Second Chances

by Phelps, K. L.

  "Cameron killed Paige?" Jason asked. He rubbed his forehead, struggling to remember.

  Julie nodded. "You overheard him discussing it with one of his scientists. She was a test case. While altering her memories to forget about you, to forget being trapped in the fire, they had embedded in her some commands and he'd triggered them causing her to kill herself. He wanted to see just how far he could control a person. Could he get a person to kill themself? To kill others? Even people they loved? "

  Tears again ran down the old man's face.

  "It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what he was up to. Most of us didn't."

  Nathan looked in the rearview mirror and saw Paige had gone pale.

  "Paige? Paige, are you okay?"

  She shook her head no.

  Nathan slowed the car and pulled off to the side of the road.

  "Will...will I? The others. They killed themselves. They killed their families. Those news articles, I saw them. Will I do the same thing? Have I been programmed? Am I...a time bomb?"

  "No," Julie said quickly. "I don't think so."

  "How do you know?"

  "He rushed you," she said. "I don't know exactly what he had planned for you. I have been way out of the loop for a very long time, but I still hear things. I believe the final work, your final...programming as you called it, was supposed to be done out in California. I know he had plans for you and honestly shudder to think what they might have been, but I do know you were rushed."

  "Rushed? A defective product, rushed to market," Paige spat out.

  "Don't say that," Jason said.

  "Why not? It's true, isn't it."

  "No, it ..."

  "Yes, Dad, it is," she snapped.

  Jason flinched at her words and Paige saw the hurt in the older man's eyes. She wanted to apologize. She hadn't meant to hurt the man, but she knew she had. She was angry, scared and confused. It was too much.

  "I...can we get a drink?" She dropped her head into her hands. "I need something cold. Please."

  Nathan looked at Julie who nodded.

  "Okay." He put the car back into drive and they rode on in silence for another ten minutes until he pulled into the parking lot of a Shell gas station.

  "Be right back." Nathan hopped out of the car and returned a few minutes later with a small bag with cold bottles of water and a large cherry slush drink, which he handed to Paige. She gave him a weak smile and thanked him.

  Julie got out of the car and helped Jason out. She commented that she was going to help Jason stretch his legs and together they began to slowly walk away from the car and toward the darkened side of the building. Nathan could hear them softly talking, Julie trying to soothe Jason.

  Paige got out of the car and leaned on the open door, slowly sipping at her drink.

  "Better?"

  She shrugged.

  "You aren't going to...you know."

  "I'm not? How can you be sure? How can she be sure? All those news articles. I am sure those Paiges' didn't think they were going to...going to do what they did."

  "I just know."

  "Did you think your Paige was going to kill herself?"

  She immediately regretted her words. She watched Nathan stumble back a step as if physically struck.

  "You aren't going to," he said again, but this time it was only a whisper.

  "I wish I was so certain. I don't even know what I am. I mean I am not even human, am I?"

  "What the hell are you talking about? Of course you are."

  "I wasn't born, Nathan. I was fucking grown. My memories aren't my memories, they aren't even completely real. How the hell can I trust myself when I can't trust my memories?"

  "I don't know what to say. What I do know is...that I think I love you."

  "You only think that because I remind you of your wife."

  "No," he said with a soft laugh. "You definitely aren't the Paige I was married to. I admit that was my original attraction, but I came to realize long ago that you definitely aren't my Paige."

  Paige laughed. "Long ago? We've known each other only days."

  "But it sure as hell feels a lot longer, doesn't it."

  She laughed again and nodded.

  "I knew you weren't my Paige from almost the first day, when we first had breakfast."

  She looked at him, the question clear but unvoiced.

  "The way you ate your toast. My Paige...it just wasn't right. That was the first of many differences I saw. I admit I wanted to be wrong at first. I wanted to believe it was amnesia or something, but it definitely became clear that you were not her."

  He stepped closer and gently placed his hand on her chin, turning her until she was looking into his eyes.

  "I'm serious, Paige. I can't say I understand what the hell this all is or if I will ever be able to get my head around it all, but I know how I feel."

  "Didn't end so well for you last time."

  "No, I don't suppose it did. But I think I deserve a second chance. I think you deserve a second chance. I think...I think we deserve a second chance." He tilted his head towards where Jason and Julie had walked off. "I think that is what they are trying for as well."

  "Second chances?"

  He nodded. "What do you say? You say you can't trust your memories, what about your feelings? What are they telling you?"

  She placed her drink on the roof of the car and then turned and wrapped her arms around Nathan.

  "I don't know what to think. And I honestly don't know what I feel other than, right now, I trust you."

  "So are we good?" Julie asked as she and Jason returned to the car. His eyes were red and puffy. Nathan felt bad for the older man. He knew much of what was being said was news to Jason, though he didn't know exactly how that was possible.

  Paige nodded and said, "I think so." She slipped out of Nathan's arms, retrieved her drink and then got back into the car.

  They drove on in silence for a few minutes until Nathan finally asked. "So what happened to Jason? Why doesn't he remember everything?"

