by Jack Mars
The tingling in his head grew stronger, right up to the border of being painful. Reid clenched his fists at his sides. He wanted to close his eyes against the harsh flashing lights but he knew he had to keep them open if he wanted this to be successful. The odor burned in his nostrils. Suddenly it seemed like everything ached. He was uncomfortable from head to toe. His limbs were cramping and a migraine had spurred in his skull.
This was far more than a sensory barrage; this was an intentional overload.
I need to get out of here, he thought desperately. I need to stop this.
His hands shook, convulsing on their own accord. As he tried to steady them his feet and legs began to quiver. All of his limbs shook as his heart raced, doubling in speed. His eyes rolled up against his will until he saw only darkness again.
And then he lost consciousness.
*
“Reid?”
He winced as he opened his eyes. His vision adjusted to the dim blue lighting of the room and Alina Guyer’s angelic face loomed over him, the corners of her eyes creased with concern. “Mr. Steele, can you hear me?” She shined an intense light in his eye. It watered instinctively and he blinked several times.
The cylinder was open; the halo was off his head. The procedure was over. But his first thought was of his girls.
“How long was I out?” he asked hoarsely.
“Only a couple of minutes… gently, please,” said Alina as he sat up with a groan.
His head was throbbing and there was a strange prickling sensation in his limbs that was quickly subsiding—but otherwise, he noted, he felt no different.
Dr. Guyer stood near Reid’s feet, patient but obviously eager. “How do you feel?” he asked evenly.
“The same,” Reid admitted. “Though my head hurts like hell. Did it work?”
“Only you could say. Tell me,” said Guyer, “how many times did we consult before I performed the implant procedure on you?”
“I…” Reid thought about it, tried to conjure the memory, but the only one that came to him was the one he had already recalled in Guyer’s office, he and Reidigger in front of the video camera. “I don’t know.”
Guyer’s shoulders slumped in defeat.
“So… what does this mean?” Reid asked.
The doctor exchanged a glance with Alina. “I’m afraid the procedure has failed,” he said simply, making no attempt to hide the disappointment in his voice. “My machine clearly requires some revisions, but I believe it is beyond my level of skill.”
Reid swung his legs off of the cot and rose to his feet. His knees were shaky. Alina held him by one arm and helped him steady. “I’m sorry, Dr. Guyer. I didn’t really…” He stopped himself from saying it, but he didn’t really believe that his memory would be reinstated so easily. There was a small glimmer of hope that the machine would work, but pessimism had largely reigned. Instead he said, “Thank you, both of you, for your help.” Despite his belief, he still found himself just as disappointed as Guyer, and there was no point in lingering further. He looked at his watch. “I know this sounds strange, but I need to go. My daughters are here with me in the city and I need to get back to them.”
Alina and Dr. Guyer followed him out of the procedure room, down the hall, and back into the opulent reception area. “Here.” Guyer handed him a white business card with his name and phone number on it. “This is my personal line. Please, keep in touch. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you.”
“Thanks.” He pocketed the card, shook the doctor’s hand and thanked them both again, and then he left through the heavy oak door. There was nothing more to say or do. Guyer’s machine had failed, and his mind was still as much a mess as ever.
He loitered outside the door for a moment as he deleted the delayed-send email that would have gone out to Strickland and Watson, and then he made his way down to the street level. But before he even reached the stairs, the morbid impact of what had occurred struck him. His old memories could not be brought back with technology. He was doomed to living like this, with old memories popping back into his brain from random stimuli. And when another icberg-top of a secret came back to him, something like the conspiracy, he would never fully know or understand it without what he used to know.
It sounded like a living hell. I’d rather take the suppressor, he mused grimly. But according to Guyer, that wasn’t even an option. If the technology could be replicated, it was still flawed and would eventually fail anyway.
He made his way down the stairs to the street and turned right to head back towards the museum, wondering what he was going to tell Maya. He had promised her the truth—and if he was going to have to live for at least another three months, possibly more, like this than he might have to face the music with his girls…
“Hey, stranger.”
Reid stopped suddenly, certain he had not heard the familiar feminine cadence that made goose bumps rise on his arms. He turned, and there she was, hands on her hips, blonde hair flowing around her shoulders, amusement in her gray eyes.
“Maria,” he said in astonishment. “What…? How are you here?”
She smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “I thought you might come to see him.”
“See him…?” Oh. He realized what she meant. Guyer’s office. Which means that she… “You knew about this place. You read Alan’s letter to me?”
She bit her lip and nodded slightly. “I’m sorry. I know I told you I didn’t, but—”
“But you held it for me for so long. Curiosity got the better of you.”
“I thought something in there might tell me where you had been all that time you were gone,” she admitted.
“Then that means… you knew, back in Rome, that I wasn’t dead.” He rubbed his forehead, thinking. “You knew that Alan helped me. You knew my memory had been affected.”
“I’m sorry,” Maria said genuinely. “I couldn’t let on because I didn’t know who might be watching me, or us. Are you angry?”
