Page 93 of A Touch of Treachery
I blinked back the hot tears stinging my eyes.I still had a chance to tell Desmond all that and more.I just had to find him first.
Desmond had already been gone roughly three hours, and General Percy kicking me out of Section had wasted even more time—time that Desmond might not have.Henrika was smart, and it wouldn’t be long before she figured out that Desmond’s galvanism had helped him survive the Redburn explosions.After that ...well, I didn’t know what she would do.Release him, torture him, kill him.
Either way, Desmond didn’t have time for me to waste.
I half expected a knock to sound on the door and for Joan, a strike team member, or a hotel worker to demand that I leave the library, but it didn’t happen.Of course not.Henrika already had what she wanted in Desmond, and General Percy thought I was helpless without Section resources.Well, I was going to prove him wrong.
The first thing I did was go over to a lone, hotel-issued laptop left in the library and jiggle the mouse.The screen flared to life, asking if I wanted to check my flight or rent a car.The laptop was the definition of bare bones, but it had an Internet connection, which was all I needed.
The laptop had a surprisingly long cord, so I dragged it over to the table where I’d spread out my papers.I quickly accessed the main Section system, but this time, instead of using myCLockelogin, I entered the Mockingbird login and password.
The screen went dark for several seconds, and I held my breath, hoping General Percy hadn’t discovered my back door into the servers—and wondering what I would do if it didn’t work ...
A bright white light flared, and lines of black code filled the screen, forming the distinctive shape of a mockingbird, complete with the creature’s jaunty tail.The screen abruptly went dark again, then the main Section home page appeared, with a message:Welcome, Mockingbird.
I hissed out a relieved breath, flexed my fingers, and started typing.
First, I looked at the reports and updates that chronicled the search for Desmond and Henrika.The Section agents were following several leads, but none were promising.No surprise there.Henrika was quite clever, and she would love nothing more than to lead the agents on a merry chase while she thumbed her nose at General Percy.
Next, I reviewed the photos and videos Section agents had taken in and around the hotel, as well as their reports about Henrika fleeing across the lake, driving up the mountain, and taking off in a helicopter.
I drummed my fingers on the tabletop, even as my mind whirred with possibilities.Depending on the helicopter, Henrika could have taken Desmond anywhere in the eastern U.S.Since I couldn’t figure out the route, I turned to the second part of the equation: the destination.
If Henrika wanted to discover how Desmond had survived the Redburn explosions, then she would need supplies and equipment for blood tests, imaging scans, and other medical procedures.She must have taken him to a lab, maybe even the same lab where she was storing the Redburn formula.I just needed to figure out where it was.
I pulled up all the information I’d collected over the last several months about Henrika’s production plants, office buildings, and other properties, including the Glittertop Resort.Then I sat back in my chair, reached for my synesthesia, and let the laptop monitor fill my field of vision.
I went through everything again, document by document, line by line, word by word.Every time a glimmer of gray or a pop of pink caught my eye, I stopped and studied the information, but they all turned out to be typos and addition errors.Nothing nefarious or sinister appeared, and I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know.
Frustrated, I rocked back in my chair, making the wood groan in protest.Henrika was smart and dangerous, but she was a creature of habit, just like we all were.Out of all the rooms in the hotel, I’d come to the library because I had always loved being surrounded by books and Desmond had comforted me in here last night.Henrika was no different.She would go someplace she felt safe, someplace she thought no one would find her.
Butwhere?Where was that?
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted several curls of dark gray smoke sliding along the wall.Familiar footsteps sounded, and a shadow fell over me.
“It’s about time you got here,” I groused.
Gabriel slid into the chair across the table from me.“You’re the one who warned me off in the lobby earlier.I would have been happy to confront Jethro Percy and give him a piece of my mind.”
“As much as I would have enjoyed seeing that, it wouldn’t have helped anything.Besides, I didn’t want you to get caught up in my mess any more than you already are.”I sighed.“I’m sorry for snapping at you.What I should have said was thank you for coming.”
Gabriel tipped his head, accepting my apology.“No worries, Char.You always get cranky when you’re concerned.”
He fell silent, but his eyes darkened with worry.Gabriel had been a cleaner for a long time, and he knew exactly what someone like Henrika was capable of and just how much she could hurt Desmond.
I jerked my chin at the closed library door.“What’s been happening out there?”
He waved his hand.“General Percy stormed out through the front door about thirty minutes ago.Most of the Section agents and techs followed him, and so did Gia, Evelyn, and Diego.A strike team is still searching the woods for Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo, but they’ll probably stop soon.It’s clear the other paramortals are long gone.”He gestured at the papers spread out in front of me.“Find anything?”
I shook my head.“Nothing new.According to the Section agents, Henrika set off a bunch of bombs to cover her tracks.By the time they got across the lake and followed her up the mountain, she had boarded a helicopter and flown away.The agents are trying to track the chopper, with no luck so far.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow.“I hear abutin your voice.”
“But ...something about this whole situation doesn’t feel right.Henrika’s escape seems too ...easy.”
“You think planting bombs on two sides of a lake and decimating half a mountain to cover your escape route seemseasy?”His eyebrow arched a little higher.“I would hate to hear your definition ofhard.”
“No, not easy for Henrika—easy forus, for Section.It’s like Henrika laid out a trail of breadcrumbs, only those breadcrumbs ended in explosions.”I rubbed my aching head.“I feel like this is all part of Henrika’s plan and that she is leading General Percyexactlywhere she wants him to go.”
