A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  “How did you not get caught?” I asked her.

  “I loaded the files on a flash drive while my mom was still in the shower. Then I went back to school. She didn’t even know I was there.” She paused. “Why are you guys living around here? The GlobalLife office is so close. You could get caught, Sam. Of all the places to hide out, why here?”

  I wasn’t sure how much to tell her. “We just need to get something done and then we’ll leave.”

  “Are you trying to get the alien genes?”

  “How do you know about those, Allie?”

  “It was in your file. Don’t worry. It’s weird and all to think that’s inside you, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m not freaked out by it.”

  “Well, yeah, we’re trying to get the genes. We don’t want GlobalLife to have them.”

  “Me, either. That’s why I contacted you. I think I can help.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Unwelcome Guest

  “What do you mean you can help?” I asked Allie.

  “I’ll get my mom to tell me where they are.”

  “Your mom would never tell you that.”

  “Maybe not, but I can still get information out of her. Stuff that might help. I can’t believe she’s involved in this. I feel sick just thinking about it. It’s like I don’t even know who she is. I’m so mad at her, Sam. I’ll do whatever I can to help you stop this thing.”

  “We can’t do this on our own, Allie. There’s a whole group of people who’ve been working on this for years. This is way bigger than us.”

  “But I want to help, so whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.” Allie paused. “I’m really sorry, Sam, for everything my mom did to you.”

  “She didn’t do anything to me,” I lied. I didn’t think Allie needed to know what had gone on between her mother and me at the GlobalLife facility in Iceland.

  I spent the next hour in the car trying to explain the basics of what had happened since I was first captured by GlobalLife back in Minnesota. Soon we were back at the house. I dreaded going inside. Everyone would be there waiting to lecture Colin and me.

  “Allie, they didn’t know you were coming, so just let me explain before you say anything, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” She grabbed her stuff and we went up to the house.

  Dave and Jack were waiting at the door. “Samantha, where the hell have you been?” Dave yelled at me. He was really angry. More angry than I’d ever seen him. He almost fell over when he saw Allie. “And what is she doing here? Samantha! You know her mother is involved with—”

  “GlobalLife. Yes. I can explain. I’ve been hearing Allie’s thoughts, Uncle Dave. She told me about these GlobalLife files she took off her mom’s computer. I had to get the files from her. They might tell us where the alien genes are.”

  “Wait a minute! This is Eve’s daughter?” Jack’s face turned red. “And you brought her here?”

  Their reaction was even worse than I’d anticipated. “Okay, just calm down. Uncle Dave, you’ve known Allie for years. She’s not part of this. She just wants to help.”

  “Let me see your backpack.” Jack reached for it. “And where are these files?”

  Allie handed him her backpack and fumbled through her purse for the flash drive. Dave disappeared into his room and came back with a metal wandlike device. Jack held up the backpack as Dave ran the device along all sides of it. Then he went over to Allie and waved the device up, down, and around her and her purse.

  “She’s clean,” Dave said to Jack. “No tracking devices on her.”

  “Did you bring anything else?” Jack asked Allie. “Any other bags? A cell phone?”

  “No. Nothing else.” I could see how uncomfortable Allie was, getting questioned by a man she’d never even met.

  I stood beside Allie. “Jack, you didn’t even say hello to her. Allie, this is Jack. Jack, this is my friend, Allie. Now can you at least let her take her coat off and sit down?”

  Jack moved out of her way. “Sorry, Allie. I’m just not a big fan of your mother.”

  “Not many people are,” she said quietly. I took her coat and she sat down on the sofa.

  Dave was still fuming. “Colin, how could you go along with this? And Sam, after that incident with the police officer, you should know not to go running off anymore.”

  “Okay. I got it. It’s over now. And we have to take Allie back to Manhattan tomorrow, so we don’t have much time.”

  “We’re not taking her back,” Jack said. “She’ll have to take the train. We can’t risk going into the city. There are too many cameras.”

  Before I could protest, Allie spoke up. “I don’t mind the train.”

  I took a seat next to Allie, annoyed at how Jack and Dave were treating her. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Jack held up the flash drive. “So how many files are on here?”

  “Tons. I don’t really know how many,” Allie said. “But I couldn’t open most of them.”

  Jack looked at Dave. “We should be able to open them with that new decryption program. What about the GlobalLife built-in tracking mechanism?”

  “The new software looks for that. I made that adjustment last week. Tested it just the other day. If it detects the tracker, the files will automatically be deleted. GlobalLife will never know we had them. It should work just like it did for the files Owens gave us.”

  “Then should we get it running? It could take a while to get these files open.”

  Dave looked at Colin, Allie, and me. “We’ll be right downstairs. You three stay put. We’ll be back shortly.”

  Colin took out his cell phone. “I have a message from Emily. I need to go call her quick. I’ll be in my room.”

  “Who’s Emily?” Allie asked.

  I started to answer just as Erik came up from downstairs. He got a drink in the kitchen and didn’t even notice us sitting in the living room.

