His eyes once again surveyed the area. Two new men had entered the area. They didn’t have any kids with them. Slowly they walked the playground, talked to each other for a moment, and then left the area. Dustin watched them walk on one of the trails that connected to the area. Dustin took a deep breath in relief.
After a few minutes, he made a pass close to Kennedy and Taylor to check in.
“Phew, that one was tough.”
“What did you find?” Dustin asked.
“Friday at 3 p.m. is the designated time.”
“For sure?” Taylor questioned.
“That is what the code says.”
“That’s in two days!” Dustin exclaimed.
“How many pages was that?” Taylor asked.
“Three,” Kennedy said, exhaling loudly.
“Can you handle any more?” Taylor asked.
Kennedy looked back at the screen dreadfully, “Yes.”
“How many more pages are you receiving?” Dustin asked.
“I just gotten more,” Taylor said.
Kennedy pulled her notebook over and dramatically ripped out the page to start anew. Crumpling it up she threw it into the wastebasket.
“Alright,” Kennedy said, focusing back on the code.
Dustin resumed his route around the area. He also kept checking in on Kennedy. Every few seconds she would make a few notes and then turn back to the code.
Ten minutes later and Kennedy was still going strong. Dustin started to get concerned, she was running out of time. What else could she tell them before she passed out again? It was up to Taylor on when to pull her, he saw how carefully Taylor watched her.
While Dustin was on the far side of the playground, Kennedy abruptly stood up. She headed to the trail to his right, leaving the laptop and notebook behind.
Taylor looked up to Dustin and signaled Dustin to follow her. Nodding, Dustin ran to catch up with her. Taylor stayed behind, covering up the confidential information.
Walking over twenty feet behind Kennedy, Dustin gave her plenty of space. She walked along a path for a few minutes, then swiftly looked up. She then turned around and ran back to Taylor. Dustin couldn’t believe she had enough strength to run at all. He casually followed behind her.
“I figured it out!” she said quickly, pulling the papers off her work. She jotted down some quick notes and then turned to show, “Thurgood Marshall airport Wednesday flight 434.”
“Good job Kennedy. How many more pages are there?” Taylor asked.
“Still three, I’m not sure how much more I can do. Let’s go back to the apartment while I can still make it on my own.”
“Good idea,” Taylor said as he helped her pack up.
Dustin signaled to Penny that they were leaving.
Kennedy managed to make it up to the hotel room by herself, but it took her awhile.
She sat down and flipped up the laptop. Dustin went to the bathroom, and then grabbed a snack. By the time he got back, she had fallen asleep on the couch. Gently he placed a blanket over her. Sticking the laptop in her backpack, he realized she had written something in her notebook.
“Taylor, did you see this?” Dustin asked Taylor. He had been grabbing himself something to eat.
“No,” Taylor said joining him
On the top there were several numbers, circles, and lines. On the bottom it said, ‘key code encryption, fail safe activated backup team, located at three o'clock from your entrance location.”
Dustin texted the information to Jennifer, nodded to Taylor, and then ripped the paper up.
“I’m guessing she’ll be out for most of the day,” Taylor said when Dustin sat next to him.
“That girl sure needs a lot of sleep.” Penney commented as she finished a bite of her sandwich.
Taylor and Dustin nodded.
∆∆∆
Around five in the evening, Kennedy woke up and looked around. She was still exhausted but felt capable of doing another set.
“How are you feeling?” Penny asked. She was sitting at the table.
“A lot better, I’m starving though,”
Penny nodded, “Why don’t you grab something to eat?”
“Good idea,” Kennedy said, pulling out some cheese and crackers. She saw that her notes from the previous deciphering were gone, and her laptop was back in her bag. After writing down the last code she didn’t even remember falling asleep.
Looking around again, Kennedy wondered where Taylor and Dustin were.
“Well, I'm ready to get to work,” Kennedy announced after finishing her snack
“Wait, do you think you could lend me a hand?” Penny asked.
“Um sure,” Kennedy said, walking over to the table.
“Jennifer and Brett sent me this stuff to look at, but I’m struggling to connect them together. I thought that since you had some training that maybe you could read them and give me your point of view?” Penny asked.
“Ah, sure, let me see.” Kennedy took a seat and grabbed the first paper.
For half an hour Kennedy and Penny talked about the articles. Several times Kennedy had to turn back to the articles and point at different passages that Penny had missed in her analysis.
“Thanks for your insight,” Penny said when the conversation dragged.
“Sure,” Kennedy said, getting up from her seat. “I think I am going to take a little walk to clear my head. It is such a nice day out.”
“Alright, have a good time, thanks for your help,” Penny said as Kennedy walked to the door.
Kennedy wondered why Penny didn’t volunteer to go with her on the walk. Maybe Dustin was waiting in the hallway for her. Opening the door, she didn’t see Dustin or Taylor waiting.
“Where is Dustin and Taylor?” Kennedy asked before closing the door.
“They went to grab dinner,” Penny replied.
“Oh, thanks,” Kennedy said walking out the door.
They both went to grab dinner. That wasn’t usual. Maybe they thought she would be out for the night. For a couple minutes, Kennedy sat on the front steps before leaving the hotel.
