LIMITLESS

Chapter Seven - Who's to Blame

Daniel pushed his chair back from the desk, spinning around in it. "Okay! So you're saying, the people who are after you.. might be the ones behind the shooting from years ago? I honestly don't think that's what's going on. And I'm a genius, so.." Daniel smirked, his chair finally ceasing motion as he put his fingertips together.

Mark rolled his eyes, scoffing. "You know how many times you've failed before you became a genius?" He placed his foot on the chair, between Daniel's legs to prevent him from spinning in his chair again. "Don't you think it's worth at least theorizing about?"

Daniel dropped his gaze down at Mark's foot, unfazed. "Listen, I would just love to waste my time on a dead end, but you wanted results. And I'm here to give them to you. You're lucky I don't charge friends."

Mark removed his foot from the chair after a few moments of silence, sighing deeply. "Please, Danny. You know I'd only come here if it was absolutely necessary." Mark glanced at Sean. "And he's been through a lot.. it's a possible lead that Sean thinks is worth following."

Daniel thought for a moment before pulling himself back up to his desk. "His instincts when it comes to family might be spot on. And I never admit that I'm wrong. Because I'm usually right.. but if he thinks it will help, then I'll give it a go. Happy now?"

Mark nodded, a slight smile tugging at his lips. "Thank you, Houdini."

Daniel chuckled slightly in response. "Don't mention it, Dark. Just.. tell Die to stop touching my shit. It's getting annoying." Daniel's gaze moved to Felix, who was messing around with a remote control.

Felix felt eyes on him and he looked up, looking at Daniel for a moment before carefully placing the remote back onto the tray. "Uh.. sorry. Just wanted to know what it did.."

Daniel looked back at one of his computer monitors before answering. "You've been opening the garage door for the past five minutes." He pointed to one of the screens on the wall without moving his eyes from the monitor. "I hate that I have to even say this, but don't touch anything."

Felix rubbed the back of his neck, shuffling away from any of the electronics that would potentially catch his eyes. "Right. Sorry about that. I'm a little fidgety at the moment. I'm still thinking about Sammy.."

Daniel sighed slightly, having sympathy for Felix and Sean. He knew they both cared for Samantha deeply. They had both been there for her since birth. Mark on the other hand.. was a different story. He never even got to know the kid. "I understand. Just don't break anything and we're cool."

Felix nodded appreciatively, knowing it was hard for Daniel to allow access to his toys. "I'll try to be careful, I promise. Although I have serious butter fingers.."

Daniel looked up at him, pushing his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "If you break anything, I'll break your digits."

Felix's face paled and he cleared his throat, "Right.. I'll just.." He sat in a chair in the corner, keeping his hands to himself.

Sean finally spoke up after a moment, his voice thick with a storm of emotions he was trying to keep at bay. Sadly, he wasn't as good at it as Mark was. "So is it possible to find my Samantha? I keep imagining what they might do to her and I.." He trailed off, biting his lower lip.

Mark closed his eyes, sighing deeply before opening them again, placing a hand on Sean's shoulder. "It's okay. We'll find her soon. I know she means the world to you, and I don't want you losing someone else.."

Sean tensed slightly, knowing he meant Sarah. "Please don't.." Sean released a breath, moving his shoulder away from his grip. "Don't talk about her.."

"Sorry." Mark moved away, straightening his shirt. "Sorry.." His gaze suddenly hardened again. He felt useless. He felt like he didn't know his best friend anymore.. His ex best friend. Mark turned his head back to Daniel, "How long is this going to take?"

"Ah well.. it depends. The description you gave me fits at least two hundred people in the city. Could take weeks to track him down." Daniel tapped his purple pen on the desk, his eyes downcast. "Unless.."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Unless what?"

"Unless your guy has any other features you might have forgotten? A tattoo perhaps..? Maybe a facial scarring?"

Sean's eyes widened slightly and he approached Daniel's desk, placing his hands on it. "Actually, I think I may have something. The guy had a black cobra with smoke billowing out of its mouth on the left side of his neck. Could that help?"

Daniel clicked his tongue twice, nodding as his fingers immediately started typing on the keyboard at a fast pace. "It just might. Give me a second.."

While Daniel looked for the shooter, Mark was looking at Sean with a confused and somewhat impressed expression. He wondered how Sean could remember a small detail like that just from a few years ago. Maybe Sean thought about the incident a lot just like him.

"Aha! Here's our guy~" Daniel pointed to the monitor. A ID with a man appeared on the screen. The man had dark gray eyes and black, greasy hair along with that same cobra tat that Sean described. "Told you I could find him."

Mark spoke up, his eyes locked onto the man that ruined his friendship with Sean. "Where can we find him? His usual hangouts, where he buys his cigarettes, his family.."

Sean quickly looked over at Mark, frowning. "His family? We're not going after his family, Mark.."

Mark growled, ripping his eyes away from the man to look at Sean. "He could be behind your daughters kidnapping! We need to follow every possible lead!"

"We're not going after his family! If we do that, we're no better than he is!" Sean yelled, now facing him completely.

Mark was furious, his jaw clenched. "And what about your family, huh? You going to let Samantha down just because you're not willing to get your hands dirty? Are you going to fail her too?!"

Sean was taken back by his outburst, taking a step back and looking down, his hands balled into fists. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone.. because all you know how to do is push people away."

Mark's lips parted slightly and his anger left him quickly. He couldn't tell Sean that he ached for his company. He couldn't tell Sean all he wanted to do was pull him into a hug and never let go. He couldn't tell Sean that he missed all the laughs they had. All he could do, was walk away.