The Dharma Revelation

Chapter 49

Daniel, Petra, and Vincent had landed, picked up a rental car and checked into their rooms. Petra got her own room this time, due to Vincent's snoring and lack of sleep the previous night.

They weren't sure how long they would be in Chicago, but the common hope was that they could find Dharma pretty quickly—perhaps even today—and then fly back home. Erring on the side of caution, however, they planned for a longer stay.

After checking in, they quickly left in pursuit of the small and elusive blip on Daniel's tracking screen.

The perspective of the map changed now that they were in Chicago, near Dharma. The roads between Daniel's position and Dharma's position were illuminated and laid out clearly, making the route very easy to determine.

Cavanaugh seemed to have brought Dharma downtown, into the city. What the purpose was was anybody's guess, but they assumed that downtown, near people, was safer for her.

They grabbed lunch from a fast-food drive-thru and then hopped on Interstate 90 and headed toward the city.

Daniel called Eric and filled him in. He also checked in with his parish. Father Bennett was filling in for him and doing quite well. He assured Daniel they were all praying for him daily.

Vincent spoke with Aaron and Caleb; they were both released from the hospital and back at Osiris. Aaron had decided not to go public with Dharma's capture, fearing Cavanaugh would be spooked into killing her if it made the news. They were hinging everything on the three of them trying to snatch her back. If they weren't successful, Aaron would quickly involve the authorities.

Daniel noticed Dharma's position hadn't changed for quite some time, and they were fast approaching that location. Downtown traffic was very bad, and there weren't many places to park.

"They're in a building called the Merchandise Mart," Daniel said. The closer they got, the more detailed the map became. "We're only two blocks away."

"There's nowhere to park," Vincent said. "Damn, this is a busy area."

"Find a parking garage," Daniel suggested.

Vincent found a public garage close by and parked the car there.

"What should we do?" Petra asked.

"I don't know," Daniel sighed. "If we enter the building, we could be spotted by any one of Cavanaugh's men."

"We have to find the right opportunity to grab her," Vincent said. "The key is to wait for the moment when she is alone or when their guard is down. They have no idea we're here, so we need to use that to our advantage."

Daniel thought about that. It was all true, but he was beginning to believe that this was more difficult than they originally thought. They could be easily seen or caught by Cavanaugh, or to grab Dharma only to be shot in the back.

"Let's walk over there and stake the place out," Daniel suggested. "I think it's too dangerous to go inside or to try anything yet. Let's focus on observation. Maybe we can figure out what they're doing."

Petra and Vincent agreed, so they got out of the car and walked to the Merchandise Mart.

Vincent pointed them toward an area with other people, so they could blend in a bit. They found a bench near the river, which gave them a view of the front of the building.

Daniel took out the tracker; "She's still in there," he said. "Maybe we should just wait here and see what they do next?"

Vincent nodded and sat on the bench. "Keep your eyes on that tracker."

Petra moved toward the railed wall separating them from the Chicago River and rested her elbows. She looked out at the river and at the various boats going by. As she stared, the wind picked up and blew her hair about her face. She gathered her hair and brought it before her shoulder, and said, almost to herself, "This is a beautiful city."

Daniel nodded in agreement but silently hoped that they wouldn't be here long.

It was more than an hour later that Daniel finally noticed the dot representing Dharma significantly moving. He cried out excitedly to Vincent and Petra.

They looked at the screen and could see that she was headed toward one of the exits of the building.

"Come on," Daniel said, motioning them to follow.

He made his way toward a series of revolving doors at the entrance to the building.

"Daniel, hold up," Vincent warned. "We're getting too close."

Daniel stopped but stayed within sight of the doors.

A dark-blue sedan suddenly pulled around the corner, and Daniel recognized the driver. It was Jason Heller, one of Cavanaugh's men.

He swore and turned his back on the car, hoping that he wasn't spotted or recognized.

He turned his attention back toward the building just in time to see Dharma. She was being escorted out. Cavanaugh wasn't more than a foot away from her, and Raines was also there. The three of them got into the car and quickly drove off.

Daniel looked back toward Vincent and Petra, "Let's go."

They got back in their car, paid the attendant for the time in the garage and sped off.

It was a tremendous advantage to have the tracking signal. Vincent didn't have to speed after them, and yet they were still able to safely follow.

After a half hour of trailing them, it became clear Cavanaugh was taking them back to their hotel. Vincent followed from a safe distance, but as they got closer to the building, they came upon Cavanaugh's car.

"There he is," Vincent said angrily. "Right there in the back seat. He's sitting next to her."

Daniel nodded, "Raines and Heller are in the front."

Heller drove the car to the front drop-off near the lobby.

Vincent was forced to let them go or else risk being spotted.

"Their hotel isn't far from ours," Petra noted.

"Yeah, we got lucky," Vincent said.

Daniel thought for a moment, "I don't think it was luck."

"What do you mean?" Vincent asked.

"We chose our hotel because it was near the airport. We can quickly leave if we need to. They did the same thing—perhaps they're not planning on being here long?"

Vincent looked at him, "You might be right, but there's no way to be sure. The only thing we can do for now is to park somewhere and wait to see what they do next."

Daniel shook his head, but didn't disagree out loud. This wasn't working. There was no way one of them could sneak into Cavanaugh's hotel room and take her from under his nose. It was unrealistic.

"I don't know what we're going to do," he admitted. "How are we going to get her back?"

"Don't worry," Vincent assured him. "We'll think of something."

Petra nodded quietly in the back seat. She reached forward and softly grabbed his shoulder.

The only thing he could donow was wait--and pray for a miracle.