EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA)

by Barbara Cross

  Turning to find me still in the foyer, he asked, “What are you doing?”

  “You said you loved me,” I grinned.

  Daniel came back, put his arms around me and lifted me up so my face looked right into his and said, “Yes, Paige Devon, I love you but I thought you already knew that.”

  “No, but I hoped. I love you too,” I whispered because I had a lump in my throat.

  “I’m glad because you’re stuck with me,” he joked.

  “I’m fine with that.”

  Putting me down softly, Daniel kissed me. He snapped me out of my euphoria by saying, “Paige, let’s get to work because the sooner we find the envelope, the sooner this’ll be over.”

  “Fine, but I’d rather kiss you” I whined.

  Daniel shook his head grinning and dragged me upstairs to dad’s office. We searched for hours and nothing.

  When my stomach began grumbling, I realized it was almost one o’clock. In the kitchen, we made sandwiches and decided that we’d check my parents’ bedroom next.

  Their bedroom was so soothing and tranquil. The furniture was white and the bedding and curtains were all blue toile. I felt really bad snooping around their personal things.

  We found nothing and Daniel said, “Maybe because of my involvement and with things constantly changing, you haven’t been given the second envelope yet and it’s still at the firm.”

  “It’s hard to search there,” I said.

  “I’ll send people there tonight. Don’t worry. We’ll get in.”

  Amber was barking by the door and I realized that I’d forgotten to walk her. Going outside and getting some fresh air got us both out of the doldrums. We walked up Central Park West and turned around when we got to the Museum of Natural History.

  I wondered if Mom was home, so Daniel called someone and said she wasn’t. It was so weird that strangers knew all about my life.

  John Costra walked out of the building as we approached and I realized that Daniel never told me what EMIT had found out about him. He stopped to talk, so I introduced Daniel.

  “Lucia and Luke are coming home early. Lucia has an audition for a Broadway play.”

  “When will they be back? I really miss them.”

  “Not sure yet. Lucia is waiting to hear what day her audition is.”

  After he left, I asked Daniel, “I’m presuming he’s been cleared or you would’ve told me.”

  “You’re correct and if we didn’t find that bomb, he’d be dead right now.”

  “I can’t believe it. What was the point?”

  “The bomb was to scare you, not to kill you.”

  “I’d be responsible for John’s death and Luke wouldn’t have a dad.

  “It didn’t happen, so get it out of your mind.”

  “What if Luke and Lucia were home?”

  “They weren’t,” Daniel said trying to calm me down. “Everything that comes into this building is being scanned by an EMIT agent. We have video surveillance on all the floors, all the elevators and all the stairways. No one can get to you without us knowing about it.”

  So they had seen me cry in the elevator and the hallways. “You don’t have cameras in my apartment do you?” I asked anxiously.

  “No, only on the outside.”

  “Good. What did James say to John when he talked to him?”

  “James met him in the lobby and was keeping him busy, while an agent put surveillance equipment in his apartment. James said that he was thinking of buying an apartment and asked questions about the building. He said that I was a friend of yours and he was coming with me to look at your apartment. John asked if your family was moving, but James said no he just wanted to look at the layout.”

  Back upstairs, Mom called to say that Martin, Marina and Anna were coming for dinner. Dad wanted to see Martin before we left for London and Daniel was welcome to join us.

  “My mom wants to know if you’d like to have dinner with us tonight. My brother and his family are coming.”

  “Is your brother going to interrogate me, too?” Daniel asked.

  “Martin won’t. Don’t worry.”

  “We’ll see,” he said grinning. “What time is dinner?”

  “I think six.”

  “I’ll leave and come back. I don’t want your mom to think the worst.”

  “You’re right, I told her to call before she came home,” I said feeling guilty. I hoped we put everything back in the right places.

  “See you soon,” Daniel said trying to hide his frustration, which was written all over his face.

