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Elf Academy 3: The Enemy Within  by Fiondil

53: Conference Call

When Alex and Vorondur returned to Edhellond an hour later, they were met at the door by Daeron and learned that Finlay was resting comfortably and was sleeping with a little help from the Elves.

“Fairy dust, my mom used to call it,” Alex said with a grin as he dropped a couple of bags onto the floor by the stairs.

Both Daeron and Vorondur chuckled.

“I’ve put you in your old room, Alex,” Daeron said. “You know which one?”

“Sure, thanks. These are the Finlays’.” He pointed to the collection of rucksacks and backpacks on the floor.

“I’ll take care of them,” Daeron assured him.

“I’d better get going,” Vorondur said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alex. We have a four o’clock appointment, remember?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there unless something comes up.”

“By something, you mean Farrell,” Vorondur said and Alex nodded. Vorondur sighed, apparently not too pleased, then shrugged. “Just don’t go looking for him.”

“Furthest thought on my mind, Ron,” Alex assured him. “Right now, Farrell’s holding all the aces, but we’ll see.”

Vorondur nodded and wished them a good night and left. Daeron turned to Alex. “Why don’t you go settle in and then come down to the library,” he suggested. “We’re meeting there for a conference.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “You need help with the luggage?”

“No, I’ve got it, thanks. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Alex nodded and headed up the stairs. Once in the room that had been assigned to him, he dropped his bag and pulled out his phone and speed-dialed a number as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, Derek, hi, it’s Alex. How are you doing?... Oh, everything here is just ducky… Sorry, it’s been one of those days... Look, Farrell tried to take a shot at me earlier when I was at the café having dinner… No, I’m okay and no one else got hurt. Nate showed up… Yeah, I swear the guy haunts the place, him and Esther… Yeah, she was there. I’m surprised Manny didn’t show up, too… You and me, both… No, I’m at Edhellond. I decided staying at the apartment was too dangerous… Yeah, I guess your prayers were answered, yours and everyone else’s… Okay, I’ll let you go. I just wanted to let you know what’s been happening. Say ‘hi’ to Marty for me… Later.”

He ended the call and shoved the phone back into a pocket as he stood and left the room, making his way downstairs to the library where he found Glorfindel, Finrod, Valandur, Daeron and the Twins.

“All settled in?” Glorfindel asked politely.

Alex shrugged. “I guess.”

“Your enthusiasm is underwhelming,” Glorfindel said with a grin and the others chuckled.

Alex blushed. “Sorry. I think I’m coming down from an adrenaline high or something. I’m suddenly feeling the way I used to after a bust. All I want to do is curl up and sleep for a couple of decades.”

Everyone gave him sympathetic looks, though the Twins appeared more concerned. Elladan came over. “May I?” he asked, gesturing to Alex’s left wrist. Alex shrugged and held out his arm. Elladan felt for his pulse, timing it. “Pulse is a little on the high side but not unusually so.” He released Alex’s hand, giving him a clinical look. “Perhaps a good night’s sleep will help.”

“It usually does, assuming I sleep,” Alex said, lifting one eyebrow. “Been down this road too many times before, Dan, to worry about it now. I’ll be okay by morning.”

“Well, if you find yourself having trouble sleeping, just find one of us,” Elladan said, nodding to his twin.

Alex nodded and Glorfindel stepped in. “In the meantime, let’s discuss Farrell.” He gestured and everyone found seats. Alex was directed to sit in one of the chairs fronting the fireplace and Daeron handed him some hot chocolate, apparently courtesy of Elrohir, and there was a plate of homemade ginger snaps on the table beside him. Glorfindel sat on one side of the hearth facing him. “I spoke with Dave Michaelson while you were out. Forensics found nothing on the roof, not even a spent shell, though there were traces of powder.”

“Farrell is obsessed, but he’s no fool,” Alex pointed out as he nibbled on a cookie, “and he’s been trained by the best in covering his tracks and leaving behind nothing that can incriminate him. That’s Espionage 101.”

“Apparently,” Glorfindel allowed, giving him a mirthless grin. “Anyway, Dave is going to have the site looked over again in the morning. Maybe in daylight the forensics people will find something that was missed in the near dark. For now, we’ll let the police do their thing and we’ll just worry about Farrell.”

“Where is everyone, anyway?” Alex asked. “I just realized this place is awfully quiet.”

“We sent Beleg and Mithlas and a few others over to the college to keep an eye on the youngsters and Elf Academy,” Glorfindel replied, “And others are patrolling the grounds here. The ellith are all at Ron’s keeping Holly and Sarah company for the duration.”

