Morning came all too soon. Zechs woke first, and had to smile at his two partners. After the first time Duo had rolled off the couch in his sleep, they had pulled all the cushions off and made a nest on the floor of the lounge. Duo was currently curled up around Dorothy, using her as a teddy bear instead of Zechs. Thoughts of teddy bears, however, destroyed his good mood.
"Duo... Dorothy... Time to get up."
"Mmm?" Dorothy cracked one eye and glared at him. "Already?"
"Already." Standing up, Zechs sighed as he glanced down at his rumpled uniform. "Duo. Come on.... We have time for showers if you get up now."
"First you want me to sleep, then you want me to wake up...." Duo grumbled as he unwrapped himself from around Dorothy and sat up. "Any luck last night?"
"I'll fill you as we go... I want to get back to the house as soon as possible."
"Right..." Duo yawned, and staggered after Zechs. They had all copied Duo's example and left spare uniforms and clothing in the locker rooms. Once the three had showered and grabbed a quick breakfast, they headed back to the Senator's mansion.
"So... what's the plan?" Duo asked. Dorothy handed him a printout of the mansion's floorplans.
"Dorothy and Epyon are going to take a look at the security system, and see if they can figure out what was edited off of that disk." Zechs frowned. "You and I are going to search the house."
"Great." Duo glanced over the seat at Dorothy. "Wait... where's the virus?"
"Virus?"
"Epyon."
She winced, then glared at him. "It's not a virus. And at the moment, it's right here." She held up a small palm sized mobile.
"Cool." Duo grinned. "Do we have any suspects?"
"Everyone in security, the nanny, and a few of the household staff."
"Well... that certainly narrows it down..." Duo muttered softly, as he studied the floorplans that Dorothy had handed him. "Damn, this place is huge... this is going to take us a while."
"Maybe..." Zechs sighed. "But if you were a six year old child...what would you consider a dark place?"
"Alleys, sewers and warehouses," He rattled of automatically. Dorothy rolled her eyes at him.
"Okay, how about if you were the six year old daughter of a Senator...." Zechs tried again.
"Closets, attics and basements," Dorothy answered, as she whapped Duo lightly in the back of the head. "I hated all of them equally as a child."
"Hm. How about we rule out closets for the moment, since there are a million of them on the floorplan, and knock out the two biggies first." Duo glanced at Zechs. "You want the attic or the basement?"
"Both." Zechs turned the car onto the long drive leading to the Senator's home. "I'd rather we searched together, at least in the beginning."
"Hey, I'm over the whole thinking I was going crazy thing..." Duo muttered with a scowl.
"Yes... but for this first case... I'd rather you not be alone when trying this." Zechs glanced at him soberly. "If nothing else... that way we'll know better how to use your ability to our advantage."
"You make me feel like one of the X-men. Though if you even think about us wearing neon spandex outfits... you can go recruit Yuy instead." Duo managed a half-hearted attempt at a grin. Zechs swallowed hard, trying to ignore the image of his two partners in formfitting spandex that popped into his head. He had definitely spent too much time around Treize.
"Just hope this works. It's not like I've had a lot of practice at controlling...whatever it is that I see."
"Join the crowd," Dorothy muttered, sounding like she was trying hard to smother a laugh. "And... you shouldn't be alone."
"Huh?" Duo glanced over the back of the seat at her. "You seeing the future now or something?"
"No... but..." She flushed. "Epyon... saw that much last night."
"Why can't it just see where we need to look?"
"Because it can't control what it sees any more than you can," Dorothy snapped. "Shit. Sorry..."
"No... I shouldn't needle you about it. You guys don't give me grief about... Solo. And touching things."
"It's okay." She muttered.
"I really am sorry, Doro.... I'm just not...real comfortable with Epyon still being around yet."
"I... yeah. I can understand that." She sighed. "I'm still not sure how I feel about Treize and Solo..." Shaking her head a little, she managed a mock glare in Zechs' direction. "Treize had better not be watching me in the shower..."
Zechs managed to keep his face neutral with an effort. I wouldn't put it past him... I know he's been watching me. And Duo.
They split up just inside the house, with Dorothy ducking into the security room to return the disk to Gary, and Zechs and Duo heading for the back stairway that would lead to the attic. They had hoped to finish searching at least one of the two most likely places without running into either the Senator, his security staff or Lady Une. Unfortunately, the next corner found them running into both Senator Jameson and Lady Une... as well as the Senator's head of security.
"Milliardo...." The Senator greeted him anxiously. "Good... what have you found so far?"
