The Centerpoint Trilogy (14 page)

Alicia blushed and then looked down. She pocketed a small toy ring that Rhiannon and Genesis had dropped while playing princess earlier the previous day. She reached her hand into her shirt pocket and found that it was still there. It was obvious that the item was a cheap, plastic ring. It looked like it belonged on the inside of a Cracker Jack box. Still, it was the only thing she had on her and she had to try. She took the ring, slipped it onto her finger and waved it lightly. "I...um, just got it," she lied quickly. "It's my engagement ring. I took it off today because we were unloading some boxes. I didn’t want to worry my fiance. He’s been so nervous lately.”

"Oh..." the man said. It was obvious then that the lie had been believed. Alicia felt a strange sense of victory.

"Sorry for bothering you," she said. "We'll be going."

"Go ahead," the man said, sighing and shaking his head. He looked like he’d been through the ringer, a couple times over. Even if he didn’t entirely buy her lie, it was probably better for him to pretend that he dd. "Just be careful, okay? We have tightened security since two nights ago when we found a bunch of weird pictures. We're not  to trust anyone right now. Other guys might not be as nice as I am. Heavy security and all..”

Alicia normally would have pointed out that he wasn't doing a very good job of keeping the museum secure, by telling a strange person that something weird had been found on the premises. "What kind of pictures?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She knew that she shouldn't act flirtatious, considering her backstory was that she was engaged, but it was evident that this man was not the sharpest tool in the shed. She needed to get some information out of him and obviously Ethan and Anna thought she was doing a good job, because the pair was in a stunned silence, lingering behind her and playing the role of uncomfortable friends well.  "Oh god, that's weird. I hope it wasn't anything indecent."

"If it was, at least it'd make sense for your typical prankster," the man said, shaking his head and smiling at her. He was definitely buying the flirting, even though she was engaged for all he knew. He might not have been a smart guy, but at least he was friendly and sociable.  "Pranksters don't usually fill a museum with pictures of some weird blue lake. I mean tons of them too. We found Polaroids of a lake basically everywhere. In every single room, every single exhibit - it’s insane!”

"Oh..." she said, feigning confusion.

He took one out of his jacket pocket. "Like this?" he said. "Isn't that weird."

Alicia had definitely hit the jackpot with this man. She took a step forward and looked at the image. In it, there was a lake of crystal clear blue water. It seemed enchanted or something, because just the image mesmerized Alicia to look deeper and deeper into it's long abyss. The lake almost sparkled, as if she was looking at a real lake in the sunlight, rather than a polaroid picture. "Wow," she said softly. "That's beautiful, but the stupidest prank that I've ever heard of."

Being her, Anna and Ethan were quiet. They'd obviously accepted that this was her ruse to perpetrate.

"Well, we'll get out of your hair," she said, turning to Anna and Ethan to signal to them with her eyes that they needed to get out of there. The message had been left for them.

The alarm screamed. It was loud and shrieking, begging for everyone to listen. It wailed incessantly. The security guard who had been talking to them looked around and then yelled. Panic flashed through his firm, burly features, and she knew he was probably thinking about saving his own ass. "Get out!" he yelled at them, before picking up a walkie-talkie that was in his waistband. Someone on the walkie-talkie was speaking and even though the sound was muffled, Alicia heard at least one thing: “Code Red."

He ran in the opposite direction of them. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, sprinting away from them, huffing as he did. She could hear him cursing under his breath as he headed out and towards something.

It only took the trio  a moment to decide to follow in the direction of the security guard. They rushed after him toward the main entrance of the museum. It was only then that they saw the entry hall was flooded, water up to the man's calves as he stopped running and practically skidded to a halt when he tripped. He fell forward. They rushed in after him, looking around as at least ten security guards suddenly started to convene around the area. The water was spreading and there was no known source. Alicia helped the man to his feet, quickly. He looked back at her, eyes wide in wonder.

"Sandbags!" screamed one of the security guard, a tall man with pale skin and red hair. "Gotta keep the water from spreading into the exhibition rooms. Find some sandbags. I think we have a few in the security offices.”

Alicia felt pretty helpless in that moment. She looked all around her at the chaos that was occurring and as stupid as it was, she felt a twinge of fear for the museum. She had been working there for years and she loved the place more than anything. There was nothing that she could really do to protect it though. Her abilities were with fire, so she couldn't exactly do anything with them. She looked over at Ethan and Anna.

"What do we do?" Anna asked, moving closer to Ethan.

Alicia looked to Anna. Anna had the ability to move things with her mind. "I'm going to run and see if I can help these guys block the main exhibits. Anna, can you maybe move the water?"

Anna looked startled at that, as if the idea was not one that she had ever entertained in her life. Her eyes widened. “I’ve never tried to move water,” she said, hand on her chest as she leaned a bit towards Ethan. She nodded and stilled her expression.

“You can do it, Anna,” Ethan assured her softly. He had his hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"I'll try."

Alicia ran off and did her best to help the men. They managed to get some sandbags from the store closet and did their best to block off the main floor. Alicia did all she could with to help. She helped the security guards pile up the sandbags to try and keep the water from spreading out of the entry hall and into the exhibition rooms.

It seemed hopeless, however, until the flood waters receded back into nothingness. It moved back, seeming to evaporate into nothingness as it moved away and towards the door. A wave rushed through.

"How the hell..." one man began.

Anna was leaning heavily on her husband. She looked downright exhausted. Alicia ran over to her and then hugged the woman tightly. "God, Anna, you're amazing," she said, trying to show her friend how much her actions meant. Although it hardly meant anything in the scheme of things, the museum was a place that was precious to Alicia and whomever had done this, whoever had the girls, knew how to drive a point home.

