The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5)

by Christine Kersey

  “Maybe,” Amy said, but she didn’t seem confident about it. “But he’ll hear the alarm and catch us. Then he’d know we want to escape.”

  Of course she was right. “Then we need to escape as soon as we can after we get to wherever it is he’s taking us.”

  We changed as we talked, and Amy agreed to be in charge of the backpack. She added the flashlight to the matches, food, and water.

  “At least we’ll be wearing coats when we go out,” I said.

  Nick knocked on the bedroom door a short time later. “Are you girls ready?” he called through the door.

  I looked at Amy. She nodded, then I opened the door.

  Nick’s gaze went to the backpack on Amy’s shoulders. “What’s in there?”

  “Just some stuff I want to bring,” Amy said.

  He held out his hand. “Let me see it.”

  Amy sighed, then gave it to him.

  He unzipped it and dug around, then looked at me with puzzlement. “Are you planning on going somewhere?”

  “What if something happens?” I asked.

  With annoyance clear on his face, he stared at me a moment, then he shook his head. “Leave it. You won’t need it. You’re coming straight back here afterwards.” He set it aside and motioned for Amy and me to exit our room.

  I glanced at Amy with a frown, then headed towards the garage.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As we left Nick’s neighborhood, I felt invisible in the back seat of his car, the tinted windows feeling like a barrier from the Enforcers who would find me. There weren’t a lot of houses in the area, although there was a bus stop about half a mile away. It felt good to see something besides the inside of Nick’s house.

  Thirty minutes later we drove into a parking garage underneath a building. I didn’t know this area at all—not that that would help me anyway. My sense of direction was non-existent. I hoped Amy’s was better than mine.

  “We’re going to the third floor,” Nick said as he escorted us through the empty garage and toward an elevator.

  “Where is everyone?” There were only a couple of cars parked in the stalls.

  “Today is Saturday and this is an office building. Most people are off today.”

  I wondered if he’d planned a Saturday news conference from the beginning for that very reason. Fewer people who might see me.

  We stepped into the elevator and Nick pressed the button for the third floor. It was ten o’clock. One hour until showtime.

  A few minutes later we entered a reception area that had a number of offices with closed doors.

  “We’ll be in here,” Nick said as he ushered us into a conference room with several pieces of equipment laid out on the large table.

  Five men I’d never seen before were in the room, and they all zeroed in on me.

  “How’s it going?” Nick asked one of the men.

  “Like clockwork,” the man said with a smile.

  “Morgan,” Nick said as he turned to me, then gestured to the man. “This is Paul. He’ll be in charge.”

  “Hi,” I said, wondering how hard it would be for Amy and me to sneak away from him, although without our supplies we’d be at a disadvantage.

  “This is Morgan’s sister Amy,” Nick said, then he introduced the rest of the people in the room. “I’ll leave you to it,” he said to Paul, then he turned to me. “Paul will tell you what to do. Just give the answers like we practiced.”

  Now that this was upon me, panic became a living thing, growing inside me, telling me I was going to fail. What if Amy and I couldn’t get away? What if I had to actually do the news conference? What if the Enforcers found us and dragged us away? No outcome would be a happy one, as far as I could tell.

  Nick must have seen the dread in my face because his voice became soothing. “Don’t stress about it. If they ask a question you don’t know the answer to, just say you’re not ready to answer that right now. Okay?”

  Due to my sudden inability to speak, I nodded.

  He smiled with what was probably supposed to be encouragement. “Paul will make sure you’re both safely returned to my house afterwards.”

  I remembered Nick’s assumption that his people would be able to get their hands on an Enforcer’s radio. Without it, how would they know when our position had been found? My fear pushed the words past my frozen throat. “Did someone get an Enforcer’s radio?”

  His smile never wavered. “We’re working on that now.”

  That means no. My panic edged up a notch.

