Response to Reviews:
Melanie-Anne - Heehee...sorry about the delay on chapter 13...I probably just un-spoiled you, but that's ok. :) Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.
Freitazal - Hmm...you'll just have to read and find out if she lives or dies...Shrugs Who knows. (Besides me of course...muahaha) Lol!
Angelus Love - Hehe, I know, I'm evil! But I'm glad you like my story...I'm not sure if anything will happen with Alora and John since John already has Frankie...but hey, who knows. I might have to invent someone in the sequel to this for Alora...but hey...like I said - who knows! Lol.
Chapter 13
John Kilmer and Tim Serrano walked into another abandoned warehouse. John was ready to let his eyes adjust to the darkness when he opened the door, but was surprised by the brightness of the building. Apparently just enough sun was getting through the large windows to provide efficient lighting.
Tim swiped his hand through a large cobweb and dusted it off on his pants. "Even the spiders have abandoned this building." He laughed as his eyes scanned the warehouse.
John nodded and walked around a bit. "For some reason, I don't think there's anyone else here."
Tim shook his head. "I'm getting the same feeling."
The two explored a bit more but didn't find anything of importance. Basically, this was your simple, average abandoned warehouse. They walked outside with sober expressions and slid into John's car. For some reason, they both got the feeling that this could take quite some time unless Jelani provided them with a lead.
-
Lark led the team down to the lab and picked up a battery in her gloved hands. Once everyone had gathered around the table, she spoke. "This is the battery we found outside of John's apartment after he was shot." She waited until Frankie had pulled on a pair of latex gloves before she handed it to her. "Apparently it's a very rare battery that is made specifically for a limited number of products like a flashlight or battery powered lantern."
"How does that help us?" Frankie asked as she looked over the battery.
Lark grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask. You see…I went to the only specialty store around here that sells this kind of battery. I talked to the manager and he said that they almost never sell this particular make. So when I asked him if he remembered anyone buying it recently he said yes…it was a tall guy with dark brown hair and blue eyes." She paused a minute when Frankie glanced up at her with a surprised look on her face. "The manager went back to look through his files and brought out a check signed by a Mr. Jamison Bagatelle."
Why would anyone be stupid enough to leave such a rare battery lying around? Holly signed to Lark with a questioning expression.
"Apparently the person who was using the battery didn't realize how rare it really is." Lark took the battery back from Frankie and placed it down on the table. "I took the liberty of looking up a profile on Mr. Bagatelle before I called the rest of you down here…look what it brought up."
She ushered them toward the large lab computer and the screen was immediately filled with pictures and information on Jamison Bagatelle. "Turns out his last name isn't Bagatelle at all…it's Alibi." She glanced at Frankie and Mo. "Does that name ring a bell?"
Mo nodded, a little surprised by Lark's findings. "Jamison Alibi! We've been searching for him for years."
Frankie was beginning to remember. "Yes…he's the one that bombed the train station two years ago. We haven't been able to locate him since."
Lark clicked a few times on the screen bringing up some new information. "Precisely."
"What else do you have?" Jelani asked. He noticed that Lark still seemed as if she had something that she wanted to show them.
Lark typed a few words on the keyboard and a large map popped up on the screen. "His house." Was all she needed to say as she printed off the list and handed it to Frankie.
So will we be able to find the other terrorists through this information? Holly signed to Lark as she looked at the map over Frankie's shoulder.
Lark nodded in response. "Hopefully we'll be able to find something at his house that will lead us to the others like Allison and the sniper that we already picked up. Even if we can't find anything there…we'll be able to find him. Maybe he'll talk." Lark shrugged hopefully and glanced at Frankie.
Frankie folded up the map and slipped it into her coat pocket. "I'm gonna go check this out. You want to come with me, Mo?"
He nodded. "Yup." He pulled on his coat and secured his gun in its holster as he headed toward the door.
"Maybe we'll find something that'll lead to Alora. If Jamison has anything to do with her disappearance. At least it'll give us something more to go on." Frankie's mood was brightening. They were getting more and more leads on this case just when they thought they had reached a dead end. Frankie loved the feeling of opening up many more possibilities after the case had been stuck for a while.
-
Alora was sitting in her chair once more…her hands still cuffed tightly behind her back. It had been a long couple of hours simply staring at bare walls. She wondered if anyone would find her or if they had even realized she was gone yet. Hopefully they had, because then they would do everything in their power to find her…she knew the Threat Matrix team.
Jamison had gone out of the room quite some time ago, saying that he had an errand to run or something like that. She was curious as to where he was going, but she knew he would never tell her. The only thing she really wanted to know was who had given away the terrorists' secrets and given away their attacks. She knew that it hadn't been her, even if Jamison insisted that she did. She had been completely loyal to all of them.
