AUTHOR'S NOTES:


It's been a nightmare…! After believing I'd been rescued from pc hell, it went again and I lost access to all of my backup work, the internet, and email…hence my silence. Apologies all – much to catch up on! Things are still not running properly, but I'm hoping it'll hold out at least until I can get this chapter up – the one that I couldn't upload last time! (24Feb08)

(Previous chapter: Persuasion)

Chapter 36:
Calls

Jessi jumped and opened her eyes with a gasp as Emily suddenly growled and slammed her hands against the steering wheel. The woman Jessi had previously known only as her sister was obviously frustrated. Jessi wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the sedative made her head muzzy. Instead, she looked over at Emily with questioning eyes. Emily's eyes returned her gaze and were almost black with something Jessi didn't understand, so she turned away and leaned her head against the window, not much caring about anything except how she was going to stop Ballantine from messing with her mind again. However, the C.I.R. was virtually impossible to resist, as she had learnt through bitter experience. She could no longer connect with Kyle, but he had proven that he didn't care enough to come and save her anyway. She didn't blame him; she couldn't be trusted after what she had done to him and his family. Jessi closed her eyes and focused on strengthening her mind against the C.I.R. She knew she should be frightened for her future, but somehow none of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was survival.

Emily gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. Nicole Trager's call had shaken her; she had not anticipated that move. The last thing Emily needed right now was for the police to be called again, let alone Social Services. When Jessi had run away, the police were called in, but Emily had managed to lay that problem to rest upon Jessi's return. With the drugs prescribed by the C.I.R. team's pharmacologist, Emily had been able to keep Jessi sedated and as pain free as possible, allowing her to return to school and thereby throwing aside any suspicion from the wider community.

The girl had seemed remarkably compliant, which jarred Emily's conscience. She had found it relatively easy to regain Jessi's trust by promising her that she wouldn't let Madacorp harm her; that all they wanted was the information. Once they had it, she would be free to live her life; and Madacorp would arrange for her to be looked after properly. She also promised Jessi that Madacorp would value her abilities and help her to develop them. Despite having done things in her life that invoked questions of conscience, for some reason Emily Hollander found this to be the hardest, because she knew there were no guarantees that any of these things would be fulfilled.

Emily had followed her orders almost to the letter, even as far as manipulating the Tragers, and especially Kyle. She had assured his help in locating the runaway Jessi by telling him that her own family was in danger, though in truth that hadn't been a lie. Emily had followed Ballantine's plan to lure Kyle into Madacorp and that particular part of it had worked like a dream, but something now troubled her deeply: Nicole had said that Kyle and Stephen were now on their way to Madacorp…against their will. That was not supposed to happen. What were the implications of that for Jessi? Was Ballantine following his own agenda? What else was he doing that she didn't know about? Suspicion and anger burned in her belly. She did not like to be made a fool of, and she certainly did not appreciate being kept in the dark when lives were at stake. She had to make a decision. She glanced over at Jessi, and satisfied that the girl was once again sleeping, she reached into the door pocket and retrieved the cell phone. She pushed the quick-dial button and waited.

"Miss Hollander," the smooth, deep voice oozed into the phone. "Maybe you could explain to me why you collected Jessi before the end of the school day? We don't want to attract any undue attention to her."

That caught Emily out. How did Ballantine know about that? She had to think of something quickly to cover her actions, but that was Emily Hollander's special skill; it was what made her the best choice for many a covert operation.

"I received some information that changed things," Emily stated without faltering.

"Oh?" Ballantine asked in that affected way he had.

"Nicole Trager called me and demanded to know why Stephen picked Kyle up from school just before lunch, and why they were being taken to Madacorp against their will. I thought I would pull Jessi out of school in case there was a problem." She waited for Ballantine to show some sign of surprise. To her consternation, the man was cool as ice.

"I am already aware of the situation," he stated confidently.

Emily couldn't help but ask, "How?"

"I am not a man who puts all his eggs in one basket," Ballantine spoke with an eely tone. "Nor am I a man who will take chances with so much at stake. I took it on myself to put certain…assurances in place. Let's just say that Beachwood High School can have their old secretary back as of tomorrow…Mrs. Halsey, my arranged replacement, has performed an excellent service all round, but is no longer required."

Emily's innate intuitive sense began to tingle. "Are you saying to me that you kidnapped the old school secretary?"

