Day 68

"Just so you know, I'm going to forget my jacket. Don't notice and, whatever you do, don't pick it up for me."

Hesam looked curiously at Lara. "What?"

Lara pulled back her outer jacket lapel and exposed the shadow of a wire running down one of the seams. "There's a recording device in the pocket that connects to this microphone. I can leave the jacket for up to an hour and it'll record pretty much any conversation that takes place in the room."

Hesam raised his eyebrows. "Wow! James Bond shit!" He said and added a low whistle.

Lara grinned, "I prefer Bourne, actually. He has much more respect for women. Not that that's saying much. I mean, I think Quagmire on Family Guy has more respect for women than James Bond."

Hesam laughed but then sobered as he saw the massively impressive entrance to the Petrelli home. This was where Peter had grown up? Wow. What was that like?

The bell apparently was a pull down deal, very fancy.

"You ready?" Hesam asked Lara.

She fiddled in her pocket and then nodded her head.

"Okay." Hesam said nervously and pulled the bell.

After an appropriate pause the same, dark and elegant woman Hesam had seen in the emergency room the night of the fire came to the door. Honestly, Hesam was kind of surprised that she appeared to answer her door herself.

"May I help you?" She said formally when she opened the door.

"Mrs. Petrelli. I don't know if you remember me…"

"Of course, I do. You're Peter's friend who insisted on taking him home after he tried to kill himself running into a burning building. Hesam, I believe?"

Hesam was shocked at her memory.

"Um, yeah, ah I mean, yes Ma'am. Hesam, Ma'am."

Hesam could feel Lara tensing beside him and knew she was holding in a laugh.

He sighed.

"Um, Mrs. Petrelli, may I introduce Lara Sladka. She and I are here about Peter."

Angela Petrelli's eyes widened an almost infinitesimal amount at the mention of her son's name but she held her hand out formally to Lara and, just as formally, ushered them into the front sitting room.

After offering them refreshment and making sure they were comfortably seated, she sat herself, with impeccable posture of course, and asked, "So, what's this about Peter?"

"Um, Ma'am." Hesam began. "I'm not sure how to start. Peter didn't show up for work today."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Perhaps he is finally rethinking his career choice."

"Well, um, the thing is his neighbor saw someone carrying him out of his apartment. She said she stopped the man and he told her that Peter was unwell and that he was taking him to a hospital but we've checked all the hospitals and can't find him."

Angela blinked three times in rapid succession but that was the extent of her reaction to this news.

"Could she…Peter's neighbor that is, could she describe this man who was carrying my son?"

Hesam sighed. "Not really, she said he was well dressed, um, he had horn rimmed glasses. Sorry, not much to go on there. She's really old."

Angela's eyes had narrowed at some point, Hesam wasn't sure when but they were little more than slivers when he glanced back up to her face.

"Ma!" a voice called loudly from the front door. "I have to talk to you. It's about Peter."

And Nathan Petrelli, the junior senator of the state of New York, walked briskly into the room.

When he saw Hesam and Lara sitting across from his mother he stopped short.

"Nathan, how good of you to stop by, though you could have called ahead. Meet Hesam, I'm sorry dear, I never caught your last name?"

"Siddig." Hesam supplied.

"Hesam Siddig and Lara Sladka." She began again and Hesam was once more struck by her impressive memory. "Hesam is Peter's work partner and Lara is one of his friends. They were just here telling me," And here her voice seemed to drop the temperature of the room, "how Peter's neighbor saw a man wearing horn rimmed glasses carrying Peter out of his apartment."

Nathan swallowed and looked away from the woman's sub arctic gaze.

"So, do you have an explanation for this? You said you had to speak to me about Peter."

Nathan cleared his throat. "Um, yes. Peter was…I was on my way to see Peter when I got a call from his cell phone. Apparently he had been taken ill and a friend of his took him to the hospital."

Hesam narrowed his eyes. "This friend called you from Peter's cell phone?"

"Yes. Yes, he did."

"But, Nathan, Hesam here has called the hospitals and they had no record of Peter being admitted." Angela said then.

"Well, uh, he wasn't actually admitted but he wasn't feeling well and I insisted he stay at my hotel room."

Hesam started to say something else but Lara grabbed his arm suddenly.

"Well, that's a relief. We were just worried. Peter had had such a bad day on the job yesterday. And it wasn't like him to miss work."

"That's completely understandable." Nathan said quickly.

"Just tell him to give us a call, okay?"

"I'll be sure and do that, young lady. Thank you for your concern."

"Oh, no problem at all. We can show ourselves out. Good-bye!"

Lara kept a vice like grip on Hesam's arm all the way out the door.

As soon as they were safely down the side walk he fairly erupted.

"He's lying! No one called him from the hospital or on the way on Peter's cell. It was still in his apartment this morning!" Hesam said.

"Of course he's lying. I know that, you know that, even Mrs. Petrelli knows that."

"Then why did we just leave? Why didn't you call him on his bullshit? Or at least let me?"

Lara rolled her eyes.

"Because he'd have just kept on lying but you know what he's doing right now?"

Hesam just stared, completely at a loss."

Lara grinned. "Right now, Nathan Petrelli is explaining to his mother and my favorite accessory what really happened to his little brother Peter."

Hesam almost slapped himself.

"The jacket!"

Lara nodded, "Yes, my Love. The jacket."