by Jana Janeway
As each item was offloaded from his pockets and thrown into the trashcan, Shea’s glare grew harder, a challenge of sorts being extended. It looked as if a fight was inevitable to all watching. Even the woman approaching, on her way to wherever, seemed to notice this. She picked up her pace and averted her eyes while darting past.
Wade wasn’t worried, though. While Shea matched his height, he was fairly certain he had no idea how to handle himself during a physical altercation. His only concern was that they didn’t have the time to engage in a brawl. He would have to subdue him quick, if it came to that, and then probably recruit Josiah and Craddock to force him back into the vehicle.
Suddenly, the expression on Wade’s face flashed, as if an idea had just sprung to mind. Without bothering to explain, without giving the others a chance to question him, he began running his hands down the seams of Stacy’s clothes.
The abruptness of his actions sent Shea into something like a state of shock, but that was short lived. Eyes growing wide, he lunged forward, set to pound the man into the ground for touching his wife. Stacy’s obvious surprise just provoked him further.
Not wanting to miss and hit Stacy by mistake, Shea opted for grabbing Wade, to pull him off first and then punch him. But as soon as his hands touched Wade’s shoulders, he was brushed off and shoved hard, hand to chest, which caused Shea to stumble backwards.
The effort to remain standing failed. Tripping over his own feet, his ass hit the concrete seconds before he growled in anger. The quickness in which he picked himself up, coupled with the fury in his eyes and red complexion to his face, told Craddock something irreversible was about to happen, if someone didn’t stop it.
Electing himself, he jumped out of the van and, for Shea’s protection more than for Wade’s, restrained his brother-in-law by hooking his arms through his from behind.
“What are you doing? Let go!” Shea demanded, struggling for freedom, then shouted at Wade, “Get your hands off her!”
“Calm down,” Craddock soothed. “There’s a reason. Wait for it.”
Stacy would have assured her husband that she was okay, but before she could, Wade discovered what he had been searching for.
When he first put his hands on her, she was understandably startled; within the tick of a few seconds, however, she realized why he had. Or, at least, what exactly it was that he was doing.
He wasn’t trying to cop a feel, as Shea had obviously assumed. He was frisking her.
Wade’s hands froze in place; his eyes locked with Stacy’s. Nodding, confirming what she seemed to be asking him silently, he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his set of keys. Using the largest key on the ring, he stabbed through the material of her waist-length coat, at the hem, near where the final button was located.
Even Shea then seemed to realize what was happening. When Wade held up the small electronic device he had pulled from Stacy’s jacket, essentially showing it off to everyone, the air around them grew thicker. Sensing his calmer state, feeling the angry tension leave his body, Craddock released his hold on Shea.
With his eyes remaining on Wade’s, Shea began to pat at his clothing. It took only a few seconds to find the same device planted on him.
“What the hell is going on?” The question itself implied anger, but there was no sign of it in his tone.
“We don’t have time for explanations.” Wade gestured for Shea to toss over his coat. “Craddock…” He pointed at Shea, then turned and looked straight at Jessica before pointing at Stacy.
Jessica complied, hopping out of the van; both her and Craddock took to their assigned task as Wade ripped the hem open on Shea’s coat and removed what had been crudely sewn in.
“Is this about the Purists?” Stacy whispered at Jessica, but she only received a silent shake of her friend’s head in answer.
“Clean,” Craddock announced. Moments later, Jessica echoed him, in reference to Stacy.
Tossing Shea’s coat back to him, Wade gave a jerk of his head towards the vehicle. “In.”
Everyone did so in silence; even Shea knew better than to start in with his incessant questioning.
Hesitating before following them in, Wade leaned in towards the trash can and taunted the pile of discarded belongings. “Nice try, guys.”
Climbing in, Wade didn’t sit on the middle bench as expected. Instead, he moved up to the front and gave Josiah’s shoulder a tap. “I need to take over. You don’t know where we’re going, and relaying the directions adds a complication we don’t need right now.”
Relinquishing the position without a fuss, Josiah unbuckled his seatbelt and slipped past Wade, joining Craddock and Jessica on the bench directly behind. First offering a slightly uneasy lopsided grin, he shrugged at the twosome, then settled in and latched his belt as Wade pulled away from the curb.
“And where are we going?” Shea eventually asked, feeling he could, since the air of drama seemed to be subsiding at least a little.
“Somewhere safe,” Wade answered vaguely. “I’m not so sure we can speak freely, and until I am, let’s just leave it at that.”
Shea scowled. “We got rid of the two, and threw everything out but the clothes on our backs! Where else could they be?”
Wade heaved a sigh. “In the clothes on your backs. Look, I know you want answers, and I’m prepared to give them to you, but you need to have patience, okay? This isn’t the time or place.”
Shea’s scowl grew. “When willit be the right time and place?”
“After we make a stop-off.” Wade’s answer piqued everyone’s curiosity.
“A stop-off… where?” Craddock finally asked when no one else did.
“You’ll see.” Wade then put his finger to his lips, glancing back at Craddock through the rearview mirror as he did.
