by Kirk Dougal
Saleene nodded and sprinted out the door.
Chapter 50
Saleene and DeBrest ran into the room as Mercer yanked the bracer from the wrist of the next to last avatar. I heard his quill scratching across the manuscript even over the sounds of their pounding feet. They skidded to a stop beside Freith, who had a look on his face that made me think he might still be sick on my boots.
“Here it is,” Saleene gasped, shoving the leathery paper into my hands.
“I've got to leave as soon as Xavaern is done,” I said, glancing in his direction before staring at them again. “The sooner I get these IP tags outside, the better the chance we can still catch the terrorists before they even know we are onto them.” I paused. “I can't thank you enough for your help.”
“But I want to keep helping,” DeBrest said. “It's the most…my father will never believe what's happened here.”
“I'm sorry, RJ,” Saleene said, catching my attention with my real name. “But I'm done. After what you've told me about Bree, I think I might step away from the game for a while. Maybe pay more attention to the people around me on the outside.”
“Maybe get to know some of the people you work with a little better?” I asked.
She blushed. “Maybe.” Saleene stood straight. “Give me the spear, I'll return it to Slop before I go. In fact, before I step away from Quest Call, I think I'm going to head north, maybe visit Baqui and deliver an arrow to someone in the Sea of Sand.”
I smiled. “Send one to Grol from me, too.”
Mercer ran up and handed over his manuscript. “I'll stay behind, make sure we keep this site under control until we figure out how to handle all this money. A dragon's treasure is an awful lot of yooks in the real world.”
I pointed at DeBrest. “He controls the dragon, and he's looking for a job. I'll have Tower talk to Treasury.” I glanced at Freith. “He's got an army out there. He can help, too.”
“Go on, Dowland, we'll handle it. You've got to catch these bastards.” Mercer smiled as he spoke.
I nodded and closed my eyes.
Outside
Chapter 51
Rick turned his head away from the light, squeezing his eyes shut again. He raised a hand for relief, but it felt heavy, as is someone had tied weights to his arm while he was inside the games.
“Easy, Rick,” Callie said, her best nurse's voice soothing his pain. “Let me help you get that module off your head.”
“Well, Mr. Dowland, you gave us quite a scare.” Dr. Jensen said. “You've been inside for…”
Rick grabbed Callie's hand to stop her from removing the game cap, although with the little strength in his arms, it probably felt more like a light touch. His mouth opened but only a croak escaped. A second later, a straw touch his lips, and he sucked in some water, swallowing what he could while the rest dribbled down his chin.
“Get Tower!” Rick said. He cracked open an eye again, this time surviving the pain of the overhead light, even though it was dimmed. “Now!” His voice rose when Jensen just stared at him. The doctor backed away and hurried from the room. Detective Gonzalez passed him in the doorway, rushing in and stopping at the end of the bed. A few steps behind was Jim, out of breath and sweating. Rick noticed how gray his skin looked, but those questions needed to wait.
“IP tags for the terrorists,” Rick said and began rattling off a string of numbers. Gonzalez touched his bracetech and began typing in the air, recording everything he said. Rick closed his eyes to concentrate on the numbers, keeping the game module active in his thoughts as he read what was recorded on the manuscripts.
It was not until Rick let a sigh escape at the end that he realized he was still holding Callie's hand.
Afterward
“Twenty-two caught and another dozen on the run,” Tower said. “Shining Sun, Prophet's Warriors, Bengli Pish—you hurt the leadership in a lot of groups.”
“Plus, we've grabbed a lot of their funding,” said Mercer. The Treasury agent was sitting across the table from Rick and smiling. “I know my boss is happy with the way things worked out.”
“We all are,” Tower said. “Everybody is getting commendations on this job. Even the President wants to contribute congratulations.”
Rick shook his head. “We should've gotten it done quicker. Part of that's on me.” He stared at Tower. “But we've got to have better coordination between agents when they're working together on the inside.” He glanced at Samson, who nodded in agreement.
The grin left Tower's face. “We'll discuss that in a few minutes, Dowland.”
“That's my cue,” Mercer said. He stood up.
“Wait,” Rick said. “What happened with DeBrest…uh, Breckenridge?”
“Robert's going to be working for us in Treasury,” Mercer said with a smile. “When the agents went to pick him up at the family estate, his father thought we were there to arrest him. Tried to lawyer up. It took ten minutes before he understood his son was going to be working for the government.” He chuckled. “I think he still doesn't know what to think about the situation. Anyway, with Robert's control of the dragon, we should be able to keep the treasure safe and out of the hands of people who want to trade it for yooks.” He glanced at Tower. “I'd like to see us make yooks illegal, but they have spread around the world with some pretty big players holding major investments. Even if we stopped them in America, we could never halt all the money flow. At least with legislation moving through Congress to make yooks a regulated money supply, we can track the transfers and even tax them. Quest Call is my permanent assignment for now, so Xavaern will be there to help him.”
“So will Trellac,” Samson said. A grin spread over his face. “I've been made a Searcher for the Huntress.”
Mercer walked around the table and shook Rick's hand.
“I never had the chance to tell you that my favorite game when I was growing up was The Kindred. It was a pleasure to work with you, Rick.” He nodded to Tower and the others and left the room.