He sighed deeply. “No.” He had to admit that he probably would have done the same in her position, not knowing if a friend was alive or dead or where they might be if it was the former. “I’m not angry at all. I’m just wondering if there will ever be a time that we don’t have secrets from each other.”
“Probably not,” she said, both honestly and ruefully. “And I’m sorry I haven’t returned your calls. I thought you might need some time with your family.” She gestured upwards with her chin, towards Guyer’s office. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Not really,” Reid told her plainly. “At least not in the way I was hoping.” He looked at his watch again. The girls would be waiting for him soon. “Um, I hate to do it, but I kind of have to go.”
“Yeah,” Maria nodded. “Of course. I just heard you were here in Zurich and wanted to check in. They’re expecting me at regional HQ anyway. It was good to see you, Kent.”
“You too.” He hugged her tightly, breathing in her scent. She gently kissed his cheek before turning to head the other direction. “Come with me.”
Maria paused. “What?”
The words had spilled from his mouth so suddenly he hadn’t given it a single thought, but he realized that he wanted her around. Her presence was pacifying, and he felt he needed that right now. “Come with me. Just for a little while. Meet my daughters.”
“Are you sure? What about the agency?”
“I am sure,” Reid told her. “And screw the agency. They can do without you for a couple of hours. No one’s trying to end the world at the moment. Put your phone on silent and come with me.” He held out his hand.
Maria smiled and took it. “Yeah, alright. I will.” She held his hand as they started towards the Swiss National Museum. “But how are you going to explain this to your girls?”
“I have no idea.” Reid let out a short laugh. “Oh, just one thing though. When you meet the girls, you’re going to have to call me Reid.”
“Reid,” she said slowly
, as if trying the word out. “Sure. I think I’ll manage.”
CHAPTER TWELEVE
As it turned out, he didn’t need to explain much, neither about his whereabouts during the documentary or Maria’s sudden presence, because as the two of them walked down the corridor towards his waiting daughters, Maya’s eyebrows rose in a precipitous arch that told him she had already leapt to some conclusions about where he had gone and what he might have been doing.
“Hi girls!” he said a little too enthusiastically. “How was the movie?”
“Oh, it was very informative.” Maya made no attempt to hide the suspicion in her voice.
Sara’s gaze flitted from Reid to Maria and back again. “Did you fix your credit card, Dad?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, yes I did,” he said quickly. “And while I was out there, as luck would have it, I happened to run into a friend.”
“Wow,” Maya mused mockingly. “How incredibly bizarre that you might run into someone you know on the streets of a foreign country thousands of miles from home…”
Reid shot his daughter a pointed glare, but Maria smirked. “You must be Maya,” she said as she put out a hand. “I’m Maria.”
Maya didn’t move, but much to Reid’s surprise, Sara reached out and took Maria’s hand. “Hello,” she said. “I’m Sara.”
“Sara, it’s very nice to meet you. Your dad tells me you’re an excellent artist.”
Sara shrugged. “I dabble.”
Reid almost laughed aloud. He had never heard his daughter use the word “dabble” before. “So,” he said, clapping his hands together one. “What are we doing next?”
“Hmm,” said Maya. “If I recall, you said it would be whatever we wanted to do.”
“I did say that…” Reid admitted hesitantly.
“Well then,” Maria interjected, “I know some excellent boutiques nearby, if you girls want to check them out.”
Maya regarded Maria evenly, her eyes slightly narrowed, but eventually she nodded. “Alright. Lead the way.”
Reid groaned. “Shopping?”
Maria led them towards the exit to the museum, and much to his surprise, Sara fell right in stride with her.
“I like your hair,” she told Maria quietly.
“Oh, thank you! I like yours. So do you want to be an artist when you’re older?”
“Not sure yet,” Sara replied. She added, “My mom restored paintings for the Smithsonian. I think I might like to do something like that.”
What is happening? Reid thought. She’s a totally different girl from yesterday. It was strange to him how well Sara seemed to take the presence of a stranger. She seemed fully at ease with it. Maybe he wasn’t the only one pacified by Maria’s presence.
“So, Maria, what do you do?” Maya asked casually.
“I’m an accountant,” she replied as they stepped outside and onto the sidewalk. “I live in Baltimore.”
“Hmm,” Maya said. “Do you travel a lot?”
Maria shrugged. “Now and then, when I can get time from work.”
“Oh, I mean for work,” Maya said. “Does your job send you places? Like, say, Switzer—”
“Maya!” Reid hissed a word of warning.
His daughter shrugged innocently. “What? I’m just asking.”
Reid took his eldest by the elbow and the two of them lagged a short distance behind Maria and Sara, who continued chatting idly. “What do you think you’re doing?” he whispered harshly.
“I’m just getting to know her.”
“No, you’re fishing for answers. Knock it off.”
“Well, what do you think you’re doing?” she shot back. “You tell us this trip is about family. You tell us not to wander off. And then you wander off and come back with this woman who just happened to be in the same place at the same time?”
Reid sighed. “Maya, I promise you, I didn’t know she would be here.” That part wasn’t a lie; he had been just as surprised at Maria’s appearance, maybe even more than the girls were.
