by Aman Gupta
“He’s looking for some information. I don’t know. He asked me to unlock the laptop and leave it there,” said Sam.
“What about the encrypted files?” asked Kate.
“What encrypted files? I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I never got a chance to open the laptop,” said Sam.
“We managed it. Well, your friend, Jay managed it. But the files are encrypted and without the algorithm or the key, it’s impossible to crack it,” said Eric.
“Great. But you have to let me go. Please. I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Sam.
“They didn’t ask you to break the encryption?” asked Eric.
“No, they just wanted me to access the interface. Maybe they already have the key and the algorithm. Who knows. Who cares!” said Sam.
“We care,” said Emma.
“What’s your name again, honey?” said Sam.
“Detective Emma Walker,” said Emma.
“If you have seen the stuff I have seen, you’ll never stop running. So my advice is that you stop being Jay’s toy and move on. Else, sooner or later, he’ll drag you into his mess and ruin your life and everyone you care about. But if you still care, then keep walking, Walker!” said Sam.
“This is not his mess. We’re trying to find why little girls are being kidnapped, and who is behind all this!” said Emma.
“How do you know someone is behind this? Maybe this is just a shitty county where parents don’t know how to protect their kids,” said Sam.
“All of this cannot be a coincidence. There are multiple trails which are somehow connected,” said Kate.
“That’s some solid work, Detective. You know what? I would rather die than listen to any of you morons talk anymore. So just leave me alone till Jay gets here with his mob army,” said Sam.
Vik came inside the house and confronted Sam.
“You know one of these days, I might have to force you to carry out your bluff,” said Sam.
“It wasn’t a bluff. I just realized something,” said Vik.
“What’s that?” asked Sam.
“At this moment, you’re more valuable alive than dead. You are the perfect bait,” said Vik.
“No, that’s not it. Face it, Jay. You feel terrible about what you did to me, and couldn’t stand anything happening to me let alone get me killed. All of this was a ruse, and now it’s over,” said Sam.
“Same old Sam. Unable to see the bigger picture,” said Vik.
“Same old Jay. Still thinking he can outsmart everyone,” said Sam.
“When did you become so hateful? The Sam I knew was sweet, kind and willing to go extra miles to help her friends. She would talk about coming up with ways to stop people from getting hurt. What happened to you?” said Vik.
“You happened! You picked me from the ground, taught me how to fly and when I tried to breach the ceiling, you cut off my wings. When you left me, when you left us, you brought down the world on us. And the worst part is that you didn’t even bother to look back,” said Sam.
“Then take it out on me. But why not help us in finding the people responsible for these kidnappings? Your client could be connected to this and yet you don’t seem to care,” said Vik.
“I care. More than you’ll ever know. You haven’t suffered the way the rest of us have. So spare me your false sense of empathy towards those who have been agonized by your actions and the people you worked for,” said Sam.
“That’s not true. He..” said Emma, before being stopped by Vik.
“When I look at you, I see right through you. You’re not a good guy fighting for the needy, Jay. You’re just a thrill junkie looking for his next fix,” said Sam.
“You’re right. I can’t hurt you, but maybe there’s more than one way to get to your client,” said Vik.
“What’s that?” asked Eric.
“Destroy the laptops. Let her go. Let them deal with her,” said Vik.
“We can’t do that. There’s no other way to get to these people,” said Joey.
“There is. Right now, the only one taking the hits are us. I say we hit them. Whoever they are, they need these laptops for something. Nothing good, I am assuming. We hit them, shake things up,” said Vik.
“Would that work?” asked Joey.
“We could follow her as well. She’ll lead us to them. You know. When they come for her,” said Emma.
“Good plan. Go ahead. Destroy the laptops. I’ll wait,” said Sam. “You can’t bluff twice against the same mark, Jay.”
Vik picked the laptop on the table and smashed it on the ground. He ripped out the hard drive, threw it in the fireplace and set it on fire.
“What did you do?” said Sam. “They’ll kill you.”
