30: Aftermath

Alex woke to a blinding headache. Struggling to open his eyes, he tried to sit up and then had to lie down again when the world started spinning. He took deep centering breaths, trying to gauge his condition from feeling alone. Other than the knot on the back of his head, and feeling cold, he could detect no injuries. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that the sky overhead was dark and there were a few stars shining down, but already the eastern horizon was bluing towards dawn. He slowly sat up and took stock of his situation.

"I guess we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto," he said in a whisper, taking in his surroundings.

He appeared to be in the middle of a huge tract of wilderness, the tall pines blocking much of his view, but just where he might be exactly remained a mystery. He felt cold and realized he’d been lying on the ground, though someone had thoughtfully placed a blanket underneath him and another over him. Only when he started to stand up did he realize that he had something clenched in his left hand. Opening it, he found a piece of paper. There was just enough light now to see what was written on it:

‘Call this number and wait. Someone will pick you up.’

A phone number was scrawled beneath the message and there was no signature. Deciding he had no other choice, he fished out his cell phone, wondering if he would even get a signal out here and carefully punched in the number. He stumbled over to a fallen log to sit as he listened to the ring-tone on the other end. After the third ring, someone picked up.

"Awake, are we?" He didn’t quite recognize the voice.

"What the hell happened and where the hell am I?" Alex practically shouted into the phone.

"Don’t move from where you are," the voice said. "We’ll be there in about thirty minutes."

Before he had time to retort, the phone went dead. He shoved it back in his pocket, all the while cursing fluently in several languages, including one or two phrases of Sindarin that Barry had taught him during his stay at Edhellond. He wished he had some coffee or a stiff drink or something to drive away the headache. He got up and walked back to the blankets, scooping them up and returning to the log, throwing one around his shoulders and the other over his knees in an attempt to ward off the early morning chill.

All around him were the sounds of birds greeting the dawn and one or two squirrels chittering away, but, otherwise he was alone in the wilderness. He’d been lying in an open area and there was a wide trail that snaked between the trees east and west. Still wishing he had some coffee or even tea, he tried to make himself comfortable without much success. The sky continued to turn blue and pulling out his phone to check the time (it was going on four), he saw that it’d been nearly forty minutes since he’d made the call. Muttering a few choice curses at the Elves for apparently abandoning him, he got up to stretch, walking between the trees to get some circulation going and to relieve himself. He was returning to the log when he heard the sound of a motor in the distance. It was coming from the east. Shading his eyes against the sun’s glare, he waited. In a few minutes, a jeep came around a bend and as it pulled up beside him he saw Cennanion at the wheel. He was alone.

The Elf gave him a smile as he opened the passenger door, throwing the blankets into the back before climbing in. "We were wondering if we should come get you anyway when you called. We didn’t think you’d be out for as long as you were."

"Just what the hell kind of stunt did you bastards pull and who the hell hit me and why?"

Cennanion did not answer immediately, concentrating on turning the jeep around. Alex had to hang on to the door strap to keep himself more-or-less upright on the bumpy trail. "Explanations will have to wait until we get back," the Elf said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone ran me over with a semi," Alex groused. "Did you guys have to hit me so hard?" He rubbed the back of his head, grimacing.

Cennanion gave him a wintry smile. "We had to make it look good. You said yourself that Farrell was probably watching the entire show. We had to be convincing." He jerked his head in the direction of the dashboard. "There’s hot coffee in the travel mug. I made it the way you like it."

Alex reached over and picked up the travel mug and took a long sip of the coffee, nearly scalding his mouth. "God! That’s so good. I think I could almost kiss you," he exclaimed, taking another sip.

Cennanion gave him a merry look. "Sorry, you’re not my type."

Alex snorted and settled back in his seat, closing his eyes. He was nearly asleep when they pulled into Wiseman. He woke with a start when Cennanion slowed at a stop sign. "Almost there," the Elf said unnecessarily. "There’s a hot shower and clean clothes and breakfast waiting for you."