Nodding, Craddock relaxed against the seat and pulled Jessica tighter to him. ‘I think he’s planning on getting Shea and Stacy new clothes. That’s what makes sense, since he seems to think there still could be bugs in their clothing.’
‘How would they be able to do that?’
‘Put nothing past them, baby. Trust me, they’re able to.’
‘Maybe they put bugs in our clothes too, then.’
‘Wade would’ve said something before now if he thought they did. He was assigned to us, and privy to that kind of information.’
Jessica’s thoughts shifted to Shea and Stacy when she heard her brother’s frustrated sigh. Craning her neck to peer over the back of the seat, her eyes immediately locked with Stacy’s; her friend’s expression showed concern over the situation and lack of information.
She seemed to be asking for just that, with her questioning scowl, but Jessica only felt comfortable offering a strained smile and shrug of her shoulders in response. She didn’t feel it was her place to explain, and Wade seemed adamant about absolute silence. At least for now.
She instead mouthed the words ‘I love you’, and to Jessica’s relief, Stacy repeated the inaudible sentence. It would have to suffice, for the time being.
Jessica then looked to her brother, but his gaze was turned out his window, avoiding hers. She sighed and faced forward once again, snuggling deeper into Craddock’s side.
‘Shea is pissed, Stacy’s scared, and I haven’t even gotten a chance to hug them yet.’
‘They’ll be fine, baby, once everything is explained. Well, as much as any of us can be, with all this going on.’
Knowing he was right, Jessica nodded in agreement. While things would never be completely normal, the immediate and extreme tension would subside, in time.
She pushed her worries aside, instead focusing on the comfort Craddock was offering. Shea and Stacy were okay, and that was the important thing, after all. There would be time for explanations later.
****
Shea scratched at his shirt, the unwashed newness of it causing his skin to itch. He was just as uncomfortable with the strained silence as he was with his forced choice of clothing.
/> Stacy wasn’t any happier. One could hardly expect the massive discount mart to offer fashionable attire, but she seemed especially appalled by the cotton and lycra stretchy pants, and oversized T-shirt with the picture of the happy bumblebee on it that she had been ordered to wear.
To someone who treated her monthly subscriptions to every fashion magazine in print like religious teachings, it was a fate just short of torture.
“This was all they had? It was this or nothing?”
Stacy’s complaint was directed at Bibi, who, along with Josiah, had been elected to do the shopping.
“I wasn’t on a spree,” Bibi defended herself and her choices. “I just grabbed the first things I saw in your size.”
Stacy gave a little grumble in response.
“It’s better that you don’t look like yourself,” Wade mentioned. “Sometimes, the best disguise is simply dressing like you wouldn’t normally dress.”
“And we need disguises… why?” The question was asked hesitantly; Shea wanted the answers, but was hoping to avoid another argument in the process of getting them.
With Wade’s sigh came further tension. But the heavy exhale wasn’t out of irritation, not that the others knew that. Explaining everything was going to be time-consuming, and invite further questions. He was exhausted, emotionally and physically; he didn’t want to get into an hours-long question and answer session. All he wanted was to get them to safety, then curl up with Bibi and sleep for three days.
As he thought of her, he glanced over at her, but her stern expression jolted him back to reality. They didn’t need Chimie for him to know what she was conveying.
As annoying and time-consuming as it was bound to be, Shea and Stacy deserved answers. Wade wasn’t whipped in any sense of the word, but off Bibi’s hard stare, he took a more submissive stance, looking away and back at the road ahead of him.
“I’m sorry about before,” he called out to his newest wards. “I was trying to keep them from realizing that I was on to them. With all the bickering, I knew they’d catch on, which just pissed me off and made me anxious. But that wasn’t fair to you; you had no way of knowing what was going on – what was inside my head – and so for that, I apologize.”
Shea relented, but still held onto the hint of a grudge. “Apology accepted, but since the bulk of the immediate danger seems to be behind us, can I assume you’re now prepared to tell us what the hell is going on?”
Wade nodded, stalling as he considered where to start. “Basically, everything you thought you knew is wrong.” Without waiting for a response, he continued. “The past year of your life, you have been lied to in almost every aspect. Even the research job they gave you at the lab was created for you. Busy work, to keep you where they could watch you.”
“Oh, please!” Shea wasn’t so willing to believe this virtual stranger over what he understood as fact. “Why would they? And even if that were true, how in the hell would you know?”
Wade forced himself to remain calm. “I was assigned to you two initially, until I was transferred.”
“What are you saying?” Stacy wasn’t quite as clueless as her question made her sound; she had an inkling of where the conversation was headed.
“The Registry is a fraud.” Wade previous composure now edged anger. “And I was one of them, up until two days ago.”
“What you’re saying makes no sense,” Shea argued. “The Registry has been helping us! How are they frauds?”
“They’ve only been appearing to help you, all for their own benefit. To further their agenda. And it makes perfect sense, as much as something like this can!”
“How does giving me a research job help any supposed agenda they might have?”
Shea’s tone, indicating he felt the scenario to be ridiculous, caused Wade to huff in exasperation. “I already told you, to keep an eye on you.”
“For what purpose?”
