Chapter 5
The Harding Building
The place was in chaos.
After ending his call with Hobbes, Eberts had initiated the necessary emergency procedures and the entire building was crawling with paramedics and black suited federal agents by the time Hobbes and Monroe returned, probably breaking some sort of land speed record to get back as fast as they had.
They were now assembled in The Official's office, waiting while a skittish paramedic tried his best to treat the Fat Man, whose thunderous mood wasn't helped by a pounding headache, an unpleasant side effect of the sleeping gas. He was still reeling with the news that the Agency had lost its most valuable asset…again…and that three of his people had been murdered
By all accounts most of the Agency personnel had now been revived, and with the exception of the fatalities in the basement – two of Fawkes' close protection team and a male nurse – there were no serious casualties. Dr. Keeply had been found with the bodies, but for some reason she'd been spared the same fate and had only been lightly sedated. At first they'd speculated why gas had been used on the upper levels and not in the basement - which operated on a separate air con system and thermostatic temperature control from the rest of the building - until Claire pointed out that they - whoever they were - obviously didn't want to run the risk of it harming Darien.
Although still a little unsteady on her feet she'd insisted on helping the medical team until Eberts - in full assertive mode - had literally forced her to stand down, which is why she was now slumped dejectedly at the conference table head on her arms, while a visibly subdued Bobby massaged her shoulders.
They were all too stunned by the sheer audacity of the kidnapping, coming just months after Darien had escaped the clutches of Ella Craven, and the fact that the mild-mannered Wesley Carter had played such an integral part in it. He'd fooled them all.
When Borden had finally had enough of the paramedic he batted him away irritably, and the young man looked slightly relieved as he gathered together his kit and quickly exited the office.
"Eberts, report!" Borden snapped in a voice still hoarse from the gas. "Have there been any updates?"
"Nothing so far, sir." Eberts responded. He'd taken control of the situation to the best of his abilities, but was now more than happy to hand it back to his superior. "All law enforcement agencies have been issued with the license plate and detailed descriptions of the occupants of the stolen vehicle, including…Darien." he trailed off casting a wary glance in Bobby and Claire's direction.
It was Alex Monroe who spoke, voicing the sheer frustration and helplessness they all felt. "There must be something we can do. While we're sitting here kicking our damn heels, they're probably already across the border into Mexico."
"I've already lost too many people today to have more of my agents running around half-cocked," the Fat Man responded tersely. "For the moment we sit and we wait, and that's an order. If the usual law enforcements APB's don't turn up anything, then we have other methods at our disposal to locate Fawkes. " He was referring, of course, to the DoD devise implanted in the Gland, that they'd never quite got round to effectively de-activating
Claire looked up with a start ready to voice her objections - they had no real way of predicting the harm it could cause to Darien in his already weakened state - but she was cut off abruptly as the phone on The Official's desk began to ring. Eberts obediently moved across to answer it even though it was within arms reach of Borden, then they all watched the color literally drain from his already ashen face.
"It's her," he whispered, his hand shaking as he pressed the button to put the taunting, instantly recognizable voice of Ella Craven onto the intercom speaker
"Hello, losers" she said, followed by a throaty chuckle that unnerved them all more than they would ever care to admit.
"Where's Darien you bitch," Bobby snarled. "If you've hurt him I'll…"
"You'll do what exactly, Agent Hobbes?" she hissed back spitefully. "You'd have to find us first But I'll save you the trouble by telling you that we're just about to leave US airspace. And, in case I forgot to mention it, Wesley has already deactivated the tracking devise, so don't even think of trying to find him that way."
Bobby ran trembling fingers over his face. Claire placed a comforting hand on his arm, her touch reminding him that he needed to keep his cool, and he gave an almost imperceptible nod to let her know he was holding it together, just as Craven started speaking again.
"I just thought Dr. Keeply might want to know that our pretty I-Man is in good hands - well my hands actually." She sounded very pleased with herself. "I'd put him on to say 'hello' or rather 'goodbye', but he's sleeping at the moment."
"What do you want?" The Official cut in with a controlled calmness he certainly didn't feel. He could almost visualize the cynical smile on her face at that moment. She was mocking all of them and savoring the moment.
"Nothing from you or your pathetic Agency, that's for sure. Everything I've ever wanted is right here, thanks to my sweet, devoted Wesley and our new employer - an old acquaintance of everyone's I believe."
