AN: Thanks for the incredible response to this Snowing story! See previous chapter for important authors notes on characters and story notes.
This one will update bi-weekly on Monday nights. Please consider leaving a review, it is much appreciated. Here are individual responses to reviews:
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Ghostwriter: Yep, Cora is up to no good! Glad you're enjoying. :)
Number Ten: Yep, Cora is up to no good, as usual. Whether or not Leopold is on this remains to be seen. I love Imagine Dragons too. I know, I feel bad for Emma. Felix's reaction to the Callings was pretty tragic. Glad you're enjoying the story.
210: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying this version of Manifest!
Grace5231973: Yep, Sidney is working for Cora. Yeah, I think they will definitely find them working together. :)
Sexystarwarslover: I know, Cora is the worst. Yeah, starting off with some David and Margaret lovin' is always good. Yeah, poor Henry. The vacation made him forget he was sick. Yep, blueberry pop-tart is a good bet. Yeah, I think Emma still has feelings for Killian. Yeah, I like picturing David with sex hair. Yep, sleep is not the first thing on David's mind. It doesn't get better for Emma with the jumper. Yep, David got the information he needed. Yep, a new mystery for Emma and Killian to solve, while David tries to solve his own. Yeah, Cora is behind Sidney's ploy, unfortunately. Glad you're enjoying!
AnonSnowing: Yeah, David is definitely making up for being late. Yes, I think losing him again would kill her for sure. Yeah, let's hope. I love it too and yes, Henry will be going back to school soon. No, Milah would not be happy knowing Killian is putting his life on the line for Emma. Yep, time for Emma to move on and she definitely will. Yes, David and Margaret are definitely soul mates. Nope, no sleeping for them yet. Yeah, Emma is dealing with another difficult situation, while David is trying to solve the other mystery. Yep, David is teaming up with Vance and Gold. Yeah, Felix couldn't handle the Callings, it seems Probably not since they probably live in a different neighborhood. New York City is very big so I doubt the kids go to the same school. Yep, Sidney is stalking her and at the request of Cora. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 25: Point of No Return, Pt 1
Emma and Killian arrived at Felix's apartment and found it fairly normal. Not dirty, but a bit cluttered and lived in. There was the collection of newspaper articles on his kitchen table that got their attention though.
"Obituaries?" Killian asked.
"He said that people were dying before he jumped. For some reason, I think he thought he was causing people to die," Emma replied.
"These seem like accidents though. This woman was electrocuted by a stray power line that fell during a storm," he said.
"That's horrible and gruesome. This guy had a heart attack," she said, confused by all of that.
"Why would he think he killed them?" she asked.
"Dunno...but I think we have to chalk this one up to the fact that perhaps he was disturbed. I think you know better than anyone how hard adjusting to coming back to a world that...moved on," he replied, as they shared a look.
"Yeah…" she agreed, but then something in the articles caught her eye.
"Unless...there is more to this, after all," she said, as she pointed to the woman's shirt.
"The Rabbit Hole?" he asked.
"She was an employee at the Rabbit Hole bar and this guy had his heart attack in the same bar," she realized, as she compared the articles.
"That is a pretty freaky coincidence...but what connection to our victim does this place have?" he asked. Emma picked up the matchbook on the table and showed it to him.
"Seems he was a customer too," she said, as he took it from her.
"Now that is definitely worth checking out," he agreed, as they quickly left the man's abandoned apartment.
After about an hour of delving into the raw data, David was still trying to make sense of it all. But he was sure he was onto something when he encountered what looked to be medical data. If they were experimenting on the missing passengers, then there would be medical data. He picked up his cell phone and dialed a number, while making sure no one was near.
"Glinda...this is David Nolan," he said.
"Hello David," she answered.
"Listen...I found my way into the data information for the Singularity Project and I'm seeing a lot of medical data...and also some electrical readouts. Does that make any sense to you?" he asked.
