A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3)

by Karpinske, Stephanie

  “Not yet.” He looked at Jack. “We should tell them what we found so far in those files from Owens.”

  “Are you sure?” Jack glanced over at Allie.

  “If she’s going to help us, yes.” Jack nodded for Dave to continue. “From the files, we’re almost certain that the alien genetic material is not stored at the GlobalLife Genetics facility like we thought. At least not the one that Rachel’s working at. It’s being stored at one of their other locations.”

  My excitement over the rumors faded. I felt hopeless again. “But they have locations all over the world. We’ll never find it.”

  “I’m sure my mom knows where it is,” Allie insisted. “I’ll find out, Sam. I promise.”

  “So does that mean Colin doesn’t have to hang out with Emily anymore?” Brittany asked. I appreciated her sisterly support.

  “No, he needs to keep seeing her,” Jack said. “Emily’s father knows where the genes are. We just need to see if Emily knows. It seems like she’s really starting to trust you, Colin. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yeah. She’s starting to tell me more about her dad. I talked to her today. She keeps asking me to come over to her house on Saturday night. Maybe I should go.”

  I nudged Allie under the table. His comment was proof that this girl was trying to date him. And Colin almost sounded like he wanted to go out with her on Saturday.

  Jack shook his head. “No. That’s too risky. You’ll have to decline.”

  “Does this girl live in the city?” Allie asked Colin.

  “Her dad has an apartment in the city, but she doesn’t live there. She lives in a town about 30 minutes from here. She goes to a private school called The Academy.”

  “I know a girl who goes to The Academy. If you want me to get any information about Emily or her family, I can.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s necessary,” Dave said. “Colin seems to be doing fine on his own. Just see how far you can take this, Colin.”

  Erik smiled. “I’m sure he will.”

  Brittany punched him. Another act of sisterly support.

  Jack got up. “I need to check on the status of those files.”

  “Allie, can I have a word with you?” Dave asked.

  Allie looked surprised. “Yeah, okay.”

  Dave took Allie into the living room, giving me a look to butt out. They talked for a half hour while Erik, Brittany, Colin, and I cleaned up dinner. I could have listened in, but I wanted to give them privacy. When they were done, I saw Dave give Allie a hug. She looked like she’d been crying. Dave went downstairs and I followed him.

  “What did you say to her?” I whispered to him. “You made her cry? She never cries.”

  Dave sat down at his computer. “I knew Allie wasn’t telling us everything. I just had to see what she knew. It’s very hard to betray your own mother, Sam. Even if Allie is angry with her mom, it’s still difficult. But if Allie’s going to help us, she has to work against her mother. And I wasn’t sure if she was up for that.”

  “So what did you find out?”

  “She knows what you’ve gone through, Sam. She knows what GlobalLife did to you back in Minnesota. Even things I wasn’t aware of. Allie saw detailed reports in those files she found. Her mother’s name was on every one of those reports. Eve knew about your pain and suffering and did nothing to stop it.”

  “Why didn’t Allie tell me this?”

  “She’s ashamed. And she’s still trying to comprehend how her mother could be so evil. She can’t talk about this with you, Sam. It’s too difficult for her. She still loves her mother, as any child would, but she knows she can never trust her again.”

  “Thanks for telling me this, Uncle Dave.”

  “Don’t let her know what we talked about, okay? This is just between us. But I know now that she’s committed to this, even if it means bringing down her own mother.”

  I went back upstairs. Colin and Allie were talking in the living room. “Sam, I was just telling Colin that my mom gets back tomorrow night. We should start planning what questions you want me to ask her.”

  “Forget all that GlobalLife stuff.” I took a seat between Colin and Allie on the sofa. “Let’s just pretend we’re back in Minnesota hanging out in Colin’s basement watching movies on that giant floor TV that never worked.”

  Colin smiled. “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, Sam. My parents finally got a flat-screen TV for down there. It’s huge. They got it at Christmas, so you didn’t get to see it.”

  “Sure, now they get a good TV. When your sisters are in college and you’re almost done with high school.”

  He laughed. “I know, right? They said they didn’t want us kids to have the good stuff. But it was probably best that they waited. We always took over the basement. With us gone, they can finally use it themselves.”

  Allie turned to face Colin and me. “Sam, remember last Halloween when Colin and Brad made us watch like four horror movies in a row in that stupid basement? I think your basement was haunted, Colin. It was always making strange sounds.”

  I punched Colin. “Yeah, I hated those horror movies. I was freaked out for weeks. Why did you guys make us watch those?”

  He put his arm up behind me on the sofa. “Why do you think? You two were all over us that day. That’s the only reason guys take girls to horror movies. Same thing with roller coasters. Works every time.”

  “And remember winter formal?” Allie continued down memory lane. “Was that the greatest school dance ever or what? Sam, you looked so pretty that night, didn’t she, Colin?”

  I felt him staring at me. “Yeah, she looked beautiful.”

  I knew what Allie was trying to do. It was sweet of her, but not going to work.

  “It was such a great night. Everyone was talking about you two. You guys are so great together.” Allie was really overplaying it now.

