Brennan threw his pen down on the console, frustrated that Shalimar was no where to be found. "Shalimar!" he yelled into his Comlink ring. He waited for an answer and didn't get one. "Shalimar, where the hell are you? You said you were going to be here at nine o'clock and it's now ten thirty. The least..."
"Hello?" a voice said.
Brennan was surprised by the male voice responding to him, "Who is this?"
"Who is THIS?" the man asked. "What is this thing? One of those secret rings you get from a cereal box?"
"Where's Shalimar?" Brennan asked sternly.
"Shalimar? So that was her name."
Brennan felt his stomach drop when he said the word was. "Where is she!"
The man laughed, "Why should I tell you? What are you her boyfriend or something, maybe her husband?"
"Just tell me where she is!"
"Let me just tell you that your girlfriend, or whatever she was, was a handful."
"Why do you keep saying 'was!' What did you do to her?"
"She's a goddamn mutant, and a nosey one at that. She stuck her nose where it didn't belong in order to help out another one of those freaky mutants and it cost her. Hey wait...I bet you're one of those mutants too, huh?"
Brennan didn't answer him. "Just tell me where she is, please."
"Oh, I like this. Beg for me to tell you, mutant. Go on. Beg!" The man roared with laughter. "No, no, better yet...you give me two million dollars and I'll tell you exactly where she is."
Brennan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I can't make that decision on my own. I..."
"Well then you better hurry up and get me an answer. I'm not a very patient man, ask Shalimar. Oh wait, you can't ask her." The man began to laugh again and it made Brennan sick to his stomach.
"I'll get you an answer within a half hour," Brennan said.
"Deal. You know where to find me."
Brennan got up and ran out of the room to gather up the others.
Jeremy was on his way to the market and decided to pass by the place where Shalimar had been shot. The area was blocked off with yellow Police tape and there were a lot of detectives inspecting the scene. He pulled over and mingled with the crowd that had formed around the scene.
"What happened," he asked a woman standing next to him.
"There was a shooting last night. Some woman on that motorcycle parked by the curb started a fight with some men. Must have been a cheating husband or something."
Jeremy wasn't surprised that the story was already being twisted. "Who was the woman?"
"They don't know. She disappeared. They only have a description. I'm sure it'll be on the news," she pointed over to the news crew standing at the edge of the curb.
"Thanks," Jeremy said as he walked back to his car and drove away.
Brennan was out of breath by the time he caught up with Jesse and Emma. "Where's Adam?"
"I dunno," Jesse said. "You okay?"
"No. I need to find Adam fast!"
"Brennan?" Adam said as he walked into the room.
Brennan quickly turned around and sighed, "Adam, thank God. Shalimar's missing. Some guy has her Comlink ring, I just spoke with him. He's talking like she's dead."
"Woah, slow down, you're not making any sense." Adam put his hands on Brennan's shoulders and guided him to a chair, making him sit down. "Start again."
Brennan took a deep breath. "Shalimar was supposed to meet me this morning to go over the new fight sim and she didn't show up. Jesse and Emma said her bike was gone early this morning so we assumed she just went out for a quick ride. I got mad so I called her on her Comlink but some guy answered. He said she 'stuck her nose where it didn't belong' when she was helping another mutant so I can only think that she got involved in something she shouldn't have. He won't tell me where she is unless we give him two million dollars."
"What?!"
"Adam, we have to act fast. I need to call him back soon with an answer."
Jesse and Emma listened on in horror and disbelief.
"The money is no problem. I just want to be sure he's not going to lead us on a wild goose chase."
"We have no choice," Brennan said as he continued to try and steady his breathing.
"Fine. Call him back. Let's play this out."
"Hello?" Brennan said as he spoke into his ring.
"Do you have the money?" the man asked.
"Yes. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"The playground on Anderson Avenue. You've got twenty minutes."
Brennan looked up at Adam and could see the fear in his eyes.
"I'll arrange for the money," Adam said as he quickly left the room.
Jesse and Emma got up and hugged Brennan. "We'll find her, don't worry," Jesse said.