"What was done is not your concern," Ballantine oozed. "Mrs. O'Leary will wake up in her own bed in the morning believing what the C.I.R. has made her believe. What I'm saying to you, Miss Hollander, is that if you're thinking of not bringing Jessi to me as planned, I will have to activate my next assurance." His words were enunciated with clipped clarity.

"I don't know what you mean," Emily did not like the implications of Ballantine's words. He was a shrewd man, for certain, and she had badly misjudged his determination to gain access to the secrets Kyle and Jessi held, whatever they were.

Ballantine's tone was as efficacious as it was threatening. "As Mrs. Halsey was kind enough to inform me of Kyle and Jessi's early departures from school, I asked her to make a call to arrange for one more on your behalf... in case there was a problem."

His quotation of Emily's earlier words was used to good effect; her stomach lurched. Her daughter, Paige! "You have no right or reason to interfere with my family!" She fought to control herself, thanking her years of training.

"As soon as Jessi and Kyle are safely within Madacorp, Paige will be safely delivered to your mother's," the man said. "You have my word."

Emily paused to regain her composure then said, "I have no control over Kyle's whereabouts. And I have not disobeyed any orders…"

"And now I know you won't," Ballantine stated and hung up abruptly.

Emily felt distress rising as she dropped the phone into her lap. She rubbed her temple for a moment in an attempt to reorient herself, desperately trying to concentrate on her driving. She knew Ballantine was not bluffing: he had picked the child up himself from nursery school once before as a warning to Emily that he would not tolerate disloyalty. She sighed; it was all going horribly wrong. She had hoped it would never come to this as she reached over to the glove compartment and fished out another cell phone. She took a deep breath and quick-dialled one of the few numbers programmed into it. Within seconds the call connected.

Emily swallowed hard as she said, "Don't speak; just listen."

"I'm listening," said the voice at the other end.

oooOooo

"Mr. Trager, what you have done has made things very complicated, but it seems that we are at least on the same side when it comes to stopping Ballantine's misuse of Adam's technology." Taylor stroked his chin absently with his left hand as he stroked the gun concealed in his pocket with his right. He stared at the back of Stephen's head. "What exactly have you programmed the C.I.R. to do?"

Stephen looked woefully at Kyle, who turned away as a ball of fear made his stomach churn again. "It will remove the information from the subject's mind then destroy the system and its backup," Stephen replied honestly. "It was to be implemented during Jessi's next session."

Taylor frowned. "Clever. But Ballantine won't bother putting Jessi in the chair if he gets hold of Kyle first, so that mustn't happen."

Kyle, who had been staring at the ground through his window, sat up straight and made a strange noise in his throat. "I think it's too late."

Stephen looked across to his window and saw two security guards aiming their weapons at Kyle from several yards away; one held a taser, the other a pistol. Stephen wondered whether it was worth the risk of starting up the engine and attempting an escape, but the loud knock on his own window put an end to any ideas of running.

"Please keep your hands where I can see them and step out of the vehicle," came an authoritative voice.

Suddenly Taylor slipped his gun into the front seat while the other two were distracted and started beating on the wall of the van. "This is Brian Taylor!" he shouted. "Thank God! Get me out of here!"

Kyle and Stephen, both rigid with fear at having weapons pointed at them, sat even further upright at the sudden commotion from the back, too frightened to turn around. Then the rear doors were forced open and several security officers pointed their stun guns into the back. Brian Taylor squeezed himself down into his seat and cowered.

"Mr. Taylor?" one man asked, peering into the darkness.

"Yes!" Taylor cried and threw his ID at the small huddle of men.

There was a pause as the ID was inspected and one man stepped into the vehicle towards Taylor. "Careful!" Taylor shouted. "They've got a gun!"

Stephen did turn at that point, showing his hands, his eyes wide with horror. "That's not true!"

The security officer looked up at Stephen, pointing the taser at his shoulders. "Mr. Trager?" It was obvious then that his suspicion fell on Kyle. Stephen glanced worriedly at Kyle, but he seemed to be oblivious to what was going on in the back. Stephen's voice caught in his throat. The officer suddenly put away his taser, drew out his pistol and advanced towards the boy, who still had his eyes fixed on the men outside his window. Taylor scrambled out of the way and out of the van. The officer brought his weapon up to rest against Kyle's left ear. In doing so, he spied the gun Taylor had dropped into the front seat lying beside Kyle. The man leaned over and retrieved it. Stephen was horrified. The guard dropped it behind him towards his colleagues, not once taking his eyes off Kyle or Stephen.

