Chapter 8: Agents and An Aggressor

The lobby of the hotel seemed brighter than it had when I left that morning. It could have been the light heart I felt, the song in my head. It certainly wasn't because of the two men in suits approaching me.

"Mr. Setton, we would like a word with you."

I stopped, looking at them. "Who are you?

Both of them reached into their jackets and pulled out wallets. Holding them open, I saw the FBI logo on both IDs. "I am Special Agent Conway and this is Special Agent Ellison. If you would come with us, we have some questions we would like to ask you."

"I won't agree to anything until you tell me what this is about." I was worried that Agent Davis had maybe said something about me she shouldn't have or, worse, Agent Marks somehow remembered everything that I had changed in his memories.

"We cannot discuss this matter here. We have a private room reserved here in the hotel. Again, we only have some questions." They put away their wallets and I could see the hand grips of their weapons. I really didn't like it.

Renée was still at the coffee shop. I thought to her, "Hate to break the mood Lover, but two FBI agents want to talk to me."

"Have they told you why?"

"No."

"Can you tell if they're lying?"

"Not as far as I can tell now. I'll go with them and improvise. If you don't hear from me in the next few minutes, get to Erin and Chloe and get out of here."

"I don't like it, but okay." Renée knew that I could take care of myself. She also knew that I wasn't infallible.

Agent Conway continued to talk in a relaxed tone that suggested he was only doing what he was supposed to, but Agent Ellison was stone cold and silent. He wore the cliché sunglasses even inside the hotel. I looked back at Conway. His eyes looked hazel but could have passed for green. I wasn't sure if I could trust either of them because this may have been some toned down "good cop/bad cop" routine for public viewing.

Worst-case scenario, they had someone waiting in the room who would either drug me or worse once we went in. Otherwise it could be just as Agent Conway was saying, simply them wanting to ask me some private questions.

My adrenaline was beginning to pump. I was getting ready for a fight, but instead I steadied my nerves. The FBI wasn't any worse than normal police. They didn't do the whole 'bag-n-grab' bit seen in movies.

Hopefully.

I nodded to Agent Conway. "Lead the way," I said with a surprisingly steady tone.

He turned and started walking to where the private rooms were. Agent Ellison watched me as I started to follow. Apparently he was going to take up the rear. That made me nervous again. I glanced around, looking for signs of other agents who may have anticipated my reluctance. I didn't see anything but that didn't mean they didn't have something else planned. All the memories of tactics and training I had gotten from Agent Davis told me that there were more ways than force to get what they wanted. Again, it was my paranoia driving the ideas. Movies can be so misleading.

Agent Conway stopped and opened the door. I moved through it expecting to fight off whoever was waiting but was relieved to find no one else there.

The Agents came in but before Conway closed the door he asked, "Would you like anything to drink Mr. Setton?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine. Could you now tell me what this is about?"

Agent Ellison went to the corner of the room and stood there like some kind of proverbial badass. Agent Conway held out a hand, inviting me to sit down as he took a seat.

I took the seat he indicated. I was facing the door and both agents. I didn't see any way anyone could surprise me. I let Renée know where we were and that it looked like everything was going just as they had said it would.

"Mr. Setton, you do recall some months ago your participation in the capture and testimony of Victoria Lasarge?"

"Of course." I wasn't going to tell them that I had just spoken with her father about that very thing earlier.

"This morning at approximately nine A.M. Eastern time, she escaped from the maximum security facility she was detained in. We feel she might come after you or anyone close to you to exact revenge."

That made some sense and didn't. Victoria had actually felt remorse over what she had done. If anything, I was more concerned with her former Vikkor personality resurfacing and remembering the Master PC program. If that happened she could do more than exact revenge on just me and mine. "How did she escape?"

"We're not exactly sure. Normally I wouldn't be allowed to tell you, but from what Agent Davis told us, you could be very useful in her capture again. As far as we know, she just disappeared. Nothing was damaged, nothing was out of place. She simply wasn't in her room when they had morning roll call."

"Is it possible she might have slipped out through a pipe or some back room that had a bad lock or anything?" I was hoping for a mundane escape, something the FBI could handle.

Agent Conway shook his head. "The guards were very thorough about their checks. If either of those were the case, we would be on her trail now and not asking you for your help or to have you go into hiding."

"If I'm in hiding, how would I help find and capture her?"

Agent Conway just looked at me. "You may have come highly recommended by Agent Davis, but I cannot actually use you to find Ms. Lasarge. I've looked into your records and you've done nothing more significant than graduate high school. You have to understand my position. Ms. Lasarge is considered extremely dangerous and I cannot put you in that kind of risk."

"It's not just me that is in danger. It's everyone. Did they ever tell you what those dangerous chemicals were?"

"No. There was no need. I know what Anthrax can do..."

I cut him off. "It wasn't Anthrax."

Again he just looked at me. I could tell this was his blank stare, but I could still feel his doubt of what I knew.

"It was a virus, Agent Conway, a virus that could kill a man in minutes. A highly contagious virus specifically designed to kill all men, and I mean that literally. All Men! She has had a lot of trauma and had been seeking revenge, but the focus of that was the male gender, not just the specific men who had hurt her. If she has the opportunity to make that virus again, and she is intelligent enough to have memorized the components, then you, me, Agent Ellison over there and all other men are all in the very real danger of being dead even if nowhere near this woman."

I sat back hoping that something I said would sink in. Conway continued to give me a blank look, but I could tell by his eyes that he was worried.

"She was intelligent. We were told that. However, this still doesn't explain how she escaped or where she is. Nor does this increase my belief that you would be any real help to us."

"Then let me show you what my help involves," I said as I stood up.

Agent Conway stood up too, certain that I was going to do something stupid. It wasn't me he had to worry about.