  Allie grabbed my arm. “WHO—is—THAT? Sam, that has GOT to be the hottest guy I have ever seen in my entire life.”

  “Erik? He’s the guy from the file. The one who’s like me.”

  She kept her eyes glued on him. “Was he engineered that way? I mean, look at him!”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I’ve seen him, Allie.”

  “I’ve seriously never seen a guy that hot. Not even in a magazine. Or a movie.”

  “Come on, Allie. Colin’s hot.”

  “Yeah, but he’s like a brother to me. I don’t see him that way.”

  Erik came into the living room. “Hey, Sam. Who’s this?”

  “This is Allie. Allie, say hi.” I nudged her, but she was frozen in place, staring up at him. Allie never got that way around a guy. The guys were the ones who froze up around her.

  “Hi. I’m Erik.” He held out his hand and Allie reached for it, still in a daze. Erik looked at me. “Is she all right?”

  “Yeah. She’s fine. She’s just had a long day.”

  Erik sat down next to her, leaning back and putting his arm up behind Allie. I thought she might pass out. Erik didn’t even notice.

  “So she’s from the rebel group? Brittany said you were over at their place today.”

  “Um, no,” I said, unsure how Brittany knew to make up a story for me. Had she overheard my plans for getting Allie? Or did Colin tell her what we were doing?

  “Allie is the friend I told you about. My friend from Minnesota.”

  “Allie. That name sounds familiar.” Erik took his arm down and sat up straight. “Wait, isn’t her mom—”

  “Yes. Eve is her mom,” I confessed. “But, Erik, she’s not like Eve. So don’t freak out.”

  Erik stood up. “That evil bitch, Eve, is her mom? That woman made our life hell!”

  I got up and tried pushing him out of the room. “Erik, stop it! Don’t say that about her mother!”

  Allie stayed seated and put her head down, ashamed of whatever her mother had done.

  “Allie, don’t listen to him. Your mom didn’t do anything
to us.”

  “What are you talking about, Sam? She told you that this Allie girl was only your friend because of GlobalLife! And then that bitch just had to be the one to tell us about the pregnancy, knowing we didn’t want that. I can still see the look on her face.”

  “Just go, Erik. Leave us alone. Please.” I continued to push him away.

  “I’m going. But you better know what you’re doing, Sam, bringing her here. You could be putting us all in danger.” He went in his room and slammed the door shut.

  “Sorry about that, Allie. He’s just upset. He normally doesn’t act like that. Let’s go to my room and talk so we don’t get interrupted again.”

  I led her to the side bedroom. Allie sat down on the bed, looking depressed. “I didn’t know everyone would hate me so much. I feel horrible.”

  “They just freak out when someone new comes over. We’ve learned that we can’t trust anyone. But they’ll get over it once they realize you’re only trying to help.”

  “Was Erik telling the truth about my mom?”

  “Well, she did say that you were never friends with me. She said it was all a big setup so she could keep an eye on me all those years.”

  Allie hugged me. “It’s not true, Sam. I promise you. I would never be friends with someone because my mom told me to. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yeah. But your mom was really convincing, so I bought it at first. And you and I are so different that it kind of made sense.”

  “It doesn’t matter that we’re different. You’re my best friend, Sam, and you have been for as long as I can remember. I’m so sorry my mom said that stuff to you. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

  “It’s all right. I never should’ve believed her.”

  “What did Erik mean about a pregnancy?”

  “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  She gave me a strange look. “Sam, are you pregnant?”

  “No. I just thought I was because of what your mom said.”

  I could see Allie’s mind trying to make sense of the whole thing. “Why would my mom say that? I don’t understand. Why would you believe her if you hadn’t done anything? Wait, was Colin at GlobalLife, too? Or did you think you got pregnant before GlobalLife took you? But then how would you and Colin—”

  “It had nothing to do with Colin, okay? Just forget it.”

  “So you thought you were pregnant but—” she stopped, finally figuring it out. “That guy I just met? Erik? You and Erik?”

  I remained quiet, which was basically an answer.

  “No way! When did this happen?”

  “It was nothing. It never should’ve happened. Well, nothing really did happen. Okay, a few things happened.”

  “Sam! You cheated on Colin?” She whispered it even though the door was closed.

  “Erik and I, well, we took things a little too far, but we didn’t have sex. At least I don’t think we did. I guess I don’t know for sure, but I definitely don’t remember doing anything.”

  “Then why did you think you were pregnant?”

  “Because Erik and I had too much to drink one night and we couldn’t remember what happened. And then your mom said I was pregnant.”

  “I can’t believe you cheated on Colin!”

  “Yeah, me either. But at the time, I didn’t think I’d ever see Colin again. And they made Erik and me spend every minute together. We even shared the same room. The same bed!”

  “Seriously? Well, that’s not even fair. Who could resist that guy? That body. That smile. Those eyes. I’d totally cheat, too!”

  “It’s no excuse, Allie. I shouldn’t have done it.”

  “Does Colin know?”

  “Yes. That’s why we’re not together anymore.”

