Danika's Gift

by Jayn Wilde

  ****

  Dan and I rented a car the next morning and headed east. It was going to be a long ride, but we’d take turns and stop whenever we wanted. And, if it got to be too much, we’d stop at the nearest airport, catch the next flight, and be home in a few hours. The drive was really a stall tactic. We needed to give the Feds enough time to bust Sergio and his crew without being around.

  “Hey Dan, I have a question for ya.” I looked over at him. We’d been driving for six hours already and neither of us had said much.

  “Sure, shoot.”

  “Okay, well, there was one other thing I forgot to mention last night and I need your advice.”

  Dan’s forehead scrunched a little. He must’ve been trying to remember last night. “Okay, spill it.” He smiled.

  “So, I told you Sergio uses me to find fresh meat, so to speak. And, I told you that I met Danika at school. The one thing I didn’t mention is that Sergio sent me specifically for her.”

  Dan didn’t say anything, instead he slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the road.

  “So, she was your mission and you fell for her?” His eyes bore into mine. I wasn’t sure, but he looked really pissed.

  “Yes.” Keep it simple.

  Dan got out of the car and walked over to the field nearby. He started yelling and cursing. I watched him through the window, unsure what to do or why he was so mad. Dan crouched down on his haunches and held his head in his hands.

  “Dan?” I rolled down the window, but I wasn’t getting out. This guy was an ex-marine for crying out loud. And I had no idea why he was so pissed.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Dan came back to the car, climbed in and drove off. It was almost three hours before he said a word.

  “Let’s switch after we eat.” Dan pulled into the lot next to a diner. I simply nodded at him and followed inside.

  We found an empty booth and waited. Once we placed our orders, Dan started to talk.

  “Look, I am sorry for losing my head back there. It really wasn’t about you.”

  “Uh…” I didn’t know what to day.

  “My wife. It was my job to protect her, that’s how we met. We fell in love, had a child and then, I lost her. I couldn’t protect her anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, man.”

  “Look, my advice is to tell her the truth. All of it. Let the chips fall where they may. But, if she knows the truth, then it’s her decision to make from there. It’s all you can really do.”

  We ate in silence, both deep in thought. Once back on the road, I drove throughout the night, not feeling tired at all. We switched in the morning and kept heading east. I slept while Dan drove for a few hours and kept dreaming of Danika. When we hit the next rest stop, I decided I had to call her. It had been more than three months and now that I was so close, I just couldn’t wait anymore. I threw in a ton of change at a payphone and listened to it ring. And ring. And ring. And ring.

  Chapter 10

  Danika

  “Dani, you know this number?” Sam held out the phone to me but I didn’t recognize the number on the caller ID.

  “Probably bill collector.” I chuckled.

  “Why, who do you owe?”

  “No one actually.”

  The ringing stopped as Sam and I went back and forth. Then, it rang again. Same number. Damn persistent caller was probably a salesperson. I hit the button on the portable and barely contained myself as I answered.

  “Hello? What do you want?”

  “Dani?” A deep voice echoed over the line.

  I dropped the phone. Hardly an appropriate response when the love of your life calls after three months.

  “What the hell?” Sam looked from me, to the phone, back to me. She picked up the phone and said, “Who is this?”

  “Sam, its Derek.” I thought Sam was going to throw the phone.

  “Oh ok. Please hold.” Suddenly calm, she set the phone down and drags me into the hall, away from the phone. “What the hell is he calling for? What do you want to do? Why am I so nervous?” Sam laughed out loud.

  “Shit Sam. I can’t talk to him. It sounds like a pay phone or something and that number isn’t around here. What do I do?”

  “Okay. Here we go. Don’t talk, just listen. Say hello and then let him go from there. Okay?”

  I nodded slowly, although I still felt nervous as hell. I picked up the phone and murmured a faint hello.

  “Dani. Oh my god. Are you ok? I am so sorry. Are you? Ok, I mean?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to be home in a few days and I wanted to see you. To talk to you. To explain everything to you.”

