FIC: In the Arms of the Wicked, 24 (Ian/OMC, Don, Charlie, Megan, Larry, Liz, OCs, PG-13)
Title: "The Missing Factor"
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 24/?
Characters: Ian/OMC, Don, Charlie, Megan, Larry, Liz, OCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Someone’s true identity is revealed.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0mand the great lillyg .
Previous chapters: Click here.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
24: The Missing Factor
“Hey,” Ian firmly said, and Farrow stopped tapping the table. The rhythm had been upsetting him for a minute now and he needed silence to concentrate. “What is this again?” he said, lifting the glass Farrow had served a minute ago.
“It’s called sangría. It’s a drink from Spain - that’s where Sergio was born. Anyway, it’s made with ice, red wine, brandy and I think some triple sec. It also has lemons and oranges to make it fresher.”
The sniper took a sip and realized that it was quite good. However, something else required his attention. “Go, Don.” He spoke to his cell phone sitting on the table between him and the archeologist.
Don’s voice rose to lead the conversation. “The results on the pictures the CalSci students provided us will be available in five. What do you have, Charlie?”
Sounds of techs talking in the background, papers being flipped around, and laptop keys being pressed were heard through the cell phone. Thoughtful, Ian entwined his fingers and let his chin rest on them. He had the feeling there would be revelations soon, and he was never wrong about that. Snipers tended to develop an intuition about whether or not an operation was going to be successful.
Within seconds, Professor Fleinhardt and Professor Eppes started their explanation. The latter said, “We assumed that the series of events we have so far are all interconnected to one another. However, they might not necessarily work together that way.”
It was usually hard enough to follow him at the office, even when he was surrounded by support equipment and could show graphics, figures and animation to those who didn’t understand him. Now, without all that, Ian waited for an analogy or the final punch. He tried to keep up as he analyzed every single word that was coming out of his cell phone, but he couldn’t restrain himself from saying, “What the hell does that mean?”
“The links could exist only between some of the facts so they are in the right order. For example, that’s how word structure works,” Professor Eppes continued. “There are events - in this case, letters - that don’t make sense as words in a language unless there are certain other vowels or consonants behind and after them. So what we have to do is find the right order that links the buried pieces of art, the Horus-eye, the CalSci shooting, the jet explosion, the bomb in the SUV and the discovery of Richard Peyton’s body…”
“There something else, guys,” Agent Warner muttered. “You don’t know this yet, but there is news on Louis Terrence. He was found…”
“He was found buried in my land,” Farrow explained, and he sounded angry as he came closer to the speakerphone. “He was taken out of his grave in Phoenix and wrapped in a plastic bag so I’d see him like that. Can we move on?”
“Sit down,” Ian commanded, and Farrow silently obeyed.
“I’m sorry, Christopher,” Professor Fleinhardt said.
Farrow leaned on the back of his chair and rubbed his hands on his darkened face. “It’s fine. No one could have done anything about it.” What he was saying was true, but his reactions were definitely hiding something else - the lie Ian had seen all along but hadn’t been able to figure out yet.
Quietly, Ian made mental notes on the latest people he’d had news about.
One bodyguard down.
Sergio was left at the hospital.
Louis Terrence - Farrow’s former lover, killed in 2007 for still not clarified reasons. Motive could be a bad business relationship between Farrow and someone else.
Richard Peyton - his friend, found dead in L.A.
Lillian Fisher - another friend, still missing.
There was the sound of someone taking a breath. Don said, “How does that fit your theory, Charlie?”
“It doesn’t really alter the structure we came up with… The truth is, it looks like two groups of people with different intentions are involved. The robberies, the shooting, the jet and SUV bomb, plus both Peyton’s and Terrence’s bodies… Those events are a direct attack to Dr. Farrow. However, the found pieces that lead us to the Horus-eye indicate protection, which means someone’s watching his back.”
“Of course, there are links to Christopher’s past,” Fleinhardt said. “Whoever is trying to hurt him, they know exactly how to do it. They were able to track Louis and put him right in front of his eyes with the obvious motive of causing deep psychological damage, isn’t it possible, Megan?”
“It is, absolutely,” she responded.
“So we think that the person who’s working for the cult used to be part of Christopher’s circle before, during and after Louis’ death.”
There was silence on the line. Ian took a deep breath and watched how the archeologist’s hands turned into fists.
“No one. Lillian, Richard, Sergio and my bodyguards have been my friends for years now…” Farrow started saying.
“But Lillian is missing since she went to the hospital to find Richard,” Ian muttered.
