Infinity Chapter 43 - We're here to...

[itztigress3]

Chapter 43 – We’re here to…
POV:  Zac
Word count: 2857


October 28, 2013; 9:45 am

We had been up a little while when someone buzzed the gate and I checked, it was Agent Marshall so I let him in. He was suppose to be here at 11, but I guess he decided earlier was better. I let him in the front door and he glanced around.

“My wife and son are up-stairs; she should be back in just a few minutes.”

“No problem.”

I offered drinks and cake and he declined the cake but accepted a bottle of water.

“How old is your son now?”

“He turned one last Tuesday.”

“If I remember correctly, your birthday was also Tuesday?”

“It was. He was due the 22^nd and he was born the 22^nd, not uncommon but it was strange enough. She was pretty miserable with the pregnancy though.”

“Because of the heat?”

“No, she couldn’t keep much of anything down. She was pretty sick the whole time.”

It was Alexander running through that caused me to blink, but Emily was standing at the steps unhooking the gate.

“Sorry, he kept being wiggly. Good morning Agent Marshall.”

“Good Morning, you look a lot better both of you do.”

“I guess being at home does wonders.”

“It’s a very nice home really, I almost went past the driveway and then I was stopped at the gate.”

“Yeah, my best friend works for CompTech and they set up the system and he reinforced it before we got home.”

“I heard there a good company.”

“They are he’s also secured our new phones again.” I said.

“That’s a good that you have someone in that capacity. My wife and I both work for the FBI so not many people want to break in.”

“Do you like in Illinois or Oklahoma?” Emily asked.

“We have a home in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was raised there and we met there.”

“Yet you’re working our case?” I asked.

“The FBI doesn’t discriminate on where we go; I’ve worked cases in about every state. I have a few specialties but my top one is explosives,
followed by technology related aspects.”

It didn’t make much sense to me, but what the hell?

“What about your wife?” Emily asked.

“She works cases in general, but her specialty is actually stalking cases.”

Emily nodded and sat down beside me, Alexander was busy playing with his toys. Agent Marshall looked at him and it seemed like something was weird in his expression, it made me uncomfortable.

“He looks so much like his father.” He said.

“People have asked if I did anything, no I just carried, delivered and fed him.” She giggled.

He smiled. “Is it ok to discuss things with him here?”

“He’s a year old; I think he’ll be fine to hear it.” She said.

He nodded and got notes out of the briefcase he had, and then turned a bit to face us versus the fireplace.

“There were three bombs on your bus, two were located on the front and rear axles and a third was about center of the bus. We believe the center
bomb was just meant to damage the bus itself, not do anything because the first two took the wheels clean off. The bus is a total loss, there is nothing you can do to repair it or fix it. We will provide a detailed analysis for your insurance company.”

“We assumed that the bus was a loss and I’ve already started the paperwork for the insurance company.” Emily said.

“We will have that ready before the beginning of November; I will make sure you get a copy. We spoke to the driver, Mr. Blackson and he provided us with a detailed route that you took, it was backed up by GPS on the bus. We back tracked and pulled a few cameras to review the footage. You stopped at a gas station shortly before the explosion; it was here when the bombs were put on.”

“We did stop, I was awake with Alexander. But, how do you know the bombs were put on then?” She asked.

“They had an outdoor camera and it caught a young man placing them. Miss. Winter’s did not remember seeing him and she also stopped but she moved away from the pumps so if anyone else came in they wouldn’t be blocked. She was on the opposite side and indicated she was checking her messages. We can verify that by the cameras as well, her line of sight is blocked by the bus. The clerks inside were not paying attention to the pumps either.”

He retrieved a picture and handed it to us, the person was clear in several shots and we both knew who it was.

“This is Ryan Silva. He use to be a crew member for us during the tour. We let him go October 1^st, it was revealed he had been yelling, popping, and snatching things from our son. He did it the first with us there and caused him to fall. There were witnesses in the crew members, Robert and Jared were there for sure.” I said.

“It was a rule that crew members were not supposed to correct our son or any other children as Taylor and Isaac’s children also came out a little bit. The crew was all informed these rules at the same time and there also posted in the kitchen area of the bus.” She said.

“Did he go quietly?”  He asked.

