Freak

by Francine Pascal

  “No, it’s okay,” Gaia replied. “I have to go. Just . . . call me if you hear from him.”

  “Okay,” Sam said.

  But Gaia never heard it. The line was already dead. Sam swore under his breath and turned off the phone, feeling suddenly helpless and trapped. How could she just call him and say all those things to him with no explanation? He’d been living with Dmitri for weeks, for God’s sake. What had he done to put Gaia so far over the edge?

  There’s nothing you can do, a little voice in his mind told him. She’ll come to you if she needs you.

  But the thought was small comfort. For as long as he’d known Gaia Moore, Sam had never seen her come to anyone for help.

  Actual Tears

  “LET ME MAKE SURE I HAVE THIS right—Sam Moon was living with Yuri?” Tom blurted, pacing back and forth in front of the coffee table.

  Gaia and Jake sat on the couch, looking like two wide-eyed little kids that were being scolded by their father. They watched him warily, like they were afraid that at any moment he might spontaneously combust and take them with him. He didn’t blame them. He felt like he was about to explode.

  “We didn’t know he was Yuri,” Gaia told him for the fifth time in as many minutes. “He passed himself off as one of Loki’s prisoners.”

  “This is insane. It’s just insane,” Tom said, his mind reeling. “And you’re telling me he helped you capture Natasha?”

  Gaia nodded slowly. “He tipped off the CIA. Why would he help the good guys?”

  “Well, Natasha tried to kill you,” Jake pointed out. “And from what your dad said, it seems like this Yuri guy wouldn’t have wanted that to happen.”

  “Exactly,” Tom said, finally pausing in his maniacal pacing. “Once Natasha became a threat to his plans he just gave her up.”

  “But Dmitri was trying to help me find you,” Gaia said, tossing the bag of vegetables she’d been toying with onto the table. “He sent me into this travel agency . . . this front for the Organization to find information on where you were being held.”

  Tom watched his daughter’s mind work as she trailed off, clearly trying to put two and two together. He couldn’t have imagined the cocktail of emotions she was experiencing at that moment. He was so proud of her—she was so brave, so intelligent, so resilient. But at the same time, he was frightened for her.

  I have to get her out of here, he thought again. Take her somewhere where Yuri can’t find her. This can’t go on.

  “But I never found any information,” Gaia said finally, pressing her hand into her forehead. “I stole that other file he wanted, but there was nothing on you. Why would he send me on a covert mission to steal from his own organization?”

  “A travel agency, you said?” Tom asked, sitting in one of the chairs across the coffee table. “Was it a little place downtown? Between a shoe store and a computer repair shop?”

  “Yeah . . . ,” Gaia said slowly.

  “That’s not a front for the Organization, it’s a front for the CIA,” Tom told her, his stomach curling in on itself. “Yuri sent you in to steal from the CIA.”

  A thick silence descended over the room and Tom had to swallow back actual tears of frustration. The very thought of the danger that man had put his daughter in—the idea of him manipulating her and Sam into thinking he was some innocent victim—made Tom so ill he wanted to crawl out of his skin.

  “Do you remember what it was?” Tom asked.

  “Just a file. I never looked at it,” Gaia said, slumping back into the couch, dazed. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

  “There’s no way you could have known,” Jake said before Tom could get out the exact same words. He looked at Jake gratefully. Tom was starting to like this kid.

  “Gaia, I think we need to get you out of here,” Tom said, leaning forward. He rested his elbows on his thighs and pressed his hands together. “I want you safe. That’s all I care about.”

  “Dad, no,” Gaia said firmly, sitting up again. Her blond hair fanned out over her shoulders, framing her beautiful, determined face. “No. I am not leaving you.”

  The tears behind his eyes intensified at her words, but he once again fought them back.

  “Gaia—”

  “Dad, no,” Gaia repeated. She stood up and took a few steps toward the end of the couch, pushing her hands into her hair. “I am not going to run,” she said, turning to him. “I’ve never run before and I’m not going to start now.”

