39: Night Raid

Late Sunday afternoon, the power came back completely. The students cheered and applauded as they bundled up their sleeping gear and headed back to their rooms, most of them returning to the cafeteria to help put the tables and chairs back where they belonged. Grace and some of the other kitchen staff had returned that morning and had summarily thrown the Elves out so they could get back to work. The Elves happily relinquished their suzerainty over the kitchen, though Holly remained long enough to let Grace know what supplies had been used so she could order more now that the roads were open.

Glorfindel remained distant and uninvolved, letting Daeron and the others handle the students. He spent much of Sunday wandering through the woods, and when the other Elves indicated they wished to return to Edhellond, he did not join them. Instead, he went into Wiseman and checked into the Goldmine Inn, stating he had no desire to see the destruction caused by the tree. He asked Daeron to pack some clothes for him and bring them over to the inn.

"Do you mean to stay here until the roof is fixed and your bedroom restored?" Daeron asked him as Glorfindel set about unpacking the suitcase Daeron had brought with him.

"No. That would be impractical and even I couldn’t afford it," Glorfindel replied. "I just can’t face going back to Edhellond right now. I’ll wait until the temporary repairs have been made before I return."

"Mayor Whitman assured me that the town will do what it can to effect repairs as quickly as possible. I’ve seen the damage myself. It’s not quite as bad as you would think. Barry says that only the third-floor bedroom will need to be gutted out and rebuilt, but your room just needs a new ceiling and new carpeting. The furniture and floors are fine."

"Well, I’ve been meaning to repaint anyway," Glorfindel said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I guess this will be a good time to pick out colors."

"What you need is rest," Daeron said, giving him a shrewd look. "Your light is very dim. I think you expended more of yourself than even you are aware of. I know Richard’s death was unexpected and you are still grieving for him, as are we all, but I hope you understand that there was nothing you could have done. By the time you went to check on the building, he was already gone. If it weren’t for the storm, I imagine he would’ve died in his bed instead of at his desk."

"I try not to care," Glorfindel said, staring at nothing in particular, his posture one of defeat. "I try not to think about the fact that, someday, none of these people will be here, that while we continue to go on, every one of them will be gone — Marian, Deirdre, Zach, Caleb...."

Daeron sat beside him and wrapped an arm around Glorfindel’s shoulders, giving him a hug. "No, mellon nîn. Do not think about that. It is a given with any Mortal, whether we befriend them or not. This is our special burden and I know how hard it is, we all do. We try not to get involved with them and their lives, and it was easier when we simply had to live alongside them, without them touching our own lives. But now, thanks to the Belain, we are forced to live among them for the first time in our history, to be a part of their lives as much as they are a part of ours. We are doing what we were meant to and did not when Men first arose. And you know, I think if you were to ask our Mortal friends about it, most of them would give you a blank look, for they would not understand the problem."

Glorfindel nodded. "I suppose."

Daeron patted him on the arm and stood. "I’d best get going. Ron has suggested that we take turns standing watch over the students for another day or two. He thinks some of them may have trouble sleeping. The last few days were traumatic for many of them, especially those who’ve never experienced living through a blizzard or ice storm and having no power. He wants us to be on hand in case some of them have a need to talk."

Glorfindel nodded. "I agree. Let me take a shower and I’ll join you."

"That you will not," Daeron said firmly. "You are not to return to the Academy until tomorrow. Ron’s orders. You are to sleep. The Twins have had ten hours of sleep and will take the first watch along with Sarah and Alfa. Ron, Holly, Daisy and Barry will take the second watch. We’ll switch off tomorrow night, so you can join the watch then if you so desire. Hopefully, we’ll only have to do this for a couple of nights and perhaps it’s entirely unnecessary, but I respect Ron’s judgment about these things. Unlike the rest of us, he’s actually studied Human behavior and has dealt with them more than the rest of us have."

"Very well. I’ll let you handle things for a while. I’ll see you tomorrow."

