Quicksilver Dreams(181)
“Like Ranik?”
“Like Ranik and a few others who are currently under investigation. About eight months ago, Sy had a breakthrough. He found what he was looking for. Each sat link has a digital signature embedded in its transfer while in use that no Earth technology contains. That’s when Sy was able to locate where Frank was, and I came immediately.”
“How did that connect you to me?”
“We were able to find Frank whenever he used his sat link. Unfortunately, he wasn’t using it that frequently, and he moved around a lot, so we lost him several times. He managed to elude us over and over again over the years, somehow knowing what our moves were going to be before we did. A few months ago we saw that he was spending more and more time with your boss.”
“And so you started watching me?”
“We didn’t know who all was involved, helping him. I also rationalized the idea because I’d be able to get information from the inside. Find out what was going on, where he was holing up. Reggie was easy to find, but not easy to talk to without drawing attention to myself. I didn’t want to scare Ranik off just when I thought we’d get him. You were more accessible, so I could see what you were up to more easily, and as his assistant, you likely knew more about what was happening behind the scenes. Assistants always know more about what’s going on.”
I had to acknowledge that was likely true. “Why not just take Ranik out when he’s with Reggie?”
“We needed to take things slowly and be careful. That’s most important on Earth. I don’t think you can fully appreciate the delicate nature of the relationship we have with Earth. If taking extra time ensured a better result and kept the secret of our existence safe, I was okay with taking extra time. Imagine how Reggie would have reacted if we’d just grabbed Ranik while they were out and about.”
“He would have tried to beat you down.”
“Right. We couldn’t attract attention to ourselves or risk having the police get involved. We just wanted to find where Frank was calling home and grab him there, but he was smart enough to keep moving. He never stayed alone. He made friends everywhere, some innocent, some not.”
“He moved in with Reggie just over a week ago.”
“But now he likely knows we’re on to him again and will have moved on to hide under another rock somewhere.”
“So you were watching for him to find a pattern of movement and were hoping I would be able to provide you with the background details?”
“I was content to sit back at first, let Sy befriend you. I figured you were like every other woman in Hollywood, trying to get discovered. I had no interest in finding out anything else about you. Just wanted to gather my data and move on to capturing and securing Ranik. It was fortuitous that you worked for the company that Sunan owned.”
“My cousin turned me on to it.”
“She did?” He seemed surprised. “We don’t usually advertise.”
“I figured she knew my aunt was about to kick me out just when I was about to graduate from school and wanted to do me a solid by helping me find work. She was already working as a receptionist somewhere in the industry.” Hmm. As distasteful as it was to think of calling her—the idea really made me cringe internally—maybe it was worth a call to my aunt to shake her down a bit for some information.
The idea put a bad taste in my mouth, but I knew it was a good first step. Now that I was looking back, it did seem odd that my aunt, as much of a pain in my ass as she was, would agree to house me until the very last quarter of college, only to kick me out unexpectedly. Hmm.