  “He broke up with you?”

  “Of course he did! You know him. He’s all about trust, and I broke that. I lied to him about the whole thing. I acted like nothing happened, then he overheard me telling Dave about the pregnancy. I’m trying to get Colin back, but it’s going to take a while. It probably won’t even happen. He still doesn’t trust me. And now he’s hanging out with this Emily girl.”

  I explained the role Colin was playing in locating the alien genes and how it meant that he had to befriend Emily.

  “He can’t date her, Sam. It’s all just to get information.”

  “Maybe. But he’s really into her. He talks about her constantly.”

  “How did so much happen in just a few months?”

  The door opened and Brittany walked in. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

  Allie’s jaw dropped when she saw Brittany. She wasn’t prepared for how similar Brittany and I looked.

  “Brittany, this is my friend, Allie. I told you about her. We were friends in Minnesota.”

  “Hi.” Brittany glanced at Allie, not at all surprised she was there. Colin must have told her about us going to get Allie. “Sam, Dave wants to talk to you and then we’re having dinner.”

  “Okay. We’ll be right out.”

  Brittany left and Allie woke from her shock. “She looks exactly like you. That is so weird.”

  “Well, she is my identical twin.”

  “So your parents never knew about her? How is that possible?”

  “I’ll tell you about it later. We should go out there so I can get yelled at again.”

  “Sorry to cause so much trouble, Sam. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried contacting you. But I wasn’t sure what else to do. And I seriously didn’t even think it would work.”

  “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Did I actually hear you say not to worry? You’ve really changed, Sam. Like completely changed.” She smiled at me as we left the room. “I like the new you.”

  We went to the kitchen and found Colin and Brittany making dinner. “You’re supposed to go downstairs, Sam.” Brittany kept her eyes on Allie. “Is she staying?”

  “Yes, she’s staying overnight,” Colin answered.

  I went to the basement. Jack and Dave were sitting next to each other. Erik was across from them, his arms crossed.

  “Is Erik in trouble, too?” I took a seat next to him.

  “This isn’t about you sneaking out today,” Dave said. “And Erik is here because he was bleeding earlier, just like you did.”

  Erik turned to me. “I had a nosebleed. Big deal.”

  “It is a big deal, Erik,” Jack said, “and it means that you probably did some damage to your brain. Sam, Erik said that you two shared a mind connection yesterday with your friend, Allie.”

  “Why didn’t you wait so we could both tell them?” I thought to Erik.

  “Because they saw the blood and freaked out,” he thought back. “They assumed that’s what I was doing. I tried to deny it, but then you brought that girl here, so I had to tell them.”

  Jack continued. “He said that you were the one controlling Allie.”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, I guess I was. I made her head turn to look out the window. That’s it.”

  “So no headaches, Sam? No nosebleeds?”

  “No. Nothing.”

  Dave didn’t seem to believe me. “Well, you’re both going to get another scan tomorrow. First thing in the morning. I just contacted Abigail and told her what happened. She’s getting everything set up. And until we know you’re okay, you both need to avoid using telepathy.”

  “Okay. Was that it? They’re waiting for us upstairs.” I got up to leave.

  “No. We need to talk to you both about something else.”

  Jack looked at Dave. “Maybe we should wait, Dave, until Abigail’s here. They might have questions.”

  “Yes. That’s a good idea. Okay. We’ll talk about it later. Let’s go have dinner.”

  “Do you know what they’re talking about?” I thought to Erik as we went upstairs.

  “No clue,” he thought back. “Maybe we should read their thoughts.”

  “We’re not supposed to be doing that, rem
ember?”

  “Now you want to follow the rules, Sam? I just heard how you snuck out today to get that girl.”

  Dave grabbed my shoulder as we sat down at the dinner table. “Hey, are you two—”

  “No,” I lied.

  “So, Allie, where’s your mom?” Erik asked, still not trusting her. “Won’t she be worried that you’re not home?”

  “She’s in Europe right now at the—” she stopped, not wanting to mention GlobalLife.

  “At the GlobalLife headquarters?” Dave asked. “In Sweden?”

  Allie kept her eyes on her dinner plate. “Yes. She said there’s some big meeting there with a bunch of investors. She seemed really stressed out. Even more than usual.”

  “Did she say anything else about it?”

  “She said that something happened with the project. She didn’t say what project, but I assumed it was this whole thing with Sam.” She glanced up at me.

  “What did she say happened?” Jack asked.

  “She said some of the investors were pulling their money out and that she had to go there to convince them not to do it. That’s all she said. She didn’t mention any specifics.”

  “So the investors are starting to learn that the project isn’t going as planned.” Jack smiled as if he finally realized that Allie might be helpful after all.

  Allie’s news confirmed that the rumors planted by the rebel group were spreading. Someone had seen those negative studies and articles on the Internet. The Founders were starting to ask questions. It was the first step in putting an end to The Samantha Project.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Matchmaker

  Allie seemed eager to get off the topic of her mother. “So were you able to open the files I gave you?” she asked Dave.