“I fired him but Emily had to step in and do it as well, he didn’t think I was serious. The next day she got the e-mail we told you about. We don’t know if Ian sent it or if Ryan did.”

He shifted in his seat. “Ryan Silva doesn’t exist.”

Both of us looked at him stunned. “Excuse me? I did a background check on him.”

“We pulled the records and then checked, it turns out Ryan Silva is really a sixty-five year old retired teacher in Jenks. Someone with computer knowledge added in a faked background to reflect someone of the same age. We discovered this with finger prints.”

“So, his prints didn’t match then who was on tour with us?”

“Zane Dembowski, he’s not in his 20’s, he’s actually 41. He use to work for a computer company but the last several years he’s been working as a freelance hacker. In searching his home we found some evidence that he was tied to you both.”

“I’ve never heard of that name.” Emily said.

“Me either and it’s pretty unique so I would remember it.” I said.

“You wouldn’t have, Adam Campbell recruited him. He had some records of requests from him to install cameras and look up things. It’s unclear if your Ian fellow used him to get close or if he was freelancing.”

I could see the cloud of fear cross Emily’s eyes, fuck this wasn’t going like I wanted or expected. I could see the cloudiness; fear that Daniel was behind this somehow.

“Is there any indication that David Daniels was behind any of this?” I asked.

“No. We checked his visitation, phone, and letters and there all from family members. Although, I am curious as to why none of his children saw him, you went earlier this year but just that once.”

She growled a bit and he seemed a little shocked. “I have nothing to say that bastard, not after what he did. I didn’t have a reason until this year and that was because he kept asking about me, about Alexander, which he was delusional to believe Alexander was his grandson. He’s not allowed to have pictures or articles about myself or my family.”

He nodded. “But, don’t you have older brothers?”

That cloud of fear changed to suspicion. “Agent Marshall I am a little confused on why you’re asking me such stupid questions. You’re an FBI agent I am sure you know the answer to that question. Now, can we please not worry about why I and my siblings don’t have anything to do with him? I’d like to focus more on the fucking bastard that threatened to kill my son while he stood in front of me. If you can’t tell me anything about that, then we’re done and you can leave.”

Have I mentioned how much I love my wife? Agent Marshall was taken aback and he blinked a few times before he nodded.

“Certainly Ma’am. We recovered laptops, cell phones and other devices and we looked them all with consent from your crew members of course.
Everyone else was clean there was no evidence they were giving information or anything out, we cleared them. The work laptops were clean as well, we didn’t find any evidence that anyone had tampered with them and all we found were work related documents and spreadsheets. The two personal laptops identified as belonging the two of you were clean as far as like viruses or malware went, we found the folder in which you indicated the pictures were in.”

“They still worked?” I asked.

“Yes. The office area wasn’t damaged much really, some water and heat but after a good drying time the computer technicians were able to retrieve the information.”

He got out two flash drives. “We unfortunately cannot return the laptops to you both, however we did store the information on these flash drives because you had hundreds of his pictures.”

“We backed up often but thank you.” Emily said.

He handed them to her and she put them in her shirt pocket. “The e-mail you gave us access too was a great idea, it provided the e-mail address and IP he used unfortunately those lead to nothing.”

“In other words, Ian is still a big mystery person?” I asked.

“Basically. The technicians will use your drawing to look through thousands of photos your fans have taken and posted. Obviously we cannot search through pictures that people have not made public. It is your choice on whether you want us to set up an e-mail for fans to use if they wish.”

“No. I will not put our loyal fans in the cross fire of this guy. If he thinks someone may have caught him he’s liable to search them out. I can’t put them at risk.”

“Understandable.”

I got up and got my sketch pad, tearing the picture out and then handing it to him.

“It’s the best I could do.”

He blinked. “It’s quite detailed.”

“I told you, I saw him up close. Sure, the circumstances were not ideal but he didn’t get too bad until after that, so I was still pretty aware of what I needed to do.”

He smiled some and put the drawing up. “Do you want a copy?”

“No. Emily has seen it and I photographed it and sent it to family. I don’t need the picture.”

“Ok.”

“What about the items he sent me? They were given to the FBI agents last week. Craig Stevenson let detectives onto the property and to the spot I indicated.”

