Chapter 12
Alora leaned her head back against the chair wearily, but never dared to close her eyes and sleep. She crossed her legs impatiently and glanced out the window at the empty parking lot. For once she wished that this wasn't an abandoned building…then she might have some chance of getting out of here.
"Allison…I didn't betray you. You must understand that!" Alora pleaded as she watched Allison carefully.
The opposing female ignored Alora completely and continued typing on the older computer. Allison glanced at Alora every once in a while out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she wasn't going to try anything.
"I'm your friend, Allison. I haven't betrayed any of our secrets…I don't know how they got out." Alora waited until Allison was looking at her before she continued. "Now untie me." Alora knew that she wasn't in any position to be giving orders, but she was hoping that Allison would respond to her.
"I don't take orders from you anymore…only Jamison." The hesitation could be seen on Allison's face as she spoke, but the gun pointed directly at Alora's heart showed that she would still hold firm on her position.
-
John Kilmer drove his car around one area of New York City, trying to think of any leads that would give a hint as to where she could be. He had already been to her house and found it empty…so he knew something had gone wrong. He walked stiffly back into headquarters with a frown. "Frankie…do you have any idea where she might be?"
Frankie shook her head. "Sorry, I can't help you." Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she brushed a strand behind her ear that had fallen loose. Then she got an idea. "Wait a minute." She pointed her finger at the computer even though it had nothing to do with what she was thinking of. She spun around on her chair to face Kilmer as she spoke. "In all of my dreams I was in an abandoned factory…that has to have something to do with this or it wouldn't have been in my dream at all."
John nodded. "Tim!" He hollered, his voice able to be heard through the entire office section. Kilmer didn't speak again until Tim rounded a corner and looked at him questioningly. "Come with me…we're going to search a couple of the nearby warehouses."
Tim nodded and pulled on his jacket without questioning John's orders…he knew better than to do that because John was almost always right with his hunches.
The two men rushed out of the building and slid into John's car before Frankie could object.
She shook her head and sat back down at her computer…they'd better not get themselves into trouble. At least John had his cell phone with him incase he needed to call for reinforcement. She would be ready if he did.
-
John and Tim stared at the crumbling building. "Certainly there's nobody here." Tim suggested. "I mean - this place looks like it could collapse any minute."
John nodded, but motioned for Tim to follow him forward. "Maybe, but we've got to check it anyway." John reached for the door handle and turned it slowly, watching as it broke of and fell into his hand. "Oops." He said as Tim grinned at him.
John pushed the door open instead, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the building. John pulled his gun out of his holster and held it out in front of him, pointing it at the air.
Tim did the same as they scanned the warehouse, walking silently along the soft dirt floor. John moved into one of the long hallways, followed closely by Tim. He pushed open one of the doors and spun inside, pointing his gun quickly at every angle in turn…but the room was completely empty.
A few minutes later they both walked back into the main room of the warehouse. "There's nothing here, John." Tim sighed as he returned his gun to his belt. "Where's our next stop?"
"A couple of blocks from here." John said as he walked out the door and into the cool afternoon air. The sun was beaming down on them, and though it didn't provide any warmth in the cool, fall weather, it did lift their spirits and seemed to shed some light on their gloomy situation.
-
Alora had nearly fallen asleep when the office door was flung open as Jamison stormed inside. He motioned toward Allison, giving her permission to leave. Allison nodded briefly before exiting the room.
"For a while I was afraid you were going to convince her that I was wrong." Jamison laughed when he saw Alora's confused expression. "I've been listening to your conversations. Actually, I can't really call it a conversation because you were doing all the talking." He smirked and sat down on the edge of the desk.
Alora glared at her former 'employee', refusing to speak to him.
"Oh, it's the silent treatment now?" He chuckled slightly, but kept his gun on her, ever reminding her that he wasn't hear for a pleasant chat. "No matter." He glared at her. "I only want to know how you could have betrayed us after all we've done for you."
Alora returned his cold stare and sat up a bit straighter in her chair, showing her defiance. "I didn't betray you, Jamison."
Jamison shook his head and kicked one of the legs of her chair, causing it to tumble backwards. "You're lying to me."
Alora's cry rang through the office as she thudded to the floor. She flipped her hair behind her to get a clear view of Jamison as she looked up at him. "You're a fool to think I'm lying!"
Jamison whipped the chair out from underneath her and flung it across the room. In the process, it hit Alora in the mouth, causing blood to trickle from her lip. "I'm a terrorist, Alora. That's what I've always been, and I thought you were too…but you're too weak. And you've been getting weaker. I've seen it in your eyes when you watched as we attacked people."