"It's Zechs Merquise, Senator. I no longer go by Milliardo." Didn't we already go over this once?
'Of course you did...' Treize grumbled, finally reappearing in the hallway behind the man. 'Is it just me, or is he really fixated on the fact that you are a Peacecraft?'
'Well... this is off to a great start so far.' Zechs thought bitterly. 'And it's about time you showed back up again.'
"Zechs, Duo... you're back earlier than I expected." Lady Une didn't sound unhappy about that fact, just surprised.
"Lady, Senator." Zechs nodded at them politely. "Yes, we had a few more things to check out once it was light."
"There is a forensic team already searching the grounds outside," The Chief of Security, Robert Lowell, said with a tight smile. Zechs wondered if it was paranoia that made him suspicious of the man, or just his self-righteous attitude.
"We were actually interested in looking in Seely's room one more time," Zechs lied easily, nudging Duo to keep moving. The younger man nodded briefly at the two men, and went to brush past the Senator.
"Senator, have you met Duo Maxwell?" Lady Une said innocently. "He is one of Zechs' partners."
"No, I don't believe we were introduced." Senator Jameson stuck out his hand. "Glad to meet you, son."
"Nice to meet you..." Duo took his hand. It was only the fact that Zechs still had one hand on his shoulder that gave him any warning as suddenly his partner froze. Tightening his grip as much as he dared without actually throwing one arm around the younger man's waist, he managed to hold him up for the moment it took for Duo to recover.
"Senator, Une, Mr. Lowell... If you will excuse us, we need to make one last check of Seely's room, then we're heading out to check with the forensic teams."
"Of course..." Lady Une was staring at Duo suspiciously, but said nothing further as Zechs pushed him past the three and down the hall. Zechs waited until they were out of easy earshot of the larger group before tugging Duo to a stop.
"Duo...?"
Wide blue eyes, looking rather shell-shocked, met his uncertainly.
"Maxwell... talk to me."
"I... I think we left someone off the list of suspects..."
"Duo?" Zechs grabbed both of Duo's shoulders and pushed him back against the wall as the young man sagged suddenly. "Shit...I thought it was only touching inanimate objects...."
"It is..." Duo shook his head, then appeared to pull himself back together. "But he's wearing a ring... And apparently he was also wearing it when he picked up Seely's body."
"He killed his own daughter?" Zechs' hissed softly. "You saw that?"
"No... but... he at least was there... and he moved the body."
"What did you see?"
"Blood... Dirt...rough walls...." Duo shook his head. "And an open crate."
"Rough walls, were they stone?"
"I...maybe...?"
"Then let's rule out the attic and closets for now, and go straight for the basement."
Dorothy glanced into the security room, breathing a sigh of relief that Duo's contact was the only person currently occupying it.
"You're Gary, right?" She asked quietly, as she stepped into the room and shut the door. "I'm Dorothy, Duo's partner." She threw him what she hoped was a blinding smile. I knew I should have let Duo do this, and I could search the attic with Zechs. Like anyone is ever going to fall for me flirting with them.
"Uh...Hi..." He stared warily at her from his seat in front of the security monitors.
"Duo wanted me to give this back to you." She held out the disk.
"Thanks." the man muttered nervously, taking the disk quickly and putting it back on the rack. Dorothy ignored him, wandering over to the computers and peering curiously at the monitor.
"Nice setup you have here..." She put one hand on the frame to brace herself as she leaned closer to look at the bank of monitors; and felt Epyon release itself from where it had been coiled in the implant. The monitors flickered minutely, and she smiled at Gary again. "Is this a Kray 7000?"
"7002." He perked up again, now that the disk was safely back where it belonged, and she was talking about computers. "The Senator spared no expense on this system."
"He seems to be very security conscious."
"He's a very influential man," Gary nodded. "Running for one of the top three seats in the Earthsphere Governing Council next year."
"Really," she smiled. "It must be quite a responsibility, to work for a man that powerful."
"Yeah..." His smile faltered. "Though we don't seem to have done very good at keeping his family safe." The sudden pain in his earnest eyes was sobering. "Why would anyone want to take a little girl like Seely?"
"The world is full of psychos." She muttered. "But we're going to find this one, no matter what it takes."
"Did that disk help?" He asked hopefully. "I watched it and couldn't see much on it that would be useful...."
"Is that the only copy of the security files from that night?"
"Yeah... well, the original file is also saved in the mainframe...."
Jackpot...
"So, Gary... tell me about the Senator's Security setup..." She threw him another smile, a genuine one this time. He melted slightly under the heat, and smiled tentatively back.
