Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  That was a small relief. “The file took ages to download so the eight percent should contain a lot of stuff, right?”

  Asher hit a few more buttons and slid a USB drive into the side slot before answering. “The file is over a gig in size. That is a butt load of information.” He pulled out the drive and handed it to me. I would have to find a computer somewhere. Surely Kyle would have one?

  “We probably should split in case something was tripped,” Asher said, slipping his laptop in his bag and standing. We did the same. When a hacker took off, it was a good sign his accomplices should too. “Good luck with whatever you’re up to.”

  “Thanks for your help, Asher. I really appreciate it.” I gave him a quick hug. “Look after Lola for me.”

  “I will,” he promised. He turned to shake hands with Garrick. “I hope you find whatever you’re looking for in those files.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  We went our separate ways, Garrick and I returned to the old VW. We didn’t speak until we were on the road again. “I guess we’re going to have to share this with Kyle,” I started. “Considering we don’t have a computer and all.”

  “A part of me really doesn’t want to,” Garrick confessed.

  “I know, right? I want to trust him but I don’t really trust anyone anymore.”

  He shot me a sideways look. “Does that include me?”

  I slapped him on the leg. I didn’t have to reach far in the tiny car. He seemed to fill half of it. “Funny enough, you are probably the one person I do trust.”

  Garrick laughed. “And I’m an alien trying to conquer the human race so what does that say about your judgment?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh with him. Our lives seemed to be totally screwed up. When our birth parents agreed to put us into the project, I’m sure they didn’t see our future like it currently was.

  I waited until I could catch my breath again before I could talk. “So yea or nay to giving Kyle this USB drive?”

  “We need a computer,” Garrick sighed. “That way we can choose what information to give him.”

  I took out my phone, there was only one person who could give us a computer at short notice. “I’ll call Lochie, he has a laptop. I’m sure if I ask nicely enough he’ll bring it over.”

  Garrick raised one eyebrow but didn’t say anything. I got the feeling any plan that involved Lochie wouldn’t meet with his approval. I didn’t understand why they loathed each other so much but they would have to get over it. Bigger things were at stake than their pride.

  An hour later, we were back in the trailer and still waiting for Lochie to show up. It was torturous having the USB and being unable to see all the treasures it held for us. Not to mention having to ignore the calls from Kyle.

  A knock on the door signaled Lochie’s arrival. I let him in, seeing his computer slung under his arm. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

  “No problem.” He kissed my cheek, I almost turned my head so I could get some lip action but it didn’t seem right with Garrick watching. I could feel his gaze drilling into my back. Lochie looked over my shoulder, probably at Garrick staring right back at him. “I guess you don’t want me hanging around?”

  Awkward didn’t even begin to describe it. “Do you mind? I’m really sorry, it’s just that we have a lot of work to do.”

  “Do you need a hand with anything?” The thought of Lochie seeing the FBI files was enough to cause me mass panic. If my case file was in there…

  “No, it’s good. But thank you for the offer, and the computer. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

  His mouth curled into a lopsided grin, the kind he used when he thought he was being sexy. To be honest, it was kind of hot. “I’m holding you to that promise.”

  I gave him a quick kiss and sent him packing. One strong willed man in the trailer was enough. I plugged the laptop into the sole socket in the wall and fired it up. The wallpaper was a photo of Lochie and I at school, cheek to cheek. Lola had taken it at Lochie’s insistence. I didn’t know he had liked it so much to make it his background screen. It brought a smile to my face.

  Or, more likely, he had put it on just to annoy Garrick. That was equally as possible. I snapped out of my daydream and slid the USB drive into the slot. Lochie’s computer wasn’t as fast as Asher’s, but it still didn’t take long for the folders to come up.

  “There’s a lot here,” Garrick commented. “Where should we start?”

  “I guess at the beginning.” I clicked into the first file and started scanning through all the documents. None of the files seemed to be complete, just parts here and there. A few of the names mentioned I recognized from hearing around the Department. You spend enough time in one place and you start to feel like you know people just from eavesdropping.

  The work was slow going. We had to be thorough for fear of missing anything. If we skipped just one document, it could have been the one we needed. It didn’t help that we weren’t sure exactly what we were searching for. Anything that told us what the Department were up to would have been handy. Unfortunately, that could have come in any form.

  In one file, a document caught my eye. It had Rob’s name on it. My heart sunk when I saw it was a memo about his termination. So Special Agent Robert Bower was no longer working on Project Integrate.

  According to the report, his actions had meant they could no longer trust his judgment. I really hoped it wasn’t me that had caused his downfall. Everything I had done was without his permission so I didn’t know how it could have reflected on him. And certainly not how it could have gotten him shifted to another department.

  Yet the next document, attached to the memo, confirmed my worst fears. It was an arrest warrant, signed by the head of the Department. Everyone was ordered to arrest one Amery Jones on sight.

  “What did you do?” Garrick asked, his mouth hanging open with surprise after reading the details.

  I shrugged. He already knew some of the story from our conversations at the complex. I guess I didn’t tell him the entire story. “Nothing, really. I only went off the grid for a few days while I rescued my friend. I didn’t do anything bad.”

