Mister Nobody

Chapter 24

Holloway could already see several people crowding around the Lincoln Memorial as the press prepared for Denholm's arrival in a few hours. Checking his watch, Holloway was getting more and more nervous by the moment. "Damn...this better work." Ralston walked up behind him. "I can assure you, Deputy Director, Blair and DeLancie will be here." Holloway turned to him. "Until I see his face, you can't guarantee anything." Walking past him back into the MCC, Holloway spoke to one of the analysts. "Are we set up?" Nodding, the analyst motioned to the large screen in front of the several computer terminals. "We have eyes everywhere across the memorial. Security gates, background checks, the works. No one gets in or out without us knowing." Nodding, Holloway stood up and stared at the screen. "Good. Let's keep it that way." He crossed his arms as he breathed out. DeLancie had slipped through his fingers twice now, and he wasn't about to let him get that third attempt. No matter what he had done or whose side he was on, he wasn't going to let him near the SecDef. This encounter with DeLancie had given him the most work he'd ever had since becoming a Deputy Director, and he wasn't about to let this case go easily. Also, there was something about DeLancie that threw him off, something that didn't feel right. It was related to what had happened in the alleyway back in Jersey. DeLancie wasn't the one that wanted to shoot him, his partner was. Holloway still didn't trust him, that was for sure. But it was that hesitation and sense of uncertainty surrounding him that made Holloway think that there was more to him than met the eye. He couldn't get it out of his head, and he knew that he would never find out the truth until he confronted DeLancie himself. And that was exactly what he intended to do. "Alright, Jack...your move." He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Ralston was dealing with some issues of his own. Shortly after Holloway walked off back to the MCC, he felt his phone vibrate. Taking it out, he saw that he had received a text message from one of his agents. It read: "Target has spotted vital information. Orders?" Ralston was surprised that the target had managed to get farther than he'd previously thought. It didn't matter. Soon, they would be out of his way, and no one else would be the wiser. Typing a message back to him, he sent simply one word. "Dissolve." The message was received not too far away, in the J. Edgar Hoover Building that was simply a few more minutes downtown. A man in glasses pulled out his phone inside the group of computer terminals called the Hive, and read the one-worded message. Placing his phone back into his pocket, he looked over at his target in the cubicle a few feet away from him. The woman, who had dark skin, curly brown hair, and was wearing a blue business suit and skirt, was typing furiously on her keyboard, and had been there since the early hours of the morning. The time for monitoring her was over, and now it was time to finish the job. Chelsea sighed as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms. She hadn't found out anything else interesting yet, or at least anything of value to tell Holloway, but she had a feeling she was close. Then, she jumped as someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was the man from earlier she had bumped into. "Oh! Sorry. Guess I'm a little high-strung." She laughed, and he gave a good-natured smiled back. "I was just going to get some coffee. You want some?" Chelsea smiled back. "That would be actually really awesome right now, thanks."

The man walked off, and Chelsea went back to work, occasionally glancing over at the coffee table, smiling a little to herself. It was certainly a nice thing for him to do, especially since she was so tuckered out. As she kept typing, however, something caught her eye. When she looked over at him making the coffee, she noticed something he did. He reached into his pocket while stirring one of the cups, then appeared to palm something in his hand and drop it into the liquid. Frowning, Chelsea wondered if she was just seeing things, then knew that this wasn't a hallucination. If this was going to be one of those situations, then she'd have to play things very carefully. As he walked back, he handed her one of the cups of coffee, the tainted one, she assumed. "Thank you." She said as he walked off to his own desk. She looked at the mug and sniffed it. It didn't smell like anything, but she wasn't planning on tasting it. Raising it to her lips and tilting slightly so the liquid didn't get in her mouth, she then placed it back on the desk. Not wanting to raise any suspicion, she kept working for a few minutes. Then, when she decided the drug would have kicked in, she got up and then started walking towards the bathroom slowly, acting a little dizzy. Heading into the women's bathroom, she quickly went into one of the stalls and locked the door, crouching on top of the toilet. Taking her heels off, she held them on her lap as she stayed quiet. Then, she heard the door slowly creak open, and then footsteps walking across the tiled floor. As she wondered if it was another woman, she heard the stall door two doors down from her swing open. He was checking each one. The next one opened, and she knew she would have to act quickly. Holding one of her shoes in her hand, she slowly slid the bolt back and waited for him.

His form moved in front of the door, and she watched as it swung open. As it did, she lunged forwards and jabbed the heel of her shoe into his eye with some force, making him cry out and fall backwards. Chelsea had taken some tae kwon do classes a few years ago, and she may have been a little rusty, but not too much. Kicking him in his solar plexus, she wrapped her arm around his neck, placing him in a headlock. He growled and elbowed her sides a bit, but she tried to keep a grip on him as much as she could. He saw his legs kicking, and waited until they finally stopped, as well as the rest of his body ceased moving. Panting, she moved back and saw his unconscious body on the floor. Chelsea had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that he had just tried to kill her, and that there was much more to this case than she had realized. This practically proved her theory, but she needed to tell Holloway first. But before that, she had to deal with the huge problem that was now laying at her feet. Thinking quickly, she grabbed his arms and dragged him out of the bathroom, grunting slightly at how big he was. Dragging him to the janitor's closet down the hall, she opened it and slid him inside, finding some zip ties inside of a box and tying his arms to one of the metal shelves that was bolted to the ground. Hoping that would hold him, she closed the door and made her way back to her desk, trying to act natural. Sitting down, she got on her phone and dialled Holloway's number. After it rang a few times, a robotic voice came up. "We're sorry, the number you have dialled is busy at this time. Please hang up and try your call again." Cursing, Chelsea redialled. Whatever Holloway was doing wasn't as important as this.