EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA)

by Barbara Cross

  “Lena, let’s talk about this later. There’s been enough excitement for one day.”

  “Fine, but I could scream! Lily, your mom isn’t coming. She said to call her later.”

  “I will.”

  “Girls, let’s go home. I’ll feel better making sure you two are safe inside. Will you be okay if I stay here with Dad tonight?”

  Lily nodded at me, so I said, “Mom, we’re good. We’ll just watch a movie and try to relax.”

  “Lena, no. I’ll be fine. Stay home and sleep there.”

  “No, I’ll walk the girls home and I’ll be back,” Mom said. “Girls go find Daniel. I want to talk to Oliver for a minute.”

  I hugged Dad and told him to get better. He smiled weakly and squeezed my arm.

  I put my arm around Lily and helped her up. She looked like she would fall over. We found Daniel in the hallway talking to Pierce. James was gone.

  “Mom is walking us home and coming back to stay with my dad tonight.”

  Pierce got on his cell and that’s when I noticed it. On his left palm, there were three black dots. It had to be a traveler thing.

  While we waited, Lily called Chad and told him what had happened.

  “Lily, tell him to come over. We can all hang out at my house tonight.”

  I glanced at Daniel and he nodded. “Everything will be okay,” he whispered in my ear.

  When we got to the apartment, Daniel offered to walk Amber. That was good, because I was never leaving the apartment until this nightmare ended.

  Mom went upstairs and came back down with a small bag.

  “Please feed Amber. She gets antibiotics twice a day after meals for the infection.”

  “She’ll just eat the pill?” I asked.

  “No, after she finishes eating, wrap the pill in American cheese or cream cheese.”

  “Okay. Is there food home or should I order a pizza?”

  “Whatever you want, but there’s a lot of chicken left from last night and there’s fresh corn. Don’t remove the husks. Put the corn in the microwave for four minutes.”

  “Okay, I will.” I looked over at Lily and she wasn’t looking very good.

  “Bye girls. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Mom kissed both of us goodbye.

  Lily collapsed on the couch and stared at me in disbelief, finally saying, “This is really scary. I have to tell my parents. I can’t keep this from them.”

  “Everything will be okay.” I tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working.

  “What if Daniel is wrong and they’re in danger? If anything happens to them I’ll never forgive myself.”

  “You can’t tell them. It’s complicated.”

  “I’ll talk to Daniel when he gets back and I’ll decide then,” Lily stated firmly. I’d never seen Lily that upset, but then she’d never been abducted before either.

  When Daniel returned, I took Amber into the kitchen to feed her and left them in the living room to talk. Honestly, I’d heard enough and just wanted to escape from it all. After Amber ate, I give her the medicine and I set the table for four. In case Chad was eating with us, we’d be ready. I put the chicken in the oven to warm up and started the corn. Preparing the meal made me feel like it was a normal night, but I knew it wasn’t. No matter, I would enjoy this moment of fake bliss and have dinner with my boyfriend. As I turned to get the glasses, Lily and Daniel entered the kitchen.

  “I told Daniel that I will give them time to find these men, but if anything happens to my parents the deal is off.”

  Daniel went to the beeping microwave oven and removed the corn.

  “What happened to the guy who grabbed me? Where is he?” I asked Daniel.

  He didn’t look up from buttering the corn. “He’s being interrogated.”

  Obviously, he’d had enough of this topic too or he didn’t want to talk in front of Lily. I saw him reach for something in the fruit bowl on the counter.

  I asked Lily if Chad was eating with us. She texted him and when we didn’t get an answer, we started eating without him. Chad showed up when we were eating ice cream.

  As Lily told Chad what happened, he was shocked. “Did they get arrested?” he asked.

  “We don’t know,” answered Daniel. “We left for the hospital.”

  Lily’s phone rang and she went to pick it up. “It’s my dad,” she mouthed, as she walked into the other room. I walked to the dishwasher and started loading the plates.

  Lily rushed back in saying, “We have a problem. My dad is calling the police station.”

