Page 88 of A Touch of Treachery
Gia shook her head.“No.Henrika’s pilot didn’t file a flight plan, so we haven’t been able to track the helicopter yet, but I have people working on it.”
A couple of the techs typed even faster on their laptops, as if they could make the helicopter location appear just by stabbing the keys quickly enough.
“What about Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo?”Percy asked.
Gia shook her head again.“There’s no sign of them.We’ve sent agents into the woods, but so far we haven’t picked up their trail.We did capture several of Henrika’s guards, but so far, none of them knows anything useful.”
Percy pinched the bridge of his nose.“Well, keep looking.I want Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo found, although right now the priority is Henrika Hyde and Bryce Finkley.Desmond will be wherever they are.”
“Oh, no,” Diego said.
His voice was barely above a whisper, but his fingers stuttered to a stop on his laptop, and the sudden silence was deafening.
General Percy zeroed in on him like a hawk diving for a mouse.“What’s wrong?”
Diego swallowed.“We’ve just received an email and a video message from Henrika.”
General Percy blinked at Diego for several seconds, as though he wasn’t sure whether he’d heard the tech guru correctly.Then he stabbed his finger at a large monitor that had been set up in the corner.“Put it up there,” he barked.“Now!”
Diego started typing again, and Henrika’s face appeared on the monitor.Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at it, and an expectant silence filled the library.Diego hit another key, and the video started playing.
Henrika grinned at the camera.“Hello, Jethro,” she purred in a low, silky, satisfied voice.“Are you also experiencing a sense of déjà vu, or is it just me?”
A muscle twitched in the General’s jaw, and his hands curled around the back of a chair like he wanted to rip the wood to pieces.
Henrika’s grin faded away, and she leaned closer, her green eyes staring straight into the camera.“My demands are simple.In return for your son, I want a full Section pardon and immunity for all my crimes.”
Gia was already shaking her headno-no-no, while Diego was chewing on a fingernail.Evelyn’s face remained smooth, but Joan glanced in my direction, anger flaring in her pale eyes, although I wasn’t sure whether the emotion was directed at me or Henrika or the whole messy situation.General Percy remained stone-faced.
Henrika leaned back and shrugged a shoulder.“I think my offer is more than generous.I’ll give you a few hours to think it over.You’ll receive further instructions then.”
She stared at the camera again, a cold look on her face.“Any attempt to locate me in the meantime will result in Desmond’s immediate execution.”
Lie, my synesthesia whispered.
I tilted my head to the side and stretched out with my magic, but my inner voice remained steady and certain.Henrika wasn’t going to kill Desmond.Not until she unlocked the secret of his galvanism.How much she might hurt him in the meantime ...well, I didn’t want to think about that.Icouldn’tthink about it, or I wouldn’t be able to function.
“I do hope we understand each other, Jethro.Next time, your agents won’t be so lucky when they storm one of my properties, and I’ll blow up more than just a dock and part of a mountain.And I will make sure that dear Desmond suffers the worst of all,” Henrika continued.“And none of us wants that, do we?”
She smirked at the camera a moment longer, then slashed her hand across her throat.The video cut off.
General Percy stared at the dark screen.His hands dug into the back of the chair again, and the wood creaked in protest.After several long, tense seconds, the General released his grip and stabbed his finger at Diego.
“Find out where that video came from,” he barked.“Now!”
Diego hunched over his laptop, his fingers flying across the keys.Joan took a seat next to him, cracked open her own laptop, and got to work.Gia and Evelyn glanced at each other, then Gia stepped forward.
“I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will anyway,” she said.“Section 47 policy is not to negotiate with anyone, no matter the hostages taken or the circumstances.”
“We are notnegotiating,” Percy growled.“We’re going to find Henrika, eliminate her, and rescue my son.Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” Gia replied in a reluctant voice.She might be the head of the cleaners, but Percy still outranked her.
Gia also sat down at the table, dragged over a laptop, and got to work.Evelyn took a seat beside Gia, still clutching a pad.Evelyn glanced toward me, her face blank, then started taking notes again.
My heart sank.Even though Desmond was missing, Evelyn was sticking to her assistant role instead of revealing her true identity and authority as Maestro.For a moment, I considered outing Evelyn and forcing her to confront General Percy, but making an enemy out of her wouldn’t do me—or, more importantly, Desmond—any good.
“We’re wasting time here,” Percy growled again.“Have one of the strike teams keep searching the woods for Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo, but I want everyone else packed up and on their way back to Section headquarters in ten minutes.”