“No, just you. Good bye, Sam,” said Vik. “You’re free to go.”
He removed the rope restraint and set her free. Sam stood up.
“What if she brings them here?” asked Joey.
“They’ll never believe her,” said Eric.
“Please, at least let me take the second laptop. Please,” said Sam, as her eyes teared up.
“Oh, thanks for reminding me. Joey, would you like to destroy the second one?” said Vik.
“Hell yeah. It looked fun,” said Joey.
Joey grabbed the second laptop and lifted it high to smash it.
“No! Wait! Please Jay, they’ll make me want to die. Please!” begged Sam.
Vik was too overwrought to listen to reason. She realized that.
“Okay. Arrange a meeting with your client,” said Vik. “Emma, take her upstairs and lock her in a room.”
Emma took Sam upstairs and locked her in a windowless bedroom.
“Okay, the surprise is killing me. You destroyed a fake laptop, right?” asked Joey.
“No, it was real,” said Vik.
“Why?” asked Joey.
“It was the only way. If I had destroyed a fake one, she would’ve noticed it,” said Vik. “It had to be real.”
“But what about the information on that hard drive?” asked Kate.
“It’s useless for us. We can’t break the encryption. It was only a means to lure out the people behind this. If the information is valuable, they’ll want to secure the one we have left,” said Eric.
Kate went over to Vik as he was staring into the fire and asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Vik.
“I know what you did there,” said Kate.
“It had to be done. She’s safer with us, for now,” said Vik.
“We’ll protect her,” said Kate.
Vik left for the hospital to check the surveillance footages for last night. Eric went to coordinate with the people of the town who were planning to start a search and rescue mission. Joey, Emma and Kate stayed behind to check on Sam and the client.
Later in the day, Emma went to the room where they were holding Sam, to give her something to eat.
“I’m not hungry,” said Sam, who was sitting on the bed with her legs bent and her head down.
“I’ll keep this here, just in case you wish to,” said Emma, as she put the bowl on the side table.
She noticed that Sam had been crying, but didn’t say anything.
“He’s gotten worse, you know,” said Sam.
“Who?” asked Emma.
“Jay,” said Sam.
“I didn’t really know him before. So I can’t say,” said Emma.
“But you saw him now, didn’t you?” said Sam.
“All I saw was a woman putting her interests, maybe even anger and hate, above the lives of children. And he made sure that it didn’t happen,” said Emma.
“I used to do that. Justify his actions too,” said Sam. “But you’ll see. One day, you’ll see.”
“From what I’ve heard, he didn’t ruin your life. Your life choices did. You chose to help people who committed crimes then, just like you are now. The reason you blame him is because it’s just easy,” said Emma, as she left and locked the d
oor from outside.
Eric connected with Bob and Rick who had gathered over 500 volunteers for the search operation. Eric briefed them about how to spread their searches to effectively cover as much ground as possible. 120 regions were identified to be covered on the map, one group per region. 74 of the regions were solely located in West Gate and 46 of them led to New Bay through the forests. With heavy ammunitions in the form of rifles, machete and rods, all groups began their ascension into the forest. Each group had a spotter whose sole goal was to mark the direction that the group took. The group that didn’t return in the evening would be considered ‘Active’ and all future groups would head into that direction for possible leads. Eric was concerned for the security of the girls and conveyed his point of no engagement with hostiles till the girls were safely in custody of the group.
Vik went to the hospital and logged into the server. He found that all the cameras were working except for a finite period. This confirmed his suspicions that a skilled team was responsible for the kidnappings. Unable to find any unusual activity on the entrance or exit gates, Vik was convinced that one of the team member would’ve already been in the hospital to ensure that the cameras were offline while the rest of the crew entered the building. Upon checking the patient lists, he discovered that 24 new patients had been admitted to the hospital in the last three days. Longer stays would’ve raised alarms with the hospital staff, he thought. He went with Martha to check on the patients. He inquired about Martha regarding any new recruits or changes to hospital staff, but Martha denied any. Martha discovered that one of the patients on the third floor had died few days ago, the same room where Vik saw the 2 fake doctors yesterday, but on inspection, the condition of the room suggested that someone had been staying there. Martha was surprised why this room was marked as taken in the hospital records even though the patient on record had died. Vik didn’t mention anything about the fake doctors to Martha to avoid a public panic.
