***

The agents stayed in Danny’s house because the rain was too forbidding to go anywhere or do anything. The Postal Service was closed and Iggy kept the first watch, to make sure no postman come at five a.m., braving rain and thunder to collect the mails. Isaiah desperately hoped not too late; that no postman collected anything yet.

It was about seven when the rain drizzled down to a slight sprinkle. Isaiah’s eyes cracked open, seeing Lynn’s sleeping form beside him on the cold floor- one of her hands thrown over his chest. He turned his head to his left, causing his still sleeping neck to crack from the unexpected strain. Gray Man who was already awake and sitting up against a blank wall almost glowered at him- his suit crumpled and his eyes bloodshot. Isaiah gently took Lynn’s hand away and placed it softly by her side. He pushed himself up, teetering slightly on his feet and only managed to keep himself from falling by stretching his hands out to balance himself, waving them like twin propellers as he bent a little, careful not to wake Lynn by falling on her. The policeman supposed to be keeping watch was snoring somewhere near the door, in the house of course. It almost seemed heartless not to invite him in.

If the killer had decided to come back, there was only Iggy to protect them. What fantastic Network agents they were. But he held the thought when he saw a gun barrel pointed towards the door- the killing machine readied in one of Gray’s folded arms. Gray was ambidextrous. He was a formidable force to be reckoned with, singled out by the now dormant Assassins as their Nemesis. His life must have been interesting.

"I’m sorry…" Isaiah spoke softly as he approached Gray. Gray shook his head and nodded his head towards the bathroom.

"Go wash yourself up. You’ll work better when you feel more refresh. Lynn told me about what you’ve seen. Though I still find it hard to believe…your visions, I mean. I trust you know what you’re doing."

Isaiah slouched slightly and patted Gray’s shoulder as he walked past him into the bathroom. Moments later, he was out and found Lynn waiting for her turn.

"Morning…" He kissed her lips lightly. She retreated back out of self-consciousness. It was morning. She was not freshened up and embarrassed by the staleness in her mouth.

Isaiah let it passed and decided to wait for her in the living room.

Iggy was already dozing off on the floor when he re-entered the pathetic hall with only a springy, tattered couch and a small television that he was sure would not even work. Gray Man was holding something that looked like a bulky police report and just as Isaiah was about to ask if the Postal Service people had came to unlock the mail box, Jacob Stern entered with Carl, a brown-haired wiry fellow and Iggy’s partner.

"Hello, good morning. Wonderful weather last night…" Stern remarked dryly and shook away the raindrops that hung on to his skin and clothes. "Pressured the postal people as you asked me to. I think Agent Gray has the file."

"Yes…" Gray confirmed. Isaiah turned towards his mentor just in time to see the older man finish loading a mini-tape into his own recorder, drumming his fingers on the floor as the tape rewind slowly.

"We searched Alicia Calloway’s apartment again but found nothing of interest except an emptied dustbin. Maybe Elijah had already taken the clues or she had destroyed them." Carl updated them. So, that was where he was last night. It was not that Isaiah did not trust Carl to do a good job, but he made a mental note to revisit Alicia’s apartment himself.

Isaiah sat down next to Gray as Carl and Stern went into the kitchen, probably looking for a drink. Gray passed him the file and he was intrigued at once by the syllabuses and photo clipped onto it.

"He circled Benedict Olson’s and Professor Carter’s faces. We’ll get warrants to check their place out." Gray informed him. Isaiah clenched his fists, hyperventilating as mutely as he could, feeling guilt gnawed its way out of his heart to devour his ribcage; feeling guilt aided by cold anger.

"The syllabuses, they are all History Modules crossed over with Political Science and all taught by Carter. If Carter’s the culprit, I’ll never forgive myself. I should have sensed it!"

"I thought you once told me you can’t control your gifts and they are not exactly crystal balls so, don’t berate yourself too much." Gray Man consoled him dispassionately, the lack of sleep made him sound apathetic. Isaiah shook his head, regretting it immediately for the room spun for a while and he had to press a palm against the wall to rid himself of nausea.

Elijah’s voice, muffled over the tape recorded, sent Isaiah’s pulse racing, feeling the intense need to fast forward the tape to some information he could work with. He and Gray Man listened intently to it, keeping silent, hushing Lynn, Jacob and Carl who had, in their own time, stepped into the living room to listen in as well.

Gray paused it there. "Any ideas?"

The rest of them shrugged.

"College kids visit pubs all the time. Maybe they could have gotten it from a supplier there or something…" Isaiah ventured. Gray Man nodded, taking down mental notes. A click and the soft whirl of the recorder started again.

"Wait… planted? What bug?" Isaiah gestured for Gray to stop the playback. Gray sighed, a little weary.

"Alicia’s the waitress who always served the both of you in the café. The both of you are strangers in this paranoid town and who loved to sit at the same table and discuss about the case. How else you do you think she and Danny knew who to target?"

Isaiah bit his lips, chiding himself for breaking that one cardinal rule. To always exercise caution. It looked like Elijah was preoccupied with something else too- the same splinter that lodged in both their minds.

