by Ciana Stone
Ryan could hear the grief in her voice and could see the slump of her posture. She must have cared for Pierce-Warner a great deal. He wanted to speak with her more, but could think of nothing else to ask. “I appreciate you taking the time to see me, Ms. Laserian,” he said as he stood. “I know this is a difficult time for you.”
“I will do anything to bring my niece home safely.” She turned to face him, seeming to be in control of her emotions again. “Thank you for your concern.”
“I want you to know that it’s not just for professional reasons I came here,” he volunteered. “I care about Senna and I’m going to go everything I can to find her and get her home safe.”
“Thank you.” Minora extended her hand. “Good evening, Detective—pardon me—Ryan. Drive safely. Mrs. Mueller will show you out.”
She pressed a call button located on the wall beside the door. Only a moment passed before the housekeeper appeared. “Detective Dalton is leaving,” Minora announced.
“This way, sir,” the housekeeper said.
Ryan gave Minora one last smile then followed the heavy-set housekeeper to the door. She didn’t bother to speak as she opened the door for him. He stepped out and turned to say goodbye only to be met with the door closing in his face.
“What now?” he asked aloud as he turned and walked to his car. He could think of nowhere else to turn for leads and that made him edgy. Every hour that passed was sixty minutes in which Senna could end up like her scientist friends, stone cold on a slab in the morgue. The image brought a shudder. He had to find her.
* * * * *
The sun had almost reached its apex by the time Senna woke. She kept her eyes closed, watching as the newly discovered memories passed through her mind. She found it difficult to accept that what she remembered had really happened to her, that she had experienced such things. Was the disbelief nothing more than an attempt to deny the truth? Now that she remembered, she realized she might have lived a happier life never knowing.
But it was too late to undo what had been done. She had no choice but to accept the truth and go on. The question uppermost in her mind was whether she had the nerve to play the role she had been forced into.
Finally she could not lie still another minute. After showering and dressing, she went downstairs. Marcus was sitting at the kitchen table with the newspaper spread out in front of him. She saw that a fresh pot of coffee was brewed and fixed herself a cup.
“Did you rest well?” Marcus asked when she took a seat across from him.
“Ummm,” she murmured, in the process of sipping her coffee.
“And the memories?”
“There’s so much to assimilate. And I still find it…amazing,” she groped for the words to describe it. “I never imagined that something like this was possible, much less that I would play a part in it. To suddenly realize that the impossible is actually possible is enough of a surprise. To find out that the knowledge of the impossible has been locked up inside my mind all these years is…well, it’s like waking up and finding out you’re living some kind of…”
“Science fiction dream?” he asked.
“That’s as good a description as any,” she admitted and glanced down at the paper on the table. Coffee suddenly sloshed over the rim of her cup as a name jumped off the page at her. “What’s that?”
“I was going to tell you.” Marcus knew what she was referring to. “But…here, read for yourself.”
He turned the paper around and she read the article as he mopped up the spilled coffee. “Oh, my god,” she said as she looked at him. “Do you know what this means?”
“It is a tragedy. Did you have any idea he was so troubled?”
“That’s just it! The only thing troubling Ian was Slater and his crony, Dr. Kinski. Marcus, Ian didn’t kill himself.”
“The article said it was an apparent suicide,” he pointed out. “A message was found on the screen of his computer for his wife, according to the police.”
Senna shook her head. “No, I don’t believe it. Ian wouldn’t have killed himself. He had no reason.”
“That you know of,” he said quietly and when she looked at him in irritation, he added,” While he may have been your psychiatrist and even a friend, can you honestly say that you knew him well enough to say, without a doubt, that there was nothing in his life that was troubling him? That he had no problems?”
“I know he wouldn’t kill himself!” she insisted and jumped up from the table. She paced across the room and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “Slater! It had to be Slater. He made it look like a suicide.”
“What motive would he have?” Marcus asked. “Now, don’t look at me that way. I’m merely playing devil’s advocate. If, as you have told me, Dr. Drake was cooperating with Slater and providing him a cover for Dr. Kinski’s sessions with you, then why kill him?”
It came to her in a flash. “The disc! Slater knows about the DVD. That means Kon…” Realizing her mistake she changed in mid-sentence. “Ian came to see me and had a DVD with him. He said he had recorded the session with Kinski and a conversation he had later with Slater and Kinski. He said it was insurance against them. He was afraid to keep it at his office and wanted me to hide it.”
Marcus went to the counter to freshen his coffee. “Senna, I can understand how that might seem like the perfect motive to you, but let me give you a reality check. It would not matter if Dr. Drake had a recording of Slater murdering someone. Slater has too much power.”
Senna plopped down in a chair. She had to think. Maybe Slater would not have been threatened by the disc, she considered. But if that wasn’t the reason then why did he kill Ian? She could not consider the possibility that Ian killed himself. She might not have known everything about him, but one thing she did know was that he was an ambitious and driven man, determined to get to the top of his profession. He would not have given up on those dreams.