  “I’m sorry, I won’t be home that day.” I calmly replied. I held back a nervous chuckle, remembering that time when he followed me to my car and asked me to a party. A tear rolled down my cheek at the bittersweet memory.

  “Baby, I never said what day.”

  “Exactly. Understand now?” Stay calm. “Take care.” And with that, I hung up.

  Sam stopped chewing her thumb nail and gawked at me. “Did you just hang up on him?”

  “I sure did. I don’t want the line to be busy when Casey calls.” Before she could see the tears, I turned quickly and ran into the bathroom. Turning on the shower full force, I stripped down and climbed into the tub.

  From that first time when Derek came to my car, I knew he was going to be a handful. He was so beautiful and confident. The way the sun shimmered through his dark hair and his smile lit up everything around him. I ached for him every night he was gone and too many days were wasted in hazy daydreams of what once was. I was afraid if I stopped remembering our time together, that all I would remember was the pain he left with me. Just like when Mom died, I held on to the memories that made me happy.

  Hearing his voice again, after all these months re-opened the wounds that barely had time to heal. To dream of him was one thing, but to know he was just a whisper away, stole my breath. But, he left me. He ignored me. I don’t think he could possibly explain it. And, I know my heart couldn’t take it. I was done and at that moment, decided never to see Derek Spencer again. Instead of feeling relief, there was just a void. And then the tears came. I cried until there were no more tears and the water ran cold.

  ****

  “Well, it’s Friday night. What do you want to do tonight?” Sam smoothly applied her watermelon pink lip gloss as I laid on her bed staring out the window.

  “Movies and Chinese food.”

  “For real?” Sam just glared at me.

  “You betcha!” I jumped up and headed to the kitchen. We both worked the lunch shift at the pizzeria today so we had the whole night to ourselves. And, yes, I suggested movies and take-out.

  “I’ll call in the order. What do you want?” I flipped the menu over to the dinner specials, looking for my usual dish, General Tsao Chicken.

  “The usual. And a side of egg drop soup too.”

  I called in the order and announced to Sam we had twenty minutes. We headed to the movie store, picked out a few chick flicks and then picked up the food. As I climbed into the car, I saw Katia out of the corner of my eye. She was watching me. She probably followed me. It’s only been a few days, but I knew Sergio would expect me to deliver at the end of the one month stay he gave me. I just didn’t know how. And, since Derek called, I’d been a mess. I couldn’t focus on anything, much less figuring out my gift. After all, because I had it, now everyone I loved was in danger. That was definitely a curse.

  I climbed in the car, but said nothing to Sam. It was bad enough I had to make up a story about that night I met with Katia and Sergio. I made up a lame story that they wanted to consider me for management and wanted to discuss my education and career goals. Sam didn’t seem to buy it, but it was the best I could come up with. It took forever to stop crying that night, and I barely got out the story as it was. But, Sam has always been good like that. It’s like she knows not to push a topic, and gives me time and space to come to her when I am re
ady.

  When we got back to the apartment I noticed a sedan parked at the curb. The same sedan Sergio was in the other night. My heart starts racing and I look at Sam. Suddenly, I see bright orange fireworks bursting in front of her face. Behind her is not darkness or trees, but instead I see the wallpaper of her bedroom. A wave of red covers Sam and then everything goes black in front of me.

  “Sam, you are in danger. Don’t go in the apartment, just go straight to your parent’s right now.”

  Sam looked at me in confusion, then in painful awareness. It was the first time I had ever said anything to her like that before. And for once, just this once, I needed the other person to believe me and listen to me. She slowly nodded.

  “What about you?” Her voice cracked.

  “I have a ride. I think I need to go with Sergio if I want to keep you safe.” I couldn’t explain more to her, as one of the body guards was approaching her car. I gave her a quick kiss on her cheek and a hug before jumping out of her car. She slowly pulled away and I walked towards the bodyguard. I knew it was my time.

