by Ciana Stone
“I know, and I’ve been giving it some thought. If she doesn’t turn up maybe we could use a stand-in. Someone made up like her. If we’re lucky it’ll fool him enough to get him inside the building. After that, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll have him where we want him.”
“Set it up,” Prichard said. “Just in case. And there will be one change in the plan. I spoke with the agent in charge of the Bureau office here, and he wants in on the operation. I think you’ve met him, Pete Sanders?”
“Yes, sir. I have. But do you think that’s wise? If Southgate spots him it could blow the whole deal.”
“I don’t think we have a choice. Not that Sanders is pushing it, but he could. Whoever this Southgate is, he’s playing a game not only with us, but the FBI as well. They have as much reason to want to nail him as we do. So, I think it is wise if we make Sanders part of the plan. I told him you’d meet with him this evening to go over things.”
Ryan knew better than to argue. Besides, if anything went wrong, it’d be better to have the Feds playing on their team. Not only that, but having to meet with Sanders gave him a valid excuse for not seeing Paige tonight. “Anything else, sir?”
“No, that’s all for now.”
Ryan left the office and started back down the hall. As expected, Paige was sitting at her desk watching for him. He went straight to his desk and began gathering up his things.
“Where’re you off to,” she asked.
“A meeting.”
“With who?”
He turned and looked at her. “Sorry, I can’t discuss it.”
“What’s going on, Ryan?” She stood. “Why am I suddenly being given the cold shoulder? And I don’t just mean the freaked out way you’ve been acting today, although I would like to talk about that.”
“No one’s giving you the cold shoulder, and I’m not acting freaked out.”
“Maybe that was the wrong word.” She glanced around then stepped over beside him. “It just feels like you’re trying to avoid me.”
“That’s silly,” he lied.
“No, it isn’t. You haven’t been able to look me in the eye since we woke up this morning. What’s the deal? You had your fuck and now it’s ‘Adios, Paige’?”
“You know better than that.” He lowered his voice so as not to attract attention. “I just don’t think this is the place to get into our personal affairs.”
Her face lit in a smile. “Well,” she gave him a look that should have made his knees turn to rubber, “I can think of the perfect place to get into our affair.”
Ryan rolled his eyes, feeling disgusted at her for always turning everything into a sexual situation, and at himself for getting trapped in the conversation. “I have to go.” He moved to walk around her.
“Meet me later.” She stepped in front of him. “At my place.”
“I don’t know when I’ll be finished,” he hedged. “And I don’t think your place is a good idea. What if Aaron stops by?”
“Then give me the key to your apartment and I’ll wait for you there.”
“Why don’t I give you a call when I get through?”
Her expression arranged into one of suspicion but she agreed. “Okay, fine.”
Ryan didn’t waste any time leaving. His steps were brisk. Once inside the elevator, he leaned back against the wall and blew out his breath. If only he could find Senna and somehow turn their lives back around to the way they used to be before everything turned upside down.
* * * * *
Jackson Township
“You’re a fool.” Konnor’s voice was filled with scorn. “No one’s going to fall for that scenario. There are too many people who knew Drake. It’s not going to fly.”
“I beg to differ with you, but not only will it fly, it will positively soar,” Slater replied. “Particularly when the scenes of the good doctor and his lady friends are discovered. Not to mention the touching suicide note he left for his grieving widow.”
“Why kill him?” Konnor asked. “Will you tell me that?”
“He was untrustworthy.”
“He was doing what you demanded.”
“And trying to set me up for blackmail,” Slater replied then chuckled at the narrowing of Konnor’s eyes. “Oh, don’t act so surprised. I know all about the DVD he gave you.”
“That disc was worthless,” Konnor said. “You and I both know it. Even if he had come back for it, and even if I had given it to him, it wouldn’t have done him any good.”
“The question is, would you have given it to him?”
Konnor regarded him without blinking. “What do you think?”
“At this point I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. Just where does your loyalty lie, Chase?”
“The same place it always has,” Konnor answered. “Me, myself, and I.”
Slater laughed at the reply. “Look out for number one and fuck everyone who comes in second?”
“Lesson number two from the Slater handbook,” Konnor said.
“Then you should have no qualms about handing over the disc in question.”
Konnor gestured toward the shelf of DVD’s. “Help yourself. Fourth from the end on the left.”
Slater rose and went to the shelf to pull out the disc. Konnor waited until he had tucked it into his jacket and taken a seat again before speaking. “Any leads on Laserian?”
For one of the few times in all the years Konnor had known him, a look of uneasiness crossed Slater’s face. He got it under control quickly, but not fast enough. He was worried. Time was passing quickly and each hour that they didn’t find Senna was another hour their enemies had to find her and try to get the information from her.
“We’ll find her,” Slater said after a moment’s pause.
“Will we?”
“What’s going on, Chase? The Laserian broad get to you?”