  “Gaia, you know I’m all for fighting this guy, but maybe your dad’s right,” Jake said, turning in his seat so he could face her. “This Yuri guy sounds like he doesn’t mess around. They almost killed both of us tonight.”

  “I know,” Gaia said. “That’s why we have to end this—now. Just think about it, Dad. We bring Yuri to justice and it’s over. He’s the last link. Loki is gone. . . . If we take Yuri down it’ll actually be over.”

  Tom let her words sink in and felt a flutter of something new within him. Hope, maybe. Determination, definitely. Gaia was right. With Yuri out of the way and Loki squelched, the Organization would crumble. The last threats to his daughter’s life would be obliterated.

  But he didn’t like the fact that she kept using the word “we.”

  “I know what you’re saying, Gaia,” he said, rising out of his chair. “But if Yuri is going to be taken out, you are going to be far, far away when it happens.”

  “How can you say that?” Gaia asked, whirling around to face him fully. Her eyes flashed, reminding him of the way Katia reacted whenever he picked an argument with her. “Dad, this is our fight. This man is my grandfather. He’s Mom’s father and he betrayed me. He betrayed us all. How can you even think about calling in some team to take care of him? We have to do this ourselves.”

  “Not without some backup,” Tom argued. “I don’t think you appreciate exactly how dangerous this man is.”

  “I do,” Gaia said, drawing herself up straight. “But we have an edge. We know where he was staying and he left in a hurry. He must have tripped up—left something behind that could help us.”

  Tom sighed and shook his head. “We can’t go in alone,” he told her. “You already got jumped there once. He may have sent more operatives.”

  “But this time we’ll be prepared for that,” Gaia said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Jake said suddenly, standing as well. Tom saw his jaw working beneath his skin as he crossed his sizable arms over his chest. “I want to help.”

  Gaia’s mouth twitched into a smile that she quickly banished. “We should get Oliver, too,” she said, looking Tom in the eye. “Now that we know he had nothing to do with this, he could be good to have around.”

  Tom’s shoulder muscles coiled and he looked away. The very idea of talking to Oliver was almost too much for him to handle. He was going to have to apologize. He saw that now. But even though he’d been cleared in this matter, Tom still didn’t trust his brother. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever trust the man completely.

  When he glanced back at Gaia again, her gaze was unwavering—steadfast. Whether or not Tom trusted his twin, Gaia clearly did. And she was right. Checkered past or no, Oliver’s skills would be helpful in this particular operation. It was time for Tom to swallow his pride and call his brother.

  “Fine,” Tom said finally, trying to ignore the sick feeling that permeated his heart. He crossed to the table next to the couch and reached for the phone. “Let’s get this over with.”

  The First Step

  OLIVER STRAIGHTENED HIS COLLAR and smiled contentedly as he lifted his fist to rap on Tom and Gaia’s door. He’d been most surprised when the phone had trilled in the middle of the night and even more surprised to hear his twin’s voice on the other end, asking him to come in to the city ASAP. It was an odd time of day for a reconciliation, but beggars can’t be choosers.

  The door flew open and Oliver blinked, startled. Gaia stood there in a T-shirt and a Kevlar vest, her face flushed and her eyes filled with
a sort of grim excitement.

  “What’s going on?” Oliver asked automatically.

  “We have a lot to tell you,” Gaia said, stepping aside to let him pass.

  Oliver walked slowly into the living room, his mind working double time. At the same moment, Tom stalked in from the hallway, pressing a gun into a hip holster. His button-down shirt was open to reveal his Kevlar vest. Jake stood in the corner by the window, talking into a cell phone. There was an almost palpable energy in the air.

  “Ollie,” Tom said, lifting his chin. “We need to talk.”

  Oliver felt his pulse quicken in a way he relished. He followed his brother into a bedroom down the hallway and waited as Tom closed the door. He almost didn’t dare to hope.

  “Is everything all right, Tom?” Oliver asked.

  “No. No, everything is not all right,” Tom said, looking him in the eye. There was still caution there, but something had changed. His brother was no longer afraid. “Oliver, I know it wasn’t you who kidnapped me. I know you had nothing to do with the hit on Gaia. And I want you to know . . . ”

  This was difficult for his brother, Oliver could tell. He ached to hear the words, but he didn’t prompt them. He had waited a long time for this moment. He could wait until Tom was ready.

