Equilibrium (18 page)

They had lost Ella–that was bad. Without her, Olivia would never hand over the blueprints.  What a mess! Raj could see his prosperous future vanish. However, on the bright side, Olivia didn’t yet know, so Ella could still be used as leverage. And they did still have Harry and Arizona.

“Sophie, what do you know about Dr. Sanderson?” Raj asked.

“Just what I learned when I hacked into his computer. He was put in charge of controlling the portal at this end. He’s been doing that for some time, eight years, I think. He actually works full time on a completely different project at Ames. The portal seems to be an extracurricular, but related activity. It’s not on the Ames main project list,” Sophie responded. “Raj, we
are
going to let them all go, aren’t we? This was never part of the plan. We should have been done with this by now.”

“How long are you going to need the rest of the guys for?” Dan asked. He wasn’t entirely comfortable having them around. But they needed them for as long they were driving about with the kids and Kevin.

Raj closed his eyes. With all the confusion he had not had time to postulate another plan. The target remained the same. He needed the blueprints. They had nowhere to go. At least the kids would be out by now, he had put a hefty dose of long-term sedative in their drinks. They would be able to drive uninterrupted for a long time.

O
livia knew that Agent Adams wouldn’t be pleased when she was told that Kellan’s ring had already been taken off. It probably would have been better to wait and let the FBI experts remove the ring from his finger. However, they didn’t have the time or patience to wait. David and Kellan both wanted to head over to take care of Arizona. So, Olivia had asked the nurse for lubricant and pried the ring off Kellan’s finger herself, leaving his swollen finger red and raw. She looked down at the ring glistening in the palm of her hand and wondered if it was indeed some kind of message. She had given it a thorough exam, as had Rupert and Larry. There was no obvious message, no inscription. It had to be a chip of some sort. That’s if it even was a message.

“Dr. Darley, is that the ring?” Claire Adams asked, as she walked into the hospital room and observed Olivia studying it carefully.

Olivia nodded, holding it out for the agent.

“I thought that our team was going to extract it?” Claire remarked.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. Kellan wanted to leave, so I did it myself. I used lubricant, so I’m fairly sure I didn’t damage it in any way. There is no inscription. Microchip?”

Claire nodded. The ring looked undamaged. “I’ll have the lab take a look right away and let you know if we find anything. Where did Kellan go? Is he feeling better?”

Olivia nodded. “Yes, much better.”

Claire’s phone rang, saving Olivia from the
where
question. Claire breathed a sigh of relief.  Simla Sen and Justin Weeks had been found. They’d been taken down to the local station. “I’ll be there in ten,” Claire said and hung up. She looked over at Olivia, Rupert and Larry and nodded. “I’m going to have this analyzed right away and will give you a call as soon as I know anything.”

~

Claire drove over to the station as fast as she could. Erica Sen and Grayson Weeks had been notified and were meeting her there. There still were no signs of Simla’s father, Raj Sen. The kids had apparently been picked up by
Shiver Lake
, as they seemed to call it around here.

She recognized detectives Mason and Pinsky waiting for her outside the station entrance. “So, what do we have?” she asked them with a friendly smile.

Sally relaxed. She was still slightly on edge in front of the FBI agents, but Agent Adams was smiling. She got right to the point, though. “We found the kids, Justin Weeks and Simla Sen, messing about on Justin’s bike by the lake. We’ve separated them and now their respective parents are waiting with them. Who do you want to start with?”

“Justin Weeks,” Claire replied. “It was his hockey stick that had been described in the place where Arizona and Kellan had been kept.”

Claire studied the boy across the table from her. He was very handsome, just like his father who was sitting next to him. There was one big difference, though. The son did not exude the same serene, calming aura that his father did. The boy was in fact the opposite. He sat staring at Claire with a defiant, unhelpful glare, his lips turned into a sour line. Claire was not fond of teenagers at the best of times; this was going to be particularly trying.

“Justin, I’m Agent Adams. I work for the FBI. Do you know why you’re here?”

“Well, Dad told me it’s because of the missing kids, nothing to do with me!” he said insolently, rolling his eyes. “Glad someone took them, they’re a pain in the ass.”

“I’m sure you don’t mean that,” Grayson said surprised at his son.

Justin rolled his eyes again.

“Justin, the main reason we brought you in, is because your hockey stick was found in the place where the kids were being held.”

“His hockey stick?” Grayson repeated.

Claire nodded. “Yes, a hockey stick scratched with your son’s initials.”

“Why assume it was mine? Could belong to anyone with those initials,” Justin replied.

“True,” Claire conceded. “But it could have been yours, right?”

He shrugged. “So what?”

“Well, the initialed stick was found where some of the kids were held hostage. Can you think of dark places where you may have left your stick? Or sticks?” Claire continued, trying to be patient.

“I leave my sticks everywhere–the garage, basement at home, at the cottage, dressing room at the ice rink,” Justin mumbled. “I’ve got nothing to do with anyone gone missing! Simla and I’ve just been hanging out, that’s all.”

“The cottage?” Claire asked.

“Yes, we have a cottage a bit further up from the lake,” Grayson explained. “We use it on the weekends when we go fishing and stuff.”

“Does it have a basement?” Claire inquired, ready for action.

“Yes, it’s fairly small and unfinished. We use it for storage,” Grayson replied.

As soon as she had got the address from Grayson, Claire dispatched a search team to the cottage. Then she turned back to Justin. “Justin, when was the last time you were there?”

“A couple of weekends ago with Dad,” Justin answered. “Why?”

“Are any of your hockey sticks in the basement?” she asked

“I guess.”

“When was the last time you saw Kellan, Arizona, Ella and Harry?” Claire continued, feeling fairly sure that Justin hadn’t a clue what was going on. He looked genuinely confused.

