Second Chances(100)

"Sorry to have you going twenty-four-seven, Jimmy. I simply don't have much choice. I've been put in a place where I don't know who it is I can trust."

Jimmy grinned and shook his head.

"No problem boss. I've pulled longer sessions in World of Warcraft."

"Of course," Cameron said, not having a clue what Jimmy was talking about.

"Besides I've slept in this office many times."

"I can't have you fal..."

"Don't worry about me missing anything. I have alarms set on the programs I have tracking them. I'd be awake and on top of them before they were out of the lobby."

Cameron said nothing.

"Trust me boss, I am on top of them."

"Okay, Jimmy. Any luck on that audio from earlier? Any chance you could get a trace on that?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Nah, no luck. Sorry."

"Anything on Dr. Merrick?"

"No. She went off the grid. I have every connection to her tapped, but so far not a peep."

"At the first sign, call us," Cameron said as he hung up the phone.

Jimmy clicked his phone over to the other line.

"Did you get all that?"

"Yes. Any other information?"

"Yes, Mr. Dillinger. I've been monitoring all traffic coming out of the hotel's internet connection and am certain this is a piece of the puzzle." Jimmy tapped a few keys on the laptop on his right. "Obviously someone has compiled these reports. Do you want me to delete the site or brick the server?"

"No, not yet. Can you check for mirror sites?"

"You basically want to know if I can erase this information from the net entirely?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, Mr. Dillinger. I can send out some programs to crawl the net and destroy the information if they find it, but to say with a hundred percent certainty that it will be completely gone, that I can't do. Controlling digital information isn't nearly as easy as hardcopy info."

"Do your best. Tag anything you find, but don't remove it from the net yet. I don't want to spook anyone. Things are already crazy enough without throwing extra chaos into the mix."

"You got it. What do you want me to tell Kassar?"

"Keep him up to date as he requested, information at a minimum, but make sure I get all information first."

"Of course."

"What's the story with Jason and Dr. Merrick?"

"I wasn't kidding with Kassar. She really has gone off the grid. Well, as much as possible anyway. She obviously did her homework, likely has new IDs and is probably paying cash for everything. I know you likely don't want me to use official channels, but if you'd let me piggyback on the main system I could have real-time facial recognition programs running and be able to..."

"No. It's not that important. As long as Cameron can't find them I am content. I'd rather not have this on the books, even in an unofficial way. Son of a bitch made it personal a very long time ago."

"There is going to be a job opening soon, isn't there?"

"Do you really want to know, Jimmy?"

"Um, no, I guess not."

"Don't mourn for Kassar just yet. He's made his own decisions and will have to deal with the consequences. How things end up, will be up to him. I personally hope he continues on the path he's been taking. I don't like his methods and he's already shown a willingness to expose us. I know the outcome I am hoping for. He makes any more of a mess and I will gladly clean it up."

The phone clicked off and Jimmy sat there for a moment. He thought about Dillinger's words and shivered as a chill ran down his back. He didn't ever intend to get on that man's bad side.





CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR



Nathan woke with a familiar and comfortable weight resting in his arms. He looked at her. She was sleeping soundly, there was almost a smile upon her face. Exhaustion was his only conclusion. He couldn't imagine how else she could manage to sleep. He'd woken every hour or so. He kept seeing the web pages in his mind, every news clipping and obituary. What did it all mean? What could it mean? So much death. Paige after Paige after Paige. What the hell did it all mean? What happened to his Paige? What happened to the other Paiges? What might happen to this Paige?

"Nothing," he said to himself. He didn't know what had happened to them. Perhaps the woman on the other end of the phone knew, perhaps she didn't. Whatever the case, he intended to make certain that nothing happened to the woman in his arms. She wasn't his Paige, but she was definitely someone special. She didn't deserve what was happening to her. Of that he was certain and if it was within his power to protect her, even a little bit, then he would do it.

Nathan carefully slipped out of bed. He went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head. He looked exhausted, felt it too. He wondered what Paige must think when she looked into the mirror. No doubt she questioned exactly who it was that was looking back at her. What must that be like? He was tempted to grab his phone, dial the number and demand answers. Part of him was worried the woman would just hang up on him and they would never hear from her again. The other half of him was worried she would actually give him answers. Was he prepared to deal with those answers? Was Paige?