I nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Then I remembered Falcon’s doubt that his father was involved with the drug-laced power bars. “Does Secretary Hart know about the power bars? The ones that are filled with drugs? Falcon doesn’t seem to think he would allow something like that to happen.”
Nick stared at me a moment. “Morgan, it was Hart’s idea.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
My heart sank. There was no denying that Falcon’s father was involved. Not if the idea had originated with him.
Nick went to the door of his office and poked his head out. “Paul, can you bring Falcon in here?”
A few moments later Falcon and I were alone with Nick.
“Tell me about your father,” Nick said to Falcon.
“I think he’s a complete jerk,” Falcon said, his lip curling slightly.
Nick watched Falcon closely as he spoke. “How so?”
Falcon held up his fingers and ticked off reasons. “He took me away from my mother when I was thirteen. He prevented me from seeing her after that, even when she was dying. He used his Enforcers to control me until I was old enough to leave home.” Falcon glanced at me. “He threatened Raven and Hummingbird, forcing Raven to agree to trick you.” Falcon looked at Nick. “Is that enough?”
“I remember hearing about your mother’s death,” Nick said, “and the fact that Hart had become estranged from his son. From you.”
A grim expression filled Falcon’s face. “That’s one way to put it.”
Nick gazed at Falcon like he was trying to decide if he believed him. “Morgan tells me you don’t think your father is involved with the plans to sell the drug-laced power bars to the pubic.”
“No, I don’t,” he said, but his voice showed uncertainty.
“I’m afraid he’s very involved, Falcon.”
Falcon glanced at me, then looked at Nick. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, but he’s the one who thought it up. He’s the one who wants to gain control over everyone’s behavior.”
Falcon shook his head. “No. He wouldn’t do that.”
Nick’s jaw tightened. He pulled open a desk drawer, took out a sheaf of papers, then spread the pages out in front of us. “These are print-outs of email correspondence that I managed to get on Saturday. Correspondence between your father and a few other people in his organization.” He tapped the paper. “Read it for yourself.”
Falcon and I leaned forward and began reading. It didn’t take long for the truth to become crystal clear—once Russell Hart had come up with the idea of putting drugs in the power bars, he’d swiftly moved forward with their development and production.
Looking shell-shocked, Falcon sat back in his chair.
“I’m so sorry, Falcon,” I said as I placed my hand on his arm. As much as I’d grown to hate Secretary Hart, he was still Falcon’s father.
When he turned to me, his eyes were dull with disappointment. “No, Raven. I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m sorry that you got caught up in all of this. You and Hummingbird.”
We all sat quietly for a moment, then Nick asked, “Why do you call her Raven? And who’s Hummingbird?”
Glad for the change of subject, I said, “When we met Falcon, Amy said we should have nicknames too. She’s Hummingbird.” Tears pushed into my eyes at the memory. “She came up with that name herself. She said it’s because she’s small and fast.”
“And your name?”
I smiled sadly. “That was her idea too.” I closed my eyes and slowly shook my head. I can’t fail Amy. I have to save her.
“Morgan?” Nick asked.
I opened my eyes and found him watching me.
“She’ll be okay.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I nodded.
“How did you find out?” Falcon asked.
Nick and I both looked at him.
“How did you find out I’m Jacob Hart?”
That was the first time I’d heard him refer to himself by his actual name, and it didn’t sound right. To me he was, and always would be, Falcon.
“I didn’t know for sure,” Nick said. “But you confirmed my suspicions.”
“What made you think that he might be?” I asked.
“My security cameras photographed both of you, and I had my security team search the Internet for any similar images of Falcon.” Nick half-smiled. “They found only one. It was a picture of Falcon with his father. It was dated over a year ago.” Nick reached into his desk and set the photo in front of us.
Falcon glanced at it, then nodded. “I remember that night. I’d gone with my dad to some awards dinner, but later I found out that my mother had been on her deathbed while we’d been laughing and having a good time.” His jaw clenched. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive him for that.”
Falcon shoved the picture back across the desk as if he didn’t want to have anything to do with it. “You should know that my father knows where this house is.”
Nick looked at him sharply, then turned to me, a question on his face.
“It’s true,” I said. “When I made the deal with him, I told him I didn’t know how to get back here. He said not to worry because he had the address.”
Nick’s eyebrows rose. “I wonder why he sent you then.”
“I wondered the same thing, so I asked him. He said you sweep for bugs every day so he needed me to get inside to get the information for him.”
Nick’s gaze shifted to the side, and he murmured, “He always was crafty.”
Something in his tone caught my attention. “Do you know him?”
Nick looked at me. “I did. Long ago.”
That was unexpected.
“You know my father?” Falcon asked.
“We were in the Enforcement Academy together.”
“Wait,” I said, shocked. “You’re an Enforcer?”
“Was an Enforcer,” Nick said. “I haven’t been one for a number of years.”
Falcon threw his hands up. “Whoa. Wait a minute. Let’s start from the beginning.”
