by Dwayne Gill
“Hey, Daniel! How you feeling?” asked Kristy. Barkley was smiling. He still didn’t know these people well, but after what they’d been through together, they felt like old friends. “This is Natalie,” said Kristy. When Daniel tilted his head in confusion, she said, “We’ll tell you about her later.”
“I’m another girl Cane saved,” said Natalie.
“This place is a safe haven for wounded damsels,” shouted Calvin. “They even have their own hired guards,” he said, referencing the three sentries around the pool.
“I feel like brand new,” said Daniel to Kristy. She leaned over to Ellen and whispered something, so Daniel kept walking.
Bowman stirred and rose from his chair, extending a hand to Daniel. “Good to see you up and moving around,” he said.
Daniel shook his hand and Bowman sat back down. Once he reached Calvin and Lynks, he sat on top of a picnic table, which was the perfect height so he wouldn’t have to lower himself down on a chair. Even most stools forced him to squat to sit upon.
“You look much better,” said Lynks.
“Didn’t take you long to climb out of bed,” said Calvin.
“I was motivated,” said Daniel. “Jordyn told me her story.”
Calvin nodded and Lynks flinched. “That’s tough to listen to,” said Lynks.
“There was one thing that got my attention. In fact, it bothered me,” said Daniel.
Calvin stopped what he was doing and looked up, seeming nervous. “What?” he asked.
Even Jordyn and Taryn looked anxious now. They both found a seat and listened.
“Well,” said Daniel. “Isn’t it curious that I wake up a year ago across the street from Taryn, whose dad was killed by a marked man a few years before? And that man just happened to be Jordyn’s dad?” Calvin was quiet. “That’s a big coincidence.”
Now, even Lynks looked surprised, like a light went off in his head. “That same thought crossed my mind a few days ago,” said Lynks. “How long did you say you’ve been receiving messages from Marcene?”
Before Calvin could say anything, Daniel said, “Who’s Marcene?”
“Oh, my. We’ve gotta get you caught up,” said Lynks. “Calvin?”
Calvin was looking down. “I’m sorry. I have some explaining to do.”
Daniel was shocked. “Calvin?”
Calvin took a seat and exhaled. “I’ve been in contact with Marcene for four years now,” he said. Daniel saw the shock on Lynks’s face.
Calvin looked at Daniel. “When I met you, it was because of Marcene. She told me where to be. I wanted out of the mob for a long time, and she knew this, apparently. She told me you and I could mutually benefit each other, so she gave me some information about the marked men.”
Daniel thought back to their first meeting. Calvin slid over to him at a bar, said he recognized him and knew the men he was looking for. At the time, it was all the prompting Daniel needed.
“It’s a woman who was talking to you?” said Daniel. “Who is she?”
Calvin looked at Lynks, who explained. “Cane received a message from this lady over a week ago. It was on a cassette player. She tipped us off about someone trying to kill Natalie, and she’s also the one that led us to Calvin. She wanted us to help you. We knew she’d been in contact with Calvin, but we didn’t think it’d been for so long.”
“So,” said Daniel to Calvin, “these leads you had when you helped me find the marked men, they were all from her?”
Calvin nodded.
“The house across the street from Taryn’s,” said Daniel. “That was her idea?”
“It was a house she bought when the previous owner died,” said Calvin. “She told me to bring you there to let you heal. She said nothing about Taryn, though I’m sure that’s why she bought the place and suggested it.”
Daniel searched Calvin’s eyes for the truth and saw shame and guilt. He’d gotten to know Calvin well over the years and trusted him. He may have kept the whole truth from Daniel but there’s no way he intended harm by it.
“I helped Marcene get Jordyn out of the hospital,” said Calvin. “Me and two other guys. We brought her to Maine.”
Daniel looked at Jordyn. “I was still in a coma,” she said, as if trying to exonerate herself.
“Did you ever meet Marcene?” Lynks asked Calvin.
“No. It was only messages on cassette tapes,” said Calvin.
“So, all these connections you had. Was she your only real one?” asked Daniel. Calvin was known for being resourceful.
