The Curse: The Butterfly Effect, Book 2.

by Margaret McHeyzer

  “Who are all these people?”

  Emmett looks down to my ripped t-shirt, and turns to the guy in the elevator. “Give her your jacket.”

  “Yes, Sir.” The guy quickly shrugs out of it, and places it softly around my shoulders.

  “These people all work for me,” Emmett answers.

  “Are you their boss?” The elevator door pings shut and one of the women presses the button for the basement.

  “My official title is Assistant Director.”

  “That’s pretty high up, Emmett. I don’t get why they’d send you, and not a special agent.”

  “You know your rankings.”

  I give him a look as if to say, ‘are you serious?’ “My mother was a judge, and a damn good one at that. My father was her bailiff.”

  “Then you’d know how sensitive this is. All these people have been selected because of the delicate nature of the case.”

  The doors finally ping open, and I’m met with one person I never thought I’d see again.

  Frank’s by the door, his arms wide open for me. “Frank,” I cry, as I leap into them and hug him as hard as I can.

  “It’s okay,” he whispers, kissing my hair.

  “What are you doing here? What’s going on?” I ask him, begging for answers.

  “Not my story to tell, Miss Lexi, but trust me, when you find out, everything will come together.”

  “This way,” Emmett states and points to an awaiting car.

  Emmett opens the back door, and Frank lets go of me. “Trust me, you’re safe.”

  I lean down to slide in, and I nearly fall out of the car.

  What the . . . ?

  “Get in the car, Lexi,” he says as he waits for me to slide in.

  My brain isn’t talking to my body though. I’m dumbfounded. How is he here? “I don’t understand . . . you’re dead.” Somehow my heart kick-starts and I numbly fall into the seat.

  Jude moves his head impassively. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”

  The door slams shut, making me jump at the sudden noise. I tear my eyes away from Jude to flash a peek at what’s unfolding around me. But I can’t seem to make sense of it all.

  Jude’s not dead.

  Frank is in the front.

  Emmett is driving.

  And I’m dazed by the fact Jude is in the same car as the assistant director of the FBI and neither have their guns drawn. I quickly look to Jude, my eyes dragging down to his wrists, but find they’re free and don’t have hand cuffs on.

  The spit gathering in my mouth is hard to swallow. I don’t understand. “What . . .” I lose my words for a second as I try to make my head comprehend the madness surrounding me. “I’m really struggling with this.” I point to him and Emmett.

  Jude’s eyes narrow in on me, looking directly at the cut on my face. “Who did this?” he asks as he gently grips my chin and moves my head to the side so he can get a better look.

  “Ronan,” I whisper. “He betrayed you . . . and me.” My stomach churns with distress. I hate having to tell him, but he needs to know the type of man Ronan is.

  Jude’s lips quickly pull up into a smirk, then immediately the smile disappears. He nods, while staring at my face. His thumb tenderly skims over my cheek before he drops his hand. “No vision?” he asks.

  Shaking my head, I look down to where my hands are knotted together. “I chose not to.” Swallowing hard, I gaze up into his intense black eyes. His brows are drawn low, and there are dark circles lining the bottom of his eyes. “You look tired,” I say.

  He chuckles at me. “You have no idea.”

  He slides his hand down to rest on my thigh before slowly linking our fingers together. My body warms and all feels okay again. Jude’s not dead, and this makes my heart smile.

  “We’ll be there soon,” Emmett says into his phone.

  With Emmett’s words, I’m hauled back into reality. Turning, I view our environment. “Where are we going?” I ask. Looking behind the car, there are no less than three black vans following us. Panic takes over as my mind clouds with the thought of someone else after me. My hands shake and a cold sweat rips through me. Not again. “Emmett?” My voice comes out shaky.

  “What is it, Alexa?” he asks looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

  Jude turns to see what I’m long at and squeezes my hand. “It’s okay, they’re with us,” he comforts me.

  I let out a huge sigh; my heart finally calming. “Are you okay?” Emmett asks.

