Sorry about the delay, people. Thanks for all your great reviews!
Federal Agent Liam Davis watched the screens in front of him. He'd just arrived on his shift again, and had a lot of time to think about the situation.
He sighed, ran his hair through his sun-bleached blond hair. When he wasn't solving crime, he was working off the stress of his job with wakeboarding. The adrenaline that fuelled him as he zipped across the wake into a three-sixty spin helped him to drain the endless frustration he felt when his hands were tied with a case.
Like this one. He could almost feel the restlessness of the man pacing outside the common room. Poor guy. The only thing he did wrong was have a talent for something that could be used nefariously (ooh what a word). And he'd been pulled into this whole mess. Davis couldn't even start to imagine what Riley Poole must be feeling.
He sighed, reaching for a bag of Doritos and releasing his pent-up frustration on the corn chips. He could do nothing but watch this guy going through hell again and again.
His paused for a second, halfway through a chomp, as a familiar face started up a flight of stairs. Saliva started to gather in his mouth as he watched the secret agent ascend the stairs. In the passage above, Poole stopped pacing and listened to the footsteps.
Davis lunged for the telephone, and between flying chunks of Doritos, stammered out a request for Captain Sadusky's office.
"Yes."
"Agent Davis here, sir. I think we might have a potentially interesting conversation coming up. If you'd like to-"
"I'll be right there."
Sadusky slammed the receiver down, sped out of his office, past the surprised agents in the hall, and burst into the monitor room. Agent Davis was still trying to swallow an impossibly big mouthful of corn chips.
"What have we got?"
Davis winced as the chips didn't go down well and wiped the crumbs from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Poole and Agent Richards."
Sadusky absently helped himself to Davis' Doritos, ignoring the disapproving glance he got from his subordinate.
"Riley. Hi." Agent Richards appeared onto the screen.
"It's Lucy, right?"
"Yeah. How are you?"
"Okay."
"Hey," she said, as if she just remembered something. "I wanted to ask you something. Mind if we…" She gestured to the door.
"Uh…" Poole stepped aside, opened the door to the common room. "Sure."
Sadusky and Davis' eyes sprang to the screen of the common room. The two kids were inside, playing cards.
"Beat you again," the girl smirked.
"Could you give us a little privacy?" Richards asked. It wasn't a question. Alex and Kai gathered the cards and left the room without another word.
"You guys can play in my room, if you want," Poole suggested as they passed him.
"Race you there!" the boy called and vanished, only to appear in the screen of the hallway. The girl sighed loudly, followed.
"Sit down," she said.
"Whoa," Davis said. "She's not going to…"
Sadusky shook his head, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"She's not authorized. If she does…"
"I've got something to confess to," the woman on the screen said, turned and started to root through her bag.
"Oh no," Sadusky said, watching in horror. "She's going to."
"I'm a great fan," she said, pulling out a well-worn, slightly sad-looking book. The golden title was unmistakable.
"Thank God," Sadusky sighed, letting out a long whoosh of breath. If Agent Richards had outed herself, she would have been taken off the case immediately.
"Would you mind signing it?"
"Oh," Poole said, took the book. For a few moments, he didn't do anything but stare at it. "Have you got a pen?"
"Yeah," she smiled, handed it to him. He opened the book, poised with the pen for a long time.
"I'm sorry," he said after a while. "I have no idea what to say."
"She's doing this on purpose," Davis muttered past a corn chip. "She's up to something."
"You can just sign it, date it." Richards smiled again, looked right up at the camera. Poole frowned, followed her gaze.
"Shit," Sadusky said. "She's going to do it."
"Mr. Poole," Richards said. "My name is Agent Richards. I'm with the FBI. We're going to get you out of here."
Riley Poole stared incomprehensively.
"If this is a trick-"
"It's not a trick." She pulled out her badge, showed it to him. "You need to tell me how we can break into your system."
"What?" Sadusky demanded. "What is she talking about? What system?"
"I have no idea, sir." Davis shook his head disbelievingly. It was like watching a horror movie. He couldn't tear his eyes away.
"You can't," Poole said, his eyes wide, "It's been designed to-"
"Mr. Poole, we don't have time. You're a programmer. There must be some sort of loophole."
"You can't. The only loophole…"
Sadusky gripped at his hair as another figure started up the stairs.
"Oh no…" he said, "Oh, no, no, no."
"Yes?" Richards was pressing him for information. Poole sighed.
"The only loophole is for security measurements. But… I think. I think you'll be able to bypass."
Poole shook his head, started to scribble something down in his book, still talking.
"This will only work from my computer. At Ben's place. If he hasn't thrown it away. It's…" he paused, realized he was talking to a federal agent. "It's untraceable."
"What is going on in there?" Sadusky shouted. "Is she bugged? She is, I ordered it. Get her. Now. Right here. Get me Richards on the line."
Davis abandoned his Doritos and leapt at the telephone again.
The figure continued up the stairs.
"I hope this works," Poole continued. "You'll need these codes to get into the sealed files."
"What's taking you so long?" Sadusky yelled at Davis.
"It's connecting," Davis said, handed the receiver to Sadusky.
On the screen, Poole snapped the book shut as the door opened.
"Lucy," the red-haired woman said. "What are you doing here?"
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" Sadusky kept his voice low, but anger seethed below the surface.
"Nothing, I just wanted a chat," Agent Lucy Richards smiled. The two people in the room with her were oblivious to her second conversation.