"And if you need to talk, just give me a call and I’ll come over."

"Thank you."

Daeron left and Glorfindel took a shower, lingering in it and reveling in the hot water that seemed to wash away more than four-days’ worth of dirt from his body. Afterwards, he threw on a robe and called down to room service to order some dinner and when it came, ate and then crawled into the bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling. It was some time before he finally fell asleep.

****

The storm had prevented delivery of the mattresses for Alex and Derek’s room and they weren’t expected to arrive for another day or two. Alex and Derek were resigned to having to sleep on the floor still, but Elrohir stopped at Edhellond and retrieved a couple of air mattresses from storage and brought them to the Academy, so the two Mortals were able to sleep in relative comfort, placing the mattresses on the bed frames.

Alex, however, kept waking up, convinced that something was wrong. Yet, every time he woke, all was quiet. Derek was fast asleep on the other side of the room and there were no unidentified noises. After the third time waking from a sound sleep, still feeling troubled, he got up and, putting on his robe, stepped outside, deciding to go down to the reading room and read for a while until he felt ready to sleep again. He was coming down the stairs to the first floor when he encountered one of the Twins.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Elladan asked solicitously.

Alex shrugged. "I keep waking up thinking something is terribly wrong but everything is quiet. Decided I would read for a while. Maybe it’s just nerves or something."

"Do you think your sense of wrongness has anything to do with Derek?" Elladan asked. "You seem to be convinced that he is in danger. We suspect that is what drove you from the clinic at the height of the storm, risking frostbite if not death to get back here."

Alex shrugged again. "I honestly don’t know. I’ve always had this danger sense, as I call it. It’s saved my life more times than I can count. I can’t dismiss it or ignore it. Something is wrong, but I don’t know what or who."

Elladan gave him a considering look and then nodded, closing his eyes for a long moment. Alex watched him with something like wariness, not sure what was happening, so he was rather surprised when several Elves simply showed up from different directions. Elladan opened his eyes and smiled knowingly at him, as if he knew what he was thinking.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Neat trick," he said as nonchalantly as possible, though his heart was racing as he felt a sense of awe at the Elf’s display of mental powers.

"You called?" Elrohir said to his twin with a quirk of a smile on his lips.

"Alex senses trouble," Elladan replied.

Now Elrohir’s demeanor sobered and Alex stood in wonder at the transformation, noticing the unconscious movement of a hand reaching for a sword that wasn’t there, seeing the eyes darken with the light of impending battle. Here was a warrior, such a one as Alex had rarely encountered among his own people, and he stood there heartily glad he was not this Elf’s enemy. Elrohir gave him a searching look.

"Do you know where the threat comes from?"

"No. I’m not even sure there is one, but I’ve woken three times from a sound sleep in the last two hours convinced that something was wrong. I actually was coming down to the reading room to find a book to read, hoping it would help me to sleep. This feeling of something being wrong is too nebulous for me to act on it. Yet, I’ve had this same feeling at other times in my life and somehow knew that I needed to go to a particular place or I needed not to do a certain action and then I learned later that in following my instincts, I escaped from certain death. This has the same feeling to it, but I don’t know what it means."

The four Elves remained silent for a time, digesting what Alex had told them. Alex stood there trying not to fidget, feeling stupid and unsure of himself before these ancient beings. Finally, Elladan stirred and spoke to his brother in Quenya. Elrohir nodded then turned to Alex.

"With your permission, I’ll go and watch over Derek. Serindë and Alphwen will continue patrolling the corridors on the women’s side."

The ellith nodded. "We’ll check the classrooms as well," Alphwen said and both ellyn nodded.

"Do you really think it necessary to guard Derek?" Alex asked. "I know I keep feeling he’s in danger, but it just might be my imagination."

"Better to be safe than sorry," Elrohir said, then turned to his brother. "I’ll check out the rooms on Alex’s floor before I look in on Derek if you want to check out the rest of the floors."

Elladan nodded. "Come with me," he said to Alex, taking him by the elbow and leading him towards the reading room while the others went their separate ways.

"I really feel stupid about this," Alex protested.

"Your fears may prove groundless, Nephew, but your bloodline is prone to experiencing foreknowledge which should not be dismissed out of hand."

Alex stopped in his tracks. "What did you call me?"

Elladan gave him an amused look. "Nephew. I called you nephew. You come from the same bloodline as Roy and I through our sister, Arwen, and her husband, Aragorn, who was also our foster brother. Elves do not concern themselves with generations when assigning blood ties. You are a son of our sister and therefore our nephew." He then gave Alex a sly look. "And if you are also a descendant of the House of Galador of Dol Amroth, that makes Misty your grandmother."

Alex stared at him in disbelief, finally shaking his head. "I don’t think I even want to go there."

Elladan chuckled. "Well I doubt if Misty will insist you call her daernana, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Now, I’ll check the rooms on this side and you do the other side."

Alex nodded, and headed for the lounge, which looked out onto the front. He did not have to go inside, for the door was glass and he could see into it. The drapes were closed and there was no one there, so he headed for the game room that was on the other side of the foyer area, keeping to the inner wall. Light from outside streamed in from a nearby street light, illuminating the area. There was precious little cover but Alex was an expert in sneaking about and took advantage of the pools of darkness where the light did not reach. Once past the foyer he made his way into the game room. Unlike the lounge, this had a solid door so he couldn’t just look in.

He opened the door slowly, being careful not to turn on a light. The room was empty, as he expected. He caught a glimpse of the outside where a drape was not entirely closed. He was about to leave to go to the next room when some indefinable movement caught his eye. He made his way along the perimeter of the room, crouching behind the pool tables so he wasn’t immediately visible to anyone standing outside, until he reached the outer wall, then slowly peeked out, being careful not to disturb the drapes that hung there.

At first he saw nothing but a snow-shrouded landscape lit by a nearly full moon, the light casting weird shadows. Then, there was a slight movement beside a nearby tree. Alex narrowed his eyes, willing to see who was standing there, for he could see a figure of a man cast in shadow, apparently watching the building, though he could not see who it was. He was about to leave and find Elladan and warn him when the figure shifted its position just enough for moonlight to fall upon his face.

Farrell!

Alex hissed in surprise and growing anger. Still keeping to a crouch, he half crawled across the floor to the door and exited the room, straightening only when he’d closed the door behind him. He turned to see Elladan stepping out of the reading room on the other side of the foyer. He gestured to him and Elladan swiftly crossed the foyer. Alex noted with admiration the fluid way in which the Elf traversed the area, keeping to the shadows.

"It’s Farrell," he said with a grimace when Elladan reached him. "He’s standing outside watching."

Elladan raised an eyebrow. "Interesting." He pulled out his phone and speed dialed a number. "Farrell is standing outside," was all he said and then shut down the phone. He gave Alex a predatory grin. "Should we invite the poor man in to warm up, do you think? It would only be polite."

Alex grinned back. "But not without proper backup. I wish I had some of my weapons on hand but they’re in my car."

"Don’t worry," Elladan said as he headed for the stairs at that end of the hall on the women’s side of the building while Alex followed. "Backup is on its way. Roy will meet us and then we’ll give our unexpected guest a proper greeting."

Alex just nodded, wondering in what manner these Elves would give Farrell a ‘proper greeting’.

They reached the stairs just as Elrohir was descending them. "Backup is on the way," he said when he saw them. "Where is he?" he asked Alex.

"He was by that stand of pine trees that fronts the game room, though he could’ve changed his position in the meantime."

"Who did you call?" Elladan asked.

Elrohir grinned. "Amroth, and he wasn’t very happy. I think I may have interrupted something. I could hear Della sighing very loudly in the background when Amroth said he was on his way."

Both Elladan and Alex grinned, having a pretty good idea just what it was Elrohir had interrupted. Alex’s expression sobered after a moment.