As she stood, she wavered for a second. Bracing herself against a pillar she waited for it to pass. It had been a short nap, but she shouldn’t be that dizzy. Hopefully, it was just from her getting up too quickly.
Stepping outside, Kennedy decided to take a shorter route than she had originally planned. It would be safer to stay close to the hotel, and it wouldn’t push herself. Dustin and Taylor would be back any moment too.
The fresh air was refreshing, and the heat from the sun on her face was comforting. That hotel room was getting too stuffy. She walked along the sidewalk on the street as cars passed by.
She wondered about how the NSA was handling the bomb threat. Did her recent deciphered codes help? Maybe she hadn’t been fast enough? Taking another step, she stumbled on a rock and struggled to catch herself. What was wrong with her? It was probably the lingering exhaustion from earlier.
“Kennedy.”
Kennedy jumped at the sound of her name, and then at the sound of his voice. Turning around, Kennedy cringed as she saw Jordan standing in front of her. He was dressed in his usual suit and button up shirt and was smiling at her.
“Jordan!” Kennedy said, petrified. She took a step backwards. The more distance between each other the better.
“Hello Kennedy,” Jordan said, taking a step toward her. He was confident, that wasn’t a good sign.
“What are you doing here?”
“You are alone,” Jordan said looking around, ignoring her question.
She looked around, where were all the cars that were passing a few minutes before?
“I am,” Kennedy said, unable to deny his statement. She continued to retreat.
“Well, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to meet with you. Your friends weren’t that welcoming on my last visit.”
“That time when you drugged me?”
“I find people are more easily persuaded th
at way.”
Almost as if on cue, Kennedy was hit with a wave of exhaustion. She closed her eyes, stopped walking backwards and put her hand on her head.
“Are you feeling okay?” Jordan asked as he continued to close the distance between them.
“I don’t know,” Kennedy said unsure. Her eyes closed and then opened again. She felt like she did after a session of deciphering. Could her earlier session have had such a lasting impact on her? That had never happened before.
“Wouldn’t you like to come with me? We can get you checked out.”
Kennedy returned her focus to Jordan, “You would want that. To think that I trusted you. You manipulated me.”
“You’re right,” Jordan admitted.
Kennedy closed her eyes again and Jordan grabbed her wrist.
“Let go of me Jordan,” she said, whipping her hand out of his grasp.
Kennedy turned away from him and tried to run, but her legs refused to move that quickly.
“You tried to kill me,” Kennedy said as she struggled to walk.
“What?” Jordan asked, easily walking next to her.
“You tried to poison me at NSA headquarters.”
“No, I would never want to kill you,” Jordan replied. He then grabbed her around the waist.
This time Kennedy shoved her elbow into his stomach and Jordan released her. The stability he offered her was gone, so she fell when he let her go.
Jordan moved closer to her again, “Kennedy, stop resisting.”
“No Jordan, leave me alone,” Kennedy said as she started to stand, but everything was so sluggish. She couldn’t go back with him. Where was Taylor and Dustin? Why didn’t Penny go with her? She felt so helpless.
Jordan bent down to where she was attempting to get back up.
“I care about you Kennedy.”
“Then leave me alone. I don’t want to go with you.”
“Feeling tired?” Jordan asked playfully.
She looked up at him worriedly, “What did you do?”
Jordan laughed, “I didn't do anything, what did you do?”
Kennedy tried to think, everything was blurry. What did she do? Suddenly it occurred to her, “Penny?”
“That's right, thank you so much for your support. I left the codes in a single level cipher, ones you could easily decipher unconsciously. Penny in fact, couldn’t read any of the articles.”
Kennedy head hurt; Penny worked for Jordan? Jordan wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground. Her mind was yelling to run, but her body refused to move.
“Why don’t you just let me take care of you?” he asked. He started walking her carefully back to the van she hadn’t seen approach. His hands were gentle but firm. She tried to shove them off her, but it was useless.
“Jordan,” she could barely speak. She was losing it. At this point, Jordan was almost supporting her whole weight. “I...wait…”
“Shhh, I’m here” Jordan said as he continued to walk her closer to the van.
Kennedy willed herself to do something, anything, but she was so exhausted.
Suddenly Kennedy’s legs collapsed. Effortlessly Jordan swept her in his arms before she fell.
“In my arms,” Jordan said, “I am glad that you are mine again.”
Kennedy could barely stay conscious, her body needed sleep.
Once he got in the van, he placed her across a row of seats with her head on his leg.
“Boss, are we ready to go?”
“Yes, get out of here.”
And with that, everything went black.
∆∆∆
Penny was now driving to the designated meeting area. She had left as soon as Jordan captured Kennedy. In the car she had reflected on the last six months. Joining the NSA had been an amazing opportunity. But soon after she started, she was contacted by a company. They sent her a monthly paycheck for information she could provide. Most of it was boring, but it was all she could access. Once she was assigned this specific case, they offered her one million dollars if she fulfilled their mission. It only took minutes for her to decide to take the money. Of course, she felt sorry for Kennedy, Taylor , Dustin. They had become her friends. But, one million dollars would transform her life, she easily accepted the deal. Now, everything culminated in less than 48 hours. She had a lot left to do.