Robert Lowell stared out the window, watching the forensics team searching the grounds. He knew they weren't going to find anything... there was nothing to find. Sighing, he glanced back at the workers. The two Preventers had not shown up to join the search.
So, where are they?He knew the tall blond one had been up to Seely's room the evening before, and a different partner had been prowling the hallway guarding the room. What does Preventer's do, hire them for hair length?
With a disgusted snort, he turned away from the window and headed for the security room. There were definite advantages to having cameras everywhere. He wasn't sure what it was about the three Preventers that made him nervous, except that they obviously knew something they weren't sharing with anyone else, including their commanding officer.
He'd followed the younger, braided one as Gary showed him the security measures. His questions had indicated a vast understanding of how someone would get into the house. So why do they not seem even slightly curious as to what the forensic team is finding or not finding outside? And what are they expecting to find in Seely's room?
Somehow, it was less of a surprise that it should have been, when he opened the door to the security office to find Gary talking to Merquise's other partner. She glanced up, looking almost wary.
"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked grimly. "So that my people can do their jobs without interruption?"
"Isn't that rather like locking the gate after the cows have left?" She asked with a frown. "And I would have thought that answering our questions is their job right now."
"S-sir..."
"At ease, Konek" He growled.
"Ex-military?" She quirked one forked brow. "Interesting, that you would be working for such a renowned pacifist as Senator Jameson."
"Well, we've all had to find new lines of work, haven't we Ms. Catalonia?"
"I suppose we have, at that." She gazed back at him measuringly. "So who did you work for, that you recognize me?"
"Does it matter?" He growled. "The war is behind us... and the past is just that. Right now, all that matters is finding one little girl who has nothing to do with either war or peace."
She frowned, then nodded. "Of course, you are right. I was just surprised, since your background check did not mention military service."
"Damn... do you think this place is big enough?" Duo glared sourly at the dark racks around them. "And how much wine does one person really need?"
"Duo..."
"Yeah... yeah. Focus. Right." The younger man sighed and continued wandering around the basement, shining his flashlight into dark and dusty corners that the single dim light bulb could not penetrate. "So, how much is a collection of wine like this worth? Some of these bottles are really old."
"A lot..." Zechs growled. "Duo, can we ignore the wine for a moment, and get back to looking for Seely? Do the walls look like what you saw?"
"No." Duo stopped. "How much is a lot?"
Zechs frowned, turning to glare at his partner until he remembered that Duo didn't normally ask idle questions in a case; and that he owed Solo an apology for not listening to him either. "Why?"
'This bottle is precolony,' Treize mused from behind them. 'Even if you never broke the seal and drank it, it would be worth more than your salaries for a year put together.'
"Apparently, one of these bottles is worth more than both of us make in a year." Zechs sighed. "What are you thinking, Duo?"
"You agree that the Senator is just a wee bit paranoid, right? He has security cameras all over the first two floors of his house, inside and out, all the windows are wired, someone is sitting in a room monitoring the system twenty-four hours a day...."
"So...? What does that have to do with wine?"
"So... he's got a fortune sitting is small, easily portable containers. And there isn't a single security camera down here." Duo shook his head. "You rich people are weird."
"Maybe he figures that if you get as far as his wine cellar, security cameras aren't going to do any good?"
"Maybe..." Duo stared thoughtfully around at the walls. "Maybe." After a moment, he pulled the floorplans back out of his jacket and spread them out on the floor. He examined them closely for several minutes, then looked back at the far wall of the vault. "How big would you say this basement was...?"
"Maybe 10 meters?" Zechs leaned against one of the wine racks, watching in fascination as his partner got up and moved to the corner nearest the stairs and started walking along the wall. He was pacing with an oddly intent look, counting softly under his breath with each step.
"Close. Twelve." Duo stopped at the far corner, and turned to look back at him. "But on the floorplan, it's supposed to be eighteen. This basement runs under the kitchen, the formal dining room and part of the living room we were in last night."
"That's...odd." Zechs frowned.
"Lot's of things are odd about this mess..." Duo mused, as he started pacing the back wall. "If I'm right, we should be right underneath the hall now, and this wall is even with the door into the living room." He ran his hands lightly over the smooth stone. "So what's on the other side of this wall?"
"Well... I suppose I've bothered you gentlemen long enough..." Dorothy straightened and let the palm of her right hand rest casually on the side of one of the computers. The small metal contact point imbedded in the flesh near her wrist warmed, letting her know that Epyon was finished searching the security network files. "Though I would like to see the security camera recordings from the night Seely disappeared." She could see the confused look on Gary's face, but ignored him for the moment. "The ones saved here, not a disk copy."