Fleinhardt’s voice came out of the cell phone. “You have to be ready to face new outcomes that could define strange scenarios, Christopher. Maybe someone is not who you think they are.”
The idea seemed to disturb Farrow. He bit his bottom lip and stared at the table, frowning.
“Megan?” Don called.
She responded, “I’ve got some pictures here…”
“What pictures?” Farrow asked.
“Pictures of you and your friends. I found them in a box, in your attic. A lot of them are very interesting… Did you happen to work on a project involving the Horus-eye, Dr. Farrow? Because I can see you here in a lab examining antiques with Lillian and Richard…”
“It was a five years ago in France. That’s when I met them.”
“Is Lillian the woman with the red hair?”
“Yes.”
“Who else did you know by then?
“Only one of my bodyguards… the one who died. I met the others recently.”
“What about Sergio?”
“Just… Leave him out of this. He started working with me three years ago, and he’s always been there for me.”
Things were slowly starting to come together in Ian’s head. As he listened to Reeves and Farrow talk, his mind started putting some pieces in the right order. Maybe Professor Eppes’ ideas do make sense, no matter the distance or the lack or support material.
“Okay… Lillian seems to be very attached to the Horus-eye symbol,” Reeves continued.
“She’s always talked about it a lot. I think she’s more passionate about that subject than me. She always carries around some kind of necklace with the Eye. In a way, it’s like her signature…”
“I can see a tattoo on her chest… A little representation of the Eye, along with a number.”
Suddenly, Farrow’s eyes widened. “A number?”
“Yes, why?”
He covered his face with his hands. “She’s part of the cult.” Everyone snapped a shocked, “What?” so he explained, “That’s a mark the members use to get into secret reunions…”
“And how do you know that, if they’re secret?” Reeves asked.
There was silence, until he answered, “Because I studied this organization, remember? I was involved in several investigations about it.”
Ian observed his reactions and the way he talked. Farrow kept so many secrets. For now, however, the sniper decided to move on. “So you think Lillian’s the one behind the bomb that killed your bodyguard?” He waited for the archeologist’s answer, but it never came.
Tension was in the air again until Don announced, “Hold on, I’ve got the results on the picture… Okay, I wasn’t expecting this.” Farrow folded his arms tightly as the answer took some time to come.
“We have a positive ID on the CalSci shooter… Sergio García,” Warner finally said. “Born in Spain in 1979…”
It seemed like a bomb had been thrown through the line. Dr. Farrow froze in front of Ian, who didn’t really think the news was so surprising. “I gotta go back to that hospital near Phoenix. We left Sergio there,” the sniper informed.
“Oh dear, he’s the missing 1/64,” Fleinhardt explained. “He’s the missing piece in this puzzle, the factor that makes all the Horus-Eye fractions, when added, give us a unity and not just 63/64. Like the old wise men would say, he’s the element that takes our minds closer to the light and reveals the hidden facts behind this mystery. It’s a revelation.”
“I get it now,” Farrow muttered. “Lillian somehow found out about his plans but she couldn’t tell me because he’s with me all the time, so she sent me a message through the pieces of art… Using the Horus-eye, which represents her, she tried to tell me to protect myself. She wanted me not to trust anyone.”
Ian put his hands on the table. “I think we’re closer to find out what’s going on here. Even closer than most people think,” he muttered, fixing his eyes on Farrow, who held his gaze on him, too. “Don, tell the local police to pay Sergio a visit so he’s there by the time any of us get there.”
“All right. I’ll also tell David and Colby to go there as soon as they land,” Don informed, and it seemed that everyone was starting to work on what would become the next stage of the current investigation.
A little confused, Ian took his sangría from the table and examined it closely. “Sergio.” He saw Farrow nod and decided that it’d been a mistake to have his drink. He took both glasses and got up, but as soon as he made a step forward, dizziness affected his ability to move.
The glasses crashed against the floor and within seconds, Farrow was trying to catch him from falling. However, whatever that sangría had, it was making him weaker, too. When Ian was on his fours, fighting the power of the tampered Spanish drink, he heard something.
Footsteps.
He and Farrow froze until someone appeared at the door.
Sergio’s body seemed to be taller from the floor. He stood there as they lost their energy, watching the scene. He obviously didn’t care. Not one bit.
“You… son of a…” Farrow muttered, but before he could finish the sentence, he collapsed on the floor.
Don’s voice came out of the cell phone. “What’s going on? Ian! Farrow!”
I gotta… Ian’s trembling hand reached for Sergio, but it was too late. He hadn’t seen it coming. For a moment, he’d thought he’d found people who he could trust in.
