Collusion

by De'nesha Diamond

The project was terminated without documented explanation, and then two years later it restarted with a document dump of information from Dr. Zacher. It wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. The project had continued off the books, and three test subjects were entered by name instead of by number: Shalisa Young, Thomasyn Lehane, and Abrianna Parker.

  Ghost studied Kadir, waiting.

  At long last, he pushed back from the computer with a loud huff. “Those muthafuckas.”

  “Ain’t it some bullshit?” Ghost folded his arms. “This is some next-level shit, and your girl is right in the thick of it.”

  “Fuck,” Kadir added and then unleashed a mother lode of expletives, none of which made him feel better.

  “And the church says amen,” Ghost said before returning to the matter at hand. “Any idea how you want to play this?”

  “Play what?”

  “Did you forget about the extraction order?”

  “Shit.” Kadir bolted to his feet. “I shouldn’t have left her alone. They could be making another attempt right now.”

  Ghost restrained him by the arm. “Chill. She’s good. I have Wendell and her friend Julian sitting on her.”

  “What?”

  “Well, no offense, but your girlfriend is a bit hard-headed. Instead of arguing with her about where she can and can’t go, I put a tail on her.”

  “Damn. I really have dragged you into my mess.”

  Ghost shrugged. “It’s a fascinating mess, opening my eyes even more to the bullshit that’s going on. So far there hasn’t been another attempt. My thinking is that their window of opportunity closed.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If Abrianna disappeared before the president stepped down, then folks would have suspected the White House of getting rid of her.”

  “Frame the former president?”

  “Perfect scapegoat.”

  “But why?”

  Ghost shook his head. “I forget how much you’ve been out of the loop. President Walker took a machete to the defense budget, which consequently affected private security contracts. Word on the wire is that whole mess that went down in Brazil with those prostitutes was a setup from jump street. The Pentagon and all these paramilitary guys wanted Walker gone. But he was a scrappy muthafucka and hung in there far longer than any of them thought.”

  “He made the impeachment go away,” Kadir said.

  Ghost shrugged. “Well, somebody did.”

  Kadir frowned. “What? Now you don’t believe the judge’s own confession that we taped?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Then what the hell are you alluding to?”

  “The judge said the conspiracy led to the White House. I think that part was true. But she certainly didn’t mention President Walker by name. And I’ve always been a firm believer in listening to what muthafuckas don’t say.”

  Kadir thought on that for a moment. “So . . . why not Walker? He certainly had the motive.”

  “He wasn’t the only snake with a motive.” Ghost shrugged.

  “All right. You lost me.”

  “That’s because you don’t know that President Washington and Judge Sanders not only knew each other in college, they were roommates in their freshman year.”

  The light clicked on in Kadir’s eyes.

  Ghost chuckled and tapped the side of his head. “The matrix is real. All bullshit is connected.”

  “All right. So let’s go with your theory and that the window closed to frame Walker. So that means that Bree is safe, right?”

  “Depends on what they want her back for. Maybe they are worried about her abilities being exposed. She and the reporter chick stay in the news lately. Reading this guy’s progress notes, he clearly knows Bree personally. I doubt that she even knows who the fuck he is and Lord knows she’s in a state of denial. He even knows that she’s self-medicating on street drugs to deal with the quote side effects unquote.”

  Kadir’s head hurt.

  “Let’s review what we personally know about her. She clearly has some kind of telekinesis; that’s how she threw that guy against the wall. She self-heals like a muthafucka, she is strong as fuck, and can appear dead for at least three fuckin’ days. All evidence concludes that she’s a walking, talking success story.”

  “So they wouldn’t want to bring her in to kill her or anything.”

  “No. They may want to dissect her, and death could be another side effect. Or they want her ass to start working for them. Complete some military training and put her out in the field to see how all their hard work has paid off. Who the fuck knows with these people?”

  “We got to tell Abrianna about all of this—somehow.”

  “We?”