  “Why is that a problem?” asked Chad curiously. Lily looked at me for help.

  “Lily was afraid that her dad would sue the guys who pulled the prank,” I answered.

  “Why’s that a problem? Those guys terrorized you,” Chad asked, looking at Lily.

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to say.

  “Those guys should get punished or fined. You could have gotten hurt,” Chad insisted.

  “I’d rather forget it ever happened. I don’t want to relive it over and over again.” With a frown, Lily walked towards the living room, saying, “Let’s watch a movie.”

  Before I could follow her, Mom called to see if we were okay and to tell me that Dad was doing fine. I told her that Daniel and Chad were over. Remembering about my appointment, I said, “I’m seeing the orthopedist tomorrow at one. Should I go alone?”

  “No, I’m coming with you. We’ll talk in the morning. Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out.”

  “Are we still going to London?” I asked feeling terrible that I was thinking about our vacation, while Dad was in the hospital.

  “We’ll know tomorrow. Take care of Amber. Love you.”

  Daniel had heard my end of the call and put his arms around me in a bear hug. We joined Lily and Chad in the living room. I threw my shoes off to get comfortable and sat on the floor against the couch

  “What does everybody want to watch?” Lily asked.

  “I don’t care, but nothing scary. I’ve been having nightmares all week.”

  “How about a comedy? We need to laugh,” suggested Lily. While she surfed On Demand, Daniel went into the kitchen to take a phone call.

  I went to get some water and as I got near to the kitchen, I could hear that Daniel’s voice sounded upset. When I walked in, he hung up.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  He shut the kitchen doors and picked up a disc from the bowl to show me. “This tracker that was in Amber is from the future and it’s not being made here yet.”

  “So EMIT did put it in her,” I said angrily.

  “No, that’s the problem. Everyone in EMIT is adamant that we had nothing to do with it. James is investigating and we have to find out who did this.”

  I just couldn’t talk about this anymore. “I’m sorry, but I need to lie down. Please come upstairs with me.”

  Daniel said sure and followed me out, but he was preoccupied texting

  “Lily, we’re going upstairs. You guys watch whatever you want.”

  “Okay…” she said, but she looked concerned.

  Daniel had been in my bedroom before, but not with me. While I sat on the bed, Daniel looked at the photos on my wall.

  “Come sit with me?” I asked.

  “I don’t think it’s such a good idea,” he said.

  “Why?” I smiled.

  “Because you might misbehave,” he teased.

  “I don’t have the strength and I’m physically and mentally drained,” I joked. “Did you forget I almost got abducted, Lily did get abducted and my dad’s in the hospital?”

  “I was just kidding. I know you had a horrible day. I wish I could make it all go away, but James won’t let me,” Daniel said, as he got on the bed and put his arm around me.

  “Yay, I won,” I said laughing and then realized what he said. “Wait, you asked James if you could change today?”

  “Yeah, but he said no. I feel really responsibl
e, but he said we can’t waste trips.”

  “You did everything you could.”

  “No, I should’ve walked right next to you and not let you get so far in front.”

  “Let’s forget about it. I don’t want to think about today.”

  We started to kiss. Everything disappeared but us. I was lost in Daniel.

  He caressed my back and asked, “Penny for your thoughts?”

  That question brought me back and I asked, “Will everything going to be okay?”

  Daniel stroked my cheek and kissed my lips. “Yes.” After another kiss, he added, “I hope so.” I shut my eyes and nuzzled into him. I tried to get those images of today to disappear.

  Something was shaking me and when I opened my eyes, I found Lily sitting on the bed.

  “Paige! Wake up. Amber needs to be walked. Chad’s gone and I’m afraid to do it alone.”

  Daniel opened his eyes and was temporarily confused. “I’ll take care of Amber. I’ll be right back.”

  “Lily, how did you stay awake after the day you had?” I asked sitting up.

  “I wanted to spend time with Chad and the movie was funny.”

  “I’m glad you had a good end to this horrible day.”