“I had connections, still do,” said Calvin. “But it was her that provided the information about the marked men.”
Daniel felt relieved. Calvin looked scared, and Daniel knew he was struggling with guilt for keeping the secret from him. He felt bad for Calvin, for he’d been a loyal friend, but he couldn’t let the moment pass without giving him a taste of his own medicine.
“I’m not sure I even know you anymore,” said Daniel. “Is Calvin even your real name?”
Calvin’s face dropped and he let go of the spatula, letting it clang around on the concrete below him. Daniel held a stern gaze and the surrounding air seemed to change. He could feel tension everywhere, coming from everyone within earshot. Then Daniel smiled.
It was a big, cheesy grin.
Calvin had been holding his breath, for he exhaled deeply as he saw the smile form on Daniel’s face. “You ass!” he said.
Daniel’s smile turned into a chuckle. “It hurts to laugh,” he said.
“I peed a little bit,” said Calvin. “You can’t joke like that. You could squash me like a bug.” He was smiling, though, especially as he saw the reactions around the pool.
The surrounding air cleared; Jordyn and Taryn looked the most relieved of anybody. Daniel could imagine they wanted nothing disrupting their place of peace.
“Just to let you know,” said Calvin. “You and I tried to find Jordyn’s dad.”
Daniel tried to remember but couldn’t. “What was his name?”
“Tom Boles,” said Calvin.
Now Daniel remembered. “We couldn’t find him in Chicago,” said Daniel.
“He likely fled after the hospital incident,” said Calvin.
Daniel rose and walked over to Calvin. He stretched out his arms, Calvin leaned in, and they hugged. “Thanks for everything, buddy,” said Daniel.
They spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool and visiting. Calvin told Daniel about the past two days, and Lynks shared a little about himself and Cane, how they met Kristy, even how they saved Natalie. Bowman talked for a while with Daniel, telling him about his role and how he trained Lynks and Cane.
It all fascinated Daniel, but there was one thing that had been on his mind since stepping out the French doors, something he had to do. Kristy, Natalie, Jordyn, and Taryn were all in the pool, either floating on mats or wading around, while Barkley sat on the side, letting her legs soak.
Daniel stood three feet from the side of the pool and watched the girls acknowledge him. Jordyn and Taryn waved while Kristy and Natalie both smiled. This is gonna hurt, he thought. He hoped he had enough energy to pull it off.
Without warning, Daniel took off running and shouted, “Cannonball!” He soared high into the air, causing an instant panic as the girls scrambled to distance themselves, screaming playfully as his full mass pelted the surface of the water, soaking everyone nearby.
◆◆◆
“Well,” said Cane. “This looks familiar.”
Rugov looked almost identical to his brother, Drugov. In fact, they could pass as twins, although Cane knew they weren’t. Rugov was the older one, but not the wiser. He thrashed against the duct tape on his wrists and was trying to scream through the gag in his mouth, desperate for a chance to speak or to extend his life a few minutes longer.
It wasn’t happening. Rugov was just another name on Cane’s list. He’d been going through the contacts Foster and Amos’s phone provided, vowing to kill them one
by one. He wouldn’t even bother with the tedious interrogations. He only wanted them dead. Rugov was long overdue anyway.
Cane thought back to the day he killed Rugov’s brother and how it ended up leading him to Kristy. In some weird way, he felt like he owed Rugov. The memory also made him think of Helen. He wished he could go back in time; there were so many things he’d do differently now.
Kristy had been handling Helen’s death and her most recent abduction better than Cane expected, especially considering her fragile mental state beforehand and the repetitive nature of her trauma. Instead of regressing, she’d been fighting back, and Cane attributed it to the company she’d been keeping. Taryn, Jordyn, and Natalie were great girls that could relate to tragedy, and they’d helped her deal with her grief the past couple days. She also had Barkley, who hadn’t left her side.
Cane might not help her in the same ways as the others, but he could keep her safe, and he vowed to do just that.
Rugov was just a small step of that process. There’d be many more to follow.
