* * * *
"What's wrong?" Irina demanded. Her first words at their rendezvous were sharp and insistent. "You've missed two meets."
"How was I supposed to learn about them?" Jack snapped back at her. Without Sark to intercept and interpret Irina's more subtle ciphers, he had only known about this intended meeting in Warsaw because she had sent a discretely coded email to him directly.
"Why wouldn't..." She altered her question mid-asking as she realized what Jack's own question had meant. "Where is he?"
"Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."
Irina's expression became oddly blank for an instant, so quickly that he barely caught it. Then she smiled lightly. "You've lost him."
"He hasn't contacted you either." It was a statement, not a question.
"How long has he been gone?"
"Three months." He could see she was considering whether or not to tell him something by the way that her eyes narrowed fractionally.
"The communiqué on the lead in Jakarta last month," she said slowly. "That wasn't from you after all, was it?"
"Jakarta? No. He's still looking for Sydney?"
"Apparently. I'd thought the message was from you. He's a very good emulator of your style."
"He's disturbingly good at a lot of things."
"So how did he elude you?" There was no mistaking the sense of pride in her tone.
"Not me," Jack frowned, chagrined at the defensiveness he could hear in his own voice. "He ditched Dixon in Melbourne. We're still not entirely sure how."
"It's nice there this time of year," she observed almost absently.
"Warmest place he's been in a long time."
They both stood in silence for a moment, contemplating their cold-natured son.
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the implications that he's still looking for Sydney without you at his shoulder," Irina said eventually.
"Doren?" he asked. "You think he'll hold it against her?"
"Honestly, I don't know. He has always been pragmatic about this business, but..." She shrugged.
"How could you let him get attached to someone like her?" He'd meant to sound sarcastic, but Irina took his words at face value.
"I wouldn't have if I'd known," she said grimly. "I allowed him considerably more autonomy in the last few years, but I would have put a stop to that if I'd realized what he was doing. The last thing he ever needed was to become involved with someone else in this business."
Jack unconsciously nodded his agreement. The unease that he had felt rising for the past several months was not alleviated by Irina's sharing of his concern. Allison's death could have provoked a desire for revenge that no newly forged fraternal bond could preclude. The loss of the one fragile connection that he'd chosen for his own could have just as easily triggered a complete emotional shutdown. Or it could have caused something else entirely unpredictable.
"Do we re-prioritize?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she said after a moment's thought. "Current evidence suggests that he's still working with us. It remains in all of our best interests to continue our cooperation." She paused and tilted her head. "I do suggest, however, that we make a point of attempting to reach her before he does. No sense in allowing him the opportunity to give in to temptation. How did he seem when you last saw him?" she asked then.
"Tense," he said. "Disturbed. Allison was the last thing we talked about."
"Not exactly the ideal mind-frame to send him out on assignment in."
"It was something we needed to discuss. I'd anticipated having more time to defuse him, but we were interrupted."
"He seemed willing to talk to you about it?" There was the barest hint of wistfulness in her voice.
"Not precisely willing," he admitted. "But he wasn't leaping out of the chair either."
"It's easier than you expected, isn't it?" She smiled at his uncomprehending look. "Being a father to him. Your head keeps telling you that it's a lost cause, but your heart keeps making overtures."
"For all the good it seems to have done." The bitterness in his own tone surprised him. Irina smiled at that too.
"You always knew that this was a temporary arrangement. Just because the Agency has lost him doesn't mean that you have."
"Then where is he?" Jack asked evenly, his voice firmly under conscious control once again.
"I have no idea. He could have gone anywhere. Someplace warm as an indulgence, someplace cold to mislead us."
"Track his accounts. You know all of them, don't you?"
Irina shook her head. "I know most. He's bound to have at least one that I'm not aware of and that's the one he'll be using."
"Then how do we find him?" For a fleeting moment he saw the absurdity of it all. Two parents trying to find a pair of lost children... and all the world to search. Irina must have caught a glimpse of that herself as she looked at him.
"Do you remember when we took Sydney to Disneyland?" she asked.
"She was five," he nodded. "Too small to ride much of anything but so adamant about going that we finally gave in and went anyway."
"And somehow just after lunch we got separated. Even after all we've been through, I still think that may have been one of the most terrifying experiences of my life."
"And it didn't seem to faze Sydney one bit." He couldn't help smiling at the memory. "I remember we found her at the base of the Rocket Jets begging them to let her on because it was the tallest ride in the park and she was sure she'd be able to see us from the top."
