"Fuck," Elijah groaned as he gazed at the black SUV tailing him.
His eyes focused on the road and the pink Miata cruising ahead. He rubbed his scruffy beard when he noticed Emily shaking her head in the passenger seat. All three vehicles turned at an intersection, humming down the pothole-ridden country road. A Mel's Diner billboard caught his attention as he followed the Miata into downtown Corwood.
He glanced back at the tinted black SUV behind him, then reached for his cigarettes in his coat pocket. Eli flipped his turning signal and pulled into Mel's diner parking lot. His eyes drifted towards the rearview mirror as the SUV followed him. It parked behind his Mustang as the Miata continued down the main road.
Elijah turned off his vehicle and lit a cigarette. As the SUV doors opened, his hand reached for his weapon. Dezerea exited the vehicle alongside several armed men wearing black business suits. She gestured for them to stand guard before approaching Eli's Mustang.
Eli's mind raced back to Emily's note. A sense of familiarity crept up his arms as he gazed at the red booths inside the diner. His imagination depicted panicked customers exiting through the entrance. Red and blue strobe lights flickered in his imagination while journalists interviewed people. He sighed and slowly released the grip he held on his Desert Eagle. His eyes drifted towards the woman approaching his window.
"Agent Elijah Carter, don't you have an inspection to be doing?" Dezerea asked as he rolled down the driver's window.
Elijah smirked as he glanced up at Dezerea. His heart raced, and his arm twitched when he noticed the pistol on her hip.
"Why would that concern a cartel leader unless they are doing business with that company?" Elijah replied as he gingerly reached for his weapon.
Dezerea chuckled. "My brother is the CEO of that company. Did you not read that in your report?"
"So it is the same," Elijah thought to himself. "But is she undercover with the P.I.A.?"
"It must have slipped my mind. Forgive me; I don't sift through every detail," Eli replied.
Dezerea slowly blinked and smiled. "Are you hungry? Breakfast is on me," she said as she gestured for Elijah to follow her.
He rubbed his neck as customers glanced nervously as Elijah and Dezerea entered the diner. The scent of waffles and freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air. For a moment, Eli's nose picked up gunpowder and blood in the air. Servers gossiped as they took a seat in a booth.
"What can I get y'all?" A waitress asked. She avoided eye contact as she approached the booth.
"I will take whatever she is having," Eli replied as he lit a cigarette. "I need to find out," he thought as he observed Dezerea skimming over the menu.
"Two coffees and a bagel for both of us," Dezerea ordered as she pushed the menu aside.
"Cream and sugar?"The waitress asked as she jotted down the order.
Elijah nodded as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"I will have mine black," Dezerea replied, then fixated her gaze towards the window. "Does your report specify anything about this town, Agent Carter?"
Elijah smiled as the waitress brought them their coffees. He ripped open a sugar packet and poured it in. The acidic bitterness lingered on his tongue after he took a sip.
"That would be confidential information. You should know that," Elijah replied with a smirk.
"Let's see if she bites."
Dezerea sipped her coffee and thanked the waitress. "Must have slipped my memory," she replied with a smirk. "This town has some interesting history with Ether reactors. Most of the adult population worked at the previous one in one way or another."
"And you care because your brother lobbied the P.I.A. to build another one here?"
"I have nothing to do with my brother's ambitions but support them regardless."
"Right, you're just here to wreck another town with your drugs while your brother masquerades it as a legitimate business?"
"Not one to mince your words. I like that," Dezerea chuckled as the waitress returned with their bagels.
"You not concerned that the F.B.I. or these people will learn about what you are doing either?"
"Not in the slightest. Your government and these people should be thanking me, to be perfectly honest."
"You would only say something like that if you work for them. Or should I say working for the P.I.A. perhaps?"
Dezerea sipped her coffee and blinked; her stoic expression slowly melted. "What gave it away?" She asked as she pulled a P.I.A. agent badge from her coat pocket.
Elijah chuckled as he focused on the badge lying next to his coffee. He stubbed his cigarette out and shook his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered out loud.
Dezerea's eyebrow raised. "Is it? The P.I.A. doesn't like to get their hands messy or like media attention."
"Why wouldn't they fill me in on this?"
"Why indeed," Dezerea chuckled as she spread some cream cheese on her bagel. "There is something in this town that needs to be handled. It turns out that that was exactly what I had been searching for when the P.I.A. got a whiff of it."
"The Ether hotline tip of a Gamma anomaly?"
Dezerea shook her head and then bit into her bagel. "That is what's on record, but the board of directors and I know it's much more than a Gamma anomaly."
Elijah sighed and shook his head. He gazed out the window at his Mustang, his mind drifting back to Emily's note.
"Time has been fucked with. But how many times?" He thought to himself.
"You already know what I am talking about, do you?"
"I ain't got the faintest idea. Care to inform me?"
"Are you familiar with what happened in the Bermuda Triangle ten years ago?"
Elijah shook his head and then paused. His eyebrows lowered as he gazed at Dezerea's pendant around her neck. "Wasn't there an accident?"
Dezerea nodded and sipped her coffee. "A cruise ship sank. At least a thousand people drowned. My son and I were on that ship ten years ago," she explained as she clutched the pendant with a photo of her son. "I became what the P.I.A. calls a Binder that day."
"That pendant... it's an anomaly?"
"It is indeed, and when I grasped it while trying to save my son, it showed me visions."
Elijah lit another cigarette and then drank his coffee. "And what did you see?"
"A distorted image of a woman whose body was made of static. I learned early that the visions become clearer the closer I get to whoever this person is."
"Like a radar?"
Dezerea nodded and glanced at the window. Her eyes faded to a sickly eggshell white. The longer she stared at it, the more the window started to crack. Blood trickled from her nose as she turned her head back towards Elijah, her eyes shifting back to their original color.
"She is in this town. I have traveled thousands of miles, and the images are crystal clear here," Dezerea explained as she wiped the blood from her nose. "I am sure you know something is already off about this town. Much more so than your usual cases."
Elijah shook his head as he exhaled cigarette smoke, then stubbed it in an ashtray. "This girl...what is she?"
"That's where you come in. You are the best tracker the P.I.A. has due to your Ether trace. An invaluable tool when I did all the heavy lifting with Gloom."
"What?"
"Gloom makes it easier to flush out potential Conduits and Binders such as ourselves."
Elijah's eyebrows narrowed as he gazed at his coffee. "You are telling me the P.I.A. let you turn a whole town into Hollows, so it's easier for me to locate this girl you're after?"
"Don't give me that high horse attitude, Agent Carter. I checked your info when I learned the P.I.A. picked you for bloodhound duty. The P.I.A. wants this girl taken care of, not recruited. You locate her, and I handle it. The P.I.A. gets what they want, and I get what I want," Dezerea replied. "Sometimes, particular Conduits, Binders, and Anomalies are too dangerous even to lock up."
Elijah didn't reply as he reached for another cigarette. He waited till a waitress passed by before speaking. "I know that, but it doesn't mean I like it. Also, there hasn't been any situation that has required that."
"Of course. The P.I.A. keeps classified intel from their agents. They kept you in the dark for a reason. You, of course, will be compensated, and any of your involvement in this case, including Ashley and Bruce, will be redacted."
Elijah rubbed his beard as he lit his cigarette. He glanced at his Mustang and then at Dezerea as she stood up from the booth.
"I will let you handle the logistics of your team as I go handle some business. Agent Carter, don't disappoint me or the P.I.A.; you don't have a say in any of this. Just do your job, and we can go home," Dezerea said as she walked out of the diner.