Villa Scorpio
At dawn, Alex entered the loggia then the dining room. Security team members Alys and Giles were arranging the sideboards, dining tables and chairs before the influx of hungry people. The tantalizing smells of bacon, eggs and sausage wafted from the kitchen.
"It's Lars cooking this morning," said Alex. She spied Andrew arranging several baskets of bread and putting one on each table as they were readied. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Less foggy. Calmer," replied Andrew. "The sedatives helped." He saw the bruise on her face. "I'm sorry about that."
"I wouldn't mention it around Dimitri if I were you," said Alex. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Looks worse than it is. Where's Anna?"
"Mum's in the living room. I don't think she's well."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing specific. Just a feeling," said Andrew. "She's not hovering around me for one. Low energy."
"I'll have a look then. Could you put a carafe of milk out for Vik for me?" asked Alex as she walked towards the living room.
She spied Anna lying down on the couch. A fire crackled in the fireplace. The lights were dimmed. Anna clutched a throw blanket around her for warmth.
"Care for company?" Alex asked.
Anna turned her head and said, "Shouldn't you be sleeping in?"
"Dimitri was up most of the night running the pick up in Eisenstadt. Then when they got to Vadsel, Felicia and I worked on the documents she found." Alex took a seat on the other end of the sofa. "Couldn't sleep after that."
"Why didn't you tell me?" demanded Anna.
"You of all people needed your rest. You don't have to do everything," said Alex.
"You should have gotten me. Or woken me up."
Alex's expression gentled. "I did go into your bedroom to get you but ... but I heard you crying in the shower. I left."
Anna looked away.
"It's all right to fall apart, Anna. It's expected."
"I felt so strange last night. I would close my eyes and try to sleep but something kept me awake. I tried to relax and this feeling of ... of pressure and tension would come over me. I had a feeling that I was supposed to be doing something but I didn't know what," said Anna. "I thought a hot shower would help and then the dam burst."
"You've been holding a lot in. It had to get out."
"It's out and I still feel out of sorts. My mind is all jumbled."
"Were you able to get any sleep at all?" asked Alex.
"Feels like minutes," said Anna. "I have to pull things together. I'm useless like this."
"Would it have been better if you'd gone off with Robert on the hunt," said Alex. "Dimitri and I would watch over Andrew and Emma."
"I know you would have but I needed to be here," said Anna.
"But why?"
"Because I have to be."
"No, you don't. Not really." said Alex. She raised her hand to stop Anna's retort. "When are you going to tell me what's really going on?"
"I buried one child, planning to seal another in a security cocoon so he can stay sane plus doing what I can to support my son-in-law. I had a meltdown last night. What else? My love life is in limbo. The weather is horrid. I have dozens of people looking to me for direction while I'm more lost than anyone could ever believe. I'm worried that my lover will snap at any moment. Oh, and my daughter is god only knows where," said Anna. "Other than that, it's just like any other day."
"When you get like this, I know there's something you're hiding."
Anna leaned back and ran her hands through her hair. "We just wanted to bring our family together. Ease into retirement and being doting grandparents. That's simple enough right?"
Before Alex could answer there came the sound of footsteps. It was Mac, Dianara and Dani.
"Robert's checked in with me earlier, Anna. Team reports are due in a few hours," reported Dani. "I'll do a short physical on Andrew after breakfast per Tom Hardy's orders."
"And the sedatives?" asked Alex.
"Will be stopped. They were the only way to wind Andrew down at the time," said Dani. "He's rested now and may I suggest that you do the same, Anna. You look like hell warmed over."
"Thank you, Dani," said Anna with a small smile. "It's insomnia I think. Morning, Mac, Dianara. Aren't you due at the WSB this morning?"
"I am. Genji told me that he had to do a fly run to NYC. He'll drop me off at the WSB helipad," said Dianara.
"Thought of an excuse for being there?" asked Anna.
"As it turns out I didn't have to. A few friends there want to throw me a going away party and I've graciously accepted," said Dianara. "I'll loiter around until it's time for my dinner with Connie."
Anna grinned. "Who knows what you'll find while catching up with old friends and wandering around?"
"Exactly," said Dianara.
"Won't their noses be put out of joint when you land?" said Mac. "They were not pleased you resigned and that's putting mildly."
"Maybe Ross' nose. Besides, with my former background as an international model, glamorous travel is expected."
"Now you tell me," teased Mac. "Anna, I wanted to tell you that Snyman's arraignment is today. I'm going to make sure him and his crew can't make bail."
"Good. Any news on Helena's whereabouts?" asked Anna.