  Exhausted, I sat in the living room waiting for Mom and watched a silly movie. Hearing the door open, Mom entered the apartment laden with groceries and Carl was behind her carrying more. I jumped up to help as best I could, wondering what Carl and the other doormen thought of Daniel constantly coming and going out of the building. I’d have to ask Daniel what they told the doormen because Carl looked at me strangely as he left.

  “Why didn’t you use a cart?”

  “There were none. People take them into their apartments and forget to bring them back.”

  Entering the kitchen, a bag that was precariously placed in my right arm was about to fall so I yelped. Mom turned, dropped her bags on the floor and rescued the groceries from me.

  “Mom, when I see the doctor on Wednesday, do you think this cast will come off? I can’t take it anymore!” I said, getting upset.

  “Sweetie, the doctor said six weeks and since it’s only been three weeks, the answer is no. It’ll be off soon enough. It hasn’t stopped you from having a great summer. Am I right?”

  “You’re right. Why am I complaining?” I said, beaming.

  “Speaking of Daniel, is he joining us?”

  “Yes, he is. I told him to come at six.”

  “Okay. Marina will be here around then, too. Dad and Martin more like six-thirty.”

  Mom cooked and we had a great time talking until she brought up Daniel. Mom called him ‘poor boy’ so many times because of his dead parents that I left to change my clothes.

  In my room, I checked my computer and found that all was fine in the world of my friends. I texted Lily and asked her to come over on Tuesday so that we saw each other before I left. I suggested we do something with Daniel and Chad.

  Daniel arrived and we sat in the kitchen chatting with Mom while she cooked. I couldn’t wait for Martin and Marina to meet him. When Carl informed us that Marina and Anna were on their, Daniel and I walked to the elevator to help Marina with the baby. While waiting, I got some kisses and as our lips locked, the elevator door opened and Marina stood there staring at us.

  “Well, hello. This is quite a surprise,” Marina said, as she looked at both of us one at a time.

  “Oh, hi, Marina. This is my boyfriend, Daniel.” I said smiling when I realized it was the first time I had introduced him like that.

  Before I could say more, Marina introduced herself. “Hi, boyfriend Daniel. I’m Marina and this is Anna.”

  “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Unfortunately, Daniel, I’ve heard nothing about you.” Marina looked at me with a ‘why haven’t you called me?’ face and looked hurt.

  “Marina, I’m sorry since my accident, I haven’t been calling anybody,” I said.

  Instead of making things better, Marina appeared more annoyed and said, “I’m not just anybody. I’m family. I called you twice last week and you’ve never returned my calls.”

  Oh my God. I did get one call and I forgot to call her back! I apologized profusely. But there weren’t two calls, just one! Daniel had to do something about my cell.

  I was playing with Anna when Amber started getting finicky by the door. Mom made a move to take her out, but Daniel offered to do it and walked to the foyer.

  “That’s very kind of you, Daniel, but Amber won’t go with you. If anyone tries to walk her, she runs away.” Just as she finished her sentence, Amber sidled up to Daniel to allow h
im to clip the leash to her collar.

  Mom was stunned. “Great Amber, make me look like a liar.” Mom shook her head in amazement. “I’ve never seen her voluntarily go to anyone like this before. Maybe it was all the time you spent with her on the Island.”

  “Probably,” I said. “I’ll come with you.”

  “Play with Anna, I’ll be right back.”

  As Amber limped out, I asked “Mom, are you taking Amber to the vet?”

  “Yes, I have an appointment tomorrow. I have to know what that lump is before we leave. I don’t want Grammy to worry.”

  Mom went to check on the food and as soon as we were alone, Marina pounced on me. “Okay, spill it. Who is he and where did you meet?”

  “I met him in Central Park at the end of June. I thought he had a girlfriend. We bumped into each other on the Causeway Beach and I found out I was wrong. That’s basically the whole story.” God, please forgive me for all these half-truths.

  “Well, he’s gorgeous and seems very nice, but that’s all I have for the short amount of time, I’ve talked to him,” Marina admitted.