  “Do you want me to sleep in the guest room?” she asked with a smirk.

  “Lily, nothing happened, we just fell asleep. Well, we kissed. Stop making those faces, it’s annoying.”

  Returning just as I said that, Daniel asked, “What’s annoying?”

  “Lily,” I explained.

  Daniel said, “Okay. I won’t ask.”

  “It wasn’t anything important, I assure you,” Lily said. “What’s going to happen when my dad calls the police station?”

  Daniel thought a minute then said, “They’ll probably tell him that there’s no report of the incident and they don’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “Then what?” I asked.

  “He’ll probably want to talk to James.”

  “I don’t understand. Why did we say it was a prank?” I wondered.

  “We had to explain it away as a one-time problem not as a continuous one or your parents would panic. If they knew of the NSA involvement and the ongoing threat to you, they’d be terrified.” That was true. Daniel yawned. “Paige, I better get going.”

  “No, please stay,” I begged and looked over at Lily for help.

  “Please stay. After what happened today, I’d feel so much better,” Lily said.

  Looking at each of us, it was obvious that Daniel was torn. “Okay,” he said, watching my pleased expression. “I’ll stay in the guest room.”

  “No stay with me, it’ll be fine.”

  Daniel was about to say no but changed his mind. “Fine, do you have an extra toothbrush?”

  I nodded and told him where to look in the bathroom. I closed my eyes and fell asleep while he was still in the bathroom.

  

  As the morning light streamed in, I looked over at beautiful Daniel sleeping in my bed.

  When I heard a noise in the hallway, I presumed it was Lily. My bedroom door opened and Mom was standing there at first smiling and then she saw Daniel.

  “Come into my room, now,” she said through clenched teeth and walked out. She slammed the door so hard that Daniel woke up.

  He sat up and looked concerned. “Damn, I forgot to set my alarm. Was that your mom?”

  I sighed and nodded yes. “I think I’m dead.”

  Daniel laughed while he put his shoes on. “I better go. I knew not to stay, but I couldn’t say no after what you went through yesterday.” He kissed and hugged me. “I hope your parents won’t hate me. It makes dating difficult.”

  I said, “She’ll calm down eventually. Why didn’t the agents warn you?”

  “I have no idea, most likely to teach me a lesson for always turning off my equipment.”

  Daniel went downstairs and I went across the hall. She was sitting on her bed fuming. “Mom, nothing happened. As you saw, we were fully clothed.”

  “Why did he stay over?” she asked seething.

  “I begged him to stay because Lily and I were scared to be alone.”

  Lily came in and said, “Aunt Lena, I asked him to stay, too.”

  Seeing Lily pacified her and she said calmly, “You should’ve asked me. I’m not sure I would’ve said yes, maybe if he slept in the guestroom. I thought you knew better. Since you two were traumatized yesterday, I’ll let it slide, but know that Daniel is never allowed up here again. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, but nothing happened. Pretend he was a girl sleeping over.”

  “He’s not a girl, so stop with the wise comments.”

  “Blame me, don’t blame him. I begged him to stay.” I stormed out in a huff.

  Lily followed me out and said, “Calm down. She’s just worried about you …and your dad.”

  “It’s just dumb. We just slept.”

  “I have to take a shower,” Lily said and left. I knew she thought I was overreacting since she always said that whenever I got upset.

  “Fine, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  I made tea and waited for her and wondered if I should walk her to work.

  When she came in to the kitchen, I said, “Don’t go to work today.”

  Lily looked nervous. “I have to go. Pierce will meet me in the lobby and take me by car.”

  “Good. I don’t think I can handle a repeat of yesterday,” I said, exhaling with relief.

  “Me either. My mom is freaking out. She wanted me to take the day off and come home, but I’m working on a project that has to be finished today. It’ll keep my mind busy.”

  I walked Lily to the door and hugged her tightly. “Call me when you’re in your building.” I was worried. Yesterday, we had security and those goons got to us, so they could do it again.

  Mom appeared after Lily left and seemed more peaceful, or was pretending to be.

