Resurrection

Betrayal

"Can we skip the bullshit and concentrate on finding my daughter." Jones demanded, banging her fist on the table hard enough to make the pint glasses on top of it jump and spill their contents. She growled with agitation when everyone ignored her outburst.

Grey used a couple of napkins to mop up the mess. "Captain, I mean no disrespect and I know Shafira is missing, but our primary objective is the target. If you can't put your personal issues aside and concentrate on the job first and foremost then I'll have to request you be taken off the case. We need you to be focused."

Jones glared at her subordinate. "I am a Biogen. I don't have emotional attachments," she said, almost incoherently through her gritted teeth. She got to her feet and strode to the whiteboard someone had set up in front of the jukebox in the corner.

The loud, ear-piercing screech of her nails dragging across the board caught the attention of every person in the room. She scanned the faces of her comrades for a few seconds in the ensuing silence. What she saw was a mixture of curiosity and annoyance - one or two even showed a modicum of sympathy.

With a deep breath that squared her shoulders, she addressed her team. "Our target knew we were on to him. Either he's psychic or we have a mole."

"Ma'am, if I may?"

Jones nodded for the woman to continue.

"The incidents that drew our attention to the target in the first place seem a little orchestrated on hindsight. What if they were a set up in order to take you out of the equation for some reason?"

"Tell me more… What's your name?"

"Violet, Ma'am. I think he played us so you'd get involved. You've made a name for yourself in the field."

Jones' eyes narrowed with her frown as she thought about what Violet said. "You're on to something, but I don't think it was me he wanted."

She looked up and met Green's eyes from the far side of the room where he was talking with the video surveillance team. She motioned him over with a flick of her hand.

"Ma'am," he said with trepidation when he reached her side. "The video guys have nothing. According to Rusty, no one saw our guy arrive at the meeting point. No one entered the restaurant for five minutes before Shafira did. The only thing they have is hazy footage of something on the street just seconds after the blast." He hesitated as if afraid to continue.

"Spit it out, Green."

Green pulled her by the elbow into a booth and pushed her down into the seat. "They don't know if it's her, but it's possible our target took Shafira from the street… They said she looked like she may have been injured."

"Damn it, I knew it. Tell me they can track her at least."

Green sank into the seat opposite and shook his head, refusing to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry. There's something interfering with the signal."

When Jones said nothing, Green raised his head expecting to see anger or grief, some sort of emotion on her face. Instead, she sat with her eyes closed and her head thrown back against the wooden surround of the booth. Her eyelids moved in rapid flutters for several minutes as she processed all the information she'd witnessed and been given since the target came to the notice of the Supernatural Investigation Team.

"Damn," she breathed fervently sliding from the booth, her hand moving to check the weapon concealed beneath her jacket. "It's Gould." She slid the battery pack from its sheath and replaced it with a fresh one.

Green stood so he could see over the high booth wall to scan the room beyond. "Where?"

"Why the hell didn't I see it? It's so freaking obvious."

"Boss, what are you talking about?"

Jones sat down again. "You remember the night I found…" She glanced around quickly to make sure no one was within earshot before continuing in a whisper, "the night I found Shafira? He was alone with the ALF for an unrecorded period of time."

"And so were you."

"The lab said that the thing that slid from the targets mouth was parasitic in origin. What if it wasn't the only one?"

"You think Gould has one inside him?"

"Think about it. When we got back from Egypt, he was acting weird, as if he didn't know some of the people he worked with every day. He'd been trying to get into Chantelle's knickers for months before the mission; suddenly he has no interest anymore. Totally out of character."

"You said he was probably stressed from the Egypt job."

"I know, but every sighting there's been of our new target has been made by him."

"Nah," Green said with disbelief. "That explosion could have killed him. No way he's involved."

"That, is actually the clincher right there. He was already in the stairwell when Shafira warned us to get out. He said he needed to take a piss."

Green frowned. "Okay, so what do you want to do about it? Report our suspicions or check him ourselves. You can scan him for things like that, right?"

Jones nodded and got to her feet again. "Want to back me up? If I'm right, he may get nasty. I'll understand if you want to sit this one out, him being your friend and all."

"To Hell with that, I'm game. Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on," Green replied, following the statement with a sadistic looking grin. "From here to the eyes and the ears of the 'verse, that's my motto." He chuckled at Jones' grimace. "Or at least it would be, if I start having a motto."

"Okay…" Jones laughed nervously. "I'm driving; you've obviously had one too many whiskeys."