"So what now? What does Farrell hope to accomplish other than freeze certain parts of his anatomy off standing out there in the middle of the night? You know, there are at least three other agents we’ve never identified. Something doesn’t add up."

"Could the others be out there, as well, do you think?" Elrohir asked.

Alex shrugged. "If so, why? Unless they are trying to find a way inside for some reason...." He paused, thinking things through and nodded. "Farrell is getting desperate, I think, or he’s gotten new orders. Either way, that could spell trouble for us. If they’re trying to get in for some reason...."

He was interrupted by the sound of Elrohir’s phone ringing. The Elf answered it, speaking English, apparently for Alex’s sake. "Where are you?" He paused to listen, nodding. "Alex said he was standing by the pines fronting the game room. Be mindful. Those other agents may be about. They may be trying to get inside." He paused again. "We’ll be ready," he said, then closed down the phone, giving his brother a significant look. "Amroth brought Barry, Gil and Conan with him. They’re one building over. Amroth will look after Farrell while the others go hunting for any other spies."

"How did they get here so quickly?" Alex asked perplexed. "Even if they drove like madmen, they still wouldn’t be here for another ten minutes."

The Twins merely grinned. "We have our ways," was all Elladan said, then he turned to his brother. "What about the ellith?"

"I met them on my way here and told them to stay out of the way until this is all over." He gave them a sardonic look. "Serindë didn’t take kindly to my ordering her about, but Alphwen set her straight on that score."

"Oh?" Alex couldn’t help saying, with a lift of an eyebrow.

Elrohir merely nodded. "She reminded my betrothed that in our culture, warriors are never to be questioned, only obeyed, as our orders often meant the difference between life and death. Only our lords can countermand any orders a warrior might give. At the moment, Dan and I are the supreme commanders, if you will, and anyone inside this building is subject to our orders. When Amroth comes, he’ll take over, at least until Glorfindel arrives."

"What does Amroth want us to do?" Elladan asked, diverting Alex’s attention.

"Make sure the front door is unlocked so they can make a quick entrance and to secure a room for our guests until Daeron can get here with Glorfindel."

"I’ll go open the door," Elladan said, "and you can...."

At that moment, the hall lights, dimmed for nighttime, went out, plunging them into complete darkness, save for the glow of the emergency exit sign at the far end of the hall.

"Damn! They’ve cut the power," Alex said. "Derek! They know which room is mine." He started up the stairs, taking them two at a time in spite of the fact that he was racing up them in total darkness.

"Alex, wait!" Elrohir cried but Alex ignored him, already undoing the belt of his robe and slipping it off him to drop on the floor, though he took the belt with him, intending to use it as a weapon, and in Alex’s hands, even a piece of string was a deadly weapon. He reached the third floor and stopped, letting his eyes adjust to the greater darkness. He silently cursed the fact that he was at the wrong end of the hall. He had two choices: to move to his right down the corridor past the women’s rooms, then make his way around through the back wing, or go left through the cafeteria. He was assuming that the intruders would be coming in from the emergency exit door at the other end of the men’s dorm, for they would’ve seen the door on the women’s side open if that had been their route. It made sense, since he was sure that either he or Derek or possibly both of them were the intended targets.

He made his way as swiftly as he could through the lounge area and into the cafeteria, thankful that the moonlight gave him enough light to see by. Once he reached the other lounge he paused at the glass door, surprised to see Elrohir crouched on the top step of the stairs. He motioned Alex with a raised hand, warning him. Alex nodded, opening the door a crack and listening. His room was the seventh one on the left, closer to the other end of the hall. There was a muffled sound that he couldn’t quite identify and then a surprised yell. Before he was even out the door, Elrohir was halfway down the hall. In the almost absolute blackness, save for the lurid light of the emergency exit signs at both ends of the hall, Alex could barely make out the dark forms of a couple of men who were at his door. He nearly tripped over a body, stopping long enough to check for a pulse, assuring himself that the person, whoever he was, was merely knocked out.