"No record that her passport's been used. But, knowing her, I'm sure she's got aliases."
"She hasn't been formally charged. She can go wherever she pleases."
"Which is why I want to finish up the Maze case. With all the evidence we have, we should be able to build a case tight enough to keep her around as a potential suspect worthy of investigation," said Mac. "This is the first time there's real proof, Anna. I want her pinned down."
"We all do," said Anna. She looked at her twin. "Are you done with the syringe testing and what about Felicia's documents?"
Alex took out a flash drive from her pocket. "That's why I came over. Here are the test results. It's definitively the source of Eve's symptoms and her death."
"No doubts?" asked Dianara.
"None at all. This was a weapon. No mistake," said Alex. "It wasn't even tailored for Eve specifically. It can affect and kill anyone with HIV. I have an obligation to contact the Center For Disease Control in Atlanta about this. They have to know this exists."
Anna nodded. "Where did it come from?"
"Only Helena knows for sure. I can only speculate."
"Speculate away."
"The Foundation," said Alex. "They have the means and the expertise. But until we can get in there, we have no real proof."
"What about the computer records? Did SIMON get anything useful?" asked Anna.
"You were not exaggerating about Elena Cosgrove's deviousness. Unless one knew that patients were not real patients, their records would seem like those of any patient in a convalescent facility. At least the patients in the last dozen years do," explained Alex. "The one before then, well, most are listed as deceased."
"Therese Curic is still alive," said Anna.
"She's living proof of the Foundation's crimes, yes," said Alex. "The most damning records are not in the data we downloaded. What we do have is enough to present to the authorities as a starting point for an investigation."
"Which is a far cry from laying hard charges against Elena and her group," said Anna. "And Felicia's files?"
"SIMON analyzed the handwriting against Robin's oldest journals. It's her handwriting. I'm afraid that Felicia's theory is right. They ARE notes from 2002 about the work that Robin was apparently doing concerning a drug or formula called Compound A."
"Our mystery compound?" asked Dani.
Alex nodded. "From what I can tell, Robin was deconstructing it chemical by chemical."
"Why?" asked Mac.
"One of the best ways to learn a drug's properties is by a thorough deconstruction," said Alex.
"Like a recipe where you need to know what item does what so you can make substitutions and retain the original taste or flavor," said Dani.
"That doesn't mean that she created this Compound A, right? I can't picture Robin allowing herself to be a part of something like this," said Mac. "She had to have been coerced."
"Coerced AND controlled," said Dianara. "From the journal entries I've read, Robin isn't a meek follower."
"Is it this work that she was doing the reason for the double? So that she could keep working on it undetected all these years?" said Anna out loud.
Andrew's voice came from the dining room, "Breakfast is ready!"
They all trooped into the dining hall. Anna trailed behind them only vaguely aware of her immediate surroundings. Her mind was busy connecting the dots.
"We have so many pieces but how do they fit?" asked Alex as she poured milk into her son Vik's cup.
"DO they all fit? I mean they could all be unrelated and we're seeing connections because we want to," added Dimitri.
"If you had a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand pieces, you put it together in two ways. You start with the edges or sift through and put together pieces that seem to fit together because they have a similar color, pattern or something like that," said Dianara. "Everything we're doing is nibbling at the edges."
Anna sat up. Her eyes were bright and shiny, more alive than they had been for days. "It's not a puzzle. It's not about arrangement. It's a cloud. And, we have most of the pieces already. We just ... just don't have them categorized."
"What cloud?" asked Alex.
"Categories?" asked Andrew.
Anna stood up. Her eyes shone. One could almost see the wheels turning in her head. "Seeing things too linearly when we shouldn't be. It's a cloud not a ... a straight timeline or just one picture."
"You're losing us," said Mac.
"We're not dealing with one gigantic puzzle. It's smaller puzzles. All with their own pictures but each one has one element that connects to another. It's a case of cause and effect over time. Because it's over time, things have gotten muddied and hazy. Impenetrable unless one knows what to look for," said Anna. "We're so trained to find the cause first that we forget to look at the effect. Sometimes looking at the effect is better. Andrew, stand over there by the sideboard. You're Faison."
"Mum, please," said Andrew.
"Humor me this once," said Anna. "Mac, stand by Andrew. You're Peter Krieg."
Mac and Andrew exchanged looks but did as they were told.
"Genji, stand on the other side of the room by the loggia. You're opposite of Andrew and Mac. You're the Foundation. Alex, stand by Genji. You're Robin. Dianara, stand next to Alex. You're Eve." Anna stood next to Andrew. "I'm me and Skyview Sanitarium. Lars, stand next to me. You're Robert, Sean and the WSB."