"Of course," Robert Lowell frowned, staring at her measuringly. "By the way, where are your partners? I was expecting them to join the forensic team outside, but they seem to have vanished." He glanced at the monitors, and she followed his gaze. The monitors showed most of the first two floors, including the hall outside Seely's room and the grounds immediately outside the mansion. But there was no sign of Zechs or Duo on any of the screens.
"I believe they may be checking the little girl's room again." She shrugged. "Why? Did you need to speak with them...?"
"Just curious. They seem to be much more concerned with searching inside the house than looking for the kidnappers."
She glanced at him calmly. "Until the kidnappers call again, there is little we can do but wait. The police are searching for them outside the house. We are merely trying to find out what happened inside the house. When she was taken." She saw the expression of shock on his face as he caught the pause.
"What are you implying?"
"Nothing." She shrugged casually as Gary finished pulling up the file. Dorothy pulled a chair over to where she could watch the screens but still keep one hand unobtrusively touching the computer. "Yet. But the Senator is an extremely powerful man, as well as very paranoid. Your security system would appear to be flawless... but since the little girl is missing, I suppose there had to be at least one flaw in it."
His expression darkened with anger. "Are you accusing me of something?"
"No." She hesitated. "Are you confessing to something?" When he didn't answer, she shrugged.
"Bitch." She smiled faintly at the soft curse behind her as the door closed. That was...weird. And where the hell are Zechs and Duo?
"Can you feel anything?" Zechs sighed, straightening wearily. He'd been searching the wine vault again, while Duo felt along the anomalous back wall.
"Nothing. If there's a way past this wall, it has to be somewhere else."
"But why wouldn't there be security cameras down here, if not to hide the entrance? There has to be something..." Zechs broke off what he was about to say as Solo reappeared for the first time since the previous night. For once, he wasn't holding Seely tightly in his arms.
"Zechs?" Duo glanced up, then seeing Zechs staring at empty space again, sighed. "What is it?"
"Solo's back," Zechs answered softly. "Where's the little girl?"
Solo shrugged, then gestured behind him. A moment later, two more apparitions appeared in the space beside him. One was Seely, though the little girl was much neater in appearance than she'd been the other times he'd seen her. She was still clutching the battered, bloody teddybear in one hand, but the other was holding the hand of a striking young woman in a nun's habit. The child peered up at him shyly, then moved closer to the nun. Treize was staring at the three, looking just as stunned as Zechs felt.
"Holy Mother of God..."
'Not quite.' The nun looked almost amused, one brow arching, as she looked him over. Then her eyes moved to Duo and the look of pride and love in them nearly broke his heart.
"Zechs...?" Duo moved closer, sounding worried. Zechs spared a moment to wonder what expression must have been on his face to prompt the concern in his partner's voice.
"I... Um..." He shook his head. How can I tell him she's here...? And he can't see her or touch her. But how can I not...? "Duo... what was the Nun's name?"
"Huh...? Oh... God... Sister H-Helen?"
'Duo...' A hand reached out to touch his cheek, translucent fingers passing through flesh for a brief moment. Duo shivered, and threw Zechs a pleading look.
"She's here...?"
Zechs nodded, still trying for words. The nun looked sad, then dropped her hand and looked back at Zechs. 'There isn't much time...'
"Time for what?"
'Time to solve this puzzle.' She sighed. 'Solo brought the child to me... as he often does with the small ones. It's more difficult for them to understand death at first.' She glanced appraisingly at both Treize and Zechs. 'He thought she might tell me what happened.'
"How did she die?" Zechs asked, trying to remember the questions on Duo's list the night before.
'Gunshot.' The nun looked sad.
"Where is she?"
'Nearby, though she can't seem to find the way back.' Sister Helen sighed. 'Solo hoped I could help, but I don't know how. She remembers very little.'
The child looked up at Zechs uncertainly, then back at the nun and tugged at her hand insistently. 'What is it, child?' The nun knelt on the hard floor next to the little girl.
'Not s'posed to be here...' the ghost whispered. 'Papa said not to go down the stairs, 'cause it's too dark. I could get hurt...'
'Oh, sweetheart...' the nun pulled the child into her arms. 'It's safe now, as long as we're here with you.'
"Which stairs?" Zechs asked softly, only vaguely aware of Treize moving away behind him. "The basement stairs?"
The child nodded shyly.
"Is that your bear?" He asked gently. "What's his name?"
'Rover.' She hugged the bear tighter. 'I wanted a puppy. Papa told me I could have one when I got older, if I took care of him.'
