The Agent's Daughter (25 page)

“
That’s awesome,” Melina
said. “Is it built into a helmet or do you strap it onto your chest
or something?”

Evan and David looked at each other and
smiled.

“
No, Melina,” David said.
“It is much smaller than that. Your mother built the whole thing
into a wristwatch. She took a standard issue agent wristwatch, like
the one I wear, and she built an electromagnet ring around the
outside of the dial. The magnet add-on made the watch a little big,
but she hoped to make it smaller so that the deflector could be
made part of the standard issue watch.”

“
Just not that color,”
David said.

“
Yeah,” Evan said as he
laughed and turned to David, “The color scheme on the prototype was
hideous. It was fluorescent orange.”

Melina shuddered and looked at her dad, wide
eyed. She said nothing. Evan looked back at her and continued.

“
Mom had just finished
testing the prototype, and she was bringing it home from the agency
to show me. In fact, she was wearing the watch the night of her
accident. But after the accident, well, you know the story. All of
the things that Mom was wearing that night still hang in a corner
of our bedroom.
Hehh
Her jewelry and the watch are in one of the pockets. I just
haven’t been able to put them away.”

Evan looked down and rubbed his face with
one of his hands, clearly reliving that night again.

Melina took a deep breath and put her hand
on her dad’s shoulder. “What you said is not entirely true. I mean
about the watch.”

She paused, trying to find the right
words.

“
I took Mom’s watch from
the pocket of her clothes in your room. I’m sorry Daddy. It’s just
that I wanted something of Mom’s to carry with me while she was in
the hospital.”

Evan said nothing and didn’t look up.

“
I didn’t lose it,
though,” Melina added. “I have it right here.”

Evan looked up as Melina knelt down and
rolled up one of her pant legs. A bulge was visible in her sock.
She reached into her sock and pulled out a watch. A large, ugly
fluorescent orange watch.

Evan and David both looked at her, stunned
as she held it up.

“
I took very good care of
it,” she said.

Evan looked at Melina’s sock and then at the
watch. “So you carry around the watch in your sock?”

“
No,” Melina said, looking
down. “I usually wear it on my wrist, except when I am with you.
Then I keep it in my pocket.”

“
So how did it end up in
your sock?”

“
Well…” Melina started.
“Earlier, when I thought that we were going through the security
checkpoint at your work, and I thought I was going to have to empty
my pockets, I moved it from my pocket to my sock.”

Evan thought for a moment and then a look of
recognition crossed his face. “When you went to the restroom!”

Melina nodded as she handed the watch to her
dad.

Evan took the watch and held it in his open
palm. He stared at it, still not quite believing that it was indeed
in his hand. He figured they were going to face people with guns,
and a device that could deflect bullets certainly would help. After
a few more moments of looking at the watch, he slipped it on his
wrist and began pushing buttons on the bezel.

“
What are you doing?”
Melina asked.

“
I’m turning on the GPS
transponder,” he said.

“
GPS transponder?” Melina
asked.

“
Yes,” Evan said. “All
standard agent watches come equipped with a GPS transponder. It
allows the agency to find you wherever you are in the field and
come pick you up. Most agents leave the transponder enabled, but
your mom wasn’t an agent, so she left hers off.”

“
But someone has to have
special equipment to pick up the transmission,” David said. “And
they have to be looking for you. Unfortunately, I don’t think
anybody is out looking for us right now.”

Evan did not look up but continued to
program the transponder. “I’m going to turn it on anyway. It can’t
hurt.”

After he had finished programming the watch,
he looked up to see Melina standing right in front of him. She had
a pained look on her face.

“
So… you’re okay that I
had Mom’s watch all this time?” Melina asked.

Evan looked up at her and smiled. Then he
reached out and gave her a giant hug.

Angela sat on the couch reading a book, but
it was difficult for her to concentrate on the pages. She was a
little spooked because a few hours earlier, she had received a call
from the agency 711 operator saying that Evan’s cell phone had
called them but hung up. The operator was following up on the
incident by calling Evan’s home number to see if everything was
okay. She could trace Evan’s location to the elevator at work using
the locator in his phone, but a security team had been dispatched
to the site of the emergency call, and there was no one there when
they arrived. Angela told the operator that Evan had not mentioned
going in to work but that he was not home. In the absence of more
information, the operator marked it down as another accidental
butt-dialed phone call and said that she would follow up at a later
time.

Since she received the call from the
operator, Angela had called both Evan’s and Melina’s cell phones
several times, but both of them went right to voicemail without
anybody answering. They were way past overdue to return home, and a
call to Evan’s work confirmed that while Melina and her dad had
been there, they had long since left.

Angela looked up from her book once more.
This time it was because of the sound of the doorbell ringing. She
got up, walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. It
was Alex Winfield.

“
Hello Alex,” Angela said
as she opened the door.

“
Good evening,” Alex said.
“I know Melina doesn’t want to speak to me, but I need to talk to
her.”

“
I’m afraid that she is
not home,” Angela said.

Alex looked down at the ground, dejected.
Then he looked back up at Angela.

“
You don’t have to cover
for her,” he said. “I don’t blame Melina for not wanting to see me.
Could you tell her that I can explain if she just would give me a
chance?”

Angela looked at him puzzled. “Alex, I’m not
covering for her. She truly isn’t home. What happened between you
two?”

“
Melina saw me at a
sandwich shop down the street having lunch with another girl. But
what she doesn’t know is that the girl ambushed me and just sat
down at my table. I didn’t invite her. Didn’t she tell you any of
this?”