  “Try not to worry, Morgan. We have very competent people on top of this. We don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  I wasn’t sure my safety was as important to them as it was to me. In the end they would be more concerned about themselves. Wouldn’t they? I pretended that his words had comforted me, forcing a smile onto my face.

  His smile grew. “Good luck. You can tell me how it went when I see you back at the house.”

  A moment later he left. I glanced at Paul, but he and his team were focused on setting up their equipment. I turned to Amy with a frown.

  She raised her eyebrows at me, then said loud enough for everyone to hear, “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “I need to go too,” I said.

  “I’ll have someone accompany you,” Paul offered.

  “No,” I said. “I’m sure we can find it.”

  He shook his head. “That’s out of the question.” Then he looked at another man. “Scott. Go with them.”

  “Yes, sir,” Scott said, then he turned his attention to us. “This way, ladies.”

  We followed him out of the room and down the hall to a women’s restroom. Once inside, I turned to Amy. “How are we going to get away?”

  “I don’t know. That guy’s not going to let us go anywhere alone.”

  “Maybe if they aren’t paying attention to us we can slip out.”

  She nodded. “Maybe. But what about the backpack? We don’t have anything now.”

  “I know,” I said, frowning. “If we can get away, we’ll deal with it then.”

  Once we returned to the conference room, Paul told us to sit in the far corner, which was also the farthest point from the door, then he announced that he’d stationed two men somewhere outside the conference room, which gave me mixed feelings. It would be next to impossible for us to sneak out, but it would also be hard for someone to sneak in.

  As eleven o’clock approached, nervousness made my stomach ache. Paul’s men had set up a camera that would capture my image and stream it live to the media who were several miles away waiting for me to appear. In addition, we could see an image of what was going on at that location. People milled about, evidently waiting for me to show up. I saw a number of reporters, as well as regular people. There were also Enforcers. A lot of them.

  “Who’s going to tell them I’m not coming?” I asked, trying to ignore the worry that filled my mind even as I accepted the inevitability of this news conference and my part in it.

  “We hired a public relations person to set this up, and right before eleven he’ll get the message from our team that we’re doing this remotely instead. That’s when he’ll announce it to the media.”

  For a moment I became concerned about this nameless person. Would the Enforcers arrest him? Torture him? I hoped not.

  “What’s Nick doing?” I asked, hoping Paul might tell me something Nick had refused to.

  Paul frowned at me. “That’s not your concern. You need to stay focused on your part in this.”

  Sighing, I looked away from him.

  “It’ll be fine,” Amy whispered next to me as she put her hand on my arm. “Just tell the people what happened to you.”

  Her reminder that I wasn’t actually the one who’d experienced what everyone thought I’d experienced sent my nerves tingling. Trying to think of something besides my fears, I looked at the large screen hanging on the wall, which showed clumps of Enforcers encircling the area where they thought
I was going to appear. This didn’t help my fear. It heightened it.

  All those Enforcers against Paul and his few men? There was no way they could hold them back. Heart pounding, ears ringing, my vision began to narrow to a pinpoint and I feared I was about to pass out.

  I bent forward, hanging my head between my knees, trying to get blood to flow back to my brain. Breathing slowly and deeply, a few moments later my vision cleared and the ringing in my ears stopped.

  How am I going to do this?

  “Morgan?” Amy said. “Morgan, are you okay?”

  Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at my sister. She had complete confidence in my abilities, but that was only because she thought I was DM. Our eyes met and I couldn’t hide the utter terror that shone from my soul.

  “It will be okay,” she said with a smile. “I’m right here with you.”

  I nodded, slightly comforted. Having her there definitely helped, although I knew it was ultimately up to me.

  “Okay, Morgan,” Paul said. “Sit in this chair.” The chair he pointed to had a camera and microphone situated directly in front of it.

  Though my legs felt like they were weighed down with iron, I forced myself to move to the chair, grateful that at least I would be sitting. If I had to stand, I was certain my legs wouldn’t be able to hold me up.