The sound of a scuffle and muffled yells brought him back to the situation at hand and he was racing down the hall. He could make out a couple of people running toward him from the far end and, from the faint glow of their bodies, realized they were the ellith. Neither Elrohir nor the intruders were in sight, for they had crashed through the door. When Alex reached it, ready to lend a hand, he found that he was too late. Elrohir was rising from having taken down one of the intruders, now lying unconscious, and Derek, cursing in what sounded like a mixture of Japanese and Spanish, with a few choice phrases in Sindarin thrown in for good measure, was standing on his bed with his arms wrapped around the neck of the other intruder in a stranglehold.

"My first good night of sleep in a week and you bozos have to go and ruin it," he exclaimed in unfeigned disgust. "What’s to stop me from breaking your stupid neck, huh?" He tightened his arm across the man’s neck, forcing a gurgle of pain out of his captive.

"Maybe it’s because that would mean even more paperwork for the police."

Alex turned to see Amroth standing there, giving them all an amused look. He was glowing ever so slightly.

"Hey why are we all glowing and why are we standing here in the dark and where the hell is Alex?" Alex heard Derek ask. He turned and saw that Elrohir was taking the man from Derek, who, like his partner, had been wearing a night scope. The Elf tied the intruder up with the robe belt Alex handed him, then, taking one of Derek’s dirty socks that happened to be lying on the floor, he shoved it into the man’s mouth to keep him quiet.

"I’m here by the door," Alex replied. "The power’s been cut."

"Again? That’s just great."

Alex ignored his roommate’s grousing, turning to Amroth. "Where’s Farrell?" he asked.

Amroth grimaced. "That son of an orc eluded me. I think as soon as he saw that the lights were out, he hopped into his car and ran. For all we know, he’s heading for a rendevous point where these two were supposed to bring you and Derek." He gave a cold glance at the two intruders. "He’s going to be waiting a long time."

Meanwhile, some of the students were coming out of their rooms with flashlights, investigating the noises, wondering why the power was out. One of them gave a cry of alarm and Alex looked out to see George Calhoun bending over the body Alex had tripped over earlier and saw that it was George’s roommate, Jack Whitman. Alphwen and Serindë were there assuring the young man that his friend was only unconscious. Elladan was also there, speaking softly to the other students, assuring them that all was well and sending them back to their rooms. With Elladan’s help, Alphwen was able to convince George to return to his room as well.

"Let’s take this somewhere more private," Amroth ordered. "Alfa, you and Sarah take Jack to the lounge and make him comfortable."

"What do we tell him when he awakens?" Alphwen asked.

"Tell him that some people broke into the Academy for reasons unknown and he was just unlucky enough to meet them. Assure him that all is well but keep him there until either I or Loren have had a chance to talk with him."

Alphwen nodded and between her and Serindë they were able to carry the young man down the hall to the lounge.

"Let’s hope we can keep this quiet," Amroth said to the rest of them. "I don’t want the mayor to know that his son was attacked by government agents." He bent down and easily lifted the unconscious man into his arms while Elrohir dragged the other man out of the room.

Alex gave Derek a concerned look as his roommate climbed off his bed. "You okay?"

"Sure, mate. After all, I always get up at two in the morning to arm-wrestle with dudes in black."

Alex grinned. "C’mon. Let’s go see why these particular dudes in black had the temerity to disturb your beauty sleep."

Derek grabbed his robe and his own flashlight. "I’m right behind you."

They made their way down the hall, following the Elves who were heading toward the back wing, apparently to one of the administrative offices on the first floor. They made an odd procession and Alex was wondering how they were going to explain this to Derek or the police, assuming the Elves bothered to call them. He had the suspicion that these ancient beings were not above taking matters into their own hands, leaving the Mortal authorities out of the equation. Not that he particularly cared, but the Agency might take a dim view of having a couple of their agents disposed of by ‘civilians’.

