The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5)

by Christine Kersey

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to give them a chance to call the Enforcers before we even get there.” Even as I spoke with surety, I worried that my idea would fail before I’d had a chance to make it work.

  “Okay. That makes sense.”

  I smiled at my sister, her complete faith in me boosting my flagging self-assurance. A short time later we entered the building’s lobby and walked straight to the directory, which was posted near the elevators.

  “Fourth floor,” I murmured after I’d quickly perused the list of businesses in the building. We got in the elevator, but when I pressed the button for the fourth floor, nothing happened. I pressed it again and again, but the elevator never moved. “Do you think you have to have a pass or something?”

  “Maybe,” Amy said. “What are you going to do?”

  “I think we’re going to have to call them so that someone will let us go up.”

  “I saw a phone on the wall by the directory,” Amy said.

  A moment later I held the phone in my hand and waited while it rang on the other end.

  “News Five,” a female voice answered in a semi-bored voice.

  “Hi. I’m in the lobby and I need to come up to your floor to talk to someone.”

  “Who do you want to talk to?”

  I couldn’t remember the name of any of the news anchors. “One of your reporters.”

  The woman sighed. “What is this about?”

  I hesitated, knowing in my gut that I shouldn’t reveal my identity. But saying something about Morgan Campbell would surely get their attention. “I have some information about what happened today with the Morgan Campbell interview.”

  The woman was silent for two seconds. “Okaaay.” She dragged the word out, like she was interested but skeptical. “I’ll send someone to escort you up.”

  “Thank you.” I hung up the phone and turned to Amy with a grin. “We’re in.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  We waited five minutes before the elevator slid open and a girl who looked like she was in her early twenties stepped out.

  “Are you the one who called?” she asked us.

  “Yes.” I wondered how long it would take her to recognize me, fearful about what she would do once she did.

  “I’m Cami.” She smiled and held out her hand.

  “Hi.” I shook her hand but didn’t give my name.

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me, then she gestured to the elevator. “Right this way.”

  Had she recognized me? Would she report me the moment she had access to a phone? Apprehension slithered up my spine and I wanted to turn and run, but the elevator door slid closed and Cami waved her card in front of a reader before pressing the button for the fourth floor.

  “What did you say your name is?” she asked as she looked right at me.

  I said the first name that came to mind, and even kept my voice steady as I spoke. “It’s Holly.” I glanced at Amy. “That’s Rochelle.”

  “Hi,” Amy said with a smile.

  “Hey,” Cami replied, barely looking at Amy before focusing back on me.

  Terrified about what this girl was thinking, my stomach churned.

  The elevator doors slid open.

  “Here we are,” Cami said, then she stepped out and turned to me and Amy.

  When I hesitated, Amy put her hand against my back and gently nudged me forward. I left the relative safety of the elevator, and when Cami turned and walked toward a glass door with her station’s logo painted on it, Amy and I followed.

  “Wait here,” Cami said once we reached the reception area. She smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

  The moment she was out of earshot, I turned to Amy. “Do you think she recognized me? Do you think she’ll call the Enforcers?”

  Her forehead creased. “I don’t know.”

  “Maybe we should leave.” Anxiety squeezed my chest.

  “Hello,” a woman said as she crossed the reception area and headed towards us.

  I immediately recognized her from the news broadcasts I’d seen my parents watching. “Hi.”

  She held out her hand. “I’m Jessica Walker.” She wore a tailored business suit, and her blonde hair brushed against her shoulders.

  I shook her hand. “I’m Holly, and this is Rochelle.”

  “I understand you have some information about the Morgan Campbell incident.”

  “Yes.”

  She looked at me expectantly.

  “Can we talk somewhere private?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Certainly.” We followed her to a room that held a table surrounded by half a dozen chairs. “Have a seat, Holly.”

  Amy and I sat across from her.

  “What did you want to tell me?” she asked.

  I stared at her a moment. “Do you really not recognize me?” I had to know.

  Jessica’s smile never wavered. “Of course I recognize you, Morgan. Your picture’s been all over the news today.” She laughed. “I, myself, have spent quite a bit of time reporting on the Enforcers’ search for you today.”

  Alarm rippled through me. She knows it’s me. Cami must know too. Did she call the Enforcers? Is this woman stalling me until they get here? I jumped out of my chair. “It was a mistake coming here.”

  Jessica stood as well. “Please sit, Morgan. You’re safe here.”

  “What about Cami? I think she recognized me too.”

  “Yes. She told me that you were in reception.”

  I stayed standing. “Did she call the Enforcers?”

  Jessica shook her head. “No. I promise you that she didn’t. No one has.” She paused. “Look, Morgan. You came to us.”

  “Like I said, I made a mistake.”

  “Please, give me a chance.” She smiled softly. “Being the first reporter to talk to you directly is quite a scoop. I wouldn’t ruin that by calling the Enforcers.”

  For some reason, I believed her. Besides, I had nowhere else to turn. Slowly, I sank back into my chair. She sat as well.

  “Now. Why did you come here?”

