However, it was not a far stretch. Sizzle viewed life as an equation that needed to be solved and Hammer knew he went to great lengths to get what he wanted. That being said, Sizzle had plenty of money. Why would he want a ruby? It had to be for a weapon or something.
Hammer turned the corner quickly and quietly made his way back into the Sports Shop. He looked around for anyone looking to capture him while he was off guard, but he found no one. He then went to the back of the room and tried the door to the upstairs room. It was open. Certain the trap would be here, he was even more careful, but even at the top of the stairs, he found the room to be empty and clean, with no trace that anyone had been here recently.
Jacques made his way back down the stairs, rethinking his theory. That being said, he still remained vigil, and made his way back through the secret passage.
When he emerged through the last door, into the silver, steel room, he found no threat. While there were fewer employees in the lobby than before, many of the desks in the rooms were still occupied by PSA employees working on their latest projects. Just as Dom had in the lobby of the hotel, many appeared to be in the same place, working on the same thing as when Hammer left the building. Not a single soul looked at him when he walked into the room. It was as if he wasn't even there.
Hammer began walking around, looking at the agents. Some, noting his presense, looked up for a moment and nodded polietly at him, but made no move to capture him or tell anyone else that the target was in sight. Had he been wrong about this grand plan?
Jacques looked at his watch. An hour had not passed since his last conversation with Sizzle. That meant that Ruby should not have been let go. Where was she then?
The detective walked around a bit more and found someone he knew was close to the top of the PSA ladder. This woman, who he did not know the name of, was picking at some tangled wires in the back of a strange machine.
Hammer took a risk. "Hello, miss," he said. "My name is Jacques Hammer."
The woman did not look up but instead continued her work. "Hello, Mr. Hammer," is all that she responded with.
There was no movement for a hidden red emergency button to let Sizzle know he was here. There was no look of any interest on the woman's face at all. Because of this, Hammer figured he was safe, for now.
Jacques continued after a somewhat awkward pause filled with his internal thoughts. "I'm a-" he began.
"I am quite aware of your profession, Hammer," she said, with an edge of annoyance in her voice. "What do you want? A party? A date?"
Hammer was thrown off guard by the woman's bluntness, but he continued on. "Do you know where Drake Sizzle is?" he asked.
The woman turned around, obviously annoyed by the disruption of her work. "I am not authorized to give you that information," she said. "Now, unless, you are my child's babysitter, which you are not, I do not want to speak to you." She turned around in her chair again.
Hammer looked at the woman, quite shocked at her rude behavior. His eyes then looked around her desk. Besides the technology that was in front of her, there was only a single other item setting on her desk: a picture frame. Inside it was a picture where a small, blonde girl beamed as she popped out from her hide-and-seek place. On the bottom edge of the frame, glitter and hearts surrounded the name of the small child.
Hammer began, "Miss, I have a lead that could solve my case, but more importantly, keep a lot of people from getting hurt. You wouldn't want your daughter getting caught in the crosshairs." Jacques leaned down, moving closer to the woman's ear. "I know you don't want anyone getting hurt. That's why you took this job."
The woman turned her head and looked at Hammer. She knew the man who stood before her was honorable and truthful. If he truly thought something was going to happen, then he probably had evidence to back it up.
The woman sighed and bit her lip. "This is off the books, you understand?" she said nervously. Hammer nodded. The girl continued, "About five minutes after you left, a small group of agents, including Sizzle, left the building with the Ruby woman, saying they were taking her to a secure location. I didn't like it. It felt wrong all over. But, there was nothing I could do to keep them here."
The agent pulled open her desk drawer. "Here's a frequency transmitter. My assignment today was to send sounds to the earpiece of a "person of interest" when I was told to by a field officer. From what I hear, it was an innocent woman that I was terrorizing." She swallowed. "You can track her with this. Go quickly now. We don't want people to start talking."
Hammer nodded at her. "Thank you, my miss." He was about to turn and leave when the woman grabbed his arm. "Please help her, Hammer. I can't stand to think that I could have been apart of something so cold and against what the PSA is really about."
"I'll try, madam," is all Hammer said as he ran out of the building.
The woman turned back to her work, but couldn't continue it. She felt sick to her stomach. She looked at the photograph of her sweet, baby daughter and placed a hand to the frame. Could what he had said been true....that this incident, which she had had a hand in, could lead to people getting hurt....even her own flesh and blood. A tear ran down her face as she looked at the forever smiling face. She looked down at her daughter's signature, surrounded by the sparkles and the hearts. Oh, sweet, sweet Dot.
The time was 12:47, and Jacques Hammer was going to fix all of this.
To Be Continued
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