Thanks for all the feedback! xyber116: I didn't know that was the name of the painting. Thank you. That was incredibly helpful.
I feel the need for a confession. Full disclosure: I typically finish a story before I post it, but I have been so in love with this series that I couldn't wait to post. My apologies in advance if all the things I'm lining up don't pan out seamlessly! However, I never start a story unless I have the ending in mind. :)
(x)
Ressler's face steeled over, even more so than usual. "What do you mean there's a contract out on him?"
Red let off an interested 'hmm' as he gently accepted the print-out. "You know, it's like the DMV. Once it's issued, they typically don't let you change the picture. Though it is from my 'Younger Days' collection."
Liz nodded to the paper. "According to the contract, it just went live this morning."
Cooper turned his glare to Red. "You don't look surprised."
"Oh, I am," he said as he handed the paper back to Liz. "I didn't even break into the five hundreds this time. The dead or alive piece gave it some zing, but it's really fairly standard."
Cooper demanded, "Why would the Syrian government be interested in you all of a sudden?"
He appraised the man. "Careful, Cooper. Your face might freeze that way. It's not a myth. It does happen."
Liz looked pointedly to Red. "What's your involvement?" When he didn't answer immediately, she said, "You can't expect us to believe that this is some kind of coincidence."
Red looked at Liz. He shared a glance with her that let her know that he could have made a comment about her, her husband, the recent past, and what seemed to be an emergence of coincidences. However, he strayed from an easy comeback. "Lizzie, I have turned myself into the authorities and have been bringing criminals to justice as requested and not requested in a public fashion. You have to admit that it really was only a matter of time before other criminal figures, crime rings, and even whole countries paid that some attention."
Liz's glance said she didn't believe him, but she also didn't challenge him, not for the moment. She couldn't decide what bothered her more, that he was evading the truth again, that he continued to call her Lizzie, or that she was getting used to both. "According to the information we have, the Cat is back in the United States. Do you believe that's true?"
"It wouldn't be uncommon," Red answered. "This country is a popular travel destination for the recently wealthy-"
No sooner had the words left Red's mouth than the room went dark, and the power inside the agency went out completely. A few surprised shouts and cries echoed throughout the building. Liz took out her cell phone and put on flashlight mode. She walked forward, acting immediately in trying to find the source of the power outage. She spoke aloud, "What happened?"
The back-up lights immediately clicked on, as they were designed. Liz stared up at a large computer screen that blinked to life with one word of white text against a black background.
The symbol read, 'ماكر'.
Meera, who had no doubt been drawn out of her office by the sudden power outage, made her way towards them. She looked up at the word and said, "It's Arabic. For feline."
The word blinked out suddenly and the symbol changed.
Liz turned to Meera. "What's it say now?"
Before Meera could speak up, Red provided the answer. "Meow."
Cooper called out to the surrounding team. "Somebody get a computer up and running. Find out where and how someone from the outside is hacking into our system!" He ran forward to join one of his experts in computer technology as the man attempted to override the hack put on their system.
Red squinted upward and held his chin in his hand.
Liz looked over at him. "Still think it's a copycat?"
Uncharacteristically, Red didn't have an answer.
Liz took the opportunity in the rare silence to lay down her ultimatum. "Look, Red. I know how you like to dole out clues and drop hints and give us a trail of bread crumbs to follow. Everything except the cold, straight facts. We don't have time for that. Whatever kind of assistance you can provide in stopping this criminal and fleecing him out, we need it. Right now."
Red opened his mouth to respond, when he was cut off by a cold, harsh electronic voice. The voice filled the metal offices, spilling out of their own loudspeaker, typically designed to alert the agents' of immediate instructions or an impending crisis. It echoed ominously.
"You could use this time to try to track down my location and my identity. Don't waste your time. I'll just tell you instead. I am nowhere. I am everywhere. I am everyone, and I am no one. And if I can get to you here, then I can get to you anywhere."
Liz felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She wasn't any more aware of the fear coursing through her, than she was that she had dropped her cell phone and that her mouth parted open, mute.
The electronic voice drawled out, "As for you, Red… I'll be in touch."
The lights came to life, and Liz closed her eyes and scrunched her face the sudden, contrasting brightness. The computers flipped back to their original screens. A rumble of conversation stirred throughout the agents, and somewhere inside the chaos, landlines rang off the hook. All the unremarkable, routine sounds of a typical workday flooded back, made all the more unsettling for their normalcy.
Red drew in a breath. "What I was going to say before we were so rudely interrupted was that I don't think I'll have to draw the Cat out of hiding. I think the Cat will come to me."
Cooper stalked forward, his face red, his resolve staunch. He addressed his technology team. "Find out how this asshole was able to hack into our system. I want names. I want locations. I want answers." As he kept walking forward, he said to Liz, Ressler, and Meera. "Conference room, fifteen minutes. I need a profile on this clown. Now."
