10:02 pm

Nicole was overjoyed to have been surprised by Stephen in her hotel room. Although she'd been unable to make a successful connection from her room or her cell to the house – to check up on the kids – she had received a text from Kyle saying they were ok.

She smiled at her husband, wagging a finger at him. "Stephen, we're agreed, you're only staying tonight right?"

Sprawled on the bed, he smiled at her sheepishly and nodded.

Already having been angry with him for leaving the kids to their own devices – imagining a massive party trashing their house – the prospect of being alone for once was still enticing. It wasn't like the kids were bad to begin with. Even Jessi had made tremendous strides to smoothing out her relationships with the others.

"You'll leave right away?" She stared down at him, giving him her best responsible mother/wife look.

"Yes!" he said perhaps a little too loudly but it was true he was likely a little exasperated.

"That's settled then." She got on the bed, and smiled playfully. "Where were we?"

***

10:15 pm

Tom Foss sat at his computer, frustrated as all hell. For probably the fiftieth time that evening, he'd attempted to call, text, and e-mail Kyle via each of the elaborately planned methods he had at his disposal. Not one had worked. Somehow Latnok had neutralised all of his work, and since he had no weapon on him – why oh why had he actually left it in his coat in the SUV – his three armed guests were enough to make him stay put.

It didn't help that he knew the woman in the group. Her marksmanship was second to none; when she'd taken a shot at him, his boot had been scuffed.

The rules were simple: stay put and stay alive; leave and die.

He knew the psychological stress experiment was going on, the one he'd approved. But then, the original plans were nothing compared to what was currently going on. The fact he continued receiving reports from the higher ups at Latnok didn't ease his frustration or his anger.

Getting him to force Jessi to cut off her connection to Kyle had been easy.

Having Kyle isolated from everyone and made to believe that everyone was captured and then to be attacked by actual ninjas, well that was totally crazy. Latnok had claimed they didn't want any loss of life during the entire experiment. Supposedly that was working out perfectly, but he worried how Kyle, or more specifically Jessi, would react at the news of his involvement.

He'd trained them both after all. He should never have allowed the experiment. Racking his brains one more time for a way to avoid this from occurring again, he felt defeated. He couldn't ensure communication security, at least not on his own.

He had to come clean to Kyle and Jessi before either learned of his involvement. There was no other way to avoid their distrust, which would only enable Latnok to further poison their lives. They simply couldn't be trusted.

But he wasn't a neophyte. He'd craft a special message that either Kyle or Jessi would discover had a special meaning, and a way to decode it. Trusting their decryption skills, he went to work on pad and paper. He continued periodically sending Kyle and Jessi the simple message not to contact him from their special code, that he was compromised. Of course, he always added, "Please call right away!"

By quarter to eleven, he'd crafted an encoded message to send Kyle, but when he suddenly received an e-mail from him, he was instantly suspicious. He read the message twice, to be sure. He quickly found the code that authenticated him, though he feared Latnok may know the codes too. He dissected the message, trying to determine whether it was legitimate.

Tom,

Are you ok? Are you with the others? Do you know where you are? All communication with me is being blocked by Latnok, and they claim to have everyone. This e-mail got through because of an e-mail tracer virus I created. It will make sure any reply gets back to me.

I need your help. If you are safe, please come home right away. I'm worried they're doing experiments on Jessi and I need to know if Amanda's safe. Is either of them with you?

Please reply as soon as you can.

Kyle

He sighed, still unsure. His cell buzzed and he answered it. He knew it would be the Latnok higher ups. He only hit the talk button. They never acknowledged him anyway.

"We are satisfied with the results of the experiment and are ending it immediately. We trust we can collaborate again on future non-lethal experiments on our subjects." The line went dead as he'd expected.

"Over my dead body," he muttered. Did the end of the experiment validate Kyle's e-mail or deny it? From his experience with Latnok, he knew that most of them were honourable and kept their word, especially when plans were drawn and communicated across multiple parties. But then he'd been stabbed in the back today and was unsure if this even came from Kyle.

He decided to not trust the e-mail. Instead, the moment the agents left, he'd race there to explain himself in person. He couldn't trust any electronic communication. They'd have a lot of work ahead of them, but he knew that with Jessi and Kyle both working on the security breach, they'd have something functioning soon.

He started backing up his computers and trashing them. The warehouse, as much as it had been his home, was no longer safe.

***

"Sir, Mr. Foss is erasing his data." He was individually insignificant in the operation, but his job was simply to watch what Foss could see on his computers.