Nick laughed. “Like I was starting to say, Russ and I were in the Academy together. After we finished and began working, we stayed in touch. We both did pretty well, but he rose in the ranks faster than I did. One day I started a new job at a Federally Assisted Thinning center and guess who was my boss?”
“My father.”
“That’s right. At first, we got along fine. But after a while the culture among the Enforcers at that F.A.T. center began to change. They became abusive towards the people who had been sent there and I didn’t like it. I expressed my concerns to your father and he promised to do something about it. It turns out he was only placating me because nothing changed, and when I filed a formal complaint, he had me fired.”
Nick frowned. “That was over ten years ago. After that, Russ saw to it that I only got the worst assignments. You see, he’d made friends in high places, and eventually he began working for the Secretary of the Enforcement Department.” Nick paused.
“And now he’s the Secretary,” I supplied.
Nick nodded. “That’s right.”
“When did you stop being an Enforcer?” I asked.
“Right around the time Russ became the Secretary.”
“Why did you quit?” Falcon asked.
“I knew what kind of man he was, and I didn’t want to work in an organization that he headed.” Nick’s lips pursed. “In fact, I knew I had to do what I could to put an end to the way he ran things. Who better than someone who was intimately familiar with the way things were done?”
Nick gazed at the two of us. “Things have gotten much worse in the years your father’s been in charge, Falcon.”
A blush rose on Falcon’s cheeks.
“There’s nothing you could have done about it,” Nick said. “But there’s something you can do about it now.”
“What?” Falcon asked, his voice tense. “What can I do?” He glanced at me before mee
ting Nick’s gaze. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Nick looked at me. “How are you supposed to get information to Hart?”
I told him about the log behind the bus stop where I was to leave a message.
Nick slowly nodded. “Good, good.”
“What about Amy?” Worried about what Hart would do to her once Nick revealed the proof that the government was preparing to basically drug the entire populace, I wanted to discuss Amy before we went any further.
“We need to get her back,” Falcon said.
I turned to him, my body tense. “But how?”
“You’ll trade information for her release,” Nick said with a smile.
Thrilled I wasn’t on my own in solving this critical issue, my body relaxed as I looked at Nick. “Okay.”
“He’s not stupid,” Falcon said. “The information will have to be good.”
“Believe me, I know your father is a brilliant man.” Nick smiled. “And so does he. Perhaps that will be his undoing.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Nick’s gaze met mine. “I’m sure he’s been extremely careful to make sure no one finds out about his plans ahead of time. He wouldn’t want to rouse any suspicion that these delicious new power bars are anything other than a better version of what people love to eat now.”
I thought about the power bars that everyone ate—low calorie, tasty, with some sort of appetite suppressant in them. They even sold them at school. What would keep people from happily snapping up the new ones, especially if they tasted better? They would eat them and eat them, and then it would be too late. Many people would be addicted.
“So what do we tell him?” Falcon asked.
Nick nodded once, then outlined the bones of the plan he’d come up with. When he was done, I felt better about our chances of getting Amy away from Hart.
“I’ll wait to release the proof until Amy is safely in our hands,” Nick said.
I smiled. “Thank you.”
Hart wasn’t expecting a message from me until the next day, so we spent some time drafting the brief message we’d leave for him, then Falcon and I spent the afternoon speculating on how Nick’s plan would go.
The next day after breakfast I stuffed the note to Hart into my pocket, then Falcon and I went out the back door. Even though Nick was well aware of what we were doing, he’d told us that he wouldn’t be surprised if Hart had his house under surveillance to make sure Falcon and I weren’t followed when we delivered the message. We had to make it look like we were sneaking out of his house.
Falcon and I opened the gate that led to the front yard, then crept along the side of the house until we were near the top of the driveway. Pausing to make sure no one was around, I imagined Enforcer Munroe watching us and felt a shiver race across my flesh.
“I think we can go,” Falcon whispered.
I nodded, then we hurried down the driveway and began the half mile walk to the bus stop. It didn’t take long to reach it, and we quickly found the log and the box Hart had promised would be there.
The neighborhood was deserted as Falcon opened the box and motioned for me to give him the note. I pulled it out of my pocket and read the message scrawled in my handwriting.
Nick implied something big is on the horizon. I have no idea what he means though. He won’t tell me anything.
“Raven,” Falcon said, drawing my attention away from the slip of paper in my hand.
I nodded and handed it to him, then immediately began to worry that Nick’s plan would never work.
“Okay,” Falcon said after he’d tucked the box back into place. “Let’s go back before someone sees you.”
His words were a reminder that Hart wasn’t the only one I needed to worry about. Regular people were a potential danger to me—anyone could recognize me and call the Enforcers. Then claim their reward.
I pulled the hood of my jacket tighter around my head as I fell into step beside Falcon.
When we were safely inside Nick’s house, we went straight to his office to report on our short mission.
“I’m supposed to get his reply tomorrow,” I said.
Nick nodded. “The waiting can sometimes be the hardest part.”
