Immediately Forgettable

Chapter 15

If you can believe it, Dagger looked more handsome in person than in the very handsome photo Sloane sent me. And this was after being imprisoned for some time. He didn't look harmed — no signs of torture. Truth be told he looked good — just bored.

I looked at the doorknob and saw that it was different from the rest. Bigger, surrounded by steel, and needing a key that was nowhere in sight to open it. Even captured, Dagger looked confident. Me as Dagger would wait for the just the right moment, escape, and blow up the command center, saving the world...again. Then I'd grab Jennifer and head off to Paris.

Hopefully real Dagger had no such designs — about Jen, anyway — but I would still have to find a way to free him. I thought about tapping the glass and letting him know that help had arrived, but I decided against it. He was probably on camera, I had no way of getting him out right now, and he would forget me the second I left. Plus, I was dying to see what was at the bottom of the silo.

I walked past without him looking up. I wonder who held the key. How they got on to him. Did he get taken out to use the bathroom, or was that why the wastebasket was in there. Gross. Me as Dagger would hold it in.

I reached the bottom before long. The walkway ended in a large wall that separated it from the command center. I could hear a number of voices now, so I cautiously peered around the wall, and saw the rows of long desks with keyboards and touchscreens all facing three rows of enormous monitors showing satellites in orbit and scenes of the Earth below. Not sure what they were watching or why, but, like everything else at King Industries, the setup was over-the-top and extremely impressive.

A man walked up to the front and stood on a platform in front of the monitors. He had a tablet that he studied and called everyone to order while he stared at it. Appears it was time for some morning announcements. With all eyes fixed on the speaker, I took the opportunity to grab a seat in the back. Needless to say, no one noticed.

Once seated, I noticed a man off to the left of the stage, on the same side that I had grabbed my seat. He was still on the platform, so he had a good view of the seated employees, including me if he desired. He was a large man in a dark suit, white shirt, no tie. Dark skin that could be of various ethnicities. The razor thin layer of black hair covering his head didn't provide any answers either. Very serious look on his face.

He was listening to the announcements, which were about some important deadline being moved up — the rank-and-file were groaning like mad over it — but the Serious Man didn't register any emotion. He kept looking at his phone, then at the crowd. Over and over again. Not typing, so maybe a very one-sided text conversation?

Then he looked at me. Right at me.

Back at his phone. Back at me. Again. And again.

I began to sweat like I did back at the Middle Eastern restaurant. Was he really noticing me? Something behind me maybe. Had Dagger escaped? No alarms or any noise behind me suggested that. Mostly just wishful thinking.

I knew I should get out of there. As if sensing that, the Serious Man left the platform and began walking in my direction, sill glancing from phone to me.

Coincidence or caught, it didn't matter. I had to get out of there.

In what I hoped was a very casual manner, but in reality probably looked as anxious as I felt, I stood and made my way to the wall dividing the room from the ramp. I was desperate to look back and see if the Serious Man had made any progress, but knew I couldn't risk it.

As I made my way around the wall I took off as fast as my legs would carry me — which, in my panicked state, was pretty darn fast. Maybe he wasn't after me. Maybe he was. Either way I didn't want him seeing me again.