Chapter Nine
Steve's promise to keep Hansen and the NSB 'in the loop' lasted about as long as it took Steve to drive to the hospital before it dissolved completely. First, he checked on his wife. In spite of another dose of strong sedation (and a head injury), she was still awake.
"Hey you," he said very softly, "shouldn't you be sleeping?"
Jaime smiled. "I knew you were coming."
"When you're up and outta here, we need to talk about that little stunt you pulled today."
"Before you go all macho and start lecturing me," Jaime told him, "consider where you'd be right now if I hadn't."
"Okay, I'll give you that one – and thank you. But you really should be resting."
"Not without a kiss."
Steve, of course, obliged her request....and Jaime closed her eyes.
----
Rudy was in his office, where Steve found him pouring over Barney Hiller's files, deep in concentration. "Find something, Doc?" he asked.
Rudy removed his glasses and looked up at Steve quizzically. "Are you sure it was Barney you saw in that stairwell?"
"I never forget a man with knockout gas in his hand."
Rudy shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense. The pieces don't fit. Hiller hated the OSI for what we did to him. He certainly wouldn't turn around and want to take it over!"
"Probably not," Steve agreed, "but he'd be a ripe and ready pawn for someone who did. I mean, they could package it up real sweetly for him – tied with a nice big ribbon marked Revenge. Maybe some cash thrown in for good measure, but Barney was angry enough that I don't think he'd need the added incentive."
"You've got a point. I'm just glad we didn't leave him at full bionic strength."
Steve frowned. "You don't think he might've found a way to get himself tuned up again...do you?"
"I doubt it. Marchetti could pull it off, but he's been locked up for almost a year now. Besides, if Barney were still bionically strong, Jaime would have a lot worse than a concussion."
"Well thank God for small favors," Steve agreed. "But he wasn't entirely right in the head when he left us – and now someone's got that anger whipped up to a full-fledged frenzy. And I think I know who that someone is."
"Oh?"
"But I'll need your help to prove it. Here's what I need you to do...."
----
First thing the next morning, Rudy's office was jammed with more than a dozen NSB penguin suits. Every agent who had come in contact with the extinguisher foam had been called in for an 'urgent precautionary exam'. Rudy called each one in turn into the back room, where he listened to their hearts and their lung sounds (checking for non-existent 'chemical pneumonia') and drew blood samples while Steve engaged them in a bit of casual conversation.
The men all told basically the same story. It had been Gregory, not Hansen, who had called them together for the 'urgent briefing'. No mention had been made of their Director's whereabouts, or that they'd been called to help look for him. In fact, the intended subject of the briefing was unknown. They'd barely been fully assembled when Gregory sent them to handle a security breach in the north stairway at OSI Headquarters.
"It was all a ruse," Steve concluded to Rudy when the last of the men had gone. "A way to get Hiller out of the building. While everyone was focused on the north stairwells, Hiller was strolling down the hall to the south end and just walking out scot-free."
"Then Hansen's phone call was the signal to proceed," Rudy guessed.
"I don't think so. The timing's not quite right," Steve told him. "I doubt that Hansen's phone call had anything to do with Gregory sending his men – they were probably already on their way. He sent Hiller in to take care of me...and we were one step away from a hostile takeover."
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