Chapter 62

Washington DC

Amber pulled into a mall parking lot and parked in an outer spot. She smiled as she turned off the ignition. "Guess we're here."

Katya nodded and looked around. "I didn't notice anyone following us… so I guess we're safe for the moment."

"How long do we have before we meet with McCormick?"

Katya glanced at her watch and then at the newspaper opened to the movie times. "He said the first matinee performance… so… about two hours."

"Should we stay here or walk the mall?"

"I'd prefer to stay out of sight as long as possible. Just pull your hat down over your eyes… settle back and try to catch a little rest. I'll take the first watch."

Amber did so… and was soon in an uneasy sleep.

-----

Amber felt Katya shake her arm. "Time to go," the elder immortal said. Amber nodded and wiped her eyes. Adjusting her ballcap over her head, she glanced in the visor mirror to be certain of her appearance and then nodded.

The two women climbed out, locked the car and headed to the movie theatre box office. Amber bought two tickets for the first matinee performance of Fatal Dance and the two entered, purchasing popcorn and drinks before entering the dimly lit empty auditorium and finding seats in the center of the back row.

"Now we wait," Katya murmured.

They didn't have to wait long. Both women felt the tingle that they hoped was McCormick. When he rounded the partition and glanced up at them… they warily relaxed… but kept their hands on their swords. He climbed the tiers and sat next to them.

"Well I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"The bad," said Katya darkly.

"I've spoken at length with the young woman who evidently has been watching me for years… under my nose. She has no idea what's going on… but she has had suspicions for some time. She told me there was an old project that was discontinued about ten years ago called Sanctuary where certain immortals were kept from the game. She thinks it may have been re-started."

"Sanctuary," breathed Amber. "That's not good."

"You know of it?" Matt asked.

Amber shook her head. "Only a little. My teacher entered that program voluntarily. He's dead now."

"And the good news?" Amber asked.

"Well… she's willing to help. As far as her bosses are concerned… I'm in my office."

"Can we trust her?" Katya had not stayed alive so long by trusting anyone.

"For the moment. Now then… Did you hear from your friends in Europe?"

Katya nodded and told him what she knew. "The center of all this may be Europe… that means… if we can prevent any more immortals here from being snatched or shipped… we might put a kink in their plans."

Matt smiled. "To that effect… I have convinced my watcher to get me some information about her organization. With a little luck… we can do our own investigating."

"At least if they get us again… we'll go down fighting this time," Amber murmured as the movie started. They'd remain for a half-hour… then leave. Amber pulled her feet up onto the seat below her and slumped in the seat sipping cola and eating popcorn. Next to her… Katya and Matt continued to whisper. She'd let them make the plans. Whatever they decided was fine with her.

-----

Roberta Collins downloaded the information from her Watcher connection and made the copy to disc. As soon as it was ready… she popped it out of the slot and into its case, then slipped it into her jacket pocket. Step one complete.

Glancing around the cafe… she quickly erased her information from the computer and prayed no one would backtrack the security leak to her. She'd used a double-blind… but she still wasn't certain it would work. As she left the cafe… her cell phone buzzed in her coat pocket. When she glanced at the number… her heart sank… it was her superior. "Hello," she answered.

"Where are you?"

"I had some errands to run on my lunch hour…"

"Word is McCormick slipped out while you were away from your desk. What do you know?"

Roberta counted to three before she dared speak. "He said something about a meeting with some local law enforcement about the St. Louis case. I didn't think it was until later, though. Perhaps he went to lunch."

"You're paid to know!" the voice snapped.

"What's the problem. He'll be back by four… He has a department meeting scheduled for then."

"What if we lose him?"

Roberta shifted the cell phone to her other ear. "If he meets with another immortal… he'll be noticed by the other's Watcher. I don't see a problem. McCormick is very methodical and very careful… not to mention regular as clockwork." She raised a hand to hail a taxi.

"You need to stay in closer contact with him."