  “It was enough to get your case officer fired. My case officer doesn’t even know what hair color I’ve got.”

  “I guess they didn’t like the way I thought for myself,” I finally replied. It was the only thing I could think of. I had gotten my chip reinserted, worked with a new case officer, and was obeying all the rules. I thought I had fixed all the damage I did.

  Garrick was grinning, it was driving me crazy. “What?”

  “You’re a badass. I’m impressed. For the Department to issue your arrest warrant, it takes a lot for them to get that far,” he replied. “I didn’t know I was living with a criminal.”

  “Yeah, well, you set the complex alight so I think we’re pretty even,” I pointed out. I was sure setting a fire on government property was way worse than helping out a kidnapped friend. “Can we get back to the files, please?”

  He shrugged and turned back to the computer. We continued going through all the documents, one by one. It took another two and a half hours before we found the document we needed. And it was worse than expected.

  CHAPTER 15

  “The project has been cancelled?” I whispered, not expecting an answer. The memo was department-wide, issued to every single serving Agent.

  “We suspected this, it’s nothing we weren’t already thinking,” Garrick tried to reassure me. I wasn’t buying it. A part of me never truly expected the government to do the wrong thing. I believed in them, even when I shouldn’t have. That damn optimism had always been there, even if just a whisper.

  “They’re going to kill everyone, that’s got to be a certainty now,” I continued, sounding more than a little hysterical. Perhaps it was the hours spent hunched over the computer, or the copious amounts of coffee I’d drunk, but I felt on edge. Like, right on the edge, as if I could tumble over at any moment. “They’re
all going to die. Every one of the members of the project. We’ll all be wiped out.”

  Garrick grabbed my arms and forced me to look at him. “We’re going to stop them. Do you hear me? We will stop them.”

  I wanted to believe him but was too busy freaking out at that moment. There would be no end to our running. The Department wouldn’t stop until we were dead. We would never be able to resume our old lives again. Lochie, Lola, my parents, school, marriage, babies, prom, graduation, college, it was all yanked out of my reach. I would spend the rest of my life in hiding, probably end up as one of those paranoid freaks who lived in caves and never bathed.

  Not to mention the fate of everyone in the complex. They wouldn’t even get the privilege of cave dwelling. “We have to get everyone out of the complex.”

  “We will,” Garrick tried again. He was taking the news a lot better than I was. “We have to calm down and work out a plan. I think we need to show Kyle this document.”

  I stared back at the screen, the source of my terror. The memo was brief – the project was cancelled, resources would be assigned elsewhere, and the air force was to be put on standby. The security level of the country would be raised so the army could be enlisted to help too if needed.

  They had to be expecting retaliation from Trucon, otherwise why did they need military standby? Were they planning on telling the leaders of our planet? They had to find out eventually, especially when the asteroid was getting closer by the day. Or would they shirk responsibility of that too?

  A knock on the door made me jump. Garrick and I stared at each other, hoping it wasn’t the Department on the other side of the door. The sun had gone down while we were reading, leaving our trailer lit up like a glowing orange ball. We were trapped if it was someone coming for us. We only had one door and the windows wouldn’t open wide enough for us to slip through.

  “Amery, I can see you.” Lochie’s voice had never sounded sweeter. I let out the breath I was holding and hurried to close the laptop screen.

  Opening the door, I tried my best to regain my composure. “Hey, Lochie, I didn’t expect to see you here again tonight.”

  He held up a paper bag cheerfully. “I thought you might be hungry. Don’t worry, I got enough for grumpy pants too.” I stood by so he could come in, the smell of the food filling the small space. My stomach grumbled with the aroma, I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten.

  We crowded around the table, there was barely enough room to bend our elbows. Garrick’s knees kept hitting mine under the table and Lochie’s elbow collided with my ribs on more than one occasion. Still, the burger and fries was delicious. It could have been the hunger but I was sure it was the tastiest meal I had ever had.

  “Find what you were looking for?” Lochie finally asked to break the silence. He had a dab of ketchup on his chin. I couldn’t leave it there, I had to wipe it away.

  “We found some stuff,” I replied. Garrick seemed to be on another wavelength as he ignored us.

  “Helpful stuff?” He sounded so hopeful. If he was there just ten minutes ago, he wouldn’t be so cheerful. How did I tell him I didn’t have a future anymore? How did I explain to him that he should just walk away from me now or suffer for the rest of his life? How could I tell him to do that when I just wanted his arms around me?

  I had to keep calm, I couldn’t let him know how bad things were. “We’re not sure if it’s going to help yet or not.” Garrick snorted under his breath. I hoped Lochie didn’t hear it. I shot him a warning look so he wouldn’t do it again.

  Unfortunately, he had heard it. “Do you have a problem?” Lochie asked pointedly, locking eyes with Garrick.

  “Why don’t you stay out of things you don’t understand?” He shot back. He crumpled up his burger wrapper, scrunching it up into a tight ball.

  “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

  “Guys, settle down, it’s okay,” I interrupted, trying to calm the situation. “We’re all on the same side.”