  Heart hammering in my chest, I gazed at her a moment, then took a deep breath and slowly released it. “I assume you know about the news conference today and how it ended so suddenly.”

  She half-smiled. “Yes. Today is usually my day off, but I came in just so I could report on your news conference. I was a bit . . . disappointed . . . when I didn’t get to ask a single question.” Her smile grew. “I suppose I’m making up for it now.”

  It kind of amazed me that my appearance at a news conference would make someone give up their day off, and that me showing up now would make this woman so excited.

  “Before we go any farther, Morgan, would you mind if I had my cameraman come in here to film our conversation?”

  I hesitated.

  “I promise he’s trustworthy.”

  That was one of my concerns, but the other was timing. “When will you show our interview?”

  “As soon as possible, of course.”

  Of course. “You have to give Amy and me time to leave first. Like, at least an hour.”

  “I understand.”

  I didn’t know if I could trust her to keep her word, but again, I didn’t know what other choice I had. “Thank you.”

  “Wait here while I get my cameraman.”

  When she closed the door behind her, I turned to Amy. “So far, so good.”

  “Yeah. Do you think it will work though? Do you think it will make a difference if people hear your side of the story?”

  “I hope so. I mean, if the news people are talking about how the Enforcers are hunting for me, then maybe getting my side of the story will persuade people to pressure the Enforcers to back off.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?”

  My heart plummeted at the thought. “It has to work Amy. It just has to.”

  The door swung open and I jerked my head around so that I could see what was happening.

  “This is Mac,” Jessica said. �
�He’s going to film our conversation.”

  I nodded and met the gaze of the man who stared at me. A moment later he broke the contact, then carried his equipment to the other side of the room. After a short time he had everything set up, with the camera pointed in our direction. “All set, Jess,” he said.

  “Thanks.” She turned back to me. “Morgan, tell me what happened this afternoon. You were in the middle of a news conference when you were abruptly cut off. What happened after that?”

  I told her how the Enforcers had found our location, and how we’d raced out of the building.

  A look of genuine concern filled her face. “What are you going to do now?”

  I shrugged, and as the reality of our predicament crashed over me, tears filled my eyes. “I don’t know.” I knew that now was the time to make my plea to everyone who would eventually see this interview, and I didn’t try to hold back the tears as they spilled over my lashes and ran down my cheeks. “I haven’t done anything wrong, and now my life is in danger.” I paused. “I’m only sixteen.” The seriousness of my situation overwhelmed me—Amy and I were alone, I had no idea what to do, the Enforcers would be thrilled to get their hands on me and take me to Holly the torturer. A sob rose from my throat and I didn’t try to stop it. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

  Jessica’s eyes shimmered and I could tell my words had touched her. I was glad I was having that effect on her because that meant I would probably have the same effect on the people who would later watch the interview.

  “One day I was going to high school like every other teenager, and the next I was locked up in a F.A.T. center getting tortured by grown-ups who I thought were supposed to help me.” My tears flowed faster, and the emotions I felt were genuine. Even though I wasn’t the one who’d been tortured, I was terrified that inevitably I would be.

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Morgan,” Jessica said as she rested her hand on my arm. “I’ve seen the video that you made when you were in Camp Stonewater, and I want you to know that I think it’s disgusting what they did to you.”

  My tears slowed, and I nodded. “Thank you.”

  “If you can,” she continued, “would you tell me how you felt when you realized that the people who had you under their control were only interested in gathering information from you? That they had no problem torturing you—a teenaged girl—to get what they wanted.”

  I nodded, then put myself in Duplicate Morgan’s place as I described how betrayed and hopeless I’d felt. “I know the Enforcers were mad at me for pretending to be someone else,” I added at the end, “but I don’t understand how they could do that to anyone, especially to a teenager. It just seems so . . . so barbaric.”

  “The Enforcers are saying that you and your friend Billy may be responsible for the death of Enforcer Hansen,” Jessica said. “What do you have to say about that?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know anything about that. I swear. All I want is to go back to my life and be with my family.”

  “What about Billy Foster? Where is he?”

  In some other world where it’s supposedly legal to be overweight. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in, like, a week.” That was completely true.

  Jessica asked me more questions about my time in Camp Willowmoss and Camp Stonewater, and I answered her questions the best that I could. Two hours later she stopped asking questions, then offered us something to eat. We gratefully accepted her offer, and after we’d eaten, I asked, “Are we done?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Thank you so much for talking to me.”

  “Thank you for not calling the Enforcers.”

  “I’d like to talk to you again, and I know you wouldn’t be willing to talk to me if you couldn’t trust me.” She paused. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

  “Not yet.”

  She smiled. “Wait here a moment.”

  “Okay.” When Amy and I were alone, I said, “I’m glad we came here.”

  “You did great,” she said.

  “Thanks.” Her praise meant a lot, because if she’d believed I was DM, then everyone else would believe I was DM too.

  A few minutes later Jessica returned with Cami right behind her.

  “Cami’s agreed to take you somewhere safe,” Jessica said.

