6. Hunting
The pretty young blonde drew her eyebrows together and blinked at the screen. "I don't even recognize this. We didn't put it up."
"It's your site."
"Yeah, but it's not our video. It's not even our style. We're…happy." As if to emphasize she smiled enthusiastically. "We cover celebrity weddings, divorces, who's dating who, who's having plastic surgery or money troubles or needs to go back to rehab…you know, important entertainment news, but happy." Frowning, she handed the tablet back to Kay. "That," she pointed out, "was not happy."
Mike held the door for Kay and they walked down a single flight of stairs to the street, leaving behind the small offices of NYsCene. That bit of wordplay had seemed to bring Kelsey, the blonde, great pride. As the website's originator and creative head, she had invited them to look at her computer all they wanted. No sad videos would be found anywhere in her files.
"I believe her," Mike commented as they reached the car.
"Me too." Fishing out her phone, she dialed the Archive. Jordan answered, sounding breathless, on the first ring. "Hey," she greeted. "Can you determine if a website was hacked?"
….
Dina ordered takeout and sent Gunter off for it. Italian – salad and pasta, bread. At the last moment she added some nice minestrone to the order and told them to throw in sodas. She briefly considered asking about their desserts, but Gunter had to be able to carry it all out to the car. She fussed then, taking out dishes and cutlery, polishing clean glassware and trying not to pester Jordan.
Jordan, for his part, was uncharacteristically concise, focused. Kay had phoned from the office of that website producer and they had all gathered around, hopeful for…what? She wasn't sure. But the news had been discouraging anyway: the site may have been hacked and the video uploaded from somewhere else. Could Jordan uncover it? Dina would have thought maybe. Maybe he could, if he stretched his considerable talents into less familiar territory. But Jordan had simply said yes. There was no uncertainty, no "maybe." Consider it done.
She rattled about the kitchen. Would there be enough food? Mike and Kay would be coming soon enough and they would all need to be well fueled. No one would be leaving until they had answers. Finally, finally. A heady relief bubbled through her at the thought of this uncertainty finally ending, but just as quickly it congealed into a cold mass in her stomach. Would they find more than just answers? Would they actually fish out a lead that would end in some rural field or forest, in scrubby ground off an isolated stretch of highway? She could see it all of a sudden – yellow tape and flashing lights and people milling around, and the equipment they take out to scan the earth for human remains. She closed her eyes and shivered.
Unbidden, Jonathan's face entered her mind. (Cameron's face too, really, but there was no way she would ever fail to distinguish Jon's hard edges from Cameron's gentler curves, and she couldn't think of Cameron yet without hurting, so it was Jon's face only. Jon who was still here and still waiting for answers, for help.) That he hadn't walked out of prison some 11 months ago was a testament to their combined persuasive skills. Kay had assured him all the FBI's resources were on it, that this was one of their own. If Jon were to escape, those resources would be divided, distracted. He was needed there, to be consulted and, depending on how things went, possibly to be furloughed again for his skills. But he needed to stay to make that possible. Dina had echoed the sentiment; Gunter and Jordan had agreed. So Jon, surging with panic for his twin, had stayed put and waited for a lead, a clue, anything. Anything at all.
Now she wondered if she should go to him with this news, this video that pretended deep feeling but was really just maudlin and cruel all at once. She imagined Jon's face at news of it, could see his anguish. There was no reason to do that to him yet, not with so little actual information to share. Kay had initially seemed to think it might even be a mistake, just a mistake, just an entertainment site showering its audience with the tasteless and vulgar, and accidentally including in their grotesque montage someone who wasn't confirmed dead. They'd figured out it was no mistake, but still they knew so little: what good could she do by burdening Jon with it now? Tomorrow, she nodded to herself. Tomorrow she would assess what they had and make a decision.
"I have it," Jordan called, and Dina gratefully hurried out to him. He was already on his phone. "Yeah, Kay. I've got a line on this. Are you guys coming over? Yeah, okay." He flashed Dina a quick smile as she sat down beside him. "They're on the way."
"Good," Dina nodded.
The door banged open just then and Gunter shouldered his way in, arms weighed down with food.
….
To be continued
Note: Okay, so the season finale (still season) has taken the characters off in another direction. I say no worries – nothing is really as it seems on Deception, so….
Anyway, I was reading comments on the "Renew ABC Deception" petition, which is now well over 9,000 signatures and surging surprisingly fast toward 10,000 (people seem to be signing every minute). One viewer essentially said that he's going to keep complaining until ABC is sick of hearing from him. I admire dogged persistence. Meanwhile, it looks like the "Save Lucifer" campaign may actually be working – so I say there's hope for Deception! I saw that it was trending on Twitter yesterday, as well – that's good! I plan to keep emailing networks and reviewing everywhere. Now that we have a cliffhanger, we need a resolution in season 2…right? It doesn't hurt to keep asking and reaching out to suggest that even if ABC can't realize the potential there are other networks that could pick it up (it's free for us to do; it's easy and quick, and it may just pay off in the end if we keep at it).
For my part, I will not only keep up my renewal requests and feedback, but will also try to write and update several times a week…just to keep things going. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed!