by Julia Derek
The cab was still idling outside when I reappeared on the street. I opened the car door and handed a grateful Nadja the duffel bag. I gave her a quick hug and told her to take care of herself until the next time we got a chance to see each other. Before they took off, I told Ian to give me a call when he was back in the city even if it was late to make sure everything had gone all right; I’d be at home sleeping until then.
Watching the cab take off, I walked back to my apartment building. As I was about to stick the key into the front door, I remembered that I didn’t have any bottled water left in my house. I wasn’t a big fan of tap water, so I turned around and headed for the chain drug store located two blocks away from my building.
It was past midnight when I entered my apartment building again, a huge bottle of water in my hand, and pushed the button to the elevator that would take me up to my floor. Only as I was riding upstairs did I realize how bone tired I was. Surely there would be no need for me to take any sleeping pills tonight; the second I placed my head on my pillow, I’d pass out.
Sticking the key into my front door, I noticed that it wasn’t locked. I’d forgotten to lock it when I ran back to Ian and Nadja, I realized then, having wanted to return to them as quickly as possible. I opened the door and walked inside. Barely had I gotten over the threshold when I sensed that something wasn’t right. My apartment was as dark and quiet as I’d left it, but there was something different about the stillness of it. Early on in my career in law enforcement I learned that not all silence is the same, and the one in my apartment right now did not feel the same as when I’d entered it a short while ago. This silence was oppressive, full of tension. The kind of tension I felt when someone had come up behind me and I couldn’t see them.
I was not alone in my apartment.
I found my Glock in my hip holster and pulled it out, holding it by my chin as I remained in the small hallway, listening, taking in the silence that told me people were near me.
Had Stenger finally decided that it was time for me to die? If I flipped on the light switch in the hallway, would I see people holding guns, waiting for me to enter the living room so they could execute me like Janine had wanted Burt to do with Nadja? Maybe I’d spot Janine herself, staring at me in that disdainful manner she’d used when she’d spoken to Ariel, then shaken her like a ragdoll up on the sundeck. Had she figured out that I had been to her house and this was her idea of getting even? When it came to Janine, nothing was out of bounds.
The seconds ticked by as I pondered who or what was awaiting me. The vibration in my pocket—likely Jonah sending me yet another text—snapped me out of my stupor. I needed to make a move of some sort. I couldn’t just remain standing there all night.
Tightening the grip around my gun, I leaned my back against the hallway wall and sank down to my feet, making myself as tiny as possible. Extending my free hand above my head, I flipped on the light switch.
I gasped out loud when I saw who sat in my living room couch, leaning back and his leg crossed over his knee.
Burt sat there, looking straight at me with those snake-like eyes.
Chapter 7
I shot up into a standing position and pointed my gun at him, my feet wide apart.
Burt sat up straight, arms above his head and his foot down on the floor.
“Please don’t shoot,” he said. “I’m not here to hurt you, Jamie. I swear.”
I believed him, so I lowered my gun. Though I didn’t put it back into my holster.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, walking closer to him. “How did you get in here?”
That last question was unnecessary; I should have known better than to have left my front door unlocked. It was easy to get through the downstairs door in my building; all a person needed to do was press all the tenants’ buzzers and someone was bound to open for them. It was done all the time.
“Your door was open,” Burt said, much like I had expected. “I saw you when you were talking to someone in a cab a short while ago. Nadja was in there, wasn’t she?”
“Yes,” I said and flipped on the light in my living room to see better. Then I took a seat on the sofa arm so that I faced Burt, who was looking all tense now. “How did you know she was in there? Could you see her?”
“No, I was too far away,” he replied. “I was only able to see that it looked like there were two people in that cab as it took off.” He scowled. “Too fast for me to have a chance to go after it. Who was the other person?”
“Ian, my client. Don’t worry, Nadja’s safe with him.”
Burt stared at me. “Your client? That British guy?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s he taking her?”