  Chapter 11

  Derek

  We got as far as Tennessee before we decided it was time to fly the rest of the way home. After Danika hung up on me, I got the strangest feeling something bad was going to happen. I warned Dan that we may be headed for trouble. He used a pay phone to make some calls while I returned the car to the rental place at the airport. Dan was frowning when he finally came back.

  “They are ready to move on Sergio. He doesn’t know the Feds are coming. But, he knows we are coming back and he has a hostage.”

  No. No. No. Please don’t say it.

  “They are holding Danika until you and I return. Sergio left a message on my cell phone that since we didn’t finish business in LA, and we haven’t been heard from since, he is going to take matter into his own hands. He also said, on the voicemail, to tell you that Danika is waiting for you.”

  I slumped to the ground and finally, the tears came. Everything was falling apart, and we were only a few hours away from home. What would happen to Danika if the Feds got to Sergio before we did?

  “Did you warn your people she was there?”

  “I couldn’t. Everyone in the agency is on alert, near the meeting place. This is turning into a huge mess.” Dan put his head in his hands and rocked back and forth for a minute. Then, he reached in his pocket, grabbed his cell phone and sent a text to his friend, Ken.

  “Ken is from my unit in the Marines. He can get to someone and let them know about the hostage situation in time.”

  “What about Sam?” I felt a twinge of guilt. If it hadn’t been for me, none of this would have happened.

  “I don’t know Derek. Sergio never said anything about her so we have to hope and pray she is somewhere safe.”

  Just as he said that I got a text from an unknown contact.

  It’s Sam. Dani with Sergio. I am safe. Help her pls!!!

  I typed a quick reply, On our way right now.

  We boarded the next flight home and for the whole three hours, both Dan and I nervously watched the clock. The attendant kept asking if there was anything she could get for us, but neither of us answered her. At one point, a US Marshall Agent that was on board came and asked us for our ID. We must’ve looked a mess. Dan asked to speak to the Marshall in private and after that, everything seemed to calm down around us. In fact, the Marshall offered to provide us with an escort to where we needed to go. One problem was that I had no clue where that could be.

  As soon as we landed, we were ushered through to an unmarked police car waiting out front of the airport. Dan smiled as soon as he saw the men sitting inside. I didn’t know who they were, but I was just glad to see that Dan was smiling. That had to be a good sign.

  “My name is Detective Bass and I am the head of Dan’s department.” The older gentleman offered out his hand, and I hesitantly shook it.

  If he was here, who was busting up the whole Sergio meeting? Our bags were tossed in the trunk and the sedan pulled away from the curb. Detective Bass turned to talk to us while another officer drove.

  “Listen, Derek, we are up to speed on everything. We know they have 2 hostages at this time. One is your girlfriend Danika Rodriguez. The other is Katia Lang. We have eyes on everything that is going on, and we are ready to move in but we need you there before we do so.”

  “Katia is a hostage? How?”

  “Sergio has been keeping her family under his control for the past eight years. Her family in Russia and her family in New York have been living under his rule. Just like you, she’s been a pawn in his game. We found out, through our resources, that all of you people with so-called ‘gifts’ are being recorded, documented and hired for more than you realize.”

  I frowned at the air quotes he used when he said gifts, and then shuddered as Detective Bass went on to explain.

  “Sergio is just one of a dozen men that are creating an army of gifted people. These people can read thoughts, see the future, project emotions, all kinds of talents. Once he finds genuine recruits, he then finds out everything about them so he can keep them in his clutches. This is happening throughout their organization, around the globe.”

  Holy shit.

  “Tonight’s meeting is to put forward a plan to bring all the gifted together and start the training. This training is supposed to be a form of brainwashing along with a selection process that will weed out the weak or the unnecessary.”

