared to be the same old has-it-all-together Chase. Whispers circulated around the hospital and, pretty soon, he found himself surrounded by several admirers consisting of young nurses and new interns, all vying for a date with the handsome young doctor. There was hardly a time when he could walk down the hall without one of them flashing him a smile or trying to strike up a conversation with him about the most trivial of matters. The man in him immensely enjoyed the new attention, however, his heart wouldn’t let him betray his memory of her. It had been over a month since she’d left him, and he still held tight to the engagement ring tucked away in a safe in his room. Allowing himself to part with the ring would be like admitting she was never going to come back to him.
He turned the light on in his bedroom. When not at work, all he wanted to do was sleep. It was the only way he could escape reality. Tearing off his scrubs, he pulled an undershirt over his head, sitting down on his bed, his head in his hands, and began rubbing his temples. An urge was overcoming him; an urge that he couldn’t quite understand. Something was drawing his attention to the window as though he were being watched from the outside looking in.
“Wow, I really must be going crazy,” he muttered.
Nonetheless, this strange, new feeling was strong, strong enough that he found himself giving into it and, rising from his bed, he opened the window. The warm breeze flowed through his hair. He leaned out of it, closing his eyes, letting the air consume him. Still, the feeling that he was being watched didn’t subside, in fact, as he hung his head out of the window it only intensified.
A glance down at the street didn’t reveal anyone. Scanning the roof of the abandoned dance studio across the street, his eyes focused on a particular section of the rooftop directly across from his window. Something was drawing his eyes to this particular spot. Something was there that wanted to be seen. He shook his head. No, there couldn’t be anyone there, the building was boarded-up shut.
The breeze intensified, making the warm air strangely comforting. In the sky, the moon shone brightly, diverting his attention towards the one thing that just may be able to salvage his night. Twinkling in the sky, keeping the moon company, were more stars than he could ever recall seeing before in his existence. But it wasn’t just any star he wanted to see. He guided his fingers across the sky until he found the one. Outlining the ladle, curving his finger up the handle, he found it. Hope. Oh, how that name rang true right now.
Come back to me, Celaine, he thought, his finger lingering on the star as though it had the capability to grant his one wish.
Overcome with exhaustion, he closed the window, turned off the light and crawled into bed, where a single tear streamed down his cheek as he fell into a restless sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Plan
I navigated through the pine trees, running at speeds that shouldn’t be possible for a motorcycle, especially in the woods. Veering off the path, I flew over branches that had broken off and fallen to the ground in haphazard piles.
“Main hatch open. Celaine Stevens serial number two, four, five, nine.”
The motorcycle thundered down the hatch and into the tunnel to the familiar interior of the Epicenter. I’d learned that the serial numbers were nothing more than a mere formality, kind of like a password given to us to gain entry through those entrances that didn’t or couldn’t feasibly house thumb plates. You had to love the efficiency at this place. Echoing off the walls, the single motorcycle’s engine created a roar mirroring that of thunder. As I entered the garage, I encountered Blake who seemed to be waiting patiently for my arrival. He wore a look I hadn’t seen on him before. A look of worry, not the cocky smirk I’d grown accustomed to. This was my first clue that a true emergency was brewing. Gliding to a halt in front of him, I killed the engine to the motorcycle.
“What’s going on?” I dismounted the motorcycle, removing my helmet.
“Our informants believe they know The Man in Black’s next target.”
“How do they know where he’s going to strike?”
“We employ private investigators whose sole job is to tail him. They do the best they can but, for some reason, they can never stay less than two steps behind him. He constantly moves around, finding new hideouts. Our investigators recently found one of those hideouts and gathered some of the information he left behind.” He stopped walking, turning to face me
“Celaine, he toys with us. That bastard wants us to figure out his next step, he wants the attention. He thrives on it. It’s like he’s taunting us with the hope that we confront him. He purposely leaves behind clues for Caine and Inez to feverishly decipher.”
Blake’s nervousness rubbed off on me. “What was it they deciphered?
He shook his head, walking ahead of me again at a faster pace this time. This wasn’t going to fly with me. He was purposely keeping something from me, and I was going to figure out what that something was even if it killed me. Picking up my pace to walk in time with him, I became uncharacteristically more aggressive. “Tell me, Blake. I’m your partner, and I have a right to know what I’m going to be facing. It’s pretty obvious that you think I can’t handle it and, quite frankly, I find that somewhat offensive considering the poundings I’ve been able to inflict upon you.” My words had no effect on him, a fact that boiled the very blood that ran through my veins. I stopped dead in my tracks before giving into my urge to tackle him. “Damn it, Blake!” I yelled. “Have the common decency to tell me what is going on!”