A silence followed while she waited for them to digest her words, calculating the prime moment to inflict the most pain.
"And this time. you're never going to see him again. The man you knew as Darien Fawkes is dead.".
Static filled the room as she abruptly ended the connection.
"How could I have been so stupid?" Claire slammed her hand down hard onto the work bench, the assorted glass test tubes and bottles rattling at the harsh impact. Bobby winced. That had to have hurt, but if it did she didn't show it. "The signs were all there, but in my bloody arrogance I chose to ignore them."
It was Bobby's turn to try to calm her now, just as she'd done for him in The Official's office hours earlier. "Carter had everyone fooled Claire, even Fawkesy. It's not your fault."
She stared at him sadly with eyes red rimmed and sore from grief and exhaustion. "No, the blame is all mine," she stated adamantly. " Darien relied on me, trusted me with his health. And I just stood by and let Wesley Carter stick a bloody great needle into him. God knows what it really contained, let alone what else he's been doing to Darien all these months."
"It was supposed to be a placebo." They reeled in surprise at Borden's voice. Neither of them had heard him enter the Keep. He suddenly looked and felt his age. "At the time, I needed you to think he'd given Darien the neutralizing agent to deactivate the DoD Control Devise."
Bobby couldn't help himself and took a threatening step in his boss's direction, fists clenched tightly at his sides. "You evil bastard," he spat venomously. "Are you tellin' me that after everything the kid had been through, you still wanted that nano-nastyleft in his head?"
The Official met Bobby's gaze, shaking his head. "Not the Control Device Bobby, though it didn't do my ruthless reputation any harm to make Carter think I'd use it if I had to." He smiled wanly. "Just as you have your orders to follow, so do I. After we got him back from the DoD, those orders were to put security in place around him 24/7, and to implant a tracking device…with or without his consent."
"And because you knew Darien would never consent willingly, you decided to use a resource already at your disposal thanks to Wesley ." It was Claire's turn to contribute now and if anything she looked angrier than Bobby. "No matter what effect it might have on his health."
"There's no evidence to substantiate that the tracking device could harm him in any way," the Fat Man growled, some of his usual cantankerous bluster returning.
"That's true," she conceded grudgingly after a long pause mostly to make Borden squirm a bit. With an audible sigh she plucked a read out from her printer and waved it in Bobby's direction. "Actually, I've been going over a few of Darien's recent test results, and I think I've detected something in his system that could be the cause of his illness."
Bobby was looking over her shoulder and frowning at the read-out, as if he could somehow decipher the mind-boggling display of chemical symbols. Claire smiled, despite herself.
"A few weeks back some anomalies were found in Darien's blood, but when Wesley re-tested the batch he claimed they were clear. I had no reason to doubt him, but something was nagging at me so I stored one of the samples."
Bobby reached out a hand to squeeze her shoulder and she leaned in towards him, grateful for his reassuring presence.
"So what is it Keepie?"
"I…I 'm not really sure just yet," she answered honestly. "But I think it's some sort of retro virus, designed specifically to target the Gland and give the impression it was…well…malfunctioning and seriously affecting Darien's health. The initial strain was probably injected with the so called placebo," she shot Borden an accusing scowl for good measure, "so that every time Darien used the Quicksilver a little more of the virus would be released into his system. The traces in his blood are minute, almost undetectable but very virulent, to him anyway."
"Are you saying that Dr. Wesley Carter deliberately infected Darien with this so-called retro-virus? But why?" Borden asked incredulously; the man had seemed so…insignificant.
"The thing is," she added, rustling the read-out pointedly for emphasis, "I don't believe he could have come up with this on his own."
"So he was working with someone else besides Cru-Ella?" Bobby asked, his instincts already telling him that he probably wouldn't like the answer.
Claire nodded her head. "There's no doubt that Wesley is a brilliant scientist in his own right, but a virus of this kind would need to have been designed to slowly and systematically attack Darien's unique immune system, and this is way beyond his field of expertise or knowledge. Don't you see," she pressed on more urgently. "This feels like the work of someone who knows everything there is to know about the QS gland…and Darien."
The unbearable stretch of silence was followed by a loud intake of breath from Bobby, who finally managed to gasp out the one name that was on all their lips.
"Arnaud!"
TBC
