“Not him personally, but members of his staff.”
The agent in charge crossed his arms over his chest. “Barnes failed to return this patient to your facility, did he not?”
“In that regard, yes, he did fail.”
The AIC smiled ever so slightly. He was enjoying this. “Were you aware that your missing patient, Edward Parks, has been in the custody of Homeland Security since approximately midnight last night?”
Fenton gritted his teeth. “No, I was not aware. That’s very good news.”
The AIC glanced at someone approaching in the distance. All Fenton could see was a man in a suit. The senior doctor hadn’t brought his distance glasses, and couldn’t make out any further details.
The agent in charge asked Fenton, “Why did the New York Police Department bring you in for questioning last night?”
Fenton’s jaw tightened noticeably. “As best as I could determine, to harass me with inadmissible evidence.”
The AIC turned to the man approaching them, who was now close enough for the doctor to recognize. “Detective, was the purpose of your interrogation last night to harass this man with inadmissible evidence?”
Detective Butler McHenry shook his head innocently. “No, sir. Where did you get that idea?”
The agent in charge studied Fenton. “Doctor, what evidence were you referring to?”
CHAPTER 108
American Heritage Foundation, Alexandria, Virginia, May 28, 10:06 a.m.
Daryl Trotter stood behind the scientist as he worked Edward Parks’s computer inside the conference room. Bob Stenson and the other two American Heritage Foundation lieutenants looked on impatiently from the opposite side of the mahogany table. Harwood removed a pair of headphones and turned to Daryl. “I’ve gotten all I’m going to get out of it.”
Daryl nodded, then turned to his colleagues. “Okay, what I want you to do is listen to the difference between these two reconstructions produced from the same original wave fragments. I had him pick the file with the lowest amount of white noise, which was the interrogation of the kidnapping suspect. The characteristics of an interrogation room are ideal for this purpose, and the echoes are also the least decayed due to age.”
Stenson was growing annoyed. “Get on with it.”
“Right. Okay, this first one is the reconstruction that was already stored on Parks’s machine, presumably made yesterday.”
He nodded to Harwood, who hit “Play” on Edward Parks’s computer. The voices came through clearly, just as they had the first time the reconstruction was heard inside the Sixth Precinct.
SUSPECT: I swear to God, I don’t know where she is!
DETECTIVE LIEUTENANT VICTORIA DANIELS: Tell me where she is, Henry.
SUSPECT: I don’t fucking know! What are you, deaf?!
Stenson shook his head. “We’ve already heard this, Daryl.” The scientist stopped the playback.
Daryl nodded. “Right. I know. It’s important for the sake of comparison.” He turned to Harwood. “Now play the one you just made using the more recent version of Edward Parks’s program.”
The scientist again hit “Play.” The voices were completely inaudible. All that was heard was shrill screeching. Daryl hit “Stop” on the supercomputer. “Quite a difference, wouldn’t you say?”
Stenson shook his head. “What’s the point?”
“Unless something was overlooked, a newer version of a program should be more advanced than the one that preceded it. Revised software should work better, not worse.”
Caitlin McCloskey wasn’t following. “What is it, a glitch?”
Harwood shook his head. “No. Edward Parks doesn’t make little errors. Only big ones.”
McCloskey shrugged, still in the dark. Jason Greers was right there with her, but he wasn’t going to be so obvious about it.
Bob Stenson, on the other hand, suddenly saw the light. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Trotter smiled. “Exactly.” He knew Stenson would be the first of the others to realize what had happened.
Caitlin couldn’t help herself—she blurted out, “Exactly what?”
“He saw it coming,” Trotter replied.
“Who?”
“Edward Parks.”
Stenson added, “Dr. Drummond must have given him the suggestion.”
Now Caitlin was getting frustrated. “Suggested what to him?”
The scientist now caught up with Trotter and Stenson. “That he regress his work. She realized Parks was going to lose possession of his device, so she had him revert his program to the previous version.”
Greers was furious. “He what?!”
Harwood struggled to fathom the brinksmanship. “It’s . . . it’s . . .”
Stenson completed the sentence for him. “Brilliant.” He said it in an ice-cold tone that made two things immediately clear: he had genuine appreciation for the fugitives’ unanticipated move, and Stenson was already certain what the American Heritage Foundation was going to do next.
CHAPTER 109
Philadelphia Office, Department of Homeland Security, May 28, 6:19 p.m.
Skylar had been served dinner inside the Homeland holding cell the same way she had been served breakfast and lunch. In silence. As if her very words could be wielded like venom. Which she found kind of flattering.
Skylar continued to eat every last bite of food she was given, because she knew eventually she would need her strength. They were going to have to talk to her sometime. And when they did, she wanted to be ready.
Still, Skylar was surprised when Kendricks, the humorless agent who had arrested her, appeared outside her door. “Approach me with your back toward me. Place your hands and wrists through the opening so I can cuff them.”
She did so. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out when you get there.” He locked the cuffs around her wrists and led her out of the building.
Skylar had never been to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia before, so she didn’t recognize the building until they pulled in front of its sign. Skylar knew she wouldn’t get an answer, but asked anyway. “What are we doing here?”
Kendricks didn’t say a word. He parked the car in a red zone, where he was met by the Homeland agent stationed outside the main entrance. He escorted them to the elevators, where they were instructed to go to the fourth floor. Stepping out of the elevator, they were met by an agent who escorted them to the end of the hall, where two more agents were stationed outside the door to room 423. These two studied Skylar with interest. She was too young and attractive to be the woman they were expecting. The shorter one, Ziggler, addressed her. “Dr. Skylar Drummond?”
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“I suppose I was expecting someone older.”
She was in no mood for flattery. “Why am I here?”
The two agents turned to Kendricks. Ziggler asked, “You haven’t told her?”
Kendricks answered matter-of-factly. “Weren’t my instructions.”
The shorter agent decided to make it clear exactly who was in charge. “Remove her handcuffs.”
Kendricks took out his handcuff keys and removed the restraints from Skylar’s wrists. She nodded to the shorter agent with appreciation. “Thank you.”
Ziggler felt three inches taller. “Would you like to see your patient?”
She momentarily forgot to breathe. “Eddie’s here?”
He nodded. “Other side of this door.” She immediately moved toward it, when the agent stepped in front of her. “There’s something you should know before you see him.”
Skylar entered room 423 with great excitement and even greater trepidation. CHOP’s head of emergency medicine had been correct: there was no telling how long traumatized patients could remain “locked in.” Or what would reconnect them with the world again. The only thing Skylar knew was that she wanted to see Eddie. And touch him. And reassure him that everything was going to be okay, even if he couldn’t hear her.
She broke into tears upon seeing him. He was staring at the ceiling. “Eddie.” She placed her hand on his cheek, and kissed his forehead. He did not respond.
The shorter agent had followed her into the room. “Would you like a moment alone with him?”