“They knew this day was coming. Everything they’ve done, since learning of her existence, has been for the purpose of preventing it, and planning for its probability.”
“Her who?” Shea asked, the obvious answer eluding him due to his irritation.
Patience waning, Wade snapped at him in response. “Your sister! They knew they wouldn’t be able to keep her holed up in that house in the sticks forever! And when the day inevitably came, when she would demand her freedom, they planned on holding the two of you as leverage.”
When Stacy gasped, Wade’s words, combined with her reaction, dissolved Shea’s anger in an instant. “Does that mean what it sounds like it means?” he asked carefully, taking Stacy’s hand when she reached for his.
Wade didn’t answer. Instead, he asked a question of his own. “What happened two days ago?”
Shea and Stacy looked over at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking; everything that had taken place forty-eight hours ago actually supported what Wade had said.
“They were calm, sort of, when they first got there,” Shea finally answered, “but we could tell something was wrong. They immediately started in with the questions. When was the last time we had heard from Jessica? Did we have a cell phone they didn’t know about? Did Jessica seem unhappy when we spoke to her last? Had she said anything about wanting to leave? They questioned us for hours.” He sighed. “They were relentless. Repetitive.”
“Did they search your house?” Wade already knew the answer, but needed it to be said to prove his next point.
“Yes.” Stacy was now in tears; Shea pulled her into his arms, consoling her.
“They broke her favorite figurine,” Shea explained.
Wade nodded. “That’s when they planted the bugs, and probably tracking devices, too.”
Shea’s anger flared again, though it wasn’t directed at Wade this time. “Why are they doing this? Why can’t Jessica just leave if she wants to?”
“Long story short, because that’s all I have the energy for at the moment…” Wade glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “They didn’t want her to disappear. They want her where they can keep tabs on her. She’s… important to them.”
“How so?” Shea asked, unable to help himself. His analytical mind demanded answers.
“They feel she holds the key to a great many things, mostly involving Human to Mengliad conversion, and they’re nowhere close to unlocking the mysteries. That frustrates them. Which makes them desperate. Which equals bad. For her, and now for us.”
The pieces of the puzzle were starting to create the bigger picture. “What would have happened, if you hadn’t come to get us today?” Shea then asked, and everyone in the car tensed in response.
“You would have been imprisoned,” Wade said matter-of-factly, without emotion. The absence of it was intentional; he was hoping to avoid an extreme reaction, mostly from the women.
“In what way?” Stacy asked, fearfully confused. “Like, in a jail cell?”
Wade shook his head. “No, but that wouldn’t have mattered, believe me. Some are taken to a house. Some are kept in a room within one of their facilities, with not much more than a bed and bathroom.”
Shea squeezed his wife’s hand. Her distress was already acute; continuing the conversation would no doubt add to that, and yet he still did so. “You said before, something about using us as leverage.”
Wade gave a sharp nod. “In order to get Jessica’s full cooperation, they would have used you – everyone she loves – as the proverbial carrot, dangling over her head. If she was in their custody, they would’ve dangled the possibility of seeing you guys again. That’s the best case scenario.”
The possible worst case scenario assaulted Stacy’s thoughts, eliciting a tiny sob.
Shea held her tighter; though he knew his next question and the answer to it would be counterproductive to his soothing gesture, he asked it anyway. “The worst case scenario being?”
Wade sighed. No matter how he worded his response, he knew it would engender strong reactions. “She would have been tol
d that, if she didn’t cooperate… that you would be killed.”
As predicted, Stacy buried her face in Shea’s shoulder, tears wetting his stiff cotton shirt as she surrendered to her emotions.
Shea stroked her back comfortingly. “I’m assuming, based on their insistence that they’re a non-violent group, that those threats would have been idle?”
“Yes,” Wade answered at once, hoping that would be of some solace, “but they can be convincing. She would have caved, if faced with it.”
It was surreal yet wholly and completely real, all at the same time.
“And how do the Purists fit into all of this?” Shea asked, resigned.
Another huge topic was about to be unleashed; Wade wasn’t at all thrilled about that. “The Purists were never a threat. That was all part of the Registry’s plan to keep you compliant.”
That danced around in Shea’s brain for a moment, but all too soon, the obvious jumped to mind. “Then how did our parents die?”
It wasn’t Wade who offered the answer seconds later.
‘This is about to get bad.’
‘Then let Wade explain it.’
‘He’s my brother, Craddock. He deserves to hear it from me. It’s my fault that all of this is happening in the first place.’
‘Not this again. Baby, this isn’t your fault!’
But it was, to her way of thinking. Tensing, she shrugged out of Craddock’s embrace and took in a deep breath. “They’re not dead.”
Chapter Ten
The good news was sullied by the shock of it. For all of the last twelve months, the first several more than the rest, a lot of time and emotion had been spent coming to terms with the death of their parents. It seemed almost impossible, after such an investment, to consider this new information as true.
It wasn’t that Shea thought his sister was lying; he just couldn’t think at all. Or speak. It was Stacy who moved the subject forward.
“If they’re not dead, then where are they?”
“Prisoners,” Wade took control of the conversation once again, “held in a house in Montauk.”