  Colin seemed uncomfortable. He took his arm off the back of the sofa. “Allie, Sam and I aren’t together anymore.”

  “Yeah, I know. Sam told me. But I still think you two belong together.”

  “Okay, Allie. New topic,” I said. “Any new guys in your life?”

  “No. I actually kind of miss Brad. I know I brushed him off for all those years, but now I wish I could see him again.”

  “Ha! I knew you really liked him,” Colin kidded. “And by the way, I told him that.”

  “You didn’t!” Allie reached around and punched him.

  “The guy needed some sliver of hope, Allie. He was about to give up on you. I did you a favor.”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter now. I’ll never see him again.” Allie put her head on my shoulder. “I hate how so much has changed. I just wish everything could go back to how it was before.”

  Colin and I agreed. But at least the three of us were together. After all we’d been through, we somehow managed to meet up again.

  We continued to reminisce. Allie tried even harder to lure Colin back to me. Brittany and Erik stayed in their rooms until Jack and Dave came upstairs with news about the files.

  “We were able to get one of the files open,” Dave said, “and if the information in there is correct, the alien material isn’t far from here. It’s in Manhattan. That’s the good news.”

  “What’s the bad news?” I asked him.

  “The material is in a highly secure vault at GBL Capital Management, the investment firm owned by GlobalLife.”

  “That’s my mom’s office,” Allie said. “I was just there last week.”

  “Allie, the file said that your mother is the lead person at GBL assigned to raise funds for the enhanced genes project. That means she would have high-level security clearance on anything related it. Do you know if she has access to the vault?”

  “No. But I could try to get her to tell me if she does.”

  “No, don’t do that. Questioning her about it would make her suspicious.” I could see Dave thinking. “Getting access to that vault will be nearly impossible. I’m sure the b
uilding has extremely tight security. Allie, do you think you could get your mother to take you back to her office in the next week or so?”

  “Sure. She’d love it if I showed interest in her job. She hates that I’m planning to major in journalism. I’ll just tell her I’m interested in business and that I want to see what she does at work.”

  “Excellent. When you’re in the building, try to locate the vault. Make note of any rooms that are closed off or secured in some way. Also see if the number of security guards changes throughout the day. And if you can, try to remember where the cameras are located.”

  “Got it. Anything else I can do?”

  “We’ll need a way to communicate with you that won’t be traced back to us. There’s a woman we work with who lives just a few blocks from your apartment in New York. Here’s what she looks like.” Dave held out a photo of the woman. “She’ll be just inside the park entrance across from your building every day at 4. If you need to tell us something, go see her at that time. If she needs to speak with you, she’ll leave a note with the doorman saying you forgot a book at school. If you see that message, you’ll know to go meet her at that location.”

  “When did you get all this planned out?” I asked Dave.

  “Never mind about that, Sam. Any questions, Allie?”

  “Even if I find the vault, how will we get the genes?”

  “Just find the vault and we’ll go from there.” Dave started to leave, then stopped. “One more thing, Allie. If you can do so without being too obvious, ask your mother about the project. Even if it’s general things, like what she’s working on.”

  “Yeah, okay. I can do that.”

  “Great. Oh, and I’ll be taking you to the train in the morning. Sam, make sure she’s up by 6.”

  Jack and Dave went downstairs. Erik headed to his room, still irritated by Allie’s presence.

  “I’ll sleep on the couch,” Brittany offered. “I know you guys will be up talking all night.”

  “Thanks, Brittany,” Allie said. “It was nice meeting you.”

  Brittany didn’t answer. She went to grab some blankets and pillows from the hall closet.

  Colin gave Allie a quick hug. “Get me up before you leave so I can say goodbye.” He headed to his room.

  “Aren’t you going to kiss her goodnight?” Allie called after him.

  He stopped and turned around. “Goodnight, Sam.”

  “Goodnight.” I waited for him to go in his room, then I dragged Allie to mine. “Allie, stop pushing him.”

  She took a seat on the bed. “This is so ridiculous, Sam. Why are you guys acting like this?”

  “I’m not acting like anything. I’m trying to get him back. He’s the one being stubborn.”

  “You’re barely trying. All night, I was handing you opportunities to win him back and you just sat there. Or you changed the subject.”

  “Because you were embarrassing me! You were making me look desperate. Colin doesn’t want to be pressured into getting back with me, Allie.”

  “I’ll admit I was a little over the top, but that’s my job as your friend. And it’s not like Colin’s going to listen to me anyway. But he will listen to you. And I gave you all these chances to tell him—”

  “What chances? What are you talking about?”

  She sighed. “You’re so clueless sometimes, Sam. Okay, for example, when I mentioned the horror movies and he said how he only made you watch them because it meant you’d be all over him? You were supposed to say that you’d do that even without the movies.”

  “That is so lame, Allie. I’d never say that.”

  “Then you could have just said how you had a really good time even though you hated the movies. He’d know what you meant.”

  “Well, sorry. I didn’t know I was being set up like that.”

  “Or when I mentioned the winter formal? Did you see how he was imagining it again in his head? Like he could still picture you in that dress? He said you were beautiful, Sam.”

  “And what was I supposed to say?”

  “Say how much you loved that night. Say how being with him is what made that night so special. Geez, Sam, do I have to write this stuff out for you?”

  “No. I’m just not very good at this.”

  “You two have a history. A long history. A great history. So remind him of that. I think you guys are so caught up in what’s going on here that you’re forgetting what you used to have.”

  “A lot’s happened since we left Minnesota, Allie. Colin can’t get past the whole Erik thing.”

  “So you made out with the guy. Big deal. You’re 18. You’re allowed to make mistakes. Colin knows that. And he’d forgive you if he knew you really wanted this thing to work.”

  “Allie, I snuck out with the car and stopped Colin from getting on an airplane. That should have proved I wanted him back.”

  She looked confused. “You’ll have to tell me that story later. But even if you did do that, it’s not enough. You can’t do one thing and that’s it. You need to keep showing him that you want him back. Like tonight when he wouldn’t kiss you goodnight? You should have gone over and kissed him. But instead you just stood there! Every day, you should be flirting with him, complimenting him, grabbing his hand when he sits next to you.”

  “You never do any of that stuff with a guy, Allie. You completely ignore guys you like.”

  “That was just a game that Brad and I had. It was our thing. He knew that I loved playing hard to get it, so he went along with it. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t have dated for two years.”

  “So you finally admit that you two were dating?”

  “This isn’t about me, Sam. Listen, I really want you and Colin to be together. And I know you do, too. So don’t screw this up.”

  I laughed. “Okay. We should probably sleep a little since you have to be up in a few hours.”

  “We can sleep later. We don’t have much time together. We’re staying up all night.”

  We talked straight until morning. I felt like we were kids again having a sleepover only this time I actually stayed awake. In the morning, I didn’t want Allie to go. I didn’t know when, or if, I’d see her again.

  Colin was up at 6 to have breakfast with us. Allie made a last-ditch effort to get Colin and me together. “Sam, doesn’t Colin look nice today?”

  He was wearing gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt, but he did still look hot. “Yeah, you look really good, Colin,” I said, playing along.

  Colin looked at Allie and me like we were crazy. “What are you two up to? Are you guys being sarcastic? Because sometimes I can’t tell. Is my hair a mess or something?” He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “No. In fact, your hair looks great,” I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  It took him by surprise. “Okay, something’s up. What is it?”

  “Don’t be so paranoid, Colin.” Allie smiled at me to show her approval of my performance.

  “Are you ready to go, Allie?” Dave raced into the kitchen, dressed in a shirt and tie, probably because he was seeing Abigail soon.

  “Yeah. I’ll go grab my stuff.” She took off to the bedroom.

  “Colin, are you coming with us today?” Dave asked.

  “I wasn’t planning on it.”

  “I’d really like it if you came along,” I said, taking his hand.

  “Okay.” He glanced down at his hand in mine. “But I have to meet Emily at 3.”

  Stupid Emily and her stupid guitar. Getting Colin back would be so much easier without her getting in the way. It’s just a little competition, I told myself. I can handle that. Like Allie said, Colin and I had a history. He had nothing with Emily.

  “I’m ready.” Allie had her coat on, her backpack slung over her shoulder. “Did you think of anything else you need help with, Dave?”

  Dave went to get his coat. “No. There are some very interesting things in those files, but nothing that you could help with.”

  “Then I guess this i
s goodbye.” She came over to hug me. “Good job, this morning,” she whispered. “Keep it up.”

  I smiled. “I’ll see you later, Allie. Be safe.”

  She went to hug Colin. I heard her whispering to him, too. “Don’t be so hard on her. She’s trying.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  An Idea

  Dave dropped Allie at the train station. Then we all left for the rebel group house. Erik and I went downstairs for our brain scans. When we were through, we found Jack and Dave at the kitchen table talking to Rachel. Colin and Brittany were there, too.

  “How’d it go? Any results yet?” Dave asked.

  “No. They said they’d come up here as soon as they knew anything.” I sat down next to Colin and held his hand. He gave me a strange look.

  Rachel smiled. “Well, as I was saying, it seems that the rumors we planted reached more than one Founder. In fact, three of them have already backed out of the project. That means millions of dollars of funding are now gone. GlobalLife is pressuring Owens to help convince the Founders to stick with the project. And they’re having me brainstorm ways to spin the story from a PR perspective.”

  “And what did you come up with?” Erik asked.

  “Well, if I was really doing this job, I would have come up with plenty of good ideas. But since I’m working on the other side, I just came up with the usual big business response to damaging rumors. You know, like how the studies and articles are nothing but junk science from unreliable sources. How we need to stay the course. How those negative studies have nothing to do with the project we’re working on. That type of thing.”

  “What if they actually believe that?”

  “No, they’re smarter than that, Erik. These are the same people who make up similar fake responses for their own companies when something goes wrong. It won’t be long before they start digging for information to see what’s really going on. And when that happens, they’ll be coming after Eve Taylor and demanding their money back.”

  “Speaking of her,” Dave said, “I’m not sure if you heard that we’re now looking at Eve as someone who might connect us with the alien genes. Her daughter, Allie, is friends with Sam. And Allie’s agreed to help us on this.”