Chapter 45 Chapter Forty-Four

As they drove into White Plains, twenty-five miles north of Manhattan, Diane said, "It looks like a nice town. What are we doing here?" "I have a friend here. She'll take care of us." "Tell me about her." Kelly speaks slowly: "My mother married an alcoholic and liked to beat her up. When I had money to support my mother, I convinced her to leave him. A model who ran away from an abusive boyfriend told me about this place. It was a little The inn, run by an angelic woman named Grace Seidel. I took my mother to live with her until I could find her an apartment. I visited Grace every day. Mother Loved it here, made friends with some of the homestay guests. I ended up finding an apartment for my mother and came to pick her up." She paused.

Diana looked at her. "What happened?" "She went back to her husband." They arrived at the little inn. "Arrived." Grace Seidel is in her fifties, full of movement, and there is endless energy in her chubby body full of maternal love.She beamed when she opened the door and saw Kelly. "Kelly!" She threw her arms around her. "It's good to see you." "This is my friend Diane," Kelly said. They greet each other. "Your rooms are ready for you," Grace said. "It's actually your mother's room. I'll put in an extra bed."

As Grace led them to the bedrooms, she passed a cozy-looking living room in which a dozen women were playing cards or engaging in various other activities. "How long are you going to stay?" Grace asked. Kelly and Diana looked at each other: "We don't know." Grace Seidel smiled. "No problem. This room is yours for as long as you need it." The room was lovely - neat and clean. After Grace Seidel left, Kelly told Diana: "We're in no danger here. By the way, I think we set a Guinness World Record. Do you know how many times they tried to kill us?" "

"I know." Diana stood at the window.Kelly heard her say, "Thank you, Richard." Kelly was about to speak when he suddenly thought, it's useless. Andrew fell asleep at his desk and dreamed that he was sleeping on a hospital bed.The sound in the room woke him up. "...fortunately, I found this while we were decontaminating Andrew's safety gear. I figured I'd show it to you right away." "The damn military told me there was no danger." A man hands Tanner a gas mask used in an army experiment. "I found a tiny hole in the bottom of the mask. It looks like someone poked it. That was enough to cause your brother's condition."

Tanner looked at the mask and flew into a rage: "Whoever is responsible for this will pay the price." He looked at the man and said, "I will investigate this matter immediately. Thank you for sending this to me .” From the hospital bed, Andrew watched the man leave sleepily. Tanner stared at the mask for a moment, then walked to a corner of the ward where a hospital trolley was parked, piled high with filthy gauze. Tanner reached under the car and buried the gas mask under the gauze. Andrew tried to ask his brother what happened, but he was tired.He fell asleep. Tanner, Andrew and Paulina return to Tanner's office.

Tanner told the secretary to bring in the morning paper.Tanner scans the front pages of all the newspapers. "Look at this: 'Scientists are plagued by freak storms in places like Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and Italy.'" He looked at Paulina triumphantly. Nervous." Vince Caballo ran into the room. "Mr. Kingsley—" "I'm busy. What's the matter?" "Flint is dead." Tanner's jaw dropped: "What? What did you say? What happened?" "Stevens and Harris killed him." "impossible!" "He's dead. They ran away and took the senator's car. We called the police and said it was stolen. The police found it in White Plains."

Tanner's voice was grim and brutal: "Listen to my orders. I want you to take a dozen men to White Plains. Search every inn, boarding house, and inn—anywhere they can hide. I offer a reward of five million to bring them to justice. Go!" "Yes, sir." Vince Caballo hurried out the door. In their room at the Grace Seidel inn, Diana said: "What a terrible thing happened to you in Paris. Did they kill the housekeeper?" "I don't know. They just disappeared." "Where's your dog, Angel?" Kelly kept her mouth shut and said, "I don't want to mention it."

"I'm sorry. You know what's frustrating? We narrowly escaped death. Now we know what happened and there's no one to tell. It's just us fighting the KIG. They're going to put us in a madhouse." Kelly nodded. "You're right. There's no one to turn to now." There was a moment's silence, and then Diana said slowly, "I think there is one." The whole town was filled with Vince Caballo's men, and they checked out every hotel, boarding house, and inn.One of his men showed a photo of Diana and Kelly to the receptionist at the Plaza Hotel.