Samson was moving that way, as well, stopping with his hand on the doorknob. “It's time I got back to my wife and kids. I'll see you around, Rick.” He nodded to Gonzalez and Tower.
“Make sure you stop and see Dr. Jensen on the way out,” Tower said. Samson nodded and left.
Rick stared at Tower and Gonzalez as silence fell over the room. Something was headed down the road toward him, something big, but he could not make out the danger yet. But he had an idea where it was coming from.
“Well, you two didn't stick around here just to keep me company,” he said. At least Gonzalez had the good grace to glance away. Tower never flinched.
“We've got to talk about something important, and it’s not a conversation I've been looking forward to,” the agent said.
“This is about Jim, isn't it?” Rick had been suspicious of something going on with his partner ever since he started missing debriefings. That was followed by a mysterious weight loss, and then his pallid complexion when he emerged from Quest Call two days before had confirmed his belief that Jim was sick. Rick was afraid to learn how ill his partner really was.
The door opened and Dr. Jensen and Callie walked into the room. The nurse was carrying a tray with what appeared to be a futuristic metallic gun.
“No, that's actually a different conversation for a different day,” Tower said. “One that Detective Bouldin will need to have with you himself.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on a folder on the table and staring Rick in the eye.
“You were right,” the FBI agent continued. “The threats we're encountering—that you have taken on by yourself—are growing. We need better communication and cooperation between agents on the inside when you're working related cases. The threats against Samson's family also demonstrated the need for anonymity for their protection. So all the agents on the inside will have code names so you can share information without giving away your identity.”
Rick laughed. “You mean I get a codename like a spy? Like Flem
ing's Bond?”
Tower smiled. “Actually, I was thinking about the President and the Vice President and what the Secret Service call them. But yes, a codename.”
“What's mine?”
The grin faded. “I'm afraid a lot of people within the FBI already know that you're working for us. Especially after this case. Since we don't think we'll be fooling anyone, your codename is Beast.”
“It allows you to do some recruiting, too, doesn't it?” Gonzalez's voice was even, but Rick had been around him long enough to catch the bite in his words. Tower must have missed it.
“It won't hurt if people know Dowland is working for us. His reputation might bring us a few more good recruits, and God knows we need them.”
“It might also make me a target,” Rick said.
Tower glanced down at his hands for a few seconds before looking up. He gestured to the doctor. Jensen picked up the gun and stuck it against Rick's palm. A puff of air escaped when he pulled the trigger, and Rick felt a slight pain, like a pinprick in the fleshy area near his thumb.
“I'm afraid you're already a target,” Tower said. “That's why we're moving you into a separate wing of the facility. While you've been inside the games, we've been busy making a lower level a secure section with only a select few allowed entry.” He gestured at Rick's hand. “Dr. Jensen just injected a microchip into your skin. You'll need one for entry, and anyone inside that part of the facility without that chip will set off an alarm. And that includes the agents inside the games.”
Rick looked at the others and watched Gonzalez and Callie both hold up their own hands to show him their palms.
“I'm also working on some ways to keep your body in better shape when you spend extended periods of time inside,” Jensen said. “Just in case you need to be in a physical environment outside the games.”
“Seems like an awful lot of precautions,” Rick said. “We put away most of the terrorists.”
Tower stared at him.
“Yes, well there are other dangerous people in the world besides terrorists,” he said. Tower opened the folder on the table in front of him. “Two weeks ago, Gwen Talbot escaped from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison for women in New York state. Talbot killed two guards and then took a delivery driver hostage. We found his body in Pennsylvania three days later.” Tower glanced up. “She's loose, Rick, and we all know how she feels about you.”
Rick leaned back in his wheelchair. All the good feelings from the past few days evaporated like fog in the morning sunshine. Catching the terrorists, Saleene and Bree, DeBrest going to work for the Treasury—all of it meant nothing right now. Those steps forward had just been an illusion, dreams and fairy tales of a life that was real for some people but not for him. He knew where his life had meaning.
“Get me back inside,” Rick said. “I'll find Gwen inside the games.”
About the Author
Kirk Dougal has had fiction works appear in multiple anthologies and released his debut novel and the first book in the Fallen Angels trilogy, DREAMS OF IVORY AND GOLD, in May of 2014. The second novel, VALLEYS OF THE EARTH, is scheduled to publish in December of 2017 and the concluding chapter, THE DREAM OF SOLOMON, will be seen in 2018. He began his new series, The Dowland Cases, with RESET in May of 2017 and followed by QUEST CALL. The third book, GEMINI DIVIDED, is scheduled for a May 2018 release.
Kirk is currently working in a corporate position with a group of newspapers after serving as a group publisher and editor-in-chief. He lives in Ohio with his wife and four children. For more information on his writings or just to find out what he has been doing, you can find Kirk at his website, www.kirkdougal.com, or hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.
Books by
Kirk Dougal
The Dowland Cases
Reset
Quest Call
Gemini Divided (May 2018)
The Fallen Angels
Dreams of Ivory and Gold
Valleys of the Earth
The Dream of Solomon (Fall 2018)
Young Adult
Jacked