Juanita turned her car around and headed back to her apartment. She quickly packed a bag and put Nano in his cat carrier. She went to Melissa’s apartment and rang her doorbell several times. She tried calling out, but no one came. Scrolling down to Melissa’s number on her cell phone, Juanita pressed the button and waited. Melissa’s voicemail came on. Juanita left a message, but didn’t have any hopes of getting a response. Melissa always answered her cell phone. Juanita rang the number for Wilson’s office.
“Kevin Wilson’s office, this is Karen.”
Juanita arched an eyebrow. “Karen, where’s Missy?”
“Is that you, Dr. Walton?”
“Yes, it is. Has Forrest moved Missy again?”
“I don’t know Dr. Walton. I was asked to come and fill this position permanently.”
“Permanently? Why did - never mind.” Juanita shook her head as she stepped in the lift. “Just transfer me to Mr. Wilson.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Walton. Mr. Wilson is away.”
“For how long?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, Dr. Walton.”
“OK, then transfer me to Mr. Forrest’s office.”
“Hold please….”
“G.W. Forrest’s office, this is Haley, how may I help you?”
Juanita furrowed her brow. “Haley, where’s Missy?”
“I don’t know, Dr. Walton. She was gone when I got here. Can I help you with something?”
“Yes, you can transfer me to Mr. Forrest.”
“Sorry, Dr. Walton. Mr. Forrest cancelled the rest of his appointments and left for the day. He won’t be back until tomorrow.”
“So… Mr. Forrest and Mr. Wilson are gone?”
“I don’t know about Mr. Wilson, Dr. Walton. Was there anything else, another line is ringing.”
“No, Haley. Thank you. Oh – I’m coming in to check on something, so don’t send security after me.”
Laughter. “OK, Dr. Walton. I’ll let them know. Sorry I couldn’t help.”
------------
Juanita stepped out of the lift and went to the office. The manager’s comments didn’t make her feel any better. The manager said Melissa left for work at her normal time. Juanita told the manager she was going to stay with a friend for a few days. Not knowing if this move was permanent, she didn’t feel the need to elaborate. She fastened Nano to the passenger seat and headed for Wisteria Hall. Juanita didn’t think it would be a good idea to risk taking Nano with her while she looked for Missy because she didn’t know what kind of situation she might get in, and Forrest would have a cow if he knew she brought him to work. Forrest hated all animals.
She pulled up to the security gates at Wisteria Hall. Once she identified herself, the guard opened the gates, and she drove along the dirt road. She thought about Donna as she drove through the fragrant tunnel of cascading purple blossoms. Donna had loved Wisteria Hall, but then anyone would. It was like walking onto a ‘Gone With The Wind’ movie set.
Gerald opened the door and greeted her with a smile. “Welcome back, Dr. Walton. Dr. Thundercloud said you would be coming. I didn’t expect you so soon. I’m afraid your room is not ready, yet,” he said, reaching for her suitcase.
“That’s OK, Gerald. I won’t be here for long, this time. I’m just dropping my things off. I have some errands to run, and I didn’t want to take my cat with me. I was hoping you and Cassie might look after him until I get back. I have food and fresh litter in the trunk.”
“Yes, of course we’ll look after him,” Cassie interjected, hugging Juanita. “Welcome back, Dr. Walton. I’ll take the little kitty.”
“His name is Nano,” Juanita smiled. “Thanks a bunch. I’ll be back later.”
“You run along. We’ll have your room ready by the time you get home.”
“Thanks, Cassie,” Juanita said and left.
------------
The intercom on the plane beside Jared buzzed. “Dr. Thundercloud, we’ve got clearance to land, and we’re approaching Barksdale.”
“OK, thanks Tim.” Jared pressed Juanita’s speed number. “Hey, sweetheart. We’re just about to Barksdale. Do I need to call someone to come get me?”
“I’m parked just outside the North Gate, next to the guard shack.”
“Have you had any luck?”
“No, Jared. I haven’t.”
“What about D’Netics?”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been there yet, but I did get quite a surprise when I called and told them I’d be coming in today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Wilson is away – no idea how long he’ll be gone. Mr. Forrest cancelled his appointments for today and went home, and Missy wasn’t there or at Mr. Wilson’s office. Haley – that’s the girl who is filling in as Forrest’s secretary – said Missy was gone when she got there.”
Jared grinned. “So, neither one of the top brass are at D’Netics?”
“No, Jared. When I talked to Karen – the girl who’s now Wilson’s secretary – she said personnel told her the position was permanent. I don’t know what’s going on. I told Haley I would be in the research department working, later on today.”
“Do you think you could get me in?”
“At D’Netics?”
“Yeah….”
“Yeah, sure. It would be a lot easier if I had some help from across the pond, though. Our problem is going to be the damn security cameras.”
Jared chuckled. “Did you grab the pizza?”
“Yep, and two extra-large Dr. Peppers.”
“Good. We can eat on the way. We’re landing. I’ll see you in a jiff.”
------------
Jared popped in his Bluetooth ear bud and pressed Gary’s speed number. “Gary, it’s Jared. We’ve landed at Barksdale. Where’s Donna? Can you talk?”
“Oh, hi, Babe.”
“Babe! I’ll take that as a no. At least for your sake, I hope that’s what you meant.”
“Yep.”
“Can you get away from her? I need to talk to you. It’s kind of important.”
“Yeah, hang on a second. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Jared slung his laptop strap over his shoulder and headed for the North Gate. “OK, Jared. I’m back. Sorry I kept you waiting. I thought you were going to call Sir Richard.”
“I didn’t need to talk to him. You can let him know I’ve arrived. Was Donna close by?”
