Chapter 47
"There will be a time of reckoning, a time to grieve, a time to shout triumph, a time to link our arms with our comrades, and lift our collective spirits and claim our victories as we walk the fields of the fallen, ours and those of our enemies," Sonia's sole answer to his questions infuriated Nate even as it confused him.
"What have you done to them?" Nate asked her again as he glowered down at her.
Parker tore out of the closet door with Eliot hot on her trail. They headed straight for the exit to the stairwell, not thinking or planning. There was no time.
"You each served your purpose. You should be please. You've balanced out all of the destruction you've caused," Sonia persisted.
"She's not going to give you a straight answer," Sterling called over Nate's shoulder.
"Is he at the Bilmark?" Nate asked Sterling without taking his eyes off of Sonia.
"I alerted the security there to be on high alert and they haven't reported any incidents," Sterling answered but the anxious tightening in Nate's stomach told him otherwise.
"Something's happening there tonight," he countered, "tell them to keep on the lookout."
They took the stairs two at a time and Parker burst through the lobby door first. She attempted to run straight toward the dining hall before Eliot held her arm and stopped her.
"You won't get through there," he assured her, indicating the three suited sentries guarding the door.
He pulled her into a nearby door labeled 'Authorized Personnel Only'. She followed him through the galley and past a few offices where they grabbed an apron and kitchen smock to disguise themselves. They made their way unnoticed to the service hallways along the dining hall and Parker slipped the smock off and eased effortlessly into the room teeming with exquisitely dressed people and the expectant hum of conversation about what the night would yield.
Then she saw him, Alec, with a look on his face unlike anything she'd ever seen in their short time together. He looked inhumanly still.
She eased her way over to him and noticed that he was staring at the front of the hall where the dignitaries were supposed to sit.
Her heart began hammering as the realization dawned. This was a sanctioned assassination. And Alec would be the one to carry out the attempt.
"I've known that kid for close to ten years and he's not capable of hurting anyone if that's your end game," Nate challenged.
"We never know what we're capable of when we're repurposed," Sonia answered smugly.
"So you brainwashed him," Nate spat.
"Nothing so primitive, I assure you," Sonia answered calmly and sat back in her chair, "He is my masterpiece. I lost him for a while but I knew he'd return. And he did. It was destined."
"Nate, there's still no sign of any trouble at Bilmark and Sinclaire's about to enter. They won't cancel," Sterling updated him.
"It is all for the greater good. He will be remembered," Sonia said finally and Nate's eyes burned.
Parker reached the side lounge where Alec had been standing alone but just as she was about to approach him the dining hall doors opened and everyone stood and applauded as the guest of honor, Sinclaire, prepared to enter.
Alec began walking toward Sinclaire and his entourage. Parker couldn't catch him through the throng.
Out of nowhere Eliot was at her side and helped clear a path.
"We have to stop him," she called to Eliot, "If he pulls his gun, they will shoot to kill. Sonia's controlling him somehow."
The panic was pushing her on almost as firmly as it was stiffening her limbs.
Alec was nearly to Sinclaire, and the closer they got to the center of the room the thicker the crowd grew. The panic was rising, choking Parker as it sat in her throat. She could hear the rushing blood in her head again.
She felt a surge push her forward. She was almost within grabbing distance.
"GUN," she heard a voice yell at her left. Then a cacophony of screams rang out filling the cavernous dining hall with echoing screams and unbound chaos.
She looked over and saw Eliot to her left. He was the alarmist.
All hell broke loose.
The security crouched Sinclaire low and tried to usher him out as the push of panicked diner attendees fell over themselves trying to escape the perceived threat. And Alec's focus remained squarely on Sinclaire as the crowd swallowed him up and Parker lost her opportunity to grab him, getting caught up in the crush herself.
The wave took her as far as the lobby before she was able to move under her own power once again.
It was there that she saw Alec moving toward a side exit.
She pushed, punched, and strong-armed her way over to the exit, and as she breathlessly tumbled through the exit door.
Alec was moving steadily toward Sinclaire and his guards as they hurried toward the garage.
She had to act fast. If the guards turned and saw him, they'd aim to kill. She couldn't risk him getting shot. She couldn't fix a fatally administered gun shot.
She just needed him to stop his advance.
Without another thought she fished the pen device out of her pocket and aimed it at Alec's back. Then she pressed the button like he showed her.
She didn't feel the charge when it sprang free from the device. She didn't even see it.
But she saw when Alec stopped moving.
He froze and then he fell.
The air left Parker's chest and didn't return.
She felt Eliot run past her and lift Alec against him throwing the unconscious Hacker's arm over his shoulder as he made his way away from the main thoroughfare.
"Parker," Eliot called and snapped her back to attention.
She self-consciously stashed the pen device and followed them.
"There's going to be a hell storm of Intelligence raining on this place. We have to get out of here now," he informed her.
Parker could barely hear what he was saying though, her eyes fixed on Alec's face and the lifelessness she saw there.
They carried Alec to the car park and were not at all out of place among the groups of shell-shocked people milling about looking for their cars and companions.
They both spotted a conversion van close to the kitchen's exit emblazoned with the logo of the event's caterers.
The doors were opened and Eliot eased Alec into the spacious belly of the van while he made his way up front to try starting the vehicle without keys.
Parker eased into the van next to Alec.
The blood was rushing in her head again.
She reached out to touch him.
He was warm but so still.
She reached to check the pulse at his wrist and felt…nothing.
She bit her lips and felt the first tear slip down her cheek.
She reached to check the pulse at his neck. She felt…nothing.
No.
She bit her lips harder and tasted the slight copper tang of her blood.
No. Please…
A small sob built up in her chest and force itself out of her clamped mouth.
Alec…Please…
She leaned in and pressed her ear against his chest.
There was nothing.
The tears from her left eye ran across the bridge of her nose and joined with the tears of her right.
She couldn't move. The weight of the rushing blood in her head kept her pinned to his chest.
She closed her eyes.
Please…Please…Please… Alec. Please…
She laid herself flat beside him, her head still against his chest. She reached for his hand and as she did a rush of memories flooded her mind at once.
His beautiful smile. Playfully hugging him as he worked on his computer. Watching him do his happy dance whenever he'd proven once again that he was the smartest one in the room. His unlimited supplies of Gummy Frog candy and Orange soda. The warmth of his arms when he would dance with her; the space felt carved for her alone.
He was her home.
And there were other memories too- Nate, Sophie, Eliot. Their lives together. She remembered small glimpses of what used to be.
Please, Alec…Please…
The hopelessness opened inside of her like a black hole, she couldn't will her head to leave his chest.
And that was the way Eliot found her when they were finally far enough that he could pull over.
He opened the van's side door and found them side by side, Parker's empty, unblinking stare fixed on a point beyond his shoulder, and Alec's eyes still closed, looking as though he no longer belonged to this world.
Eliot reached to check both of their pulses.
He felt sick.
He raked his hands through his hair as he turned away and tried to steady his swimming thoughts and the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.
But he mistakenly spared both their faces another glance and he was undone.
He fell to his knees oblivious to the flashing, red lights of the vehicle approaching them.