He whirled around to face me again. “All right, but you need to promise me something first.”
“Okay.” I walked closer to him, coming to the realization that I already knew why he was being so secretive. I hesitated, “This attack is going to hit close to home for me, won’t it?”
“It never ceases to amaze me how astute you are,” he laughed half-heartedly. “You need to promise me, Celaine, that you won’t pull a Liam on me. Keep your emotions in check. Don’t let passion get the best of you.”
“Oh, my God.” My body trembled.
“Promise me, Celaine,” Blake pleaded. “I don’t know what it is about you that makes me crazy, but I won’t lose you like I did the others. You’re different than they were. You’re the first genuine person I’ve met in a long time. So, I beg you, please.”<
br />
I braced my body against the wall to keep from collapsing, my stomach sinking to a low I hadn’t felt in ten years. “It’s Hope Memorial, isn’t it? It was more of a statement than a question as, in my heart, I already knew the answer, but looked up to Blake’s face for confirmation regardless.
“Promise me.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I promise.”
“They want us in the training room to go over the information that came in.”
He put his arm around me, a gesture I appreciated since I wasn’t entirely sure whether I could walk on my own at this point. Everyone was gathered in the training room, their conversations immediately coming to a stand-still once Blake and I entered. Perhaps, it was just my nerves that made me perceive all eyes being on me as I entered, particularly Kara whose red eyes gave away the fact that she’d clearly been crying.
“Does she know?” Victor asked.
“Yes,” Blake answered, “she does.”
“Very well.”
Victor approached me, placing his hands on my shoulders in what I assumed he meant to be a comforting gesture. But, despite his show of concern, there was still something about Victor that bothered me. Something that created a feeling of coldness that consumed me with his touch. “Celaine.” My name on his lips sent a shudder down my spine. “This could potentially be the most devastating attack yet. Blake will be depending on you more than he’s ever depended on anyone before. I need to know that you’ll be able to handle this. If not, you need to tell us as, if you can’t, you’ll only be dragging him down.”
“I can,” I uttered. “I won’t let him down.”
Victor let go of my shoulders. Nodding, he returned to the group. “Inez,” he stated, “would you be so kind as to brief Blake and Celaine of our anticipated plan of action?”
Inez nodded. “The information we’ve received is, as always, sketchy to say the least. We have strong reasons to believe that Hope Memorial Hospital is the next target for the simple reason that the casualties could potentially reach epic levels. His intended victims would be, based upon the note he left for our investigators, ‘sitting ducks‘. The Man in Black’s combination of genius-like intelligence and unpredictability makes him particularly deadly. There’s no way to know when he’s going to attack, so we’re going to be sending the two of you near the hospital to scout it out and try to peg down with more certainty when and if the attack will take place.”
“Why are we not having the hospital evacuated?” I asked. “This doesn’t make sense. What are we supposed to do, wait until a bomb goes off and a couple of dozen people are killed before we swoop in?”
“Celaine,” Victor jumped in, “there is simply no way we can alert the hospital on a hunch. Sure, we can have the hospital evacuated, but when it’s cleared and nothing happens, then what? They file everyone back in and The Man in Black chooses then to attack? We can’t ask the hospital to remove their critically ill patients. By doing so, not only would they be posing a risk of their patients’ conditions deteriorating in the evacuation process, but it’s just not feasible to move a couple of hundred people when we have no concrete evidence to go on.”
Caine cleared his throat. “Our best guess is that the attack will take place sometime during the day between late morning and mid afternoon when there are more patients, staff and visitors in the hospital. Historically, daytime attacks have been the case. We’re sending you both out tonight to stake out the hospital. There are several abandoned buildings within a block of it that you can set up camp in if you choose to do so. Blake, you know the drill here and can answer any questions Celaine may have. Given Celaine’s history with the hospital, we recommend that she stay put at camp until confirmation of The Man in Black is made. You are both to wear your suits at all times, with your helmets within arm’s length of you. Blake, if you are going out during the day, please wear street clothes over your suit.”