  “The broadcast will begin in five minutes,” one of the men said.

  We all turned to the large screen on the wall and it seemed as if the number of Enforcers had doubled. I guess Nick’s getting what he wants. Me as a distraction. The thought didn’t bring me any satisfaction. Instead I wondered what Nick was doing that was so important that he needed all of the Enforcers’ attention turned towards me.

  “Did you get a radio?” I asked Paul as my panic edged further upward. “From an Enforcer?”

  He looked at me with a smug smile. “Yeah. One of our men on the ground has one and he’ll relay any information we’ll need.”

  Relief blossomed within me. At least we’d have some warning when they pinpointed our location.

  Paul pressed his earpiece to his ear. “Turn on the sound, Brandon.”

  A moment later we heard someone speaking.

  “That’s our PR guy,” Paul said to me.

  “. . . not able to be here in person,” he was saying. “Instead, Morgan Campbell will talk to you remotely.”

  The camera was still focused on the crowd, and I saw the Enforcers immediately spring into action. They broke into smaller groups, some going out of view, others walking towards the front of the venue, most likely to where the PR man stood. Still others stayed where they were and kept a close watch on the assembled crowd.

  “If you’ll raise your hand,” the PR man said to the reporters, “I’ll call on you and you can ask your question. Ms. Campbell will then answer. But first, I’d like to give her an opportunity to make a statement.” He paused. “Morgan.”

  Here we go. My mouth had gone dry, but I forced myself to remain calm. Amy had slid into the seat beside me—out of range of the camera’s lens—and I turned to see her smiling with encouragement. Never before had I appreciated my sister like I did at that moment.

  Paul nodded at me and I saw a bright red light atop the camera come to life. Nick and I had practiced this, and I glanced at the sheet of paper we’d prepared.

  “Hello,” I said, then cleared my throat. “First I want to thank everyone for coming to talk to me today. I’m sorry I can’t be there in person, but as you can imagine, it wouldn’t be in my best interest to do so.”

  I glanced at the camera before looking back at the paper. “As most of you have seen in the video I recorded, my time in both Camps Willowmoss and Stonewater was horrific. I was drugged, abused, and tortured by the very people who were there to supposedly help me.” I glanced at the camera again, wondering what everyone was thinking, wondering if my family was watching this on television. “Before I was forced to go to these Federally Assisted Thinning centers, I’d had no idea how they really were. I’m sure most of you didn’t have any idea either.” I gazed at the camera, finally feeling like I was speaking as myself. “Well, now we all know how they are, and I hope you agree with me that they need to be closed down. No one deserves to be treated like that.” I continued reading the statement Nick had helped me prepare, and then I answered several questions from the reporters.

  Fifteen minutes into the news conference, sudden movement caught my eye. I looked at Paul and saw him press his earpiece tight to his ear.

  “Okay,” he said into a miniature radio, then he looked at me. “They’ve found us.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Paul’s gaze shot to Brandon. “Cut it off.” A moment later the camera’s red eye dimmed. “We need to leave. Now.”

  My heart went into a gallop. They found me. They found me. They found me. No other thought formed in my mind, and I froze.

  “Morgan,” Amy said as she jumped up and tugged on my arm. “Come on.”

  “Let’s go,” Paul commanded, and finally I broke out of my paralysis.

  Paul, Brandon, and the other man hustled Amy and me out of the room and to the emergency stairs.

  “I hope Nick had time to do his thing,” Brandon muttered to Paul.

  “Me too,” Paul replied.

  We went as quickly as we could and when we reached the door to the parking garage, Paul told us to wait, then motioned his men forward. Brandon and the other man went through the door, leaving Amy and me alone with Paul.

  Waiting, we stayed silent, and a moment later someone spoke into Paul’s earpiece.

