“I have nothing else to talk to you people about,” Chloe said as Jess exited the car.
“Just hear me out,” Jess said.
“Nope. Like I said, I have no time for you. Hawaii is calling.”
“Look, aren’t you at least curious about why I’m here? Give me five minutes.”
“Fine, but you really only have five minutes.”
Jess explained how their building had been bombed and how a prisoner and another man had escaped their facility.
“So what do you want me to do about it?” Chloe asked.
“You’re the only one we know of that has had direct contact with Markus Boyd. Do you have any idea how valuable that makes you to us? I want you to help us find the men who killed dozens of our people, and then help us find Markus,” Jess said.
“So what are you going to do? Drag me back kicking and screaming to that prison if I don’t come with you willingly? That sounds like the typical thing that you CIA scum would do.”
“That may be what some people in the CIA would do, but it’s not what I’m going to do. If you want to leave, then you can just get on that plane and go, but I’m asking you to stay.”
“Look, I’m going to get on that plane, but you haven’t treated me badly, unlike the rest of these scum, so I may have a couple of tidbits of information for you. Markus has a private place in Paris off base. If you have a pen and a piece of paper, I could jot down the address for you.”
Jess quickly retrieved a piece of paper and a pen from the car and gave them to Chloe.
“There’s one more thing. Markus has a son. He doesn’t go by the name Boyd. Instead, he goes by his mother’s name. The kid should be in middle school by now. His name is Jeremy Parker, and he should still be living in Pittsburgh with his mother. If you want Markus to come to you, threaten the kid’s safety, or at least that’s what I would do,” Chloe said.
Jess didn’t know how she felt about endangering a little boy’s life just because his father was a wanted man, but she was grateful for all of the information that Chloe had given her.
“Thank you, but are you sure that you don’t want to stay and help? I see a lot of good in you.”
“You don’t know me. I only want you to succeed in killing Markus because it means that he won’t be able to look for me. Now, I’m leaving on a permanent vacation,” Chloe said and began walking to her plane.
Jess pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Campbell to report everything that she had just been told.
* * * * *
Michael had picked up roses and asked Lee to make himself scarce for the night. For some reason, unknown to Michael, Trish had already made herself very scarce. As a matter of fact, she was practically a ghost. Michael was attempting to make chicken with rice and a number of vegetables for himself and Jess, but it wasn’t going as he planned. He didn’t know anything about cooking. In fact, the closest he had come to cooking before today was when he would pop a dinner in the microwave. After a little while, Jess entered the house. Michael walked to the door and took her coat.
“I have had the worst day ever!” Jess exclaimed.
“Well, leave your worries at the door because I’m going to take care of you tonight,” Michael said as he showed her to the table.
“What are you doing?” Jess asked him.
She was in shock to see that he was actually cooking.
“I’m cooking you dinner. I figured after you called earlier that you could use a good night and someone to take care of you for once.”
Jess was touched that he had thought of her and gone to all this effort, but she was also terrified of what he might put on the table.
“It should be ready by now,” Michael said as he hurried to the oven and pulled out the most perfect looking chicken that Jess had ever seen.
He grabbed the rice and vegetables and brought them to the table. Then he turned the lights out and lit a single candle in the middle of the table.
“You really didn’t have to do all of this for me,” Jess said.
Michael looked at her, and her face was beaming. He had never done anything like this for her, and little did he know that no other man had either. For the first time, she was impressed by him.
“I know I didn’t have to, but I’m really glad that I did. Seeing your smiling face makes it all worth it.”
Michael fixed their plates. Jess couldn’t wait to taste the chicken, but when she cut into it, a problem arose. The chicken was still bleeding. Michael looked at her expectantly. She raised the chicken to her mouth. You have to at least eat a little bit of this for Michael’s sake, Jess thought. She put the chicken in her mouth. It tasted terrible, but somehow she managed to swallow it. Then she moved on to the beans. Surely he didn’t mess this up. Beans are easy to make, Jess thought. Each individual bean felt more like a rock in her mouth. They weren’t soft at all. Instead, they tasted as if they were still a bit frozen. Jess displayed the best fake smile that she possibly could.
“Hey, what are you guys eating? Do you mind if I have a little something?” Lee asked as he walked into the kitchen.
“No, but this is kind of a private moment,” Michael said in frustration.
“I’ll only be a minute,” Lee said as he grabbed a plate and a piece of chicken.
As he started to put the chicken up to his mouth, Jess could no longer contain herself.
“Don’t eat that chicken if you value your life!” Jess yelled.
“What?” Michael asked.
“Just taste it,” Jess answered.
Michael tasted the chicken, and he was very unpleasantly surprised by what he found.
“Oh my God! Why did you eat that?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
Now Michael felt terrible, but not because Jess didn’t like the food that he made, but because even when he was trying to take care of her, she still ended up having to be sensitive to his feelings. Stupid doctor! This is a complete disaster, Michael thought to himself.
