“You guessed it,” Travis whispered, as though he could be heard over the phone line. “He’s calling Dr. Cameron.”

“Shhh!” the Major commanded.

Another click popped, and then a deep voice spoke. “Hello.”

“Cliff?”

“Eric? Is that you?”

“I couldn’t do it, Cliff.” His voice held an infinite weariness.

“I was afraid of that. I tried to tell you.”

“I got into the case, but I couldn’t get the rifle.”

“Eric, it’s okay.”

“I couldn’t get it out, Cliff.”

“Did you put everything back?”

“I didn’t get it.”

“I know, Eric,” the deep voice said patiently. “But did you leave things like they were, so they won’t know?”

“I—I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter. I didn’t get it.”

“Eric, go home. You sound terrible.”

“It was terrible, Cliff. So much pain—”

“Look,” Cliff said, “why don’t you come over here for a while. We’ll watch some television.”

“No. I’ll just walk.”

“Eric!” The voice grew sharp. “Stay there. I’ll be right over for you.”

A deep sigh sounded over the line, then finally Eric replied. “All right.”

“Stay at the front entrance.” He paused, then, “Eric, it’s not the end of everything. I told you we couldn’t beat the system.”

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t believe you.”

“Okay, stay put, and I’ll be there in five minutes.”

The speaker clicked, and the hum sounded again. Travis switched it off.

The Major looked at Shirley. “Tell Clayne to wait until they’re gone. I want to let Eric go with Dr. Cameron, see what they say. Tell Clayne to go in and check the case to make sure nothing is missing once Eric is clear. If it checks out, tell him to come back here.”

He stood up. “Nicole, you and Shirley continue to monitor Eric. If they don’t go to Cameron’s place, or there is anything out of the ordinary—anything—call me immediately. Otherwise, I want you to patch the bugging device in Cameron’s apartment into my office. Travis and I will listen to it there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Nicole—”

“Yes, sir?”

“A job well done, Nicole. Thanks to you, we caught him in time.”

“So what now?” she asked, suddenly feeling as weary as Eric.

He shook his head sadly. “We don’t have any choice. He’s an incredibly brave young man, but he’s too resourceful, too dangerous. We’re not ever going to feel safe with him running around uncontrolled.”

“But he’s already implanted.”

“Yes, and obviously Stage Two is not sufficient. We’ll let him and Dr. Cameron have their little talk, see what they plan next. Then we’ll pick them up and take them in for Stage Three.”

He sighed deeply. “Such a waste. Such a tragic waste.”

Nicole nodded, staring numbly at the monitoring screen as a point of light moved slowly across the streets of Shalev.

CHAPTER 17