Elijah went on speaking to them via the metal conception. Ben was suspected but no reasons were given. His Jewish girlfriend, though, kept Isaiah wondering. Jewish girlfriend. Then suddenly, Elijah talked about keys, lock and combination. He could sense Elijah burning with more excitement, then. The rhythm of the dull, yet strangely reflective drone, quickened and the mad rush of thoughts translated into a jumbled organization of sentences. Keys, Lock, Combination.

"The shredded bits… they must be the map, the lock! Damn… it’s destroyed… and the keys… it’s here… in the report… 0650a.m. 0840a.m. We need to find the rest of the coordinates and another map… grid map… gosh…I’ve seen a grid map!" Isaiah slapped the report shut and at that precise moment, noticed Gray fiddling with something in his jacket’s pocket.

"I’ve seen a grid map in Carter’s office. And a lesson learnt. He told me, ‘There’s always a lesson to be learnt somewhere." He slammed his throbbing head against the wall and saw stars. But it did not matter; it was not punishment enough. He had the killer sitting next to him and he let him go.

Gray Man laid a calming hand on his shoulder.

"But the man doesn’t sound like him… the man… doesn’t sound like him." Isaiah recalled aloud. He knew the low, raspy voice in the vision was clearly distinct from the Professor’s tenor range.

Lynn touched his lap and spoke softly, "Maybe they’re all involved. Ben, Carter and Alicia."

***

Lynn was already in the BMW, waiting for him. Isaiah stayed behind for a while, a nagging question had ate through what little brains he had left and traveled down to his chest, urgently waiting to be asked.

"Gray, where’s the reverse bug that Elijah was talking about? Reverse bug is simply a miniature receiver right? Not a transmitter. I think he slashed the pillow to try to find a simple explanation for the voices that Danny heard. And you know what? I think the bug’s in your pocket." He laid a hand on Gray Man’s shoulder to stop the veteran secret agent in mid-stride. Carl was already on his way to question Carter after waking Iggy up and Isaiah could only hope that they were not too late. Stern was giving instructions to the policeman, probably informing him of shift changes or some mundane, administrative matters. Isaiah could not care less.

Gray Man had mentioned earlier that he needed to hurry back to the motel to make some calls first. Calls. What could be more important than Elijah’s safety at this point in time?

"What?" Gray Man turned towards Isaiah- the blatant faux ignorance reeked with the stench of a lie.

"The bug. The reverse bug. You kept it. He must have slotted it inside the file but last I'd checked, it wasn’t there."

"Maybe he kept it." Gray shrugged, still not talking. Isaiah narrowed his eyes, peeved but decided to let it pass. The Network was full of secrets even between agents. The secrecy induced paranoia and paranoia made some agents go mad.

"I’ll be asking you again, Gray. You assigned me to this case so I have every right to know." Isaiah warned his mentor and was about to cross the road to group up with Lynn when something else from his vision hit him.

Like the Hand of God, giving a slight smack to the back of his head to remind him of something important.

"Stern!" Isaiah interrupted the two policemen and as Stern attention diverted to Isaiah, his subordinate visibly relaxed.

"Yes, Isaiah?"

"Wait here…" Isaiah requested and ran over to the BMW, gesturing for Lynn to roll down her window.

"Lynn, did Elijah mention about Ben’s Jewish girlfriend’s name?"

"Yes, Magdalene Ashriel. You don’t think she’s…"

"I heard in my vision, the man… talking about someone called Magdalene… I think she could be it, either she or Lenny’s mom. They are both called Magdalene. Can you call up Magdalene Ashriel and Lenny’s addresses?" Isaiah pointed to Lynn’s notebook on the backseat which had a wireless connection so she could control her workstation via remote handling. Lynn nodded, turned around in her leather seat, stretched out a hand and took the notebook. A minute passed before she found what was needed.

"Magdalene stay in the dorm, Hall 2, level 3, room 5. Her home address is in another town. And Lenny was staying in 15, Small Coast."

"Thanks…hang on… I won’t be gone for long…"

Stern watched Isaiah expectantly as he approached- his vision blurring and his breathing ragged due to his sudden exhaustion of energy.

"Yes?"

"Two possible victims… you have to send men to guard them. A Magdalene Sanders who stays in 15, Small Coast and another girl, a Jewish girl called Magdalene Ashriel, staying in Eaeshore College, Hall 2, level 3, room 5. Got it?" As Isaiah was speaking, Stern had quickly drew out his memo and jotted down the addresses on it.

"Yes. 15, Small Coast. Hall 2, level 3, room 5. Anything else?" Stern asked as he reached inside his pocket for his mobile to feedback to the police station. Isaiah was just about to shake his head when he remembered the discomfort the simple action would inspire and stopped himself in time.

"No… thanks." Isaiah clapped Stern’s shoulders once before spinning around to run back to the BMW. He opened the door to the passenger side and climbed in.

"Where to?" Lynn asked him, cranking up the engine.

"Alicia Calloway’s house." Isaiah belted himself and held the door handle, bracing himself for Lynn’s famously violent drive-off.

***