Hard Time

by Chloe Fischer

  “I am not here about whatever you did,” Drake growled. “Give me the number.”

  Reluctantly, Tristan handed over a scrap of paper which she had written Xavier’s information on.

  Without another word, he whirled and left the women staring after him, their mouths gaping.

  “He wasn’t there, sir?” Goetz asked as he jumped back into the waiting car.

  “Very observant, Goetz,” Drake snapped. “Give me your laptop.”

  The agent obliged, putting the car in gear.

  “Wait,” Drake ordered. “We may not have to go far.”

  One hand dialling, he watched the screen before him.

  Instantly, he watched as lights appeared.

  The phone rang in his ear repeatedly but there was no answer.

  “Type this address into your GPS,” he barked at Goetz. “1002 Broadway.”

  The driver obliged and cleared his throat.

  “It’s about twenty blocks from here, sir,” Goetz announced.

  “Well you better start driving because that’s where Xavier’s phone is.”

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Goetz asked nervously as he pulled to the curb twenty blocks later. “It’s a taxi service.”

  “Goetz, your ability to point out the blatantly obvious never ceases to amaze me. Just pull over. I’ll be back.”

  He jumped from the car and hurried toward the entryway of the business.

  Night had fallen but Drake kept his glasses firmly in place, wandering up to the bored looking dispatch operator.

  “If you have complaints, take them up with the Better Business Bureau,” she told him in way of a greeting. A thin smirk covered Drake’s lips.

  “That’s a ringing endorsement for your company,” he retorted. “I’m looking for a cell phone.”

  She sighed, cracking a piece of gum and snorted.

  “It’s probably gone for good if you left it in one of the cabs,” she chortled.

  Again, Drake smiled mirthlessly.

  “My name is Drake Conway. I am the Chief Supervisor of the Central Intelligence Agency. I need to know who has that phone, a phone which I tracked here, to this building. Are we going to have a problem…” he peered at the sign on her desk, “…Brenda?”

  She seemed ready to laugh until Drake slapped his identification on the desk before her.

  “Roger!” she screamed. “Get out here!”

  A minute later, a surly looking man poked his head around from the garage.

  “Yeah Bren?”

  “This man is looking for a lost phone.”

  “Have you seen this man?” Drake asked, presenting a picture of Xavier on the desk. “His phone is somewhere in this building.”

  Roger’s face turned crimson.

  “He called the cops to get his phone?” he raged. “That bastard owes me a hundred bucks! I drove him all the way to Lubbock and then him and his girlfriend took off…somehow…”

  Roger seemed almost embarrassed.

  “Took off somehow?” Drake echoed. Roger glanced at his shoes.

  “They were there and then they weren’t. I can’t explain it.”

  Drake’s heart was thudding almost dangerously.

  “And his phone just happens to be in Amarillo?” Drake asked, eyeing the cabbie with annoyance.

  “He left it in the cab!” Roger protested. “It was the least I could hope to get to try and recoup my losses.”

  “Get it,” Drake ordered. “Now.”

  “No!” Roger growled. “I’m not – “

  Drake slapped two one-hundred-dollar bills onto the counter.

  “This is for the ride and the inconvenience,” he said. “Now get the phone and tell me exactly where you left this man.”

  Xavier was not at the bus station. That did not surprise Drake but he could sense that his son was nearby.

  He sat very still in the car as Goetz stared straight out the windshield, unmoving.

  He is here. I can feel him but how can I get to him?

  The anticipation and disappointment were almost too much to bear in conjunction as Drake closed his eyes.

  Son? Son are you there? He called out silently. It had been years since he had tried to reach his boys in such a way. He knew that time and logistics were factors but he wondered if he had simply lost the bond which they had once possessed, the bond which defied any earthly definition.

  Xavier, I am coming for you. Just send me a sign. Tell me where you are.

  He waited, air filling his lungs so full, he was sure they were about to explode.

  I am coming, son. I am so close now.

  “Chief Supervisor?”

  Drake’s eyes flew open and he stared angrily at the man in the driver’s seat.

  “What?”

  “There’s a fire at the Old Mill Motel on Main Street.”

  “How do you know?”

  Goetz smiled tightly.

  “I know many things, sir. It is why you find me useful.”

  The men stared at one another for a long moment.

  Oculus liked fire. It was often their calling card.

  Drake shuddered as he remembered the house in New Haven, burning to the ground, taking with it all the memories of his family.

  Could it be Oculus? Somehow they had managed to find Xavier after all this time?

  It was a long shot but it was something.

  “I assume you have your firearm, Goetz.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Then what the hell are you waiting for? Drive!”

  It was the uncanniest sense of deja vu as the SUV squealed to a stop. Emergency crews had yet to arrive but fire spread outward from one area on the upper floor of the bedraggled complex. Two men were stationed just outside of the burn zone. One man, holding a fire extinguisher, tossed it behind him just as the man who was standing in the doorway leaned into the room as if to grab someone.

  Drake watched in horror as his son was thrown from the interior, into the grasp of the waiting man. He would have recognized his second born anywhere.