“You are dismissed,” Victor declared. “Don’t forget your medications and to keep us apprised as to your statuses. I would also advise that you take one of the cars and not the motorcycles.”
I couldn’t believe how coy they were being about all of this. I was positively fuming on the inside. All of the lives that could be lost was a devastating thought. What if the pediatric unit was the intended target? What if…Chase was on staff when the explosion occurred? There was no way I was going to allow anything to happen to Chase. If it meant taking my last breath, I would keep him safe. If it meant breaking my promise to Blake, I would keep him safe. A hand appeared on my shoulder. I turned my head in its direction only to meet eyes with Blake as he motioned me to leave with him.
“Oh, and Blake,” Victor called after us, “be sure to brief Celaine on the procedure in the event things don’t go according to plan.”
This last statement struck a particularly bad chord with Blake. “What did he mean by that?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll explain later.” We trekked down the hall toward our rooms, Blake entering his and I, mine. I grabbed my helmet, flying back out of the door, nearly running Blake down in the process. “Wow, you pack lightly for a woman.” I wasn’t in the mood to joke around and continued my unwavering mission down the hallway at such a pace Blake nearly had to run to keep up with me. “Hey, I’m sorry. I know this is all a big shock to your system. I guess I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.”
“I think I hate him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Victor. There’s something about him that makes me want to rip his head off.”
“I’m right there with you.”
We entered the garage, walking down each row, examining the cars.
“Which one do you want to take?” Blake asked.
“Whichever one will get us there the fastest.”
“You’re my kind of woman.”
He walked to the end of the pack, keying in a code on the door of a sleek, black, coupe with an aerodynamically shaped exterior. It was obvious to even me that this machine was built for speed. The windows were completely tinted, ensuring that there was no possible way for anyone who happened to be observing the car to see the passengers it contained. Opening the door, I crawled into the passenger seat next to him.
“Get your helmet on,” he ordered, “just in case we have to make a quick escape.”
Before I knew it, he took off, slamming me into the passenger side door. I angled my arm up, grabbed my seatbelt and secured it around my body. “You could have given me some kind of warning.”
“Yeah, I could have, but what fun would that have been?”
The car sped through the tunnel, blaring through its entrance into the pine forest. I glanced at the dash, noticing that it wasn’t laid out the way a normal car dashboard was, which, by now, really shouldn’t have been a shocker to me. Blake pressed a button, lighting up a screen in the center of the console between him and I. In the screen was an image from the training room where everyone was still assembled. Inez walked over to the camera.
“Inez,” he began, “we’re en route to the target. We’ve taken vehicle number 445A. Please keep us informed of any new developments while en route.”
“Roger, Blake.”
He turned off the screen just as the car emerged from the trees and onto the roadway where he punched the accelerator. I watched the speedometer: 40…60…85…110… After 123, I focused my attention on the roadway hoping that, if he were to lose control, our deaths would be quick and relatively painless.
“You look like you’re going to be sick.”
“No, I drive 123 miles per hour all the time.”
“Actually, we’re going 154 right now.”
“Stupendous.”
“At this rate, we’ll be in the vicinity of Hope Memorial within 25 to 30 minutes.”
“It’s comforting to know that you fully anticipate getting us there in one piece.”
He laughed. “Don’t like my driving, do you?”
“When my
eyes are closed, it’s perfectly fine. By the way, do you really intend on me staying back at whatever hideout we establish?”
“Nope.”
“Didn’t think so. So, you’re totally okay with defying Victor, too?”
“Yep.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.”
“The way I see it, you know more about this hospital than any of us. You’re our best asset for this mission. It would be stupid for me to leave you completely out of the equation when your knowledge could solve it before our time runs out.”
“Are you going to tell me now what Victor meant about things not going as planned?”
He grew sullen. He’d been avoiding an answer to this question, and I could tell he’d hoped I wouldn’t bring it up again. His brow was furrowed with concern sprinkled with defeat. “I don’t suppose you’re going to take no for an answer on this, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
“What Victor means by that is if…if we were to confront The Man in Black, and in all likelihood we will, if one of us is injured we can’t seek treatment from anyone outside of the Epicenter. It would be a huge breach of security, compromising our entire program. Our funding would be cut and everything we’ve gone through would have been for nothing.”
“If…one of us is injured, and it’s a survivable injury only if action is taken in…oh…let’s say five minutes…that doesn’t matter to them?”
Enigma Black Page 23