  "Because he was protecting my life," Julie replied. "When he...when we found out the scope of Cameron's plan we refused to be a part of it any further. Cameron decided we didn't have that option. We tried to make a break for it, but we didn't realize that Cameron was playing for keeps. We were detained and held separately. He threatened Jason's life but still he refused to continue. Then he threatened my life. Jason didn't want to see me killed but he would not continue to work on the project. Cameron did the same thing to me. Threatened me and then threatened Jason. In the end Jason and Cameron worked out a deal. One I wasn't thrilled with, but Jason implored me to be a part of."

  "I'm sorry," the older man said.

  "It wasn't your fault, Jason."

  "So what happened?" Paige asked.

  "Well Cameron wasn't willing to let us go, but he was willing to let us live. The evil bastard decided to torture us both. During the early work Jason did on Alzheimer's, he developed a serum which he'd hoped would reverse the disease. It was a complete failure, it actually had the exact opposite effect. It caused rapid onset of the disease or rather rapid onset of the symptoms so that it mirrored late stage Alzheimer's. Long term use actually seemed to cause brain damage in test subjects, which is likely why he can't remember everything. We have no clue if the damage will ever reverse completely. Once we saw it was a failure, the test subjects were destroyed and the drug shelved."

  "Why didn't he just kill you both?"

  "I think he enjoyed causing us pain. He made me administer the drug to Jason and forced me to continue working on the project. He had me doing mostly data analysis. He didn't trust me to do anything hands on, which was smart of him. But he kept me close enough because he enjoyed needling me and I think he honestly is attracted to me. I think he fantasized that something might develop, that I would come to see things his way. I also don't think he wanted Jason dead. I think he was hoping at some point he might be able to use him, his knowledge anyway."
<
br />   "So you just let him manipulate you two?"

  "No, Paige. If that was the case we wouldn't be here now. Early on, I tried to replace the medication I was being forced to give Jason. Cameron discovered that and arranged for Jason to suffer an accident that broke his leg. I was told that was the only warning we would get."

  Jason rubbed his leg absently. Paige frowned and wished she could take back her words.

  "I've spent the last several years setting up this escape."

  Paige looked down at her hands. "And we've screwed that up for you."

  Julie nodded. "Not your fault, but yes."

  "Why?"

  "Why what?"

  "Why didn't you just keep going?"

  Julie looked from Paige to Jason and a tight smile formed on her face.

  "Because I know what you mean to him. You may not be the original Paige, but to him, you are his daughter. He insisted we help you."

  "I'm responsible," Jason said softly. "For you, for what you are going through."

  She wanted to argue with him, but she couldn't. Not because she didn't believe it, but because she honestly didn't know. Her head was swimming with everything she had learned in the last few hours.

  "Wait. How did you even know how to contact us?" Nathan asked.

  "Daniel Perry," Julie said.

  "Paige's fiancee? But how? He..."

  Julie reached into her purse and pulled out the old cell phone. "He'd called Jason. He called the number Jason had had when Paige died."

  "What? That thing works?" Nathan asked.

  She punched in a number and then handed the phone to Nathan.

  "J...Jason. I don't know if this is still your number, if you'll ever get this message, or if you are even still alive, but I just had the most unbelievable visit..."

  Nathan lowered the phone as the message continued.

  "He gave us your number," Julie said.

  "Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable."

  Julie nodded her head in agreement.

  "So where do you go from here?" Paige asked.

  "We," Jason corrected. "Where do, we, go from here." He looked at Julie, his eyes pleading. After a moment she sighed and gave him a single nod.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO

  She sat quietly, sneaking glances at Cameron. He was tense, worried, angry. Hell, he might have been on the verge of panic. The plan had worked. They had picked up a new phone and contacted Jimmy. With his help they had been able to trace her phone that she'd hidden in Nathan's car. The problem was that when they had finally tracked it down, Paige and Nathan were no longer with it. They found it parked at a motel, but it looked abandoned.

  Linda had gone to the front desk and played the part of a distraught and jealous wife. She had shown the man pictures of both Nathan and Paige and demanded to know if either of them had secured a room at the motel. The kid manning the desk couldn't have been more than twenty. He had looked at the pictures and then told her that he hadn't ever seen either of them.

  Cameron had become extremely agitated at the news. His fear was that they had realized they were being tracked and had abandoned the car. If that were true, the odds of picking them up again any time soon were extremely slim, especially now that Dillinger had cut his legs out from under him.

  "Fucking Dillinger," he muttered for the hundredth time. He squeezed the steering wheel, his knuckles going white. "Why? Why? Why? Why is he screwing me? Why does he hate this project? Jealousy?"

  She glanced at him, unsure if he was actually looking for a response or not.