"I left a note for Derek telling him I was taking a drive and not to wait up, but he’s going to be concerned when he sees my bed hasn’t been slept in."

"We’ll give him a call in a bit and tell him you ended up at the Blue Petrel where you met me, Gil and Barry and after having taken one drink too many, you passed out, so we brought you home rather than trying to get you back to the Academy."

"He’s going to razz me about that, but it’s better than telling him that a bunch of ninja Elves overpowered me and dropped me off in the middle of nowhere just because they could."

Cennanion laughed. A few minutes later, they were pulling into Edhellond. Glorfindel met them at the door, taking Alex’s arm and steering him towards the stairs. "We’ve put some clean clothes out in the room you had before. They should fit. Go take a shower and then come down and we’ll feed you."

Alex didn’t argue and trudged up the stairs. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the Elves had supplied all the necessary toiletries needed to freshen up. Twenty minutes later, shaved, showered and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt with a University of Alaska Fairbanks logo on it, he was walking into the kitchen where he was warmly greeted by the Elves. Two people, though, were missing.

"Where’re Amroth and Della?"

"They’re staying at a B-and-B over in Chandalar for the time being," Glorfindel answered. "Now, sit and have some breakfast and then let Roy and Dan take a look at you. They should be able to alleviate your headache, though food will help as well. We’ll wait until you’ve eaten before we start answering all your questions."

Alex bit back a sigh but complied, realizing that he was famished. He spent about ten minutes eating the waffles and sausages put before him and when he had had his fill, Glorfindel poured him some more coffee and they all went down the hall to the library. Elladan and Elrohir placed their hands on Alex’s head as he sat before the fire, murmuring something Alex couldn’t quite make out but after a few minutes the dull throbbing eased and he could feel neck muscles relax. Once everyone else was seated, Glorfindel nodded to Alex.

"Go ahead and ask your questions."

"Where are Finlay and the others and just what was your plan again?"

"The plan was to neutralize as many of the agents as possible," Glorfindel said with a smile. "Your idea to smoke them out was sound enough but we couldn’t see how we could prevent them from taking Amroth unless we made it appear that there was another group interested in him."

"And that’s why you went all ninja on me?"

"It had the virtue of making it hard for anyone to identify us," Vorondur answered with a grin. "It was actually Roy’s idea. Frankly, I think he’s seen one too many Bruce Lee films myself, but it was the best plan we could come up with on such short notice."

"So what did you do with Finlay and the others?"

"Fear not!" Glorfindel assured him. "They are safe. We arranged to have them sent to a remote Inuit village way to the north, courtesy of Max Lightfoot. He contacted a second cousin on his mother’s brother’s side or some such relationship and now your agents will soon be guests of a small village of Inuits who don’t speak a word of English. Odd thing is, if they try to leave, they won’t be able to. I have one of the Maiar making sure of that."

"For how long?"

"Oh, until next spring," Glorfindel said with a sly smile. "Snow comes early and already the waters are freezing over. They’ll be all right, but for the next six months or so they’re going to be out of communications range."

"Maddy isn’t going to like that," Alex said with a grin, "and neither is Farrell."

"Will they call in more back up?" Misty asked. "That’s the only part of the plan that I wasn’t sure would work."

"Max is going to send me photos of all five agents in their new home," Glorfindel replied. "We’ll forward them to Alex’s boss with a note warning Ms Washburn not to send any more agents into Wiseman. I thought I would sign it ‘Elves with Attitude’."

Alex shook his head, giving a snort of amusement while the Elves all snickered. "And I would love to be there when Maddy gets your note. So, what now?"

"Now, you have to play dumb," Glorfindel replied. "I suggest that when Farrell contacts you, you tell him only that you have no idea who took you or the other agents and all you know is that you woke up on the side of the road next to a route sign giving you the direction for Wiseman and you had to walk back. The fate of your fellow agents will remain a mystery that won’t be solved anytime soon."

