Mind Trace (19 page)

He rubbed his neck, and was aware of a sharp pain beneath
his hand. Fragments of memories started returning to him. Alice, making plans
to meet Jeremy, going to the rest stop and then Jeremy…

He betrayed me!

"Alice!" he yelled, opening his eyes and searching
madly about the room.

Looking around, Garrett realized he was in his own bed, in
his own home.

How did I get here? I vaguely remember being attacked by
Jeremy's men, and then…nothing.

So, he had me drugged and brought back here?

Garrett covered his face with his hands, wishing he could
block everything out.

Jeremy must have thought he was protecting me, doing me
a service by bringing me back here. Misguided fool.

I chose to do this because it's the right thing to do,
and EngineerCorp must pay for what they've done. I definitely didn't do it
because I was crazy or because my judgment was clouded by some girl!

Put it out of your head, Garrett. None of that matters
now. All that matters is Alice. What happened to her? Jeremy must be taking her
back to Eric. What time is it?

He rolled over to look at his bedside clock.

5:24pm. I've been unconscious for at least eight hours.

He let out a groan, depression threatening to take over. Alice
was most likely already in the hands of Eric, and there was precious little
that could be done to get her out.

Unless, by some miracle, she managed to escape again. He
would not have thought that possible, but she did say she had escaped from
EngineerCorp once before.

If anyone can do it, she can.

But, where will she go from there? Does she know I'm not
the one that betrayed her? Or, does she think I'm her enemy now? She could be
anywhere, and I have no idea if she'll ever trust me again.

Maybe she's tried to contact me. I need to check!

Not wanting to make his head pound again, Garrett slowly
raised himself off the bed, and walked carefully down the hall to his office.

Upon entering the room, his heart dropped in his chest.
Everything but the furniture was gone. He pressed his hand over his forehead, speechless.
"Jeremy…what did you do?" he whispered.

He collapsed in a nearby chair.

He must have wanted to make sure I couldn't continue any
more of my "unreasonable" plans.

It was bad enough that Jeremy had betrayed him in the first
place, but this was going too far. For several moments, Garrett just stared at
the vacant room.

The lab! He couldn't have known about that!

He ran back to the hidden workshop in his room, not remotely
caring that his head throbbed with pain because of the effort. He scanned the lab
nervously, but everything was just as he left it.

"Thank God!" he exhaled loudly.

There were several computers in the room and he hurried to
the first one. Garrett checked his email, hoping and praying that a message
would be there. Scanning through dozens of unread emails, his eyes stopped on
one particular line.

The subject read, "Want to be a superhero?"

Is it Alice? Referring to the pajamas? Please, please
don't be spam.

Opening it, he saw that there was an encrypted file
attached. His heart began to beat faster, realizing it was most likely the
message he was waiting for.

After a long process of trial and error, he was finally
able to crack the security.

Alice!

His heart warmed as he read her words.

She did manage to escape! She made it, and she knows I
wasn't responsible. I knew she could do it.

He glanced at the nearest clock. Garrett had plenty of time
before he had to leave for Concord to meet her.

He left the room, both with a grim determination and a hope
he could only attribute to Alice.

***

Eric glowered down at the man seated before him.

I really don't expect much from people these days…but
this is just pathetic.

Jeremy was sitting in the armchair across from his desk,
nervously trying to explain how the girl had "somehow managed to escape"
and how it was
not
his fault.

Not your fault? I've heard that more times than I can
count.

This particular "incident" had occurred at a gas
station on the way to deliver her. Apparently, while they were refueling, they
left her alone in the van with one other man, most likely someone equally
incompetent. Young Alice managed to incapacitate this man "by some unknown
means" and then drive off into the sunset…leaving five grown men staring
with their mouths gaping open.

From there, they found the van parked in the back end of
the commuter lot, abandoned. They checked the security cameras in and around
the bus station, but had no luck until an eyewitness verified seeing her at the
front of the building hailing a taxi.  It took some work, but they were able to
track down the taxi and driver and confirmed that she took the taxi to some
random street, but were unable to verify where she had gone after that. The
driver had been unable to offer any useful information.

"So, that's it? She just drove away and you have no
idea where she is?" Eric asked emotionlessly.