  Xavier tried to run back inside and Drake realized that someone else was in the room. Roger’s words replayed in his head suddenly.

  “I drove him all the way to Lubbock and then him and his girlfriend took off…”

  “No!” Xavier screamed. “Danica, no!”

  As if in slow motion, Drake leapt from the car, pulling his nine-millimeter from his belt and fired two shots.

  The first hit the man reaching to steady his son. Instantly, he collapsed to the ground, dead from a bullet to the head.

  From inside the room, another man whirled to aim his own pistol at Drake but he was down before he had finished his pivot.

  Drake did a half turn and took out Goetz, whose face contorted in shock as the bullet pierced his throat.

  “Wh-wh – “Goetz gargled as Drake kicked the gun from his driver’s hand.

  “You think I didn’t know you were working for Oculus?” he spat. “You are a disgrace - to both sides.”

  He fired one last shot, ending Goetz’s life.

  Screams filled his ears and he pulled his head up to see Xavier stumbling from the burning hotel room, a girl in his arms.

  “Get in the car!” he ordered them. “We have to get out of here before law enforcement arrives.”

  Xavier did not argue, placing the woman in the backseat before sliding in to join her.

  Drake took the driver’s seat and they disappeared from the lot as the screech of sirens tore through the night.

  “Do you need medical treatment?” Drake demanded, eyeing them in the rear-view mirror.

  “No…I don’t think so,” Xavier muttered, looking at the woman. “Danica? Do you need a hospital?”

  “No! No hospitals,” Drake told them. “I have a guy if she needs attention.”

  “I don’t,” Danica said, sitting up. She coughed a few times but Drake could see she was unharmed.

  “We’re
going to drive all night,” Drake told them. “We have to relocate.”

  “Relocate?” Danica echoed. “We don’t even have a location.”

  “Yes,” Drake said gravely. “You do.”

  “Who are you?” Xavier asked but as he spoke the question, Drake could tell he knew the answer.

  “I am your father, Xavier. Drake Conway.”

  The younger man slumped back against the seat, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “I don’t understand what is going on. Why is this happening? Where have you been all my life?”

  “Xavier, in 1989, you and your three brothers were taken from me and put away in secret spots for your own protection. The locations were unknown even to me. The only person who had knowledge as to where you had been sent was killed. I had no way to find you. I’ve never stopped trying though. I only recently found the information he had hidden that gave a clue as to where you had been sent.”

  “Why? Why would anyone want to hurt us?” Xavier demanded. “I was a kid in 1989.”

  Drake stared at him in the rear-view again.

  “You must know that you are special, Xavier. You were not just any kid.”

  “Oh my God…” Danica whispered. “You mean Oculus is after you? Has been after you your whole life?”

  Drake’s head whipped around sharply.

  “How do you know Oculus?” he demanded.

  If I have to kill this one, Xavier is going to be crushed. I can see in his eyes that he cares for her. He just risked his life for her. I wonder how long they’ve known each other.

  “It’s a long story…Drake,” Xavier muttered, turning to look out the window. “What are we going to do now?”

  Drake paused, remembering his last experience in finding one of his sons. He hesitated, choosing his words carefully this time.

  “That’s up to you,” he said gruffly. “I would like for you to stay with me. I can guarantee you protection and security.”

  Xavier eyed him speculatively and Drake found himself cringing.

  I promised him that once before, he thought. Why would he believe me now?

  But to his surprise, Xavier leaned forward.

  “You want us to stay with you?” he asked, a catch in his voice. Drake’s brow furrowed.

  “Of course, Xavier, you’re my son. I have never stopped looking for you. When I learned about Sonia…”

  He cleared his throat as a lump formed.

  “If I had known, Xavy, things would have been a lot different for all of us.”

  Their eyes met in the mirror and Drake saw that Xavier seemed to grudgingly believe him.

  “What about Oculus?” Danica piped up. “What are you going to do about them?”

  Drake paused.

  “That depends on you,” he said again. “I have spent my adult life playing cat and mouse games with these terrorists, but I know that with the abilities the five of us possess, together we may be able to stop them once and for all.”

  “Five of us?” Xavier echoed. “We all have abilities?”

  “Well…yes,” Drake said slowly. “But we can discuss all that later.”

  There was a long silence, each member of the car lost in their own thoughts.

  “You don’t have to decide anything today – “ Drake started to say, feeling like he might be losing them.

  “I’m in,” Danica interrupted. “You are offering us a chance to get revenge on the group who killed my best friend and separated you from your family for almost thirty years! I am so in.”

  Drake smiled in appreciation, but her answer wasn’t the one he was holding his breath to hear.

  “Xavy?”

  “There is no question that we are with you, Drake, but I do have one question…”

  The older man’s heart filled with relief.

  “Ask me anything,” he murmured, feeling tears burn his eyes.

  “Is there any chance that your house has a white picket fence?”

  He stared at his son but Xavier was looking into his girlfriend’s surprised grey eyes.

  “If you want a white picket fence, I will have one built,” he said gruffly.

