As I looked out across the lake, I knew this was shaping up to be the gloomiest Christmas I’d ever had. And Amanda wasn’t even around to ruin it for me. Well, she wasn’t here. She and her new friends were doing plenty to ruin it for us.
I sat out in the cold for as long as I could stand it, hoping he would come. The longer I stayed there, the madder I got, and I started to hope he wouldn’t come, for fear I’d say something I’d regret. I’d tried to help him over and over again, and he was ignoring that, ignoring me. Sure, I’d done the same to him when I was grieving, but of the two of us, I’d never been the patient one.
Despite the fact that I’d long since tucked them into my sweatshirt, my fingers were going numb. Just as I was about to turn around and go back inside, I heard footsteps crunching on the path behind me.
Not turning to see who it was—I knew, deep inside—I lifted my chin and stared out at the lake. Owen quietly sat down next to me, but I didn’t move over to make room for him. He perched carefully on the edge of the rock, balancing himself with a leg on the ground, while I sat Indian-style, dominating the majority of the space, not willing to give him an inch. Maybe he was making an effort, but damned if I wasn’t going to make him work for it.
He draped my coat over my shoulders. “It’s cold out here.”
Instead of responding, I slipped my arms into the sleeves. It was warm from being inside, and it almost felt like a hug. It made my impatience with him start to dissolve.
“I just want to get back to work. To be useful again.” He said it to the lake.
I stared at the moon’s reflection in the water for a moment before responding. “Do you remember my very first job? The one where I was asked to research the scientist? Dr. Jeppe?” I drew my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around them, holding on to my newfound warmth.
He nodded, and I kept going. “I was absolutely convinced it was busy work. Just something to keep me occupied while Tracy and David figured out what to do with me.” I smiled at the memory, thinking about how much my abilities had flustered Tracy. She’d been pretty unflappable other than that. My smile faded as I realized I would never again be able to catch her off guard like that.
“You told me it wasn’t, that every job was important. Even the smallest detail could save a life. A nervous tick he had, the place he liked to have his coffee, his favorite newspaper—anything could make a difference, even if it didn’t seem important at the time. Come to think of it, that philosophy is probably why you’ve done so well with the research department.”
Chancing a look at him, I saw a smile pulling at the edge of his mouth. “I am pretty smart, huh? Almost wise.”
I nudged him with my shoulder and bumped him off our rock. “You’re only wise if you heed your own advice.”
I made room for him, and he sat down next to me. We both peered out at the lake, so peaceful on this clear night. If the water had been a little more still, we probably could have made out individual stars on its surface. The moon was enough to make it a beautiful picture. It was certainly a far cry from the tropical climate of our Florida home.
Silently, I hoped the peace of the evening would help us both focus on the road ahead. Something big was coming; I could feel it. It hung in the air right in front of my face, just like my icy breath. And I knew it would bring challenges with it that neither of us knew how to face. We would need each other, as well as the rest of the Unseen, before the end.
Narrowing my eyes as I stared out at the lake, I felt ready for what lay ahead. “Bring it on,” I said to the darkness, and I felt my words roll through the woods and find their home in the ears of our enemies.
Eight
In the morning, Owen and I were startled awake by an announcement. “All personnel, please come to the conference room at once.” It was David’s voice, and he sounded…displeased.
“What did we do now?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m disconnecting the PA system when the meeting is over. David is abusing it,” Owen said groggily. He put the wrong leg into his shorts, and then almost stumbled in his effort to fix his mistake.
When we emerged from our room, it soon became clear we weren’t the only ones who’d been awakened by the all call. We looked like a horde of zombies.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Seven thirty,” Owen said through gritted teeth.
We trudged down the hall to the conference room with the rest of the Unseen. David waited for us to take our seats, and we all sort of flounced down, letting our tired bodies sink into our chairs.
“I see most of you weren’t too anxious to get to work today,” David said, more than a little judgment in his tone.
“David, it’s Saturday. Cut us some slack,” I whined.
“Agusto has announced a press conference, to air at eight this morning.”
“What is he going to talk about?” I asked, trying desperately to wake up enough to process this information.
“He hasn’t said.”
“When was the attack on the hospital supposed to be?” I asked, trying to link the two even though I knew it might be reaching.
“Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of when we got the message. Basically, any time. But we haven’t received any updates from the team in San Francisco.”
“If the two are connected, it’ll give us all the more reason to be suspicious of Agusto,” I said. The guy gave me a bad feeling I couldn’t shake. He was hiding something, and the more public appearances he made, the more certain I was that he couldn’t be trusted.
“Let’s say it’s about Zero or the hospital attack? What can we do?” Rebecca asked.
“It’s not overly constructive to speculate. What we can do will depend on what he says. It’s unclear whether or not he’ll admit to being involved. Maybe he has something totally different to announce. Maybe he’s running for president, and this press conference is unrelated to Zero.”
