Plan B, III: Cross-fire

Connie studies the report AREM sent to Whit's computer. It describes Eugene's breakthrough in transferring a patient's thought function into signals a receiver can detect and says recovering him has become imperative. She excitedly concludes that AREM has been helping all along by exposing the modem, the hidden cameras, and Andromeda's files. Before she can finish, Whit tells her that Mitch was AREM - and that the FBI says he is dead.

Federal agents seize Whit's computer and take both Whit and Connie in for questioning. Connie explains that Mitch arranged the download because he wanted to prove she could trust him. Until the interrogation, she did not know he and AREM were the same person. The discovery leaves her trying to absorb his secret identity and death at the same time.

Agent Bourland shows them photographs of two suspected Andromeda operatives. Whit recognizes Bennett Charles as the bald man Tony identified at the Connellsville grand opening. Bourland calls him Andromeda's head of security and unofficial enforcer. Connie identifies Monica Stone as both the false telephone worker who installed the modem and the woman in Mitch's photograph. Bourland describes her as a high-tech spy who serves the highest bidder and says the FBI believes she, Charles, and Mitch worked together.

Connie rejects the claim that Mitch belonged with them. Whatever illegal systems he entered, his actions toward Whit's End have exposed dangers rather than caused them. Bourland will not share the FBI's full evidence, orders them to return to ordinary life, and asks to be notified of further developments.

In Chicago, Jack and Joanne examine Dent's package and find a computer disk. At the airport, they spot Dent near the security checkpoint with the men who pursued Jack's cab. His sickly appearance reminds Joanne of someone who has undergone shock treatment. Fearing the men will search them, the Allens find a way to send the disk onward to Whit rather than carry it onto the flight.

Connie holds herself together until Whit drives her home, then breaks down in his arms. The next day, she returns to Whit's End because work feels easier than being alone with her grief. She notices errors in the newspaper's report of Mitch's life and remembers plans they had made for the day of his funeral. Whit assures her that crying openly is healthier than hiding the pain.

Whit also shares the news Jack and Joanne learned: Eugene and Katrina married beside Armitage's hospital bed only minutes before he died. The circumstances quiet Connie's first disappointment that she could not help plan their wedding. The celebration, bereavement, theft, and disappearance all belong to the same bewildering chain of events.

The Allens return and explain that they mailed Dent's package from the airport. An Andromeda listener overhears enough of their conversation to send Monica Stone to the post office. Whit and Jack collect the registered parcel while Wooton temporarily tends the counter. Whit recognizes Monica waiting outside and asks to use the rear exit, only to see another suspicious car there.

Whit and Jack finally walk toward their own vehicle with the package. Monica deliberately crashes her car into theirs, approaches as though exchanging insurance information, and pulls a gun. She forces them to surrender the parcel, calls it stolen property, and escapes while bystanders remain nearby.

The robbery completes a week of disappearances, threats, and death, but one question particularly troubles Whit. Monica was waiting before he and Jack arrived. Someone knew exactly when they would visit the post office, suggesting that even their private conversations remain under surveillance.