“To a safe place. In Philly. Again, don’t worry about Nadja. She’ll be safe now. No one will be able to get to her. I’ll tell you more about her in a moment. First, explain to me how you happened to run in to us on my street.”
He rubbed a hand over his head. It was so closely shaved only a millimeter of black hair grew there, creating a five-o’clock shadow on his dark-skinned skull. His right arm was wrapped in white bandage, from the elbow up to his shoulder.
“I tracked my phone to find the apartment where Nadja was brought,” he began. “And when I followed the trace, it led me to your street. You must have found my phone and picked it up from its hiding spot. You were in that apartment, right?”
“Yes, we were, and we were also the ones who got Nadja out of that room. Ian has your phone right now. He’ll bring it back when he returns. You said you spotted me as I was talking to them in the cab. Where were you?”
“Walking on your street toward the cab they were in. I had just come around the corner in my own cab. I made the mistake of getting out of it when I determined my phone must be with someone in the cab that was just sitting there on your street. I thought the only reason it could be there was because someone had found it and maybe brought Nadja with them.” He inhaled. “I hoped Nadja was in that car, with someone who’d rescued her. With my phone moved, I wouldn’t be able to get to the apartment where we’d been anyway.
“I had no idea where that dump was located. The car that took me there had its windows shielded, so I wasn’t able to see my surroundings as we drove there. My plan was to go up to the cab and see who was in there, take them by surprise. Then you suddenly came out of an apartment building and ran over to the cab. That had me so thrown that I stopped dead in my tracks, just watching you as you opened the car door and stuck something into the cab. When I finally came to my senses again, the cab took off. ”
“Why didn’t you come up to me and say something?” I asked. “Why did you break into my apartment instead?”
Burt shrugged, looking so lost I felt sorry for him. “I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea what was going on. If I could trust you. I thought I could, but I wasn’t sure. Also, I was staring after that damn cab as it drove away, wanting to follow it. For several seconds, I was trying to find a new cab I could get into. I couldn’t find one. Then I realized that I’d lost track of my phone. The app on my iPad”—he pointed at a tablet next to him on the floor—“could no longer detect it. My iPad and phone are synced in case I ever lose my phone.”
“Maybe the signal from your phone was blocked by buildings,” I suggested. “Can you detect your phone now?”
He picked up his tablet and checked. “No, it’s still gone.”
“In that case, either your phone died or Ian removed the battery so that it wouldn’t send out any more signals. My guess is he removed the battery as soon as they got to his car because he doesn’t want anyone to be able to trace him and Nadja to the house they’re driving to. So what did you do then? Went to my place?”
“Yeah, I didn’t really have any other options. I hoped you’d be able to tell me what was going on. When I didn’t see you, I assumed you’d gone back to your house, so I went over to the apartment building I’d seen you come out from. Your name and apartment number are both on
the intercom downstairs. I didn’t have to buzz it because one of your neighbors came out right then and let me in. I took the elevator up to your floor and knocked on your door. It came open, so I walked inside. When no one was there, I didn’t know what to do. I figured my best bet was to just wait until you got back home. I thought you’d probably return soon—I often leave my door open when I go to pick something up on the street—so I made myself comfortable on your couch. I must’ve fallen asleep ’cause I didn’t hear you come back. I didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry about that.”
“Yeah, you could’ve at least turned on the light.”
“Yeah, I know.” Burt grimaced apologetically. “Again, I’m so sorry to have scared you. I always forget that not everyone has as good a night vision as I do.” He shifted position on the couch. “Now it’s your turn. So you and Ian saved Nadja then? Just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
Burt nodded. “Thank you so much for doing that. How did you find her?”
