to the other side of the street, shepherding their children tightly together and forming a protective wall between them and the “mad man”.
Giving them a nod, Royce just smiled.
The mother could be heard instructing the children to “stare straight ahead and don’t look at them.”
“Tomorrow we’ll go to the aquarium, right Mom?” The oldest child asked. “Hopefully, they screen people before they let them in there.”
“Sean, wrap it up,” Royce said tersely, feeling sweat gather in the small of his back. It was quite warm out even with a slightly stronger breeze than normal.
“I’ve got nothing, Boss; I’m not picking up even the slightest shimmer of Trevor’s aura. I’m sorry,” Sean sighed. “We’ll have to set a TRAP.”
The Techno Residual Aura Procurement device (TRAP) had been developed as a DNA collection mechanism. The advanced technology allowed for nonintrusive collection of DNA by trapping residual aura. The Aura was then decoded and transposed into DNA. The resulting DNA could be fed into Sean’s system and used to track or pin-point the subject.
“Where did Becki park? We might be able to snag something there when he drops her off,” Sean said, putting the small black gadget back in his pocket.
“Good call,” Royce agreed. “Did you have any luck picking up the coin’s frequency?”
“No, but Joanna will be here tomorrow. I need her to pull the cloak off if she can. We will need a few seconds with a clear view. If she can’t do it alone, she is going to have to call in Tammy.”
Royce rolled his eyes, “That’s just what I need; both of them breathing down my neck.”
“Just wanted to let you know; don’t shoot the messenger,” Sean returned in an irritatingly chipper way.
Royce hoped Joanna could do what needed to be done. He certainly didn’t need Tammy and his father in the mix right now. Joanna got mouthy when she was mad, while Tammy always cried big fat tears that made you feel like a heel, even if you hadn’t done anything wrong. And just for the record, he hadn’t-- done anything wrong that is. He didn’t ask to be zapped, crated up, and dumped in the ocean for two years. But that wouldn’t matter to Tammy; she was protective, as fierce as a tiger if someone messed with her cubs. He hoped she would someday realized that he was all grown up and quite able to take care of himself. Although, when he thought about it further, this might not be the best time to make that point.
“Let’s get back to the condo. We need to tap into City Surveillance and see if we can find out where Trevor has taken Becki. I should have known something wasn’t right. He was spouting off like a silver-tongued devil, feeding her a line of shit a mile long,” Royce said, “and she was eating it up.”
He muttered the last part under his breath. Sean heard, but wisely pretended that he hadn’t.
“Sure thing, Boss; uh-- just so I’m clear, are we tracking Trevor or Becki?”
Royce leveled a look at Sean that would have crumbled a lesser man, “Don’t start this shit with me, Sean. I’m warning you, don’t start.”
Seeing the opening he had been waiting for, he threw caution to the wind, took his life in his own hands, and went for it, “Royce you deserve to be happy,” he said quietly. Since Royce didn’t come at him swinging, Sean found the courage to continue, “Losing Tara was hard on all of us, man, but, she wouldn’t want you to mourn for the rest of your life.
Tara requested the assignment, she accomplished her mission. You and I both know if she hadn’t gotten that Tiara out, this world would be an entirely different place. It went down exactly the way she had planned it, Royce.
Tara knew that she could only transport one object at a time. Her telekinetic ability had weakened substantially. She made the call, Royce; she chose to send the Tiara rather than herself. It’s the call any of us would have made. Let her go man, and stop blaming yourself. She wouldn’t have wanted that.”
“I should have known she would take the mission; hell, I did know she would take the mission,” Royce finally admitted to himself as well as Sean. “We fought about it before I left for Rome; she promised to wait for me. I was only gone three days. She was supposed to wait until I got back so I could go with her.”
Royce scrubbed