  “We’re clear,” he said to us, then he opened the door for us to go through. Terrified that Enforcers were waiting for us on the other side, I held my breath, but took a step forward. Amy was right behind me, and Paul followed her.

  When the only person who met me was Brandon and the other man, I let out my breath in a rush.

  “Scott said the exit is still clear,” Paul said to the two men, “so we’ll head that way.”

  I remembered that Scott, who had accompanied Amy and me to the bathroom, was one of the men Paul had sent out earlier. Evidently he was stationed near the exit to the parking garage. Knowing all of these people were looking out for Amy and me gave me a feeling of security, and I wondered if Amy and I had been too hasty in our decision to want to be on our own. Then I thought about the phone call I’d overheard. Mills’ suggestion that Nick turn Amy over to Holly to appease her was terrifying. Would Nick do that? And now that the news conference was over, had I served my purpose? Was I now a liability? But I’d met five more members of the resistance, as had Amy. Did that mean Nick’s trust in us had grown?

  Confused as to what we should do, I climbed into the backseat of the car like Paul told me to, and Amy got in beside me. We were alone. I looked out the window and saw Paul, Brandon, and the other man talking. Their expressions were intense, and I wondered what they were saying.

  “We have to get out of here,” Amy said. “Like, now.”

  “Yeah.” An overwhelming need to flee welled up inside me. The Enforcers knew our location. We had to go. A moment later Brandon got behind the wheel of our car, and Paul and the other man got in another.

  Without a word, Brandon started the engine and we surged forward.

  “Where are they going?” I asked as I watched the other car pull out ahead of us.

  “Put your seat belts on,” he said, then he pulled up to the exit of the parking garage and paused.

  Amy and I quickly engaged our seat belts, and a moment later Scott appeared next to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. “We gotta move.” His voice was calm, yet had an undercurrent of urgency. “They’re almost on us.”

  Brandon punched the gas, but it was too late. Enforcers came roaring around the corner, and they were headed directly towards us.

  Oh no, oh no, oh no. My gaze was riveted to the procession of vehicles that were now in our path. Brandon slammed on the brakes, then spun our
car around so that we faced the other direction, then he gunned it and we sped off.

  I turned around as best I could while wearing the seat belt, and looked out the rear window. “They’re right behind us,” I said to Amy, who sat rigid in her seat. Trying to distance myself from the horror of what was happening to me—chased by Enforcers!—I counted the number of cars following us. One, two, three, four, five, six. That only served to bring my simmering hysteria to a full boil. Pressing my hands to my mouth to hold in the scream that was crawling up my throat, I spun around and squeezed my eyes closed, attempting to blank out what was happening behind us.

  “They’re going to catch us, Morgan,” Amy whimpered. “Please don’t let them catch us.”

  We should have escaped from Nick’s house sooner. It’s all my fault. I should have just left with Amy when we had the chance. Although I knew we never really had the chance, I couldn’t stop the self-blame. I should have made the chance.

  I opened my eyes and looked at my younger sister. She’s counting on me. I have to get her to safety. One way or another. I have to.

  Our car approached a corner, but more Enforcers were coming from the side. We had nowhere to go, and I didn’t dare count how many Enforcers had joined the chase.

  “Hold on,” Brandon shouted, then he turned sharply to the left down a side street, then made a quick right. I turned in my seat and for five seconds I couldn’t see the Enforcers. Then they were there.

  “I’m going to make a couple more sharp turns, and then you girls jump out with Scott, okay?”

  Jump out? Out there?

  “Okay,” Amy said.

  “Everyone get out on the right, okay?” Scott said.

  Brandon made several more turns, and when he slammed on the brakes I knew the window for getting out without the Enforcers seeing us had arrived. “Now!” he shouted.

  Amy threw open her door and leapt out and I was right behind her. Scott had already gotten out of his side, and he shut the door to the backseat the moment I cleared it. Brandon peeled away, and Scott yanked Amy and me behind a dumpster where the three of us ducked down.