At night, Rick and Bob came over to Vik’s house. They called him outside and told him that all the groups had returned after reaching their checkpoints, and none of them could find anything.
“The people are angry, Jay. Everyone has taken this personally,” said Rick.
“But then where would they go?” said Bob.
“What about the remote houses?” said Vik. “Up the Trilly Mountain.”
“You’re not suggesting that they’re holding them in the town, are you?” said Rick.
“Why not? Till the situation cools down,” said Vik.
“That’s a dangerous path, Jay. If we invade the homes of our own people, the 2 missing girls will be the least of our worries,” said Rick.
“What about Pete? Did he say anything to your friends about New Bay girl?” asked Bob.
“No, he said he doesn’t know anything about the kidnappings. As long as they’re back, it’s not his concern, he said,” said Vik. “Why don’t you take few guys and pay him a visit tomorrow morning?”
“Okay,” said Bob.
“Meanwhile, we will again go early in the morning into the forests and double the distance this time,” said Rick.
“Sure, keep us posted,” said Vik.
Vik went back inside where Emma told him that Sam wasn’t eating food or drinking water.
“Do you expect the search operations to get results?” asked Eric.
“No, not really,” said Vik.
“Then, what’s the plan?” asked Eric.
“I think we’re doing it wrong,” said Vik. “We could return to New Bay and start from the spot where Emma was attacked. With West Gate’s search operations covering the region that leads to New Bay forests, we might be able to corner the people behind this.”
“What about Sam?” said Kate.
“Sam’s client is not coming here. The situation is already worse than a curfew for an outsider, and it’s just the beginning. The town is officially closed for visitors. If they make contact, she’ll arrange the meeting wherever we are,” said Vik.
“Okay,” said Joey.
Eric noticed that Vik still wasn’t convinced with himself.
“What’s wrong?” Eric asked.
“If you are looking for little girls and New Bay is basically done for you, and West Gate just closed, where would you go?” said Vik.
“Morrow,” said Eric.
“So which one is it – New Bay or Morrow? We can’t do both,” said Joey.
“We’re going to have to,” said Eric. “We can’t leave people of our town alone. But if what Vik is saying is true, Morrow has to be top priority.”
“There’s so many things that have to done. I feel the time’s running out and it’s now or never,” said Vik.
“Eric, Joey and Emma will go to Morrow. Vik and I will go to New Bay,” said Kate.
“What about Sam?” asked Emma.
“We’ll take her with us, for now,” said Vik.
Eric and Joey went to get supplies. Vik went to Sam’s room.
She was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling, with her arms spread out.
“I see you still sleep that way,” said Vik.
“Some things never change, I guess,” said Sam.
“When was the last time you ate anything?” asked Vik.
“Can’t remember. I think yesterday morning. Crap meal if you ask me!” said Sam.
“Sorry,” said Vik.
“Why? It’s not like you cooked it or anything,” said Sam.
“Not for that,” said Vik.
Sam turned her face to the right and looked at Vik.
“Do you mean it?” asked Sam.
“What does your heart say?” asked Vik.
“There isn’t one. It broke into pieces years ago,” said Sam.
“What’s it going to take to assemble it back?” asked Vik.
“An answer might help,” said Sam.
“What’s the question?” asked Vik.
“If you had to ever do it again, what would you do differently?” asked Sam.
“I wouldn’t publish the whitepaper,” said Vik.
“And that would’ve solved everything?” asked Sam.
“Wouldn’t have ruined the lives of people who mattered to me,” said Vik.
Vik sat on the chair next to bed.
“Did that help?” asked Vik.