His supervisor had been nearby because of the e-mail that had gone through. Without hesitation, the man said, "Quickly, send the following message as a reply." His fingers blazed through the short dictated message. Just after he clicked send, he saw Foss close the original message.

"Success sir." He hoped for a reward, an acknowledgement, but knew better.

***

Josh woke up, bleary eyed in bed. The blinds were curiously closed and the TV was off. He must have fallen asleep. He felt beside him on the king size bed, squinting. It was nearly pitch black except for a small bright light reflected away from him. Why she was sitting so far away he couldn't even guess.

"You're awake," said a voice he recognized.

"Andy?" In his muddled state it had sounded an awful lot like Rachel.

"Sorry to disappoint, Josh." The lights turned on, intensely bright. Squinting, he determined it was her. He drew up the sheets to his neck.

"Where's Andy?" He couldn't really think of anything else to say. He was naked under the sheets; he'd been waiting for Andy. Dread filled him that Andy would find him with another girl. He looked at his watch on the night table and gasped. It was three in the morning!

Rachel looked at him squarely in the eyes. "She's not coming. If it's any consolation, she's sleeping at home. In fact, you whooped her at G-Force yesterday and e-mailed her your typical mushy stuff. Oh, and you texted her your phone wasn't working." She seemed to recite the information from memory, with little emotion.

Barely able to speak, he pointed at the curtains and the TV. He was naked under the sheets! Had she seen him?

"You sleep like a log, and I wasn't going to touch you." Relief washed over him as she got up, smoothing her blouse. Her eyes looked really tired.

His brain started to work. "Why are you here," he asked, strongly emphasizing the word you.

"To tell you you can go home." She blinked and yawned. "I felt bad too. I knew Andy wasn't coming." He started to protest, to ask more questions, but stopped when she raised her hand. "Just go home. I'm sure everything will be clear when you get there." With that she left.

He was in his car in less than ten minutes; the receptionist had said the room was paid for in full and to have a good trip. The drive home was eerie; his mind was a jumble of outrageous thoughts. He still didn't understand why Rachel would even be in his room. How she knew where Andy was and what she said they'd done together didn't seem to make sense. Especially since he'd been at the room alone all day...

When he turned into the driveway he was surprised to see most of the lights on. Then it finally clicked. He hadn't played G-Force all day with her, someone else had. He walked into the house, and was mauled by Lori and Jessi in a massive hug.

Tom Foss was in the living room sitting beside Amanda Bloom. Declan came out of Kyle's bedroom. The grave faces all around brought who was missing all too glaringly. "Where's Kyle," he asked, emerging from under Lori's grasp. He looked directly at Jessi.

"I don't know," she looked down. He saw her clenching her jaw shut and standing all rigid. She looked like she could bite someone.

Foss seemed to ignore him. "Jessi, come here; we have to figure out how this connection of yours works." He was surprised to see her turn around so quickly without a word.

Declan came up to him and gave him a hug. As he withdrew, Declan took his cell phone and threw it in the trash. Josh found it strange that all their cell phones were in there but didn't readily ask. After his strange night, he figured this could be some strange dream. He let Lori hug him again but paid attention to Jessi, Foss, and Amanda.

"I don't know how else to explain it. I removed the block when I saw your e-mail after the movie ended at 12:05 am. I felt him distinctly, extremely angry." Tears sprang to her eyes, and Amanda's were filling too. "After sixteen seconds he cut off the connection on his end, and that's when I felt the pain in my chest." She brought her hands to the base of her ribs, right in the middle.

Amanda added, to no one in particular, "When I saw her collapse, clutching her chest, I knew what happened. That happened to him two days ago." Josh saw Amanda silently pleading with Jessi for an explanation, one she'd probably voiced several times now. He remembered that story well.

Foss gruffly said, "I forced her to do it." Jessi didn't immediately respond, but nodded several seconds later. Lori was clutching both his and Declan's arms. "And we already established that I never sent you that e-mail. That was Latnok."

Josh thought to ask for a recap from the beginning but decided against it. There was no way this was a dream.

Foss's gaze seemed to burn a path to Jessi in mid air. She turned to him as he said, "He told me he could feel your emotions, even though you'd cut it off."

She shook her head, "I don't see how he could have."

Foss shouted, "I know that okay? How did you feel this morning?"

Jessi's temper flared, "Do you a specific time in mind or do you want me to re-enact all twelve hours starting at 12 am when I was kissing Declan?"

