“Yes.”
He didn’t answer right away, just kept his impassive expression. “Salutatorian of your high school class back in New York, graduated Magna Cum Laude with your bachelor’s from Columbia University, got your master’s at MIT, and continued to pursue your PhD there in Nuclear Engineering. You are quite the overachiever, wouldn’t you say?”
I didn’t even bother answering. It wasn’t worth my breath.
“Now let me ask you a question,” he began, setting down his papers. “What is an up and coming Nuclear Engineer doing wasting his time testing animal tissues? Why bother?”
I bit the inside of my bottom lip, trying to hold back going off on him. It infuriated me how he was playing dumb.
“It’s a side-interest,” I muttered.
His forehead scrunched up. “You got your specimen in Manhattan, judging by your research. I mean, last time I checked, Boston to New York is nearly a four-hour drive. Hardly a side-interest, I’d say.”
I glowered at him. I wanted him to know I didn’t like him, and everything he stood for. I knew though, the longer I stayed quiet, the more intense the questioning would become.
“Emily Stevens. What is her involvement?” My Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he said her name. I didn’t want her to be the least bit responsible for this.
“None. She just assisted me with the handling of the specimens.”
“I find that kind of hard to believe.”
“I find a lot of things hard to believe,” I spat back.
The man snorted and let out a hiss-like laugh. “Is that what compels you? Driven by the notion that the EPA lied about what type of radioactive isotopes were found on Black Monday. I wonder who would believe you, when that story has been forgotten of long ago.”
“I have proof.”
He revealed a smile so sinister it was disturbing. His eyebrows quirked.
“Proof? What proof? Your proof is gone—toast.”
“Is it now?” I countered and revealed a smug smirk. That caused the man’s eyes to grow wide. I could see the fear on his face from having realized what I was insinuating.
“You thought you could fool us, Stefan, but you can’t. We see and hear everything. We also found your first samples from the specimen you brought back from the Danger Zone a few days ago. All of it is destroyed. There’s nothing left.”
I did my best to fake a distraught reaction. I displayed a somber look in my eyes as I stared back at the man. I needed him to think he had won, that the first specimen we took samples from was confiscated and in his control. That was what we wanted. For them to believe we were at their mercy, but actually, it was the other way around.
“My research…it’s gone…” I mumbled. He relished my words. A smile tugged at his lips. “Yes, it’s all gone. Which is why I am curious as to what you said to Ms. Stevens. She smiled and nodded yes. What did she say yes to?”
My instincts told me not to say a word, but I couldn’t resist.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
He laughed, shaking his head at my comment. “I told your friend, and I’ll tell you the same thing. I don’t recommend trying to find out what happens when you don’t cooperate with us.”
I didn’t respond. I kept my lips pressed together and stayed silent. He caught on to my resistance but didn’t let his expression display any reaction. He organized the papers, shuffling them against the table, and then put them back in the manila folder.
“Since you won’t speak. We are done here,” he announced.
My brow furrowed. “Really?” my voice sounded surprised. I didn’t expect him to let me go so easily. “Legally, I could arrest you and the girl for the research you conducted—”
“Then what is stopping you?” As the words slipped out I immediately wished I hadn’t been so brazen, but as a scientist, I had to know. They had all the power in the world to keep us here indefinitely, so why didn’t they? The agent gave me a bizarre look as if I were insane.
“There are reasons…” He began, almost hesitantly. “Based on your file. We would have to set a bond above the tens of millions to keep you imprisoned. We aren’t trying to draw any attention to ourselves…”
‘We aren’t trying to draw any attention to ourselves…’
My stomach clenched as the words repeated in my mind over and over. They did know everything about me. They were afraid the media might catch wind of our arrest. Drawing attention. They knew who my father was. They knew what he was capable of, and they didn’t want to risk a person of such a high title finding out their son was imprisoned. I fought the urge to smile, and luckily it worked. I kept my expression blank.
“Am I free to go?” I asked.
“Yes, for now. One of the agents will escort you out, but I must inform you of what is about to change for you and the girl.” His know-it-all tone gave me goosebumps. “Excuse me?”
“If you come within one mile of your campus, we will be on you like a fly on shit. If you talk, we will be listening. If you even happen to look crooked, we will come down on you so hard that you will forget what the hell you were going to school for. If you have a feeling that you are being watched, you probably are. I am giving you fair warning. Is talking worth losing your citizenship over?”
His question angered me down to my core.
“I want to speak to my lawyer.” I stood up.
“Not so fast,” he pointed to my seat. I slowly slid back down into it. The plastic was warm from where I had sat. “The stipulations of your release are simple. You cannot go within a mile of campus. You cannot talk to anyone—including your lawyer. If you would like to break either of those conditions, we will arrest you indefinitely, and then you can talk to your lawyer. In matters of National Security, a lawyer would be of little help to you.”
“Not the best lawyer,” I countered.