“Maybe we could just order a pizza,” Jess said.
“Is that what you want?” Michael asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Michael said and grabbed the phone.
It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t the thing that he personally wanted to eat, but if she wanted it tonight, she was going to get it. As Lee started walking back to his room, Michael felt a little guilty.
“Hey, Lee, it isn’t really fair for me to keep you all cooped up in your room for the rest of the night while we sit out here and eat pizza. Do you want to join us?” Michael asked.
“Sure. I’ll join you guys for some pizza.”
The three of them discussed what had happened throughout the day as they ate.
“Wait a minute, you mean that creep who killed David escaped?” Lee asked Jess.
Michael looked confused. He didn’t really know anything about the events that had happened while he was gone. Noticing this, Jess gave him a look as if to say I’ll explain everything later.
“Yeah, he did,” Jess said.
Lee thought for a moment and then sat his plate down.
“I’ve got to let Trish know what’s going on.”
Back in Trish’s room, she was lying on her bed in the dark. She had been in and out of consciousness throughout the day. She wasn’t tired, but her waking reality just wasn’t worth examining anymore. Suddenly, the door to her room flew open, and Lee came in.
“What are you doing just bursting in here like that? What if I hadn’t been decent?” Trish asked.
“Then I wouldn’t have seen anything that I haven’t already seen before,” Lee said.
“Just so you know, you shouldn’t ever remind me of that again. I’m in the mood to kill someone right now, you know.”
“Listen, that doesn’t matter right now. I have something really important to tell you.”
He told her about everything that ha
d taken place after the two of them left the office that day and how the man who killed David had escaped. The news that the man who killed the only person she had ever loved had escaped hit her like a ton of bricks. After a few moments of silence, Lee spoke.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just fine. As a matter of fact, I’m going to find both of the men that you’re talking about, and I’m going to kill one of them and bring the other one back to Campbell.”
“That’s just crazy! They could be anywhere right now. How will you even find them?”
“They could be anywhere right now, but they aren’t. We used to have about a half dozen safe houses in this area, and my bet is that they’re hiding in one of them. They’re probably just waiting for things to calm down so it will be easier to move around.”
“And why exactly do you think that they’re hiding out? They could have just as easily risked getting caught and skipped town,” Lee said.
“If I were in their situation, I would just lay low,” Trish said as she started walking out of the room.
Lee followed her until they were in the garage.
“You aren’t really going to do this, are you?” Lee asked.
“I am. The only real question is, am I going to do it alone?”
“No. If you’re going to face these guys, then you aren’t doing it by yourself. I’m coming, too.”
“Good, but do me a favor, and leave your conscience at the door. It will do you no good where we’re going. I’m not finding them to ask them questions. I’m out for blood.”
Chapter 12
Nathan and Sam had received a call from Jason explaining what was going on back in Washington. Afterward, they boarded the first plane going back. By the time they made it back to Washington and caught a cab to Sam’s house, it was already night. When they were inside and had settled in, Sam asked Nathan a strange question.
“So I know you told me before that you used to collect degrees, but I have a question,” Sam said.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
“Why didn’t anything ever stick? You’re a very capable person. It just seems like you would have had more direction by the time I met you.”
“Have you ever felt as if your entire environment worked against you, or as if your whole world sucked all of the light out of your life, no matter how hard you tried to keep it?” Nathan asked.
Sam didn’t know what to say. She had never really known true happiness or passion until recently, so how was she supposed to answer that question? She only responded with a slight nod in hopes that it would suffice to make Nathan continue his explanation.
“Before I met you, it had been so long since I had been happy or been around anyone else who was even close to happy, that I had forgotten what it was actually like to feel joy or passion. I looked at the world around me, and it was full of people who were passionless and sad. I did find things that were interesting, and I did master those things, but with no one to share it with, sooner or later, everything became a chore. There was no happiness in me, and as I looked around, there was no inspiration. As a matter of fact, when I looked at the world around me, I felt discouraged. I looked at the sad and boring lives of everyone around me; people who had given up on ever finding happiness, and at some point, I felt as if their fate was going to be my own, and as far as I could tell, I was powerless to change that fate. I know that all of this may sound strange, but it all comes down to the fact that I didn’t see the sense in doing anything when ultimately, there was no one to share my life with who could be as passionate as I still wanted to be about everything. I prayed for God to give me an opportunity to find purpose and to find happiness, but I never knew that the joke was on me. I didn’t have to look anywhere. You found me. Thank you for believing in me when you probably shouldn’t have. Since I’ve met you, I’ve felt a certain peaceful purpose that I didn’t even know existed,” Nathan said.