Alex did a mental count and grinned. “So Ron’s alone in the house with eight ellith? Poor guy. I bet he’s locked himself in his office.”

The others all chuckled. “No doubt,” Glorfindel said. “And actually, there are only seven as Manwen is with Laurendil at the hospital. They’re on duty tonight. At any rate, for the moment, it’s just us and the Finlays.”

“How’s he doing, really?” Alex asked, looking to the Twins for an answer.

“He’s resting comfortably and is sleeping,” Elrohir answered. “I suspect by morning he’ll be back on his feet. Apparently the shock was just too much for him.” He shrugged. “It happens. Last winter I was acting as an Elf Guide for this family — husband, wife and three kids — and when I revealed myself to them, the kids squealed with delight but the parents had a hard time adjusting to the idea of Elves. In fact, the husband actually fainted.” He laughed. “His children thought it was so wimpy and I suspect the poor guy’s never going to hear the end of it from them.” The others laughed.

“I find that the men are more likely to react negatively to learning the truth than their wives,” Daeron said when they had calmed down a bit. “I’m sure there’s a psychological reason for it. I keep meaning to ask Ron about it.”

“Well, that’s beside the point,” Glorfindel admonished. “Let’s just concentrate on dealing with Farrell.” He glanced at Finrod who was sitting in the chair on the other side of the table from Alex. “Esther actually told Dave that Alex and we are to deal with Farrell?”

Finrod nodded. “Nor did Lord Námo contradict her.”

“Should not the police handle this, though?” Valandur asked. “That is, after all, what they get paid for, as I believe the saying goes.”

“Normally, I would agree,” Glorfindel said. “They are quite competent in hunting down one lone sniper, but if one of the Valar says otherwise I suspect that, in this case at least, the police are out of their league.”

Alex grunted an agreement. “Farrell’s been well trained. He’s not in the same league as I, but he has the necessary background. He won’t make it easy for any of us to find him and he’ll choose the time and the place.”

“What I do not understand is why?” Finrod asked and when they all gave him puzzled looks he explained further. “Alex has said that Farrell will want to confront him personally, is that not so?” Alex nodded and Finrod continued. “Then why did he attempt to kill you from a distance? That is not his… um… em oh.” He gave them a proud look at having remembered the correct terminology. Then his expression became more quizzical. “What exactly does ‘M. O.’ stand for, anyway?”

“It’s from the Latin modus operandi or method of operation,” Daeron answered, “how someone does something on a consistent basis. Career criminals generally have a particular way of committing their crimes and the police can use that to figure out who the person is and how to capture him or her.”

“And Farrell’s M. O. is to be confrontational,” Alex said. “Yes, you’re right. He’s out of character and that means he’s doubly dangerous because we have no idea if he’ll try again.”

“I still wonder why he was on the roof with a high-powered sniper rifle,” Glorfindel said. “Was he just sitting there hoping to catch sight of you, Alex, and if so, why didn’t he shoot while you were crossing the square instead of waiting until you were in the café?”

“Not only that, but how would he even know that we would end up in the only booth left when we got there or that I would sit where I did? If I had sat where Ed and Sakari were sitting he wouldn’t have been able to hit me and if we had been sitting elsewhere, at one of the tables, for instance, he wouldn’t have seen me at all, even with a scope. Finlay was right in saying that the angle was screwy. None of this makes sense.” He huffed in frustration, running a hand through his hair.

“No, it doesn’t,” Glorfindel said in agreement, “but that is neither here nor there. The fact is Farrell was there and he was armed and he attempted to kill you. Chances are, he’ll try again.”

“He may have only been trying to frighten you,” Elrohir interjected. “It’s possible he’s trying to spook you with the sniper shot, force you to run. He sounds like the kind of person who enjoys a good chase.”

 “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Alex said with a nod. “I knew a few people in the Agency who weren’t above deliberately prolonging a hunt for an enemy agent just for the fun of the chase and the kill at the end. It was truly a game for them. I stayed away from them. They were too weird for me and my life wasn’t exactly normal either.”

“Farrell’s had a couple of months to plan this,” Valandur said. “The escape was well thought-out and the fact that he has not been found yet shows that he has the resources to hide and stay hidden.”

“So we need to draw him out,” Glorfindel said.

“Which is why I thought of running, forcing Farrell to follow,” Alex said. “I still think it’s our best option.”

“And it may come to that, but if so, I want to make sure that you have someone keeping an eye on you,” Glorfindel allowed.

“One of the Maiar?” Alex asked.

“I’d like to keep them out of it if at all possible,” Glorfindel replied.

