Chapter 9: Mr. Green in the Conservatory with the Candlestick
Trail
Dimitri, Erik, and Darren had been walking for what seemed like hours. Darren and Erik seemed to appear to know where they were going, but Dimitri was being kept in the dark. Part of him didn't really want to know.
Finally, Darren broke the silence. "Erik, you wouldn't happen to know what Michael is doing these days? I tried to stay in touch but he's a pretty busy person."
"No," Erik replied. "I got an invitation to his wedding about a year ago, but I was too busy helping my wife set up her administration to go. That was the last I heard of him."
"Good to hear he's doing well," Darren replied with a sense of boredom in his voice. "We'll be just as happy when we finish all of this and be watching television with our wives." Erik only smirked.
Dimitri really wanted to butt into the conversation. He knew Darren only started it because Dimitri wouldn't enter. He decided not to ruin Darren's fun. After another few minutes of walking and talking, the trio arrived at an abandoned office building.
The building was fairly small. It was only one story. Darren led the way inside. There were only four rooms, including a large lobby. At the end was a door that read: Dr. Henry Wu: Chief Geneticist
Erik approached the door and glanced at the keypad next to the door. "Can you believe that?" Erik said with a sense of humor in his voice. It was the first time he smiled since the fiasco at the bank. "The one time I remember the combination and there's no power."
Darren chuckled and even Dimitri gave out a small smirk. "Good thing I know other ways of getting inside," Darren said as he pulled out a credit card. Darren slid it inside and the door popped open in seconds.
The trio entered the room, but it was seemingly worthless. There was nothing inside except a desk and a couple of papers littered all over the ground. Erik and Darren ignored the desk and papers and approached another keypad at the end of the room. "Do you remember this combination?" Darren jested.
"Of course," Erik said as he punched in four different numbers. "Dr. Wu never could remember more than one code." Dimitri didn't get it. If there was no power, how could this keypad work? Dimitri was proven wrong. A hidden elevator next to the keypad opened up and Darren and Erik instantly entered. Dimitri followed.
The door closed behind them and the elevator began to descend. "This room still has power," Erik explained to his son. "It was Darren's idea. He wanted to make sure that this room still operated in case of a power failure. I guess it came in handy."
Dimitri smiled in response as the elevator came to a stop. The door opened and the three exited into a small hallway that led to a door. Erik opened it and turned on the light. In front of them was a supercomputer that surrounded the entire circular wall. Dimitri guessed there were at least forty cameras.
Darren sat in the swivel chair and began to type on the keyboard. Eventually, the screens began to illuminate. "We're halfway there," Darren said. "Once the motion detectors find something that didn't exist 65 million years ago, we'll go find Stephanie."
Governor's Office
Mackenzie was going crazy. The reporters and cameramen were in a frenzy and it was only making matters worse. She tried to push them out, but it only made them go slower. Mackenzie saw Max coming back through the hall. The hallway was empty, meaning it was silent, and so she decided to meet him there.
"Max," she said as she approached him. "Did you catch up to Benji?"
Max shook his head. "I made it to the parking lot, but Benji was already pulling out. I sent someone to his house, but I severely doubt he's going there. Maryland is flying solo."
"I told you this would happen," Mackenzie reminded. "I knew Benji would become a hassle. I'm calling the state senate." Mackenzie walked back into the now empty governor's office and picked up the phone on the counter and began to dial. "Yes," she began. "This is Mackenzie Rosenquist calling from the governor's mansion-"
Max hung up the phone. "Let's think about this for a second," Max said. "I'm sure that being governor has crossed your mind every once and a while. I believe that now could be your chance to do just that."
"I don't know-"
"Trust me," Max said. "With all the chaos going around, no one will even notice, and if it'll make you feel any better, I'll go look for Benji. How's about that?"
Mackenzie still seemed a little unsure of herself. "It defiantly would be an improvement, but I have an obligation to call the state senate. If they found out that I was shirking my responsibilities, they won't just fire me. They could very well have me arrested."
"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Max said. "Last year I broke so many laws, but Stephanie was kind enough to expunge those records because I was doing it for the right cause. When Stephanie hears the situation, she'll do the same."
"Assuming Mrs. Maximoff is returned safely," Mackenzie pointed out pessimistically. "Still, you have a point. I have often thought of pointing out Stephanie and Benji's errors. Now could be my chance to fix them."
"Exactly!" Max exclaimed. It was obvious he wasn't listening. He just wanted to speed the conversation up because he was going to get his way. "So, why don't you just situate yourself right here in Stephanie's seat while I take my car and begin my search for Benji?"
