The Warehouse was quiet. There had not been any artifact disturbances recently, and everyone was at the B&B researching, or, in Artie's case, sleeping at the Warehouse. Calm prevailed. Suddenly the silence was shattered, and Artie woke with a start. He was trying to figure out why, when it happened again.
"Artie!" Yelled Claudia's voice. Artie grumbled sleepily to himself as he sat up. He had fallen asleep in his room at the Warehouse. He stumbled along the passage to the main room of the Warehouse, the room where Claudia was yelling for him. He wondered why for a moment, then remembered the task he had set her. She must have found something. He walked faster, arriving in the room just as Claudia was about to yell again.
"Thank god. How deep do you sleep? I've been yelling for five whole minutes."
"Oh, five minutes, what a long time," Artie replied sarcastically. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah. The last person in and out of that room was Preston. He went in just after Terrence left."
"Preston was the one who reported the incident, correct?"
"Yes. About 20 minutes after he exited the room."
"20 minutes?"
"Yep. 20 whole min-"
"Why would he wait that long?" Artie said, more to himself than her. "If he had just been in there, and the cube was gone, I would think that he would report it right away. He was also the last one in there... Claudia! Quick, call Pete and Myka!"
"Uh, sure," Claudia responded. She opened the Farnsworth, and sent out the call.

They had arrived at the desk 15 minutes ago. They had asked for permission, and the receptionist had said she would talk to someone. That was 15 minutes ago. They were still waiting. The Farnsworth went off, and Pete answered. It was Artie.
"Pete! I think it was Preston! Claudia looked it up, and he was the last one to enter and exit. After he left though, he did not report the disappearance for another 20 minutes. He should have reported immediately. The only reason I can think of is that he took it, and had to find a place to hide it, or he had to give it to an accomplice."
As he was talking, Pete and Myka started walking quickly back towards where they had left Preston. When they arrived, they saw him dart out the back door.
"Artie! He just ran out of the building when he saw us! We're going after him!"
"Alright. Report back soon." He signed off. Pete and Myka ran out the door after Preston. It opened onto to a small path which lead to the parking lot. Myka saw him near the end of the path, and started to sprint after him, Pete hard on her heels.
When they reached the parking lot, they saw him hopping into a black Dodge Charger with a push bar on the front. It was a police interceptor model. They turned and ran towards their car, jumping in quickly when they got to it. As the Charger exited the parking lot, they started their car up, and tore out of the lot in persuit.

While all this was happening, no one was paying any attention to Terrence. He slowly made his way over to the entrance to the room where the cube had been, carrying a small tote bag with him. He scanned his keycard, and the door opened. He walked in, and deposited the bag on the counter. He then turned around and closed the door behind him. Again, he turned, and took something out of the bag. Something small. Something cube shaped. Something wooden.

Pete drove as fast as he could after the Charger. Preston was a good driver, however, and managed to stay ahead. Weaving through traffic, Preston swerved onto a side street. He then pulled into an alley and stopped. He shot out of the car and into the building. Pete raced by the alley, but Myka yelled out for him to stop. She had seen something. Pete quickly shifted into reverse and backed up to where Myka had called out. He stopped when he saw the Charger parked in the alley. He turned off the car and jumped out, Myka right behind him. The ran up next to the car and Myka looked in the window. Nothing.
"He's not here, Pete." They heard a crunch off to the left, and saw a door. Myka ran over to it and looked in, seeing a broken glass, the pieces still moving. "Pete! Over here! He went inside!"
"Lets go, maybe we can catch him!" They chased Preston into the building. Running through a long hall, they found a single room at the end. They stopped and looked around. "Wow Mykes. Good sleuthing," Pete said, a sarcastic edge to his voice.
"Shut up Pete. There was only one hall. There must be a way to continue on."
"Yeah, we go back and then look for another-" They both heard it. A step.
"Agents," came Preston's drawl. They whipped around to see Preston, a bag in one hand, and an FN Five-seveN in his other. "I was hoping you would follow me. Your search is fruitless. This little piece of work is mine," he said, gesturing to the bag. "Always was, always will be."
"Always was?" Myka asked.
"Uh, well, from this point on," Preston replied, somewhat awkwardly.
"Yeah, alright. We need that, so you can either give it to us quietly, or..." Myka said, trailing off into silence.
"No," said Preston. "I don't think that is how it will work. You two think you are so good, but I snatched this from right under your noses. I plan to deal with you two now, so that you won't be able to stop me."
"Stop you from doing what?" Pete asked.
"That is not important. Any last words?" He said, checking his pistol. While he was looking down, Pete quickly whipped up his Tesla, and was about to shoot, when Preston suddenly leapt forwards and hit Pete's wrist, making him drop his gun and clutch his wrist with his other hand. "You really thought it would be that easy?"
"Well, I hoped," Pete said while wincing.
"Your hope was misplaced." As Preston said this, he brought up the gun. "Should I take you down first, or make you watch her die?"
When Pete had first tried to attack, Myka started to edge her way around the room, to the side of Preston, and moved her hand to her Tesla. "You don't have to worry about choosing, I already have." At the same time she said this, she brought up her Tesla, and in one fluid movement, shot his side. He dropped to the floor, throwing the bag towards the wall as he did so.
Pete quickly moved over to the bag, and opened it, revealing the cube. The cube, however, was slightly different, it had letters on the sides, instead of the cryptic symbols it had sported before.
"Myka, come take a look at this. The cube is different!" Myka came over and looked at the cube. They examined it, and came to a conclusion.

The cube was a fake.

Well... That came faster than I had anticipated. An idea popped into my head, and I just had to write it out. The confrontation with Preston was kinda short, but I wasn't really sure how to write it out. I hope it doesn't disappoint. R&R!