Both Twins snorted derisively. “Good luck with that,” Elladan muttered and Elrohir nodded in agreement.

“As long as they have no orders to interfere, they will not,” Finrod said categorically, “and none of us have the power or the authority to tell them not to follow us about.”

“Unfortunately,” Glorfindel said with a sigh.

“So what do we do in the meantime?” Alex asked. “Do we try to find Farrell or do we get him to find us, or rather me? If he’s decided to go the sniper route, there’s precious little we can do about it except stay away from windows and that’s just impossible.”

“Is there a way for him to shoot you when you are teaching your classes?” Daeron asked.

“Hmm….” Alex had to think about it, mentally recalling the layout of the classrooms in relation to nearby buildings. Finally he shook his head. “Both my classes are on the second floor, down the hall from my office, but the windows in the French class face west and they look out onto the main road through the campus. On the other side are woods. The nearest building is off to the side, looking south, barely visible from any of the windows.”

“What about your Italian class?” Glorfindel asked.

“That might be a possibility. It’s on the other side and Hayes Hall is directly across from it. It’s only two stories so the roof would be in line with the windows on the second floor of Rosamond.”

“Can you switch your classroom temporarily to the other side to play it safe?” Valandur asked.

“Don’t know. I could find out, but what excuse would I give?”

“Just say that there was a problem with the radiator and there’s no heat in the room so until they get it fixed, you’ve move the class to another room,” Daeron suggested. “You don’t even have to stay on that floor, just so long as the room is on the other side.”

“Well, I can check it out tomorrow when I’m there,” Alex said. “I’m sure not every classroom is in use when I’m teaching my class.”

“What about your office? How are you situated there?” Glorfindel asked.

“Hmm… I can’t very well move my office, but I might be able to convince Felicity — she’s the German instructor and we share the office — I might be able to convince her to move the desks around so Farrell can’t get a clean shot at either of us. I can come up with some excuse for doing so.”

“Good enough,” Glorfindel said. He paused and gave Alex a searching look. “You’re exhausted. You should go to bed.”

“It’s only nine!” Alex protested. “I’m okay.”

“Perhaps, but I think you would do better to go to bed now, get a good night’s sleep,” Glorfindel said. “Dan or Roy could help you there if you’re having trouble.”

“Loren’s right, Alex,” Elladan said. “I can tell from over here that you’re ready to collapse. That adrenaline high you spoke of? You’re definitely crashing. Why don’t you go get ready for bed and I’ll be up in a few minutes with something to help you relax so you can sleep.”

“Yeah, okay, maybe you’re right,” Alex admitted with some reluctance.

“And you should know us well enough by now to know that we are always right,” Glorfindel retorted with a wicked grin. Alex muttered an obligatory expletive and the others chuckled. “Sleep well,” Glorfindel said as Alex stood and wished them all a good night.

“I’ll go make you a nice cup of herbal tea,” Elladan said as he accompanied the Mortal.

A half an hour later, Elladan returned to the library where the others were still congregated. “He’s asleep,” he said, “and I checked in on Finlay. He’s asleep as well and so is Sakari.”

“Good,” Glorfindel said. “Now that we’ve got them out of the way, let’s figure out how to take Farrell down once and for all. It’s almost time for Amroth to check in. Let’s see if he’s online yet.”

He went over to the desk and sat in front of a laptop that was up and running, while the others stood behind him watching. He clicked on the Skype icon to open it, checking to see who was available. “Good. He’s there. Let’s talk.” He dialed Amroth’s number and after a couple of rings, the call was connected and a screen opened to reveal Amroth.

“Good evening, Loren,” Amroth said with a smile.

“Evening to you,” Glorfindel replied. “How’s life with the Bobbsey Twins?”

Amroth chuckled. “Interesting, very interesting. Gwyn and Gareth are… so young.”

“Tell me about it,” Glorfindel grinned back. “Della and Misty okay, and Zach?”

“They’re fine. Zach’s still unhappy to be here and chafes at being in exile, as he sees it. Gareth has been trying to keep him amused, though. Took him to fight practice the other night and got him armored up. When they got back, Zach was bouncing off the ceiling. I think we have a convert.”

His listeners chuckled. “That’s good to hear,” Glorfindel said. “You alone?”

They saw Amroth nodding, his eyes looking down and to his right. “Della had a craving for Chinese, so we went out to eat and then Gwyn suggested a movie afterwards. I knew you’d be looking for me to check in so I came home from the restaurant. The movie should be getting out right about now so they’ll be along in about a half hour or so. How are things where you are?”

“Complicated. Remember those five agents we took out and sent to that remote Inuit village?” Amroth nodded. “Well, they’ve been released.”