Everyone began to move as instructed.
"Dimitri, you're D99 and Domino. Alys, you're Helena. Both of you, please stand next to Genji and Alex. Dani, come stand by me. You're the Beauchel Institute and the Doctors Trigano," said Anna. "Giles, you're the Cartel composed of Leopold Taub, Faison, Harlan Barrett and others we know nothing about. You stand next to Andrew."
On this side, is the past represented me, Andrew, Mac, GilesGiles, Lars and Dani. Everyone on the other side are the present and future after Robert and I died," explained Anna. "On my side, Faison, Robert and I are connected. Peter is connected to Faison and to me via Skyview. Beauchel and the Triganos are connected to Robert, the WSB and Faison. Robert, Faison and I are connected to the Cartel."
Anna dragged an empty chair next to Dimitri. "This chair is Ashton and the Quartermaines."
"Wouldn't Ashton be part of D99?" asked Dmitri.
"I don't think so. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes but Larry Ashton hasn't gone out of his way to show his involvement with D99's activities. Etienne and Arielle were the leaders. The Quartermaines or rather ELQ were targets before. Maybe they're being used again," said Anna. "On this side, Robin and Eve are linked. D99, the Foundation and Helena are connected. The Foundation and the DVX are linked because of Elena's work with the DVX and being a ... a pupil of Faison's. Ashton is linked to D99 through Arielle.
She gestured to middle area between the two rows. "This represents something or someone that connects our two sides. I don't know how but it does. Maybe it's not important yet to know how exactly." She pointed to all of them in turn. "All of us, however way we're connected, form one cloud of related objects and events that ocurred over time. The root event is in the past. The effect from that event is now echoing into our present."
"And, what was the cause?" asked Mac.
"Well, it's not just ONE cause but many. Over time and done by many people." Anna looked at their positioning and the table. "I can see it now. This is great! Why didn't we see this before? Is this making sense to any of you?"
"It's starting to," said Alex as she studied the two rows. "To find the common threads, the connections, we need to match the past and the present. One thing that both sides have is carbon disulfide." She pointed at Mac. "In the past, it was developed by the Cartel led by Faison. In the present, a descendant of that formula appears as part of Compound X which is developed by, we believe, the Foundation and proved to have been used by D99." Alex pointed at Genji. "We know that the Foundation has ties to D99 and Helena. An infinite loop."
"And, we know that Compound X affects memory and behavior. It's plausible to believe that the compound or its makers created the memory drug used on Eve," said Anna.
"To me, it's obvious that we have the people - Krieg, Faison, Elena and so forth. But there's a void, a black hole in the middle," said Genji. "The question is how did the carbon disulfide jump from that side to this side? Someone or something carried it over."
"The only ones that could would be Faison or Peter Krieg," said Anna. "I think it's Peter."
"Why Krieg?" asked Mac.
"Because Peter had the scientific and medical training to manipulate the carbon disulfide. That's not something that Faison would be able to do. He's a strategist not a tactician," said Anna. "Given the kinds of treatment that Peter was attempting on me at Skyview, I am nearly certain that he HAD to be involved with Faison. It would have been something of interest to him. I was sent to Skyview because they're cousins. Charlotte investigated Skyview. Those events could not have been coincidental."
Andrew was thoughtful. "Why did the WSB pick Skyview? The familial relationship is after the fact. Why did they choose Skyview?"
Anna gasped. "Oh, no!" Anna covered her eyes with her hand. "I remember Faison bragging that ... that he had a mole in the WSB. I ... I wanted to escape to tell Robert. I ran and ... and when I got out I was on Spoon Island."
"Who's the mole?" asked Dianara.
Anna shrugged. "We don't know."
"Whoever it was knew to send you to Skyview because of Faison. That fits," said Dimitri.
"If the mole is still in the WSB, we have a big problem." Dianara looked at Andrew then at Anna. Anna nodded silently acknowledging the other woman's point and fears. "It's been a long time. A lot of knowledge."
"We have not been compromised," said Andrew.
"That we know of," said Dianara.
Anna said quietly, "We've already had one mole. We could have another in a different place with his or her own agenda."
"Could Eve have been intended to be one, a mole I mean?" asked Dianara.
"No!" cried Anna.
"Yes, she could," said Alex. "She was nearly perfect."
"Why her? She was a student. She didn't know secrets or anything like that," said Mac.
"But she could have been controlled, Mac," said Dianara. "A watcher over you, Maxie or Anna to use as a lever on Robin to assure her good behavior."