"You better have an explanation for this." Sadusky's voice blared in her ear.
"Have you heard the latest news?" Lucy directed at Katie.
"What news?" Katie frowed.
"You've sent another report? Your next one's not due for another three days." Sadusky leaned forward, placed his palm against the desktop and scrutinized his agent's face.
"You haven't." A frown. "Never mind then. Someone else will inform you."
Sadusky stared at the screen, the receiver still to his ear. Then he turned to the agent next to him and unleashed a torrent of angry words and requests for mail.
"I was just asking Riley for an autograph," Lucy the Analyst member said, smiled. "He was kind enough to give it to me."
"Oh," Katie said. "That's sweet. Can I see?"
"It's just a signature," Poole said. "I couldn't think of anything nice to say." He handed the book back to the agent.
"You know," Katie said to Lucy. "I've known you for an entire three years and you've never mentioned that you're a fan of Riley's."
"Closet," Lucy said, giving a wry smile and putting the book back into her bag. "I don't like other people to know. It took me so long just to scrape up the courage to come up here and ask for an autograph."
"You must be proud," Katie said. "I mean, you've got the last signed copy of Riley Poole's book. You won't mind showing it to me."
"This could get ugly," Davis murmured. "Should we have backup people standing by?"
"Good idea." Sadusky nodded. "Have a team there ASAP, but stay hidden. I don't want anyone visible."
Davis sprang back onto the phone, relayed the information as Sadusky watched the exchange on the screen.
"Should I call Mr. Gates and Dr. Chase, get them to stand by?" Davis asked, holding the receiver away from his mouth for a second. Sadusky considered.
"Yes. If anything goes wrong, they need to be the first to know."
Inside the common room, tension was rife.
Riley tried his best to keep cool, but a million thoughts milled about in his head. The FBI knew he was alive. Did Ben and Abigail know? How long have they known? How did the undercover agent find out about the system?
"It's just a signature," Lucy said, stood up to go.
"Please," Katie said, her tone anything but pleading. "I want to see."
"I'm going into the field," Sadusky announced.
"Sir?" Davis questioned.
"I said, I'm going into the field." Sadusky stood up, crossed to the door. "Keep your eyes peeled. Anything off, call me immediately."
"Yes, sir."
Sadusky pulled on a bulletproof vest an agent handed to him.
"Captain, are you sure you want to do this?"
"If anyone else questions my decision again, they can consider themselves on probation."
"Lucy." Katie was losing her cool. "Give me the book."
"Katie, it's nothing," Riley started. "I just signed it."
"Riley, shush." Lucy straightened up, using her authority over Katie. "You're making a fuss over nothing. I have things to do."
She started towards the door. In a fit of temper, Katie snatched at her bag. Lucy, angered, ripped her bag from Katie's grip. But Katie had gotten her hands on the book. Flipping it open to the front, she stared.
Riley Poole, it said in Riley's messy hand.
She looked up, her eyes meeting Lucy's as she realized what a fool she looked.
"Lucy, I'm so sorry."
Lucy stepped forward, held a hand out for the book.
"It's alright. You're forgiven."
Katie held out the book. As if in slow motion, Lucy took it, but the dust cover slipped off and the book tumbled to the floor.
Riley could do nothing but stand by and watch as the book fell open at the last page. In his untidy, rushed handwriting, a list of instructions and scribbled codes gazed solemnly back at them.
As the two women drew their eyes back up from the page, both reached for their waists.
In the monitoring office, Davis was back on the telephone, hurling information at Sadusky.
"We have weapons out, sir! The woman and Richards both have firearms trained on each other!"
"Poole?" Sadusky nearly shouted as the FBI van sped towards the community. Thank God it wasn't far away. A team was already assembled, ready to move in. They were just waiting for his orders.
"He looks terrified, sir, but unhurt."
"Stay on the line, keep me informed," Sadusky instructed, beckoned to the driver for his cell phone, dialed. "Move in, don't raise alarm. The woman has a weapon."
"Katie," Agent Richards said. "Put the gun down."
"No," Katie said, her eyes hard. "This is not what God wants. You've betrayed us."
"Katie." Richards' eyes bored into Katie's. "Put the gun down."
"No." Katie whipped the automatic weapon towards Riley. Riley jumped, held his hands up. "You're both traitors."
"Katie, if you shoot Riley, you will go to jail for a very long time."
"I won't," she said. "God will protect me. I can do anything in his name."
"That's not true, Katie." Richards never removed her eyes from Katie's. "You'll face the consequences."
"Shut up," Katie shouted, the gun in her hands quivering. Riley drew a shaky breath. "Traitor. You'll burn in hell for betraying God."
"Katie," Riley whispered. "Don't do this."
She shook her head incredulously.
"You were ratting us out," she accused. "You knew about our information. You told her. You told her!"
She stepped forward towards Riley, shaking with anger. He stumbled back, breath shallow.
"You were willing to jeopardize everything-"
"Katie, he didn't tell me," Lucy said evenly. "You did."
"I didn't," Katie said, horrified. "I didn't!"
"You did," Lucy said quietly. "Yesterday. At church."
"No," Katie said, remembering.
"You said that Riley was devastated, that everyone should pray for him."
Riley looked between the two women.
"No," Katie said, her eyes glimmering with tears. "No!"
"You said that his security system was excellent, but he was wasting away."
"No!" Katie screamed, turned the gun to Lucy.
AAAARGH! The suspense! I love cliffhangers, don't you?