What She Thought She Knew (Rachel Moore Mystery Book 1)

by Jack Parker

  He ignored my look, and proceeded to walk forward.

  The Phantom leader chuckled; that smug bastard. "Be polite, Shadow. This is no way to treat a guest."

  More like a prisoner, I thought bitterly.

  The two guards pushed me again, and I directed my glare to them.

  I grumbled in my breath, but followed Shadow and his 'father' nonetheless.

  We made our way towards the center of the lobby when the Phantom leader stopped and turned to face his guards. "Put her in the van. We'll then recall high ranked agents, and head off to Site B. We've got some work to do."

  I rose an eyebrow at him "You're saying all this in front of me?"

  The man looked back at me. "Are you aware of where Site B is? Or what it is?"

  I blinked in response, while the bastard laughed briefly. "So naive." He commented.

  I glared at him.

  Suddenly, a loud pang erupted as a great flash of light appeared which momentarily blinded us.

  To add to that, numerous smoke grenades were released all around us.

  I coughed as I inhaled some of the substance.

  Once my eye sight recovered from the initial flash bang, I saw the form of Shadow leaning against a wall that provided some cover from the exposed area. "Oh great." I heard him mutter to himself.

  I then heard multiple footsteps rapidly make their way over to our general direction.

  I took cautious steps forward until I was out of the density of the smoke.

  One figure in the middle aimed a gun at me. "Stay where you!" The voice said.

  The figure then came into view as I recognized the voice.

  I felt my heart flutter. "John?" I asked unsure.

  The man turned his head towards me and his eyes widened. "Rachel?" He asked hoarsely.

  I smiled widely.

  In that moment, a deep connection passed through us: relief, joy, love, but also anxiety.

  I wanted to approach him, but then the sound of a gun cocking caused my face to pale dramatically.

  "No one moves, or I pump this chick full of lead." Shadow warned as he stepped out from his cover, and aimed his vicious shotgun at me.

  John turned to face my attacker and his eyes darkened immensely. "You." He said venomously.

  Shadow calmly walked over towards me. "Indeed." He replied. "It seems that life can't keep us apart. And what do you know, it's like a big, happy family reunion!"

  John's eye widened slightly, but then narrowed once more. "The old bastard is here?"

  "Now now, is that the proper way of addressing your father?" Came the calm reply.

  The Phantom leader's glowing eyes were the first thing I saw as he stepped out from the cloud of smoke.

  It was disturbing how identical they were.

  Apparently, the other Seeker agents felt the same way as I did for their eyes widened, and some of them tensed up.

  John, on the other hand, remained outwardly cool. "What do you want?" He asked plainly.

  The Phantom leader stepped forward until he was beside me. "I can't check up on my one and only son?" He asked almost sincerely. "It's been almost eight years since I've last seen you. I've missed you very much."

  John raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you can feel anything other than lust for power. You never were big in the emotion department."

  His father hummed thoughtfully. "No, I suppose I wasn't." He replied honestly. "However, I do have priorities. You, my son, are number one on my list."

  John's face scrunched in disgust. "Like hell I'll work for you. I refuse to become a monster like you."

  A look of disappointment passed through the Phantom leader's face. "It's a shame to hear that. Look at all I have done for you. Why is it that you think you were able to bypass my agents so easily? Certainly not because they were sloppy." He then took a step forward. "Like it or not, you don't have a choice. After all, it would be a pity for this young woman to get hurt." He said as he took a lock of my hair, and curled it randomly in his finger.

  I shivered at the implication, but I retained my strong ground.

  John's hands shook slightly as he aimed his gun at his father.

  Despite my nervousness, I remained calm as John's eyes glanced at us in a calculating manner, as if he was devising a plan. "My loyalty lies with the Seekers." My Guardian replied fiercely.

  It was the Phantom leader's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He then turned to face John's clone. "Shadow, kill them." He ordered.

  "With pleasure, daddio." Came the response, however, what happened next didn't go according to the leader's plans.

  The clone aimed the shotgun at his creator's abdomen, and fired.

  The man was thrown backwards from the force of the blow, and left behind a thick streak of blood.

  Shadow calmly walked over to the dying man, and smiled smugly at him. "Give my regards to hell." He said, before he aimed the shotgun at his master's head and fired, which killed him instantly.

  A mixture of emotions swirled within me.

  The murderer of my family, and of so many other innocent people, was dead at last.

  I felt satisfaction at the monster's death, yet there were bigger problems as long as Shadow remained alive.

  Said person huffed. "Never liked the self-concerned bastard." His face then beamed as he smiled widely. "I feel like I just accomplished an important goal. After all, isn't it every child's dream to want their parents dead?"

  I looked at Shadow and narrowed my eyes at him. "It sure as hell wasn't mine." I replied.

  "As usual, Agent Moore, you are an exception." Was his only response.

  I glared at Shadow, but immediately straightened my posture as he sped walked over to me and placed his shotgun on my spine.

  "Here's what's going to happen." Shadow started. "I'm taking Agent Moore with me. If any of you does anything stupid, I'll blow this place sky high." To emphasize his point, the Phantom took out a detonator and popped open the lid.

  He held his thumb over the button.

  The Seekers immediately tensed at the notion, but John retained his ground.

  Shadow cocked his head at John's reaction. "You've got some balls." He remarked.

  John didn't reply; instead, he stared at me intensely, as if he was trying to relay a message to me.

  I looked back at him, and nodded in understanding.

  I gathered my inner strength, and head-butted Shadow hard which caught him off guard.

  Despite my own dizziness, I managed to shove Shadow back which gave John the perfect opportunity.

  He lined his gun to the still figure and fired well-aimed shots at both of his legs while two other Seeker agents shot the guards behind me.

  They fell down wordlessly, while Shadow screamed in pain, and pressed his hands onto both wounds.

  I felt relief, but the feeling was short-lived as the remaining Phantom agent grabbed the detonator. "To hell with this!" He yelled just as he pushed the button.

  Immediately, the area around us exploded all around, and I fell down from the force.

  The Seeker agents all shouted at one another to get out of the way.

  I ignored the danger all around me as I tried to reach John.

  I saw that John also struggled to get to me, but unfortunately, he fell down as a large boulder crashed into some materials that knocked him down from behind.

  He tried to move, but he was pinned down.

  He looked up at me in desperation. "Rachel!" He cried out.

  I sensed that that moment was probably the end, so I stared back at him in the eyes and finally said what I've been meaning to for a while. "I love you."

  John's eyes widened as he stared at me, his eyes portrayed the pain he felt, as well as the mutual feeling for me.

  For a moment, the life that I could have had with John glanced before my eyes, and a tear managed to escape.

  The building shook violently, and once I looked up, everything became dark.

  Epilogue: The End?
<
br />   ~ John's POV ~

  The four of us quickly made our way through a large area in the back of Seeker HQ.

  We were anxious as we hadn't heard back from Agent Evans since he stated that the explosives were set.

  I sincerely hoped that he was unharmed.

  Agent Cian took out the few Phantom agents that wondered into our path. He mercilessly slammed their skulls repeatedly into the ground, painting the stone a crimson hue.

  I winced at his brutish ways, but I knew better than to scold him.

  The fury and blood lust radiated off of him like a furnace would release heat.

  We arrived at the back entrance, and waited impatiently for any sign of Agent Evans.

  I paced around restlessly, wiping the sweat off of my face and neck as I battled with tormenting thoughts.

  Something caught the corner of my eye, and I whipped my head around.

  Relief filled me as I saw Agent Evans walk towards us looking in good shape.

  Pete stepped forward, and clapped him on the back. "Job well done, Agent Evans," he said tiredly, yet with pride.

  Arrow nodded as he was impressed, and even the brute Irish man punched the young agent roughly on the arm. "You just made my day when the explosions went off," he said darkly.

  Agent Evans looked like he would piss his pants, and gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, glad to hear," he said awkwardly.

  To get things back on track, I pulled Evans away from the hovering group. "Now that he's here, we've got to get going."

  Nodding in agreement, Pete took command. "You heard him, get moving!"

  Immediately, we all set off for the main hall, taking care to not step on the sharp materials the littered the ground.

  Eventually, we reached the main hall without any resistance, yet I felt suspicious.

  Where did everyone go?

  As if reading my mind, I heard the echo of various voices speaking.

  From where I was, I could barely make out the signature glow of the Phantom's eyes.

  My eyes narrowed in hatred, and I glanced back at my group. "We've got to take them out," I said.

  My companions nodded, and Agent Cian took out a flash grenade. "This ought to piss 'em off," he cackled, before he pulled out the pin, and threw the grenade towards the Phantoms.

  As soon as it went off, we bolted towards them.

  I expected to hear alarmed exclaims coming from them, yet there was any silence.

  We stopped running, and cautiously made our way forward. I took out my gun.

  I saw something moving on the other side of the smoke, and immediately I aimed my shotgun high. "Stay where you are!" I ordered tensely.

  I walked through the smoke, and the figure became clearer.

  "John?" The voice called out softly.

  My eyes widened in disbelief as I recognized the sound.

  I stepped closer, and felt my heart clench at the sore sight. "Rachel?" I asked hoarsely.

  She smiled widely, and I couldn't help but let out a sharp breath.

  I couldn't believe it. Before my eyes was Rachel. After spending so much time searching for her, it seemed that she was the one to have found me.

  It was ironic considering that I flew halfway around the world to rescue her.

  A huge and costly weight was released from my shoulders as we made eye contact.

  Seeing Rachel smile, I couldn't help but feel relieved as that was the moment I've been waiting for some time.

  All too soon, that relief turned into alarm as my clone pointed a vicious looking shotgun at her.

  To add on top of that, my bastard of a father made his dreadful appearance after almost eight years.

  I was amazed that I managed to keep my cool in front of the monster responsible for so much pain.

  I was tempted to just shoot him on the spot, but I knew that wouldn't have been good for Rachel.

  I was startled, but not completely taken by surprise, when my clone killed my father in cold blood.

  To be honest, I was glad that it was him who did the deed.

  That way, I didn't have to get my hands dirty.

