“Alright, but what about the other two?”
Jonathan confessed that he wasn’t sure how Tony only employed two men and expected to complete Regenesis. “But I have to admit that they were making progress…that is until about three months ago when they hit another wall. And after that they were each killed one by one.”
“Do you have any ideas who would have wanted them dead?”
“I wouldn’t have any idea.”
“Do you think it could be any of the people my father contracted to work on the project in its first initial wave?”
Jonathan frowned and said it was possible, but unlikely. “Who would want to kill someone over a cure of all things?” Jonathan took a moment to repeat his condolences, but reaffirmed his ignorance in the matter. “Your father kept me out of the matter because I would have only been in the way, and he needed someone at the helm of the company while he tinkered.”
Drake stared out at the Emerald City and watched the skyline gradually grow shades darker. He asked where his father’s research notes were and asked to see them.
“Can I ask why you want it?”
“I plan on continuing what my father began.” He stopped Jonathan from voicing any objections by reiterating his father’s faith and devotion to the idea. “If we can make this work, we can save this world from suffering and pain.”
“And what if you’re targeted just like your father was?”
Drake shrugged and said if that was the case he’d be able to figure out who killed his father and why they wanted him dead in the first place. He looked at Jonathan and told him that Regenesis wasn’t going to remain a thing of the past. “Too many people lost their lives because of it for me to simply discard it because there’s someone out there who doesn’t want me to try to save this world. Now,” Drake looked back outside, “Where is everything?”
---*---
6:50 PM
Seattle, Washington
Nick sped down James Street in search of the Italian restaurant Amy chose to meet him at. Their dance wasn’t until nine, so it allowed them an opportunity to eat out in Seattle, which they hadn’t done since Ian’s party. He’d never eaten at the place so he wasn’t entirely sure where it was, which led to his tardiness.
He actually passed it twice before he clued in. His mind wasn’t really ready for the evening to begin, or for his date, or to spend the evening at one of the last places he’d ever want to be, but Nick felt indebted to his girlfriend for how distant he always was. He truly cared for her, but his mind had always been elsewhere since his brother’s death.
Once he parked Nick headed into the restaurant and found Amy at a table near the entrance. She stood up, greeted him with a hug, and reclaimed her seat as he took his and set his helmet on the floor next to his chair.
“What took you so long?” she asked.
Nick apologized and told her he lost his printout of the directions to the restaurant on his way there. “I knew it was somewhere around Pioneer Square, but I really didn’t remember where.”
She told him it was fine and that she hadn’t ordered yet because she wanted to wait for him. Nick opened his menu and tried to quickly find something he could eat without the need to worry about staining his clothes prior to the dance. He asked Amy how her day was while he searched for an entrée.
“It was hectic to say the least. I forgot I had a paper to write for my English class, but that aside I spent a majority of the day getting ready for tonight.”
Nick paused and noted that she wore a sleeveless ruby dress with black high heels. Her hair was straightened and pulled back. He didn’t even notice when he joined her, but Nick was sure to compliment her then, just before he returned to the menu. He scanned the page briefly before he asked how her trip to Oregon was.
“It wasn’t too horrible,” she admitted. “I was just cooped up around family for too long, y’know?” She then asked him about his weekend. “Did you work the whole time?”
He nodded and said it wasn’t very pleasant. “I’m just glad the week’s almost over.”
Amy smiled and said she was as well.
A waitress stopped by and asked if they were ready to order or not. Amy said she was, but asked Nick if he needed more time. He shook his head, ordered shrimp fettuccini, a side of asparagus, disregarded the salad, and said he only wanted water to drink. Amy selected lasagna, a side of broccoli, a small Caesar salad, and asked for water as well.
Amy asked if Nick heard about the Dáfù attack as soon as the waitress left them. “It’s so sad that so many people died.”
Nick said he’d heard but didn’t know the true extent of the damage. “Do you know if they’re going to rebuild the museum? Or is it a lost cause?”
