Alien in the House

Chief?”
    “Walt, have Dulce track Amy, please. I can’t reach her by phone and I want to be sure she’s okay.”
    “Yes, Chief. Hang on.” The soft white noise of the com played in the background while we waited for a couple of minutes. “Chief, I’m sorry,” Walter said after what felt like forever. “But Dulce cannot locate Amy Gaultier-White anywhere.”
    “Ask them to keep on scanning for her.” A thought struck me. “Tell Gladys I want her to scan for Clarence Valentino, too. Regardless of the fact that right now you want to tell me he’s dead and regardless of the fact that’s the first thing Gladys will say. Scan for him, and Amy, until you find them both.”
    “Yes, Chief.”
    Sent Jeff a text. Got a fast reply—Christopher wasn’t back and he couldn’t feel him anywhere, though he could now feel everyone else. Shared the fun we’d been having in the computer room. He replied that he couldn’t find or feel Amy, either. We both agreed this sucked, big time.
    Didn’t know what to do, so I grabbed a spare chair and sat down. Tried to think, to piece things together. Got nothing much. Other than that I was missing obvious things like people not being where I expected them to be and my not noticing until it was really late in the game.
    Ran through everyone I could think of. Most of our personnel were at Georgetown Medical Center, on the third floor, in the fourth floor sitting room, or here. But I hadn’t realized Serene was off-site and I hadn’t noted Amy was missing until just now. So, was there anyone else I’d missed?
    “Are Naomi and Michael still downstairs?”
    Raj sent a text. “No, all the guests who are willing to leave have gone. They’re back with the others on the third floor.” He chuckled.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “Abigail said that Naomi used the time downstairs to add to her wedding guest list, and that now that those two are back, Michael’s offering his shoulder to Missus Montgomery. She said to tell you her sister’s a Bridezilla and her brother’s a wedding crasher. She said you’d get the jokes.”
    “I do.” Chuckled for a moment, then my brain chose to share that there was something very wrong with this. Sat up straight. “Ask her where Caroline is, and did either she or Amy get checked off on any of the exit lists.”
    Raj texted at hyperspeed. “No, neither woman is on the lists. Abigail doesn’t know where they are, has asked her brother and sister, and they don’t, either. All assume Caroline went home or that she and Amy are both with the team at the hospital.”
    “No way. Amy wouldn’t have gone for anything medical, it’s not something she could help with and Magdalena was along so they wouldn’t have needed anyone else to facilitate with Georgetown. Caroline’s loyalty is to the McMillans. If they’re here, she’s here. Unless . . .”
    Unless she’d seen something or someone, or they’d seen her. Caroline and Amy had become friends, and they’d come down without backup to help me take on androids and supersoldiers during Operation Assassination. If one or both of them had seen something or someone, then they’d have gone for it, especially if they were together. “Raj, contact Dulce and see if anyone can find Caroline.”
    Walter and Gladys were contacted. Caroline was also missing and unable to be found.
    It was a safe bet they were together. So, people were dying and bullets were flying. When they’d left was probably key. Had to have left before the bullets, because after that Chuckie had put the Gowers on exit duty.
    Who they’d seen suddenly seemed obvious. Caroline knew the Dingo on sight. Maybe she thought he was going to be shooting at our people, or at me, and she’d gone to stop him, to reason with him, whatever. Amy had probably gone, too. Meaning they’d gone up to the roof, because that’s where all self-respecting members of the Assassination Squad loved to hang out.
    Which roof? The shot that had killed Eugene had come from Sheridan Circle, and that was Raul’s favorite perch. So the Dingo had been where? Either on top of Romania’s Embassy, Ireland’s Embassy, or on top of ours. Looking out the third floor windows of the Zoo you could see either one of those buildings.
    This would also explain why the Dingo hadn’t “shown up”—he’d been distracted by the girls. So, did that mean we couldn’t find them because he’d killed them, or because he’d taken them? And if he’d taken them, had