"Seely... where is Rover now?"
'He fell into the box.' She frowned. 'But there weren't any dolls in it.'
"What?" Zechs blinked at the ghost, completely bewildered. The nun sighed and looked just as helpless.
"Zechs? What's going on?" Duo asked softly.
"Seely... said her bear's name is Rover, and he fell into a box, here in the basement. But there weren't any dolls in it."
"Huh?"
"I don't know what she means."
"She must mean the open crate I saw... but it wasn't here in this room."
'Seely, what was in the box, if there weren't dolls in it?' Treize moved back to join them, looking worried.
'Stuff...' She bit her lip. 'Metal, and wires.'
'And why did you think there would be dolls in it?'
'Cause I heard Papa and Uncle Scary talking about it.... Uncle Scary said he'd gotten a box of doll parts. They were really 'spensive.'
"Where were you when you heard them talking?"
'In my cave.' She shrugged, with a child's innocence. 'I forgot Rover, and went back to get him. He keeps the bad dreams away.'
"I'm sure he does a very good job of that too..." Zechs said hoarsely. "And did your Papa and Uncle go to look at the box of dolls?"
'Yeah...' She sighed. 'I really wanted to see them, an' I waited 'til they came back. Then Rover and I went down the stairs. I was bad, wasn't I? I'm not s'posed to go down the stairs.'
'Box of dolls... Oh dear God. They had a box of mobile doll components.' Treize swore softly. 'What the hell is a Pacifist doing with mobile doll parts?'
Dorothy watched the images scrolling across the monitors as the file played. She could feel Epyon pulsing in her palm, and surreptitiously placed her hand back on the computer. So far, the video record looked identical to the one they had watched the previous night. What are we looking for? She asked the computer silently. What are you trying to show me...?
Soon/see/hear
See what?
edit...here
She looked intently at the screen, surprised to see that a new image had appeared. It was of the front gates, as a nondescript van drove up the long curving drive. Then, just at the edge of the camera's range, it pulled off the driveway onto a narrow gravel path and vanished between the trees. She remembered seeing the drive on the way to the mansion that morning, but couldn't remember if Duo had mentioned checking it out on his security tour. Surely he had though, she mused, he seemed to have checked everything else out.
"Gary... where does that gravel drive lead?"
"Oh, that? That would be to the delivery entrance. It's around behind the garage by the old storm cellar."
"The what?" She blinked; not remembering anything labeled as a storm cellar on the floorplans. But then, there hadn't been a smaller driveway set-aside for deliveries, either.
"There's an old storm cellar, but the Senator was afraid of Seely falling down the stairs and getting hurt, so it was sealed up a year or so ago. I'm not even sure there is an entrance to it any more. I believe he sealed off the basement entrance too."
"How interesting..." She murmured. "Did you happen to mention the cellar to Duo when you showed him around?"
"No... I'd forgotten all about it, actually." Gary shrugged. "It's sealed off, so even if I had remembered when we looked at the delivery drive, I don't figure showing him where the entrance used to be would make much difference."
I wouldn't be too sure of that, she thought grimly. "So what deliveries were made that evening?"
"None that I know of..." Gary frowned. "That wasn't a delivery van, that was just the Senator's brother-in-law."
That caught her attention. There had been no mention of relatives visiting in the statements she had read. "Oh? What is his name, again? I'm still trying to keep track of who all was in the house that night."
"Skerritt Morrison." Gary scowled. "He only shows up at night sometimes, and never stays more than an hour or two. Mrs. Jameson doesn't like him being around much." He shrugged. "I didn't even know he was there that night, couldn't have stayed long, or he would have shown up on the video inside the house."
Dorothy didn't bother to point out that he hadn't shown up at all on the copy that Gary had lent Duo. Which was suspicious right there... why would he have been erased from the video? And who had done it? From the sound of it, Morrison didn't usually spend enough time in the house to be that familiar with the security system.
"Who was on duty in here that night?" She asked quietly.
"I think Hendricks was," Gary answered. "I'm not sure though, it was supposed to be Brenner, but he got the flu."
"Hmm." She glanced back at the video playing on the monitor. Epyon?
Sally Po standing in camouflage, a bag in one hand... Une back in an Oz uniform holding her glasses in one hand...
Dorothy blinked at the images. Sally's here?
Here soon.
Good. Took her long enough. Dorothy sighed softly. She'd been waiting for Une's second to arrive since she had first entered the security room.