  “I’m running to the hospital. I’ll leave you the address for the doctor’s in case you have to meet me there. Although, I hope to be back with your dad and we’ll go together,” she said, as she wrote the address on piece of paper. Mom looked exhausted.

  “Why didn’t Dad come home with you?” I wondered. I was so wrapped up in being angry at her that I forgot to ask where Dad was.

  “Before the hospital releases him, he must be examined by the doctor. The doctor hasn’t made his rounds yet this morning. I came home to shower and change. I’ll call and let you know what’s going on as soon as I know.”

  The minute she left, I called Daniel and he came right over. I swung the door open and his smile warmed me all over. He must have just gotten out of the shower because as he kissed me, his wet hair touched my forehead.

  “It was nice having you with me all night,” I said happily.

  “I was thinking about you all morning,” he said, as he kissed me quickly. “What happened with your mom? I took a quick shower so I didn’t eavesdrop.”

  “She was angry, but she calmed down after Lily told her we asked you to stay.”

  “I’m glad. I really don’t want to upset your parents.”

  “Neither do I,” I admitted, even when they annoyed me.

  We sat on the couch and Daniel said, “I have to tell you something.”

  “Is it bad?” I asked.

  “Well, I’m not sure, but we have a problem. The Laura Burke we met the night Amber went missing wasn’t the real Laura Burke. The real Burkes have been in California all month visiting their daughter who just had a baby.”

  “What? Who was she?”

  “We have no idea. She must have put that tracker in Amber.”

  “I can’t believe this!”

  “James is checking all the surveillance footage. Maybe we can get her license plate and track her that way.”

  “How about that man that grabbed me yesterday?” I asked. “Did you find anything out?”

  “Yes, his name is Gilles Barnes. We’ll as
k him about that woman today and see if he’ll tell us who she really is. We have to find her and find out how she got that tracker from the future”

  “What else did he tell you?”

  “Basically, it’s what the agency suspected. This involves a terrorist group called Chakir. Since they need to fund this attack, this is all about money and access to it. The terrorists are looking for the banking information for close to ten billion dollars. Only three people were given the information to access the account. One of the three men, Omar, a chemical engineer, works in the technology division at a French firm and your dad is their attorney on a lawsuit. Omar put the banking information in some files involving the lawsuit and for some bizarre reason he put the data in three separate envelopes. Omar’s new secretary sent the files to your dad’s New York office by mistake.” Probably the same one that called us early that morning, I thought.

  “When Omar asked for the file, she told him that she sent it to New York. When Emir, the leader of the group, called for the information to transfer the funds, Omar had to tell him what happened. Since Omar was no longer useful, Emir had him killed after first torturing him to make sure he wasn’t lying and trying to steal the funds for himself.”

  Even though I was still shocked by all the brutality, a part of me was getting numb. “Why didn’t Emir just go to the other two men, get the information and access the account?”

  “When they heard that Omar was killed, Gilbert and Farid thought they were next and went into hiding. Emir got two teams together to handle the problem. One group is searching for Gilbert and Farid, while Gilles and his group tracked down the envelopes in New York. Gilles paid someone at the law firm to get the files out.”

  “Who?”

  “A file clerk named Todd Madison.”

  “I can’t believe it. He’s so nice,” I said shocked. I would have never suspected him. He seemed so nerdy, but maybe they threatened him. “How did he do it?”

  “Todd labeled all the files that your dad worked on by number and sent them one by one to your apartment by messenger whether your dad asked for them or not. Gilles would be told and he’d meet the messenger to search through the package. If your dad hadn’t requested the file, the messenger brought the file back to Todd. When Todd told Gilles that there were no more files, they knew something was wrong since they only found one envelope. Todd overheard Sonia ask you to take files home. He realized that there were files in your dad’s office that he didn’t have access to and he alerted Gilles. That was the day in the park that I stopped them. Eventually, you gave them that envelope. There’s still one piece missing of the password in the third envelope to access the bank account.”