“I thought the plan was to keep them on ice, metaphorically speaking of course,” — they all chuckled at that — “until the spring?”

“Yeah, well apparently the Powers That Be decided differently,” Glorfindel replied with a sigh. “At any rate, four of them apparently hightailed it to DC as soon as they reached Barrows, but one of them — Finlay is his name, Edward Finlay — showed up here with a wife.”

“Wife?!”

“A lovely child by the name of Sakari,” Glorfindel said, nodding. “Finlay tracked down Alex and they went to the café for dinner. Three guesses as to who showed up for a chat and the first two don’t count.”

“Nate,” Amroth said in a whisper.

Glorfindel nodded. “And Esther was there as well, keeping an eye on things. Nate saved Alex’s life and everyone else’s.”

“How?”

“That’s where it gets very interesting. Apparently Farrell was camped on the roof of the bookstore with a high-powered sniper rifle and took a shot at Alex as he was sitting in a booth eating.”

“That’s not possible!” Amroth protested vehemently. “The angle’s all wrong.”

“So Alex and Finlay say. They took a look at the roof. He was apparently sitting where the bookstore roof meets the bakery roof.”

Amroth shook his head. “It’s still not possible. There’s no direct line of sight from that angle. He would practically have to be leaning over the roof hanging by his toes to get a clear shot.”

“Well, all that is moot because someone blew out the window of the booth where Alex was sitting.”

“So what are you doing? Where’s Alex? Is he alright?”

“He’s fine. No one got hurt, thank Eru, but only because Nate was there, he and Esther. Alex and the Finlays are here in Edhellond. We had to tell them who and what we were. Sakari, lovely child of the Great North that she is, thought I was an angel.” He smirked into the laptop camera.

Amroth gave them a disbelieving look. “She doesn’t know you very well, does she?”

“That’s what Vorondur said,” Elladan interjected as the others laughed.

Glorfindel ignored them. “At any rate, Sakari took the news well enough, but Finlay practically had a heart attack. Dan and Roy had to take care of him.”

“He’s alright, though, isn’t he?” Amroth asked with a frown.

Elrohir leaned over Glorfindel’s right shoulder so Amroth could see him. “He’s fine, Amroth. Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure. He just had a shock, that’s all. Dan and I are keeping an eye on him.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Amroth said as Elrohir straightened. “So what are your plans?”

“The police are investigating the shooting, but according to Finrod, who happened to show up at the café, Esther specifically told Michaelson that Alex and we Elves were to deal with Farrell.”

“That sounds like… trouble,” Amroth commented after a brief pause.

“With a capital T and that rhymes with D and that stands for Dagor Dagorath,” Glorfindel quipped, altering the phrase of the song from The Music Man. None of those who recognized the reference chuckled though; the circumstances were too grave.

“And Alex?”

“He wants to play fox to Farrell’s hound.”

“Hmm… that might not be a bad idea. Have Alex draw him away to a place of your choosing and then deal with him.”

“I’m thinking the same. There is one question, though,” Glorfindel said.

“Only one? Okay, what?”

“Do we take him out permanently or just take him down and turn him back over to the authorities?”

Amroth’s image stared at them, his eyes unfocused, as if he were in deep thought. Then he became more present. “Is Val there by any chance?”

“Yeah, here, hang on a moment.” Glorfindel got up and motioned for Valandur to take the seat. There was a moment of people shifting positions so Glorfindel could lean over Valandur’s shoulder.

“Le cenin, Amroth,” Valandur said formally.

“Ceninyel, Valandur,” Amroth said just as formally. “Do you think we should remove Farrell from the equation?”

“Only if we can prove self-defense,” Valandur replied. “If Alex simply waits for Farrell to show up and then kills him, it’s murder, plain and simple, and the authorities would be right to arrest him and charge him with the crime.”

“And unfortunately, Alex no longer has a license to kill,” Amroth said with a nod. “Do you think Alex is enough of a lure though? Perhaps I should plan to come up—”

“No!” Glorfindel practically shouted. Valandur winced, shying away from him, rubbing his ear. Glorfindel ignored him, concentrating on Amroth. “By no means are you to come back. You stay right where you are, Amroth. You’ve got Della and the children to think about. Farrell is as obsessed with Alex as he is with you, but we don’t need both of you putting yourselves in danger.”

“Fine,” Amroth replied with a huff of annoyance. Then he addressed his next thought to Valandur. “You will need to plan this very carefully.”