She felt a sick lump form in her stomach. If Slater found the DVD then he knew Konnor had been helping Ian. And that was enough for him to have Konnor killed.
“I have to go!” She jumped up. “Can I borrow your car?”
“Go where?”
“Home.”
“Why?”
“Why?” She looked at him like he had lost his senses then realized he didn’t understand her urgency. And would not unless she told him about Konnor. She wasn’t ready to do that. Even though there was still the chance that Konnor was loyal to Slater and didn’t return her feelings, she could not betray him.
Marcus had made it clear that Slater was the enemy, or at least one of them, and that made Konnor the enemy as well, in his book. She might be making a terrible mistake, but she had to try and protect Konnor. And he wasn’t the only one, she realized with a stab of fear.
“Minora!” she blurted. “Don’t you see? If Slater killed Ian then what’s to stop him from going after Minora? I have to make sure she’s okay, get her to leave town or something.”
“Why not just call her?”
“For god’s sake, Marcus, this is your sister we’re talking about!” Her voice rose in accord with her panic.
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. “I know who she is, my dear. And I do not doubt that you are concerned. But Minora has always been adept at taking care of herself, and I am sure that has not changed. I think that perhaps you are anxious for another reason. One you have not admitted.”
Senna wondered how he could know she was hiding something. Was she that transparent? “That’s absurd!” She tried to mislead him by feigning offense.
“It is?” He appeared unruffled by her tone.
“Of course!” She looked away.
There was complete silence for a bit. When Senna felt she had her emotions in check, she turned to face him again.
“Why don’t you trust me, Senna?” He sounded hurt.
That blew a hole in her defenses better than any amount of conflict. “I do trust you.”
“Then tell me t
he truth.”
She looked down for a moment. “Okay, I wasn’t completely honest. I am concerned for Min. That part is true. But there’s someone else I’m afraid for. Someone I have to warn before Slater gets to him.”
“Are you referring to Ryan Dalton or Konnor Chase?”
“Ryan Dalton,” she lied. “As you obviously know, he’s a police detective who’s been investigating the murders. If Slater’s so intent on killing everyone I might have told something to, then Ryan could be a target. We dated for almost a year.”
As she spoke what she had intended to be a lie, she realized that what she said was true. Slater might consider Ryan a threat if he thought Ryan knew anything. That posed another problem, namely, how to warn Ryan.
“Just as he might consider Mr. Chase a potential threat,” Marcus added, then smiled when her eyes widened. “Don’t look so surprised, my dear. I may be old, but I’m not deaf, dumb and blind. Anyone could tell just by the expression on your face, or tone of your voice that you’re in love with Konnor Chase. The question is, is he in love with you, or merely pretending in order to get what Slater wants?”
“Slater doesn’t control Konnor,” she replied. “I’d bet my life on that.”
“That is exactly what you’re doing. Senna, I ask you to reconsider. We have much to do and time is running short. The longer we wait the more risk there is of being discovered.”
“I have to do this.” She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Marc— Father, please. I’m asking you to trust me. I understand how critical the situation is, and I’m not trying to pretend as if the danger doesn’t exist. But I do love Konnor and I have to warn him. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t and something happened to him. Please, don’t fight me on this because you can’t win. This is something I’m going to do, with or without your help or approval.”
After a moment Marcus smiled. “My, you have grown into a remarkable woman, haven’t you, my child?”
She smiled gratefully and hugged him. “Now,” she said as she pulled back. “Can you give me a ride?”
“I suppose I can manage that. But I must stress that time is of the essence. We must turn our full attention to locating the Gate. I have Lucas’ notes and will go over them again to see if there is something I missed.”
“I might be able to help you on that,” she said as she headed for the door.
“Oh?” He hurried to keep up with her. “How is that?”
“I’ll have to ask you to trust me on that as well. I may be wrong, but then again, I may know how to locate the Gate. If I can then we’ll be one step ahead of them.”
Marcus nodded and got in the car. “I’ve made arrangements,” he said as he backed out of the garage. “We must be in Glendale within 120 hours.”
“Where’s Glendale?” she asked. “And why 120 hours?
“Glendale is in Nevada and in 121 hours, the Air Force will be running war simulations at Nellis Air Force Range. We must be in place before the games begin.”
“Hold on!” she protested. “What do war games at Nellis have to do with us and whatever’s in Glendale?”
“There is someone I must see in Glendale, someone we need in order to get inside the military perimeter.”
“So, you’re telling me that we’re going to Nellis?”
“In a manner of speaking. Our destination is Groom Lake.”
“Groom Lake? Isn’t that where scientists supposedly worked on an alien aircraft?”
“There are a number of fascinating things going on there. However, we are interested in only one. A project known as Sumer.”
“Sumer?” She looked at him in surprise. “You mean there’s another prototype?”
He nodded and she fell back against the seat in shock. She considered it for a few minutes. “How did they manage to reconstruct it? I thought the original was completely destroyed?”
