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It was past eight that evening when Chris knew that Nykki was gone. The realization that he had not seen Nykki or Richard O'Malley for hours came gradually as he was out on assignment at the WFO. Upon questioning Lee Westfield, he learned that Nykki had not turned up for dinner. He had gone to her room expecting to find her there, still angry. He had prepared a groveling speech about how sorry he was, and then planned to drag her down to eat. Instead, he had found an empty room, with no indication of where she had gone. Blazing with fury, Christopher hurried to the cafeteria. There was only one man who might know where the girl went, and Christopher intended to find out what he knew. The Director of the academy, James Wilder, was enjoying dinner with Eric Larssard when he saw his son bearing down on them. He shared a smile with Larssard and started whistling nonchalantly. "Where is that wretch of a boy?" Chris demanded as he skidded to a halt in front of the two men. Several people stared at them curiously; his father tried to look innocent. "He will be back soon," Larssard answered. Christopher's face was livid. "Where is he?" he shouted, almost forgetting to use the masculine term before the interested onlookers. The doctor shrugged, his face calm and reasonable. "His cause was urgent and he will return." "He was put specifically under my care and… stop whistling Dad!" he snapped at his father. The Director gave him an aggrieved look, which he ignored. "Alex had no reason to leave." His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Unless… this was just some elaborate scam from the start. To think that I actually believed the bastard. He's the coward I always thought he was, without even have the guts to tell me he was leaving!" His father spoke gently to him. "Christopher, listen to your heart, you know that's not true. He's not alone, O'Malley is with him." "Then why did he leave? And why did you let him go?" Christopher shouted at the two men. He stopped when he realized something. Chris glared at his father. "You knew about him all along. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. Calm eyes the exact same shade as his looked at him evenly. "We had no say in his decision," he replied. "Even if we had, we could not have stopped him. And, I didn't tell you because it was unnecessary for you to know." Christopher took several deep breaths and calmed down a fraction. "I hope that boy does return," he said with feeling. "Because if no one harms him while he's out, I just might when he returns!" He spun around and hurried off, leaving the Director and the doctor behind speculating. "Have you noticed," the Director said, "that my son appears to care for Alex more than he realizes?" Larssard nodded. "Let's hope that this time there'll be a happy ending to this story." "We can only pray that it is so," the Director said fervently.
Nykki dashed through the alley. She heard her pursuers thrashing about in the dark, and spared a moment to look back. There were three shadows following her, and Ontario was only a few scant feet away. She ran even faster. A wall stood between herself and salvation. She scrambled up the stacked boxes at the foot of the wall and made her way up. She toppled the pile onto Ontario before dropping down on the other side. She stumbled as the bright lights of Chinatown partially blinded her. Around her were dark-haired Chinese, dressed in colorful clothes, speaking rapid-fire Chinese. The street hawkers sold everything from food to decorative Chinese masks. She ignored them all, and sped through the crowd. She finally stopped and tried to catch her breath. Her pursuers had disappeared and she gave a sigh of relief. She was looking around for a phone booth when someone grabbed her collar and lifted her off the ground. She struggled furiously but to no avail. The grip tightened. A voice hissed into her ear. "The tape bitch, or would you rather we go somewhere quieter?" The threat was evident. She rammed her heel on his foot. He swore in pain. and dropped her. She had almost escaped when he grabbed her again. "You're in for it!" he said menacingly, and hauled her wriggling form with him. Just as suddenly as she was grabbed, the pressure at her neck was released, and she fell onto the ground. She was only vaguely aware of the fighting going on near her, and she tried to clear her head. A tall, well-dressed, sable-haired man had Ontario on his knees, begging for mercy. She watched as the newcomer calmly twist Ontario's hand backward, she could hear the bones of his hand crack and his pleas growing more and more high-pitched as the pain increased. The sound was gone the instant she blinked and she saw Ontario slumped on the ground, unconscious. Nykki felt a familiar embrace as her father pulled her off the ground and hugged her tightly to him. She returned his embrace and looked up into a sea of silver. "I missed you," she said simply. "You've really grown," he stroked her hair, "And I've missed you too." He heard police sirens closing in. "Although this isn't the time for teary family reunions. Come on, we have to get out of here." He gently tugged his daughter along with him. Police swarmed into the area like ants towards sugar. None noticed two dark figures slipping out of a telephone booth and hurrying to the main street.
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