“Hey!” Glorfindel interjected before Valandur could speak. “I can handle this. Val—”

“Valandur is my counterpart in the espionage world, Loren,” Amroth said coldly, “and in my absence, he’s in charge of things. Yes, yes. I know you’ve had plenty of experience, but Val and I have been discussing matters between us, organizing our little spy agency, so let us do our job. You just concentrate on getting better. You’re not in any shape yet to be running about playing James Bond.”

“That’s for sure,” Elrohir said loud enough for Amroth to hear. Glorfindel glared at the younger son of Elrond, but when he straightened from bending over, he winced, holding his stomach. Elrohir gave him a knowing look.

“Do you have any suggestions, my friend?” Valandur asked Amroth.

“Not at the moment, but I will think on it some more and get back to you. My advice though is to not let Alex out of your sight. I know him, perhaps better than any of you. He is very good at disappearing, and he’s still not used to being a team player. He’s been a lone wolf for too long to drop the habit.”

“We already have that covered,” Valandur said. “I will be speaking with Vorondur about Alex as well. I know he will not break any confidences between them, and I respect that, but I agree with your assessment of Alex and Ron should be able to help me decide how best to handle him.”

“Good enough. Ah, I can hear a car in the driveway.”

“Then we’ll say good night,” Glorfindel said, leaning back over so Amroth could see him. “Give our love to everyone. Tell Gwyn that we’ll be discussing setting up a branch of the SCA with some of our Mortal friends this weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Okay. Same time tomorrow?”

“No. Make it Saturday. We should have more news by then.”

“Fine. Take care of yourselves. Good night.” With that, Amroth ended the call and his image went out. Glorfindel reached over and closed down Skype and shut off the laptop before straightening again, grimacing at the slight twinge of pain. He waved off the Twins when they started toward him. Valandur remained seated, looking up at the others.

Glorfindel looked down at him. “Are you sure you can handle this?” he asked.

“Child, I was playing this game before your atto was even a glint in his own atto’s eye,” Valandur said with a grin.

“But who were you spying on in Valinor?” Daeron asked, casting him a dubious look. “Certainly not the Valar?”

“No, that would have been impossible, though there were times when I amused myself with coming up with ways of doing so. No, we didn’t actually do any spying, not in the sense that you mean, but there were undercurrents of unrest throughout Aman, particularly once Melkor was released from Mandos. The Noldor were a constant source of trouble, especially Fëanáro, and I kept a particular eye on him at all times.”

“Oh?” Glorfindel said. “Why him in particular?”

“It was… personal,” Valandur replied with a grim smile. “At any rate, to answer your question, Darren, I was charged by the High King to keep a watch on the goings on in Aman. He did not trust Melkor and did not trust the Valar to deal with him effectively, and he was unhappy with the way things were going in Tirion.” He gave them a rueful look. “Unfortunately, we did not anticipate Fëanáro’s exile and the events that followed, especially the death of the Trees.”

“No one did,” Finrod said, “so do not blame yourself, Uncle.”

“Well, let’s shelve all this for now,” Glorfindel suggested. “We can’t plan anything until we’ve talked with Alex. I want someone with him at all times. Yes, I know he’ll object, but in this he will have no choice.”

“I will stay with him when he is at the college,” Valandur volunteered. “I would like to sit in on his classes anyway and have been meaning to speak to him about it.”

“Fine with me,” Glorfindel said. “He’s also in the Quenya class on Saturdays, though I hesitate to allow him to go far from here when he’s not required to be at the college.”

“We’ll discuss it with him tomorrow,” Valandur said. “We can always tutor him here if he has no objections, but I think he will chafe at being kept a prisoner.”

“Most likely. Okay. We’ll deal with it tomorrow. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll head over to Ron’s and see Helena.”

“I’ll go with you,” Daeron said, giving them a grin. “We can rescue Ron from the ellith, give him some male company for a bit after we’ve done our duty to the ellith.”

The others chuckled at that and the meeting broke up. Glorfindel and Daeron wished everyone a good evening as they left, stating that they would most likely not bother to return to Edhellond until the morning. Elrohir asked Glorfindel to explain to Serindë why he wasn’t accompanying him and Daeron and that he would see her in the morning. Glorfindel promised to relay the message and then the Twins disappeared upstairs to check on their charges. Valandur remained in the library with Finrod. When they were alone, the older Elf gave his nephew a knowing look. “Shall we decide between us who will watch over Alex and who will keep Glorfindel amused and out of our hair while we deal with this situation?”

Finrod nodded. “Yes, I rather think we should.” And the two sat far into the night discussing the matter.

****

Le cenin (Sindarin)/Ceninyel: (Quenya): ‘I see you’.





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