Waiting by Erin Dennington ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 74 Like in nightmare, the hallways appeared to stretch on forever. Davis knew that, logically, that could not be true, but he was getting goosebumps from anticipation and he was a little faint of breath by the time they reached the fork. Ahead of them, down the right corridor, was a lobby of some sort, while the corridor to the left headed to an exit that Davis figured led back to the front of the building, on the corner closest to his building. He figured that, if someone were to go out that way and head back to his office, they could most likely return and rejoin the rest of the group in close to 10 minutes. He was glad that Marty had taken over the role of leader in their search for Christina, for he didn't really relish the thought of going first into danger. It wasn't that Davis was a chicken. However, he was growing tired of the anticipation and the adrenaline rush that he'd had earlier had once again faded. He trudged along behind the others, sometimes lagging, as his mind traveled back to the past. He wasn't slipping into despair or fear, as he would have expected before his little discussion with Stella, but he felt more observant than he had in the past. He should have realized that Mateo/Matthew wasn't all that he appeared to be. However, even then, Davis had been willing to hide his thoughts and subconscious desires by concentrating solely on what was going on in his professional and romantic lives. At the time, it hadn't seemed all that important for him to be chasing down and reporting a maniacal teacher's assistant, because, simply put, Mateo had appeared perfectly sane. Now that he knew the worst, however, Davis wasn't going to be content with sitting back and letting Matthew ruin the world with his greedy desire. His mind churned, thinking of all the possibilities and ramifications behind everything that had been revealed. Davis discarded one plan after another, his keen mind quickly assessing and analyzing details and reactions as each plan unfolded in his mind's eye. The only plan that seemed as near perfect as it was going to get would be for them to sneak into the laboratory and dismantle all of the research computers and steal the data. But even that had its flaws, for there was simply no way of knowing who Matthew had contacted or who had received one of his shipments. And there would be no way of knowing if they had all of the information or data before they left, either. That fact led Davis to think that they'd have to somehow convince Matthew to "give up" the information on where he kept everything, and then they would have to torch the place, hoping that Matthew was too smart to trust others with his secret plot and data. Davis turned the idea over and over in his mind, searching for possible weaknesses and holes, and found none that could not readily and easily be patched up. Halting in the hallway directly after the turn they'd just made, he summoned the others to him, and, speaking in a hushed tone, told them what he had come up with. He planned on having Marty distract Matthew with questions about the experiment and insects. Bill would go back outside and get a camcorder from the channel 5 van and make sure that the machine was set to automatically record the date and time. Then, camcorder in hand, Bill would made an offer to air Matthew's Manifesto on live television. Davis hoped that Matthew's sanity would be so far gone that the offer to spread his Manifesto to the world would be too tempting an offer for him to pass up. Starting a tape rolling, Bill would physically document the evidence for the police by taping everything that Matthew said. Once the two of them had Matthew safely out of the picture, Stella would then be able to "free her mind" and see where Christina was located, as well as probe Matthew's mind for information about the payments and locations of his customers. Davis would monitor Stella and make sure that she remained safe and keep an eye out for any other people that might have been in on Matthew's plot, however doubtful that might be. Once Stella discovered what they were seeking, Davis would go along with her in her "returned" state and get Christina, make sure that she was unharmed, and then gather all of the evidence and materials before torching the place. Marty and Bill, meanwhile, would use their connections with the police department to arrest Matthew and turn over the taped "confession" that Matthew was sure to give them. "Any questions?" Davis asked after he finished outlining his plan for the others. "Everyone understand their parts? Everyone know what they have to do?" They all nodded and Bill decided that he might as well go back to the van now and get the camcorder, while Marty scouted ahead to see how far into the building they had gone. Stella and Davis, meanwhile, decided to find a restroom where they could lock themselves in and she could do her thing. They were all more than a little nervous about splitting up, but as Davis had explained, it was the only viable option that they now had. Davis' only regret was that they had been so crunched for time that none of them had thought to discuss this matter before entering the building. After checking that the lobby area was empty, Davis and Stella searched around until they found a public restroom, where, after entering, they locked the doors and sat on the floor. It was one of the fanciest restrooms that Davis had ever seen, but he supposed that could be partially attributable to the fact that it was a woman's restroom in a highly visible atmosphere. The floors were marble and had veins of what looked like jade and gold running through them. Better yet, the restroom even came with fake leather armchairs in a lobby type of area, where Davis supposed the women could sit and relax. It was really quite an interesting restroom, since Davis had never pictured a scientific laboratory having anything but highly economical furniture in its public areas. Davis led Stella over to one of the chairs and then sat down across from her. He looked at her, stared back at him. A few moments passed, and then Davis asked, "So how exactly does this happen?" "I'm not sure how it happens, but I know that it seems to be caused by the relaxed state of my mind after a really intense situation. Unfortunately, I can't just will it to happen. I wish I could." "Is there anything I can do to help?" Davis asked. "Not really. If I can't allow myself to relax or find a way to do so, I might need you to give me a neck massage. Otherwise I really don't know how you could help!" She closed her eyes and Davis leaned back, prepared to offer help however he could. 22:19 - 11.25.02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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