I didn't give Sark a chance to speak, ripping into him as soon as I was sure he was indeed on the other line.
"Whatever the hell this plan is, it better be good, and it better be fast."
"What's happened now, Agent Bristow?"
"That's really annoying, just call me Sydney. And you want to know what happened? I'll tell you what happened: Kendall wants to revoke my access to my mother, that's what happened!" I heard him curse quietly under his breath.
"I'll get things set in motion as fast as I can," he promised.
"I think now would be a very good time to tell me just what this plan is, Sark."
"Fine, but not on the phone. We need to meet somewhere." I frowned.
"Are you in LA right now?"
"Yes. Choose somewhere to meet." I sighed and tried to think of something. The warehouse and the pier immediately jumped to mind, but I couldn't go there, not with him. Those were places reserved for Vaughn. But something else came to mind. I didn't like that much better, but it was the only thing I could think of on such short notice.
"Francie's restaurant," I whispered. Sark was respectfully silent for a moment.
"Are you sure?" he finally asked.
"Unless you can come up with something better," I said crossly.
"No, I can't. But won't it be rather busy around this time?"
"I've shut it down for now, until I can figure out what to do with it. Go around back, I'll leave that door open."
"I'll be there in 10 minutes," he assured me.
"Fine." I hung up on him and started the car. I kept the radio off, not wanting the cheery songs to spite me, or the sad ones to depress me even more.
Within five minutes, I was at the restaurant. I unlocked the front door and went in, latching it behind me. Keeping my eyes down, I walked over and unlocked the back door, anticipating Sark's arrival. Then I moved back out to the dining area and finally looked around.
It was the first time I'd truly taken pause to admire what Francie had done. She had accomplished what was one of her lifelong dreams, and I had been too preoccupied with my own issues to be truly proud of her. As I continued to look at what her hard work had led to, I was startled by the sounds of footsteps. I whirled to see Sark looking at me, his face as cold as always, but his stormy, apologetic blue eyes betraying him.
"I'm sorry," he said simply.
"Don't." I glared at him for a long moment. "You were partly responsible for what happened to Francie. You don't deserve to be forgiven for it anymore than I do."
"You're not to blame for it, you know." I sighed, thinking of how he suddenly sounded like Weiss.
"We are not having this conversation. I've been through it once today, it's not happening again. Now tell me what kind of plans you have in place."
"We are going to break Irina out."
"Some detail would be nice."
"I don't have a lot of detail to give at this moment, things are still being put in order. Essentially, you need to go down to see your mother- preferably at a time when there are as few agents as possible there- and use gas to knock out the guards. It's perfectly harmless long-term, so don't worry about that. As soon as you give me the signal, I will have all security measures taken down indefinitely. At that point, I'll go in to meet you and Irina on the way out. I will be bringing weapons, but those will be last resort. The three of us will get out, and a getaway car will take us to a private airport, where my plane is waiting. From there, we'll develop our own strategy for catching Sloane and saving the people you care about. Do you see any flaws with this plan?" After taking a few minutes to think about it, I shook my head.
"Nothing stands out to me. When is this going to happen?"
"You need to talk to Kendall and find out when he would be revoking your access, should he choose to do so. If we have time, we won't move until Monday. But if we're running out, we go in two days." I nodded.
"Fine. I'll go see him now." I walked Sark to the back door, where he gave me one more look before melting into the darkness. I soon heard a car start up, and I closed and locked the door. Taking one last look at the restaurant, I headed out to Weiss' car and started the trip back to meet with Kendall.