  Knowing that people were listening to the conversation, I had no intention of gushing about Daniel. As I crawled around the floor chasing Anna, the door opened and Dad, Martin and Daniel entered the apartment together.

  “Hi, everybody,” Dad said. “As we walked up the street, I said to Martin, ‘someone has a dog that looks just like Amber. When we got closer, I saw that it was Daniel and was amazed that Amber went outside with him.”

  Mom laughed. “I was floored too. She must have spent a lot of time with him.”

  “What can I say dogs love me,” Daniel joked.

  All evening, Martin seemed cold and distant. During dinner, Martin mentioned that people should take things slow in relationships and Daniel tapped my foot under the table. I looked at him and saw Mom glancing at me. I realized that besides this being a get-together because we were leaving for London, my parents were using Martin to tell me to slow things down with Daniel. Was this some sort of intervention? It didn’t matter what they thought. It only mattered what Daniel and I thought, and there was no way we were slowing anything down. Daniel was my destiny. I knew it and so did he.

  Martin, Marina and Anna were at the door leaving and Dad got a phone call. He put the call on hold. “I have to take this. Good night, I’ll see you when we get back.” He left looking upset and I presumed it was about some case.

  It was still very early, but Daniel left with them. I wondered why he didn’t stay. In my room, I waited for his call. “You miss me already?”

  “Always, you know that.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry about Martin.”

  “I expected it so don’t worry.”

  “It’s so annoying though. My parents must have asked Martin to say something. What’s totally absurd is that Martin and Marina started dating in high school.”

  “It’s understandable. Your parents see this raffish bloke appear and try to steal their daughter. Don’t get mad at them. What I would give to have my parents around. You’re very lucky.”

  “I’m leaving now for your dad’s office. Call me when you wake up.”

  “That’s why you left so early. I forgot you were going. Please be careful.”

  Right after we hung up, Lily called. “Hi, Lily. Are you coming tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, I told Chad about it.”

  “I forgot to tell Daniel, but it’ll be fine.”

  Again that night, I had terrifying dreams and woke up a lot. I wondered if my sub-conscious was trying to tell me something or were they premonitions of what was to come. Was it possible that they were memories of what had happened to me? EMIT went in and saved me, but was it possible that those events happening remained in my subconscious.

  

  The morning was dark grey and wet. Needing my Daniel fix, I called him.

  “Why are you up so early? It’s only seven!” he asked.

  “What are you talking about? You were the one working. How’d it go?”

  “We found nothing. It’s really frustrating. Do you think you could go and look around?”

  “I doubt I’ll do any better, but I’ll see if Dad can have lunch. I’ll call you when Mom leaves.”

  When I walked into the kitchen, Mom was finishing the clean up from last night.

  “Did you ask Martin to say something about relationships or was that all Martin?” I asked.

  “We like Daniel, but you’re rushing into a serious relationship.”

  “I’ll be eighteen in December. You can’t tell me who to like or to date. Martin and Marina met in high school, so Martin saying anything is so ridiculous. It’s like the pot calling the kettle black. Don’t you think?” I asked angrily.

  Mom looked frustrated, but didn’t say anything to rebut my comment.

  “Where’s Dad?” I asked.

  “He went in early. There was an emergency. Sonia called in sick on Friday. Yesterday, she didn’t come in and when she didn’t call, the office got concerned. Maria called Sonia’s parents in Massachusetts and they hadn’t heard from her either. Maria went to her apartment in Brooklyn last night and got the super to open the door. Sonia wasn’t there, but her pocketbook with her wallet, cell phone and keys were. It’s like she just disappeared. They notified the police and now it’s a missing person’s case.” My heart stopped beating.

  “Hopefully, everything will be okay,” she said.

  Walking backwards, I said, “I’m going to go to Dad’s office, maybe I can help somehow.”

  “I’m sure he’d like it, but call him first, he might be going crazy.”

  I knew if I called, he’d tell me not to come and I was going. As I reached for my cell, it rang. “I didn’t want to tell you about Sonia. I didn’t want to scare you,” said Daniel.