  Kadir gave him a sharp look.

  “Do you think she’s going to believe you? You think that she can handle it. I don’t know how she or her friends have been in denial all this time. I mean, you should’ve seen them rail on me when I was trying to convince them that she was dead in that bathtub. I give it to them, they’re loyal as fuck, but they know their girl ain’t right.”

  Kadir sighed. “All right, then when we talk with her, we need to make sure her friends are there, too.”

  “Dead that we shit, man. This is all you. I’d like to stay out of all the emotional side of this shit. Interventions rarely go well. But you can tell me how it went.”

  “All right. Fine. I’ll figure out how to tell her all this shit myself. But as far as this whole T4S, maybe it’s best to go straight to the source.”

  Ghost cupped his ear. “Come again.”

  “We’re the only variable not being calculated in their equation. Maybe we should use that to our advantage.”

  “Maybe . . . maybe not. They know damn sure that she had help escaping that extraction order. You were locked down, so yeah, they’ve probably eliminated you. But I’m sure that they’ve been looking for my ass for a minute.”

  “But there’s nothing connecting her to you.”

  “I’d feel more comfortable if there were more than one degree of separation.”

  “I see your point,” Kadir conceded. “But . . . sooner or later they are going to want their test subject back—both of them.”

  “Agreed. But how are we going to stop them?”

  47

  Abrianna finished reading and listening to Tomi about her search on T4S. The one thing she couldn’t pull her eyes from was the magazine article with Charlie’s picture staring back at her. The years of betrayal tied her heart into a knot. She really didn’t want to believe that he had played a part in her own kidnapping, even when she’d put two and two together the last time she’d talked to Tomi. The shit hurt too much.

  Over the years, he’d become a grandfather figure. He knew all about Shawn and her small band of friends. She told him everything: her trials of living on the streets, her heartbreak with a long line of boyfriends, and even her dreams of living on the French Riviera.

  “I feel like a fool.”

  “Don’t,” Shawn said, sounding equally disgusted. “I’ve met him several times with you. He came across as a harmless old man.”

  “Yeah. Real harmless.” She swiped her eyes. “Genetically modified? I don’t . . . this is crazy. We were their fucking science experiment?”

  “It’s looking that way.” Castillo offered her a box of Kleenex with her good arm.

  She waved the box off. She didn’t want to cry. She wanted to punch something.

  Shawn said, “I’ve been telling you that you needed to go to a doctor and get yourself a complete physical for years. All those headaches . . . and how freakishly strong you are.” He shook his head. “This makes sense.”

  “It’s probably been best that you didn’t,” Castillo said. “I can’t imagine that they would want whatever’s flowing through your bloodstream to show up in somebody else’s lab. I have it on good authority that the company has the ability to make people disappear.”

  “Now I’m starting to wonde
r what really happened to Shalisa,” Abrianna said.

  Tomi said, “I suspect that she was still a T4S lab rat. St. Elizabeth Hospital is a federal mental institution. They likely had carte blanche access to her. So when she died and then you disappeared, that’s why this Charlie guy approached me.”

  Shawn elbowed her. “Are you going to tell them?”

  “Tell us what?” Tomi and Castillo asked in unison.

  Abrianna sighed. “T4S tried to kidnap me right after I saw you in Stanton Park.”

  “What?”

  Abrianna exhaled a long breath and told them of the hit-and-run incident, followed by her heroic rescue by some friends-who-must-not-be-named.

  “And you’re fine?” Castillo asked, looking her over.

  “I heal fast,” she admitted.

  Tomi and Castillo shared looks.

  “Okay. I have to go.” Abrianna stood. “I need some time to digest all of this.”

  “Don’t we need to figure out what we are going to do?” Tomi asked.

  “Survive.” Abrianna laughed. “It’s the only thing we can do. I would suggest for us to go underground, but that’s hardly an option with my face splashed on every newspaper right now and your name as a byline.”

  Tomi’s shoulders slumped.