"Well, Mr. Martin…sir, we traced her to a location on
the west side of town. There were no camera feeds in the area where she exited
the taxi, but we're working on scanning the cameras that surrounded the area.
She was also able to get some money from the stolen wallet that she abandoned
in the van."

"Did it ever occur to you that there's a train station
and an airport less than five miles away from where she was last seen? She
could be halfway across the country by now!"

"We just thought…she can't have gone far. She’s young,
alone, and has no one to help her. I’ll send a team there immediately and begin
combing the area."

"No need. You have done enough. My men will take care
of it from here."

Eric was about to turn away, but paused.

"Before you go, Jeremy, there is something I want to
know...something that has been bugging me for a while.  How did Alice reach out
to you in the first place? Why would she choose to ask for your help? And, don't
tell me she just chose you at random. It's insulting."

Jeremy fidgeted in his seat, uncomfortable under Eric's
steely gaze.

Eric continued, "I suppose it might jog your memory if
I told you that we checked the feed from the rest stop where you met. I was
very interested to see an old friend of mine with the two of you. Garrett
Wiggins, as a matter of fact."

Let's see how he explains this one.

Eric let the words sink in for a moment before speaking
again. "Jeremy, you've worked in the business long enough. You know what happens
in situations like this, and you know what I am capable of. You can either tell
me the truth now, or put your family at even greater risk while I find out what
I want to know anyway. I don't need to waste time explaining just how that kind
of thing happens…"

Jeremy stared at the floor for a few moments, wrestling
some inner conflict, and then sighed. "There'll be no need for that. You
already know he's involved."

He straightened in his chair and looked up at Eric for the
first time.

"The girl contacted Garrett some time ago, seeking
protection. She told him some kind of crazy story that she had proof to
vindicate him in the scandal with EngineerCorp. He foolishly believed her, and
set off on this quest for redemption.  They agreed that they needed some
outside help, which was when he got in touch with me. You know the rest of the
story from there."

Jeremy became bolder, almost defensive. "Garrett is
innocent. I've always known that. And, you've put him through hell for reasons
that can only be your own. He's never done anything to you, and now he can't.
We've confiscated all of his computers and electronics, so any evidence he came
in contact with is in our custody. Just leave my family and Garrett out of
this."

Pathetic.

Eric gazed back at him, nonplussed. "Yes, I know. I
took the liberty of having some of
my
men confiscate them from you while
we've been chatting. The equipment is being analyzed now."

Jeremy made a motion to protest, but Eric interrupted. "Your
family will be safe, as long as you cooperate. As for Garrett…only time will
tell what happens to him. You've done your part. Garrett is lucky to have a
friend like you."

He paused, clearing his throat.

"You're dismissed."

"Wait, you don't want us to pursue her?"

Eric laughed quietly. "Oh, certainly not. I have my
own plans for Alice…"

I do, indeed.

Jeremy regarded him with a concerned expression, before
motioning to the rest of his men and leaving the room.

Once they were gone, Grant stepped up from the side of the
room. "What do you think, sir?"

"I think she will reach out to Garrett again. He is
the only person she knows since her whole world has been turned upside down.
She will seek that security, no matter what. When she does, we’ll be ready for
her.  It's time to give Gabriel a call…"

Grant said nothing, watching him. Eric was looking out the
window of his office, smiling to himself.

"She will never see this one coming, Grant. I promise
you that."

***

Ever since the "incident" with the servers, Luke was
permanently reassigned to another area. Management was greatly displeased by
his performance, but were unwilling to fire him; he knew too much about what
happened.  In response, he was moved to one of the teams responsible for
sorting through information on priority hard drives brought in from the field.

Grunt work.

Luke didn't know where work like this came from, or why it
was important. It was above his pay grade to know such things. He was only
responsible for sorting through the endless volumes of information until he
found references to any key words provided by the higher ups.

He was currently searching through files to find any
mention of a person named "Alice."  In addition to that directive,
there was a list of known accounts, email and otherwise that were currently
being monitored.

Luke needed a paycheck more than he needed to satisfy his
curiosity. There was also a disturbing trend that kept his curiosity at bay. Employees
that asked too many questions, or got too involved with certain projects just
seemed to disappear. Officially, they were told that those employees were
merely relocated to some remote EngineerCorp office or another. Either way,
Luke preferred not to take any chances.

Safer that way.