  “I do want one,” Xavier confirmed and Danica laughed.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Sacramento, California

  “Gran! There’s strangers at the door!” Alex yelled.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake, Alex, be polite,” Elise Berkley scowled, appearing at the threshold. She peered at the couple, a cool smile on her face.

  “Hello,” she said, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice. “What can I do for you today?”

  “Good afternoon, ma’am, I am Christine and this is Daniel. We’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We wanted to spread the good and joyous word of our Lord and Savior to your household. Could we come in for a few moments?”

  “Oh, gracious, actually, I am just about to take my grandsons out to a movie. Maybe you could leave a brochure – “

  “This will only take a few minutes of your time and there are no more eager ears than that of our youngest generation,” the woman said, smiling pleasantly.

  Elise’s mouth parted slightly but no words came out.

  A long pause ensued and then the couple turned away.

  “Thank you for your time and God bless!” the man called back.

  The door closed quietly in their wake.

  The young couple made their way down the long drive and back up the street where Drake waited in the SUV.

  “Any problems?” he asked.

  Xavier smiled, shaking his freshly cut hair.

  “Nope. ‘Christine’ here really knows her bible speak.”

  Drake snorted and looked eagerly back at them.

  “Are you sure you got everything? Let me see.”

  “I got it,” he assured his father, holding up the paper with the coordinates that he had quickly copied for him to look.

  “Do you think this will help us get to the others?” Xave asked hopefully. Drake grinned at him.

  “Yes,” he said. “At minimum, it’s a start.”

  He sat back and pulled away from the curb, humming to himself.

  “Hey, Dad?” Xavier called. “Could you turn on the news?”

  Danica cast him a sidelong look.

  “Honestly, Xave, you’ve got to let that go,” she sighed. “They aren’t going to find him.”

  “Who?” Drake called back.

  “No one!” they answered in unison.

  “Are you talking about that sexual predator NBA guy who went missing in Austin?”

  His inquiry was met with silence.

  “Danica’s right,” Drake said. “They’re never going to find him.”

  “How can you know that?” Xave scowled. “You don’t know anything about the situation.”

  “I know that someone dropped him in Lake Tanglewood where he would eventually float to the surface or be found. But lucky for that guy, someone else went and disposed of the body properly.”

  Xavier gaped at him.

  “How did you know anything about that?” he gasped, looking at Danica in shock. “Did you say something to him?”

  She shook her head vehemently.

  “Of course not!” she hissed. “How can you ask that?”

  Drake chuckled.

  “Your friend at Lady Katrine’s would have been a very poor witness if someone had questioned her. And she doesn’t know how to clear out her GPS tracker. What was her name? Sasha?”

  Xave exhaled.

  “It’s over?” he asked quietly. “All of it? All the running and hiding?”

  “That part is over,” Drake assured him. “The future is just beginning.”

  Xave looked at Danica and smiled, grasping her hand tightly.

  “You are my future,” he murmured, kissing her cheek softly.

  “And I think, that you have always been mine,” she replied.

  Lat
er that evening, as they were preparing for bed, Danica noticed that Xave seemed deep in thought – granted that was not unusual for the quiet strong type that he was, but so much had happened that she was a little worried.

  “Is something wrong, Xave?” she questioned. “You seem like something is on your mind.”

  He regarded her levelly, pausing as if he was trying to choose his words carefully. “I just want to make sure. Really sure. That you are okay with all of this. A few months ago, your life was completely different. Now, because of me, you’re an Oculus enemy instead of an Oculus employee. You’ve had to dispose of a dead body. You’ve been shot at, and almost killed a few times.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “And you’ve learned something about me and my family that no one has ever known. I’ve never told anyone about my abilities, Danica. Never. I’ve never trusted anyone…” And then he paused, looking away, as if realizing he had shown too much of his hand.

  “Xave, if I would have known what kind of organization Oculus was, I never would have worked for them! And neither would Twila. They have no conscience! How could they just kill innocent people like that? And how could you think that finding out about your abilities would change how I feel about you?” she said with exasperation. “If anything, your ability explains a lot about how you grew up. And frankly, it explains a lot about why you are the way you are,” she said with a sly grin.

  He looked at her quickly, his mind put at ease a little about how she was feeling about all the changes in her life – and more importantly, about him. “Oh yeah?” he said with a glint in his eyes, as he stalked her toward the bed. “And what exactly do you mean when you say ‘the way you are’?”

  She held her hands up defensively, placing them on his chest, but he kept advancing on her until she had no choice but to sit on the bed. He bent forward, placing his arms on either side of her, trapping her in place. “I mean, how you’re so…distrustful…and…strong. And…dark.” She placed small nibbling kisses along his chiseled jawbone as she gave him her description. Then she lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck and pulling him down onto her on the bed. His hand slid up her ribcage, under her shirt, lifting the fabric up until he could slip it over her head.

  “Oh yeah? Dark, hmm?” And his hand pulled her breast from her bra by pinching lightly on her nipple. A soft moan escaped her as she felt the assault on her breast all the way in her core. “Well let’s see if you can’t brighten up my day, shall we?”