Sam grabbed his hand in an affectionate manner, but inside, her mind was racing. She knew that she loved Nathan, but she didn’t know if she should mean so much to him so soon. She didn’t want to end up hurting him. All of this was still so new to her, and she didn’t know if she could ever be the person who Nathan thought of her as. She just didn’t think that at the end of the day she could be what Nathan needed. She wasn’t passionate, and she certainly wasn’t inspiring. I’m not even good at talking to people yet, so how can I ever be this person who he believes that I already am, Sam wondered. To put it simply, she was feeling insecure. Nathan looked into her eyes and saw the hint of doubt in them.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked.
“I just don’t think I can be that light. I can’t inspire you, and I’m not a passionate person, or even a loving one,” Sam said while pulling away from him.
“You were so passionate about your work that you were willing to disobey your superiors to carry out a mission just because you knew it was the right thing to do. You were passionate enough about me to attack Chloe in the middle of the night, and you really can’t decide if you’re inspiring or not to me? Every day when I look into your eyes and see the determination in them, I am inspired. I don’t mean to put any pressure on you, and I don’t know where you and I will end up, but I promise you that I am, and I will be, happier just because I got to know you.”
Sam couldn’t help but feel touched by Nathan’s words, but she still felt insecure.
“Hey, stop worrying,” Nathan said while still noticing the look of doubt in her eyes.
“I like you, and being around you makes me feel happier than I knew I could. That should be a simple and good thing,” Nathan said.
Sam finally calmed down a bit. Maybe it really was just that simple. I make the guy happy. There’s nothing to worry about here, right, Sam thought.
“I have a much simpler question for you. What time are we meeting everyone tomorrow?” Nathan asked.
“We’re meeting them tomorrow morning at 7:30 to talk about everything that has changed. From what Jason said, you and I may be going after Markus sooner than we expected.”
Honestly, Nathan didn’t really care what time they were meeting everyone else the next morning. He only wanted to change the subject from something that had obviously made Sam feel a little uncomfortable. He hadn’t meant for it to make her feel strange, but there was still so much that he didn’t understand about her. She could stare a life or death situation in the face and not blink, but when he tried to talk about something more emotional, sometimes she would just freeze up. Nathan hadn’t figured out a way to break through whatever wall existed for Sam yet. A normal girl would have been happy if he had basically called her the light of his life. Sam, on the other hand, seemed to be put off by it. What is so wrong with me that the idea of her being important to me on a deeper level is repulsive to her, Nathan wondered. He shook off the mystery and insecurities in his own mind and turned his attention back to her. So what if things weren’t perfect. He had the girl of his dreams sitting with him, and there was no way that a little awkwardness was going to ruin their night. Nathan made sure to talk about lighter things the rest of the evening, and the two of them had a great time. Throughout the night, Sam’s mind often drifted back to the same doubt, though. Am I what he needs? As messed up as I am, am I even good enough for someone like him, Sam wondered.
* * * * *
Trish and Lee had already gone to three locations, only to find that each one of them was empty. Trish drove to the fourth location.
“What are we going to do even if we do find them? We don’t have a weapon or anything,” Lee said.
“I don’t need a weapon. I’m going to kill that man. It really is that simple,” Trish said.
“What if it’s not? They’re probably going to be armed. If you really want to kill this guy, we should at least have a reasonable plan.”
Trish knew he was right, but she didn’t want to acknowledge it or stop her search for long enough to formulate a plan.
“Wel
l, do you have any bright ideas?” Trish asked in order to humor him.
“Not really, but I’m pretty sure that we need a gun if we want to be able to stand a chance in this fight.”
“Fine,” she said while pulling into the parking lot of a small pawn shop.
“What are we doing here?”
“It’s your plan. Go buy a gun.”
“Why me?” Lee asked.
Trish sighed and got out of the car and walked into the shop. It felt like it took forever, but eventually, she emerged.
“What took so long?” Lee asked.
“They have to do all types of background checks for these sorts of things. It’s really a headache,” Trish said.
Then they drove to the fourth location. It was a simple apartment complex.
“Room 302 has always been a safe place to stay,” Trish said as she stepped out of the car.
“Wait a minute. You said that there used to be six safe houses in Washington. What if this place isn’t a safe house now and we just burst into the house of some random people?”
“I suppose that some random people will just be really surprised then,” Trish said and smirked.
The two of them climbed the stairs and made it to the front of the correct room. Then Lee asked an obvious question.
“How are we supposed to get in? It’s not like we can just knock on the door, is it?”
“What do you think that I brought you for? You’re the muscle. Do you think that you could kick this door in?” Trish asked.
“I seriously doubt it.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, seriously try,” Trish said.
Lee turned and with all of his strength kicked the door. The door didn’t budge, but Lee did crumble to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Trish asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just think that my foot might be broken.”
Just then, Trish and Lee heard a lot of commotion from inside the apartment.
“Well, there goes the element of surprise,” Trish said.
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