  “I’m sorry. I wish I had something else to say.” She shook her head and then told Shawn, “C’mon. Let’s go.”

  Shawn stood and gave the other women an apologetic look.

  Back in the car, he and Abrianna rode in silence. All the information that they had taken in weighed heavily on their minds. Then halfway through the drive, Shawn asked, “Are you going to tell Kadir?”

  “I don’t know. How do you think he’ll react?”

  “You got me.”

  “How would you react?”

  “This is my reaction, shock. But it doesn’t change anything between us. You’re still my best friend. I’ll still do anything I can for you.”

  “You would?”

  “Of course. You know better than to ask.”

  “Take me to Stanton Park.”

  “What? What for?”

  “Return to the scene of the crime. I don’t know. Maybe I can smoke Charlie out. Maybe he doesn’t know that I’m on to him.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we should just ask.”

  Shawn shook his head. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

  “C’mon. We’re both strapped, and I’m freakishly strong, as you said. Let’s see.”

  Shawn sighed, but noted the seriousness in her eyes. “Shit.”

  “Thanks,” she said, winking.

  After a quick change in direction, Shawn headed out to Stanton Park. In the middle of December, it was freezing without the snow. The sun had set early, and the park was empty. Still, Abrianna and Shawn trudged to the park bench where she used to meet Charlie most weekdays for lunch and sat down.

  “I sure hope that you don’t plan for our asses to sit out here too long.”

  “Nah. I need a few more minutes to figure out how to tell Kadir all this shit on top of the other bullshit I got going on right now.”

  “You keep things interesting. I’ll give you that.” He kept glancing around like a deer on constant alert for hunters. “I don’t know why I let you talk me into crazy shit like this all the time.”

  “Relax. I doubt he’s out here anyway. I haven’t seen him in months.”

  “Unless he was the one who ran you over.”

  She frowned.

  “It’s possible. And if he did, it means that he knew that you’d survive.”

  “This shit is fucking crazy.”

  “That’s my whole point. Let’s go. I can’t feel my fingers.”

  A twig snapped.

  They whipped their heads around and scanned the darkness.

  Shawn sighed. “It’s nothing.”

  Yet the buzzing in Abrianna’s head told her otherwise.

  “No. Someone is out there.”

  “Where?” Shawn asked, standing.

  Abrianna shrugged. She didn’t understand how any of this shit worked—especially now that she knew that she wasn’t crazy.

  “C’mon. No bullshit. We better go,” Shawn urged.

  Abrianna allowed him to pull her from the bench and then hustled her around a tall shrubbery where they collided with Zeke.

  “Good evening . . . ladies.”

  Abrianna leaped back, dragging Shawn behind her.

  “What are you doing here, Zeke?”

  “Just out for a stroll in the park.” He chuckled.

  She looked him up and down and noted how awful he looked. He was much thinner and sweatier. “How in the hell did you even find me?”

  Zeke shrugged. “It wasn’t easy. You’re harder to find than old Waldo. But then I got this genius idea to keep an eye out on your reporter friend from the paper. I followed her to that private dick agency and then followed you here.”

  Zeke’s goons materialized behind his back. They looked much healthier.

  “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “We have nothing to talk about.”

  “Oh, but we do. Things like you and your friends’ kidnapping hobby.” He cocked his head. “Ringing any bells?” Zeke latched onto her arm and squeezed.

  Abrianna wrenched free. “I’m not going anywhere with you. All business dealings between us are finished. I don’t owe you a damn thing. As a matter of fact, you owe me.”

  He laughed and then clutched at his side as if in pain. “How do you figure I owe you?”

  “You have my money that you lifted off Moses.”

  “Oh. Aren’t you the little detective?” He laughed. “Figured that out, did you? I always knew that you had a better head on your shoulders than that knuckleheaded nigga. I still don’t know what in the hell you ever saw in him. But I’ll tell you what: I’ll keep the money to cover the service charge for putting a bullet in his head and getting rid of him for you. There. You’re welcome.”

