The Entity Pt. 01

Walking around she hugged Linda long and hard and whispered, "He said he wanted it to be a surprise. We left it in your room for when the two of you arrived. That and some roses," Nataliya's voice trailed off with the explanation.

Throwing her overnight bag in the closet, she'd busied herself with getting ready for bed, removing her clothes slowly, deliberately dallying as she folded them. Another half hour was spent turning her mid-back length, shiny, black hair into a huge braid. Stepping into the shower she'd let her mind wander and meander.

Now, dry and pink cheeked, wrapped in a thick, terrycloth robe, she sat watching the box as if watching a snake.

Picking up the envelope, her thumb ran under the unsealed flap before flipping her thumb up to trap it shut again. She continued this game before dropping the envelope, without pulling out its contents, on her nightstand.

Lifting the small black satin covered box in the palm of her flattened hand, she stared at it noting the minute weave of the fabric, its delicate folds at the corners.

The sound of her pager chirping made her jump, almost causing her to drop the small item between the bed and nightstand. Replacing it gently in the middle of the bed, she found her purse and fished around for the small, silver, electronic sentinel, reading the curt message in the display.

Odd she thought. In her three years with the bureau she'd never seen a code 99. Extreme emergency. If this code showed up on your pager, you were expected to check-in as soon as possible.

Fishing out her cell phone, Linda speed dialed the ICB switchboard and was surprised again when the operator on duty recognized her voice and put her through, post haste, no questions asked, to the Captain.

"Where the hell are you, Woo?"

"Good evening to you too, Captain."

She could hear a buzz of activity from the captain's end and what sounded like a drawer on his desk being slammed shut. "Cut the crap, Woo. You do know what a code 99 is, don't you?"

"Sure, Captain, that's why we're on the phone."

The black, satin box caught her eye as she waited on the Captain.

"Where are you, Woo," the Captain demanded, "and don't make me ask again!"

"I'm in a motel along the coast, about 100 miles north of L.A."

The captain chuckled. "You down there visiting that crazy Russian?"

He didn't give her time to respond, "I need you in the office at 0800 tomorrow morning."

Before she could respond he added, "I know tomorrow is Sunday but we seem to have a little bit of a national... wait, strike that, international emergency here. We're calling in everyone."

"Sure, Captain, I can leave tonight if you need me there now."

"Not necessary. Be in the ready room by 0800. And one other thing, Woo," the captain paused for effect.

"What's that, Captain?"

"See if you can get Leo to send me a cheeseburger with the works. I'll nuke it for breakfast." With that the line went dead and Linda folded her phone before dropping it back in her purse.

Shrugging out of her robe, she dug around in her overnight bag and pulled out jeans and a sweater. As she dressed, she continued to glance at the small box on the bed, as well as, the envelope on her nightstand.

Everything packed, keys in hand, she finally picked up both and dropped them in her purse. A final glance around the room and she headed for the diner to catch Leo before he locked up for the night.

She didn't like leaving Michael tucked away in her purse but, just as before, she couldn't seem to find him in the small, in-animate objects he'd left for her.

It was still warm and she decided to drop the top again before heading north.

On the way back the lightning bolt in the rock wall wasn't as visible, but she still reached for her purse as she drifted around the curve.

Please be sure to take the time to vote and comment. I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Much more to come. BTW – This is a sequel to The Sentinel.