  "Has to be. Simply, has to be. After all these years the bastard finally gets just how valuable this project can be and he wants to cut me out of it. The son of a bitch started the ball rolling on the thing and then abandoned it, he didn't have the vision to see its value. Well I will not have all these years wasted, just flushed down the drain. I am going to clean up this mess, liquidate this Paige and this Nathan character. Once that is done, I can return to the lab, we can restart once more, only this time I won't rush it. I'm going to miss my opportunity in California. I guess the governor gets lucky and gets to continue living. But I will find some other way to make a splash. I will make it so damn big that every top dog will be demanding to know who is responsible and how it was done. And most importantly, how they can get in on the action. And they will have to come to me."

  "What about Julie and Jason?" Her question was barely a whisper.

  He sneered and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. For a moment Linda feared he might lash out at her.

  "Dillinger may have cut me out of official channels, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. I've been around for quite a while and I know where a lot of bodies are hidden. Literally and figuratively. I can call in a few markers, go through back channels and let loose some dogs on them. It won't be quick or easy, but maybe I get lucky and we can nail them. Maybe not. Either way, I honestly don't see them ever trying to resurface. Julie is well aware of how I handle business."

  Linda tried not to shiver. She loved his passion and intensity, but he also scared the hell out of her. The venom in his words was palpable. She had no love for Paige and loathed Nathan for having made her look like a fool and having caused all of this, but a part of her also felt sorry for the two of them. She shuddered to think what Cameron might do if he ever got his hands on them.

  They continued to sit in silence and slowly the time passed. He had stopped talking to her at least an hour ago. They had parked not far from Nathan's car. He sat watching it, his eyes never wavering. Linda wasn't even sure if he was blinking anymore. He continued to grumble under his breath every so often. He alternated between muttering that they would be back, that they had to come back and cursing out Dillinger. Linda could feel waves of rage just rolling off him. She'd begun to get very uncomfortable about a half an hour earlier, her bladder whispering for relief. Now that whisper was a scream and she feared if she didn't do something soon she was going to end up sitting in a puddle. Biology won over fear and she reached for the door handle.

  "Where do you think you are going?" Cameron hissed, never taking his eyes off the car.

  "I just need to slip into the motel and use the restroom."

  "No. The desk clerk has already seen you once."

  "But I am about to wet my pants."

  "Then go outside behind the car."

  She thought about protesting, but only for a moment. The tone of his voice chilled her to the point where she actually felt her bladder control slipping. She nodded and then slithered out the passenger side. She kept low, moving around to the back of the car, pulled her pants down and squatted over the pavement. It took her a moment to relax herself enough and she was just about to begin relieving herself when the sounds of an approaching car and the flash of headlights stopped her. She didn't have to look over the back of the car to see, she knew, was dead certain in fact, exactly who had just arrived. A shot of terror blazed through her and she lost all control.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

  The ride back to the motel was mostly silent. Nathan continually glanced around the car studying everyone. Paige was totally lost in her own world, trying to process everything she had learned. He had to admit it had certainly been mind blowing, he could only imagine how it felt from her perspective. To find out you are and yet aren't who you believe yourself to be. So many questions still remained, but first they needed to process what they had already learned.

  Julie remained silent, her agitation and discomfort palpable. He actually sympathized with the woman. She had spent who knew how long plotting an escape with the man she loved and though unintentional, he and Paige had completely wrecked that plan. They had put Jason and her back into danger.

  What Jason was thinking, Nathan had no idea. He glanced repeatedly at the man in the rearview mirror, but he couldn't read him. The man certainly had plenty of his own demons, but how many did he remember? He had seemed fairly coherent when they had explained to Paige exactly who and wh
at she was, but Nathan wasn't sure how much of what Julie had said had been news to Jason as well. He clearly saw Paige as his daughter and in a way she most certainly was. But what does it do to a man to see and hear that his daughter has been killed again and again. And just how much damage had been done to his brain from receiving that drug all those years?

  He did his best to stifle a yawn as he turned the car into the motel parking lot. He was drained. Was it possible that so much had happened in less than a week? It was all so horrible and yet so wonderful. Things seemed far from over and there was still so much uncertainty, but he'd felt more alive during the last few days then he had in over a year. He knew she wasn't his Paige, but he was thrilled to know he could still feel and even love again.

  Nathan brought the car to a stop. He sat there, the engine still running as the others began to open their doors. A shadow of a smile played on his lips. He was still lost in his thoughts, hopes, of the future when he heard the sound of the roaring engine and the world around him illuminated.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR

  Linda struggled to her feet, pulling herself up out of the puddle she had just created. She endeavored to pull her wet pants up. She could see the car that had just come to a stop. She didn't recognize the vehicle, but she could clearly identify Dr. Merrick. Julie emerged from the front passenger side of the car. She reached out and opened the back door while at the same time the back door on the driver's side opened and Paige emerged.

  Linda heard Cameron growl. In victory? In anger? In pure insanity? She didn't know, but was certain that he was losing it. The rage that he had been stewing in over the past hours while they waited and the fears that had plagued him, now took total control. The people in that car had become the entirety of his world and their destruction was his only goal. She ignored her every instinct and opened the door and started to get in.