Duo, in a black flight suit that looked oddly like a priest's outfit, sitting on the floor of a cell. Zechs Merquise pacing the bridge of the Libra, in the uniform of White Fang.
Are Duo and Zechs in trouble?
There was a long pause, and then Epyon pulsed once in her hand. Danger... soon...
Where are they? The attic?
Outside...dark place.
Where is the dark place?
Epyon pulsed frantically in her palm, apparently confused by the question. black van, pulling up behind the garage
They're outside? She frowned. Epyon pulsed again, and the image replayed. This time she recognized the image from the security video. The storm cellar? Warmth flooded her palm, but before she could ask any further questions, angry voices sounded outside the door.
"Lady Une, I must protest. We called the Preventer's here to find out who kidnapped the Senator's daughter, not to dig for dirt on the Senator." She recognized Robert Lowell's voice. "I don't know what they think they are looking for, but it should be obvious by now that Seely's kidnappers are not in the wine cellar."
"Mr. Lowell, I appreciate that you are concerned for the Senator's privacy, but we need to...."
"We need to do nothing," Lowell growled. "And until you produce a warrant explaining why your men are prying into the Senator's private life...."
"Here." Dr. Po sounded annoyed. "This would be the warrant granting us the right to search the grounds in response to an anonymous tip."
"An anonymous tip?" Lowell sounded incredulous. "Please... that will not stand up in a court of law..."
"That piece of paper has a judge's signature granting us the right to search the house and grounds for evidence. Which rights we have also had since the Preventer's were called in by Senator Jameson to investigate the kidnapping of his daughter, by any means necessary. It will stand up in a court of law." There was a pause. "Should it need to."
Dorothy sighed, meeting the wide eyes of the security guard. That sounds like our cue...
'Seely.' Solo knelt next to the little girl. 'Where was the box?' She looked at him solemnly, hugging Rover tighter to her chest. 'When Rover fell in?' After a long moment, she turned to point over her shoulder at the sidewall of the wine cellar.
'In the hole in the wall. It was dark...'
Zechs turned to stare at the wall as well. There was no evidence of a hole, or door now, but neither of them had given that wall more than a quick examination. 'But that's the original support wall on the floorplan, there shouldn't be anything behind it but dirt...'
"Duo..." He called softly. The younger man glanced up from his examination of the back wall, then crossed to his side quickly.
"What's up?"
"We've been looking in the wrong place." Zechs pointed at the side wall. "The Dark Place is through there... somehow."
"Damn..." Duo frowned, staring at the wall, then started his careful examination of it. A moment later he winced in surprise, and pressed hard against one of the cinder blocks forming the wall. "Ow..."
"Duo...?" Zechs started forward, catching the younger man around the waist as a section of wall slid into darkness and he nearly stumbled forward into the abyss beyond.
"Open sesame... hand me a flashlight."
"Somehow I don't think that's quite what Ali Baba said." Zechs growled, but handed Duo his flashlight. The faint beam played over a large number of crates and boxes stacked haphazardly along rough stone walls. The chamber beyond was larger than they had expected, paralleling the length of the basement and forming an L shape where the rest of the basement should have extended according to the floorplans. On the far edge of the light, they could see the shadow of a steep wooden staircase stretching up towards the ceiling. There was a rather unpleasant smell to the air that neither man really wanted to think about.
Moving cautiously, they stepped into the room and began searching the crates nearest the opening. Neither could picture Seely moving too far into the dark room, and the dim light from the basement only stretched a few feet into the gloom.
They had barely pried the lid from the nearest crate when with a loud grinding noise, the door in the wall slid shut again. Now the only light at all came from the flashlight Duo was holding.
"You know, I hate when things like that happen..." Duo muttered softly, shifting the lid sideways with one hand. "Shit... is that...?"
"Looks like blood." Zechs confirmed as they stared at the dark stain on the edge of the box. The interior of the box was filled with metal components and wire harnesses. More than a few were covered with something brown and flaking. "We need to get forensics down here...."
"We need to find Seely first." Duo muttered. "Shit, there are a lot of crates down here. It's going to take a while to search them all. There has to be something...."
"Well, now, looks like I owe Rich an apology." They both looked up at the snide voice, as a much brighter lamp suddenly turned on from the shadowed alcove and blinded them. "I told him you Preventers would never think to look for the little girl on the grounds, and certainly wouldn't be able to find this room."
"Looks like you were wrong..." Duo growled, one arm raised to shield his eyes.
"Looks like I was. Hands up, both of you."