"L-let's go outside," Anna said, still holding tightly to Ethan.

They quickly walked outside. Firetrucks had begun to show up at the museum. Even though it was late, a small crowd had gathered up. Obviously the locals had seen or heard the commotion and had wanted to see what was going on. Anna was practically plastered to Ethan's side the entire time.  Alicia backed up and sighed heavily.

"What the hell were you thinking?" a voice asked.  It jolted her back to life.

It was Detective Wayne. Alicia was running high on adrenaline and anger and shook her head. "They left a clear message for us here," she told him, tears in her eyes in spite of herself. "There was nothing more than a loud and clear message for us."

He pulled her into a hug. That surprised her immensely. "I'm sorry," he said. "They're obviously toying with you, whoever this is. I...I'm pretty sure it's her. She really did love cat and mouse games. It's going to be okay, I promise."

They watched as the museum security worked and then decided that there was nothing else for them there. It was time to move on.

Chapter Nine

Alicia was panicked as they left the museum. Elliot could feel it and by the time they got back to her place, he had his arms around her. He just wanted to hug her, comfort her, make her feel better. He didn’t know why she had such a strong effect on him, but she really did. So, that was why he was trying to comfort her. Unfortunately, she didn’t really understand it.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, looking at him with an accusing face. It was definitely a projection of her fear and anger, but in a way he didn't mind at all. He let her take it out on him. He probably deserved it.t

"I just care..." he assured her.

Evidently, his caring words were enough because she shook her head, tears in her eyes. "I'm just so afraid that I'm going to lose Rhi," she whispered. "It's been my daughter and I against the world for the last eight years. I need my baby." The tears flowed freely and all he wanted to do was just hold her. So, he kept his arms around her lightly.

"I know how you feel, Alicia," he assured her.

That was when her sadness turned to anger yet again. He knew immediately that he should not have said that, but still, he could not take the words back. He inhaled and braced himself while she let loose her anger and fear on him. Once again, he probably deserved it, so he just accepted it. "How can you know?" she asked. "You can't possibly know how it feels to fear losing your child. I can't lose Rhiannon. I need my baby and you can't possibly know how that feels."

Her fury was palpable and he took a deep breath. "I can," he told her, not even sure why he'd blurted that out. It was something that they didn’t really need to talk about. It was unneeded information and would probably come off wrong in this case. "I was almost a father once." The words just came out and Elliot's head spun. Even though he'd told Alicia more about himself than he'd ever really told anyone, his own words stunned him. He never told anyone about that time, the child that had been lost. It was stupid. Why did he say it?

Alicia seemed just as stunned as he did and was looking at him with wide eyes. It made him realize how brown and expressive they were. It seemed like he could get lost in her eyes forever. "What happened?" she asked, stammering out the words.

Elliot shrugged his shoulders lightly. He tried to downplay it, because he really should never have said it in the first place.  "It was the same psychopathic girlfriend that I think took your daughter," he said honestly. "She was pregnant. She lost the baby. Shouldn't be that surprising considering all of the things she was messed up in." He shook his head again. "Sorry, I don't mean to bring the morbid topics up. I just wanted to let you know that I really always wanted to be a father and I will do whatever it takes to help you with your daughter."

To his surprise, Alicia leaned over and hugged him. It was just a gentle hug. "I'm glad that I have your help," she admitted out loud.

"You're a wonderful mother and I know how much your little girl means to you," he said as he hugged her back. He kept his arms around her for a moment then let go, to give her space.  "I will do anything to help bring her back to you."

Alicia smiled. It was a genuine, thankful smile.  "Thank you, Elliot."

There was a brief moment of silence between them, then Alicia leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He hadn't even realized that she had done it until she stopped and pulled back. There was a faint blush on her face. After it was done they both just sat there. He could tell that she had a lot going through her head and he had the same. There was a lot that they needed to think about, but now was not the time.

Their quiet reflection was nice, honestly. Elliot had so much in his head that he needed to reflect. Their reflection, however, was interrupted with a loud and overwhelming scream from the other room. "Anna!" Alicia yelled and dislodged herself from Elliot's side. She ran and he immediately ran after her. Obviously, Anna, who was in the other room, was distressed.

They found Anna standing in the middle of the room and holding a cell phone against her ear. She had tears running down her cheeks. The woman was turning her head from side to side, as if she was trying to shake something off. Elliot had a feeling that it was something she was trying to shake out of her mind, though. What had happened?

"I am on my way," she assured whoever was on the other end of the line. She then hung up her phone.

"What is it Anna?" Alicia asked. She put a hand on Anna’s shoulder.

The woman looked up at them, tears still flowing. "I don't even know why I'm crying," she said softly, shaking her head, "but there's been a flood at the paper. I need to go down there. I know that it's probably a trap, but I have to go make sure that everyone's okay."

"It probably isn't the best thing to do," Elliot agreed, even though the knew that she'd do it anyway. He was beginning to realize the strength of these people. He realized now that they would do what they had to do, whether or not it was the right thing to do.

"I don't think you should either," Ethan said, as he entered the room, "but if you are, I'm coming with you."

"Ethan, I can go alone," she said softly, looking to her husband with wide, sad looking eyes. The woman was really struggling. Elliot was reminded once again of what the Celestial Centerpoint had done to people. It was shaking up these good people, just because they had the misfortune of being marked when they were little kids. "I promise that I can..."

"I'm not letting you go alone," he said. His voice was stern.

"Fine, come with me!" she said angrily. The emotions were running high. "Just take your own car though, Ethan. Follow me. I just...I need a minute..."