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Chapter 76
Ari P.O.V
"Ari, are you alright?" Patrick asked.
"This Stryker… he's dead!" I said.
"Perhaps you have him mixed up with another Stryker." Lisbon said.
"I highly doubt it." I said, shaking my head, just as the door opened. A grey haired old man in a suit walked in, his posture entirely confident.
"General Stryker?" Agent Lisbon asked.
"Yes, I am." He said and I took in his scent. Not a hint of lie about that. "And you must be Agent Lisbon, pleasure to meet you. I'm guessing that you're Patrick Jane." He looked at Patrick. "I've heard a load about you."
"We've just heard an interesting piece of information about you, too." Patrick said, face impassive. I could see that his eyes had been narrowed ever so slightly.
Stryker turned to face me. "Ah, Arianwen, can I call you Arianwen? You are after all going to be marrying one of my best men."
"Victor doesn't work for you anymore. And he hasn't worked for you in a very long time." I said.
"Oh, come now Arianwen, I know some of his missions are… classified, but there's no need to hide it from anyone here, I am after all the head of the operation."
"He hasn't worked for you in years." I said. "Not since you double crossed both Logan and him."
"Didn't he tell you, that he started doing jobs for me this past year? In fact, just over late December, he was working on a job for me. In Wales in fact."
"I doubt what he was doing then, was a job. And even if he was, it wouldn't be for you. I know what he was doing in December, and it certainly wasn't work."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Positive." I said. "There wasn't enough time for him to do anything."
"Obviously you don't know Victor Creed as well as you think you do."
"She knows me better than you."
I looked round, to se Victor in the doorway.
"Victor! So glad you could join us!" Stryker said, though I could smell the uncertainty in his scent.
"I think I have this murder solved, Lisbon." Jane said.
"Care to share, Jane?" She asked.
"He did it." Patrick pointed at Stryker. "You researched Arianwen to find out any way you could get to her, to get to Victor, and then you had Steve Miller killed, and tried to frame it on Ari."
Victor moved into the room as Patrick said this, and stood behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Mr. Jane, I think the unfortunate death of your wife and child, and hunting for their murderer, has you seeing criminals everywhere. I didn't touch the boy."
"I never said you did, I just said you had it done." Jane said.
"I'm not here to be accused of anything, Mr. Jane, I'm here on business." Stryker said. Just then, my phone started to ring. "Go ahead, answer it." Stryker said to me.
I narrowed my eyes at him, but I answered it anyway. "Hello?"
"Ari! Oh thank God! Cari's missing!" Paddy's voice said.
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"She got on the plane to JFK airport but she never arrived. Apparently the airhostess saw her get off the plane when it landed, but she never made it through customs." Paddy said.
"Paddy, are you telling me, that Cari went missing in an airport?"
"Yes."
"What about CCTV?"
"No trace of her, it was as if she wasn't there. At all."
I looked at Stryker and growled. "Get a message to Logan. Stryker's not dead."
"What?"
"He's sitting right in front of me." I said.
"Get out of there Tigris."
"Yeah." I said, hanging up. "If I find that you have anything to do with Cari's disappearance, if you so much as provided a vehicle for whoever took her…" I left the threat hanging.
"Cari Davies you mean? Logan's Mate? I've heard of her."
"What are you playing at, Stryker?" Victor asked.
"I'm not playing at anything." He replied. "Oh, here." He pulled out an envelope, and placed it on the table. He slid it across to Victor, who opened it.
Victor read it, and let out a roar. He went to lunge for Stryker, but the door burst open, and two men shot at him, but it was as if they were anticipating it, and had silencers on their guns. Victor went down, several bullets in his chest and legs. I lunged at the two men, a growl ripping out of my throat, I felt Tigris take control. I was hit in the chest by several bullets that brought me down. Then, I lost consciousness as one of them shot me with a tranq gun.
No P.O.V
"What the hell are you doing?" Agent Lisbon asked, shooting to her feet, and pulling out her gun, and pointing it at the two men, as they shot both Ferals with tranqs.
"Relax, Agent Lisbon. How I run my operation is of no concern to you, or the CBI. I am merely taking precautions to make sure that they are no threats to the security of the United States of America."
"How would shooting them help anything?" Patrick asked, glaring at the man. "I know Arianwen. She wouldn't hurt anyone so badly as to kill them."
"She's a mutant. And not just a mutant, a Feral. It only takes so long until they snap. Victor has already killed many. It's my job to make sure who he kills, are those who are a threat. Now, if you don't mind, we will be leaving."
Stryker nodded to his two men, and they came and grasped Arianwen by the arms.
"Hey, you can't just take her!" Jane protested, he looked at Lisbon. "Lisbon, do something! You're the one with the gun!"
"Boys, you know what to do." Stryker said.
With that order, both Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon found themselves shot with tranqs, and collapsing to the floor. Stryker led the way out, and his men followed, dragging Arianwen with them.
A/N: Please review!