He got something and looked at it. “The black pair of thongs were clean, there was no indication they were ever worn by anyone. The blue pair had DNA on it, but it’s not in any of our systems but we have a profile and it does match samples from the hotel room. The teddy bear was clean, there were traces of DNA but it matches your son. The panties were the same way, traces but they matched your wife. The boxes did have prints, some were confirmed as yours, but with Fed Ex a lot of people handle them. Inside the box there was a set, but again no matches but they did match a partial found on the dresser of the hotel.”

“So you have his prints and his DNA, but nothing matched?” Emily asked.

“Right. The hotel had several prints and DNA samples which is what we expected. We’re only saying those belong to Ian because they match or partially match what we found inside the box.”

“What about e-mails, pictures?”

“That’s a little more complicated. Most of the pictures you received were publically taken or professionally taken and released. You knew that, the only ones that can prove anything are the ones he sent late August. We did however find a website.”

Both of us perked a bit. “The same pictures he sent you are there, with some exceptions. The one of you and Casey, isn’t on the website nor or the pictures of Emily or Alexander. All of them are you and they all have the infinity symbol. It’s a free account and the server has no information but we’re digging deep because something has to be there.”

Why would Ian post the pictures online? What was the purpose of that in his mind? I wasn’t sure and didn’t care as long as he left me alone!

“Is there anything at all that is good news?” Emily asked.

“Not really, beyond the DNA and prints but really we can’t do anything unless he’s printed somewhere. If so, we will know first.”

“Will you be the primary person in charge of this case?” Emily asked.

“No. I’m in charge of the bus accident. It’s becoming very clear that the bigger picture is stalking. There is a possibility my wife could be assigned, but I am not completely sure about her current case load or availability.”

“It would be nice since you can then inform her of everything.” I said.

“Yes, it would be an easier method but it might be someone else.”

Alexander came over and climbed into Emily’s lap, it was actually getting close to lunch time, and he was consistent with food and sleep.

“Well, he may look exactly like his father but he clearly took mom’s eyes.”

“Takes my temper too unfortunately, everyone wanted him to have my collected and calm personality which for the most part he does but he definitely has mom’s temper.”

I smiled. “Only when he doesn’t nap does he have your temper. Is there anything else?”

He took a moment to look through the notes he had before he looked at us.

“Not at the moment. Has there been anything weird or strange since the accident?”

“Nothing weird or strange and the last e-mail we got was his birthday party Saturday which I forwarded to you.”

“Ok. If you get anything electronic or physically, then call me immediately as you have before.”

“Ok.” I said.

I saw him out and she started lunch for us. We’d replaced his ninja bullet and canister so he had chicken and plums. We sat down for lunch and he was happy to eat his lunch and then nurse a bit. He really was reducing on the nursing but he was also getting juice now and water, we’d agreed to limit sodas and nothing until he was older. After he was well fed he played a bit longer before he lay down on the pillow and before long he was out.

Yet, Emily was in a weird mood I actually saw her look at Alexander and then me, she couldn’t be serious and yet when she got up I knew she wasn’t, not that I was going to complain! The kitchen was close even if the hard floor hurt, neither of us would leave him alone down here, if he was in his bed it would be different. Also, given where he was it wasn’t slow it was frantic and resist the urges to scream.

“So, that was random as hell.”

She just smiled and kissed me. “Random is good.”

I heard Alexander and we got up, adjusted clothes or put them back on. Random could be good for sure. He was sitting up when I walked in and just waking up. The remainder of our day was spent cleaning up and entertaining Alexander. We had dinner, got him in the bed and went to bed ourselves. I laid there holding her close to me, the feeling of safety.

I hadn’t understood why she felt so safe with me, why she wanted to be close and was clingy to me. I knew she felt safer but I didn’t realize how calming being with her was. Sure, I loved my brothers and family and felt safe with them as well, but Emily was different. I had provided her with a rock, a stable foundation in which she could stay safe and feel loved. Here I found that I had provided that stableness and when I needed my world to stop shaking, to stop shattering, she’d provided it in return. Going through David and Adam had strengthened her and made her stronger even if she sometimes followed her fear.

Yet, despite fearing for Alexander’s life she’s been compassionate and loving. I snuggled close to her, feeling the softness of her body against me and closed my eyes.

“Good Night Zac, I love you.”

“I love you more.”

She snuggled closer and before long her breathing was steady and once she was asleep, I followed closely behind her.