Chapter 3
"That can't be good," the voice on the other end of the phone said.
"The messages made no sense – neither do the coordinates. She seems to have somehow gotten someone to mail the letters from National City to boot. That location in the middle of the ocean…" Kara paused.
"It's home. Marie knows the coordinates. Mother told her so that she could visit without needing me to be around," Diana told her.
"So why give us coordinates to cities with heroes? We all know those cities but what would Marie be doing in each one? If she was home, then your mom would have confirmed it," Kara said. Neither one was willing to say Themyscira over the phone, nor were they willing to voice the actual coordinates.
"Marie would never utter the coordinates unless there was real danger but if someone else was mailing the letters… I don't like it Kara," the Amazon said.
"I don't either. We're fingerprinting the envelopes and letters to see what we can see. Brainy has access to the ARGUS cameras and he's hoping to find some footage that will help us," the Kryptonian explained.
"I need you to go to her apartment. She was sending lead lined letters to you. She didn't trust that I would get the letters or maybe she didn't trust me…" Kara could hear how upset Diana was. The Princess did not often show her emotions but she counted Marie as a sister after the young woman had saved her mother Hippolyta from being struck by a car.
"I will do that. I will keep you updated too but I need something from you. I need you to not blame yourself. You told me that we can't save everyone. We have both lost people but we haven't lost Marie yet," Kara said.
"Do not sugar coat for me," Diana reminded her.
"Never," the blonde promised. Diana wished her luck and the call ended. Kara heaved a sigh and headed back inside the Tower.
"What did you find out?" J'onn asked.
"It's as I feared. The location is one Diana is very familiar with," she told him.
"Alex is fingerprinting the letters and envelopes as we speak. What is the next step?" He wanted to know.
"Diana wants me to go to Marie's apartment. She's afraid that Marie was keeping things from her," Kara said.
"Go. Your X-Ray vision may come in handy. Do you want company?" He offered.
"Nyssa, if you're feeling up to it, you spotted the hidden coordinates. You might have better ideas about where things might be hidden in the apartment," the blonde looked to her friend.
"Sounds good. You have a key?" Nyssa asked.
"I do. I grabbed it after I found all those letters," Kara said.
"I'll man the fort then. Hopefully Brainy will call in soon," J'onn promised.
"Please update Nia," the blonde told him.
"Will do. Good luck," the Martian gave them a smile. With that the ladies headed for the elevator and downstairs to catch a cab. They rode silently until they reached their destination. Once the cabbie was paid, the two headed inside.
"Sparsely furnished," Nyssa said.
"She never knows when she'll have to leave for business that Diana needs her to handle. I think you know something about that," Kara said.
"Indeed. You going to use your special talents?" Nyssa wondered.
"On it," Kara winked. She scanned the living room and moved into the kitchen.
"Nothing here. How about you?" Kara wanted to know. The former League of Assassins leader had made her way into the bathroom and bedroom.
"Nothing overt but then again we expected that," Nyssa admitted as her friend met her in the hallway. Kara scanned the bathroom.
"Nothing but pipes in there," she said.
"Might want to check this out," Nyssa had found something in the hall closet. Kara moved to the closet, behind the bed sheets, there was a lump in the wall. The blonde scanned it.
"Bad drywall repair is all," she relayed before ducking into the bedroom for a scan.
"Nothing in here either," Kara was disappointed. She had been sure that they'd find something.
"We haven't checked a few places that I would think would be too obvious," Nyssa said.
"The ductwork and the lighting fixtures?" Kara asked.
"Those are them, but also the cereal boxes and the freezer," Nyssa told her. The two covered all those places but still found nothing. It was frustrating to say the least.
"Maybe we're wrong. Maybe there was never anything to find," Kara heaved a sigh.
"This woman made weird notes and left hidden coordinates. There was every reason to think there should have been more," Nyssa said. She looked around the living room. Kara had scanned it but the raven-haired woman made a note that maybe Kara hadn't noticed.
"You see how the furniture is laid out? She has a TV and the couch is facing it but the chair… why face it toward the kitchen and the front door? Was she expecting someone to come through the door?" Nyssa wondered. Kara sat in the chair. The perspective level is what she needed.
"Not the door. Look," Kara got up and Nyssa sat down. That's where she saw it.
"The shelf near the door… you scanned it though," Nyssa said. The shelf was not mounted flat. It sloped toward the wall instead.
"Yes, but my scan isn't going to pick up things like paper. Metal, bone, weird obstructions, sure," Kara said. Nyssa went to the shelf and felt around it. Her eyes lit up.
"Hidey hole!" the raven-haired woman opened it up. She pulled out some papers and looked at them.
"Their junk. All indecipherable words," Nyssa frowned as she handed them to Kara.
"I'm having a feeling that those coordinates you found might be more than just one thing," the blonde figured.
"The key to a cipher!" Nyssa exclaimed.
"Exactly! We need to get back to the Tower," Nara told her.
To Be Continued…