Dorothy nodded to Lady Une and Sally Po as she stepped into the hall. The doctor raised one eyebrow, but didn't speak. She'd been skeptical when Dorothy had asked her to get the warrant and bring it to the mansion as soon as possible, unable to offer any proof except an anonymous source. A warrant should not have even been necessary, given the free reign the forensics teams were given... but I guess she was right about wanting me to bring one. But there had better be proof soon, or Une is going to tear some heads off when this is over.
"Dorothy, what are Zechs and Duo looking for?" Lady Une asked impatiently. "I have to agree with Mr. Lowell that the wine cellar is a less than likely place for the kidnappers to be."
Dorothy hesitated, then frowned slightly. "The kidnappers, yes." The blond took a deep breath, and seemed to come to some decision. "Seely Jameson's body, however, is another story."
"What?" Lady Une looked stunned. Lowell simply looked frozen.
"We... have reason to believe that Seely Jameson was not kidnapped," Dorothy said quietly, the grim look on her face lending credence to her words that none of them could argue with. "I don't have time to go into all the details right now Lady Une, but you have to trust us. I need the Preventers to pick up the Senator's brother-in-law for questioning. He was, according to the security video, on the grounds that night; a fact that did not come to light in anyone's statements."
The Security agent that had followed Dorothy out of the room nodded silently behind her, and to Sally's surprise, Lowell looked pale.
"Konek?" Robert Lowell growled at his subordinate. "I watched that disk yesterday, he wasn't on it...."
"Not on the disk, no sir..." Konek looked uncertainly around the small group in the hall. "I watched it too, sir. Before I gave it to Agent Maxwell last night. But Ms. Catalonia is right, he's on the mainframe backup copy."
"Bloody Hell..." Lowell hissed. "And Hendricks was on duty that night, wasn't he?"
"Yes, sir. I think so sir."
"Lowell?" Lady Une turned to the Head of Security.
"Skerrit Morrison is Mrs. Jameson's brother," The Security chief muttered. "He's the black sheep of the family, and a little unstable. But I don't believe he would have hurt Seely, or taken her."
"Then why did Mrs. Jameson not want him on the property?" Dorothy asked with a scowl.
"Mrs. Jameson banned him from the property a year ago, because of his penchant for scandal. Not to mention what would happen to the Senator's chances in the next election if the press found out the newest Candidate for the Pacifist Party had ties to a former member of White Fang. Only the fact that the people adore Relena Peacecraft as the former Queen of the World helped her escape that same stigma." He hesitated, apparently remembering that he was talking to a former member of White Fang.
Dorothy swore softly. "I should have remembered that... I knew the name sounded familiar. But Morrison was kicked out of White Fang about the time I joined it."
"And this Hendricks?"
"Also a member of White Fang."
Dorothy flushed. "Aside from the White Fang connection, was there enough of a connection between the two for Hendricks to knowingly alter the security records? And if not, who did?"
"Hendricks used to work for the Morrison family, prior to Carolyn's marriage to Senator Jameson," Robert Lowell said slowly. "He would have known Skerrit for a long time, even prior to the war."
"I want them both picked up for questioning," Une snapped. "Dorothy..." Her voice trailed off, and they all glanced over to see the blonde's expression twist.
"Lowell... I need to get into the old storm cellar. Now."
"Morrison...?" Zechs frowned as he finally recognized the voice behind the blinding light. "What the hell...?" 'God, I can't believe we let him get the drop on us. Next time, you're scouting out the apparently empty room first.'
'Yeah, well, none of us thought anyone would have been hiding in a pitch dark cellar with a corpse for twenty-four hours, either.' Treize muttered grimly. 'He's alone for the moment, but he has a gun and appears to know what he's doing with it.'
"Milliardo... I'm flattered you remember me."
"Old friend of yours, Zechs?" Duo rolled his eyes behind the shelter of his arm, and Zechs caught the subtle signal.
"Not especially," Zechs growled. "A mad dog kicked out of White Fang for... over-enthusiastic interpretation of orders, if I remember correctly."
"You always were a sanctimonious son of a bitch, Peacecraft. And I said get your hands up."
"I try..." Zechs tensed. "It's over, Morrison. Just tell us where the girl's body is."
"I don't think so," Morrison growled. "I didn't spend the last day and a half down here with this smell to let you arrest me now."
"What are you gonna do, shoot us?" Duo muttered. "That would get you worse than arrested."
"Not if no one finds your bodies."
"We found this room, Morrison, so will the other Preventers."
'Someone's coming.' Treize swore softly. 'And it's not Dorothy.'