That was an understatement. The next twenty-four hours dragged by, but when I read Hart’s reply, my breath caught in my throat.
Find out what’s going on. I need something tomorrow or Amy goes to Camp Stonewater.
I reread the message, my worry for Amy cranking up, then glanced around the area surrounding the bus stop. Is someone watching us? Is Hart?
“What does it say?” Falcon asked.
I handed it to him and waited for his reaction.
He read it quickly, then touched a lit match to the corner. When the flames approached his fingers, he dropped the burning piece of paper to the ground, and once it had burned to a crisp, he kicked dirt over the ashes.
“We have to get Amy,” I whispered.
“We will,” he murmured, then he guided me away from the bus stop and back towards Nick’s house.
My resolve to get my sister strengthened, and when we got to Nick’s, we told him what the note said.
“He must be worried,” Falcon said as he glanced at me. “Why else threaten Amy?”
“You’re exactly right,” Nick said. “Your first message was cryptic enough that he can’t tell if I have something big planned, or if I’m on to him.” He chuckled. “That must be driving him crazy.”
“What are we going to tell him?” I asked, my focus solely on what would be best for Amy.
Nick smiled, then took a sheet of paper and wrote something on it. He handed it to me. “You’re going to write this.”
A man came to Nick’s house. I didn’t hear what they talked about, but Falcon recognized him. He says the man works for you, but he can’t remember his name. I’ll check for a note from you later today to tell me what I should do.
I looked at Nick and smiled, then handed the sheet of paper to Falcon.
“This will drive him insane,” Falcon said with a grin as he set the paper on Nick’s desk.
“That message,” Nick said as he tapped the piece of paper, “will set the hook. I’m sure he’ll be desperate to know who in his organization has betrayed him.”
Nick was right. When Falcon and I returned to the drop-off point later the next afternoon, I read Hart’s note with trepidation.
Do whatever is necessary to find out that traitor’s name. I want to know who it is ASAP. The moment you have the name, call 555-4834. If you screw this up, I’ll hand Amy over to Holly myself.
“He wouldn’t do that,” I said to Falcon. “Would he? He’s just trying to scare me, right?”
“Yeah,” he said, although he didn’t seem convinced. “I’m sure that’s all it is.”
“Can you remember the phone number?” I asked.
He grinned and tapped his skull with one finger. “Photographic memory, remember?”
I snatched the paper from his hands. “Okay, what’s the number?”
Falcon recited the number and I handed the paper back to him. “Perfect.”
He grinned. “You doubted me?”
I laughed, which dispelled some of the tension. After burning the message, we began the walk back to Nick’s. “I’m surprised he wants us to call him. Isn’t he afraid Nick will find out?”
“I don’t think that’s his main concern right now,” Falcon said.
“I don’t want to talk to him.”
“You have to. It won’t be the same if it’s coming from me.”
I knew he was right, but the thought of what I was going to have to say to him—to demand of him—made my heart pound.
Chapter Forty
“You’ve done well,” Nick said when we told him what Hart wanted us to do.
“It was you,” I said. “You knew what would get to him.”
Nick laughed. “That’s true.”
“How lo
ng should we wait to call him?” I half wanted to get it over with, and half wanted to postpone it as long as possible.
“We’ll wait until tomorrow night. The longer we wait, the more keyed up he’ll be, which will make it more likely that he’ll cave to your demand.”
I nodded, hopeful that Nick knew Hart as well as he seemed to think he did.
After dinner the next day, when it was time to call Hart, Falcon and I joined Nick in his office. Nick shut the door, then motioned for me to sit in his leather chair.
“Here,” Falcon said as he handed me a slip of paper where he’d written the phone number.
“Thanks.” I set the paper beside the phone, then looked at Nick and Falcon. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You have to,” Falcon said. “For Hummingbird.”
Amy. I pictured my little sister. She had a feisty streak, but that would do nothing against the torture tactics Holly wouldn’t hesitate to employ. “Okay,” I murmured, then picked up the phone, my palms slick with sweat. “Here goes nothing.” I punched in the numbers.
“Hart,” a voice barked after only one ring.
“Uh, it’s me,” I said.
He released a whoosh of air. “Finally.”
I heard the desperation in his voice and knew I was in a position of power. At least I hoped I was.
“Let’s make this short and sweet,” he said. “Do you have his name?”
“Yes,” I said.
“What is it?”
My gaze went to Falcon’s face, and then Nick’s. Both watched me closely. “I want Amy,” I said, my voice steady.
“What do you mean? You want to talk to her? She’s not here.”
“No. I mean I want her back. I want you to let her go.”
He laughed, the sound sharp in my ear. “No way.”
“If you want the name of the man who works for you, the man who’s betraying you by helping Nick and his resistance work against you . . .” I let the statement hang in the air, giving Hart a moment to remember the stakes. “Well, I’ll only give you his name after you’ve given Amy to me.”
The Other Morgan (Parallel Series, Book 5) Page 20