“I got worried about you when I didn’t see you at work today. I saw how uncomfortable you looked when Janine came out of the elevator in the lobby at Nikkei. Both Ian and I are aware of what she and Adler are up to. As are you, correct?” I crossed my arms over my chest as I took him in. I wasn’t really asking as much as I simply wanted to start talking about the conspiracy and Burt himself being a hybrid. He looked exhausted, I noticed as I kept looking at him. There were the beginnings of bags under his weird eyes.
He gazed at the floor, sighing, then back at me. “You could say that, yeah. I didn’t realize you already knew what The Adler Group wants to do. If only I’d known that you knew…. I was dreading having to tell you about it, so I kept putting it off.”
I frowned. “When were you going to tell me about it? And why?”
“When Jonah’s father demanded that Jonah forget about you and forbade him to contact you again unless it was work related, Jonah sent me to talk to you. To explain what was to come and how you could become an untouchable. You being an untouchable would be the only way Otto Stenger would be okay with you and Jonah being together. But I kept putting it off. I didn’t think you’d agree to become UT. Or even believe me for that matter.” Burt gave a half smile.
I tilted my head. “UT. As in untouchable?”
“Exactly. I still told Jonah that I’d spoken to you when he asked me, though—well, that took a while. A few weeks. I kept telling him that I couldn’t get an opportunity long enough to tell you about all that needed to be said for you to understand. Which he bought. It’s not like it’s a conversation one has with someone by the fitness desk between clients after all. Anyway, I managed to keep putting it off until he finally confronted me, accusing me of not wanting to tell you. So finally I told him I’d spoken to you and that you told me that you wanted to think about it. That you weren’t sure about becoming UT. It’s a permanent transformation,” he added.
“Permanent? How so?”
“How much do you know about what The Adler Group has been working on? You know about all the human hybrids they’ve created? That I’m one of them? One of the first?”
I nodded while exhaling inwardly. So he is one of them then. I wasn’t sure why I’d needed him to spell it out to me, but I had before I could fully believe it. Against my will, the fact that he must have some animal genes in his body weirded me out. Did those strange, reptile eyes mean he had snake genes in his gene line then? I no longer thought there was a chance they were mere contacts. Besides the eyes, what other genes might he have gotten from reptiles? What about other animals? What if they gave him animal instincts? Instincts not to be trusted… A shiver of discomfort filled me, causing me to immediately push away more thoughts of Burt and animal genes. Of course Burt could be trusted; my gut told me so and my gut had proven reliable in the end.
“I had my suspicions about you, yes,” I confirmed. Then I proceeded to tell him—in a heavily condensed form—about all that Ian had told me, what I’d read in Emma’s letter and what I’d heard with my own ears during the politicians’ dinner. “But I’m not sure what it means to be an untouchable. Can you explain?”
“Sure. In the brave, new world The Adler Group wants to create—that’s what they like to call it, not me—there will be the elites and the underclass. The elite will consist of super humans and untouchables. Untouchables will be regular humans, but with a special status, which is why they will be safe from elimination. All the government officials, business men and other powerful key people involved with The Adler Group are all untouchables. They became so voluntarily.”
I pricked my ears up. “You’re implying there’s a way to become untouchable involuntarily?”
“Yes. The scientists have invented a drug that can be given to you via an injection or a computerized virus, turning you into an untouchable even if you don’t agree with being one. This drug will be used to keep the underclass in check as well and will be disseminated in the computer virus form. Basically, once you’ve gotten this drug into your system, it will brainwash you into accepting whatever position in the world the leaders have chosen for you.”
I stared at Burt, fascinated and disgusted at the same time by what he was telling me.
“I was so happy when you came up to our table in the cafeteria at the club,” he continued. “And that you told Jonah that you wanted to be with him. If you hadn’t done that, Jonah would surely have demanded that I make sure you got the virus to become untouchable against your will.” He smirked. “He’s not the most patient person. He could only handle waiting for you to make up your mind for so long.”