“Oh I think they’ll rebuild,” she told him before she took a sip of her water. “Why wouldn’t they?”
“All of the art’s gone.”
She said it was, but reminded him that they could house more. “What’s so terrible is all of the people who were killed. In fact, I think almost everyone died except for a few people who claim they were rescued by some local hero.”
Nick repeated his ignorance on the matter shortly before he picked up his glass of ice water and swirled the crystal chips within in a counterclockwise manner.
She continued by mentioning some of the other strange occurrences in the area. “I guess there were two murders at some hotel in Bellevue and there’s some weird communication breakdown in Baltimore as well that’s resulted in a citywide riot.”
Nick frowned and asked her why she wanted to talk about things like that. “People died, they’re still dying for all we know, so why should we talk about it?”
“If we can make a difference by talking about it, shouldn’t we try our best to spread the word?”
He told her he doubted it would do much at that point.
“You don’t want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” he sighed. “It’s just depressing is all, and I’m not really in the mood for talking about things like that.”
“But what else do you want to talk about when we’re being attacked by terrorists and all hell’s breaking loose?”
“Why do you want to talk about it?”
“Because, frankly, I’m afraid.” Amy looked at the empty place on the table between them and confessed her desire to chat about it to gain reassurance that everything would be fine.
Nick apologized and told her he didn’t realize how frightened she was. “What’s bothering you the most?”
She shrugged and said the news that a couple was murdered in Bellevue and that their daughter was missing scared her. “I’m worried about her is all…”
“But you don’t know her.”
“I know, but she must be really scared and all alone now.” Amy frowned and said she hoped she was alright.
“I’m sure she’s fine.”
Amy looked at him and repeated that the young woman was kidnapped. “How on earth is she fine when someone’s captured her and is doing who knows what with her?”
“She’s fine,” Nick reassured her. “Trust me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I just have a–”
“A feeling?” she finished. “What makes you think you know she’s safe Nick?”
He shook his head and told her to forget about it before he took a drink of his water.
“How am I supposed to forget about her Nick?” Amy glared at him and asked how he would feel if it were her. “I’d be a different story, wouldn’t it?”
“Of course,” Nick told her.
“Well it shouldn’t be,” she chastised him. “I mean, she probably has someone out there who’s worried to death about her just as much as you would be if I was the one who was kidnapped.”
Nick looked away from her and said he hadn’t thought of it like that. He took another drink of his water and tried to let the conversation die out.
Amy persisted however and asked what he would do if she
was the one kidnapped. “We’ve only known each other for a month, so what would you do?”
“What could I do?”
“Would you pour all the energy you use to try to avenge your brother into trying to find me?”
“Of course.”
She examined him and muttered that he only said it to make her feel better.
“Why would you say that?” Nick snapped. “Of course I would want to find you. I would. I just don’t know how I could find you.”
“What about your private detective friend?”
Nick said he wouldn’t be of any use. “We had a disagreement and he won’t help me anymore.”
Amy tilted her head to the side and asked what the disagreement was about. Nick only told her it didn’t matter, but that he wouldn’t be able to look for his brother’s killer anymore.
“It’s probably too late anyway,” he mumbled.
Their waitress brought them a small wire basket with half a dozen breadsticks in it, along with two small saucers and two different dipping sauces to accompany their appetizer.
The server left and Amy didn’t hesitate to pick their conversation up from where they’d left it. “So you’re all alone now?”
He glanced up at her and asked what she meant. “I’ve got you, don’t I?”
Amy smiled, joined hands with him, laced their fingers together, rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, and told him that she loved him. Nick told her he loved her too shortly before his date’s physical appearance shifted from that of his girlfriend to his stepfather.
Nick felt himself freeze in place. He watched as Paul let go of his hand, took a breadstick out of the basket, took a bite, and asked where Lauren was.