“Just doing what you hired me for.” Slater was the last person he wanted to know that he was emotionally involved with Senna. If he knew he would use it against both of them.
“Not a very good job, I might add,” Slater commented. “If you had been watching her the way you were supposed to she wouldn’t be missing, now would she?”
“Don’t try to lay that shit on me,” Konnor argued. “I told you from the outset that I wasn’t going to jeopardize what I’ve got going here to do this job. I have a business to run and I can’t do that if I’m babysitting some bitch for you all the damn time. You were supposed to have someone on her when I left. Don’t blame me if your guy was incompetent.”
Slater didn’t reply. He stood and headed for the door. “Let me know if you hear from her,” he said as he started out.
Konnor said nothing but closed the door behind him. He had no more ideas on where to look for her. Minora Laserian had been no help at all. She had basically fallen apart when Konnor told her that Senna was missing. He wondered if he hadn’t made a mistake by telling her. Now the only thing he could think to do was to go to Shen for help. But the price of asking was one he was not sure he wanted to pay, for Shen would demand to know the reason Konnor was so anxious to find Senna and he didn’t know if he could admit that his motivation was strictly personal.
Chapter Twelve
Senna put her head down on her arms on the table and closed her eyes. She felt like she was on overload. All day the memories had been returning, crowding in on one another, and making it difficult to sort things out. It was as if everything she had forgotten was trying to push its way to be the first to burst into her conscious mind. The strain was beginning to wear on her.
“Would you like to lie down?” Marcus asked.
She looked at him, sitting across the table from her. “It’s so hard to believe. You’re here and you’re real and I know you. Do you have any idea what that’s like for me? All these years and I didn’t know and now suddenly not only are the memories returning but so are the feelings. It’s like…like I’ve been emotionally barren and now all of a sudden I’m so full it hurts
.”
Marcus reached across the table to take her hand. “Would you like to talk about what you’ve remembered?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed. There was so much. After remembering her arrival in Syria and her first meeting with her real father, she had relived almost an entire year of her life.
It was a little like watching a film being shown in her mind. She had recalled leaving Syria only a few days after arriving. She, Lucas and Marcus had boarded a private plane. As soon as they were aboard Lucas had given her an injection. She didn’t remember much about the trip after that except being given several more injections.
The next memory was of waking up and finding herself in a tent in the middle of a jungle—hot, humid and green. Lucas had explained that they would be traveling by foot the remainder of their journey and she had not questioned it.
The following memories were so amazing and unbelievable that even now she had a hard time with them. She wanted to ask Marcus if it was true but didn’t know how to begin. There were certain memories she felt she should keep to herself, things she thought might fit into the fail-safes he and Lucas has set up to protect everyone.
After a few minutes she decided. “I’d like to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“You said that you don’t know how to find the final Gate.”
“That’s correct.”
“Because Lucas never told you. That was part of the information he kept to himself.”
“Correct.”
“So what information did you keep from him?”
“You already know that.”
“Maybe. But I want to hear it from you.”
“He didn’t know the activation sequence to initiate the system.”
Senna nodded. What he said was consistent with what she remembered. “Another question. Did Lucas destroy the prototype?”
“Yes.”
“And saved us in the process.”
“Yes.”
“But it wasn’t you and me who got out, was it?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
His eyes widened. “You don’t know?”
“I remember part of it but not all.”
“Would you mind if I ask a question?”
“Not at all.”
“Thank you.” He smiled his gratitude. “It has to do with our final days in South America. You and Lucas spent several days alone. He said it was for the final transfer of data from the device. I understood it had something to do with the instructions concerning the final Gate and so I didn’t question him. However, I have always been curious about one thing. Lucas assured me that you would not remember what had happened unless the keys were all presented in the proper sequence.
“But I was under the impression that the memories to be erased were only those from the time of Andrea’s death until we left South America. Lucas was supposed to implant false memories into your mind. But since you have a blank in your mind about that time, what happened? Why didn’t you remember what happened after we were separated?”
Senna didn’t know how to answer the question. “Well, I’m not sure, exactly. I remember some of it…now, anyway. I remember being carried from the camp and the explosion. We ran and ran until I thought I would die and finally we stopped long enough to catch our breath and then we ran some more. It must have been a week before we reached a village. I do remember asking if there was anyone who could take us to a place where we could get in touch with the American embassy. A man said he would take us. We went to his house and he offered us food and drink and…and after that I don’t know…”
Marcus looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments. “You said we. Who was with you?”
Senna looked him directly in the eyes. “I can’t tell you that. I would if I could, but I can’t.”
“You don’t remember?”
She got up and raked her hands through her hair. “God, this is so confusing!” she complained, more to herself than him. She thought she did remember who she was with, but she had to be wrong.
“It’s okay.” He got up and put his arms around her shoulders to give her a hug. “There’s no pressure. The memories will come in their own time. Don’t try and force it.”
Senna put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. If only she could be sure. Who are you? she asked the vague image in her mind. As if in reply to her question, more memories began to return.