Running for president. The sentence struck a chord with me. But before I could puzzle it out, David turned the TV on. A few minutes remained before the scheduled start time, but reporters were already covering the conference.
CNN’s reporter was a man in his mid-thirties, wearing a black suit and a bold red tie, probably to stand out from all the others when it came time to ask questions. His face was clean-shaven, and his hair was neatly combed to one side, giving him a polished look. “Agusto Masterson, president and CEO of Visco Oil and Agusto Masterson Health Care, has publicly announced a pledge to eliminate the threat of the highly toxic chemical Zero. An unknown terrorist group has used Zero to attack various locations across the globe, putting the entire world on edge as to who will be next.
“Masterson is expected to discuss how he will go about eliminating the threat of Zero. There are many who hope he will even identify who’s behind the attacks.”
“Does he have that information?” I asked no one in particular.
“I have no idea. If he did, he probably wouldn’t release it to the public,” David said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “He’d have to explain how he came by it, and if he couldn’t, people would probably assume he was involved in some way. He’s working hard to gain the trust of the average American. Of the whole world. If he does what he says he will do, we will all be in his debt. It’s a scary thought.”
Dread settled deep in my stomach, and I reached for Owen’s hand as we glued our attention on the screen. In place of the reporter, an empty podium with the occasional bulb flash of a camera appeared on the screen. A low murmur of reporters talking dominated the background noise as I scanned the screen for information.
Owen squeezed my hand, and I loosened my grip, realizing I’d been holding on too tight. The sound of camera’s clicking replaced the murmuring as reporters settled into their seats.
Agusto walked out onto the stage, looking much like he did at the last conference. His black suit matched his slicked-back black hair, making him look slimier than ever. He flas
hed a used-car-salesman smile at the crowd after taking his place at the podium. I held my breath, instinctually feeling whatever he had to say would change our course of action, making our lives—and our work—that much more difficult.
“Good morning, members of the press, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans,” he began. “I’ve come here to report some good news. But first, let me give you some background information about myself.”
“Oh, come on. Just get to it,” I breathed, and Owen chuckled.
“My team has been working around the clock to unmask the criminals behind Zero.”
“What have we been doing?” I asked, already annoyed with Agusto. He was nothing more than a peacock, if you asked me, one with more money and power than sense.
“It hasn’t been easy, and we’ve sacrificed a lot, but we saved thousands of lives by stopping the enemy’s latest plot.” Cameras flashed as Agusto displayed a proud smile.
“What do you know about that?” I whispered to David across the table, but he shook his head. Apparently, it was news to him too.
“My researchers were able to uncover a major plot against a San Francisco hospital. A plot that would’ve resulted in countless lives lost. The terrorists planned to release Zero through the ventilation system. As it rained down on patients and workers alike, it would’ve ravaged the thousands of people inside the building.”
Agusto went on. “A specialized team of government workers were able to use my information to go in and remove the threat before Zero could be released. What’s better, we now have samples of Zero to deconstruct, samples that will hopefully tell us more about its makers.”
I sat back in my chair, slack-jawed. If he’d gotten a sample of Zero, the plot had to be real after all. But how had he gotten there before our people did? Or maybe the government workers he’d spoke of were the San Francisco division of the Unseen? If that were the case, wouldn’t we have been the first to know they’d found a sample? Or that they’d stopped an attack?
David was already dialing a number into the phone in the center of the conference room desk as Agusto continued his monologue. “Thanks to my brilliant team of workers, we’ve had a major breakthrough that not only saved lives today, but also gave us the tools to possibly save who knows how many lives in the future. We’re well on our way to eliminating the threat of Zero, my friends. Thank you.”
He paused before speaking again, a small smile on his face. “Make no mistake, we’re not out of the woods yet. The attackers are probably not too pleased with me right now. I stopped their plans, saved lives they hoped to destroy.” He looked into the camera. “To them, I say: Come at me. We’re ready for you.” His expression was menacing and unsettling to say the least.
Questions started to pour in. I couldn’t tell how he picked a reporter from the bustling crowd, but he pointed at someone, and everyone else quieted down. “Is there anything the average person can do to help?” the reporter asked.
“Of course!” His eyes lit up. It didn’t take a mind reader to pick up on the obvious fact that the reporter had been coached. “The most important thing for all of us to do is to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior, and to report anything of that nature to the nearest authority as soon as possible. It was a Good Samaritan’s report that brought us to the hospital. She thought she saw someone who didn’t belong. She had no proof, no evidence, nothing to back her claim, but we looked into it anyway, and bam. Turns out she saved a ton of people. Trust your instincts, folks.
“I’ve even set up a number you can call with any information you might have regarding Zero or the people behind it. We have people available twenty-four seven to take your calls.” A number flashed on the screen, declaring it the ELIMINATE ZERO HOTLINE.
“I’ve also started a donation fund, called the Eliminate Zero Fund. Although I’m quite wealthy, most of my money is tied up in my companies and private ventures. Anything you can give will help fund our efforts to save you and your loved ones.” A website flashed on screen, telling people where to go, and that PayPal was accepted.