Mackenzie slowly took a seat as Max gave her a thumbs up. "Remember," Max reminded her. "You're not the governor. Benji is. So, if anyone asks, Benji is 'out'. I'll be on my way." Max left the governor's office and closed the door behind him. He ran down the stairs and exited the front door, taking a deep breath before sliding into his car.
"All right Max," he said to himself. "It's all on you. Everyone's counting on you to find Benji. Don't screw up." Max took another deep breath before starting the car up and pulling out of the parking lot.
FBI Headquarters
Eddie walked back through the door of the FBI headquarters to see Dana running up to meet him. He was half expecting to see her walk off into the other room. "Eddie," she jested. "As always, you have impeccable timing." Eddie only scoffed. "Anyways, the communications information just came in. It looks like you were right. There was a call made from the Norvell house."
"I knew it!" Eddie exclaimed with a positive gleam in his eye. "The second I walked into that house, I knew that Sam was lying to me. He is in contact with Piper. Brad! Get an arrest warrant for Sam Norvell."
"Slow your roll, Brad," Dana said. "If you didn't have such a big ego, you would wait for common sense to kick in. The call was made while you were still talking with Sam from a phone issued to Kyle Norvell, Sam and Piper's son."
"Great," Eddie said with less enthusiasm than before. "Brad, get an arrest warrant for Kyle Norvell."
"Hold on Brad," Dana repeated. "In case you didn't know, our tracer doesn't tell us who Kyle Norvell called. He could have very well been ordering a pizza. If we want to know more, we're going to have to question him ourselves."
Eddie sighed, but was interrupted before he could respond. The lights all suddenly turned off. All of the computers suddenly shut off as well. At the same instance, Eddie's cell phone rang. Eddie hesitantly answered it and per Dana's request, put it on speaker.
"Eddie Harold," came Piper Norvell's sultry voice. "I take it you received my message. Let me make it as clear as I possibly can. This is your first and last warning. If you ever bother my family again, I will not hesitate to pay your wife and daughter a visit. 7781 Old Cypress Street, right?"
"You stay away from my family!" Eddie yelled.
"Only if you stay away from mine," Piper ordered. "Goodbye, Eddie Harold. For your sake, I hope this is the last time we speak."
Piper hung up the phone and Eddie did the same. Suddenly, the light and computers all came back on simultaneously. "Well?" Dana asked. "What are we going to do now?"
"What we do every day," Eddie said confidently. "We're going to catch us a criminal."
Trailer
The raptor attack was just about over. The Brachiosaur was dead and the raptors were savoring their prize. "It's over," Dalton pointed out. "We should get back." Dalton led Stephanie back into the trailer.
Inside, Stephanie saw that Lance was still on the computer, but neither Morgan nor Hannah was anywhere to be seen. To the left of Lance was another young man with black hair and camouflage outfit that Stephanie had never seen before. It was clearly the young man Hannah was complaining about.
"Where are the girls?" Dalton asked.
"Fresh air," the mysterious young man replied immediately. "Apparently my aurora was poisoning Hannah's so they decided to follow a group of triceratops along the river. They said they'd be back by lunch."
Dalton didn't even respond. It was obvious he didn't really care what happened to his subordinates. "Lance," he ordered. "The governor still isn't convinced. I want you to take her down by the lake and show her around."
"Just give me a few minutes," Lance requested. "I can't pause minesweeper." Dalton sighed, but found it pointless to argue with him. Dalton left for the first compartment.
Stephanie took a seat across from the young man as Lance lost his game of minesweeper. Lance resent the game, hoping no one would notice. "Governor Maximoff," the young man said. "I've heard a lot about you. I know you're a good person and in the end, I know you'll make the right decision."
"The question is," Stephanie replied, "is the right decision the same as your right decision?" The mysterious man simply gave the governor a small smirk.
"All right," Lance said after his third try. "This game is defiantly against me. I'll come back and try again later. Governor Maximoff, please join me in the conservatory." Lance led Stephanie into the third compartment. Just as the name suggested, the room was filled with plants. There were candlesticks on the shelves, but they weren't lit.
Stephanie kept her eye on the plants as Lance continued to talk. "Just give me a quick minute and-" Lance suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Stephanie spun around to see the young man holding a candlestick standing over an unconscious Lance Savarin.
The young man took Lance by the legs and began to drag him. He stopped. "You know," he said. "This would go a lot quicker if you helped." Stephanie nodded and grabbed Lance's arms. The young man took a roll of duct tape out of the cupboard and covered his mouth. He also took a rope and tied Lance's arm to a pipe.
"I hope you don't mind me asking," Stephanie said, "but who are you?"
"We've never met," he explained, "but I'm sure Dimitri has told you much about me. I'm Scott Green."
