Chapter 13: Desperation
Bullpen, Hoover Building
Monday, 14 June
4:30 p.m.
Tara pounded on the keys of her computer with the ferocity of a concert pianist. "Come on, come on! Work, you stupid piece of software!" Her voice broke, and she was no longer even trying to stop the tears trickling down her face. "No! I will not lose my best friend because of some cheap piece of government-built computer junk!" She slammed a hand against the monitor.
"Tara." A soft voice and a hand on her shoulder brought her head up. The pain in Myles' eyes sent a fresh wave of tears down her cheeks, but she held his gaze. "Calm down. Your beating your computer to a pile of circuits isn't going to accomplish anything. Just take a breath, okay?"
She nodded, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. Then she looked up at him again. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with it. I can't even see if the camera works, because I don't know if they're in range."
"Do you need to know that to test it?" She couldn't believe how steady his voice was.
"No, but if it doesn't come up, I won't know if it's the program or if they're out of range."
Myles squeezed her shoulder. "You're doing the best you can, Tara. Elizabeth would…" His voice had been steady until that point. Now it broke slightly, and he had to swallow before he could finish. "You're doing the best you can."
"Hudson!" Heads turned from all over the Bullpen as Ted Garrett's voice boomed from the doorway. He had apparently been watching for several minutes. "My office. Now!"
Jack caught a grimace from Myles as he started after Garrett. "Don't worry," the shorter agent said. "We stick together through this." He didn't stop to catch the signed thank you the blond agent managed.
Before he stepped away from Tara, Myles gave her a quick hug. "You just concentrate on that program. Try the camera, try everything. Just take it a step at a time. You'll get it. I'm going to go get out of your hair."
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Jack took a breath and composed his thoughts before stepping into Garrett's office. He'd known this was coming, and he was ready with an answer. Whether it was an answer Garrett would accept, however…
He walked in, and Garrett motioned for him to shut the door. The big man didn't indicate Jack should sit down; that alone told the agent he was in for an earful. He straightened and stared straight ahead.
"It was my understanding that Agent Leland was no longer active on this case, for very obvious reasons. Which begs the question, what is he doing is the Bullpen right now trying to talk Tara out of dismantling her computer?"
Jack took a breath, and risked a glance at his supervisor. "May I speak candidly, sir?"
Garrett glared at him. "I expect you to— within reason."
Jack relaxed and looked at Garrett directly. "Ted, I wanted to keep an eye on him. He has no family here in DC, no truly close friends outside the Bureau. If it were me, I'd be going nuts waiting by myself. I'd rather have him here, knowing as much as we do about what's going on, than to worry about him sitting at home with only his imagination to lean on. Besides, this way, if he gets an urge to do something rash, there's someone to stop him."
Garrett stared at him, making no move to comment, so Jack decided to finish it off. "He's not participating in the investigation as anything other than an observer. You have my word."
The big man said nothing for a moment, weighing Jack's statement and the possible consequences. Then he looked up. "All right. I agree it's probably better to keep an eye on him. And he did seem to be helping Tara. Has she found anything in that program? Is it possible that Graham found and destroyed the device?"
Jack shook his head. "Anything's possible. I'd prefer to think it's the program, because if not, we have nothing to go on. And by the time we search this city and the surrounding areas, it will likely be too late."
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5:00 p.m.
Dimitrius found him in one of the conference rooms. Myles had pulled one of the leather chairs over to the window and was sitting there with his eyes closed, his head dropped just slightly, and his hands folded across his chest, fingers interlaced.
D was about to speak when he saw the very slightest movement of his friend's lips, and he realized what was happening. A bit surprised at first, he then added his own silent prayers.
Myles didn't look at him afterward, simply gazed out the window for a long moment before speaking. "Yes, occasionally even I recognize the need for divine intervention. What's up?"
"Wasn't sure where you'd disappeared to is all."
"Mmmhmm. Nice try, D. Let me hazard a guess… since Jack is getting an earful from Garrett, you figured it was your job to make sure I wasn't planning a solo assault?" It was said without rancor and with the ghost of a smile. "I suppose I was; just not with me leading the way."
The older man smiled at him. "I just thought I'd see how you were doing. And don't even bother with that 'occasionally' stuff. It's not the first time I've seen you do that, just the longest stretch. Caught me off-guard is all."
Myles quirked a half-grin at him. "I really must refine my image again, if you all are starting to see through it." He sighed and turned back to the window. "How am I doing? Terrified covers it, I suppose. For the whole situation, definitely, but I know her, D. If she can stay angry, she'll give him a fight every step, and I'm afraid of what he'll do to her in retaliation. That sound we heard when Bobby got the door open, after the gunshot? I'll wager she found some way to escape him briefly, probably inflicted a little damage, and the shot was a warning to get her to stop. When he caught up with her, though…he probably gave her a 'warning,' so she's probably got a pretty good shiner right now."
Dimitrius had just let him talk until this point. Now he spoke. "Which probably made her even madder."
The blond agent nodded. "By the way, thank you. You were right. I don't need to see that note— at all. If Elizabeth had been standing there, she'd have told me the same thing."
"Told you she was a smart lady."
Another ghost-smile appeared. "I know. The only remotely comforting thing I have to hold onto right now is, I don't think he'll do anything to her until the chloroform wears off— no fun in that. He'll want her conscious. It gives you all a bit of a time cushion. That fact is what's giving me some hope that she can come out of this relatively unscathed."
D placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think the prayers will help those odds, too."
Suddenly, a loud whoop from the direction of the Bullpen reached them, and both men turned. Dimitrius grinned.
"In fact, it sounds like the first of those prayers just got answered."
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Tara had a map of DC up on the plasma monitor. One glorious blinking light was evident in the center of it when they all reconvened. Even Garrett was in the room; Myles stopped abruptly in the doorway upon seeing him, but the big man waved him in.
"Thank you, sir," the agent murmured as he went past.
"Same rules as before."
"Yes, sir." Myles sat down in a chair by Tara's desk.
Dimitrius was at the monitor, case file in hand. "All right. We've got a location. This is the old Sketchbook Publishers office building/warehouse. It's been vacant for over a year. The signal is weak, but that's where it's coming from."
"Could the weak signal be a program glitch still?" Lucy asked.
"Doesn't have to be," Bobby replied. "With as small a tracker as we're talking, the building itself is going to weaken the signal, until we're a lot closer."
"Then I suggest we get over there, fast," Jack said.
D nodded. "Exactly. Once we get there, we'll figure out the exact game plan, but we'll take two teams in. Bobby and I will lead those teams. Tara, I'd like you, Sue and Jack in the surveillance van. Get that camera up and running, and give us an idea of where they are. That's going to be crucial."
He paused, and shared a long glance with Myles. Then he added, "My gut says we have a cushion of time, but not much. Graham wants Elizabeth conscious for whatever he has planned; the chloroform should take a little while to wear off. But she's already been out for almost three hours; we're gonna be cutting it close. Let's move."
Everyone headed for the door. Myles stayed where he was, purposely not looking at Garrett. Jack paused in the doorway, waiting to see what the verdict was.
"Agent Leland." Ted's deep voice broke the silence.
Myles looked up. "Sir?"
"I believe Agent Gans said 'move.'"
A pair of blue-grey eyes widened in almost shock.
Garrett let the smile reach only his eyes. "Jack seems to be keeping a pretty good eye on you right now. And I can't spare anyone to take his place at the moment. You know what I expect from you?"
"Yes, sir, I do. Thank you." He caught Jack's eye and hurried for the door.
Ted Garrett watched them go. Then, sighing heavily, he went back to his office, hoping he hadn't just made a tragic decision.