Chapter Two: Plans in the Making
At three o' clock in the morning, most sensible people would be fast asleep, but Jarod was sitting on the couch, wide awake. The TV wasn't on, and his laptop and DSA player were both on the coffee table, closed. He was simply sitting there staring at the wall with a frown crossing his features. He was deep in thought, and had been that way long before the sun went down. The only movement he made was when he grabbed a piece of candy from a pez dispenser that was gripped tightly in his hand.
"Kyle, Kyle, Kyle," he whispered. "Where are you?"
A sudden knock on the door caused him to jump out of his seat, startled. He stared at the door for a moment, wondering who would come to see him. Glancing down at his watch, his body tensed. At three in the morning? You've got to be kidding, he thought uneasily.
The knock came again, though no more forceful than the first time. Grabbing his gun from the couch, he held it ready as he quietly made his way towards the door. Pausing momentarily, he clenched the gun in his right hand while opening the door with the left.
A girl in her mid twenties stood there, glancing cautiously over her shoulder. Her hair was a dark red color, obviously dyed, and her curious eyes were brownish green. She looked fit and carried only a laptop under one arm.
Smiling at him slightly, she said, "Ah, the famous Jarod. I hope you're not tied up with anything at the moment. I need your help."
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"Taken?" Jarod was surprised and angered at the same time. He put his head in his hands and groaned.
"They want him back for his abilities, obviously, but I bet you anything they're trying to use him as bait to bring you back." Ty looked at him from across the room as she spoke. She had declined to sit, and was leaning against a wall instead. She regarded him with watchful eyes and had to keep a smile from her face. He was cuter now than when she had last seen him. But that was a long time ago, she thought. I know he doesn't know me. Through his eyes she could see the child that had been suppressed for so long. It danced in the corners of his mouth and twinkled in his big pretty eyes.
"How did you find me?" Jarod asked, looking up at her with a skeptical expression on his face.
She shrugged. "If I know how to do one thing, it's computers. It took me three hours."
"Three hours?" he spoke with amusement ringing in his voice. "People who have searched for me for four years haven't been able to find me yet. They'll be very jealous."
Ty grinned, though it quickly faded. "You know, I don't know why I never found you before. Kyle's been looking for you for a long time. It's too bad it had to come to this."
He frowned and nodded. "The irony is horrible." Looking at her thoughtfully, he asked. "How do you know Kyle?"
She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall before she answered. "We just happened to be at the same place at the same time." She searched the ceiling as if the memory were up there, showing her what to say. "We were in this crowded area, running toward each other from opposite directions. We were both running for our lives. I saw him running wildly, though he didn't seem to see anything. His eyes had this glazed-over look to them. I saw the people who were chasing him, and one had a gun out, ready to take a shot. I knocked Kyle over as the guy took it, and it ended up wounding a man behind us. It spooked the whole crowd and we both got away during all the confusion." She paused and looked at Jarod. "We've been friends ever since."
"Who was chasing you?" he asked curiously.
Averting her eyes, she shrugged slightly. "That, uh, is a whole story in itself."
Jarod nodded, clearly seeing her discomfort. "Well, how should we go about this?" he asked, changing the subject.
Ty came over and sat down beside him. "You got out once, didn't you? You can figure out how to get back in."
Jarod chuckled. "Yeah, like it's that easy."
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"I know you're awake," came a taunting voice. "Get up."
Kyle groaned. He hated that voice. If he were to kill anyone in that damned place, it'd be the man who owned that voice. "I'm awake now," he muttered, opening his eyes.
"Good." Mr. Lyle grinned down on him and cocked his head to the side. "You know, this being your first day back in, oh, a while, I've got some people who'd like to… say hi."
The mocking tone in his voice made Kyle's blood boil, and he had the urge to snap his neck right then and there. "Go to hell, Lyle," he growled, glaring at him.
Lyle's grin broadened. "Already been there, I'm afraid." Walking out of the room, he paused in the doorway and spoke to someone Kyle couldn't see. "He needs to be able to walk, guys. Ok?"
As he left, four men filed into the room with two inch black clubs in hand. Kyle's eyes narrowed and he pulled himself up. That bastard, he thought. Can't even do it himself.
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Nervously pushing the door open, Broots stumbled into Miss Parker's office. She looked up from her computer and frowned.
"Well? Has he taken the bait?" she demanded.
"Well, uh, someone's accessed the mainframe, if that's what you mean," he replied.
"That's Einstein all right. Good, that means he'll be coming around soon enough." She smiled slightly, knowing the chase was almost over. "Find out what kind of security Lyle is using. This has to go perfect."
_____
"So, what have you got?" Jarod asked, walking over to Ty.
She had hooked her computer up to a printer and was printing out blueprints. "Definitely bait," she said. "Getting his location was a piece of cake. I'm printing out floor plans right now."
Glancing at the computer screen, he asked, "Where is he?"
"SL-6." Pausing, she considered something for a moment. "You know, the only advantage we have in this entire situation is that they think they'll only be dealing with you."
Jarod smiled mischievously. "Then we'll just have to play off that, now won't we?" Getting up, he began to walk around the room collecting his things. "When that print job is done, we're leaving."