  “When did you find out?”

  “Last night, when your dad heard it from Maria.”

  “I thought you were watching her, what happened?”

  “The agents had no idea she ever left her apartment.”

  “Wasn’t she being bugged?”

  “We didn’t bug her apartment. There was a tracker on her cell, but since it was left behind that didn’t help,” said Daniel.

  “Did Sonia disappear before?” I asked wondering.

  “No. Things are changing so rapidly that it’s impossible to go by past events.

  Quickly dressing, I went back downstairs. Mom was taking Amber to the vet and then going to work. The minute she left I texted Daniel, and shortly after, there was a knock on my door.

  I opened the door and found Luke standing there. Lucia was behind him smiling.

  “Hey neighbor! Luke’s been begging since six to come say hello. I couldn’t hold him back anymore.”

  “I missed you,” I said and picked him up with my good arm. Good thing he’s light. As I hugged him, I began twirling him. Lucia came forward dodging his flying feet. I put him down and he beamed his tanned face at me.

  “You got so dark!”

  “I’ve been swimming without my swimmies,” he proudly informed me.

  “Wow, that’s great!” Turning to Lucia, I asked, “How are you?”

  “Good, I had to come back for an audition. How’s your arm. I can’t believe what happened.”

  “I know. It’s getting better. I just want this cast off.”

  The elevator door opened and Daniel came walking down the hallway. He was his usual breathtaking self. Lucia watched him as he approached and raised her eyebrows at me.

  “Hey, Paige,” Daniel said and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Lucia, Luke this is my boyfriend, Daniel. Daniel, these are my neighbors, Lucia and Luke.”

  “Well, well,” Lucia said, “It’s very nice to meet you.” Luke was behind Lucia peering up at Daniel cautiously.

  “You too,” Daniel said and got down on his knees to chat with Luke. As he showed Luke a magic trick with a coin, Lucia gave me the thumbs up sign. I nodde
d. After we said we’d get together soon, Daniel and I went into my apartment.

  “Come here, beautiful,” he said as I walked into his arms. The scent of him was so familiar that I would know it was him with my eyes closed.

  I was so worried about Sonia. “Do you think she’s okay?”

  “We’ll try and find her, but I don’t think it’ll be a good outcome, so be prepared.”

  I hoped that Sonia was okay. When terrifying scenarios began swimming in my head, I realized that I wasn’t helping anybody and needed to get empowered somehow.

  It finally came to me. “Do you have a gun?”

  “Yes,” he answered, as his brow furrowed.

  “Where is it? I’ve never seen it.” He lifted his jean leg and it was strapped to his leg.

  “Where was it on Long Island? You were in shorts.”

  “The boat or the car and when we were out, I always wore long pants.”

  “Can I have a gun?”

  “No.” Seeing the fear in my face he added, “I’ll be with you. Don’t worry.”

  I closed my eyes. All the sleepless nights filled with nightmares were getting to me.

  Daniel asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m so tired. Almost every night, I have crazy dreams about getting hurt or killed. Do you think it’s possible that I’m reliving real memories?

  “I’m not sure,” Daniel answered. “I guess it’s possible. Those things did happen to you, but since you’re the only person I’ve ever spoken to about this, I can’t be positive. I’ll ask the scientists about it.”

  “Thanks. I keep dreaming of this man that was recently found in the park with amnesia.”

  “You are?” Daniel asked sounding amused.

  “Yeah, why’s that funny?”

  “That guy did try to kill you. We gave him a drug to forget things and he had a bad reaction.”

  “And you just left him in the park?” I gasped.

  “He’s not a good guy, but don’t worry about him. His family finds him at the hospital.”

  “Will he get his memory back?”

  “No, but he’ll stop being a criminal.”

  Daniel got a text that a car was waiting for us downstairs. It was time to leave.

  “You’ll be safe inside. You met Jared, right?”

  “Yes...”