Chapter 7

[New York—NYPD Precinct Building]

As Catherine and Vincent adjusted to their temporary hiding place, her precinct buzzed with more than the normal business. In addition to the usual pickpockets, jaywalkers and perpetuators of public mischief, a pair of murders and reports of a standoff on the Island stirred things further….

…the murders taking out the Assistant DA and his girlfriend….

…a prominent homicide detective being caught in the middle of the affair…

It wasn't just another night for coffee and donuts. That's for sure….

As the activity buzzed about her, a twenty-something Puerto Rican woman scratched her head and furrowed her brow. She knew there were ten thousand other places she'd rather have been on that evening. Instead she stared at the empty desk beside hers. What the Hell are you doing, Cat? A stream of calls to her partner and the latter's boyfriend had gone unheeded. So help me, Keller, if you've gotten her into something….

"Vargas!" a slender yet well-built African American man called adamantly. He stalked over to her desk. "Anything from that mess at the ADA's estate?"

"Nothing," she replied honestly. "It's like someone just wiped up their mess and melted away into the night." She threw her hands up for effect. "Poof!"

"Nothing goes poof, Detective. Someone wanted it gone. We need to find out what," he indicated. "Any word from Chandler?"

"Been trying to call her all night, Captain. Her family's at the hospital with their Dad. I'll try her sister again if I don't hear from her," she reported.

"Do that," he asserted before walking briskly back into the office and slamming the door behind himself.

"Do that. Yeah great, Joe. Thanks." She shook her head before hitting the speed dial on her cell phone. "Come on, Cat. Pick up."

As before, there was no answer….

"Great." She ended the call and slid her phone back into her jeans' pocket. "Maybe that sidekick of Mr. Beast Boy might know something." She stood up and grabbed her jacket. "I'll have to track him down."

Bad enough the events were piling up around them. Bad enough that her partner's father lay in intensive care and fighting for his life. Now they had to deal with the disappearance of Catherine and her freaky boyfriend too.

Some nights it didn't pay to get out of bed…..

[A Half Hour Later—"Gentlemen's Club"—Astoria, NY]

Even as Tess headed off into the Manhattan night, a balding overweight man typed away anxiously on his keyboard and watched the screen for search results. For the previous decade, J. T. Forbes had dedicated himself to protecting his best friend, Vincent, from the government and Muirfield. He'd engineered a secret—more like reclusive—life for them both. False digital footprints and trails had kept the pursuers at bay. "Burner phones" allowed them communication without the threat of being tracked. While at the former chemical plant hideout and their current ancient Tammany Hall era home, the computer science professor had continued such activities.

Such things seemed to work….

…until Catherine Chandler barged in with her badge, gun and flashlight primed at the chemical plant….

…until Vincent revealed the connections to her that went beyond their mutual feelings extending back to his relationship with her mother, Vanessa Chandler, a decade before….

It was much simpler before her! J. T. rubbed his forehead in consternation. He'd warned his friend against romantic entanglements. Hell, for the sake of the arrangement, he'd just lost out on a relationship of his own with a colleague. Both were for preventing exposure. On the other hand, he'd also conceded that the link between Vincent and Catherine seemed inevitable….

…destiny…

…dust in the wind….

He viewed the scenes from the tapped security cameras at the Lowen Estate with a concerned eye. Police milled about the area taking in the copter's burnt out husk and the former Assistant DA's covered corpse. He shook his head wondering what had interceded in the developing battle.

Gabe Lowen and the latter's now missing girlfriend had been too well prepared to let something easily derail their plans as they had.

And yet, the plans were derailed by a third party or several such ones. There was no way to tell….

"What could bring down a helicopter like that? Not even Vincent's that strong!" he wondered aloud while trying to get further back into the footage to get his answers.

As he did so, his phone began to ring.

"Take a number," he dismissed while keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

On cue, the video feed froze. A small dialogue box appeared in the screen's middle saying, "ANSWER THE PHONE, DR. FORBES."

'What the Hell?" He stared at his computer before trying every trick he could think of to reboot or shut it down to no avail. "Great." He ground his teeth and slowly picked up the receiver. "Uh, hello?"

"Dr. Forbes, my apologies for freezing your work like this. My name is Brigid Crosby. I'm affiliated with Dr. Virgil Swann."

J. T. blinked in shock. While he didn't know her, he definitely knew who the reclusive astronomer was. After a binge of discoveries that drew a massive group of hero worshippers (including him as a boy admittedly), Swann had gone deep underground so far that one thought he'd ended up in Tibet.

And now Swann was calling him? Swann didn't call anyone. So why him? Why now?

"Dr. Forbes?" she queried.

"Sorry. Yeah I'm here. I thought he was dead or something since nobody's heard from him in like thirty years. What do my missing roommate and a police detective have to do with him?" he wondered.

"Circumstances, Dr. Forbes. These are matters which require a face to face discussion for security purposes. If you'll take your laptop with you, you'll find a dark car waiting outside your front door. It will take you to the observatory," she instructed.

"Dark car? Observatory? Excuse me, Lady, I don't just…."

Crosby counted to ten trying to remember the circumstances involved. "Dr. Forbes, you wish answers, don't you? They will be provided. Others know you've tapped into those security feeds. Come now. If you aren't outside in five minutes, the car will be gone." With that she hung up.

He hung up not liking the tone on the other end. Still he had to admit she had a point. If Muirfield finds me, I'm toast either way! He powered down the laptop and slid it into his carrying case along with the external hard drive. Then he rushed outside and locked the door.

As she had promised, a dark black limo idled in front of him. Seeing him, a driver of Asian descent wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie stepped out of the driver's side. He stepped around the back of the car and opened the door in front of J. T. efficiently. "Good evening, Dr. Forbes. Please have a seat. I'll have you there shortly."

"Uh…okay. You know anything about my friends?" J. T. wondered.

"Dr. Swann will tell you more when we get to our destination. Please make yourself comfortable." The driver shut his door. Then he circled back around to his side before getting into his place and driving them off into the night.

Great. More smoke and mirrors! Whatever's happening, I just hope Vincent and Catherine are okay!