  It didn’t work. “Why don’t you take a hint and leave?” Garrick snarled. I had never seen him so angry before, not even when we were in the complex.

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yeah, then we could get back to work.”

  “Garrick, Lochie, seriously. Everyone just needs to calm down.”

  Garrick went to stand, which wasn’t a good sign. Things could quickly escalate if we weren’t all seated and eating dinner like civilized people. I stood quickly, placing a hand on Garrick’s chest so he remained seated.

  I turned to Lochie, who was now immediately behind me, looming over my head like a shadow. “Why don’t we finish our meal outside? It’s a nice night out there.”

  Lochie’s chest was heaving up and down as he took in some deep breaths and calmed himself down long enough to heed my suggestion. I followed him outside and closed the door firmly behind us.

  We walked to his car and leant against it while we finished the burgers. I wondered how long we would have to wait there before he was calm enough to speak again.

  “It was really nice of you to bring us dinner, thank you,” I started, keeping my voice level. At least their argument momentarily took my mind away from the project.

  “When can you come home?” Lochie asked curtly, like he was tired of the whole thing.

  “Not for a while yet.” I couldn’t meet his gaze, not when I knew I could never come home. “Look, Lochie, maybe you should just forget about me and move on. I don’t know if I’m ever going to be done with this. I don’t know if I will ever be able to resume my life again.”

  He finished his meal and threw the wrapper in the trashcan like it was a basketball. “Do you really think walking away from you could be something I choose to do?”

  “I don’t understand-”

  “Amery, I love you,” Lochie said, staring at the ground. “Whether I like it or not, I’m attached to you now. I can’t just walk away from you. No matter what happens, you’re stuck with me. Wherever you go, I’m going to be stupid enough to follow you.”

  I didn’t know what to say to his confession. It both elated and scared me. He was only going to get hurt and I was going to be the one to do it to him. After all, he didn’t know what he was getting into, I did.

  “Lochie, what about if I have to run for the rest of my life? Are you going to be foolish enough to follow me then? You’ll be throwing away your own life.”

  “My life is nothing without you.”

  “Lochie, you don’t know-” I didn’t get to finish my sentence as Lochie kissed me. His lips devoured mine, possessing me in a way he hadn’t done before. I eagerly kissed him back, happy to be lost in the moment where the future didn’t matter. For just a few seconds, we were just two normal teenagers. Both humans and both careless.

  He left me breathless, my legs shaky by the time he finally let me go. I forgot what we were talking about momentarily, completely left speechless by the fool.

  “I don’t know what?” He whispered, our foreheads resting on each other still.

  “Nothing,” I replied. Now wasn’t the time to tell him everything, I didn’t want to ruin the moment. I didn’t want to hurt him.

  We stood there for a long time, the two of us in the moonlight. The entire time I felt like such a liar for keeping the truth from him. He deserved to know everything, especially my biggest secret of all, but I didn’t know how to tell him. He had once asked me directly if I was an alien and I had said no. To tell him otherwise now seemed impossible.

  I knew we had to part eventually. “I should get back to work,” I muttered reluctantly.

  Lochie took my hands in his, kissing my fingers in turn and sending tingles up my arms. “Come home with me.”

  “I can’t, you know that.”

  “I don’t like the thought of you being here with that guy.”

  I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “You can trust me, Lochie. You know I’m not going to do anything. I’m with you.” />
  “It’s him I don’t trust.”

  “We’ve been over this.”

  “You can’t see it, can you?” Lochie asked, searching my eyes. Of course I couldn’t see it, I had no idea what he was talking about. I shook my head slightly. “The way he looks at you?”

  “He has to look at me, we’re figuring this thing out together.”

  “No, he looks at you like he wants to devour you. He likes you, Amery. And I don’t trust him around you.”

  Lochie didn’t know what he was talking about. Garrick and I were only sticking together because we had to. There was nothing more to it. As far as I was concerned, it was just boys being boys.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” I tried to tell him again. “Now go, before it gets too late and I don’t get any work done for the rest of the night.” I pushed him toward the car door, fearing he wouldn’t go without some encouragement.

  I finally got Lochie into the car and waited while he reversed down the road. Every time I said goodbye to him now felt like it might be the last time I ever saw him. I hated it.

  I went back inside and slid into the booth. Garrick was already going through the files again in silence. I didn’t say a word as I read through the documents with him.

  Not until the silence became deafening, anyway. “Find anything interesting?”

  “Just a whole lot of bureaucratic back and forth. Lover boy’s gone I take it?”

  “Yeah. He’s trying to help us, you could at least be a little nice to him,” I scolded. It felt like I needed to say it, otherwise their discord was only going to get worse. Whether they both liked it or not, all three of us had to put up with each other.

  Garrick didn’t appreciate my comment. “Why are you even with that d-bag? All he does is moan and whine about not spending time with you. He’s a sap.”

  “He’s not a sap.”

  “You shouldn’t even be dating, it’s against the rules.” Oh, now was the time when we were supposed to care about the rules? I didn’t know what had gotten into him.