By the time Nick ignored his racing pulse and formed a dull-black Smith and Wesson in his right hand, Paul returned to the form of Nick’s girlfriend and let out a terrified shriek that alerted the entire restaurant to his situation with the firearm. Unfortunately for Nick, he didn’t see though the diversion and his petite Amy turned back into Paul, who flipped their table over on top of Nick and fled the scene. Nick let his weapon vanish into a cloud of smoke, pushed the table off of him, and chased after his stepfather.
Paul was well out of the parking lot in Amy’s car by the time Nick reached the door, but in a brief moment Nick revved his motorcycle up and gave chase as he ignored traffic conditions and laws entirely. Nick hadn’t even remembered to grab his helmet from off the floor next to their table, but didn’t concern himself with his safety as he pursued the charlatan toward the Seattle Center. The charlatan continued to change direction and took turns so suddenly Nick had a hard time keeping up. Nick missed the turn Paul made into a small movie theater lot and by the time Nick returned he only saw Amy’s red car, parked in the center of the lot with the engine still running.
He left his motorcycle on the sidewalk, created an onyx Daewoo K5, and quietly approached the car. A song, Never the Machine Forever, blared from the stereo of Amy’s car. The windows were down, keys in the ignition, but the charlatan was nowhere in sight. Nick ran to the sidewalk in search of his stepfather among the passersby but failed to locate the charlatan.
A sudden explosion launched Nick from off his feet and into the street. He turned and found Amy’s car completely in flames with debris from the blast raining down onto the nearby vehicles. Car alarms throughout the lot rang out and through the added commotion of the pedestrians who also witnessed the blast Nick heard a man laughing.
Nick ran toward cover behind another vehicle in the lot and hoped he’d managed to vanish before his foe noticed him, though he worried other cars were also rigged to detonate. A thin blue MP3 player slid under the car Nick used for cover and tapped the side of his foot. He looked down and saw that Here Comes Your Man played. Nick failed to react as quickly as he should have and as a consequence the explosion caught and threw him into the middle of the lot before he could fully escape. The shrapnel didn’t affect him but he was burned by the fire from the blast. The concussive force from the eruption dazed him as well.
Further explosions destroyed the roads which surrounded the city block and the entrances to the parking lot. Another car exploded and amidst the screams and panic Nick heard his name called out. Nick picked himself up and looked about the carnage to find his opponent. Jeremy Dalton stood with his back against the brick wall of the movie theater. He wore his usual attire and held a few of his shuriken in his right hand and a thin silver MP3 player in his left hand.
Dalton pressed the center button on his device and all of the car alarms in the parking lot stopped wailing. He pressed another and the car nearest Nick began to play Rocket Skates. Nick didn’t stick around to let the vehicle explode but found it was merely a diversion for another bomb to detonate near him. The blast launched Nick into another vehicle where Nick landed awkwardly on his left arm and dashed his face into the ground. He pulled himself together and tried to find cover when Dalton called out to him.
“This can end wheneva ya’d like to kid.” Dalton knew precisely where Nick was among the wreckage and chaos. Nick tried to hide, but could hardly bring himself to run. “All I need ta know is where yer hidin’ lil’ Miss Lauren Facet.”
Nick took the opportunity to catch his breath and reclaim some of his sense before he contemplated the situation. He coughed for a moment, from the smoke he’d inhaled crossed with his lack of oxygen, and then asked where Amy was.
Dalton said he’d hidden her. “My associate and I needed ta have some sorta incentive ta convince ya ta make tha trade, othawise ya’d just try ta fight and be nothin’ more than a thorn in our collective side.”
“What are you saying?”
Dalton sighed and blatantly told Nick it was a trade. “We’ll give ya yer gal pal back if ya agree ta pass yer foreign friend along ta us.”
Nick tried to use his left arm and felt a sharp pain shoot from his elbow up to his hand. He also did his best to count his teeth and spit out the blood from his mouth. “I’m not going to give her to you, Dalton.”