"Now..." Zechs hissed at Duo, and threw himself to the right; rolling behind another stack of crates as Morrison fired at them. The younger man moved in the same instant, though his dive to the left was delayed as he grabbed something out of the crate his hand was resting on and threw it straight at the light. A moment later, the room was plunged back into darkness. Duo made a soft choked sound as Zechs heard him hit the floor and roll, then the silence was broken by more gunshots.
'Treize?'
'He's not hit...' the ghost reassured him, before the darkness lit up again. This time, both Treize and Solo were glowing in anger. It took Zechs a moment to realize he was the only one who could see, and he wasted no time in drawing his own gun to return fire. Morrison had hidden around the corner of the alcove, and even with the light from the specters Zechs couldn't get a clear shot. He threw a quick glance at Duo, relieved to see the younger man had his own gun drawn and appeared to be listening intently.
"Stay down, company coming...I'm going after Morrison." He hissed softly, before starting to move cautiously through the maze of boxes. Damn I hope most of these aren't full of live ammunition... a firefight down here could kill us all....
Duo looked startled, obviously still unable to see a damn thing. "Be careful."
Zechs moved quickly, trying to get into a position to get a shot off at Morrison before whoever Treize had warned him of arrived. But the alcove the man had taken shelter in was full of even more boxes and crates than the main cellar, and there was no clear shot. He fired once, as the man started to raise up to spray bullets in their direction, and heard the man grunt; but there was no way to tell how much damage the hit had done.
Zechs started to move closer, when Treize suddenly stiffened and turned towards the stairs. It was all the warning Zechs had before the room was suddenly flooded with light. He turned, realizing too late that he was exposed to both Morrison and the newcomers, and dived for the cover of another stack of crates.
Shots rang out behind him, and he realized that Duo was providing covering fire. Morrison hadn't moved, but Zechs wasn't about to count him out without proof that he was dead. The two men on the stairs had dived for cover on the far side of the cellar, though he heard someone groaning and thought that Duo might have gotten at least one hit as well.
'Treize, is Morrison dead?' He asked grimly, checking the number of bullets left in his clip quickly.
'No...' Treize growled.
"Great..." Zechs muttered softly. "Fucking great..." He leaned cautiously out of his hiding spot, trying to see where Duo was laying behind the open crate. A bullet ricocheted off the stone wall behind him, sending stone chips down onto his head.
'Duo's fine,' Treize snapped. 'Keep your damn head down... Dorothy's on her way with reinforcements.'
'Shit... and there's no way to warn them they're about to walk into a hot zone.'
'I think she knows...' Treize frowned.
'Who are we up against?'
'Two of the Senators' Security team... both heavily armed. One took a bullet in the leg, but is still moving.'
"Damn..." Zechs caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and fired another shot at Morrison. Another flurry of shots rang out around the room, as everyone tried to take advantage of the distraction. Once he'd driven Morrison back into his cover, Zechs switched out clips in his gun quickly. Now would be a really bad time to run out of bullets. Zechs saw Duo squirm around until Zechs could see him. The younger man grimaced, then raised three fingers. Zechs nodded back, raising one finger and pointing towards Morrison. Duo nodded sharply, rose into a careful crouch, then raised his hand again.
'Wait...' Treize muttered. Zechs raised a closed fist at Duo, who merely threw him a wary look but froze obediently. A moment later, Solo reappeared next to Treize. 'Now.'
Zechs nodded sharply to Duo, then threw himself sideways out of his cover, firing at Morrison. From the sharp burst of gunfire from Duo's position, he knew the younger man had moved as he had. More bullets hit the floor near Zechs' body, as he scrambled to get closer to Morrison, and he felt something burn across his arm. Then covering fire was coming from the stairs. Zechs squeezed off another shot, and Morrison pitched out of his cover to lie still on the floor.
Zechs rolled quickly behind another crate, keeping his gun trained warily on Morrison, even though he was fairly sure the man wasn't getting up again. A moment later, the sound of gunfire ceased again. The only sound in the sudden silence was a pained groan from the direction of the stairs. Only when he was safely under cover did he take a quick glance in that direction.
"Status!" Une barked sharply, as Dorothy and Lowell raised from their defensive crouches in front of her. All three had drawn guns in hand.
"Clear." Zechs called back.
"Clear." Duo answered from another stack of crates across the cellar.
"Clear." Dorothy and Lowell both muttered.
"Suspect down, in need of medical here," Zechs growled, letting himself relax slightly.
"One suspect dead here," Duo echoed. "Another in need of medical. All accounted for."
"Good. Now, does one of you want to tell me what the fuck just happened?"
Zechs sighed. It was going to be a long morning.