He had been working for hours, scanning and dissecting
files, when he came across a strange email.  The subject caught his eye. "Want
to be a superhero?" Luke laughed silently.

Heck yeah. Who wouldn't? If I were Superman, I'd fly out
of this dismal pit of despair and never look back.

  He gave a wry smile as he dreamed of possibilities. Then,
he shook his head, aware that it would never be more than a dream.

This email has an attachment. What is this? Encrypted?
That's not normal protocol for spam. Could this be a lead?

Luke nervously chewed one of his nails, debating whether he
should tell the team leader. He did not want to risk being ridiculed for
pointing out useless information. On the other hand, if it was not
useless…well, he certainly did not want to be responsible for withholding it.
He made up his mind and hesitantly made his way to where the team leader was
working.

Please don't be a false lead. I'm already in the
doghouse.

The slightly balding, overweight man sat at his desk in the
center of the small room. Cubicles fanned out around him, where other members
of the team were busy working, analyzing the various volumes of information. He
looked up at Luke when he approached and fixed him with a wary gaze.

"Do you have something of interest?" he asked in
a monotone voice.

Luke handed the man the drive and briefly explained what he
found. He rudely yanked the drive from Luke's outstretched hand and plugged it
into his computer. As he looked over the drive's contents, the man's expression
changed from annoyed to one of apt attention.

"Yes, this should definitely be of interest to Mr.
Martin. Indeed…" he muttered excitedly to himself.

Luke hesitantly broke into the man's mumblings, "So,
it's something useful?"

"Huh? Oh yes, you did well. I will inform Mr. Martin
of your findings immediately." He picked up the phone on his desk and
hurriedly punched in a phone number, dismissing Luke.

Well, that's something.

Luke frowned slightly and walked slowly back to his desk.
He was grateful to have a well paying job, but sometimes he just did not
understand the motivations or logic of anyone around him. He returned to his
computer, letting his mind daydream once more.

***

Eric used his personal remote to call the elevator in his
office. He chose the bottom level of the complex and leaned against the back wall
of the elevator wall as it started its descent.

He just hung up the phone with one of the team leaders. The
man had given him a trivial bit of information, but Eric had a feeling that it
would amount to much more. There was one person who could immediately tell him
what he needed to know, and that was Gabriel.

Gabriel worked in an office on Level Nine of the
subterranean complex. It was beyond the areas that were accessible by normal
staff,  and with the exception of Grant, no one else had access to the area. It
was completely undocumented. Both Gabriel and the mysterious division he
represented simply did not exist, as far as anyone else was concerned.

Gabriel was Eric's secret weapon. Like any weapon, he was
dangerous, both to the assailant and the victim. He owed his life to Eric and
was now trapped in perpetual servitude. Fortunate for him, Gabriel possessed
very useful and practical talents, so Eric put him to work in the sublevels.

Since Gabriel was imprisoned within the underground
complex, he was able to work on sensitive projects without jeopardizing their
security. Eric took precautions in spite of it, never giving him all the
information, and cutting off his access from any other part of the complex.

The more that I keep from him, the more power I have
over him. He must never be in a position to make demands of any kind.

Eric was pressed for time and this was a project that
Gabriel would be happy to work on. For some reason, he was ecstatic when given
the opportunity to sabotage or ruin reputations…or in this case, decryption of
sensitive files. He would make short work of it.

I must not forget. I need his help in that other,
trivial matter...

A few moments later, Eric faced the immovable steel door
that marked the entrance to the restricted section of Level Nine. After an
extensive security verification process, he was inside.

Eric entered into the spacious, high-tech bachelor pad that
was Gabriel's permanent home. Since he never left the compound, Eric allowed
him to furnish the area as he saw fit.  The back rooms were his personal living
quarters, including all the amenities of a basic apartment, plus more than
sufficient entertainment and exercise. Eric knew that the arrangement was
excessive, but since he had allowed Gabriel those concessions, his productivity
had increased tenfold.

You can't argue with results.

Gabriel's workspace filled the area immediately inside the
entrance. It was a massive space where dozens of monitors lined the walls, all
filled with streaming content. In the middle of the room, multiple large
monitors hung in a half-spherical formation, dwarfing a desk of the same
shape.  Seated at the desk, eyes darting rapidly between the many screens, as
close as anyone could ever imagine to a criminal mastermind…was Gabriel.