The assassin nodded and took a deep breath before he informed Nick that the alternative path was laden with pain and woe. “We’ll get tha answers we’re lookin’ for one way or anotha. It really all depends on how much ya wanna suffa or how ya wanna benefit from this.”
Nick shook his head and created a dull-black CZ 110 in his right hand. “You haven’t got any intent of letting me leave here. If you did you wouldn’t have rigged all of these cars to kill me.”
Dalton cracked a smile and told him he was right. “Either way, ya mind tellin’ me so I don’t havta ruin a perfectly fine pair of clothes with tha whole torture bit? Because believe me, there’re ‘bout a thousand things I’d ratha do than spend an evenin’ extortin’ info outta you.”
“I’m not going to betray her.”
“Oh? And what about yer loyalties ta Amy?”
Nick fell silent and listened for Dalton to continue while he crept toward the end of the car he used as cover to see if he could get a clear shot at his foe. By the time he reached the front of the vehicle and peered down the lot he’d lost Dalton.
“Done talkin’?” Dalton asked from behind him.
Nick whipped around to take aim but Dalton swiftly kicked him in the right side of his ribs and then square in his chest. Nick dropped his gun but Dalton didn’t pay any heed to where the gun may have gone. The assassin didn’t hesitate to seize Nick by his shirt and then tightly wrap a set of black earbuds around Nick’s throat.
Dalton held Nick resolutely and grinned while Nick struggled vainly to break free. The young man tried to attack his assailant but none of his tactics proved fruitful. In fact, his thrashing about caused him to lose his energy faster and Dalton noticed it as well.
“Is this it?” Dalton asked rhetorically. “I woulda thought Strom might have taught ya somethin’ ta make this fight interestin’, but I guess not.”
Nick finally released his grip on the cord around his neck and created a cobalt Kimb
er Eclipse in his left hand, which he immediately pressed against Dalton’s forehead. The killer smirked and tried to steal the weapon from Nick, but only lost his grasp on the earbuds around Nick’s throat and gained a fistful of smoke. Nick whipped his head back and broke his foe’s nose which granted Nick freedom. He recreated the Kimber Eclipse and took true aim at Dalton, who stood only seven feet away from him after Nick backed up a few paces.
Jeremy Dalton held his broken nose with his right hand and glared at Nick. He lost his fake southern accent and cursed Nick for breaking his nose. “You piece of shit. I ought to–”
Nick cut him off when he shot the assassin twice, once in each of his arms near his shoulders. He proceeded to walk up to the man, took him by the neck, and threw him to the pavement.
Dalton swore, but only briefly enough to allow Nick the moment he needed to stick the barrel of his gun into the killer’s mouth. Nick breathlessly demanded to know where Amy was. “No more of this, okay?” Nick told him with bitter tears in his eyes. “I’m tired of all this. I want to know where my girlfriend is right now, or I swear I’ll blow your head off right here–”
The wounded killer stopped him by struggling to retrieve a key card from his front right pocket. Dalton moved the barrel of the gun to one side of his mouth with his tongue and told Nick his girlfriend was in the hotel across the street. “Room two-six-nine.”
Nick slowly removed the gun from Dalton’s mouth and thanked him. “Why’d you give in?”
Dalton grinned and told him he had to look out for himself.
Nick picked Dalton’s head up from the street and slammed it back down. Once he knew Dalton wasn’t going to return to his senses for quite some time, Nick took the card-key and crossed the broken street over to the hotel.
A few hotel guests saw the charred state of his clothes, the way he held his arm, and the blood on him, and asked if he was alright. Nick only told them there was an explosion from across the street, that he was fine, and told them to call the police. He headed upstairs to the second floor and searched for the room Dalton described.
He passed a couple, a Hispanic cleaning woman, and four children who occupied the hall before he found the room. Nick swiped the card and opened the door with the assumption of a pending attack, though there wasn’t one.
Impact (Book 1): Regenesis Page 65