Alora shook her head. "You're wrong." She pressed her tongue to her lips in attempt to stop the blood flow. "You're the one who's gone soft. No…you've gone insane. You're turning on your own boss…the one who gave you this position in the first place! Without me, you'd never be here!"
Jamison grinned menacingly. "I don't have a boss. You should have figured that out a long time ago."
"I've given you inside information from the Threat Matrix team for a long time! What makes you think I would turn on you now?" Alora pulled herself to her feet despite her hands still being handcuffed behind her back.
Jamison shook his head as if he were disappointed. "And I'm sure you've been feeding them information about us…that's how they've known all of our recent attacks before hand and prevented them…there's no other explanation."
-
Jelani watched the screen intently as he scrolled through Allison's bio for the twentieth time. This seemed like a wild goose chase to him…there was nothing here. They knew she had planted the bomb, because he cameras picked her up as the last person leaving the blast point before the bomb went off…so it had to be her. But other than that, there were no leads as to where she could have gone.
Frankie walked up to Jelani, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. "Find anything."
He shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. I've been over this list so many times I almost have it memorized…but there's not a single clue as to where she could have gone after she planted the bomb." He let out a depressed sigh. "She doesn't even own a house! Where she gets her money to survive and pay for that outfit she was seen wearing in the office building, we might never know!"
Frankie ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Whoever we're dealing with is very smart."
"Maybe it's a ghost." Jelani said seriously as he folded his hands behind his head, resting for a moment.
"You can't be serious." She raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot once on the floor.
"It would explain why we can't find any clues." Jelani forced himself to sit up in his chair and return his attention to the screen. He began to drum his fingers on the desktop in frustration. "Why can't I find anything on this woman? This has never been this difficult before…it's almost as if she doesn't exist, but I know she does 'cause we got her on film."
Frankie patted Jelani's shoulder encouragingly. "Keep trying, Jelani. We'll find something eventually."
Just then Lark burst into the office area with an excited look on her face. "Hey you guys…I got something you might wanna see!" With that she spun on her heel leaving the others to ponder her words a second before quickly following her down to the lab.
Alora leaned her head back against the chair wearily, but never dared to close her eyes and sleep. She crossed her legs impatiently and glanced out the window at the empty parking lot. For once she wished that this wasn't an abandoned building…then she might have some chance of getting out of here.
"Allison…I didn't betray you. You must understand that!" Alora pleaded as she watched Allison carefully.
The opposing female ignored Alora completely and continued typing on the older computer. Allison glanced at Alora every once in a while out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she wasn't going to try anything.
"I'm your friend, Allison. I haven't betrayed any of our secrets…I don't know how they got out." Alora waited until Allison was looking at her before she continued. "Now untie me." Alora knew that she wasn't in any position to be giving orders, but she was hoping that Allison would respond to her.
"I don't take orders from you anymore…only Jamison." The hesitation could be seen on Allison's face as she spoke, but the gun pointed directly at Alora's heart showed that she would still hold firm on her position.
-
John Kilmer drove his car around one area of New York City, trying to think of any leads that would give a hint as to where she could be. He had already been to her house and found it empty…so he knew something had gone wrong. He walked stiffly back into headquarters with a frown. "Frankie…do you have any idea where she might be?"
Frankie shook her head. "Sorry, I can't help you." Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she brushed a strand behind her ear that had fallen loose. Then she got an idea. "Wait a minute." She pointed her finger at the computer even though it had nothing to do with what she was thinking of. She spun around on her chair to face Kilmer as she spoke. "In all of my dreams I was in an abandoned factory…that has to have something to do with this or it wouldn't have been in my dream at all."
John nodded. "Tim!" He hollered, his voice able to be heard through the entire office section. Kilmer didn't speak again until Tim rounded a corner and looked at him questioningly. "Come with me…we're going to search a couple of the nearby warehouses."
Tim nodded and pulled on his jacket without questioning John's orders…he knew better than to do that because John was almost always right with his hunches.
The two men rushed out of the building and slid into John's car before Frankie could object.
She shook her head and sat back down at her computer…they'd better not get themselves into trouble. At least John had his cell phone with him incase he needed to call for reinforcement. She would be ready if he did.
-
John and Tim stared at the crumbling building. "Certainly there's nobody here." Tim suggested. "I mean - this place looks like it could collapse any minute."
