Two

Granny, Max, and Morris sat in Percival Peacock’s black limo he had sent for them in silence. It was the middle of the night, and they were stressed and tired. The limo had been waiting for them for hours until they were finally ready to leave, and, though Max had suggested they leave the following day allowing them to rest, the driver was adamant they leave right away.

In the case of the Peacock Diaries came many revelations. Percival had been keeping close tabs on all of the team for some time, had pictures of them on all their past exploits. He also had pictures of the Panther in Australia with another man. This man, though his appearance was not exactly the same, Granny truly believed was Harold, her husband. He had supposedly been dead for the past five years, having drowned in the Thames on a case when he had gone head to head with the Panther.

This was the first real evidence, and not just verbal speculation, that Harold was indeed alive and supposedly working with the Panther. The betrayal was almost too much to bear, yet they had been waiting for it to come. So much speculation had surrounded his death that, if they had seen him on the street, they probably wouldn’t have even blinked. It was almost a relief to Max. He glanced at Granny. Tears had been flowing down her cheeks now for the past hour with no end in sight.

She had fainted with the news. Morris had authenticated the pictures, making sure they were indeed not fabricated for someone’s amusement, not Photoshopped, but real. Max looked again out the window. Percival also had pictures of his parents, Mitch and Martha Holmes, captured by the Russian police. They were going to save them. That’s where they were headed now in Percival’s limo—to his private jet so they could fly to Russia. The problem was they had no idea what they were getting themselves into or exactly where they would be going.

Percival had taken Mia from them to help on this case, but when Morris had checked her tracking device, he couldn’t figure out her exact location. They couldn’t communicate with her, though they had tried several times. So much uncertainty swirled that Max could hardly predict the outcome. Morris sat across from him, his fingers moving at lightning speed as he tried to hack into some secure feeds of the Russian police. The Holmeses wouldn’t be in the prison because they hadn’t been convicted of a crime yet. They had to be found somewhere at the police station or in a secured area where they could talk with them and find out the truth. But every time he tried to access government secure feeds, he got blocked. It took him a good ten minutes finally to bypass the system without alerting anyone of their existence, getting access to all the cameras in several buildings. Now all he had to do is play around with each feed hoping to catch a glimpse of Mitch and Martha Holmes to confirm the pictures Percival had sent.

Before they knew it, the trio found themselves on the tarmac. Percival’s pilot, a young looking man, stood outside by the staircase waiting for them. When the limo stopped, all got out, the driver had seized their bags, working his way to the jet and stowing them inside. Morris had grabbed his laptop and a few other things as he made his way up the stairs and inside the luxurious jet. He plopped down in a cushioned seat, his laptop on the table in front of him.

Granny sat down in a seat on the other side of the walkway, resolving to sit in silence. Max sat across from Morris. The side door of the plane was closed tightly, and the pilot made his way to the cockpit, saying very little. The plane started. Within the next twenty minutes, it had taken off climbing into the air.

Max had wanted to say something to Granny to console her, but what could he say that could possibly help? So he left her to her solitude. Already tired from the stress, Max sat back in his seat and dropped the back of his head against the cushion. He gazed at the ceiling of the plane for sometime before he closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. The moment didn’t last long. A soft beep came from Morris’s laptop. Max raised his head.

“Did you find something?”

“No, but you won’t believe it,” Morris’s fingers tapped on the keyboard, bringing up a map and a blinking dot. Max leaned forward.

“What did you find?”

“Mia’s tracking device just came live. All this time I wasn’t able to track her. Now all of sudden her dot pops up on the screen like a beacon.”

“Where is she?” asked Max.

“St. Petersburg, Russia, though she’s on the move. Let me go talk to the pilot, inform him of her exact location, though he probably already has a clue.” Morris undid his seat belt and stood up, edging himself out into the aisle and headed towards the cockpit. Max turned Morris’s computer around and glanced at it. He pressed a button and checked Mia’s health. Everything seemed to be in order. Before he could do anything else, Morris returned.

“What did the pilot say?”

“He said he was waiting to confirm the exact coordinates of Percival’s location from us, but thought he’d receive them once we’re in St. Petersburg—not now. He seemed surprised to hear of their exact location sooner than expected.” Morris turned his laptop back around and began pressing buttons. Max raised his hand to his chin, lost in thought.

“If the pilot thought he was going to receive the information once we arrived in St. Petersburg, then something’s out of place.”

Morris glanced up at Max.

“What do you mean?”

“He means a hiccup’s occurred in Percival’s perfectly laid plans,” said Granny. “Something unexpected’s happened.” She wiped the last tear from her eyes, her demeanor toughening up. “He needs us to come to his aid. Why else would he summon us to come to him sooner than planned? He did so to help him with a problem—a problem he can’t solve himself. At least, that’s my guess.”

“Your guess makes sense, Granny,” Max said. “Why else would he supply us with this information? I think he wanted us to come to him and wait until we were needed. That was why the limo came for us before we knew Mia’s location. The pilot was going to take us to St. Petersburg, then wait until he heard from us where to meet Percival. It doesn’t matter. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner we get to Mia, the better. She’s been away from us for too long, and not knowing Percival’s exact plans is unnerving.”

“I share your feelings, Max,” chimed in Morris. “Something’s definitely going on here. Our new partnership with Percival’s left me with mixed feelings about it. There’s so much conjecture.”

“Of course, but for now that’s the way he wants it. He’ll reveal more once we meet him and Mia. Until then, he’ll keep his secrets.”

The Crypto-Capers had plenty of time to think about Percival and about many other things during their three-hour flight. Not knowing what was ahead, and being incredibly tired, Morris and Granny closed their eyes for a power nap. All was dark around them as if they were wrapped in a velvety blanket tucked in for the night. Max’s mind ran with guessing what they would find as his eyes steadily closed shut. He wanted to fight the temptation to sleep but soon fell into the sandman’s clasp, his body relaxing as his head fell back against the seat.