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"Why is that relevant?" Chapel asked
"Because the nairl was Christina Smollett"
IN TRANSIT: APRIL 12, T+16:23
"Holy shit," Chapel said He wasn&039;t a big fan of pointless vulgarity, but this situation seemed to warrant it "That&039;s no coincidence"
"Definitely not," Angel said "I&039;ll forgive you for sullying ht now I feel like fucking swearingwhat the connection actually a honest with you here, Chapel I don&039;t have any inforht have actually done to Christina Smollett But there has to be so to her, and she associated it in so sexually assaulted"
"And Franklin Hayes smoothed it over," Chapel said "Covered it up"
"Worse than that He tried to countersue the fael went on "The judge disreed to seal all testi was spun as so impossible accusations, and the CIA just didn&039;t want the public toBut if there wasn&039;t soht now"
"I&039;ht now," Chapel said, which was putting it mildly "But even I don&039;t believe they&039;re in the business of raping schizophrenics" The words felt ugly in his hed "If the records are sealed, I guess there&039;s no way for you to find out what the testihties, before anything was digitized," Angel told hi it wasn&039;t actually destroyed, all that testi cabinet so the physical papers, no one is ever going to see it-and that&039;s more your area than mine"
"I&039;m no thief," Chapel told her "I&039;m not about to do that So we&039;ll have to find so the information Someone has to knohat happened Franklin Hayes, for instance I bet he knows all about it"
"Too bad you just turned hiel pointed out
"Did you hear our conversation?"
"All of it In fact, so did Director Hollingshead I woke him up and let him listen in He&039;s very interested in what Banks did to et started on sweepingto new servers We can&039;t let them just eavesdrop whenever they want In fact, if they knoe&039;ve just been talking aboutwell They&039;re not going to like the fact we el Do what you need to do We&039;re still a ways frowork anyway I&039;ll need to check in with-"
"Chapel, until we&039;re secure again, it&039;s better if I don&039;t know the details"
"Got it Thank you, Angel Thanks for everything"
She didn&039;t respond The hands-free unit in his ear had already switched off
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: APRIL 12, T+17:53
The jet set down at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in the ht theate and waited for clearance to debark Chapel had to adshead was a lucky h the ter for them
The driver seee "Not even an overnight bag?" he asked
Chapel just shrugged Fatigue was starting to get to hiave the driver Jeremy Funt&039;s last known address
"Seriously? That&039;s down in Capitol View Not the best neighborhood," the driver told hi," Chapel said
"You&039;re the boss" The driver got the carand thankfully had little to say after that Chapel tried watching through the s as they rolled along, trying to get a feel for this new city It all blurred together into lights and pools of darkness He focused on the street signs instead
After about twenty minutes he leaned forward, a little alar in circles," he told the driver
Had Banks set him up? Was this soto be taken somewhere quiet and quietly shot?
He started to reach for his weapon
"What are you talking about? I know this city like the back of my hand," the driver said
"We just passed Peachtree Street," Chapel said "Except we passed Peachtree Street ten hed "Buddy, you never been to Atlanta before, have you? Half the streets here are called that It&039;s the state tree You never heard of Georgia peaches?"
"Oh," Chapel said
He sank back into his seat
Daiven his circu too long too fast, never getting a chance to rest He needed sleep If he didn&039;t get it, he would probably start shooting at shadows
He told himself he just needed to find Jeremy Funt Once he had the man located and under protection, he could rest
Just a little while longer
Within thirty seconds his head fell back against the seat and he was asleep
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: APRIL 13, T+19:01
"Hey Hey, buddy! We&039;re here!"
Chapel&039;s eyes snapped open They felt gritty and raw All of hiht It all ca back He stirred himself, sat up Adjusted his jacket He touched Julia&039;s shoulder, and she slapped his hand away
"Take your time," the driver told him
Chapel nodded and rubbed at his face with his hands His silicone left hand dragged in his stubble, but the irritation helped wake hiood hand "It&039;s ti little sounds of annoyance Then she leaned forward and laid her head on his chest, one of her ar around his waist "Let me sleep in today," she said "The little Chihuahuas can wait"
She was so warainst his body in the chilly air-conditioned cab Chapel felt his body stirring He put his good hand on her hair and stroked it gently
Whoa, he told hiht of when she&039;d been exa him in her clinic, and she&039;d kissed hih Except-she had said that it was also maybe because she&039;d wanted to kiss hiood in his fingers This was totally wrong, he thought He had a mission to complete; there was no time for this But he wanted so desperately to just lean in and kiss her awake
"Oh, no," she said, and sat bolt upright "Oh ain "Oh God Chapel I-I aht you were somebody else My ex-boyfriend Wow," she said "That was not appropriate, huh? I&039;m really sorry"
Chapel reached for the handle of his door "It&039;s fine Really," he said He opened his door and stepped out onto the sidewalk Harsh sodiu away shadows that refused to be cos on either side of him were mostly one- and two-story houses with peaked roofs Each had a patch of green lawn out front, andwhatsoever like New York City
"Do we need to pay the driver?" Julia asked, co up beside him
"No-no-it&039;s all taken care of," he said, a little too quickly
She gave hi to ask the driver to hile they went inside, but the cabbie was already pulling away He waved furiously to call the man back, but it was no use
Oh, well He could always call for another car Even without Angel&039;s help he supposed he could e that
"So what&039;s the plan, here?" Julia asked
"The man who lives here, Jeremy Funt, is like your father-at least in that the chimeras want to kill them both" She winced and he immediately felt like an ass She knew her father&039;s life-just as her oas in danger, and she didn&039;t need to be reet hi to sit here all night waiting for a chimera to show up If I can, I&039;ll take it into custody"
"How do you know the chi at her eyes
"I don&039;t, really But I&039; under the assuot this address Huh No lights on in the house"
Julia shrugged "It&039;s late Maybe he&039;s asleep, like a sane person"
"Maybe," Chapel agreed If it was hi to kill hiht on It would at least make it easier to see the ravel driveway to the front door of the house and knocked loudly He glanced around at the surrounding houses Plenty of thelow of a television set through oneacross the street and hear people laughing so a few streets away It wasn&039;t that late
When there was no answer to his knock he looked around until he found a doorbell and tried that Still no response
"Maybe he was really sane, and he went so You did let everyone know they were in danger, right?" Julia asked
"It was the first thing I did"
So there would be no reply "Okay I need to get inside, whether he&039;s here or not, so I can lay my ambush for the chimera Stand back and watch the street If you see anyone looking at us and wondering e&039;re doing, let uessing, in this neighborhood that&039;s a pretty rare sight," Julia told him
"Keep an eye out anyway" Chapel flexed his shoulder It had been a long time since he had knocked a door doith brute force He had little choice, though He grabbed the doorknob, intending to lift the door in its hinges and then ram it with his shoulder
Except the knob turned freely in his hand
The door swung open It wasn&039;t locked
Soht
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: APRIL 13, T+19:12
Chapel drew his weapon and stepped inside the dark house He motioned for Julia to follow hiht switch," he told Julia Then he turned to face the darkness and called out, "Mr Funt? I&039;ent I&039;m here to protect you"
He didn&039;t expect a response, and he didn&039;t get one
Behind hihts came on