John nodded, but motioned for Tim to follow him forward. "Maybe, but we've got to check it anyway." John reached for the door handle and turned it slowly, watching as it broke of and fell into his hand. "Oops." He said as Tim grinned at him.
John pushed the door open instead, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness of the building. John pulled his gun out of his holster and held it out in front of him, pointing it at the air.
Tim did the same as they scanned the warehouse, walking silently along the soft dirt floor. John moved into one of the long hallways, followed closely by Tim. He pushed open one of the doors and spun inside, pointing his gun quickly at every angle in turn…but the room was completely empty.
A few minutes later they both walked back into the main room of the warehouse. "There's nothing here, John." Tim sighed as he returned his gun to his belt. "Where's our next stop?"
"A couple of blocks from here." John said as he walked out the door and into the cool afternoon air. The sun was beaming down on them, and though it didn't provide any warmth in the cool, fall weather, it did lift their spirits and seemed to shed some light on their gloomy situation.
-
Alora had nearly fallen asleep when the office door was flung open as Jamison stormed inside. He motioned toward Allison, giving her permission to leave. Allison nodded briefly before exiting the room.
"For a while I was afraid you were going to convince her that I was wrong." Jamison laughed when he saw Alora's confused expression. "I've been listening to your conversations. Actually, I can't really call it a conversation because you were doing all the talking." He smirked and sat down on the edge of the desk.
Alora glared at her former 'employee', refusing to speak to him.
"Oh, it's the silent treatment now?" He chuckled slightly, but kept his gun on her, ever reminding her that he wasn't hear for a pleasant chat. "No matter." He glared at her. "I only want to know how you could have betrayed us after all we've done for you."
Alora returned his cold stare and sat up a bit straighter in her chair, showing her defiance. "I didn't betray you, Jamison."
Jamison shook his head and kicked one of the legs of her chair, causing it to tumble backwards. "You're lying to me."
Alora's cry rang through the office as she thudded to the floor. She flipped her hair behind her to get a clear view of Jamison as she looked up at him. "You're a fool to think I'm lying!"
Jamison whipped the chair out from underneath her and flung it across the room. In the process, it hit Alora in the mouth, causing blood to trickle from her lip. "I'm a terrorist, Alora. That's what I've always been, and I thought you were too…but you're too weak. And you've been getting weaker. I've seen it in your eyes when you watched as we attacked people."
Alora shook her head. "You're wrong." She pressed her tongue to her lips in attempt to stop the blood flow. "You're the one who's gone soft. No…you've gone insane. You're turning on your own boss…the one who gave you this position in the first place! Without me, you'd never be here!"
Jamison grinned menacingly. "I don't have a boss. You should have figured that out a long time ago."
"I've given you inside information from the Threat Matrix team for a long time! What makes you think I would turn on you now?" Alora pulled herself to her feet despite her hands still being handcuffed behind her back.
Jamison shook his head as if he were disappointed. "And I'm sure you've been feeding them information about us…that's how they've known all of our recent attacks before hand and prevented them…there's no other explanation."
-
Jelani watched the screen intently as he scrolled through Allison's bio for the twentieth time. This seemed like a wild goose chase to him…there was nothing here. They knew she had planted the bomb, because he cameras picked her up as the last person leaving the blast point before the bomb went off…so it had to be her. But other than that, there were no leads as to where she could have gone.
Frankie walked up to Jelani, her hands shoved deep into her pockets. "Find anything."
He shook his head. "Absolutely nothing. I've been over this list so many times I almost have it memorized…but there's not a single clue as to where she could have gone after she planted the bomb." He let out a depressed sigh. "She doesn't even own a house! Where she gets her money to survive and pay for that outfit she was seen wearing in the office building, we might never know!"
Frankie ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Whoever we're dealing with is very smart."
"Maybe it's a ghost." Jelani said seriously as he folded his hands behind his head, resting for a moment.
"You can't be serious." She raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot once on the floor.
"It would explain why we can't find any clues." Jelani forced himself to sit up in his chair and return his attention to the screen. He began to drum his fingers on the desktop in frustration. "Why can't I find anything on this woman? This has never been this difficult before…it's almost as if she doesn't exist, but I know she does 'cause we got her on film."
Frankie patted Jelani's shoulder encouragingly. "Keep trying, Jelani. We'll find something eventually."
Just then Lark burst into the office area with an excited look on her face. "Hey you guys…I got something you might wanna see!" With that she spun on her heel leaving the others to ponder her words a second before quickly following her down to the lab.