As they reached the first floor, the emergency door opened and Cennanion stepped inside. "Barry and Gil are checking to see where the wires were cut. I’m afraid we’re out of power again until a repair crew can be brought out to replace the wires. We’ll get the generators going in a while."

"That’s just great," Derek muttered. "Just who are these bozos and why did they try to grab me? Or were they after you?" He turned to Alex. "Just where were you while all this was going down?"

"Trying to rescue you," Alex replied. "And be grateful I was awake, because I knew something bad was about to go down. I met Dan and Roy and warned them and we were making plans when the lights went out, so we were already on our way to your rescue. Not that you looked as if you needed rescuing." He gave him a grin.

"Six years in the Navy, a man learns a few tricks," Derek said with a sniff, "but that still doesn’t answer my questions as to who and why."

"Let’s go to my office and see if we can straighten this out," Amroth said. "Loren and Darren should be here soon."

"I’ll go to the foyer and meet them," Cennanion suggested and at Amroth’s nod he headed off.

The others continued on and Elladan opened the door to Amroth’s office, allowing Amroth and Elrohir to bring in their captives. Amroth unceremoniously dropped his burden on the floor in a corner, though he was careful to make sure the man didn’t hit his head on the floor. Elrohir had the other man sit, asking Derek for the loan of his robe belt, using it to tie the man into the chair. Only moonlight gave them illumination. Amroth was rifling through the unconscious man’s pockets, pulling out a wallet. He stepped to the window to examine the contents, pulling out a driver’s license.

"Robert Snyder... hmm...according to this, he’s from Chandalar."

"Well, we don’t have agents living in Chandalar," Alex said. "It’s probably a fake I.D."

"And what agents are these and how do you know?" Derek asked.

Before Alex could formulate a reply, there was the sound of several people approaching. They all looked to see Daeron with Glorfindel, who was looking very displeased, and one other, who turned out to be Sheriff Graff. At Amroth’s enquiring look, Daeron merely shrugged.

"I felt it necessary to alert the authorities," he said.

Graff, meanwhile was shining a flashlight into the face of the unconscious man. "Well, well, Bobby Snyder, as I live and breathe."

"You know him?" Glorfindel asked sharply and the others looked upon the sheriff with surprise.

Graff didn’t answer immediately, shining his light on the other man, who winced and turned his head against the glare. Graff smiled coldly. "Burrill Ersck. My, my. Will wonders never cease."

"Who are they?" Glorfindel demanded angrily. "You don’t recognize them?" he asked Alex who shook his head.

"Burrill Ersck and Bobby Snyder," Graff said, giving them a nod, looking rather like the cat having caught the canary. "Burrill here is wanted for armed robbery and assault and Bobby, well Bobby’s been Chandalar’s bad boy for years, always getting in one scrape or another. We think he was involved in a series of break-ins at the resorts over the summer but could never prove it. What they were doing here together, though, that’s a nice little puzzle."

"They were wearing these," Amroth said, shoving the night scopes into Graff’s hands. The sheriff gave a surprised whistle.

"And how did Farrell recruit them?" Alex asked.

"Who’s Farrell?" Graff asked, giving Alex a hard stare.

"Someone who is not your concern," Amroth said smoothly and when Graff looked to protest he continued. "No, Carl, there are some things you don’t need to know about for your own safety. Let us just say that certain people are interested in us and we are doing what we can to persuade them that they should go play somewhere else. Alex Grant is giving us a hand."

"Okay, what is an ex-translator doing giving you guys a hand in anything?" Derek demanded.

Alex sighed, looking to Glorfindel and Amroth for support. Glorfindel’s expression was unreadable and Alex had the uneasy feeling that the Elf-lord was very close to exploding. He noticed Daeron laying a hand on Glorfindel’s arm and the ellon visibly relaxed, taking a deep breath. It was Amroth who answered Derek.

