Chain Reaction 2.74: The Stink Eye

Alex

     When I get home from the Franco estate, Emily isn't here. To be honest, I'm not surprised. I'd only just recently gotten out of the doghouse. She must've gone back to Brielle and Graham's.

     I have the world's worst time finding any sleep. Something isn't right, and I think it's something in addition to Emily seeing Miss Franco throw herself at me. But I don't know what.
     Morning finally arrives, and I can't stand it any longer. I know I said I'd give Emily her space, but I just have to talk to her this morning. I just have to see her, to know she's okay. Alright, so maybe I'm a little obsessed, but if I'm ever going to get any sleep anytime soon, I have to stop this nagging feeling in my stomach.

      No big surprise, Graham isn't happy to see me. I offer an apologetic smile, and he opens the door and grudgingly lets me enter the house.
      "What do you want, Goth?"

     I do my best to be polite. "Good morning, Graham. I know I'm the last person you want to see, but may I please speak with Emily?"
     "She isn't here. What? Did she run out on you?" He grins with an evil glee, obviously thrilled that his daughter and I aren't on the best terms.
     "She's not here?" That gnawing sensation starts eating my stomach now.

     "Even if she were, I wouldn't go out of my way to patch things up between you two." He glares at me, but it doesn't worry me. No. What worries me is that he doesn't know where she is.
     "Okay," I say, feeling my eyes widen. "But would you at least try to call her? You don't have to tell me where she is, but at this point, I just want to make sure she's okay."
     "I was about to do that anyway since you've apparently lost track of her."
     I make a motion with my hands implying that he should go ahead. He pulls out his phone, still giving me the stink eye. After waiting a while, I see she doesn't answer for him either. It's still plausible that she doesn't want to talk to Graham in addition to me, so I only let my worry advance a small increment.

     He calls Ethan next. "No, don't worry. It's just Alex here has misplaced her."
     I roll my eyes. I'm not her babysitter. I can hear Ethan through the phone. He sounds very worried and upset his father isn't more worried.
     Brielle walks in, and Graham informs her of our 'ongoing' fight. I ignore him and ask if she's heard from her. Her eyes widen, and she pales before saying she hasn't. She hasn't called her mother. Well, she and Brielle have never actually been that close...
     "If you insist," Graham snaps, trying not to bark at his son while being furious with me. Giving me a loathing look, he says, "He's coming over."

     When Ethan gets here, Brielle offers to watch the kids while the three of us go into the study. Once in here, Graham points to the computer and orders, "Make yourself useful."

     He didn't have to tell me to do this. I was going to anyway, so it makes me mad that it looks like I'm following orders. As I fly past the various firewalls, I check everywhere for her, starting with the hotel check-in listings. Where did she sleep last night? There's nothing new on her credit card statement. She may have paid cash and used a fake name.
     I don't worry about the fact that there's a cop standing right behind me, I get into everything, including the traffic cameras. Meanwhile, Ethan tells Graham about how he has some of his buddies watching for her. It irritates the plum out of me that we can't file a missing person's report because it hasn't been twenty-four hours.
     The fact that I'm not finding anything at all is terrifying me. I check Franco's security cameras. As I do, I can't help but think that they don't really need me as their security guy. That was tricky. I'm probably the only one in the world that could get through it, and that was because I'm determined and scared to death. My brain is like it's in overdrive.
     I see her leave the front door but then nothing.
     Nothing.
     She's vanished. How? Does she hate me so much now that she's decided to disappear? She's brilliant; she could figure it out. There are ways to avoid being seen.
     But I can't see her also making her father and brother worry. No. Something sinister is going on here.
     I'd not been paying attention to the conversation in the background, but when I do, I hear it's nothing but Graham bashing me. He's telling Ethan how and why it is that I'm so good at what I do.
     Bastard.
     "Is this true, Alex? You wrecked his career?" Ethan asks, sounding surprised and hurt. "How could you do such a thing? No wonder Dad hates you!"

     Furious, I strike back. Graham went there, so I use my ammo. "Unfortunately, yes, it's true. But I'm not the only one with skeletons. Your father's are much more recent. Go ahead and tell him what you did with the Landgraabs, Graham." Saying anything about the Landgraab family is Ethan's trigger. It immediately diverts his attention.
    Ethan turns on his father. "Well, it is something I've been wondering."
    Graham gets defensive. "I helped Geoffrey is all. He was a good man."
    "He was on the payroll," I throw over my shoulder. You're not going to make light of this, Mr. Double-agent.
    Ethan tells me, "No he wasn't. I've seen their payroll."
    I let out a huff and do some quick keystrokes. "Look, Ethan."
    He stiffly walks over, obviously still not happy with me either, and I show him his father's name on an unlisted document. Honestly, that was entirely too easy. People are so stupid how they put everything on a computer with internet capability.
    "I told you Geoffrey was a good man!" Graham defends himself.
    "Why would he have an accountant on an unlisted document, Dad? What did you do for him?" Ethan glares.
     I laugh and go back to Franco's cameras. Square one again, the only thing I have of Emily so far. "Your dad wasn't an accountant," I tell Ethan, keeping going with my tell-all. Betraying SIMS could land Graham in jail, even if it might've been to attempt to accomplish something good.
     "Shut your face, Alex!" Graham hollers.
     "Dad?!"
     I'm on a roll. This is going to be so good. "He was-"
     "ALEX!"
     "-a spy."
     "I'm going to kill you!"
     I talk fast. "Go ahead and ask him! He worked for SIMS. And not very good at that. He double-crossed them." Booyah.
     Graham takes a step and grabs my ponytail in a b*tch move, trying to pull me to stand. Ethan intercepts and shoves him back.

     "I don't blame you for wanting to beat the plum out of him, but you can do that another time. You're my dad, and you've been lying to me? Here I am a police officer and being faced with the fact that my own father is a double agent?! With the Landgraabs?! You owe me an explanation!" Ethan yells at his father. Meanwhile, I stop listening again. Something has caught my eye. I don't know how I missed it before. Maybe because I was searching other stuff too fast.
     My heart pounds in my chest. Right on adjoining edges of the Francos' security cameras, I see a flash of movement. Emily walks to the edge, but she doesn't make it to the next one. I pause and replay the footage several times, slowing it down the last time, and what I see fills me with terrible fear.
     Amidst the yelling and accusations, I say in an eerie, false calm, "She's been kidnapped."

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