Deep Down Under

Chapter 34

Vienna Police HQ, Vienna, 1:07 pm

"This is a goddamn international crisis!" yelled Eisenhower out loud.

Ya think?

Gabriel always hated it when people stated the obvious, especially in a situation like this. There was complete instability in the whole country. The city's head of police had been killed, and the conspirators were freed.

There was even some commotion at a resort. That particularly interested Gabriel and Mavis because their professor was spotted there. Apparently, he had used a cop car to evade someone who was hunting him down. Where the hell is all this going?

Nowhere.

Gabriel chuckled sarcastically to himself, Eisenhower noticed him, "Hey kid, you think this funny?"

He shook his head, "Nope."

"Then quit laughing your ass off,"

Gabriel didn't reply; he tried to stay as far as possible from Eisenhower. He ran his hands through the stitches on his head, reminding him of what had happened.

"I have been bored the shit out of myself," complained Mavis.

They had been confined in that building for hours with not much contribution to do. No doubt that they were bored.

Gabriel turned his head to Mavis, "We need to get out of here,"

"You can't," answered Eisenhower instead of Mavis. "You are an asset, a pretty darn valuable one. You knew something they didn't, and they'll want to get you."

"Goddamn! I cannot be here until those guys are dead! You know what? You'll never catch them, 'cause they're too strong for you!"

That set Eisenhower off, "Look kid, I don't wanna make that nice lil face of yours all mashed up. So shut your pie hole!"

Gabriel decided not to continue the argument anymore and slumped in his chair. Mavis sat beside him, "What do you think would make Professor Ben a target?"

He rolled his eyes, here goes. He shrugged, "'Cause he knows something?"

"He had any blogs or anything?"

"No, why?"

"Because Islamic extremists target people who post anti-Islam articles,"

Gabriel wrinkled his nose, "If that's the case, then they would've finished him off or something."

The sounds of a head banging against the wall interrupted the two. It was Eisenhower who was really frustrated, "Nothing. Makes. Sense!"

Mavis bit her lip, "If Islamic terrorists are the cause then nothing makes sense,"

Eisenhower stopped, his face lit up, "That's it!"

"What is?" asked Gabriel, confused.

"Don't you get it? All this time we've been thinking that some Islamic reason was behind all this. Our whole approach towards the motive has been wrong!" he beamed, gesturing with his arms in the air.

The whole room was quiet for a moment. Gabriel used the time to scavenge information through the files. He stopped when he found something interesting.

"Hey..."

All heads turned towards him. "What?" asked both Mavis and Eisenhower simultaneously.

"Ben was on a holiday in France..."

"Yeah, we know that," remarked Eisenhower, annoyed; he was almost about to lose interest when Gabriel continued.

"When he abruptly made a detour to Geneva...You know why?"

Eisenhower shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"What kind of FBI Agent are you?" Gabriel then shook his head, never mind. "So, as I was saying. He went to Geneva because his friend had died. That was where he met up with his friend's daughter, at CERN. Exactly where the attacks took place, and then they kidnapped him. Why? Why Ben specifically?"

Eisenhower muttered some unintelligible words then got clearer, "Look, they might have stumbled upon him by chance and realised that had found an asset to bribe us, the Americans, with. This conversation is done here."

But Gabriel refused to accept that fact readily, "It can't be a stroke of luck for them, I mean...there's gotta be something else, right?"

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