He looked up as Eric approached him, smiling a devious little
smile.

"Ooh, a personal visit from the Esteemed Leader! Must
be serious."

Eric ignored the sarcasm, tossing the memory card to him.

"I'd like you to decrypt the attachment on that email."

Gabriel hungrily took the card and accessed the data. A
queer, almost ominous look came into his eyes.

"You certainly do bring the best. This one, I'll do
for free. What exactly are you looking for?"

"Any mention of someone named Alice McArthur."

Gabriel nodded and returned to his computer. Eric gazed
around the room as the tapping of keys sounded in the silence.  After a few
minutes, Gabriel laughed menacingly and mumbled to himself.

"Oh, you make it too easy, far too easy, you know…"

He turned his chair around to face Eric. "This Alice
character is asking that the
recipient
meet her in Concord, at a local
hotel sometime after she gets off the train, which is scheduled to arrive late
tonight."

Excellent.

Eric smiled. "Just as I thought. This gives us plenty
of time to intercept this meeting. Is there anything else?"

Gabriel scrolled through the rest of the data, confirming
that there was no other information. He looked at Eric, quizzically. "So,
what do you want me for? You could have just as easily asked your analysts or
engineers to handle this…it wasn't even difficult."

"I have other reasons for involving you, Gabriel.
Reasons from which you and I will
both
benefit…"

Eric smiled cryptically while unnecessarily smoothing out
his already pristine jacket.

Chapter 13

It was extremely late when Alice arrived in Concord. The
train was delayed several times for unscheduled maintenance. She rested as much
as she could, but she was nervous, stressed, and cramped inside the train.

Alice finally stepped off the train and stretched her slim frame.
Hunger gnawed at her, but she was late and needed to get to the hotel to meet
Garrett. They could find something for dinner after that. Besides, she was
running precariously low on cash.

Alice stepped out into the night air from the station. It
was a cold evening, and the wind blew ruthlessly on her face. She felt the icy
blast through her thin clothing, waking her up and renewing her determination.

I can do this. Just have to make it there.

The hotel Alice chose was only a few blocks from the
station. Even though it was late, it seemed to be a well-lit and relatively
safe part of town, so she walked to the hotel.  It was completely uneventful,
save for her repeated wishing that she had acquired a jacket to wear somewhere
in her travels.

The automatic doors of the hotel slid open as she stepped
near them. Apparently, it was not yet late enough for the hotel to lock the
door and she was grateful; it was much warmer inside.

Garrett would be waiting for her by now, if everything had
gone according to plan. Alice had not allowed herself to entertain any other
possibility.

I wonder where he is?

She stepped into the lobby area near the front desk and
peered around. Other than an elderly man who appeared to have passed out on one
of the couches, there was no one. She must have looked confused and out of
place, because a thickly accented, irritated voice interrupted her thoughts.

"May I help you?"

Alice looked up at the speaker. A middle-aged woman was
working at the desk. Her hair was set in a frizzy bun on top of her head, and
it was obvious that she did not want to be there.

"Um, I was looking for someone. Garrett Wiggins?  Is
he here, or did he leave a message?"

"Your name, please?"

How many people can be meeting a "Garrett Wiggins"
at this hour?

"Alice…Alice McArthur."

"He's waiting in the lounge for you."

She added with disapproval, "You're late, you know."

With that, the woman turned back to her computer and paid
no more attention to her.

He's here!

Alice felt relief and happiness flood her from head to toe.
Forgetting her tiredness and exhaustion, she almost ran as she followed the
signs to the lounge.  She pulled open one of the large doors and desperately
glanced around, searching for him.

He was seated near the bar at the front of the room, his
back to her.

"Garrett!"

She was so relieved to see him sitting there that she ran
to the front of the room, paying no attention to the shocked look on his face
as he spun around. Without thinking, she reached out and embraced him. He was
stiff beneath her touch and she paused, finally stepping back to look at him.

That's strange. Is he okay?

"I'm so glad you came. I almost thought you wouldn't.
Well, I mean… you didn't have to come back for me… But I'm so glad you did. You're
here!" Alice laughed, a strange sound in the quiet room.

Garrett was staring at her with an odd expression, silently
observing her.

Alice continued, "What happened to you, anyway? Jeremy
let you go?"