* * * * *
Myers Park, Charlotte NC
Ryan waited in the parlor as the housekeeper left the room. He had never been inside Minora Laserian’s home and he was impressed. From the looks of things, she was a very wealthy woman.
He wasn’t sure it was a wise move in coming to see her, but he had nowhere else to turn. The credit card check had turned up nothing on Senna. No money had been withdrawn from her bank accounts and no charges made on her credit cards. After leaving the department, Ryan had gone to the university and spoken with everyone who knew Senna. No one had seen her since she left the afternoon she was attacked by Mike Harper.
What was strange was that Harper had suddenly dropped out of school and moved back to Kentucky. Ryan found that odd. Harper was in school on an athletic scholarship. Ryan could not imagine why Harper would have given it up. After all, Senna had not pressed charges, so it was doubtful that he stood any risk of being called to task by the university for what he had done.
A noise drew his attention to the door. Ryan stood as a beautiful woman in a wheelchair appeared. Minora Laserian was not at all what he had expected. He had pictured an elderly, grey-haired woman, very stereotypically grandmotherish.
She was definitely not that. Her blond hair glistened in the light like strands of pale gold. Her eyes were large and slightly almond, and were without a doubt the most remarkable shade of blue he had ever seen. She was slim and he could see that she had a spectacular figure, even seated in the wheelchair. She didn’t appear a day over forty, and was by any standard exceedingly beautiful.
“Detective Dalton.” Her voice was slightly low in pitch, yet melodious. She wheeled over and extended her hand. “What can I do for you?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He took her hand, feeling for the world as if he should drop to one knee and kiss her hand rather than stand and shake it. “I’m sorry it has to be under such unpleasant circumstances.”
Minora’s eyes darkened and her mouth tightened for an instant. He got the impression that she didn’t want him to see how upset she was about Senna’s disappearance.
“Please, do be seated,” she gestured gracefully. “Can I offer you refreshments?”
“No, thank you,” he declined as he sat. “First, I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you that I feel like I already know you—through Senna, that is. It’s obvious that the two of you are very close and she loves you like a mother.”
Tears appeared in Minora’s eyes and she blinked them away. “That is very kind of you, Detective Dalton.”
“Please, call me Ryan.”
“Very well, Ryan. But I hardly think you’ve come just to pay me compliments. Do you have news of my niece?”
“Actually, I was hoping you might have heard something. Or might have some idea where I could look for her.”
She shook her head, and he noticed the way she clasped both hands together in her lap. “Believe me, had I any idea where she might be, I would be on my way there now. Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue. I’ve spoken with everyone I can think of and no one seems to have seen or spoken with her. Frankly, I’m beginning to experience the onset of panic, something I’ve tried to hold at bay. Senna is the last of my family. Should something happen to her…”
Ryan reached over and put his hand on top of her clasped ones. “I don’t think there’s any need to jump to conclusions, Ms. Laserian. I’m sure she’s okay. Maybe she just needed to get away. She has been through a lot recently.”
“Indeed she has.” Minora looked pointedly at him
. “And I find myself wondering how much you contributed to that.”
Ryan was taken aback by the steel beneath the silk. Senna had told him that Minora was protective of her but he had not expected to be called to task.
“I…” He was at a loss for words. “I’m not sure what you mean, Ms. Laserian. Senna and I dated for some time and—”
“But no longer,” she interrupted. When he looked at her in surprise, her tone softened. “Let me be frank, Ryan. I know that whatever relationship you and Senna once had, is over. The fact that she chose to stay with Mr. Chase rather than here with me after that horrible incident with the men in the van is evidence of that. My niece is not a woman to carry on indiscriminately, therefore, I must conclude that she has chosen to end whatever relationship she had with you in favor of the one she now enjoys with Mr. Chase.”
“You’ve met Konnor?” He was surprised. He and Senna had dated a long time, almost a year, and in all that time, not only had she never offered to introduce him to Minora, she had declined whenever he suggested it.
“Yes, I have.”
“And what did you think of him?”
Minora’s eyes took on a glint. “Do I detect a note of jealousy?”
“Just curiosity.” He glanced away as he lied.
“I found him to be very charming gentleman, very gallant and courteous.” She turned her wheelchair slightly, so that she angled toward the window and away from him.
Ryan got the impression she didn’t want to discuss Konnor and understood. She was Senna’s aunt and would stand by whatever choice Senna made, even if it was the wrong one.
“I understand that you and Dr. Pierce-Warner were very close,” he said, changing the subject.
“Yes.” Her hands moved to her lap again and she looked down at them as she answered. “Poor, dear, Harlan.”
“Can you think of anyone who would wish him ill? Anyone who would have a reason to want to see him dead?”
“None whatsoever,” she sighed and raised one hand to fondle the gem that hung from a gold chair around her neck. “He was a very dear, gentle man who didn’t have an enemy that I am aware of.”