“Yeah. We were playing a game of Trivial Pursuit. I don’t think D is enjoying it. It’s the UK version. Apart from the music questions, she’s not doing very well. What’s up? Have you found Missy?”
“No. I may be fast, but I’m not that damn fast. I just stepped off the plane. How would you like to help me get into D’Netics and leave them a little surprise?”
“Jared if you go up on the top floor, or in Forrest’s private parking lot, I can’t help you. VICi’s sensors can’t scan those areas. I can help you in the other areas, though.”
“Have you worked out a new version of ‘Acid Rain’?”
“As you say, I may be fast, but I’m not that fast. No, I haven’t had time. Been busy working on our death gene project.”
“Well, I have a cute little gal who’s gonna get me in. I thought maybe you could satisfy Forrest’s sweet-tooth if you catch my drift? Would ‘Dessert’ be enough protection for me?”
“Would it ever!”
Jared winced. “Easy Pal. I’ve got very sensitive ears. Remember? You don’t need to shout.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. It’s just – man - would that be a break for us! If you could load ‘Dessert’ from one of the lower level computers, I could then target it at D’Netic’s mainframe firewall alarm and basically re-open my back door.”
Jared frowned. “You mean you don’t want to wipe the whole fucking thing?”
“That would draw too much attention. I may, however, be able to figure out how they’ve been blocking me out. It would also give me a chance to see if Forrest was behind the BSV. This pretty little gal you’re talking about. That wouldn’t be my ex-fiancée, would it?”
Jared sighed. “It’s Juanita, Pal. She’s gonna help me but don’t worry. Unlike Sir Richard, I won’t get her shot.”
“Does she know you’re talking to me about this?”
“It was her suggestion. Well… she didn’t come right out and say it, but I read between the lines.”
“I see….”
“What do I need to do? Before I forget it, Forrest’s penthouse is one of the places I want to check. I have a gut feeling that’s where we’ll find Missy. Either there, or at his Cross Lake fortress. Personally, I’d prefer the penthouse.”
“Give me an hour and I’ll tweak ‘Dessert’ and then I’ll send the updated copy to your cell phone.”
“An hour! I would have thought you’d be able to do it in a few minutes.”
“This kind of hacking takes time Jared,” Gary groaned.
“Why? I thought it was the ultimate file killer.”
“It is, but I need to make it a little more obscure. Once it’s loaded to the mainframe, I’m going to tell it to go into stealth mode. They’ll never know it’s there.”
“I’ll give you an hour. That gives us time to have lunch and decide how we’re going to do this. There’s a park not too far from D’Netics. We’ll go and wait there, but if I haven’t heard from you within one hour, we’re going in. If Forrest has Missy, we have to get to her as soon as possible. Mother wouldn’t tell me everything, but she did say time was of the essence. I won’t see innocent blood spilt so you can re-open your back door. One hour, Gary!”
------------
After missing three questions in a row, Donna decided Trivial Pursuit was not her game of choice, especially not the UK version. Richard and Sam were winning, with one wedge to go. Gary needed two wedges and Donna – destined to be the loser – still needed four. She did OK with questions on science, food and music, but UK history was a mystery to her. She sighed. “Whose turn is it?”
“Mine,” Sam spoke up, reaching for the dice. He rolled a three and landed on a green square.
Donna groaned and drew a card. “Great. Science and Nature.” She paused. “All right Einstein here goes. What number is represented in Morse code by five dashes?”
Sam leaned his head back and looked toward the ceiling. “Let me see….”
“Oh come on Mate,” John encouraged. “Surely you know this!”
Richard glared at John. He was determined to beat Sam, but the victory wasn’t coming easy. Sir Richard softly smiled, more concerned with finding out whether or not anyone had located Melissa, than concentrating on the game.
Sam narrowed his eyes; one corner of his mouth turned up. “I’ll try five,” he said, giving the correct answer. He was now lined up for the last turn.
Donna threw the dice and got a question about a female British Prime Minister. She didn’t know the answer despite Sam giving her hints about alternatives to slate roofs. “I give up!”
“It’s Margret Thatcher, sweetheart,” Sam grinned.
Donna’s mouth gaped. “Damn! I should have known that!”
Alan walked next to Sir Richard and whispered something in his ear. Sir Richard stood to leave. “Excuse me a moment.” He motioned to John to accompany him. “Carry on with your game. You’re doing brilliantly, petal.”
“Sure I am,” Donna groaned. “As long as the question is about music. Whose turn is it now?”
“Mine - when Sam decides to stop cheating.” Richard reached for the dice.
------------
Gary and John followed Sir Richard into his office. Sir Richard closed the door and sat in his chair. John began without prompting. “Any news on Missy?”
“Not yet, John, but we may be well on our way to finding her,” Gary smiled. “I just got off the phone with Jared. Together, we come up with a brilliant plan to get rid of our black-out areas at D’Netics and re-open my back door to their mainframe.”
Sir Richard leaned forward. Gary started explaining. “Have you tweaked ‘Dessert’?”
“No. Like I told Jared, I need at least an hour. He said if he hadn’t heard from me by then, he was going in anyway. He said he wouldn’t see innocent blood spilt just so we could re-open our back door.”
Sir Richard grinned. “Neither would I. Get busy Gary. We need to meet that deadline. John call Jared and the team and get this coordinated. Since Jared and Juanita are going to be tiptoeing through the lion’s den, go with Jared’s judgement on this. I’m going to see if I can find out where Wilson went. He may have had a change of heart.”
John raised an eyebrow. “If he has, are you going to listen?”
“Depends on what he has to say.”