  Abrianna smirked. “Nah. Consider that a quid pro quo for your old-ass girlfriend who took that bullet in the gut and ruined her pretty dress.”

  Zeke’s backhand rocked her head back.

  “Hey!” Shawn went for his weapon, but goon number one tackled him.

  Abrianna sprang forward, crashing her fist against Zeke’s jaw.

  A surprised Zeke dropped to one knee, and before he could recover, Abrianna attacked with a swift kick underneath his chin that physically lifted and reeled him back.

  Goon number two snapped out of his shock and grabbed Abrianna from behind.

  Shawn jumped onto his opponent’s back and jammed his thumbs into his eyes sockets.

  “Aaaaargh,” the muscled man jerked around, trying to fling Shawn off. But he was like a crab, latched on and pounding the top of his head until the goon dropped like a stone.

  Abrianna’s opponent slipped both arms underneath hers and locked his hands behind her back. It pushed her head forward against her chest. She reared her head back, busting him in the lip, and then folded upward and flipped herself over the man’s head. Now he was on his back, she crashed her elbows against the collar of his neck, dropping him next to his partner.

  Click.

  Abrianna and Shawn’s attention snapped back to Zeke.

  Panting, he stood with a gun leveled on them while blood trickled from his nose and mouth.

  “What are you two, a couple of ex-WWE freaks?”

  Abrianna hissed. “If you’re going to shoot, shoot. I’m not dancing to your bullshit anymore.”

  “You’ll dance until I say it’s over. And I’m not . . .” The gun trembled in his hands. “What the fuck?” Zeke wrestled for control of his arm. He used his left hand to steady his right, but that didn’t work. His right hand turned the weapon toward himself. “What the hell is happening?” Zeke yelled. “How are you doing this shit?”

  Abrianna focused on the gu
n until it completed its turn toward Zeke’s head. His wrist snapped before she forced his finger to pull the trigger.

  Pow!

  Zeke’s head exploded as he reeled and crashed backward onto the ground.

  Shawn stared at Abrianna. “You did that?”

  The men at their feet groaned.

  Abrianna glanced down, and before Shawn could stop her, she made their necks snap with a horrible crunch.

  “Shit.” Shawn jumped and glanced around at the three dead bodies in the center of the park. “How in the hell are we going to explain this?”

  Abrianna was still in a daze.

  “Your nose is bleeding,” Shawn said.

  “Huh?”

  “We got to get out of here.” Shawn tugged Abrianna’s arm.

  Abrianna’s scalp tingled. “There’s somebody else out here.” Shawn glanced around, panicked. “Let’s go!”

  The reality of what had happened hit Abrianna hard, but she allowed Shawn to pull her along before they took off running. A van appeared out of nowhere and flew up on the curb. Before Abrianna could react, the back door opened and a panicked Roger yelled, “Get in!”

  Abrianna and Shawn didn’t wait for them to tell them a second time and jumped into the back of the van.

  Two witnesses to the carnage stepped out of the shadows and watched the van speed off.

  “Did you see that, Dr. Z?” Ned asked, openmouthed.

  Dr. Zacher nodded; his smile took up the lower half of his face. “I saw it, all right.”

  “What should we do?”

  “First, we get a crew out here to take care of these bodies. Then I’m paying a visit to Spalding to let him know that there has been a change in plans.”

  48

  Ghost’s Warehouse

  Kadir and Ghost listened as Abrianna, Shawn, Wendell, and Roger retold the evening’s events with matching expressions of shock. When they were finished, a long, palpable silence hung over the room while everyone took a moment to process. Even after they did that, no one knew what to say.

  Except for Ghost. “I’m starting to feel like God sent you here to test me.”

  “Trust me. God has nothing to do with any of it,” Abrianna responded flippantly.

  “Then it’s the devil,” he concluded and then looked to Kadir. “Anything you want to say to your homicidal girlfriend?”