“I’ll tell you what it looks like,” Maya continued, her voice hushed. “It looks like you planned this. It looks like you’re still working, if you know what I mean.”
“I swear I’m not,” Reid assured her. “You want to know the truth? Yes, Maria is… like me. Like I was. The agency keeps tabs on us. They know we’re here. She found out and stopped by to check in. I really, truly did not know.”
“Check in? Why?” Maya insisted.
“Why do you think? Because of what happened last month.”
Maya paused. “She knows about that?”
Right. Maya wouldn’t have remembered in the state she was in. “Maya,” Reid said gently, “she was there. Maria helped me find you on that train in Slovakia. You were…” He didn’t want to remind her that she had been drugged. “…Only partially conscious, so Maria stayed with you while I went after Sara.”
Maya bit her lip, walking alongside her father silently. About twenty feet ahead of them, Maria said something to Sara that made the young girl laugh.
“You could’ve told me that,” Maya murmured.
“So you’ll give her a chance?” Reid asked.
His daughter shrugged. “I guess she seems okay. Sara seems to likes her.” Before he could respond, Maya quickened her pace to catch up to the other two.
Reid couldn’t help but smile. “She seems okay” was probably the best he was going to get out of his sixteen-year-old daughter.
Over the course of the next two and a half hours, Reid found himself subjected to no fewer than seven boutiques, and such scintillating conversation as “this would look amazing on you, Maya” and “trust me, pearls are making a comeback” and “what do you mean, your dad won’t let you wear mascara? Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him.”
Rather than try to insert himself into any of the scenes unfolding before him, he resigned to being the bag-holder and instead watched the feminine bonding that was occurring right before his eyes. He imagined he was an anthropologist that had stumbled upon a tribe the likes of which he could never understand—which, all joking aside, was at least partially true. He was downright astonished by how quickly the girls took to having a positive female influence nearby. Even Maya seemed to be having a good time.
They were in shop number eight and waiting while the girls were in fitting rooms when Reid turned to Maria and said, “I honestly can’t believe this. Sara’s personality is like a complete one-eighty from how she was yesterday. You’re really good with kids.”
Maria laughed. “I most definitely am not. But they’re hardly kids; they’re teenagers. They want to be treated like young women, not children.” She shrugged. “Once you know that, it’s pretty easy.”
“Huh.” Reid hadn’t really considered that. To him, they were his baby girls. They needed his protection, his tutelage, his wisdom. It was hard for him to see them any other way.
Maybe they need someone like this in their lives. Hell, maybe I need someone like this in my life.
“Come to dinner with us tonight,” Reid said. “We’ll go someplace here in Zurich, and then the girls and I will take the train back to Engelberg.”
Maria sighed. “I really wish I could, but I think I’ve ignored my responsibilities long enough. In fact…” She pulled out her cell phone, checked it, and frowned deeply. “Oh, that can’t be good.”
“What?”
She turned the phone to show him the screen. Maria had nine missed calls, all from the same source—a phone number marked as “unknown”—and a single text message: MARIGOLD. REPORT.
Maria made the call, angling the phone and tilting her head closer to Reid’s so he could listen in without it being on speaker.
“We have a situation,” Deputy Director Riker declared by way of greeting. “We’re sending a car to your location.”
“What sort of situation?” Maria asked.
“Explosives were detonated at the US embassy in Baghdad,” Riker explained hastily. “The entire buildi
ng was destroyed. We’ve got more than fifty confirmed dead so far... including a congressional delegation from New York. Senator Conroy and four representatives.”
Reid and Maria exchanged a worried glance. He had little doubt that the Congressmen were the targets, but to make that substantial of an attack, claim that many lives to ensure that a specific five were killed, was undoubtedly the mark of a fanatical group.
“I’ll be ready,” Maria told Riker.
“There’s something else,” the deputy director said quickly before Maria could end the call. “We know you’re with him. In fact, I’d venture to guess that he can hear me right now, so I’ll just tell him myself: you’re being reinstated. We want you on this. Welcome back, Agent Zero.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Reid and Maria exchanged a confused glance. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, and hadn’t yet let on that he was indeed there with her.
“Why him?” Maria asked on his behalf. “Why now?”
“I’ll give you two reasons,” Riker said. “First, the group that claimed responsibility is one of his former cases, an offshoot of Hamas that was banished from Gaza for killing members of their own ranks during a raid. They had originally set up shop in Syria; Zero and Reidigger flushed them out and they vanished. They’ve been inactive ever since. We’re hoping that something in his head might trigger, give us some insight into their goals.”
“And the second reason?” Reid asked, finally making his presence known to Riker.
“Agent Strickland is leading this charge,” she explained. “He asked for you personally. We’re obliging because… well, like it or not, you’re still the best we’ve got.”
Strickland? Maria mouthed to him, thoroughly confused. He had not yet told her that he and Todd had developed a friendship in the wake of last month’s incident; she only knew of Strickland as the young agent that had been sent after Zero in Slovakia.
Regardless of Strickland’s request, he knew this wasn’t what he wanted. He had to put his family first. “I can’t,” he told Riker plainly. “I’m on vacation with my girls. What would I do, just leave them here alone and without protection?”