"Electrical readouts?" she asked.
"Yes...does that mean anything?" he asked.
"It means they're using my research to try to duplicate the Callings. Electrical impulses to stimulate the brain and produce the Callings," she realized.
"So they can control and weaponize them," he said.
"Most likely," she answered.
"Thanks…I'll get back to you soon," David said, as he hung up the phone and peered up over his cubicle and into his boss' office. He looked a bit stressed, like he was on a deadline or something. Probably too much internet surfing and not enough working. This guy was easier to play than a fiddle. There was only one way to find any locations now.
"Hey...I'm finished if there's anything I can take off your plate," David said, as Doc looked up at him and then at the stack of folders on his desk that seemed to make him nervous.
"Yeah...those you need a higher clearance to enter into the system," Doc said, as he rushed around his office.
"Sorry…I'm running late for a board meeting and was supposed to have all this done," he said.
"Well…if you give me access, I could run an algorithm to get this all entered in a snap. It'd be done by the time you get down to corporate," he offered. Doc paused and looked at him for a moment. He sighed then and gave him his access badge.
"I'm counting on you, Nolan," he said, as he hurried out of his office. David smirked.
"Don't worry...you'll get your algorithm and I'll get the locations I need," David muttered.
Emma and Killian walked into the Rabbit Hole and approached the bar.
"Can I help you?" the man behind the bar asked. He had an accent, similar to Killian's.
"NYPD...we're here to ask you a few questions about a patron that frequents your establishment," Killian replied, as he flashed his badge.
"Of course...I have quite a few regulars and I'll help if I can. I'm Will Scarlet," he replied.
"Do recognize him?" Emma asked, as she showed him a photo on her phone.
"Oh, that's Felix...he's in here a lot. A bit of a celebrity now. Talked a lot about the plane and how he knew it was going to crash," Will replied.
"Really? Was he always paranoid?" he asked.
"Well...he's always been a bit maladjusted, even before the plane. But when he came back...his paranoia went from the normal nine to off the charts. Started saying that people were dying around him," Will replied.
"Well...he might have been right. Can you tell us about these two," Emma said, as she showed him the newspaper clippings.
"Oh yeah...Amara, that was a horrible accident. She was one of my best bartenders," he said.
"And this man?" Killian asked.
"Oh yeah, Tucker...he had a heart attack right here. I wasn't here, but the paramedics couldn't revive him. Wait...you don't think Felix had anything to do with these deaths, do you?" he asked.
"No…we're just investigating any connections," Emma replied.
"Connections to what?" Will asked.
"I am afraid that Felix committed suicide earlier today. We're just trying to get a grasp of his life," Killian replied.
"He's dead?" Will asked.
"I'm afraid so," Emma replied.
"Bloody hell...that's tragic. He was a very troubled guy though," Will said. Killian nodded.
"Thanks for your help," he said, as they exited the building.
"Sounds like Felix was paranoid and thought the deaths that happened here were his fault," Killian said.
"Or he was having Callings," Emma replied. Killian looked skeptical at that.
"Or maybe this is just all unfortunate coincidence," he reasoned. She rolled her eyes.
"Nothing since I've been back has been coincidence," she replied, as they headed for the car. As they did, a thought struck her. What if that was it? He had been talking about the plane. What if he had told these people about the Callings? If that was true...she realized that both Killian and Margaret could be in danger.
"I got your call...I'm assuming you found something," Vance said. He looked irritated at being summoned and Gold seemed to be unbothered, as usual.
"I looked through the raw data and found a lot of medical jargon and electrical data. So I called another passenger. Glinda Good," David explained.
"You involved someone else?" Vance hissed.
"Relax...Glinda thinks that whoever has the passengers may be trying to duplicate her research. She is being funded by the Singularity project. She thinks they might be hijacking her research, especially now," David said.
"Why now?" he asked.
"I told her about the electrical data and medical jargon. She thinks they are using her research to experiment on the passengers," David replied.