"Thanks Jessi," Declan muttered and turned around.

With a growl Foss said, "Let's say at nine." He took a deep breath, lowered his tone, "How were you feeling then?"

"I was having a great day until 10:32 when Amanda punched me." Josh had assumed there'd be animosity between them – as always – but was surprised when Amanda blushed and Jessi smiled a little.

Foss didn't relent. "What about noon?"

"I went out for a run, I was confused about Amanda's and Declan's behaviour."

"You weren't angry," Foss asked, somewhat surprised. He wasn't the only one.

She shook her head, "Maybe a little, but I objectively analyzed their motivations and mine and felt they were behaving pretty rationally.

Foss's eyes brightened momentarily. "You tried it? How did it go?"

"It's really useful." She barely paused, "About Kyle?"

Josh didn't really understand what Foss and Jessi were talking about but he saw the shadow return to his eyes. "Kyle mentioned he felt terrible anger coming from you all morning long. It was like an emptiness."

Josh's eyes turned to Amanda, who noticed him looking at her. "Me?" Her jaw dropped as she thought about it.

Jessi and Foss both turned to Amanda. "You," they questioned in unison.

Foss interrogated Amanda, "How were you feeling at six last morning?"

It didn't take her long to respond, but a wide smile appeared on her lips. It made a stark contrast to the tears that were still in her eyes. "I could barely sleep with how happy I was. Kyle left me some gifts that showed me exactly how much he loved me." Josh could see how tired Amanda looked.

Josh interpreted, "You were on cloud nine." Jessi agreed with him. Turning to Jessi, "When did you wake up Jessi?"

"Quarter after eight," she replied without hesitation. "She saw me sleeping there some time before that."

Foss's voice took on a sombre quality, "Amanda," he started.

Amanda may have been tired, but she followed the conversation. "I saw her at around 6:30, maybe 6:45?"

In a quiet voice he finished, "And of course you were in a jealous rage." He shook his head. "Amanda, somehow Kyle can feel your emotions. We assumed it was his connection to Jessi he was feeling but there's no other answer: it was you."

Lori spoke up, "How will this help us find him?" Turning to Amanda, "Can you feel where he is or how he's feeling?" After a small pause, she added, "Like Jessi?"

She shook her head, "I don't think I ever could." She hid a great yawn behind her hand. She sounded like she didn't believe it but said, "Maybe if I was really close to him, maybe his sense of smell makes him react more to me and I subconsciously pick it up and respond more to him..."

Declan pounced on her description, "Like a loop!"

Jessi gasped, "Which explains why his feelings were so strong, stronger than ever before!" Foss cleared his throat, and glanced at Jessi. "Yes, that too," she said, causing Foss to turn away.

Amanda's head was down so low she could have been staring at her shoes. "I was feeling very strange all day, at one extreme or the other, with little explanation except for Jessi being in the tub. It would make sense; maybe he felt my emotions which made his emotions more volatile, eventually bringing us both next to insanity." She said the last words very slowly. "I don't feel like that anymore. Am I really cut off or is he just too far?" Jessi shrugged.

Declan had another idea, "What if Kyle received a fake e-mail from Foss too?" Before anyone else, Jessi was up and down the hall in seconds. Amanda cracked another huge yawn. Declan, being the gentleman, offered to walk her to her house. Josh and Lori both accompanied them. Yes, she was their next door neighbour, but they couldn't leave anyone completely alone. Because her mother had left her a message on the home phone that she was going to be gone for the next two days on a business trip, Amanda grabbed some clothes and a few amenities before hurrying back to the Tragers' house. Josh insisted they stay together, and everyone agreed.

Lori stopped halfway in the house, "Hillary kept us all together."

Declan added, "For a lot longer than originally planned."

Lori turned to him, "Where were you Josh?"

What had previously eluded him fell easily into place. "Lured by Latnok to stay in a fancy hotel room to wait for Andy who wasn't in on the Latnok plan." He skipped directly to his next point. "Rachel is working for Latnok, I'm sure of it!" He felt anger at her for messing with him, potentially with them all. He was also angry at himself; he might have helped out, or something. Instead he's slept.

Foss emerged from Kyle's room. A rare smile was on his lips, "Jessi's in Kyle's computer! They sent him a fake e-mail all right, with a lot more information that I ever would have given." His smile disappeared completely, and his eyes landed on Amanda like a bird of prey. "They've made you into a scapegoat."

Beside him, Amanda swallowed hard. They all headed to Kyle's room.