  Dan piped in at this point, “If we can bring him down for any of the other dozens of violations like drug running, money laundering, sex trafficking and so on, we can pretend not to know about their plans and still be able to launch a global recon mission.”

  My head was swimming at this point. I didn’t understand half of what they were saying, I just knew that I wanted out, and I wanted my Danika. I didn’t come this far and go through all this crap just to lose her now.

  “So what do I have to do?”

  “Just walk in with Dan, as if you are getting back as expected. We are going to drop you at your car, then follow you over. Before we let you go, we are going to put cameras and wires on you guys. They are tiny and can go unnoticed. We need you to get the hostages talking so we know they are okay. And, Dan is going to talk to you in riddles. They are meant for us. What he says will tell us how many, the location of the hostages, weapons, etc.”

  I felt like I had just stepped into some sci-fi action movie. I also felt useless, despite having a so-called gift. Now I knew how Danika felt. I wondered if I could tune into Dan as he assessed the scene at Sergio’s office. It was in the back of a warehouse at the marina. Too much room and not many options for hiding. How were the Feds going to get Danika out safely?

  Detective Bass dropped us off at my car. The other officer brought out a suitcase which was full of tiny gadgets. He stuck little circles on me and Dan. He tested everything and had Dan and I recite sentences. Apparently some of the circles were cameras, others were radio transmitters and microphones. Despite my love for crime television, I still just couldn’t grasp everything. All I knew is that in the end, people died and hopefully, it wasn’t the hostage.

  Chapter 12

  Danika

  I rubbed at the ties around my wrists. They itched and burnt my skin at the same time. I looked over at Katia. She was in bad shape, but still breathing. Her one eye was puffy and purple, her lips swollen and covered in blood and there were bruises along both of her arms. Her head was tilted to the side and I could only hope she was sleeping. I watched the pulse jump in her neck and as best as I could tell, the rate was normal.

  I looked around the room we were in. There was one light bulb dangling from the ceiling. At first it was too bright, but now, my eyes had adjusted and I could see most of my surroundings. There were dark brown stains on the floor and the wall. The walls were made of thin metal. Katia and I each were in wooden chairs, hands tied to the arm rests, ankles tied to the legs and thick gags in our mouths. I could hear
yelling coming from outside our little prison. I didn’t know the language, perhaps Spanish or Italian. I also heard horns occasionally, like that on a yacht or other large boat. I tried to smell the air, but all I could smell was a foul metallic smell and something like dead fish.

  I wondered if this was the end for me. Only eighteen years old and still a virgin. I chuckled at myself. Of all the things to think of, why that? Probably because Derek called the other night and said he’d be home soon. As mad as I was at him, I wish I could see him just one more time. To tell him that I was sorry and that I loved him. Crazy as it may be, I do. Without him, I felt dead anyway. I decided to give up at that moment.

  “Wake up you two,” Sergio yelled and banged on the metal wall. “You two are being moved.”

  One of his henchmen came in, tilted and dragged Katia’s chair out of the metal room. Then he came back for me. The guy dragged me clear across the warehouse, up a ramp and into a box truck. I fell on my side, still tied to the chair. Katia was awake now, her eyes huge as she must’ve realized what was happening.

  As soon as the truck door rolled down and slammed shut, there was a huge commotion outside. We heard loud pops, bangs, a helicopter, tires screeching and men yelling. I didn’t know what was happening, but if the cavalry was here, we had to find a way out of the truck or something bad could happen. I focused on Katia’s face and projected my thoughts to her. I saw nothing around her other than small purple and blue marks, but they grew and then shrank. I projected that to her, that she was going to be okay. She winked with her good eye.

  Next, we need to get out of these chairs. I focused hard, picturing us kicking at one another’s chairs until they broke. I looked at her and she nodded. I could feel my chair had loose legs and I hoped hers did too. As the noises continued outside, we made our own noises, thrashing about, kicking, twisting. Finally, my chair fell apart first. I was able to loosen my ties enough to untie Katia and remove our gags.