Part Two
"Max, calm down," insisted Grant, folding taut fingers around his communicator. "It hasn't been that long, and Jim and Shannon aren't back yet either."
"I know, Grant, but Nicholas wasn't supposed to be gone at all and he is. I've checked both floors, checked every room. He's nowhere."
"Okay, okay," Grant said, then once more for good measure, "okay." He hunched over the wide table in front of him, eyes on his computer. He punched a key and watched the signal from Max's communicator beep on screen.
Nothing from Nicholas. No sign. No hazy blimp.
"Still no signal?"
Grant closed his eyes. "Listen to me, Max, go through it again. When's the last time you saw him?"
"Thirty minutes ago," Max breathed. Grant could hear the heavy expansion of his chest. "Nicholas was talking to Wesson, right in my line of sight, right according to plan. Then Wesson started talking about a proposal. Something about Asher. I don't know… I couldn't hear exactly. That's when we were getting the interference." Max paused, taking another controlled breath. "Then, they walked down the hallway, both Nicholas and Wesson, and that's the last I saw him."
"Okay," Grant said again. He opened his eyes, punching another button on his keyboard. "There's still nothing from his communicator, but take it easy—probably just the interference we were getting. What about Wesson?"
"He's not here either. He was. He came back out of the hallway about five minutes after he and Nicholas disappeared. I thought I'd see Nicholas behind him but I didn't. I waited. Then I started looking. I went down the hallway to see if he'd be there, and there was nothing. Not even an exit. It's like he just vanished. I went looking for Wesson after that, but by then, he was gone too."
"Okay, okay," repeated Grant, feeding off Max's frustration, starting to freak out a little. "Hang tight, I'm going to tell Jim-"
"Tell me what?" Jim stood in the doorway of the converted bunker, Shannon behind him, both still dressed in evening wear, frown lines between their eyebrows.
Grant spun around. He met Jim's serious eyes and sighed. "It's Nicholas," he explained. "After you left with the real Craig Heming, Nick went into the back den to talk with Wesson. He never came back out."
Shannon stepped forward, clack of her delicate shoes light on the cement floor. "Maybe the meeting just went long?"
Grant jerked his chin to the side. "No. A few minutes after they went down the hallway, Wesson came back out but Nicholas didn't. Max says he's looked everywhere. And now he can't find Wesson either."
Jim scratched his temple, smooth finger tapping at his eyebrow. "What about his communicator?"
Grant shook his head. "It's not working, Jim. We were getting some kind of… intermittent interference. When he and Wesson stepped into the hallway we couldn't hear him at all anymore. I could still see his position from the computer, but the signal was faint." He leaned over the keyboard and punched a few buttons, waving a hand at the screen with a force of calm. "And now, nothing."
Shannon leaned a fist against the table, eyes tracking the blinking dot that represented Max. "What could cause that—the interference?"
"I thought it was electrical."
"Aren't our communicators resistant to that kind of interference?"
"Normally?" said Grant. "Yes." He shifted near, shoulder to shoulder with her as he held out his communicator. "Our technology is advanced enough to resist interference, but some out there are starting to catch up with us. The consulate just underwent a massive security overhaul. In many of the rooms they installed pulse generators… like white noise but with an extra kick, meant to interfere with bugs, deter espionage. I thought it was that."
Jim frowned, flanking Grant's other side. "But now, no signal at all? Nothing?"
"Nothing," Grant said, feeling his mouth constrict around the empty word. He cleared his throat. "It's like Nicholas turned it off completely after he went down the hallway. I don't know."
"What about Max?" pointed Shannon. "His signal looks strong enough."
"His was breaking up too, but not as much. Come to think of it, the same time Nicholas's went off, Max's seemed to stop having problems."
"Grant!" barked Max, voice echoing through the sound feed, loud in the cement room.
The three of them turned to look at the speaker, as though it would help them see Max's face.
"I've spotted Wesson." They heard clacking in the background, heard Max shift, a mumbled excuse me, a smattering of crystal murmurs behind his voice. "He looks like… He's headed out the side door. I'm going to follow."
Grant looked at Jim, checking his face.
The frown lines stayed solid, but after a moment Jim nodded.
Grant turned back to the computer, holding a steady sideways watch on Jim as he punched the button. "Okay, stay on him, buddy, but keep your line open."
"Got it."
"Shannon," said Jim. "You'd better check on the real Mr. Heming. We may have to keep him under longer than we planned. If Nicholas is still masked… if he's still there or comes back, I don't want to risk two Mr. Hemings being seen at the same party."
"Right, Jim." Shannon started for the door.
"Grant, take the limo and head toward the consulate. If Nicholas has been compromised, we can't risk Max out there alone. He'll need backup."
"On it, Jim. What'll you do?"
Shannon paused near the exit, turning to listen.
Jim set a thumb to his eyebrow. "I'm going to make a call. I want the specifics on the consular security updates. I want to know what they were for, and if they were really the cause of the interference with Nicholas's communicator. It may be that there is more going on at that party than we've been told."
"What are you thinking?" asked Shannon.
"I'm thinking that right now we don't have enough information to think anything," answered Jim. "And that you two better get going."
"Right, Jim," they said together.
Grant picked up his jacket and started following Shannon through the doorway.
"Grant," Jim stopped him. "You and Max… be careful."
Grant nodded, solemn set to his solid jaw. "We will."
tbc
Return to Top