At the meeting area, a car was waiting for her. She grabbed her luggage from the back of the car.
“Are you ready?” the man asked, taking the luggage from her.
“Yes, did all the shipments come?”
“Yes ma’am, right on schedule. The team is assembled in the warehouse for final inspection.”
“Perfect,” Penny said, getting in the car the man had driven over.
Penny had the night at the hotel to herself. She went over everything they had prepared for.
Jordan called around midnight.
“Did you get in ok?”
“Yes, no trouble at all. How is Kennedy cooperating?”
“She is still out.”
“I believe it, the way they pushed her.”
“It makes her easy to handle,” Jordan said. “The men were also easy to acquire thanks to your help.”
“It was no problem,” Penny said. Before dinner, Penny had been able to sneak a sleeping drug in Dustin and Taylor’s drinks. Kennedy was still asleep, so it was easy enough to have the company come and pick them up before Kennedy woke up. Penny didn’t understand why Jordan didn’t just take Kennedy with him then. He had it in his mind how he wanted to obtain Kennedy, and Penny’s role wasn’t difficult, so she obliged.
“I’ll meet you there in a few days,” Jordan said, snapping Penny back into the present.
“Right, I’ll be here.”
“Let me know if you need anything.”
“Good night,” Penny said.
“Good night,” Jordan said before hanging up.
∆∆∆
Chapter 17
Q 10001
Taylor woke up. He couldn’t speak. His mouth was covered in duct tape. Frantically he looked up. He was handcuffed and hanging from a chain that was wrapped around a support beam. The cuffs had already cut through into his wrists. Looking down he saw his feet were taped together and he was swinging a few feet off the ground. Taylor tried to lift himself up so that he could try and get out of the chain, but his muscles were already sore. How long had he been out? The sun was shining through the windows. It was at least the following morning. He gently dropped back down. Sweat poured from his face.
Turning his attention, he looked around. The warehouse was comparable to the size of a football field and very bare. There was a mattress on the floor, some boxes, and a row of computer screens. There were a few men manning the computers, but Taylor was hanging too far away to read any of the screens.
The door swung open and Taylor saw three men dragging a man in their arms. They threw him on the ground and pulled out some handcuffs. It was Dustin. They had beaten him; it didn’t look good. Another chain was set up and they lifted Dustin until his feet dangled over the ground just like Taylor. They then duct taped his feet together and left the room. He wondered what had happened to Dustin.
What had happened to himself? Taylor forced his mind to remember. It was all hazy. Kennedy had fallen asleep, they ate lunch, he was talking to Dustin, and then it all went black.
Kennedy? Where was she? Did Jennifer and Brett pull her out in time? That didn’t seem likely. Where was Penny? Would she actually pull through for the team? Ten minutes passed, and Taylor was surprised to see the door open again. This time Jordan walked in. In his arms was Kennedy. She seemed to be asleep. Taylor struggled to get free. His reaction shook the chains, which caught Jordan’s attention.
“Welcome!” Jordan said taking a few steps toward him.
Taylor tried to yell, but all Jordan heard was muffled noise.
“Oh, I couldn’t understand that. I'm sorry it had to come to this. I’m sure you are a great g
uy. I’ve seen you with her,” Jordan said looking down at Kennedy. “I can see she cares about you. That will be helpful for helping me to persuade her to do what I want.”
Jordan walked over to the mattress and gently laid her down. He ran his hands through her hair while she slept, and Taylor tried to scream again.
“She slept the whole night. What did you do to her?”
Jordan walked a few steps back to Taylor, “At first I was nervous about prying Kennedy away from the NSA, I didn’t even know they had field agents. But when I discovered it only consisted of a three-man team, I was shocked. How could you be so foolish? I easily accessed her at the school, and then used the bounty to help locate her at the NSA. We confirmed her voice through records we had, and then put our final plans into place. After that, it was no problem planning to have you and your partner sedated. This left poor Kennedy with that useless woman. Kennedy went for a walk and practically fell into my arms. You should know, she did put up a fight, you can be proud of her for that.”
Taylor struggled violently against the tape and the cuffs. Now looking at Kennedy, he felt helpless. How was he going to help her when he couldn't even help himself?
“We were doing so well at my place before you came and stole her from me. She trusted me and would do whatever I asked. She is a pretty thing, isn’t she?” Jordan said walking back to Kennedy. He picked up a blanket from a nearby box and put it over her limp body.
“Under the proper dosage, and proper encouragement, she should be easily controlled. There has never been a more powerful decipher. Over time, with some luck, she’ll learn to care for me too.”
Taylor couldn’t hang there doing nothing as this despicable man touched her, so Taylor continued to struggle and yell. His efforts worsened his wounds and blood started to drip down his arm.
“Well I got some stuff to take care of. You can watch over her right?” Jordan said as he bent down and kissed her on the check before he walked back out the warehouse door. His goons followed him too. Taylor was left with Kennedy and Dustin both unconscious.
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