  “I want you to know that I’m sorry,” Tom said finally, his voice husky. “I think you understand why I couldn’t fully trust you in Russia, but I’m sorry for how I treated you.”

  “It’s all right,” Oliver said, somehow containing the maelstrom of emotions within him. “You had a lot to process.”

  “Yes,” Tom said, tucking his hands under his arms. “To be honest, I still do.”

  “Of course,” Oliver told him, refusing to let his brother’s continued wariness get to him. This was a start. A first step. It was all he could ask for.

  “But I’m glad to have you back, brother,” Tom said, unexpectedly. His voice actually cracked. “It’s good to have you back.”

  Shocked by this sudden effusion of emotion, Oliver was hardly prepared when his brother enveloped him in an awkward, stiff—but still heartfelt—hug. Oliver slapped his brother’s back and quelled a wave of tears that threatened to take over. This was it. The moment he’d hoped for. The moment he’d lived for.

  The Moore brothers were back.

  Oliver pulled away from Tom and clasped his shoulder. Neither was comfortable with outpourings of emotions. They’d done what they needed to do and there was clearly some other serious business at hand.

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Why is your daughter out there in a bulletproof vest?” Oliver asked.

  Tom took a deep breath and blew it out noisily. “Well, Ollie . . . You up for a mission?”

  “Absolutely,” Oliver said, following Tom back out to the living room/dining room area. Gaia was laying equipment out on the table while Jake was still over by the window, his back to the room as he spoke into the phone. “Who wants to tell me what’s going on?” Oliver asked, pushing his hands into his pockets.

  Gaia shot a look at her father. “You might want to sit down for this,” she told Oliver, twisting her hair back into a messy bun. But Oliver stood stock-still. He was feeling fairly euphoric after his talk with Tom. Nothing could bring him down.

  “Okay,” she said with a shrug. “Remember Yuri? He’s alive. We have to get him.”

  Oliver pulled a chair out from the dining room table and fell into it. “That’s not possible,” he said. “Yuri’s dead. Loki shot him. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

  “Yeah, well, Loki got duped,” Tom said, buttoning up his shirt. Any trace of emotion was gone as he was back to business. “And now Yuri’s after Gaia.”

  Oliver’s heart skipped a long beat as he gazed up at his niece, his mind reeling. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he managed to say.

  “I know, but we don’t have time to figure it out right now,” Gaia told him. “I know the last apartment he was staying in. We’re going there to see what we can find.”

  Oliver watched as Tom helped Jake into a bulletproof vest and showed him how to fasten the shoulder straps. Gaia pulled a sweatshirt on over her own vest. Her hair stuck out in all directions from the static. They looked like they were getting ready for battle.

  But with Yuri? It couldn’t be. All these years Loki had been running the Organization—feared, revered, respected. And he’d only been able to do it by murdering Yuri—by showing everyone who the new boss was. What had Yuri been doing all that time? If Oliver knew anything about the man, he knew that he couldn’t have been just sitting around twiddling his thumbs. Yuri loved the Organization—it was his baby. He must have hated Loki for taking it away. He must have been plotting revenge.

  “Will you come with us?” Gaia asked.

  Oliver swallowed hard. “Of course I will.” His family needed him. He would go wherever they asked. It was just going to take him a little while to process all of this. It was as if the whole world order had shifted in the space of three seconds.

  “Oliver? Are you okay?” Gaia asked.

  “I’m fine,” Oliver said, clearing his throat, trying to banish thoughts of Yuri and what he might want to do to the man who had tried to take his life.

  “Where did you get all this equipment?” Oliver asked, picking up a stun gun and inspecting it. He had to put thoughts of his own safety out of his mind. This was about protecting Gaia and Tom. It was time to focus.

  “I kept it in a locker in storage,” Tom said. He picked up the last vest from the table and handed it to Ollie. “Good thing, too. Who knew I’d need it for something like this?”