Evidently, he’d been wrong.
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 24/?
Characters: Ian/OMC, Don, Charlie, Megan, Larry, Liz, OCs.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Someone’s true identity is revealed.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0mand the great lillyg .
Previous chapters: Click here.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
24: The Missing Factor
“Hey,” Ian firmly said, and Farrow stopped tapping the table. The rhythm had been upsetting him for a minute now and he needed silence to concentrate. “What is this again?” he said, lifting the glass Farrow had served a minute ago.
“It’s called sangría. It’s a drink from Spain - that’s where Sergio was born. Anyway, it’s made with ice, red wine, brandy and I think some triple sec. It also has lemons and oranges to make it fresher.”
The sniper took a sip and realized that it was quite good. However, something else required his attention. “Go, Don.” He spoke to his cell phone sitting on the table between him and the archeologist.
Don’s voice rose to lead the conversation. “The results on the pictures the CalSci students provided us will be available in five. What do you have, Charlie?”
Sounds of techs talking in the background, papers being flipped around, and laptop keys being pressed were heard through the cell phone. Thoughtful, Ian entwined his fingers and let his chin rest on them. He had the feeling there would be revelations soon, and he was never wrong about that. Snipers tended to develop an intuition about whether or not an operation was going to be successful.
Within seconds, Professor Fleinhardt and Professor Eppes started their explanation. The latter said, “We assumed that the series of events we have so far are all interconnected to one another. However, they might not necessarily work together that way.”
It was usually hard enough to follow him at the office, even when he was surrounded by support equipment and could show graphics, figures and animation to those who didn’t understand him. Now, without all that, Ian waited for an analogy or the final punch. He tried to keep up as he analyzed every single word that was coming out of his cell phone, but he couldn’t restrain himself from saying, “What the hell does that mean?”
“The links could exist only between some of the facts so they are in the right order. For example, that’s how word structure works,” Professor Eppes continued. “There are events - in this case, letters - that don’t make sense as words in a language unless there are certain other vowels or consonants behind and after them. So what we have to do is find the right order that links the buried pieces of art, the Horus-eye, the CalSci shooting, the jet explosion, the bomb in the SUV and the discovery of Richard Peyton’s body…”
“There something else, guys,” Agent Warner muttered. “You don’t know this yet, but there is news on Louis Terrence. He was found…”
“He was found buried in my land,” Farrow explained, and he sounded angry as he came closer to the speakerphone. “He was taken out of his grave in Phoenix and wrapped in a plastic bag so I’d see him like that. Can we move on?”
“Sit down,” Ian commanded, and Farrow silently obeyed.
“I’m sorry, Christopher,” Professor Fleinhardt said.
Farrow leaned on the back of his chair and rubbed his hands on his darkened face. “It’s fine. No one could have done anything about it.” What he was saying was true, but his reactions were definitely hiding something else - the lie Ian had seen all along but hadn’t been able to figure out yet.
Quietly, Ian made mental notes on the latest people he’d had news about.
One bodyguard down.
Sergio was left at the hospital.
Louis Terrence - Farrow’s former lover, killed in 2007 for still not clarified reasons. Motive could be a bad business relationship between Farrow and someone else.
Richard Peyton - his friend, found dead in L.A.
Lillian Fisher - another friend, still missing.
There was the sound of someone taking a breath. Don said, “How does that fit your theory, Charlie?”
“It doesn’t really alter the structure we came up with… The truth is, it looks like two groups of people with different intentions are involved. The robberies, the shooting, the jet and SUV bomb, plus both Peyton’s and Terrence’s bodies… Those events are a direct attack to Dr. Farrow. However, the found pieces that lead us to the Horus-eye indicate protection, which means someone’s watching his back.”
“Of course, there are links to Christopher’s past,” Fleinhardt said. “Whoever is trying to hurt him, they know exactly how to do it. They were able to track Louis and put him right in front of his eyes with the obvious motive of causing deep psychological damage, isn’t it possible, Megan?”
“It is, absolutely,” she responded.
“So we think that the person who’s working for the cult used to be part of Christopher’s circle before, during and after Louis’ death.”
There was silence on the line. Ian took a deep breath and watched how the archeologist’s hands turned into fists.
“No one. Lillian, Richard, Sergio and my bodyguards have been my friends for years now…” Farrow started saying.
“But Lillian is missing since she went to the hospital to find Richard,” Ian muttered.
Fleinhardt’s voice came out of the cell phone. “You have to be ready to face new outcomes that could define strange scenarios, Christopher. Maybe someone is not who you think they are.”