Irina echoed his fond smile. "We have very resourceful children," she said. "When he's ready, he'll find us. Until then, we focus on Sydney. Once we determine that she's safe, then we can... deal with him."
"I suspect that his current absence may be a commentary on all our previous... dealing with him."
"He'll come around, Jack. He needs us."
"Do you think he know that?" he asked dryly.
"On some level he does. Whose approval do you think he's really been trying to earn all these years? He may not like it and he may not want to admit it, but he's been trying for two decades to prove himself worthy of being claimed. He is not going to walk away from the opportunity that he's been waiting for all this time. You know he can't."
* * * *
To all outside observers, Jack seemed to bury himself in his work. If anyone suspected that he was still searching for his daughter, no one remarked upon it, and certainly no one was aware of the unconventional triangular association that spanned the globe for that sole purpose.
After several months, he and Irina met once again - this time in Rome - to compile their latest findings. There were nebulous hints and obscure tips, but the trail remained as insubstantial as ever. They also compared missives received and discovered a handful of contacts that neither could account for - communiqués flawless in their mimicked styles and patently untraceable. They were a subtle assurance of Sark's continued well-being, if of little else.
The situation remained invariable until the telephone call.
Jack reached unerringly for the ringing cell phone on the nightstand, going instantly from deep sleep to lucidity in a matter of seconds. This phone had never rung before and now its urgency was unequivocal. Its number was known only to one other.
The connection roared with white noise and a faint voice murmured across the hissing line. He strained to hear it as if willpower alone could make it more distinct.
"...nd her... ong kon... ith her but..."
The voice faded out completely for several heart-stopping seconds then continued its fractured speech.
"...ydney... foun... warehouse on the... hear... daft gi... tually shot... can you........"
Jack found himself listening fiercely to silence, then to a dial tone.
The voice had been Sark's, unmistakably even amidst the static. Part of his mind wondered how the boy had obtained the number - whether through his mother or if he'd found the coded message that Jack had set for him months ago. The rest of him struggled to interpret the splintered monologue. He tried not to jump to conclusions too quickly, too desperately. But he felt instinctively what Sark's call had meant.
Sydney.
Somewhere, somehow - he'd found Sydney.
* * * *
"What's wrong?" Irina demanded. Her first words at their rendezvous were sharp and insistent. "You've missed two meets."
"How was I supposed to learn about them?" Jack snapped back at her. Without Sark to intercept and interpret Irina's more subtle ciphers, he had only known about this intended meeting in Warsaw because she had sent a discretely coded email to him directly.
"Why wouldn't..." She altered her question mid-asking as she realized what Jack's own question had meant. "Where is he?"
"Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."
Irina's expression became oddly blank for an instant, so quickly that he barely caught it. Then she smiled lightly. "You've lost him."
"He hasn't contacted you either." It was a statement, not a question.
"How long has he been gone?"
"Three months." He could see she was considering whether or not to tell him something by the way that her eyes narrowed fractionally.
"The communiqué on the lead in Jakarta last month," she said slowly. "That wasn't from you after all, was it?"
"Jakarta? No. He's still looking for Sydney?"
"Apparently. I'd thought the message was from you. He's a very good emulator of your style."
"He's disturbingly good at a lot of things."
"So how did he elude you?" There was no mistaking the sense of pride in her tone.
"Not me," Jack frowned, chagrined at the defensiveness he could hear in his own voice. "He ditched Dixon in Melbourne. We're still not entirely sure how."
"It's nice there this time of year," she observed almost absently.
"Warmest place he's been in a long time."
They both stood in silence for a moment, contemplating their cold-natured son.
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the implications that he's still looking for Sydney without you at his shoulder," Irina said eventually.
"Doren?" he asked. "You think he'll hold it against her?"
"Honestly, I don't know. He has always been pragmatic about this business, but..." She shrugged.
"How could you let him get attached to someone like her?" He'd meant to sound sarcastic, but Irina took his words at face value.
"I wouldn't have if I'd known," she said grimly. "I allowed him considerably more autonomy in the last few years, but I would have put a stop to that if I'd realized what he was doing. The last thing he ever needed was to become involved with someone else in this business."
Jack unconsciously nodded his agreement. The unease that he had felt rising for the past several months was not alleviated by Irina's sharing of his concern. Allison's death could have provoked a desire for revenge that no newly forged fraternal bond could preclude. The loss of the one fragile connection that he'd chosen for his own could have just as easily triggered a complete emotional shutdown. Or it could have caused something else entirely unpredictable.