"It might work, but what if he’s got this place watched? They’ll know I came here with Conan."

Glorfindel smiled and there was a predatory look to it. "Fionwë has assured me that Farrell is too busy hunting for his agents to bother with us. Farrell is frantic. We know he tried to follow the van in which the agents came and which we borrowed to transport them but Fionwë... ah... hid it from his sight so he has no idea where it went."

"Okay. We’ll see how it goes," Alex said. "There are three more agents out there besides Farrell, but maybe they won’t do anything for a while."

"We can hope," Glorfindel said. "Conan will drive you back to the Academy. We already took your car back." He fished out a set of keys from a pocket. "Here you go. You’ll have enough time to make it before the bus leaves for today’s tour."

"Thanks and thanks for helping me out, but next time, don’t hit so hard." There was quiet laughter all around.

"I’ll get you something to carry your clothes in," Misty said as they were leaving the library and a few minutes later, Alex was shoving his clothes into a paper shopping bag from a boutique store in Fairbanks.

"If you start feeling dizzy or nauseous, call me immediately," Elrohir admonished him as he and Conan were leaving. Alex nodded and then they were climbing into the jeep and were soon on their way to the Academy.

****

Alex opened the door to his room to find Derek making his bed. The young man looked up as he entered and gave him a wry grin. "I hear you really tied one on last night."

"Yeah," Alex said, throwing the bag with his clothes in it on the floor by his bed. "Sorry about that. Met up with Gil and some others at the Blue Petrel and, well, one thing led to another and the next thing I know I’m in a strange bed with no idea how I’d gotten there."

Derek chuckled. "Sounds familiar. Did something similar in Bangkok. The bus is leaving in about fifteen minutes. You good to go or do you need to stay quiet?"

"No, I’m fine. Nothing that a hot shower didn’t cure and I’ve had breakfast. I’m just going to change my clothes and freshen up a bit. I’ll meet you downstairs."

"Okay," Derek said as he grabbed his coat. "Don’t be long."

Once Derek was gone, Alex pulled off the sweats and found another pair of jeans but decided to keep the sweatshirt on. Then, he opened his laptop and turned it on, waiting impatiently for it to connect to the internet. As soon as it did, he opened his email account and shot a quick message to Farrell:

'What????!!!!'

He smiled as he hit the ‘Send’ key. Then he sent another email to Maddy:

‘Lost Elwood. Unknown assailants took him when I was handing him over to our people who are also missing. Please advise.’

He pressed ‘Send’ and closed down, satisfied that he’d covered all bases. He grabbed his coat and began whistling Elton John’s ‘I’m still standing’ as he headed for the bus.

****

All week long, Alex expected Farrell or Maddy to contact him, but neither one did. In the meantime, he continued with his classes. The nature studies class, taught by Daisy, proved quite interesting for him and he loved the children’s guidebook that was their textbook. Derek joked that they should buy some crayons and color in the line drawings of the various animals and plants.

"That sounds like a good project for a rainy Sunday afternoon," Alex agreed with a laugh. "Maybe I’ll buy some crayons next time I go into town."

The ‘On Being a Tour Guide’ class was also an eye-opener for Alex. It was taught by Roland Smith, the head of Wiseman’s Chamber of Commerce. He was a dry, pedantic lecturer, but he knew his subject and Alex came away from the first class with a better appreciation of just what being a tour guide entailed. It was a welcome relief to walk into Gil’s Sindarin class.

"Man siniath uin forod?" he asked the Elf softly.

Gil gave him an amused look. "Ethir vellyn gîn vi band."

"No friends of mine," Alex retorted with a grin, reverting to English.

"Any word from Farrell?" Gil asked softly.

Alex shook his head. "No, and that has me worried. If I hear anything, I’ll let you all know. How are Amroth and Della?"