Her stomach rumbled, thoughts of food beginning to fill her head. It had been a long time since she had gotten anything to eat…hopefully Jamison would remember that and would not starve her to death.
-
Frankie and Mo parked their cars about a block away from Jamison's house so that they wouldn't draw any unwanted attention to themselves. Frankie was the first to approach the door and she knocked loudly on the wooden frame. Her hand was ready to reach for her gun if the need arose, and she was sure it was the same for Mo who was standing silently right behind her.
No one answered the door after a few knocks so Frankie turned the knob, her heart skipping a beat when she found it unlocked. Perfect. The two stepped inside and looked around, surprised to find a fairly normal looking house. The furniture was neatly placed and everything was clean.
Mo walked into the kitchen of the house and began going through a few of the drawers. There were old bills and receipts that they could take down to the lab and have checked out…but he didn't see how they would help locate Jamison.
Frankie placed her gun back in its holster and pulled on a pair of latex gloves. She randomly picked up objects that were lying around the house, her eyes scanning over them quickly before placing them back into their proper positions.
"Did you find anything, Mo?" She asked loudly as she moved into the living room.
"Just a bunch of old bills and papers. I thought we could give them to Lark when we get back to headquarters…maybe she can find something with them." Mo picked up the papers and slid them into a plastic back before shoving them into his coat pocket.
"Good idea." Frankie brushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she put her hands into the pockets of her FBI jacket. "There's got to be something here…" She said softly to herself.
-
Allison walked briskly down the sidewalk. She was headed to Jamison's house to pick up a few papers that he had requested. He said he was going out to run some errands and wouldn't be able to get the papers himself. Since the warehouse wasn't very far from his house, Allison had decided to walk instead of taking her car.
As she approached the doorway, she noticed that it had been left open. She paused just long enough to slip out her gun and cock it before slipping inside the house. She heard to people talking about something - their voices were too muffled for her to understand them clearly. She followed the sounds and hid around the corner, listening. Her gun was raised quickly as she spun around to face the intruders. She fired a single shot and took off as Frankie and Mo both pulled their guns out.
Mo grabbed his arm as it was grazed by the bullet Allison had fired. He let out a brief cry of pain before raising his gun and motioning for Frankie to follow him outside.
"Are you alright?" Frankie asked as she looked at Mo's arm worriedly.
He nodded. "I'm fine. Let's follow her!"
They both exited the house quickly and raced down the sidewalk after Allison. When they got to the more industrialized part of town, they lost Allison's red head in a sea of people.
"Great!" Frankie said as she slowed to a stop. She turned around allowing her eyes to scan all angles of the street. "We…lost her." Frankie placed one hand on her hip as she tried to catch her breath.
"No we didn't!" Mo pointed straight ahead and took off, following Allison's red curls down the sidewalk.
"Wait, stop." Frankie whispered as she grabbed Mo's arm and pulled him back around a corner. She pressed herself up against the wall and peeked around the brick as she watched Allison slip into an old building. "That must be the warehouse they're hiding in."
"Don't be ridiculous, Frankie. She just went in there to hide from us." Mo raised a brow in disbelief.
Frankie ignored Mo's statement and motioned for him to follow her as she approached the building silently.
-
Allison rushed into the main office area of the abandoned factory. "Jamison!" She yelled over the buzz of all that was taking place in the room.
Jamison stepped out of his office, a worried expression taking over his face. "What is it?" He was worried that Allison was going to tell him Alora had escaped.
"I'm being followed by two of the agents." Allison let out a large breath before speaking again. "I took a shot at one, but apparently I missed because they were still on my trail."
"You idiot! You let them right to us!" Jamison shoved passed Allison and pulled his large gun from his belt. He walked into the room in which Alora was being held. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." He said angrily as he woke Alora by pulling her from her chair. "It appears your friends have stumbled onto our hideout." He glared at Allison with this statement, and she smiled sheepishly.
Alora smirked. "Good."
Jamison shoved the barrel of his gun hard against Alora's back as he pushed her out of the room. "You and I are gonna head out the back way. I'll leave Allison to deal with our unexpected visitors since she's the one that led them here."
Allison's eyebrows rose with surprise as she moved to follow Jamison. He shoved her back. "Make sure they don't follow us." He ordered as he and Alora slipped out the side office door.
Allison let out a sigh and raised her gun as she walked back out into the main hallway.
-
"John?" Frankie said into her cell phone. "We've located the warehouse." She read off the address to him as she and Mo cautiously approached the building. "Hurry over here…and you might want to bring reinforcements." With that, Frankie pressed the end button.
She glanced toward Mo with a nod and pushed open the warehouse door.