  Agreed. Did that mean it wasn’t her idea? How did she actually feel about that? Because she could get in a lot of trouble for harboring Amy and me when the Enforcers were searching for us. My gaze met hers and she smiled. Her expression seemed sincere, but it was hard to believe she was really willing to put herself on the line for two people she’d just met.

  “Are you guys ready to go?” she asked.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I was more than ready, but I was also hesitant. I had to protect not only myself, but Amy. I didn’t want to lead us into a trap. There was a reward for our capture. Does Cami know that? I frowned. She works in a newsroom. Of course she knows.

  Amy and I followed Cami out of the room where we’d been for the last two hours.

  “We’ll take the elevator down to the parking garage,” Cami said as she pressed the button to call the elevator. A moment later the three of us stepped into the elevator and Cami pressed the P. “Jess said she was really happy with the way your interview went.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to see it.”

  She seemed sincere, but I couldn’t help but worry about what—or who—would be waiting for us once the doors to the elevator opened.

  A moment later we reached the parking garage, and to my relief, no one was there.

  “My car’s over there,” Cami said, gesturing to a nearby stall. Without a word, we followed her to a dark green car where she used her key fob to remotely unlock the doors. “Climb in.”

  I got in the passenger seat, while Amy got in behind me. Once Cami slid into the driver’s seat, I turned to face her. “Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?”

  She looked at me with a frown. “I’ve seen what they did to you, Morgan, and I don’t think it’s right.”

  “But you could get in a lot of trouble.” I exhaled a breath of air. “A lot of trouble.”

  Her lips pressed into a straight line, and she glanced at her lap before meeting my gaze. “I’d rather not think about that, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  I didn’t want to think about the horrible things that were waiting for me either, but over the last week I’d come to accept that this nightmare I’d been thrust into was completely out of my control. “Yeah, okay.”

  She smiled, turned on the engine, then backed out of her parking space. When we pulled into the street, I saw that it was full dark. Somehow that made me feel safer.

  “You don’t talk much,” Cami said to Amy as she looked at her in the rear view mirror.

  I turned in my seat to see Amy’s face. She glanced at me, then smiled at Cami. “Morgan’s the one with the story that everyone wants to hear.”

  “But you were there too,” Cami said. “In Camp Willowmoss.”

  “Yes,” Amy said. “And it was awful. But at least I wasn’t tortured.” Her gaze went to her lap. “Not really.”

  “What do you mean?” Cami asked, obviously trying to see if there was another story here.

  Amy met her gaze in the mirror. “I was bullied and picked on, but no one ever put something into my neck that made me writhe on the floor in agony.”

  Guilt clogged my throat. Here I was getting all the attention from the media for what DM had endured, but between Amy and me, she was the one who’d actually suffered. I turned back to stare at the road, fearful that Amy would read the lie in my eyes.

  Fifteen minutes later Cami pulled up to an apartment building.

  “Is this where you live?” I asked as I glanced around the dimly lit parking area, on the lookout for Enforcers.

  She pulled into a parking space marked for guests, then she turned to me. “No. My boyfriend lives here.”

  “Your boyfriend?”

&nbs
p; “I can’t very well take you to my place. Once the Enforcers see your interview with Jessica, they’ll question all of us about where you went.” Fear clouded her eyes. “They might even search our homes.” She laughed, but it was the laughter of the terrified. “You can’t be there.”

  “But you think your boyfriend would be okay with hiding us.” Even I could hear the skepticism in my voice.

  “I don’t know, okay? I’ll have to ask him.”

  I stared at her a moment. “Was it your idea to bring us somewhere safe, or did Jessica tell you to?”

  She stared at her lap before meeting my gaze. “I owed her a favor—a big one—so yeah, she asked me to, and I agreed.”

  Now that made sense. No one was crazy enough to willingly offer to harbor the Enforcers’ most wanted fugitive. “And now you regret it.”

  “I’m sorry, but you have to understand. I can’t get taken to one of those places.” Her lips compressed. “I’m not strong like you. I can’t do what you did.”

  “Then you need to speak out,” Amy said from the back seat. “If you feel that way, then lots of other people must feel that way too.” Amy sighed. “Don’t you see? If most of the people agree that the F.A.T. centers are bad, then we can change things.”

  Cami turned in her seat and met Amy’s stare. “I know, but I’m scared. You know?”

  “We all are,” I said.

  Cami was quiet. “I need to talk to my boyfriend. Wait here, okay?”

  We nodded, then she got out of the car and disappeared into the darkness.

  “Do you think he’ll let us stay here?” Amy asked.

  Freezing air seeped into the car and I shivered. “I hope so.” If not, this would be a long night.

  “What’s taking her so long?” Amy asked when Cami had been gone for at least fifteen minutes.

  The long wait was getting to me too. “Maybe we should just go.”

  “But where? It’s freezing out there, Morgan.”

  The inside of the car was getting pretty cold too, but Amy was right. Outside was even worse.

  Cami appeared out of the darkness, opened the driver’s side door, and climbed inside.