"There are things that we need to explain to you, son, but not right now. Can you at least trust us and hold off your questions for later? I promise, we will explain as much as we can. I think you deserve to know the truth, all things considered."

For a moment, Derek studied the Elf’s face, as if trying to gauge Amroth’s sincerity while Alex was nearly holding his breath, wondering what his friend would say. Finally, Derek nodded. "I can live with that... for now."

"Thank you," Amroth said with all sincerity and Alex breathed again.

In the meantime, Graff was speaking with Glorfindel and Daeron. "How do you want to handle this then?"

"As quietly as possible," Daeron said. "Give us one hour with them and then they’re all yours. Put it down to breaking and entering. You have Snyder’s record for that, so that shouldn’t be a stretch. Ersck may be a different problem, but I think if we can keep it local, it should be all right."

"One hour," Graff said. "I’m ignoring more rules and regulations than I care to count in letting you people have your way, but I’m not about to argue with any of you. I’ll give you that hour. I need to make arrangements for transport and wake up Judge Harrison and see what we can do to put these two away nice and quiet without any fuss. Ersck has been on our wanted list for some time, so having him in custody will make all of us happy and we won’t care who’s throwing away the key. Snyder may be a different problem but you let us worry about that. Anyone injured in all this?"

"Jack Whitman," Elrohir answered. "He was coming out of the bathroom and was knocked out. Alfa and Sarah are with him in the third floor lounge."

Graff grimaced. "Great. That’s all I need. Is there any way to not tell Harry his son was attacked?"

"We can speak with Jack and ask him to remain quiet about it," Elladan said. "He was not seriously injured and should make a full recovery in a couple of days."

"Fine. If you have any problems with him, let me know. I used to change his diapers. I know how to blackmail him to stay quiet." The sheriff gave them a knowing smile.

The others all chuckled at that. Then Graff became more serious, giving Glorfindel a stern look. "One hour, then they’re mine. Please don’t rough them up so much I can’t ignore it and risk a cry of police brutality."

"Don’t worry, Carl," Amroth said, giving the Man a feral look that made Alex feel suddenly afraid, "we won’t lay a single finger on them, but they will tell us what we want to know."

"Okay. I’ll go check on Harry’s boy and call for backup." With that, Graff left.

Amroth spoke to Elrohir. "Let’s wake Snyder and then we’ll have our little chat. Daeron, you want to take Alex and Derek up to the cafeteria and get us some coffee? I think we would all like some."

"I want to be in on the interrogation," Alex protested.

"And I ain’t movin’ until I get answers," Derek said.

But Glorfindel shook his head. "No. You two don’t need to be here for this. Go with Darren. If you cooperate, we’ll tell you everything. If you don’t, I’ll have Dan and Roy take you to your room and lock you in and neither of you can ever hope to best them if you put up a struggle. It’s your choice."

Alex was ready to argue but Derek put out a hand. "We’ll go but under protest. I, for one, resent being treated like some kid. Last time I looked, you weren’t my dad."

"No, I’m not," Glorfindel replied, "and I respect your feelings but I am the administrator for this school and I’m asking you to cooperate."

"C’mon, Alex. Let’s go make some coffee and check on poor Jack while the grown-ups play Miami Vice with these bozos."

Alex grimaced. "Let’s just hope you get the answers we need," he said in a parting shot to Glorfindel as he exited the room. "Farrell hired these two. I want to know why."

"As do we. As soon as we learn anything, we’ll let you know." With that, Glorfindel shut the door, leaving them outside.

"Come," Daeron said, giving them both a faint smile and he headed down the hall to the stairs. As they were climbing the stairs, the hall lights flickered and then stayed on, and Derek turned off his flashlight.

"Let’s stop at our room on the way and get dressed," Derek suggested. "I have a feeling we’re up for the duration."

Alex agreed and that is what they did, all the while wondering just how the interrogation was going.

****

Daernana: (Sindarin) Assumed hypocoristic form of Daernaneth: Grandmother.