The Puppeteers (Mycroft Holmes)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Fire

"Sir."

Mycroft looked up at Anthea. She glanced at him from over her Blackberry. "An attempt was just made on Alexander Yakovenko's life. He's demanding an immediate investigation and is currently in a safe house."

"And why is this my concern? The Russians need to look into it."

"It was Bobby, sir. She’s still being held in the embassy building.”

His hands, resting over his keyboard, clenched slowly into fists. He sighed deeply through his nose. "I see. Have Nathan bring the car around."

"Sir." The tap of her heels echoed behind her. Mycroft stood and shrugged into his coat.

*

"What's this?"

Havi jumped as Jason came to lean on his desk. He glanced towards the door, expecting Cameron to come back from her "smoke break" at any moment. Sighing, he ran a hand through his short hair. "I was trying to find connections to help us get to Owen. And I wondered why she's got this thing with Cameron. So I checked out Cam's history a bit..."

"Yeah, and?"

"Her mom left them when she was four. Her dad was an alcoholic, abusive and all that. He died in a fire but look at this... Cameron investigated it a bit further once she got to the FBI. It wasn't an accident like the police said."

"Okay..."

"Arson. She took a few years to track it and she got a name. Richard Carter."

"I still don't follow." Jason shrugged and shook his head.

"Richard Carter was Moriarty's real name."

"What?" Jason's brows furrowed. "I thought James Moriarty was his name."

"Stage name. He had two. Mostly, the public just keeps him as Moriarty because they never found his real name. It's just an auxiliary report, no one cares who he really was anymore. Not now that he's dead."

"They don't know if that's true."

"Whatever." Havi waved it away. "What I'm saying is, Moriarty killed Cameron's father. He went all the way to the States to kill a man I'm pretty he didn't know. Question is: why?"

"Weird... Keep looking. See if you can pull her files."

"Yes, sir."

*

Anthea showed him the CCTV of Bobby escaping the prison in which she had been held in solitary. Three guards were dead. Her whereabouts were unknown until this morning, when she was caught sneaking into the Russian embassy under guise of seeking asylum.

Yakovenko, Russia's current ambassador, was assaulted as he strode down a hallway. The manner in which he was assaulted was of no concern to Mycroft. All he wanted was Bobby in his custody and contained once and for all.

The press was crowding the street. Bobby was brought out of the embassy in handcuffs, with three guards around her. She smiled brightly at the press but it faded as she caught sight of the black Jaguar sitting idly. She stood still, refusing to be moved and refusing to speak. Anthea looked at Mycroft.

“She’s waiting for you, sir.”

He nodded, watching her staring at the car. He didn’t want to get out, not with the press everywhere but she seemed disinclined to move otherwise. He rolled the window down and extended one hand, waving her forward. She smiled triumphantly and looked at her guards with a haughty expression of impatience. They drew her to the car and deposited her in the back seat once Anthea had gotten out and sat in front. Bobby's cuffs were looped around the bar in the front headrest and then replaced on her wrists. The door closed.