Nikita was tired and worried. It had been
two hours and no word on which of the targets was guilty. She was beginning
to go a little mad. What if she had been wrong? What if the kid in the
airport was just some innocent who happened to be in the wrong place at
the wrong time? She hadn't really recognized him from the park. It's just
that the rollerblades seemed like too much of a coincidence. But what was
she thinking? The past few days had been nothing but a series of coincidences.
Why wouldn't anybody tell her anything?
She went where she always went when she was
faced with a dilemma. She went to Walter. "Walter, what's going on?
What're they doing in there? It's been hours." Walter leaned towards
her and in a whisper tried to reassure her. "Listen, Sugar, all you
can do is keep your fingers crossed. They ran a check on the kid. He didn't
check out, so they're interrogating him. They've checked his bags, his
clothes, nothin' Sugar, no formula." "Have they checked the rollerblades?"
"You know how thorough Madeline is. She probably checked the kid's
dental work. Look, don't worry. If he's dirty, she'll find out."
Nikita thanked Walter and headed for Michael's
office. Michael had just emerged. She couldn't read him. He was wearing
his usual solemn mask. "Michael?" "Forget it Nikita. It's
out of our hands now." "What happened Michael? What happened?"
"Wellman was clean. The kid was dirty. They kept Wellman. They let
the kid go." "What? I don't understand." "They decided
to use Wellman. He travels extensively. He doesn't appear to have any ties.
He will be a low level operative, a courier. The kid will be watched. They
altered the formula, tagged the kid and released him." "Michael,
no. What about Gray's daughter?" "Didn't he tell you? She was
killed two months ago in an auto accident. He just disappeared. Then yesterday,
he resurfaced in the park. Apparently, he was looking for you. When he
was being questioned, he kept asking for you." Tears ran down Nikita's
face."You knew this would happen didn't you? Well can I see him?"
"He's already gone." "Gone?" "Section 4."
Nikita grabbed Michael's arm. "How do you sleep at night?" Michael
smiled a weary smile. "I don't," he said and turned slowly away.
Nikita called after him. "He's an innocent man Michael. Innocent.
You've just helped sentence an innocent man to a life in hell."
Michael did not turn around. He could not
look into her eyes. "Shades of gray, Nikita, shades of Gray."
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