The rest of the crew in Chicago were healing and recuperating, which was necessary, but Cane was restless. Even an injured shoulder could only keep him down for a day.
He hadn’t questioned Bowman about his connection to Marcene, though he’d have to talk to him at some point. Bowman was still sluggish from his injury, so Cane was waiting for him to regain his strength. How much did Bowman know? Did he know Natalie was Marcene’s daughter? Cane and Lynks called him on the way to Boston. Did he know what they were doing? He must have, but he didn’t show it. There were so many questions. Maybe Bowman knew how to reach Marcene?
There’d be time for all that later. For now, Cane had work to do.
“Later, Rugov,” said Cane. Before he could fire, his phone rang. It wouldn’t have been alarming had the call not been from this particular phone number. It was professor James Duncan. Cane lowered his gun, which caused Rugov to exhale sharply.
“Duncan?” said Cane.
“Is this Cane?” asked Duncan.
“That’s me,” said Cane. “You have news for me?”
Duncan sounded scared, out of breath, or both. “I do.” There was a brief pause. “That sample you gave me? I had a look at it. Marcene was right. The DNA is altered.”
Cane was shocked, even though Marcene had been right on everything else. It seemed so far-fetched. “What exactly does that mean?” asked Cane. “I thought you said it couldn’t be done the way she claimed?”
“That’s exactly what I said, and I was wrong,” said Duncan. “I know you aren’t familiar with all the terminology, so I’ll try to state this as simply as I can. DNA can’t be altered to determine size, strength, or intelligence. That part is true. But, there is a way for us to reprogram DNA, in a way.” He paused again, trying to find the right words. “Think of it this way. You can’t change DNA from one thing to another. But if you could somehow reprogram it to mirror foreign DNA, you could replace the current.”
It still sounded like gibberish to Cane. “Are you saying you can take someone’s current DNA and replace it with someone else’s?” asked Cane.
“Precisely,” said the professor. “But it’s never been done, only theorized. We’re very far from that kind of technology, or so I thought.”
Cane was still not seeing it, and Duncan sensed it.
“The science behind this died out years ago,” said Duncan. “But it was said scientists in Russia, and here, worked together to alter rats’ DNA. They could draw blood from one and inject it into another, where the DNA would replicate and destroy the second rat’s identity. In practical terms, the second rat became the first one, genetically speaking.
“I had to look up this old research, and it’s hard to find. I only found it because I have access to certain records that most don’t. They called the research program Written by Blood.”
“It sounds like science fiction,” said Cane.
“I said the same thing to Marcene,” said Duncan. “But I’m looking at something that says it’s science fact. And there’s something else.”
“What?” asked Cane.
“There were two DNA samples, or two different blood sources, on the shirt you gave me,” said Duncan. “Was the second sample from the other assassin?”
Cane thought back to the night at the hotel. He couldn’t recall how the second assassin‘s blood could’ve been deposited on the shirt. Then he remembered the bloody nose he got during the fight.
“The second sample was my blood,” said Cane.
There was silence.
“Professor?” asked Cane.
“I don’t know how else to say this,” said Duncan. “The second sample contained altered DNA as well.”
◆◆◆
Sunday, 9/17/2028
The camera positioned near the front door activated and the video showed a man dressed in black walking away, getting into a black sedan, and speeding away. Calvin wasn’t worried about his strange visitors; he’d seen them before. He walked to the front door and swung it open. There was a box lying on the step. He grabbed it, brought it inside, and retrieved the others.
After fetching everyone, he returned to the large den, opened the box, and removed the cassette player. He extracted the tape and inserted it into a larger player underneath the television, on the second shelf of the entertainment center.
Everyone found their way into the den and found a seat except Cane, Daniel, and Bowman.
“It’s Marcene’s latest hit,” said Calvin. “I figured we could all listen.” Every eye in the room brightened and waited as Calvin walked over to the cassette player and clicked the “play” button. It was the same voice as always, soft and pleasant, and this time she was in surround sound.
Hello everyone. Congratulations are in order. You all did an excellent job rescuing Daniel.
