Inner Workings

Inner Workings - Part 30

Grant cursed his screen and tapped the keyboard again, trying to adjust the angle of the infrared satellite lens. The outlines of green and black churned to a blur. "Screw all clouds."

"You doing okay?" asked Cetz over the intercom. After Grant had made success narrowing down Sandra's location, Cetz directly connected the intercom in Grant's office to his headset, getting updates as they happened and relaying the important bits to Watch One. It also gave him live access to Grant's ranting against nature.

"It's like playing global Where's Waldo with a moving picture in the dark," said Grant before he tilted his head. "Actually that sounds like a cool global scavenger hunt."

"Focus," said Cetz, his voice almost bright in tone. The voice doubled and Cetz walked through Grant's doorway with a full cup of slushie and a hand behind his back. "You've gotten further than Watch One so far."

Grant accepted the slushie and slurped a blue mustache across his upper lip. Blue raspberry sugar helped before, but did little now. The ever walking slinky on the rotating mini escalator didn't help either and he had been tempted to turn it off just for a change of pace. He turned back to the screen. "You said Watch One sent a description of Sandra, bitch, to the police in the area, right?"

"Yeah. They'd send a bolo on her car too if they knew the make and model."

"Well, Olivia acquired the listings to the payphones in the radius between spamming Youtube. One of them was used to make a call to a car rental company."

Cetz's voice dipped into the usual tone of disappointment. "Great."

"Indeed." Grant tapped at the keys, zooming out to find a clear spot in the clouds above downtown San Francisco. "If that was Sandra, bitch, she might not even be in the area anymore. And all thanks to a couple of programmers with Watch One deciding to keep us out of the loop."

Cetz's voice brightened again. "But if we contact the company we can at least find out what cars were rented in the last couple of hours and get a better lock on her." Cetz put a hand on Grant's shoulder. "Good job."

"Thanks, I kind of needed—" A glance down and Grant noticed a smear of blue on one of Cetz's fingers. He turned followed up the arm and to Cetz's face, and then his jaw dropped.

"Cetz, you..."

***

Coffee would eventually lead Rachel down a road of tiring addiction, rivaling Louis' dependency on the hot, black, and sweet; but not tonight. Tonight she needed caffeine. She emptied the pot and filled the filter for another brew that she and probably many others would need. Coffee rarely went cold in Watch Two.

Cup in hand, she considered going to her desk and calling Cetz on the intercom about Milton's observations of Sandra Pearl. But when was the last time Cetz had ever bothered with her intercom? He preferred yelling down the hall. Better to seek him out and talk face to face. It was the least Cetz could do after practically demanding that she "play nice" with Harrison from Watch One.

Main Tech operated on minimal staff during the night, but someone directed her towards where Cetz was seen last. Comp Tech.

In earshot of Grant's office, she heard a gasp.

"Cetz, you..."

She turned the corner and paused. Grant looked shocked, but elated, and in front of him, with his back towards her, was Cetz.

"Cetz?" she asked.

The Head of Watch Two turned and Rachel saw the ice blue lips and a slushie cup in hand.

"You've fallen to the dark side."

Grant grinned and held up his own cup. "Join us, we have blue raspberry!"

"No. I don't need to see my crap turn blue."

Cetz cleared his throat. "You needed to see me?"

Rachel nodded and waved him towards the hallway. Once there held the slushie cup behind him, as if pretending his indiscretion against coffee didn't exist.

"Sorry if you were doing something important with Grant."

"No problem," said Cetz, tapping his headset. "I have his intercom online."

It might have been a caffeine tic, but Rachel felt her left eyelid twitch. "You'll wire up Grant's intercom but whenever you need to talk to me you yell down the hallway?"

"Yeah?"

Deep breaths, agents in danger, throttle Cetz later. "I got a lead on Sandra Pearl's possible mental state and how if might affect her next movements. We thought she was just OCD but apparently she's germaphobic."

"That's it?"

"It's more than we had before. Louis and Will should be told, just in case."

Cetz nodded. "Fine, the two of them need an update on the situation anyway. I'll contact them in ten minutes; you can join me Com Tech."

"Good," said Rachel. Then she reached around Cetz and pulled up the slushie cup. "Now would you mind explaining this?"

For the love of God, Cetz almost pouted. "It's just one. I needed a change of pace from the old coffee pot."

Rachel shook her head and took a long sip of her coffee in silent protest. Coffee might turn her down a dark road of caffeine addiction, but it was better than having blue insides.

***

The jeep would get from point A to point B, but everything else about it made Sandra's skin crawl. Each time she had polished the steering wheel, the antibacterial wipe came off smeared with something the shade of Band-Aid beige. The only thing keeping her inside the vehicle was the rain and mud outside, getting worse the further she drove. That and her conviction to finish what she started.

Sandra cranked up the air vents. Her breath had fogged the cold windshield and she wanted to keep her path clear. In the muddy mess that occasionally rocked the body of the jeep, the road signs were less than trustworthy.

At least the rental company threw in a GPS. Audio guidance, soothing and direct with a slightly English dialect. And it led her ever closer to her destination. Mark had rented a motel room in the area of the mudslide that kept them from going north. Once she talked with him they would find a detour and continue. Mark would get his money, she would get her revenge.

Once this was over she would shower in a sterile bathroom, finally get the filth of the world off her, and regain the trappings of her composure. Clean hair, clean hands, clean conscience.