  “Well, you were always the smart one,” Oliver half joked.

  He slipped into the vest and zipped up the front, glancing at Gaia, who smiled back at him. Oliver’s heart warmed. Suddenly he felt like part of the family again—part of a team. And for once, he was on the right side.

  “All set?” Gaia asked, looking at Jake over Oliver’s shoulder.

  “Yeah. I talked to my dad,” Jake said, yanking a sweater on over his head as he approached them. “I’m good to go.”

  “Gaia?” Tom asked.

  “Ready,” she replied with a nod.

  “Ollie?”

  Oliver pulled his jacket on over his vest and nodded, determined. “Let’s do it.”

  To: Y

  From: X22

  Subject: Genesis

  Capture unsuccessful. Please advise: X22

  To: X22

  From: Y

  Subject: Re: Genesis

  You stupid, blithering idiot! How could you fail to catch one small girl? I know she is powerful, but I told you this. I warned you. How many men did you send in? Did you not bring weapons? Are you that idiotic?

  I would like you to proceed by sitting on your hands while I get this done right. Continue reports on Cain and Abel. Don’t screw up again.

  jake the spy

  Visions of his body being flung across the room, of a giant fireball exploding out the side of the building, of Gaia’s limp, dead form, flashed across his mind’s eye.

  The Roller Coaster

  JAKE FLATTENED HIMSELF UP AGAINST the wall of the hallway outside Yuri’s apartment, feeling once again like he was in the middle of a Vin Diesel movie. After what had happened here the last time, he had expected to be peeing in his pants from fear, but he was strangely calm—excited, but calm. Maybe he was getting used to this stuff. Maybe he even had a future in the spy game.

  How cool would that be? Jake thought, trying not to smile. This was not an appropriate situation for smiling.

  Tom signaled to Jake and Gaia to stay put and stay quiet, then nudged open the broken door with his toe. He took a few steps inside, inspecting the area. Jake glanced at Oliver, who gazed back, his cool blue eyes telling Jake to take it easy—be patient.

  Suddenly Tom reappeared in the doorway.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered.

  The team tromped through the door and int
o the apartment. Jake paused before entering, looking both ways down the hall to see if anyone was lurking, but there was no movement.

  When Jake walked into the apartment, Gaia, Oliver, and Tom were standing in the living room, taking in the scene. Blood dotted the floor around the smashed coffee table. The men he and Gaia had knocked out, however, were all gone.

  “Fan out,” Tom said, sweeping his arm toward Jake and Gaia. “I want to get this over with. Bring us anything that looks suspicious.”

  “I got the bedroom,” Jake said, heading for a closed door near the back of the apartment. Oliver followed as he carefully stepped over a few bills and envelopes on the carpet, in case they were important, and grasped the brass doorknob. He opened the door and was about to walk in when he heard a click and a beep.

  “Stop!” Oliver shouted, causing Jake’s heart to jump.

  Jake was about to pull his hand away from the doorknob, but Oliver touched his arm, stopping him.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” he told Jake.

  Jake swallowed with difficulty. He wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but he was afraid to open his mouth. Oliver dropped to the ground, turned on his side, and slid through the space between Jake’s legs and the door.

  “What’s going on?” Tom asked, approaching them with Gaia close behind.

  “It’s C4,” Oliver said, shining a tiny flashlight up toward the top of the door. “It’s wired from the wall down to the doorknob. He moves, it blows.”

  Jake’s knees wobbled dangerously and he pressed his eyes closed. He’d seen enough spy movies in his lifetime to know that C4 was a seriously nasty explosive. Visions of his body being flung across the room, of a giant fireball exploding out the side of the building, of Gaia’s limp, dead form, flashed across his mind’s eye.

  Oh, no. He really was going to pee in his pants.

  “How much?” Tom asked.

  “Enough to take off the top of this building,” Oliver said. “But it’s a rudimentary device. Not a problem.”

  Jake liked the sound of that. He opened his eyes and saw Oliver pull a pair of clippers out of his utility belt. Then he reached up with the flashlight toward Jake.