Kyle felt the cold metal against press against the left side of his head and held his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut as his mind began to empty. Fear seemed to replace reason as a familiar, and unwanted, feeling began to prickle somewhere behind his eyes. Stephen saw the blood draining from Kyle's face and in his own panic decided it was better to cooperate with the security men.

"Please! He's my son! He's not well! He hasn't done anything! The gun belongs to Taylor!" he shouted to the armed officer.

Kyle leaned against the window for support, but was suddenly thrown off balance as the door was yanked open from outside. Two men caught him and hauled him out. Kyle was too preoccupied with trying to stop the unwanted force inside him to resist. Stephen watched helplessly as the men forcibly held Kyle between them. During the sudden commotion, Kyle felt his mind begin to fragment as fear oozed into every crevice; it was like he could sense his end drawing near. He struggled to contain an overwhelming wave of panic. Stephen could see Kyle's expression changing, so stopped his protests. He needed to keep the situation calm, fearing that Kyle would unleash something and do himself more harm. Within seconds, Stephen also stood with Kyle flanked by security officers.

Taylor walked from behind the van and said, "Thank you for helping me. These men need to be taken to the Security Suite immediately."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor," a rather stout man interjected. "But we are under strict instructions to take them to Julian Ballantine in Research & Development."

"On what grounds?" Taylor asked.

"I was not given that information," said the stout man, whom Taylor vaguely recognised then identified from his badge as Ortega.

Taylor puffed himself up and countered with, "Well, I'm overriding Ballantine's request. Take them to the Security Suite until we sort out exactly what is going on."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, sir," Ortega said quietly, then signalled for the others to escort Stephen and Kyle into the building.

"This is crazy!" Taylor objected, as the men started to move off with their charges. "These people held a gun to me! Take them to Security!"

"I'm sorry. You'll have to take it up with Mr. Ballantine," Ortega insisted.

"I will!" shouted Taylor indignantly, straightening his jacket as the small posse departed towards the security entrance to the building, leaving Ortega behind.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Taylor?" the officer asked. Taylor looked at him and shook his head in frustration. "Then I'll wish you a good day, sir," Ortega said as he turned and followed the others.

The last thing Taylor saw of them before they disappeared through the doorway was Kyle looking back at him over his shoulder with Adam's eyes, his face pale and his expression unreadable.

oooOooo

"Jess, we're here!" Emily said, lightly shaking Jessi's arm.

Jessi opened her eyes to find they were in the Madacorp car park. All around the sun glanced off the multicoloured patchwork of cars that sprawled as far as she could see. She squinted until her eyes adjusted. Everything seemed a little distant, except for Emily, who was right next to her.

"It's time to get this over with," Emily said with rare gentleness. "Then we can start thinking about your future." She patted Jessi on the arm.

As they walked towards the building, Jessi suddenly became aware of a dullness pressing on her mind. It was undefined and indeterminate, but something about it was familiar and made her want to find its source. She scowled then stopped. Emily stopped with her, puzzled.

"What's up, Jess?"

Jessi pointed. "Isn't that…Kyle?"

Emily followed the direction of her arm and saw the small group of men beside one of the unmarked Madacorp vans. Sure enough, Kyle and Stephen were there, held by Madacorp security. Another man in a suit was also there, talking to Ortega, one of Ballantine's favoured security chiefs. When the men disappeared into the building with Kyle and Stephen, the man in the suit turned and locked eyes with Emily. She gasped as Brian Taylor began walking quickly towards them both.

"Jessi, come on. We're late," Emily urged and pushed Jessi gently.

They both made it into the lobby, through security and were in the elevator by the time Taylor appeared at the main entrance.

"Why do you think Kyle is here?" Jessi asked, the sedative lending her tone a measure of innocence.

"I don't know," Emily answered, keeping an eye on Taylor.

"Do you think he's come to help me?" Jessi continued with her questions.

"No, I think he's come to help Stephen!" Emily said absently, pushing the seventh floor button desperately as Taylor began to approach. Her mind was racing; she was unable to process what was going on, which made it hard for her to plan a strategy.

Jessi looked puzzled. "But why does Mr. Trager need Kyle's help?"

"Oh, Jess, I don't know!" Emily snapped as she heard a cell phone begin to ring.

Just as the elevator doors began to close, Taylor pulled his phone from his left pocket, inspected the display and stopped. The last thing Emily saw before the doors closed completely was Taylor scowling at her and Jessi as he raised the phone to his ear to take the call.

(Next chapter: Missing)