"Still in hiding," Gil answered. He gave Alex a knowing grin. "They’re calling it a second honeymoon, which is rather ironic, since there really wasn’t a first honeymoon."

Alex snorted in amusement as he went to find his seat and the class began.

****

Saturday morning, after breakfast, Alex joined Derek and some of their friends who were going into Wiseman to do some shopping. Once in town, people went their separate ways, agreeing to meet for lunch at the Gold Nugget Café. For a while, Alex wandered with Derek and a couple of others, but parted company with them at the small bookstore and stationary shop, deciding to check out the store’s poetry section, thinking he might find something as a Christmas gift for his mother.

He spent a happy half an hour or so browsing, eventually choosing an anthology of poetry composed by native Alaskans. Making his purchase, he stepped outside and started towards the café. He had only gone a little further along the street when someone came up behind him and he felt something sticking into his back.

"Don’t turn around." Alex recognized Farrell’s voice. "There’s an alley just ahead," the agent whispered. "Don’t try to run or you’re dead."

Alex gave a slight nod of his head in acknowledgment and did as he was bid. Once inside the alley and away from any witnesses, Farrell grabbed Alex by the back of his coat and slammed him into the wall. "Where are they?" he hissed. "What the hell did you do to my men?"

"Nothing," Alex gasped. "Some dudes showed up out of nowhere while I was making the exchange with Finlay and the next thing I know I’m knocked out. When I came to, I found myself lying on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I ended up having to walk back to Wiseman."

"Where’s Elwood?" Farrell demanded, pushing Alex into the wall.

"How the hell should I know?" Alex retorted. "Is there another group interested in him?"

Farrell eased his hold on him and stepped back, giving him a scowl as Alex turned around to face him. "How did you convince him to go with Finlay in the first place?"

"I can be very persuasive when I want to be," Alex said with a smirk. "After our little talk, I confronted McKinley and he admitted that he was Ambrose. I was able to convince him that turning himself in was the better option with the promise that his wife would be left out of it."

Farrell scowled. "Something doesn’t add up. I got an email with photos of Finlay and the others sitting in a field of snow surrounded by Eskimos pointing harpoons at them with a message telling me that I’d see them again in the spring and if I was smart I would leave Wiseman and never come back. So just who the hell is in this game with us?"

Alex shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine. I went to the mansion to see if Elwood returned there but neither he nor his wife have been seen since Monday. Della apparently went shopping and never came back."

"And no one’s raised the alarm?" Farrell asked skeptically.

"For reasons I haven’t been able to figure out, DelaFiore refused to go to the police. I have no authority to do so. As far as everyone is concerned, they’re taking a holiday and their classes are being taught by others. Look, Farrell, I have no more idea than you do as to where Finlay and the others are and that’s the God’s honest truth. Now, unless you have anything else to say to me, I will be on my way. My friends are expecting me for lunch."

"Why are you continuing this charade?" Farrell asked. "Why aren’t you out there looking for whoever took Elwood?"

"Because when I woke up I found a note stuck in my coat pocket warning me not to interfere or there would be dire consequences. I emailed Maddy for instructions but haven’t heard diddly from her. Until I do, I will continue playing the role of student and hope that in the meantime I might be able to find out what happened to Elwood. DelaFiore and the others are hiding something, I’m convinced of that and I’m pretty damn sure Elwood is behind it. So let me do my job, okay?"

Farrell grimaced. "You should’ve taken him out when you had the chance. For all we know, he’s in Moscow."

"Or he’s hiding right here in Wiseman," Alex retorted. "If we’ve lost him, we’ve lost him and there’s precious little we can do."

"I’ll be in touch," Farrell said and stalked away. Alex stayed where he was for a couple of minutes until he was sure Farrell was gone and smiled to himself as he sauntered out of the alley and headed for the café.

****

Words are Sindarin:

Man siniath uin forod?: ‘What news from the north?’

Ethir vellyn gîn vi band: ‘Your spy friends are in safekeeping.’