"Even if they are...this doesn't help us much," Vance said.
"Except that I managed to find a few locations that are being leased by UDS with Singularity as the subsidiary," David said. Gold smirked, as Vance suddenly looked impressed.
"How did you get that information?" he asked.
"My boss is an idiot and spends more time on his fantasy football lineup than doing any work. So I offered to help him out and he gave me his security badge," David replied.
"That is a stupid boss," Gold agreed. Vance sighed.
"We still need more...I can't get a warrant to search this many places on what we have. Plus...this is a lot of ground to cover. We need to get it narrowed down," he said, as thought for a moment.
"Do you think Ms. Good would agree to meet with her funders and wear a wire?" Vance questioned.
"She said she wanted to help in any way she can. I'll call her," David replied, as he dialed her.
"I told you that he was the one...he's the hero in this story," Gold said.
"Shut up," Vance replied irritably, as Gold continued to smirk.
Olive looked over at her mother, as she looked through the mail. She was trying to act like she was okay, but Olive could tell she was really bothered by that reporter.
"Mom...are you okay?" Olive asked.
"I'm fine, sweetie," Margaret replied. The teen rolled her eyes.
"What's with the eye roll?" she asked.
"Because we both know you're not okay," Olive replied.
"Not okay?" David asked, as he arrived home at that moment.
"No…I'm fine. Really," Margaret replied.
"That reporter that came to her classroom the other day tracked us down at school," Olive told her father.
"Tattle tale…" Margaret muttered.
"Is he following you?" David asked, with an edge in his voice.
"I already warned him that if he didn't leave us alone that my sister-in-law, the cop, would file a restraining order," she promised.
"Who is this guy?" David asked and Olive pulled up a photo on her phone.
"Sidney Glass…" he said, as he started for the door.
"David...wait!" she called, as she ran after him.
"Baby…I'm okay and you just got home and I don't want you to go," she pleaded, as she blocked his path.
"If there is someone stalking my wife...it's something I need to take care of," he said. But she shook her head.
"I warned him and I think he got the message," she said. He sighed.
"I'm going to text this guy's photo to Emma. I think we should file that restraining order anyway," he replied.
"Okay...but I don't want you confronting this man. He's a reporter and you know he'll just write some hit piece if you confront him," she warned. He sighed.
"Which might be exactly what he wants. People are just itching to paint the passengers as dangerous," he realized. She nodded and they hugged, as she rested her head against his chest.
"I get this feeling that they want to take you away from me somehow," she confessed, as she looked into his eyes.
"They're not going to take me," he promised.
"But me going off on some reporter probably won't paint a picture of sanity...even if I really want to punch this guy right now," he added. She smiled.
"I'm fine...I promise. It just freaked me out for a minute, but he's not worth it," she said.
"You're right...maybe we both need a little break," he replied.
"You guys should go out...the kid and I'll be fine," Olive suggested, as she headed upstairs. He looked back at his wife.
"What do you say? Date night? And this time a real one and not going to some conference," he said. She smiled.
"That sounds wonderful," she agreed.
Glinda smiled, as she was led into the doctor's office. She had only met him a few times and he was one of the lead doctor's heading up many projects. If he really was involved in something shady, especially if he was using her research, she definitely wanted to expose him.
"Dr. Goode...it's a pleasure," he said.
"Thank you, Dr. Jenkins and thank you for seeing me on such short notice," she replied.
"Of course...your research is fascinating and you said that you needed to discuss some of the schematics?" he asked.
"Yes…I have been going over my experience on the plane, as you know and would like to propose a few things," she replied, as she quietly slipped her hand beneath the desk and planted the bug for Vance.
"So...what did you want to discuss exactly?" the bespectacled doctor asked, just as his colleague barged in.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have an urgent matter to tend to," the man said.
"Ah...I'm afraid I will have to reschedule this meeting, Ms. Goode. Please forgive me," he said, as she rose from her seat.