“
I haven’t talked with
Melina since she and her father left to go to the hospital to see
her mother. They were due home hours ago. I’ve called both their
cell phones, and neither of them have answered. Then, I got a
strange call from the agency emergency operator that said Evan had
called 711 from the elevator at work and then hung up. They think
it was an accidental phone call, but I’m starting to
worry.”

“
Did you say he called
from the elevator at work?” Alex asked.

“
That is what the operator
said,” Angela answered. “She was able to pinpoint his location
using a locater in his phone. Why do you ask?”

“
About an hour ago I
received a strange text from my dad. I didn’t know what to make of
it, but it mentions an elevator. I’ve tried calling him a couple of
times, but he doesn’t answer his phone and he had not gotten home
when I left the house to come here.”

Angela’s eyes narrowed. “I want to see that
text.”

She led Alex into the living room and had
him sit down on the couch. Alex produced a phone from his pocket,
punched a few buttons to retrieve the text and then handed the
phone to Angela.

“
The strange part is at
the end,” Alex said.

Angela scrolled down to the end of the
message. Her eyes widened.

“
What is it?” Alex
said.

“
I don’t like the sound of
this,” she said, still staring at the message. “He seems to be
texting an ordinary message about coming home. Then it ends
abruptly with the words
help fcan
elevator
.”

“
What is an FCAN
elevator?” Alex asked.

“
It’s not FCAN elevator,”
Angela said. “I think he means FCAN in the elevator. He must have
sent the text from the elevator at work.”

“
Okay. What’s an FCAN?”
Alex asked again.

“
An FCAN is a small
canister that puts out a dense fog somewhat like a tear gas
canister. Some of them contain a substance that renders people
unconscious. They are standard issue for agents. The weird thing is
he used the exact word FCAN. As if that were the exact thing that
he had seen. He didn’t text
help smoke
elevator
or
help
tear gas elevator
.”

“
What do you think this
means?” Alex asked.

“
I don’t know, but it
seems like more than a coincidence that your father sent this text
calling for help from the same elevator at work where Evan was when
he made the 711 phone call.”

“
That does seem strange,”
Alex said. “Look, can’t we just drive down to the agency and tell
them what is going on?”

“
They have already sent a
security team to investigate the elevator,” Angela said, “and they
didn’t find anything. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll call them back
and have them look again.”

Angela went to her purse and got her address
book out. She looked up the outside number for the 711 operator and
dialed.

“
Good evening, 711
operator. What is your emergency?”

“
Hello. My name is Angela
Coleman. You called here earlier in the evening about Evan
Roberts.”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

“
I have been shown a text
that was sent by another agency employee about an hour ago that
appears to be asking for help while he was in one of the elevators
in the building. Could you send security to check it
out?”

“
Ma’am, the elevators are
part of the normal rounds that security walks every hour. We just
completed this hour’s round without incident.”

“
They didn’t see
anything?” Angela said.

“
Nothing to report,
ma’am.”

“
Okay, then. Have you
heard from Evan?”

“
No, ma’am. His phone is
still off.”

“
His phone is off?” Angela
asked.

“
Yes, ma’am. It has been
off since he hung up on the 711 call. Is there anything else I can
help you with?”

“
No,” Angela said. “Thanks
for your help. Goodbye.”

Alex watched Angela hang up the phone. “What
did they say?”

“
They didn’t see anything
of note in the elevators. But one thing is curious. Evan’s phone is
off. Agents are told never to turn their phones off. The agency
wants to be able to contact them at any time.”

“
So what can we do now?”
Alex asked.

“
I know,” Angela said. “I
can call my brother. He is a lieutenant with the Dallas Police
Department. He may have an idea what to do.”

Angela picked up the phone and dialed her
brother’s direct line.

“
Good evening. Dallas
Police Department. Lieutenant Coleman speaking.”

“
Hey, little bro. It’s
Angela.”

“
Sis! What’s shakin’?
Certainly
you’re
not in trouble?” he said as he laughed.

“
You know me,” she said.
“I’m not one to look for trouble. Wink. Wink.”

“
I thought so,” he said.
“So what’s up?”

“
The son of one of my
co-workers just came over and showed me a text his father had sent
from the elevator at work telling his son that he was coming home.
It looks normal until the end of the text when it just ends with
the father asking for help. Also, earlier, I got a phone call from
the agency emergency operator saying another co-worker had made an
emergency call from that same elevator, but then hung up. Neither
one of the co-workers has come home yet, and we haven’t been able
to reach either of them on their phones. I don’t know if all this
is related, but it does seem weird that they were both last seen in
the same elevator.”

“
When did all this go
down?”

“
About an hour
ago.”

“
Oh,” he said. “Unless you
have more evidence that something is going on, it’s way too early
for the police to get involved. A person has to be missing at least
a day for us to come out. I’ll tell you what though, give me their
names, and I’ll run them through the computer and see if they have
been involved in anything tonight.”

“
Okay. One name is David
Winfield. The other is Evan Roberts.”

“
All right. Hold
on.”

After a few moments, Angela’s brother
returned to the phone.

“
I’m sorry, sis. I don’t
see anything on either of those names. No accidents, hospital
transports, arrests, nothing. I’m sorry.”

“
That’s okay. Well I know
you are busy, I don’t want to keep you on the phone. Thanks for
checking things out for me. See ya.”