“Not really,” said Sam. “I guess I don’t even control my heart anymore.”
“Ask me another,” said Vik.
“Why did you do it?” asked Sam.
“For Hattie,” said Vik.
Sam sat up in surprise.
“You mean..” said Sam.
“Yes,” said Vik.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Sam.
“You would’ve wanted to come,” said Vik.
“Would that have been so wrong?” asked Sam.
“It wouldn’t have been right,” said Vik.
“Did you make her proud?” asked Sam.
“I doubt that. She always thought I was an idiot,” said Vik.
Sam laughed with teary eyes.
“How about life? Did you marry anyone?” asked Sam.
“Yes, I did,” said Vik.
“Anyone I would like?” asked Sam.
“I doubt that,” said Vik.
“What happened to her?” asked Sam.
“I touched her,” said Vik.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” said Sam.
“You weren’t wrong,” said Vik.
“I had a boyfriend too, shortly after. Then a girlfriend,” said Sam.
“How sexually ambivalent of you,” smiled Vik.
Sam grabbed a pillow and hit Vik.
“What’s that, Round 200?” said Vik.
“Of course! Winner takes all?” said Sam.
“Haha. But maybe later,” said Vik. “You should eat. I feel like it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
“Where are we going?” asked Sam.
“Atlantis,” said Vik.
C
HAPTER 11: SCION
Jay was celebrating his 4 months’ work anniversary with Olivia, Bethany and Franco, Olivia’s colleagues and fellow researchers in Neuro Technology.
“I can’t believe you survived 4 months at Verati,” said Olivia.
“Can’t believe you survived 4 months with Olivia,” said Franco.
“To be fair, she was only here for 2 of those,” said Jay.
“Haha. Very funny!” said Olivia.
“Give him your mind control pill, Beth. Let’s see if it works on him,” said Franco.
“Pills take a long time. We prefer a more direct approach, don’t we, Olivia?” said Bethany. “So, Jay. Are you dating anyone?”
“Jay got married few weeks ago. Isn’t it right, Jay?” said Olivia.
“Oh yeah? To whom? Is it someone from the office?” asked Bethany.
“No, she doesn’t work at Verati,” said Jay. Olivia smiled.
“Too bad. When Olivia was with me at DC, she would talk about you all the time,” said Bethany.
“Oh. Is that right? Tell me more,” said Jay while looking at Olivia. Her smile disappeared.
“Oh stop it, Beth. I only said it so that you would stop talking about your breakup,” said Olivia.
“Oh, grow up, Olivia. It’s not like anything’s going to happen now. Plus, I didn’t break up a week into the second month, so…” said Bethany.
“What did she say about me?” asked Jay. “Bad things I assume?”
“Bad things? She was absolutely smitten,” said Bethany.
“Oh really?” teased Jay. “Look at her face. She’s about to breathe fire.”
“Then why would she stay for 2 months? Originally, she was to be there for only a month, if I’m right?” said Franco.
“Great question,” said Jay.
“She actually volunteered. Neurobiology was over in a month, but she stayed behind for Biotechnology,” said Bethany.
Jay was looking at Olivia the entire time and saw that Olivia was getting upset with the conversation.
“Good thing she stayed then. Dodged a bullet,” said Jay. Olivia smiled. Jay smiled back.
All of them received a text message simultaneously, which forced them to leave their lunch party a bit early than they would’ve liked. An emergency gathering had been called at Verati’s headquarters. Victor Daulton broke the news that Dr. Gary Odine had passed away. His body was found by the neighbor near the dumpster early morning. As per the cops, he fell from his balcony while intoxicated. However, his home was found trashed, and several files, documents and research notes were missing. Victor Daulton also announced in the light of the recent events, he was taking operational control of the Tech Department as well, till they found a suitable replacement for Head of the Department. To honor the legacy of Dr. Gary Odine, the headquarters was closed for the day. Olivia invited Jay for drinks but Jay decided to go back to his apartment to be with Sarah and Katie.