"We've been over this. He's a field agent. Until and unless you can get someone through the academy and assigned to him as a partner… which you've been unable to do in the last several years… I might add… you will have to be satisfied with my being his secretary." She opened the cab door and climbed in holding up a finger for the cabbie to wait a moment. "I do what I can. I can't follow him the way you want. It just won't work. I have to go." Shutting the phone off, Roberta gave the driver the address and settled back in the seat shaking from anger.

Someone was turning Watchers into some sort of "Big Brother" operation. True… there had always been an element of that within the fold… but not like this. She didn't like what was happening to the organization to which her grandparents and parents had given their lives. She was going to take it back from these fools now in control… or die trying. Trouble was… she might well die.

Twenty minutes later when the cab dropped her at the entrance to the mall… she had calmed down. Roberta had learned early on that Watchers sometimes died in the line of their jobs… it was an unfortunate consequence of being so closely associated with immortals. One of her grandfathers had died in the line of duty before she was born. He'd followed his immortal into Word War II and died in battle.

Glancing around, she entered through the glass doors, heading for the children's clothing store she frequented. Matt had told her to only do what she might normally do on a lunch hour… lunch… a few errands. She'd picked this store. Entering she flipped through a stack of boy's jeans then crossed to a rack of little girl's dresses. She selected one of the right size, purchased it and left… noticing the young woman now sorting through the boy's jeans. Matt had told her that he or someone else would get the disc… Roberta prayed that the young woman was Matt's associate. She hadn't gotten a good look at her… she didn't want one. Clutching her purchase tightly, Roberta headed back to the mall entrance to hail a taxi for her return trip. Just another day in the life of a public servant… or so she hoped.

"I may not see you for a while, Roberta. Thanks for your help. You're a true friend," Matt had told her earlier. Roberta settled into the backseat of the taxi and let a small smile cross her face. It sounded like a great epitaph for her tombstone… "She was a true friend." Surprisingly… Roberta Collins was at peace with that thought.

-----

Watcher Compound

Julius Wilderman was not exactly certain when things had spiraled out of control. He could not quite recall when his little experiment in dream research had become something else entirely… but it had. At first it had been exactly as he could have wished. Lots of willing subjects whose dreams had helped him fine-tune his theories and develop his programs to decode thought and dreams into data a computer could read and understand. They had come by the dozens… willing young men and women.

And then Rawlins had told him of immortals whose lives lasted for generations… and whose dreams would elevate his research into the stratosphere. He'd win the Nobel Prize for his research.

"We could see history through their dreams." Rawlins had explained. And at first… that's the way it had been with the first few they'd brought in. Wilderman had been curious that they were drugged.

"They are not exactly volunteers. Trust me… you do not want an unwilling immortal on your hands. They will kill you where you stand."

So he'd accepted his unwilling subjects as he'd accepted his willing ones. And one by one he'd mapped their dreams… and fine-tuned his programs.

"Can you insert them into a pre-planned scenario?" Rawlins had asked curiously last year. "Can you set them into a dream they've had… and map their responses to that?"

Wilderman had nodded. "I think so."

He still didn't have that quite right. And now Rawlins had killed one of them. Wilderman still shook from his helplessness at that moment. Just when had he signed away his soul? His hands shaking, he lifted the bottle of water to his lips and sipped. His stomach burned within him… he needed his acid reduction pills. He'd taken so many lately he'd run out and Rawlins had yesterday put the facility on lock-down.

"No more going home at night. There're accommodations for your people on an upper level."

"Some of us have families. We are not prisoners!" Wilderman had argued.

"We are too close. I cannot chance discovery."

"Discovery by who?" he'd sputtered. "No one knows that this project exists!"

"We have to be certain there are no security leaks," the blonde man had said curtly and then dismissed Wilderman… from his own office.

Julius Wilderman took another sip of water. He'd made a deal with the devil… now he wondered how to survive. This project of his was looking increasingly deadly… for him and for his team.