Frowning in disgust, I turned my attention back to David. He was speaking quietly on the phone, and had moved to the corner of the room so we could continue to listen to the press conference.
“But if we weren’t involved, who was the specialized team Masterson referenced?” he asked. He frowned as he listened to the response. “I understand. Keep me informed. Mmhmm. I’ll do the same. Thank you.” He hung up the phone, and muted the TV, cutting off any additional questions for Agusto.
“The Unseen were not involved in removing the threat of Zero from the UCSF Medical Center,” David declared to the room.
“What? Who was?” I asked.
“We don’t know. Apparently, it was Agusto’s people.”
“What did our people find when they got there?” Owen asked.
“Nothing. No trace of anything. They even checked the ventilation system. Evidently, they posed as maintenance workers so they would have access to all the nooks and crannies in the hospital.”
“Smart,” I said. Then I remembered what Owen had told us about Coda. “You guys didn’t find anything at Coda either, did you?”
“Well, no. But to be fair, we were in more of a survive-and-save-lives mode than a search-and-destroy mode,” Owen said.
David’s frown accentuated how grim the situation was. “The San Francisco team, whose sole purpose it was to find Zero, found nothing. No canisters, no deployment systems, no trace that Zero had ever been there. They were starting to look at some of the other hospitals and surrounding buildings, just in case the threat had been a diversion, when Agusto announced the press conference.”
“When did they go? Maybe Agusto’s people had already removed it,” I proposed.
Owen walked to the computer in the room that controlled the presentation technology and downloaded a transcript of the conference. He scanned it for any information we might have missed. With his back to the rest of us as he faced the computer screen, he said, “When a reporter asked him when all this went down, he said his people finished cleaning up yesterday.”
“But the Unseen were in and out of there all day yesterday. Did they see anyone else?” I asked
“No.” David’s answer was short, but heavy with meaning.
“Something doesn’t add up. If Agusto is lying about dissolving the plot, how did he get samples of Zero to analyze? And why didn’t our people see anything?” I asked.
“Maybe it’s just a money scheme, you know?” Camden said. “Could be that he’s in over his head, and this is how he’s getting the public to dig him out. Maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with the Potestas. He’s just a money-grubbing slime ball, capitalizing on the public’s fear.”
We were all silent for a few moments as we considered that option. We spent so much time thinking about the Potestas that it was almost inconceivable they weren’t involved, but Camden had probably raised the simplest explanation.
After a time, Mitchell spoke up from the other side of the room. “One lie often leads to another,” he said quietly. “Even if he’s not just an opportunist, who’s to say he really does have samples of Zero? Or, if he does, that he didn’t get them directly from the Potestas? If he is in bed with them, he’d have access to all the Zero he wanted, wouldn’t he?”
A hush fell over the room as we all absorbed the ramifications of what Mitchell was implying.
“I have no answers,” David said. Fear flickered across his face before a stony expression took its place.
“We need information, David,” I said.
“I agree. We leave tonight for headquarters in DC. Mackenzie, you’re going undercover.”
Nine
Most of our division stayed behind. David didn’t want to abandon our quest for information or our responsibilities to the larger unit, so only six of us—Owen, Rebecca, Mitchell, Camden, David, and I—flew to Washington DC to visit headquarters.
The reason David decided to make
the trip with us himself was because he felt like the mission was too important for him to rely on secondhand information. At least, that was how he put it. He seemed to be staying awfully close to me throughout the journey though, which made me feel like I had a little more to do with his decision to accompany us than the importance of the mission.
We landed in DC at about 12:30 AM local time. We were all exhausted, but we weren’t done with our day yet. David rented a SUV big enough for all of us, and we drove directly to The Department of Homeland Security. The guard at the gate let us in without any problems after David showed him an ID, making me wonder how many people knew about the Unseen—I mean how many really knew. David’s badge was just a general ID that apparently gave him permission to be there. It didn’t say anything about his security clearance or department.
The brick, rectangular headquarters looked brooding if ever a building could. Windows lined the three bottom floors, with mysterious coverings on the top windows. Honestly, its boxy uniformity reminded me a little of a jail. I wasn’t overly comfortable with going inside.
But David didn’t hesitate. He parked the car in the virtually empty lot and got out. Whoever we were supposed to be meeting must’ve parked somewhere else.
We scrambled to file out of the back of the SUV and follow David, but by the time we were out of the vehicle and in the parking lot, he was already at the door, scanning his badge. The door clunked, and he pulled it open as we all rushed forward to join him.
David walked quickly through the lobby, not bothering to turn on any lights, so we didn’t get much of a chance to look around. We followed a long hallway, lighted minimally by an occasional florescent bulb in the ceiling. The effect was eerie. All it needed was that creepy hum artificial lighting gave off, and it would feel like we were in some kind of slasher movie.
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