“The government can do amazing things when they put their collective mind to it.”
“But it can’t work! We both know that. Without the chip and…hey, hold on! If what they have is no good, then why go there? What if we get caught? Have you considered what would happen if they got their hands on—”
“We’re going to destroy it,” he interrupted and slowed to pull off the road into the parking lot of a supermarket. “Senna, listen to me. Everything they have, the prototype, the data, everything is in one location. Nothing is allowed off site. If we can destroy it, nothing will be left. Most of the scientists who were hired to perform the work have been eliminated. They would have to start fresh because they’ve killed almost everyone who could reconstruct the data. Now is the only chance we have—before they bring in a new team and start again.”
The impact of what he said took a minute to sink in. “I understand,” she said. “But there’s one thing you haven’t mentioned. There’s still what’s up here.” She tapped her head with her index finger.
“That will also have to be destroyed,” he said quietly. “As it was before.”
Fear swelled inside her. She knew he was right. The information would have to be destroyed, but it scared her to think about it. The last time she was made to forget, much more than the data Lucas had downloaded into her brain was lost. She didn’t want to experience a repeat performance.
“How much?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“How much will I forget?”
“Only the data. Nothing more. I promise.”
She felt some measure of comfort from his promise, but still could not shake the cold dread that settled upon her. “All right.” She forced herself to think of other things. “But right now I have things to do.”
Marcus pulled a cell phone from his pocket and placed a call. “The Market,” he said into the phone. “Five minutes.”
He turned to her. “Wait at the entrance of the market. We can’t take a chance on being seen together. A dark green BMW will arrive in a few minutes. Take the car and do what you must. There is a cell phone in the glove compartment. Neither the car nor the phone can be traced back to me. If you are spotted by Slater, get to the nearest mall or shopping center, leave the car, and call me. You can reach me at this number. Otherwise, call when you’re finished and I’ll make arrangements to meet you.”
She committed the number to memory as he recited it, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry.” She tried to sound confident even though she felt anything but. “I’ll be careful and I’ll talk to you soon.”
She got out of the car and watched as he drove away. The day was cold with an overcast sky. She shivered and hurried to the glass entrance of the market. The enormity of her situation was sinking in and for a moment she considered getting in the car when it arrived and just driving as fast and as far as she could.
* * * * *
Jackson Township
Konnor was just entering the house when the phone rang. Leaving the door standing open, he bounded across the kitchen and snatched up the cordless. “Yeah?… I’m on my way.”
He slammed down the phone and ran out of the house. The call was from the police department. His martial arts school was on fire. As he raced down the driveway, he considered the possibility that the fire was not an accident. It was possible that their enemies were sending him a message. On the other hand, the threat might be coming from closer to home.
Slater had told him, in so many words, that if he discovered that Konnor was double-crossing him, there would be hell to pay. It was not the first time Slater had questioned his loyalty, or issued a threat. If this was his way of making a point, then Konnor had a reply. To hell with him and his threats. He would not back off and he would not stop until he was sure Senna was safe.
Lost in his own thoughts, he paid little attention to the traffic around him. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed Ryan Dalton pass him going in the opposite direction.
Ryan pulled up in front of Konnor’s house. There was no car in the drive, but he w
ent to the door, anyway. He got no answer. He pulled a notepad from his jacket and scribbled a note, asking for Konnor to get in touch with him. Just as he tore the page off the pad, he heard a car coming down the driveway.
A dark green BMW stopped in the bend, just in sight of the house. The windows were darkly tinted and Ryan couldn’t tell who was driving. He walked toward his car and the BMW backed up.
His first thought was that someone had gone to the wrong address. He walked toward the car, thinking that he could at least give the driver directions if he was lost.
Senna sat for a moment, staring through the windshield. She had not expected to find Ryan here. She almost turned the car around to leave. Maybe it would be best not to speak with Ryan until she had spoken with Konnor. Then again, maybe it was best to just get it over with.
She opened the door and stepped out. Ryan’s eyes widened when he saw her. A moment later he was running toward her. She barely had time to close the car door before he had her wrapped in his arms.
“Thank god!” he whispered against her hair as he held her. “I was beginning to think…” Abruptly he drew back. “Where the hell have you been?”
“I just needed to get away for a while.” The lie was out of her mouth before she realized it.
His look told her quite clearly that he didn’t believe her so she elaborated on the lie. “Ryan, things have been…well, you know. So much has happened and it all seemed to just crash in on me. I felt like if I had to deal with one more thing I would explode. So I went to stay with a friend for a few days to have time to sort things out.”
“What friend?”
“That’s not really important.”
“I think it is.”
“Just a friend.”
“Are you aware that there’s been another murder?” His question sounded more like a reprimand.
She looked down. “I heard about Harlan.”
“And Ian?”
She didn’t have to pretend to be upset. “Yes. I saw it in the paper this morning. That’s why I came back.”