Ch. 54 Missing: One Mutant Speed Demon

[Dome]

Isamu says, "I am sorry to disturb you Tyler. Jason has left. He says he is going to track down Charisma and find out what was done to him to cause his seizures. We are trying to locate him, but we are not sure exactly where he has gone."

He puts his hand over the receiver and shakes his head at Ashley, "no you and Janie can brief the others while I talk to her. I overstepped, I alone must face her."

[Mierin]

Alice looks more and more frustrasted and anxious as they drive back to base. 'Why won't anyone tell me what is going on?' she thinks to herself.

Getting out of the car, she looks for and locates Isamu. Seeing that he is on the phone, she waits with her hands on her hips looking impatient hoping someone would finally tell her what was happening.

[dakota]

Alice could overhear Tyler's rant on the other end of the phone. " That stupid sonuva... Look, we're out of town for a couple days, but if you need me to come back to drag his ass back, call me back. Get ahold of MacColter, and find out where all of the old NSCA crash pads were. Odds are he'll hole up in one of those hidey spots if he doesn't come home in the meantime. check my place too, I think he still has a key. Have that computer whiz of yours keep me updated."

Ashley saw Alice come in, and got Isamu's attention with a peck on the cheek, and then walked away slowly back to the others.

[Dome]

"Ok Tyler, thank you." Isamu hangs up the phone he says with a pained smile, "Hello Alice, I hope your operation out at sea went well. Let us talk in private." He leads Alice to whatever room is empty and after she steps in he closes the door.

He motions her to sit down and says, "the news is not terrible, but not favorable either. Please allow me to finish before you say anything. Jason has left. He acted as if he was intoxicated, once Ashley, December and myself returned home, he left with out word to anyone. We know he was acting because the bottle he had been drinking of had water inside not alcohol. However..." he pauses as he withdraws the envelope from his inner pocket, "...he left this envelope for you. I...uhh... I am terribly sorry, I read the letter. I was worried about his thought process since he was considerably depressed. I was hoping he would provide information as to where he went. My goal was to find him quickly. I know it is no excuse for the invasion of privacy I have committed, all I can say is I am truly sorry."

Isamu steps closer and hands the envelope over. He cannot help but show on his face how sorry he is for invading her privacy. "No one else knows its contents, if you want me to leave. I will," the pain of stating that evident in his voice.

[jeflint]

"It's ok Sam," Sasha said patting him on the shoulder. "As long as none of the people were injured that's the important part."

She stared at the wreckage of her bar/home and sighed. "Going to be here awhile," she texted Avi and Mario. "Get here when you can."

Putting the phone into her purse she went looking for the police officers. It would be better now to give a statement and get it out of the way.

[dakota]

" No Ma'am. I made sure everyone got out quick." Sam told Sasha as she spotted a detective talking to a fire captain. Her cell phone chirped the preset tone for Mario, it was his auto-reply, which Sasha now knew what he was up to when it was set.

The detective turned as he saw Sasha approaching. " Ma'am, you shouldn't be in here. I'm going to have to get a uniform officer escort you behind the barrier tape." He suggested in a forceful yet polite manner, just as she had seen plenty of other fresh detectives do. He grabbed the attention of a uniform officer with a beckoning hand gesture.

[sasqaricious]

Deci after Ashley said that but cringes to no end when she hears that Alice is home. Hoping that she is not number two on the hit list for people going down in the wrath that was kind of described to her. Having not much to do right now and fearing the wrath Deci gets up and heads to her room for safety.

[Mierin]

Alice sits down as she reads the letter quietly. Emotions show on her face as she reads the letter, ranging from intense surprise, to happiness and then sadness and then anger. She holds the ring in her hand, closing her hand around it as she tries to get control over what she is feeling, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

After a few moments, she opens her eyes with are shining a little and she says, her voice thick with emotion. "I am NOT happy that you read the letter, Isamu. It was a huge violation of my privacy and Jason's privacy." Taking a deep breath, she continues, clearing her throat, "However, I do understand why you did it." Standing up, she adds "I also know which cybercafe Jason is referring to in the letter. Where have you started looking?" As she waits for a reply, she tucks the ring securely in the front pocket of her jeans for safekeeping.

[doc]

Tom looks at Alice. "I'm not too much good in a search on my own - can't cover much ground like this and people notice a shiny metal guy on the street - plus there was that thing with the SWAT team a while back. But whatever I can do to help, just let me know."

[Mierin]

(OOC: Alice isn't with Tom anymore. She is in another room with Isamu)

[Dome]

Isamu sighs in visible relief as Alice speaks. He says, "I have had Janie begin to look for cybercafes near here and the firehouse. That line of investigation is not needed if you know where he is speaking of. Janie has also tracked his ATM use. He has been withdrawing the maximum at ATM's in an expanding arc away from the fire house."

He blushes as he looks at her again, saying, "as per his letter I had December and Janie search for any ties Charisma may have in Miami. Her only link seems to be Wraith. The problem as you know is that with Wraith's involvement with the police we must tread carefully. December suggested that we find a way to distract the police before moving against Wraith. With that in mind, I had her look for events drawing large numbers of people so that perhaps we can make a fake threat to distract the police. I am not comfortable with that course of action, however we now have it in reserve."

"Tyler suggested contacting MacCoulter and ask him about old CONTROL safe houses. He thinks Jason may use one of those. I must warn you about December, she... she seems to need to know that she is needed, and that we trust her. We have not had much time with her but failing to show her we trust her will lead to complications that we do not need as we look for him.

"Alice I will do whatever it takes to help you find him. We will find him."

[Mierin]

LIstening to Isamu describe what they've done so far, she nods and says "I'll give Janie the address of the cyber cafe, and I'd like to head over there to see if we can find any clues." She looks at Isamu before asking "And I would appreciate it if you kept the contents of the letter confidential, at least for now." Alice pats the pocket that she had just put the ring in. "I'll tell Janie what she needs to know so we can find Jason, but I'd like to keep that quiet for now."

Alice sighs a little when she hears about December. "I think that will be your job," she tells Isamu. "We don't always have time to hold everyone's hand and you're the more patient and level headed one of the two of us and she needs to act like a grown up and not like a child constantly needing reassurance and a pat on the head." For a minute, she sounds like William, who she had discovered was her grandfather, and had been training her to become a leader before he left the group.

Alice nod at Isamu with a sombre look on her face. "Yes, we will find him." she says quietly.

[doc]

(retract last post then)

"So, Janie, what can I do to help?" Tom asks as he wheels towards her.

[Dome]

Isamu nods, "I have told them to look for cybercafes and Charisma, I do not think anyone needs to know anything else about the letter. I will help you however I can. You are in charge."

[dakota]

" That depends, Tom." Janie replied, showing him what they had so far. " Are you any good at predictibility?" As she asked, her computer checking into monitoring the city traffic cam system blipped and changed screens for no reason behind her.


A light knock came on the doorsill, and Avi spoke softly," sorry to interrupt." He offered his cell phone so Alice could read the text. He looked at Isamu and Alice. " she asking for my help, but if you need me to help find Jason, I will."


Deci heard someone in the outer room between hers and the other bedroom, but they went into the other bedroom. There was a heavy thud of something hitting the bed, and then a long groan.