When Garrett finally spoke, he was hesitant. "Yeah, he
let me go. Guess he still tried to look out for me after all. I should have
known better … And you? You were quite fortunate to get away. How exactly did
you manage that?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just lucky. Right place at the
right time. They thought I was practically helpless, so that made it easier. I
almost
didn't
make it. It was a close call!"

"I see."

Garrett was pensive, shaking his head. "Well, now that
you're safe again, I guess it's time to discuss our next move."

He looked around in the empty room. "This is as good a
place as any. Keep your voice down, just in case."

Alice nodded, lowering her voice. "I don't really know
what to do just yet. I was thinking if we could just get away for a while, hide
out somewhere safe… Then, we could regroup and come up with a better plan."

"I agree with you completely. We have to lay low for a
while, and I have just the thing. It took me all day, and I called in
every
favor that I had. There's this great place that belongs to a friend of mine, in
the middle of nowhere; we can hide out there for a while. Only thing is, it can
only be reached by a small plane, given the lack of passable roads and all.
That's what took so long, trying to find a way to fly there without being
tracked. 

"Anyway, I figured it all out.  I have a friend,
Charlie, who agreed to fly us up there on his private plane. We don't have to
go through a traditional airport, so no need for plane tickets.

"Oh, and Charlie has no idea who you are. All he knows
is that he's doing a favor for a friend."

Wow. I had no idea he was so well connected.

"Garrett, I'm speechless. Are you sure there's no way
that anyone can trace us to him?"

"Nope! No record of any connection. It's an informal
relationship. There is one catch though; we have to go immediately. We leave tonight,
under cover of this darkness, and before anyone has a chance to trace us here. 

"I took the liberty of getting a room here, so if
Jeremy still has his people watching me, he will think I've landed here for the
night. We can sneak out a back door and take a taxi. The airport is not far
from here…what do you say?"

This is happening too fast. It doesn't feel right.

"Wow, that's…that's, um… much faster than I ever
imagined. Are you sure, Garrett? Don't you think we should be more careful?
Maybe take some more time to think it over?"
"Alice, 'just a little bit more time' is exactly what they need to track
you down! You're not safe here, or anywhere near here. We have to act now,
while we can still use time to our advantage!"

That doesn't seem like the Garrett I know. But, what do
I really know about him? I can't help but feel uneasy.

He paused and seemed to calm down slightly. "I'm sorry,
Alice. I just want you to be safe and the way things have been lately… I'll
feel a lot better once we're miles away from all of this."

Alice sighed and looked up at him. He had a kind of wild
look in his eyes that she had never seen before, and he seemed to be nervous.

He's just worried about me, that's all. If we are going
to get out of here, we have to act now. There's no telling if we'll get this
kind of opportunity again.

"Well, I guess we can't waste any more time. Let's go."

Garrett was visibly relieved. He stood up, giving her an
awkward hug. He picked up the small bag he brought with him, put his arm around
her, and they walked together from the room.

They travelled down a back hallway, leaving through a side
door. Once they had travelled a few blocks, he paused, saying, "Alice, I'm
going to call Charlie. He said there was someone from the airport that could
pick us up."

He walked to a nearby payphone and made a quick phone call.
The wind buffeted around her, making it impossible to hear his conversation.

After a few minutes, he returned, smiling. "The
arrangements have been made. A car will arrive shortly." They stood
waiting in a shadowed area beneath a small group of trees, where they were less
likely to attract attention by passing traffic.

The shadows danced eerily on Garrett's face, making it seem
almost frightening in the twilight. Alice found her mind was running in a
thousand directions. 

"Garrett, wait! What about the flight records?  On the
off chance that someone investigates, won't they be able to see where we went?
Won't it seem strange that the pilot took an unexpected detour?"

He laughed, as if she were silly for even asking.

"I told you I took care of it, didn't I? Let's just
say you don't need to worry about records. In the business he's in, he's had to
gain some experience altering aviation logs... It's a hard world out there, Alice.
But there's no need to worry your pretty, little self. Everything has been
taken care of."

What have I gotten myself into?

The car came a few minutes later and Alice climbed in,
grateful to get out of the cold. As it pulled away, she couldn't shake the
feeling that something was wrong… something that she could not quite put her
finger on. But, what was she to do? She sat wearily back in the seat, hoping
her supercomputer brain would see fit to point the irregularity out to her
soon.