  However, there were more serious problems at hand, such as my clone who took Rachel as a hostage.

  Despite the threat of execution, I refused to back down from the challenge and instead stared at Rachel.

  She caught my glance, and through the stare, I relayed a message that hopefully she understood.

  It appeared that she had for she nodded, and delivered a pretty nasty head-butt to my clone.

  That's my girl, I thought with pride.

  Immediately, I aimed my gun at the abomination, and shot two rounds into both of his legs.

  A hidden blood lust was satisfied as my clone screamed.

  Relief washed through Rachel's soft features, but then movement from my clone forced my attention away. "To hell with this!" He yelled, and pushed the button.

  Multiple explosions went off, and suddenly the once quiet and stable environment turned into a chaotic arena as the lobby shook vigorously, and caused various pieces of material to come down on us.

  My fellow teammates shouted out in anxiety, but I paid them no attention as I stumbled over to Rachel.

  I was so close to her that I could smell her fragrance, when some materials tumbled on my back, and caused me to collapse.

  I tried to get move, but the god forsaken thing had pinned me down as it trapped my leg.

  I whipped my head back to Rachel frantically. "Rachel!" I cried out.

  Her eyes glistened as she took in my vulnerable state.

  What she said next, though, took my breath away. "I love you." She said softly.

  My eyes widened as I stared at her intensely.

  A horrible sensation passed through me like nails digging through bare flesh.

  A lone tear slid through Rachel's cheek before a large piece of the wall landed in front of us, and blocked access from either side.

  No, no no no no NO!

  Frantic thoughts invaded my mind as I desperately tried to claw my way out of the rubble that pinned me down.

  Another huge piece of material nearly missed my body as it shattered on the ground nearby.

  I turned my head the other way to protect my face from the tiny pieces that flew over.

  I yelled out in frustration since I was basically a sitting duck.

  Luckily, my noise attracted the attention of Pete who stumbled his way towards me.

  With surprising strength, he managed to roll the large boulder off of me, and freed my injured leg.

  I hissed in pain as the object was removed.

  Pete carefully brought me up, and leaned my weight against him as I stood. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!" He exclaimed.

  I refused to listen. "No! We can't go!"

  Unfortunately for me, the Head Warrior was stronger than I was.

  The fact that my leg was crushed didn't help my cause.

  Pete wrapped my arm around his neck, and supported the bulk of my weight as he hurriedly guided us away from the debris that kept falling down.

  The rest of our team were outside, and were shouting at us to hurry up.

  As I took a last look at HQ, the once grand building of the Seeker organization crumpled to the ground in a pitiful defeat.

  It symbolically reflected the state of the Seekers as we lost our global influence.

  Internally defeated, I tore my gaze away from the destruction, and allowed Pete to place me inside the armored truck that waited for us.

  He swiftly shut the door behind him, and the vehicle sped away from the scene.

  I let out an agitated breath from both frustration, and the pain of my crushed leg.

  The other agents remained silent for the entire ride as we all mentally relived the last moments.

  So many friends died, and it seemed that their deaths were in vain.

  The Phantoms had complete control, and their new leader was a sadistic son of a bitch whose long-term goal remained a mystery. />
  The first part of the drive was bumpy and the momentary jumps that the truck performed had me gritting my teeth in discomfort.

  Agent Arrow took out a needle, and injected me with what I assumed was morphine. Within seconds I felt relief, and the rest of the journey went by surprisingly smooth.

  ________________________________________

  I must have passed out because someone shook my shoulder gently, and informed me that we arrived at our destination.

  Rachel's image faded into a blur, and the figure of Agent Evans came into view.

  He helped me out of the vehicle, and guided me towards the abandoned farm.

  It was well into the night, and the crickets were out chirping which gave the farm a fake sensation of security.

  We, however, knew better.

  Wearily, we entered the building, and settled in the spacious kitchen.

  Agent Evans carefully sat me down on a chair that has seen better days, and placed my injured leg on another seat.

  The young agent looked through various cabinets until he found what he was looking for.

  He came back with a glass of water and some pain killers.

  By then the small dosage of morphine had worn off.

  Grateful, I nodded my thanks, and popped the pills in and downed all the water.

  Thanks to modern medicine, the pill's effects took place right away, and the pain transformed into a deep numbness that resided within my soul.

  I placed the empty glass on the table, and gestured Agent Evans to sit beside me. He got my cue and pulled up another chair and sat down.

  The three older agents stood around another table as they did a mission debriefing of sorts.

  "The cities are no longer safe for us." Agent Arrow stated. "I suggest we lay low for a while in order to resupply, and gather our strength. We then attack in guerrilla warfare style, until we've regained enough forces to kick the Phantoms out permanently."

  Agent Cian slammed his fists against the wooden detail. "Fuck that!" He shouted. "We're going back and we're gonna make those Phantom bastards pay!"

  His partner stared at him in defiance. "Are you blind to what has happened? We lost three quarters of our agents, and most of our resources are gone. It's suicide to go back there!"

  The Irish brute shot back abruptly and stomped over to the Infiltrator until they were face to face. "No one's gonna stop me." He said venomously.