I know you all have suffered, whether it be physically or mentally. Some of you have lost someone dear to you, and there are those that aren’t able to hear this because they’ve lost their lives.
For that, I’m truly sorry.
It won’t be the last tragedy, nor will it be the last life lost. Some of you in this room will not live to see the resolution.
This isn’t the end of the road. It’s the beginning.
I know everyone wants answers. I know Lynks has even tried to find me.
You won’t.
I don’t have all the answers, and even if I did, you needed to be the ones to discover them.
Who in this room would not have been skeptical of the things you’ve found in the past weeks, had I laid it all out to you from the start?
So trust me. While I don’t have all the answers, I know the next steps.
No one in this room is here by accident. You’re all here because somewhere along the way, I orchestrated it to be, and for a reason.
Cane, stop looking at Natalie. I know you’re wondering how she’s involved. It’s not time yet.
Cane knew more than she thought.
I’m not here to give you answers, but to make sure you don’t have them all too quickly. If you move too fast, you’ll die. Try to kill Vinson on your own, Cane, and you’ll die.
And then we’re all lost.
There is a third man in this equation. His name is William Garrett, an Army Ranger, and he’s vital to your future. Find William, and you get answers.
It will be your biggest challenge yet, but I’ll let Lynks do the field work on that. I’m sure he’s looking him up as we speak.
Good luck to all, and don’t be discouraged about anything. Pretend I’m looking at you, Lance and Ellen. I have a strong feeling that very soon, employment, rank, and position will mean little. You’re on the right side and are desperately needed.
There’s a storm coming.
And then static.
“Lynks?” said Cane.
“One second,” said Lynks. “Okay, there he is.”
Everyone waited.
“Wonderful,” said
Lynks sarcastically.
“What?” asked Daniel.
“He’s listed as AWOL, and I’m pretty sure he’s in a POW camp somewhere in Asia.”
“Oh, great,” said Calvin. “Another conflicted, unaware hero. He’ll fit right in.”
Epilogue---New Beginnings
Kristy woke up with a start and looked around her; she was lying in the bed of a truck on a blanket. She sat up and blinked away the fogginess to get her bearings. The last time she woke up in the back of a truck, it was bad news.
Not this time. The truck belonged to Cane, and as she looked toward the shoreline of Lake Osbourne, only a twelve-minute drive from Calvin’s house, she saw him standing near the bank, looking over the calm water. He’d brought her here earlier for a picnic and she’d fallen asleep on the makeshift bed he’d assembled for her.
He was doing his best to be there for her following her mother’s death, which was sinking in more than ever. They’d missed her funeral, unable to go for obvious reasons, but that didn’t matter to Kristy as much as the everyday void she’d left. In the past few days there’d been moments when grief overcame her. She tried to fill her time with positive things to keep herself occupied, with limited success.
The biggest help came from the people at Calvin’s house. Cane had been away a lot lately, which left a lot of time for her to get to know the others. Besides Ellen, who’d been very supportive and loving to her, Natalie, Jordyn, and Taryn had swarmed her with compassion and encouragement. Hearing what they had each been through was a big help to Kristy; it made her realize that even her grief, as overwhelming as it seemed, could be managed and used to drive her. She couldn’t imagine being surrounded by a better support group, especially in Cane’s absence.
Cane wasn’t absent today, though; he’d woken her up from a nap and whisked her away, and she was all too happy to comply. She needed to get away, if only for a quick drive, but this was more than she expected; tears filled her eyes when she saw the effort he’d put in to make the day special. He was less introverted today than she’d ever seen him, but they still hadn’t talked a lot about Helen. She could tell he was grieving also and suspected he didn’t know how to approach the subject with her. It didn’t matter to her; she’d never had expectations of him becoming something he was not. She valued him for who he was, as odd as it might seem. It may be the traumatic circumstances she met him under or her anxiety afterward, but Cane was what she needed: strong, fierce, fearless, and protective. That she could read through his rigid exterior and see the genuine care he possessed for her was a bonus.