Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
The warehouse.
"I just can't believe somebody marred an invaluable manifestation of Mesoamerican culture!" Daisy repeated once more. "This is worse than those so-called 19th century Egyptologists who carved their names into Egyptian artifacts!"
"We get it." Winston was grumpy due to serious lack of sleep. "Whoever manipulated the stone committed a crime against mankind's cultural heritage. Could we get on to the hidden message now?"
Daisy threw him her version of a dirty look. How could anyone not be outraged at the atrocity of this deed?
Sergej put a placating hand on her shoulder and used the other one to access the pictures of the stone plate. "We measured the height of the various symbols and found out that some were inserted later. They are shallower than the older ones. The problem is, we can't make sense of them. It all looks jumbled."
Ilsa stared at the computer screen. "Can you print that out?", she asked. "With the newer symbols enhanced in a different color?"
A couple of minutes later she was holding the picture in her hand. "Winston, do you remember the case that I reviewed with you because of the enormous expense account Guerrero had handed in? You worked on it before my time, but there were still some payments to make when I took over, so I read the file…"
Winston looked at her, than it dawned on him. Of course…! "We need a scissor – and glue!"
To Sergej's and Daisy's great amazement, Winston and Ilsa cut the picture of the stone into four pieces and rearranged them on a larger piece of paper.
"Now scan this in again", Winston instructed Sergej. "Can you write a program that virtually folds the paper in all possible combinations?"
Sergej could. Pretty soon the computer was folding and unfolding the scanned in paper in all sorts of ways, creating new compositions of the symbols by the minute. Four pairs of eyes watched its every move.
"There!", Ilsa suddenly exclaimed. "That, isn't that…?"
"Wow", said Sergej.
"Chance and Guerrero need to see this", Winston decided.
… … …
Dr. Grace's office, same time.
Grace knew the look on the men's faces only too well. "You're not going to kill him here. Under no circumstances. And I'm not going to lend you my bone saw either!"
In the course of the years Grace had developed a very healthy attitude regarding the patients Guerrero and Co. had brought her. Call it coldhearted, but she was not willing to sacrifice herself for any of them.
Not once had they brought her a completely innocent person. What goes around comes around.
Oh, how true. Are you listening, Alejandro?
"Where's Ames?", Chance asked.
"She said she needed a breath of fresh air", Grace shrugged.
"You let her leave? She's half-sedated!"
"I didn't let her drive. Her car keys are still here, see? And she's only a bit becalmed, it's not that she's staggering around totally disoriented", Grace snapped, defiantly. "I'm nobody's warden."
"I can track her phone", Guerrero chimed in. "Let's talk to Alejandro first."
Alejandro knew something was up the minute Chance and Guerrero walked in.
"Doc told us you're going to be okay again", Chance stated.
"Which is a good thing because this way it'll be a lot more fun." Guerrero sat down on Alejandro's bed.
"Fun?" Alejandro's left eye started twitching slightly. "What will be more fun?"
"The punishment." Guerrero took off his glasses and started wiping them.
Neither Chance nor Guerrero were in the mood for a demonstration of Alejandro's acting talent, so Chance cut straight to the chase.
"Debts, Alejandro. Major debts. With the wrong people."
"The house was very expensive", he attempted to explain.
"Yeah, blame it on Ames, dude. That'll surely make us mellow."
"You were planning to kidnap her, right?", Chance asked. His face was a mask of stone. In moments like these he looked just as scary as Guerrero.
"Her boss, that Pucci woman, she paid the house's interior design just to make her happy. I figured she must mean something to her and that she'd be willing to pay, should her life be in danger." Alejandro was now visibly trembling. "Nobody was supposed to get harmed."
"Well, that plan definitely backfired", Chance commented acidly. "I hope your second buddy found at least proper medical help after Ames shot him. Judging from the blood on the doorframe she hit him in the shoulder region. Saved by the bell. But he'll forever have to live with the knowledge that he not only hurt you, he also killed his friend, the masked intruder."
Guerrero put his glasses back on. "Once you get out of here, I'll give you a headstart of three days. After that you're fair game."
Normally an announcement like that would have reduced the recipient to a pleading, shaking bundle. But Alejandro looked a lot more confused than scared.
"What second buddy?", he asked, looking from Chance to Guerrero. "The plan was that me and my friend Jeffrey go in, grab my wife, haul her off and make a demand. She didn't shoot me?"
Chance and Guerrero exchanged glances. Winston would maybe have picked it up, Alejandro surely didn't.
It were alarmed glances.
"A fourth person in the room…", Guerrero began. "Not connected with Alejandro."
"He must have had a silencer screwed on, that's why nobody heard his gunshots in the turmoil."
"Ames shot four times. She missed thrice, but the fourth shot hit him in the shoulder region. After he had offed the intruder and almost Alejandro." Guerrero's mobile signaled. Winston's number. He rejected the call.
"If the fourth person killed the masked intruder and tried to kill Alejandro, but didn't touch Ames…" Chance's eyes widened.
Oh damn.
He pulled out his phone and hectically speed-dialed Ames.
"He needed Ames unharmed… To take her with her? But couldn't because she had injured him?" Guerrero's mobile signaled again. Ilsa this time. He switched it off.
... ... ...
A park, same time.
Ames knew the doctor had sedated her, so walking far was out of question. She settled for taking a seat on a bench in a park near the doctor's office, trying to clear her thoughts in the fresh air.
When her mobile signaled she felt inclined not to answer it. It was Chance's ringtone. She didn't feel up to talking to him right now. He and Guerrero were so right, she had acted foolishly, had put herself and others in danger by ignoring everything they had ever taught her about guns.
At least Alejandro was going to be alright. But would her marriage survive this? Her mind wandered back to Harry's wedding and she just wished she could be there again, in his arms, dancing…
Had she ruined it all?
Her mobile again. Chance was persistent. Sighing, she pulled it out and was just about to take the call when all of a sudden something hard hit her hand and knocked it to the ground.
A split second later the world turned dark.
A/N: Thank you again, niagaraweasel, for helping out!