"Do we re-prioritize?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she said after a moment's thought. "Current evidence suggests that he's still working with us. It remains in all of our best interests to continue our cooperation." She paused and tilted her head. "I do suggest, however, that we make a point of attempting to reach her before he does. No sense in allowing him the opportunity to give in to temptation. How did he seem when you last saw him?" she asked then.
"Tense," he said. "Disturbed. Allison was the last thing we talked about."
"Not exactly the ideal mind-frame to send him out on assignment in."
"It was something we needed to discuss. I'd anticipated having more time to defuse him, but we were interrupted."
"He seemed willing to talk to you about it?" There was the barest hint of wistfulness in her voice.
"Not precisely willing," he admitted. "But he wasn't leaping out of the chair either."
"It's easier than you expected, isn't it?" She smiled at his uncomprehending look. "Being a father to him. Your head keeps telling you that it's a lost cause, but your heart keeps making overtures."
"For all the good it seems to have done." The bitterness in his own tone surprised him. Irina smiled at that too.
"You always knew that this was a temporary arrangement. Just because the Agency has lost him doesn't mean that you have."
"Then where is he?" Jack asked evenly, his voice firmly under conscious control once again.
"I have no idea. He could have gone anywhere. Someplace warm as an indulgence, someplace cold to mislead us."
"Track his accounts. You know all of them, don't you?"
Irina shook her head. "I know most. He's bound to have at least one that I'm not aware of and that's the one he'll be using."
"Then how do we find him?" For a fleeting moment he saw the absurdity of it all. Two parents trying to find a pair of lost children... and all the world to search. Irina must have caught a glimpse of that herself as she looked at him.
"Do you remember when we took Sydney to Disneyland?" she asked.
"She was five," he nodded. "Too small to ride much of anything but so adamant about going that we finally gave in and went anyway."
"And somehow just after lunch we got separated. Even after all we've been through, I still think that may have been one of the most terrifying experiences of my life."
"And it didn't seem to faze Sydney one bit." He couldn't help smiling at the memory. "I remember we found her at the base of the Rocket Jets begging them to let her on because it was the tallest ride in the park and she was sure she'd be able to see us from the top."
Irina echoed his fond smile. "We have very resourceful children," she said. "When he's ready, he'll find us. Until then, we focus on Sydney. Once we determine that she's safe, then we can... deal with him."
"I suspect that his current absence may be a commentary on all our previous... dealing with him."
"He'll come around, Jack. He needs us."
"Do you think he know that?" he asked dryly.
"On some level he does. Whose approval do you think he's really been trying to earn all these years? He may not like it and he may not want to admit it, but he's been trying for two decades to prove himself worthy of being claimed. He is not going to walk away from the opportunity that he's been waiting for all this time. You know he can't."
* * * *
To all outside observers, Jack seemed to bury himself in his work. If anyone suspected that he was still searching for his daughter, no one remarked upon it, and certainly no one was aware of the unconventional triangular association that spanned the globe for that sole purpose.
After several months, he and Irina met once again - this time in Rome - to compile their latest findings. There were nebulous hints and obscure tips, but the trail remained as insubstantial as ever. They also compared missives received and discovered a handful of contacts that neither could account for - communiqués flawless in their mimicked styles and patently untraceable. They were a subtle assurance of Sark's continued well-being, if of little else.
The situation remained invariable until the telephone call.
Jack reached unerringly for the ringing cell phone on the nightstand, going instantly from deep sleep to lucidity in a matter of seconds. This phone had never rung before and now its urgency was unequivocal. Its number was known only to one other.
The connection roared with white noise and a faint voice murmured across the hissing line. He strained to hear it as if willpower alone could make it more distinct.
"...nd her... ong kon... ith her but..."
The voice faded out completely for several heart-stopping seconds then continued its fractured speech.
"...ydney... foun... warehouse on the... hear... daft gi... tually shot... can you........"
Jack found himself listening fiercely to silence, then to a dial tone.
The voice had been Sark's, unmistakably even amidst the static. Part of his mind wondered how the boy had obtained the number - whether through his mother or if he'd found the coded message that Jack had set for him months ago. The rest of him struggled to interpret the splintered monologue. He tried not to jump to conclusions too quickly, too desperately. But he felt instinctively what Sark's call had meant.
Sydney.
Somewhere, somehow - he'd found Sydney.
* * * *