  “I don’t know, this is all too much.” Tears brim as I try to hold in the frustration of the unknown. Tell me now what’s happening. Lowering my head, I rub my free hand over my forehead, trying to release the tension without shedding any tears. I’ve cried way too much, I need to find another way to deal with all this chaos. A better way.

  “We’re nearly there,” Emmett announces.

  “Anyone want to fill me in where ‘there’ is?” I snap too forcefully. “I’m over all these secrets.”

  “We’ve set up a field office close to the Facility. You’re safe here, Alexa.”

  I don’t know if I should be happy, or even more frustrated because I’ve yet to get any answers.

  We arrive at a structure that could easily be mistaken for an office building. There’s nothing extraordinary about it. It blends into all the other buildings around it. It’s late in the day, the sun has started to set, and the chill in the air tells me it’s going to be a cool evening.

  We enter the building and Emmett guides us over to the elevators, where the FBI agent who gave me his jacket has already gone ahead of us and called the elevator.

  The quiet is deafening to me, I need someone to tell me what’s happening, but I have a feeling they’re waiting to hit me with a sucker-punch. My mind is traveling at high speed. I want to know now what’s going on. “Is anyone going to talk?” I finally ask, breaking the harsh silence.

  “We will, as soon as we get a doctor to look at your eye, and you have something to eat and drink,” Emmett replies.

  Anger vibrates through me. I can feel the speed of my heartbeat picking up. “No,” I say as I let go of Jude’s hand and cross my arms in front of my chest.

  The elevator dings open, and Emmett steps through, waiting for me. I follow, only because I refuse to ride the elevator on my own. I need answers, and I need them now.

  “No what?” Emmett asks.

  “No, I’m not going to see a doctor and I’m not going to eat and drink. I’m not going to have a shower, or get changed, or what other bullshit excuse you make up so you don’t have to tell me. I’m sick and tired of being played from one side or another. You’re going to tell me what’s happening, and you’re going to tell me now.”

  Both Jude and Frank raise their brows in surprise at me. Jude proudly sticks his chest out, and Frank gives me a small nod. “Welcome back, Miss Lexi,” Frank declares with a smirk.

  Emmett looks among the three of us. He too gives me a curt nod, steps aside and sweeps his hand toward the back of the open office space to a corridor. “Then let’s get this started. Down there is my office.”

  My anger recedes, and it’s then I notice the number of people milling around or hunched over their computers. In the center of the room are cardboard boxes stacked high atop each other.

  Some of the people have stopped what they’re doing, and are staring at me. Their eyes are glued to me as if I’m some kind of criminal.

  Am I?

  “Here, take a seat.” Emmett indicates to one of the chairs in his office. Looking around, I notice the view of the opposite building behind his desk. His desk is filled with stacks of paperwork, messy and unorganized. Jude sits beside me, and Frank stands behind us.

  “Okay, I want to know what’s been happening,” I say turning to face Jude first, then to Emmett who’s now sitting behind his desk.

  “Jude and Ronan came to us a short time ago.”

  Sharply I turn my head to look at Jude. “Why?” This had to be
some heavy shit if Jude couldn’t handle it on his own.

  “Because you’re important to me. And I was dealing with something which I had limited information on. I didn’t know how far these people would go, how deep their pockets were, or how well-connected they were.”

  “But, you’re Jude Caley. You’re notorious. How could you need help?”

  “I am,” he announces proudly. “But, I’m also a businessman and I have to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself.”

  Suddenly, I feel sick. “Was I an opportunity?”

  “No, but we had to think quickly on how to get you out, and how we could help ourselves while we were at it.”

  “We?” I question.

  “Yes, we. As in Ronan and myself.”

  “Ronan?” I ask in anger. “Ronan did this to me, Jude.” I point to my face. “And this.” I stand and open the FBI jacket and show him the ripped t-shirt. “He also agreed to kill more people like me,” I nearly shout at him.

  “Yes, I know,” Jude replies calmly. “Because that’s what we planned he was going to do.”

  I flop back in my chair, mentally exhausted. “What? You told him to hit me?”

  “I told him to make it look realistic. I told him now he had their trust, to keep it.”

  Blinking like crazy, I stare at Jude. I’m not entirely sure if my mind can comprehend what he’s saying. A word tries to escape my mouth, but it sounds more like a grunt.

  “If I may?” Emmett interjects.

  “It’s best if I tell her.” Jude holds his hand up to Emmett, who gives him a nod and sits back in his chair.

  “Before the house was bombed, Ronan was researching the hospital where you were admitted into for your appendectomy. He found that in the last twelve months a lot of teenagers, mostly females, had routine operations and then disappeared.”

  Tilting my head to the side, the word ‘disappeared’ has thrown me a curveball. “What do you mean by ‘disappeared’?”

  “The ‘Facility’ as they like to be called, were injecting teenagers with their product.”

  “Why teenagers?” I ask looking between Emmett and Jude. “And why females?”

  “Because females are easier to integrate into society then males.” I screw my nose at Jude’s response, but I’m eager to learn more. “The ones who responded strongly to the drug would be snatched, and told if they work for the Facility, their families would be safe, if not, the Facility would kill their parents.”

  “Huh,” I grumble. “Sounds like someone else I know.” I pointedly look at Jude. Frank chuckles from behind me.

  Jude shifts awkwardly in his seat. “The thing with them is, they killed the kids’ parents anyway.”

  “But that still doesn’t explain why they chose teenagers.”

  “They have fewer ties to society. They chose ones who weren’t working, who hadn’t really started their lives. They also chose ones who were healthy, other than the small procedure, injected them and watched as their abilities developed,” Jude says.

  “So, how did you find this out? Does this mean the hospital was involved?”

  “Ronan. He started on their trail, and he kept at it until he found out what he could. He didn’t know much about the Facility, and couldn’t find out a lot about them because their tracks ended shortly after he found out about the teenagers they were targeting. As far as the hospital, Emmett said they’re denying all knowledge.”

  I turn to Emmett, shocked and confused. “How do you come into it?” I point to Emmett.

  “Jude came to us with an offer.”

  “What offer?” I shriek as I turn back to Jude. “What did you have to give up?”

  “I’ll get to that. But you need to know everything else before I tell you what’s been sacrificed.”

  “Okay,” I whisper. Knotting my hands together, I’m suddenly nervous about the outcome.

  “We had no choice but to get Ronan to infiltrate them. He went after one of the teenagers, he . . .” Jude says.

  My heart leaps into my throat. “He didn’t kill them, did he?” I cup my hands over my mouth.

  “No, but we made it look like he did,” Emmett steps in.

  “Wait . . . you’re involved in this by now?” I ask Emmett.

  Emmett nods. “This is where we came into it. Jude approached us, and told us about the Facility. They were already on our radar because they’d been rejected by the FDA and investors hadn’t stopped funneling money to them. They went deep underground though, and we couldn’t get to them. We went after Jude on a separate incident, and he countered with information about the Facility and made us an offer.”

  My head’s spinning. “So, you went after Jude, but Ronan had already infiltrated the Facility. And in order for him not to be indicted, he gave them up?” I look between the two.

  “I gave up something else, too.”

  “What?” I ask.

  Jude struggles to tell me, he’s quiet and choosing his words carefully. “A big supplier.”

  “A supplier? What kind of supplier?” I ask.

  “One who is at the top of the food chain in human trafficking.”

  “Wait . . . you don’t deal in human trafficking, not after what your father went through.” I look to Emmett, hoping I haven’t given away too much of Jude’s story.

  “No, but he’s also a different kind of supplier. One who was annoying me.” He smiles.

  “Oh,” I say as realization takes over. “Someone I know?”

  “I think you asked him if he had shares in Viagra.”

  I’m quickly taken back to Enzo’s party and the filthy, disgusting men in the house. “And the rest of the party-goers?” I know I’m getting side tracked, but I may as well know everything.

  Jude sideways glances at Emmett. “We’ll discuss them later,” he says. Jude doesn’t want to incriminate himself any more than he already is.

  “Back to the Facility,” I quickly prompt.

  “Marcus,” Emmett says. I look to him, puzzled, and remember the bodyguard my parents hired for me. “The threat on your parents was all instigated by them, because they knew your mom would hire a bodyguard for you. They sent in Marcus to keep an eye on you, to see how you were developing.”

  “And Laura?” I ask about the female bodyguard.

  “She wasn’t part of it. Marcus, on the other hand, was reporting to them.”

  “The day you . . .” I look to Jude and carefully construct my words. “ . . . smashed into the car, Laura was with me, not Marcus.”

  “He was on another assignment. He was taking care of someone who wasn’t as receptive to the drugs as you’ve been,” Emmett says.

  I sigh because I know exactly what he means. “It was by pure luck that was the day I chose to . . . smash into your car,” Jude says, being careful not to say ‘kidnapped.’ We’re way past that now.

  “And that meant, they lost track of me, and had no idea where I was.” Slowly, it’s all piecing together. “But, the bombing . . .”

  “Wasn’t them, it was . . .” He looks over to Emmett again, “someone else who was after me, not you.”

  “Did the Facility know who Ronan was?” I need to know everything.

  “Ronan made himself known, told them he was my head of security, and accepted an offer to work with them, taking out the less powerful recipients. If they weren’t showing potential, he was eliminating them.”

  “But he wasn’t really, was he?” This time I ask Emmett.

  “No, we’ve set up a safe house for them.”

  “But he said he shot you.” I turn back to Jude.

  “He did. It was all part of it. Just before we got to Nick, he had made contact with them, telling them about you. Ronan caught on to it, and was a step ahead. Ronan told me Nick was working for them, a spotter for the people who’d escaped from their sights.”

  “You knew all along?” I ask. Jude nods his head. “You knew I was going to try and find them?”

  “I was hoping you
wouldn’t, but when I discovered all my cash gone, I knew then you were going to bolt.”

  My stomach twists with regret. “I’m sorry I stole from you. I didn’t know how long I was going to be out on the streets.”

  “I would’ve done the same thing,” Jude replies.

  “What happened next?”

  “With Ronan now firmly involved with them, he was leaking information to us. Getting us pictures, the layout, codes, everything we needed to take them down,” Emmett says.

  “You worked together?” I scrunch my nose. “The law and the criminal.” Frank chuckles from behind me, and even to my ears, the statement is ridiculous.

  “Sometimes we need to sacrifice the small things for the bigger picture,” Emmett says.

  “How many people were killed because of them?” I ask.

  “The numbers are high, and climbing.”

  Catherine told me there were about forty people. Was that number watered down? Suddenly, I feel sick. Vomit rises to the back of my throat. Knowing people were dying because the Facility wanted to use us to make money, makes me sick. “We were nothing but vessels for them. They were modifying us to become cash cows for them.” I sigh and look down. “Makes sense they’d choose younger people to go after. We’re easier to manipulate into what they wanted, and I suspect we’d be easier to threaten so they’d get what they want.”

  “Unfortunately, you’ve described them perfectly, Alexa,” Emmett says, confirming everything.

  “What happens to Ronan?” I ask. “I saw him being taken away in handcuffs, by your people.” I point to Emmett.

  “He’s an informant for the FBI, for me. It was part of the negotiations. He’ll be released soon.”

  “And me? What happens to me?” I ask. “Where do I go?”

  “There’ll be an investigation, and I can guarantee you’ll be part of that investigation.”

  I sigh again. Great, I’m going to be poked and prodded. This has always been one of my biggest fears. I’ll never live in peace, I’ll never have a normal life. “Everyone will know what I can do, I’ll be a circus side-show attraction. Everyone will want a piece of me, wanting to know what I can do, and what I can see.” Emmett nods his head. “And the others who are like me? What will happen to them?”