"Have you ever seen either of these women? Five million dollars is on offer for their capture." The receptionist shook his head. "I wish I knew where they were." At the Renaissance West Chester Hotel, another man holds a picture of Diana and Kelly. "Five million? I hope to get it." At Crown Plaza, the receptionist said, "If I see them, I'll let you know, sir." Vince Caballo himself knocked on the door of the Grace Seidel Inn. "Good morning. My name is Vince Caballo." He held up pictures of the two women. "Have you seen these two women? A reward of five million is offered for their capture."

Grace Seidel's eyes lit up. "Kelly!" In Tanner's office, Kathy Ordoniz was thrilled.She was overwhelmed with faxes and her e-mail box was full.She picked up a stack of papers and walked into Tanner's office.Tanner and Paulina van Leowen sat on the couch talking. Tanner looked up as the secretary entered. "What's up?" She smiled. "Good news. You're going to have a very successful dinner." He frowned: "What did you say?" She held up the paper. "All accepted. Everyone." Tanner stood up: "Where are you coming from? Let me see."

Kathy handed him the paper and went back outside to her desk. Tanner read the first e-mail aloud: "'We will have the great pleasure of attending a dinner at KIG headquarters on Friday to witness the unveiling of Prima, your weather controller.' From the editor of Time Magazine." His face turned pale.He looked at the next one. "'Thank you for inviting me to KIG headquarters to visit Prima, your weather control computer. We will be there.' Signed by Newsweek editor." He browses the rest. "CBS, NBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and The Times of London were all enthusiastically attending the unveiling of Prima. " Paulina sat without saying a word. Tanner was so outraged that he could barely speak. "What the hell is going on—?" He stopped. "Those two bitches." In the Irma Internet Cafe, Diana was busy operating a computer.She looked up at Kelly. "Have we missed anyone?" Kelly said: "Erie, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Lady, Reader's Digest..." Diana laughed. "I think so. I hope Kingsley has a good caterer. He's got a big party to deal with." Vince Caballo looks excitedly at Grace Seidel. "You know Kelly?" "Oh yeah," said Grace, "she's one of the most famous models in the world." Vince Caballo beamed. "Where is she?" Grace looked at him in surprise. "I don't know. I've never met her." His face flushed: "you said you knew her." "I mean—everybody knows her. She's very famous. Isn't she pretty?" "You don't know where she is?" Grace said thoughtfully, "I kind of know." "where?" "I saw a woman just like her on a bus this morning. She was traveling with someone else—" "Which bus?" "To Vermont." "thanks." Vince Caballo left in a hurry. Tanner threw the pile of faxes and e-mails on the floor and turned to Paulina. "You know what those two bitches did? We can't let anyone see Prima." He thought for a long time. "I think Prima is going to have an accident the day before the show, an explosion." Paulina looked at him for a while, then pursed her lips and smiled: "Prima II." Tanner nodded: "That's right. We might as well travel around the world. As long as we like, we can go to Tamoya to activate Prima II anytime and anywhere." The voice of Casey Ordoniz from the Inliner.It sounded like a rush.She spoke directly to Tanner's office: "Mr. Kingsley, the phones are all buzzing. The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Larry King are all waiting for you." "Tell them I'm in a meeting." Tanner turned to Paulina. "We have to get out of here." He patted Andrew on the shoulder. "Andrew, come with us." "Yes, Tanner." The three came to the red brick house: "I have something very important to entrust to you, Andrew." "At your command," Andrew said. Tanner led them into the red brick house and walked up to Prima. Tanner turned to Andrew. "This is what I want you to do. The princess and I have to get out of here, but at six o'clock, I want you to turn off this computer. Very simple." He pointed, "You See that big red button?" Andrew nodded: "I see." "The only thing you have to do is press the button three times at six o'clock. Three times. Remember?" Andrew said, "Remember, Tanner. Six o'clock. Three times." "Yes. Goodbye." Tanner and Paulina started walking outside. Andrew looked at their backs: "Aren't you taking me there?" "No. You stay here. Remember: six o'clock, three times." When they were outside, Paulina said, "What if he doesn't remember?" Tanner laughed. "It's okay. It's scheduled to explode automatically at six o'clock. I just want to make sure he's there when it happens."