"That's ... that's ..." spluttered Mac unable to form the words.
"The way a spy would think," said Anna. Her face was grave. "It fits too well."
"The question remains - how did the carbon disulfide get from our side to the other side?" asked Dani. "With Krieg dead, was there another person that ... that worked on it that we don't know about? Someone who gave it to the Foundation?"
"How about a collection?" said Alex. "One only needs the formulaic recipe not the actual chemical. Andrew, you spoke about accessing a collection composed of research findings and notes created by the Krieg family. What if the recipe was stored in this collection and then given to the Foundation?"
"I skimmed through the detail," admitted Andrew. "It's possible. I'll have to look at the printouts."
Anna said, "Dani or Genji will a look at the printouts. I don't want you anywhere near it."
"The WSB also had the original formula. I remember Tony Jones handing it over," said Anna.
"I don't trust the WSB. I could see them having a role in this for their own benefit," said Mac.
"Or it could have been one of the doctors Trigano via Beauchel," said Anna. "One declared Faison dead and another, maybe his son, signed Peter's death certificate. He could have gotten the formula from Peter then and there and given it to Elena when she was at Beauchel for treatment."
"Why involve Beauchel at all?" asked Giles.
"Um, we recently discovered that Thibault Trigano founded Beauchel and that ... that the WSB funded or helped it be established," said Anna. "Too many connections be ignored or thought to be coincidental."
"For the love of god, they're everywhere," muttered Mac. "Aren't the WSB supposed to be the good guys?"
"Could Robin have carried it over? We know she was working on something called Compound A," asked Alex. "Her research note was dated 2002."
"Krieg died in the 90s in Switzerland. He could have had an associate who worked in Paris at the Sorbonne. That associate, Mr. X, connects to Robin." said Giles.
"What if Krieg's not dead?" asked Dimitri. "From personal experience, I know death isn't permanent."
"Faison and Krieg working together. Is that a possibility?" asked Lars. "We must consider it."
"If that were so, Krieg would have to have Robin. Cesar wouldn't have been able to face me if he had Robin," said Anna.
"He kidnapped her before," said Mac.
"I can't explain it. I just know that he wouldn't arrange for a double."
"He arranged for a double when he murdered Mrs. Perry," Mac said. "It's not out of the realm of possibility."
"Point taken. Let's get back to this. Over this organization and connections, let's apply our knowledge and actions to date." Anna pointed at Alex. "Robert and Operation Searchlight have Robin covered." She pointed at Genji. "The Foundation will overlap with Searchlight. Mac you have Helena covered. D99 is dismantled. We have sources with the Quartermaines. Eve is ... is no longer a concern." She looked at Andrew and Giles. "We're well versed on Faison and the Cartel. The one piece we have very little on is Skyview and Peter. That's where we need to look next. What happened to him after Skyview? Who did he work with or for? If we knew this end of the thread, it could help us find Robin."
"Where you go, I go," said Alex.
"Wait a minute. Considering how your last ... sisterly bonding trip went, I don't think that's a good idea," said Mac.
"Things would have been fine if Faison hadn't shown up," said Anna. "He's off doing personal appearances or something like that. We're not likely to run into him now."
"It's a research trip nothing more," said Alex. "A one day trip. Perhaps two."
"I'm going with you," said Mac. "I'm not letting either of you out of my sight."
"You can't just leave," said Anna.
"Of course I can and I'm going. I have a ton of personal days to take," said Mac.
Dianara grinned. "Please take him. He's been itching to go adventuring."
Andrew had been studying the rows and thinking while everyone else was talking. He moved close to his mother. He spoke in low tones, "Mum, you know what this is?"
"What? The cloud?" asked Anna.
Andrew nodded. "It's a chessboard. The black pieces on one side and the white pieces on the other. We have a king, a queen, two bishops and two horses. Two rooks and the pawns are there but we don't see them yet. We know who ... who loves to play chess, don't we?"
"We have a strategic grandmaster on our side, too - Sean," said Anna. "He said that he thought Faison was the mastermind. He might be right." Her eyes swept down the two rows where people were sharing theories among themselves. "But it isn't a game. It's real. What's at stake? What could be so important to Faison to do all this?"
Andrew cleared his throat. He looked pointedly at Anna and said, "His heart's desire?"
"No, it can't be. All this for ... for me? For us?" asked Anna. "No."
"Love can make anything possible."
"There has to be more," said Anna. "I need to have a long talk with Sean. I need more answers. And we have to find the mole. How much damage has he or she done already? Who and where is our Mr. X? Who's the real mastermind?"