“Well, I’m glad too,” I said. “I would rather have died than becoming a brainwashed creature. Especially one condemned to being with Jonah for the rest of my life.” I stuck my tongue out to emphasize just how horrible a fate I’d find that to be.
Burt chuckled. “Yeah, I figured you hadn’t really changed your mind, but was up to something. Jonah himself is too much of an egomaniac to realize that, thankfully. How did you manage to find Nadja? Did someone tell you where they’d brought her?”
“No, Ian has a software on his tablet that enables him to track cell phones. Not unlike the way you tracked your own phone, but on a more complex level, and that’s how we found yours. He and I are both in law enforcement. My name isn’t really Jamie Richards, it’s Gabriella Longoria and I’m really a cop from L.A.” I smiled at him. “You can call me Gabi, though.”
Burt sat up on the couch, his lips spreading wide in surprise. “I’ll be damned. You’re a cop?”
“Yep. I’m working at the club as a trainer in an undercover capacity, unofficially so as my boss believes I’m in Hungary on paid leave at the moment. My husband”—my throat felt thick suddenly. I had to swallow and clear it before continuing—“my husband who also used to be a cop, was murdered early this year. I have reason to believe that his murderers can be found at Nikkei. So I came back here.”
Burt was studying me, his weird eyes having narrowed a bit. “Came back here? What’s that supposed to mean? Wait.” He held up a hand. “Have you and I met at some point before you started working as Jamie the trainer at the club? We have, haven’t we? You seem so familiar.”
I couldn’t help but smile big then. “Yes, we have. Remember Annika Hansson, the blond Swedish trainer who used to work for Nikkei a few years ago?”
Now Burt’s lips really fell open, then he grinned big. “You’re shitting me… You’re Annika?”
His grin was contagious, so now I was grinning big, too. “That’s right. I used to be Annika Hansson from Sweden whose dad suddenly got pancreatic cancer and died.” I said those last words with the light Swedish accent I’d used while being Annika.
Burt shook his head, laughing. “Well, it’s great to meet you again, Annika. You really had me fooled there, um…Gabi. Though I did always think you reminded me of someone. I wrote it off as you just really looking like Angelina Jolie with red hair.”
“I do?” I raised a br
ow; that was a first. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, you do. Though not when you had that long, straight, blond hair. What about Ian? Is he also a cop?”
“No, he’s a former FBI Special Agent. He was basically thrown out of the Bureau when he refused to become part of Adler’s cause. They did offer him to become… an untouchable it would be then?”
“Yes, that’s what it would be. So were you undercover as Annika too then?”
“Yes, I was here to catch Felipe Cardoza, the drug lord, who’s now in prison. It was due to the LAPD, NYPD and the FBI working together in a joint operation. Remember how I used to train him?”
“Yes, I do remember that. Wow… So you were really here to catch him then...” Burt gazed at me with appreciation. “You’re good. You had everyone fooled.”
It struck me then that maybe Burt knew if Cardoza was involved with The Adler Group and its cause. I asked him that.
He looked pensive as he took in my question. “I really don’t know if he’s involved or not. I can’t say I’ve heard his name mentioned ever, though. Why do you ask?”
I explained how Nick had also been undercover and how his death looked exactly like how Cardoza avenged himself on rats. I also mentioned that Ian thought it was just The Adler Group making it look like Cardoza was behind it.
“Who knows,” Burt said. “Just because I haven’t heard his name mentioned doesn’t mean he isn’t involved. It’s not like I’m privy to the leaders’ meetings. I’m just like all the other hybrids aware of what’s about to happen. We’re not told much. And since at least Janine and Chatterly suspect I have a problem with the plan—which I do—I’m surely told less.”
“Okay. Do you think other hybrids may feel the same way as you?”
Burt shrugged. “Maybe. It’s hard to know. We would be eliminated if we’re proven disloyal, so people aren’t likely to admit to it if they disagree.”
“That’s why they wanted you to shoot Nadja then? To prove your loyalty to the cause?”