The idea seemed to disturb Farrow. He bit his bottom lip and stared at the table, frowning.
“Megan?” Don called.
She responded, “I’ve got some pictures here…”
“What pictures?” Farrow asked.
“Pictures of you and your friends. I found them in a box, in your attic. A lot of them are very interesting… Did you happen to work on a project involving the Horus-eye, Dr. Farrow? Because I can see you here in a lab examining antiques with Lillian and Richard…”
“It was a five years ago in France. That’s when I met them.”
“Is Lillian the woman with the red hair?”
“Yes.”
“Who else did you know by then?
“Only one of my bodyguards… the one who died. I met the others recently.”
“What about Sergio?”
“Just… Leave him out of this. He started working with me three years ago, and he’s always been there for me.”
Things were slowly starting to come together in Ian’s head. As he listened to Reeves and Farrow talk, his mind started putting some pieces in the right order. Maybe Professor Eppes’ ideas do make sense, no matter the distance or the lack or support material.
“Okay… Lillian seems to be very attached to the Horus-eye symbol,” Reeves continued.
“She’s always talked about it a lot. I think she’s more passionate about that subject than me. She always carries around some kind of necklace with the Eye. In a way, it’s like her signature…”
“I can see a tattoo on her chest… A little representation of the Eye, along with a number.”
Suddenly, Farrow’s eyes widened. “A number?”
“Yes, why?”
He covered his face with his hands. “She’s part of the cult.” Everyone snapped a shocked, “What?” so he explained, “That’s a mark the members use to get into secret reunions…”
“And how do you know that, if they’re secret?” Reeves asked.
There was silence, until he answered, “Because I studied this organization, remember? I was involved in several investigations about it.”
Ian observed his reactions and the way he talked. Farrow kept so many secrets. For now, however, the sniper decided to move on. “So you think Lillian’s the one behind the bomb that killed your bodyguard?” He waited for the archeologist’s answer, but it never came.
Tension was in the air again until Don announced, “Hold on, I’ve got the results on the picture… Okay, I wasn’t expecting this.” Farrow folded his arms tightly as the answer took some time to come.
“We have a positive ID on the CalSci shooter… Sergio García,” Warner finally said. “Born in Spain in 1979…”
It seemed like a bomb had been thrown through the line. Dr. Farrow froze in front of Ian, who didn’t really think the news was so surprising. “I gotta go back to that hospital near Phoenix. We left Sergio there,” the sniper informed.
“Oh dear, he’s the missing 1/64,” Fleinhardt explained. “He’s the missing piece in this puzzle, the factor that makes all the Horus-Eye fractions, when added, give us a unity and not just 63/64. Like the old wise men would say, he’s the element that takes our minds closer to the light and reveals the hidden facts behind this mystery. It’s a revelation.”
“I get it now,” Farrow muttered. “Lillian somehow found out about his plans but she couldn’t tell me because he’s with me all the time, so she sent me a message through the pieces of art… Using the Horus-eye, which represents her, she tried to tell me to protect myself. She wanted me not to trust anyone.”
Ian put his hands on the table. “I think we’re closer to find out what’s going on here. Even closer than most people think,” he muttered, fixing his eyes on Farrow, who held his gaze on him, too. “Don, tell the local police to pay Sergio a visit so he’s there by the time any of us get there.”
“All right. I’ll also tell David and Colby to go there as soon as they land,” Don informed, and it seemed that everyone was starting to work on what would become the next stage of the current investigation.
A little confused, Ian took his sangría from the table and examined it closely. “Sergio.” He saw Farrow nod and decided that it’d been a mistake to have his drink. He took both glasses and got up, but as soon as he made a step forward, dizziness affected his ability to move.
The glasses crashed against the floor and within seconds, Farrow was trying to catch him from falling. However, whatever that sangría had, it was making him weaker, too. When Ian was on his fours, fighting the power of the tampered Spanish drink, he heard something.
Footsteps.
He and Farrow froze until someone appeared at the door.
Sergio’s body seemed to be taller from the floor. He stood there as they lost their energy, watching the scene. He obviously didn’t care. Not one bit.
“You… son of a…” Farrow muttered, but before he could finish the sentence, he collapsed on the floor.
Don’s voice came out of the cell phone. “What’s going on? Ian! Farrow!”
I gotta… Ian’s trembling hand reached for Sergio, but it was too late. He hadn’t seen it coming. For a moment, he’d thought he’d found people who he could trust in.
Evidently, he’d been wrong.