"Completely understandable, doctor. Have your office call mine," she said, as she made a hasty exit.
"What is it?" Jenkins snapped.
"I think there's been a breach. Someone has been rifling through our data," the assistant reported. Jenkins fumed.
"We cannot afford anymore delays. We have already moved the project to Brooklyn. Another move will lose us weeks more!" he ranted.
"We are close...perhaps we begin again and get the results we need," the assistant suggested.
"Yes...we don't have much choice. Let's proceed, but I want to know where that breach came from," he ordered, as they exited his office.
"Brooklyn…" Gold said, as he and Vance listened to the audio from the bug that had been planted.
"That's still a lot of ground to cover," he said, as he pressed a button and his assistant walked in.
"I need you to run a search on any facilities registered to the Singularity Project in Brooklyn and expedite it," he said.
"Has it been assigned a case number?" the agent asked. If the military was involved in this...then Vance wanted them to be kept in the dark about his probing.
"I'll take care of that part. Just get me a list asap," he said, as she left.
"Perhaps Mr. Nolan can narrow his search. His boss is a bit dim. I'm sure swiping his badge again wouldn't be so hard," Gold suggested.
"No...they already know there is a breach. It's not going to take them long to trace it back to the UDS accounting firm. He goes in again and he gets caught. Not even I can keep him out of prison for corporate espionage," Vance said.
"Then we had better warn him or he'll do it anyway," Gold replied.
"Now that I agree with. We'll ping his phone and make a surprise visit," he said, as they left the office, but not before his assistant had that list for him.
She chuckled, as they trekked hand in hand through the park.
"Are you sure this is okay?" he asked.
"Of course it is...Chinese takeout in our favorite park with my husband is much more romantic than some stuffy, fancy restaurant," she replied. They were both dressed up and they had intended to go to a fancy Italian restaurant. However, once they arrived and were waiting for a table, he was attracting a lot of unwanted attention and stares. It was suffocating, so when she suggested a picnic in the car, they had picked up some takeout and enjoyed it together in the car with some music. To be honest, it was better than any restaurant, as far as they were concerned. And now, they were taking a moonlit walk in their favorite park.
"I know, but a husband should be able to take his wife to a nice restaurant without attracting attention," he said.
"It will fade over time. Besides, you know I don't care where we go as long as we're together," she said, as she kissed him tenderly. Unfortunately, they could hear someone approaching and their lips parted.
"Wonderful…" he muttered, as he saw Gold and Vance coming toward them.
"Sorry to interrupt your evening," Vance said.
"Not sorry enough not to do it," David retorted, earning him a nudge from his wife.
"Director Vance...Mr. Gold," she greeted politely.
"Mrs. Nolan...we do apologize for the interruption, but Ms. Goode has come through for us," Vance replied.
"She planted the bug?" David asked with interest. He nodded.
"And they let it slip that they moved the project to Brooklyn," Vance replied.
"That's certainly progress," Margaret said.
"Indeed. We have seven locations tied to UDS in the area. Still too many to search on foot, but it's definitely narrowed it down," Vance replied.
"And if I can get into their files one more time...I might be able to narrow it down even more," David said.
"No...that's too risky. Not even I can help you if you're caught for corporate espionage. They know their data has been searched. They'll eventually figure it out and trace it back to your boss," Vance warned.
"Then how do you suggest we find out which facility is holding the missing passengers?" David asked.
"We've got the bug planted and we'll be listening in," Vance replied.
"Fine...but you better keep us in the loop. Our son's life is in danger here," David said sternly.
"Not to worry, Mr. Nolan...we'll be in touch," Gold assured them, as they left. He sighed and put his arm around her.
"Some date night, huh?" he asked. She kissed his cheek.
"It was still perfect, handsome. Let's get some ice cream and take it home to the kids," she replied. He smiled.
"Yeah...that does sound perfect," he agreed, as they walked back to their car.