“I saw Kellan, Arizona and Harry at hockey, Monday night. I may have caught a glimpse of Ella as well, but I can’t be sure. Why?” Justin asked.

“Thanks for answering my questions. You may go now,” Claire said, getting up.

“What about Simla? Should we wait for her?” Grayson inquired.

“Her mom’s with her. I still have to talk to her, but you can wait for them in the lobby if you want.”

After making sure that the search team had been deployed to the Weeks’ cottage, Claire made her way to the room where Simla was being held. She had been fully expecting another defiant and difficult teen, so was surprised to find a nervous wreck of a girl in tears waiting for her.

“I don’t know anything,” Simla wailed as soon she saw Agent Adams.

“What don’t you know anything about?” Claire asked gently.

“About everyone missing,” Simla sobbed.

“When was the last time you saw your father?” Claire asked.

“I don’t know! A few days ago, maybe,” she mumbled.

Erica had given Simla firm instructions not to mention anything about the portal or Wanderers. She had managed to pry from Simla that Raj had used her to get into Ames months ago, but that he’d not asked her to do anything else since then. Erica had been relieved that her daughter was not involved in her husband’s insane schemes. She had merely been sneaking off with Justin. Erica wasn’t too happy about that, either, but in the whole scheme of things, she was relieved.

“Have you ever been to Justin’s cottage?” Claire asked looking at Simla.

She had, but Simla was not about to confess to that. Not in front of her mom. Justin and she used it when they wanted privacy. She shook her head.

“Dr. Sen, have you been to the cottage?” Claire asked looking over to Erica.

‘Yes, a couple of times for barbeques.” It was more than a couple of times. Erica spent a great deal of time with Grayson at the cottage. She didn’t want to say that in front of Simla, though. It was a great place to unwind.

“Has your husband been up there?” Claire continued.

“Yes,” Erica replied, wondering how the cottage was relevant to the missing children. Had Raj taken them there?

“Dr. Weeks and Justin are waiting for you in the lobby, thanks for your time.” Claire said abruptly, as she got up to head off to the Weeks’ cottage. The team would already be on their way over. She doubted that the kids would still be there, it was too much to hope for. The best she could hope for was some indication of who had been there, if anyone. Raj Sen was still missing. Was he somehow involved? Erica had mentioned that Raj was obsessed with Olivia. There must be more to this than him trying to get her attention.

Three quarter ways to the cottage, her phone rang. There were no kids at the Weeks’ cottage. Claire was disappointed, she had hoped against hope that they would be there. She received a second phone call, from the lab this time, with the results for the ring. They had extracted a microchip.

~

He knew that he couldn’t call Dr. Darley, although he longed to tell her that Ella was safe. Her phone was sure to be bugged. So, David called his mom instead.

“Mom, I have Ella. Where should I take her?”

“Bring her to our house, David,” Inez said. She was fairly sure it wasn’t being watched. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. She wants her mom, not surprisingly. She’s confused, but in fine form. Hasn’t stopped prattling on for the past five hours, she’s a funny little girl,” David smiled.

Inez could tell that he was exhausted. The traveling in itself must have tired him out. Taking along passengers twice in such a short time would have been draining. She was so proud of him. “Come home, honey.”

They arrived half an hour later. David carried Ella inside, she had finally dozed off. He carried her to the couch and sat down with Ella still in his lap. He threw his head back, resting his neck against the back and stretched his legs. He was truly tired. Inez wanted to let him drift off to sleep, to let him harvest his energy. However, she needed some information first.

“Honey, you look beat. I wasn’t expecting you to come back with Ella. I had no idea she had been transported across. Is Harry there as well?” she asked him gently.

He nodded, his eyes closed.

“Are they okay?”

“No, Mom. They’re far from okay,” he said unhappily.

Inez knew he was too tired to talk. So, she extended her thumb to touch his and he let the information flow freely to her.

~

“Ollie, Rup, that was Inez on the phone. She is on her way over. She was very guarded, but I expect that’s because she knows our phones have been bugged. I guess she’s heard back from David and Kellan. Let’s hope so anyway,” Larry said, wondering if their homes had been bugged as well. It may have been wiser to meet Inez over at her place. She was on her way now, though. They would have to make sure to talk outside. He jotted his thought down on a piece of paper and passed it to Olivia and Rupert who nodded in affirmation.

The three of them had made their way to Olivia and Rupert’s house after their chat with Agent Adams. They were exhausted, but too worried to rest. They’d spent the twenty minutes they had been at the house sitting waiting for the phone to ring, hoping for news of their children. They were ready to head to Ames.

Olivia sat bundled up in Rupert’s lap, her head resting on his chest. Her eyes closed, her mind working furiously trying to figure out what to do next. She hoped that Arizona would come back with David and Kellan somehow. She didn’t even want to start thinking about the possibility that Dillard was now aware of the portal, of her life here. They needed to make their way to Ames. She put her lips up to Rupert’s ear and whispered into it softly. “Rup, tired as we are, we have to head over to Ames. I haven’t a clue if that will achieve anything, but we have to look, to try to find out what’s going on. We know that Arizona must have been taken through the portal, so we need to figure out who did it and why.”

He nodded and whispered back, “We’ll go as soon as we’ve had an update from Inez.”

As soon as they heard Inez’s car arrive, Larry, Olivia and Rupert walked outside.

“We’re concerned that the house has been bugged, so let’s talk out here for a minute,” Larry explained.

Inez nodded and launched right into the news Olivia had been waiting for. “David is back. He brought Ella home. She’s just fine.”

“Ella! How? Thank goodness, let’s go to her,” Rupert and Olivia exclaimed in union.

“We could, but let’s think this through a bit. What if you’re being followed? How will you explain Ella’s return to the FBI?” Inez asked.