“All the money in the world couldn’t help you once you are in our crosshair.” The volume of his voice raised. He didn’t like that I was testing his authority. The rebel in me continued to rage and think of ways to exacerbate the situation. The agent’s words though, echoed. They were frightening. ‘Once you are in our crosshair…’
“You said I was free to go, and I am leaving.” I stood up and strode to the metal door without hesitation. I heard the scraping of the agent’s chair against the floor. I pulled the handle hard and the door only opened a few inches before being slammed closed by the fist of the agent. We were eye to eye. I could feel his breath hit my face. There was malevolence in his dark eyes. His whole presence was unnerving.
“Let me make something very clear to you, Stefan. The CIA are the wrong people to fuck around with. We were sent here to neutralize a situation, nothing more, nothing less.”
“You were sent here to erase the truth, nothing more, nothing less,” I mocked his wording. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and the planes of his face tightened. I pulled the door and he slammed it closed once again.
“Listen here you little shit,” he frothed, accidently drooling as he spoke. “You better fucking watch yourself if you want any sort of a future with a good career. We could take away everything you have worked for in the blink of an eye.”
I could feel my eye twitching, and my lip began to tremble.
“Good luck,” I said.
He released the door and hoisted me up against the wall by the collar of my button down. His constricting grip on my neck caused me to gasp for air. Blood rushed to my face.
“I don’t think you understand the kind of power we have.”
I gasped, writhing around under his grip. The pressure in my eyes was building quickly. My heart pounded from the starvation of oxygen. His eyes were snake-like, and there wasn’t a bit of goodness in this man’s body. He was an extension of a greater evil.
“If you fuck up once, and I mean once. We could have you put away for the rest of your life. No lawyer and no amount of Daddy’s money would set you free. You are a scientist…” He mumbled, and I s
truggled to push away his hand with my own. “Who is to say you and Emily didn’t help Owen Marina secure the explosives to create his pipe bomb?”
My eyes bulged and I opened my mouth wide, trying to breathe. The room was becoming fuzzy. The clean white tile and walls began to fade away. He released his grasp from my neck and I inhaled violently, coughing from the lack of air for so long. My neck felt bruised.
“Yeah,” he huffed, wiping his hands off as if I were dirty. “Don’t underestimate what we are capable of.” He pulled the door open and pushed me through it. The two agents who assisted my interrogator earlier in the lab were waiting outside. They still donned their perfectly pressed, black suits, and they waited with their hands resting in front of their waists.
“Take him home—now,” the man demanded.
One of the agents grabbed my wrists and held them behind my back. The other agent walked in front of me. We began down the long hallway illuminated by overly-bright fluorescent lights. My breathing shuddered from the outrage that flooded my body. He threatened to frame me. To involve me in a crime that was completely unrelated. His words made me wonder. If they could make Emily and me accomplices to a crime we didn’t commit, who is to say they didn’t do that to Owen? He was the country’s hero and look at him now…on the run from the same people who barged into the lab. All it took was the final debate to send the polls spiraling down day by day.
The final debate. I almost gasped from the thought that entered my mind. They were trying to put an end to the Convergence Party. A month before the election they were trying to dismantle everything. The co-founder died, Owen was now a terrorist. My God. How could I have not pieced it together sooner? They were trying to snuff out every last bit of their influence. They tarnished their solid reputation and their loyal following, me being one of them, was dwindling before the country’s eyes. The media covering Owen was entirely one-sided. My heart was practically in my throat. It all made sense. The terrorist attack was all a sham in order to slant the election in their favor. But who could be behind such a contemptible lie?
“Walk a little faster there, buddy,” the agent behind me said and gave me a shove forward. A vein pulsed in my forehead and I could feel myself begin to sweat. They thought they destroyed all the evidence, but they couldn’t have been further from being right. Emily and I had prepared for this, just in case of an emergency. We couldn’t have let over a year’s worth of effort slip out of our grasp that easily. I would not let our endeavor be in vain. They could intimidate me, rough me around a little bit, and kick me out of school, but they could not take away the truth that I knew. They couldn’t erase it…and that fact was what scared them shitless. They knew our research was another hole in their porous plan. It was a potential voice that could unravel their lie.
The footfalls were all I heard besides my thoughts. The ding of an elevator sounded, and we stepped inside. I began to smile. I was no longer fearful or frightened. I could still feel the sensation of the man’s hand clasped around my throat, crushing in around my windpipe. I didn’t have to worry about fighting them back now, for today they won. They stripped me bare and expected me to remain petrified. They wanted to keep me in submission. I didn’t feel any of that. I felt empowered. I had to be patient, I had to wait long enough to let their gaze wander off from me. In order to slip away and finish what Emily and I started.
It was time to go see my father.
The ride was long, and the road flat. It had been nearly three and a half hours. Rachel and I wore hooded jackets to help conceal us in the back seat. She was snuggled up against my shoulder and had slept the majority of the journey. Briana and Grey talked intermittently over the soft music playing from the radio. I wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation, but from what I could hear, it seemed like they were discussing their abilities and comparing skills. Cool air blew from the AC, and it kept me comfortable, but through the window, the strength of the Florida sun made itself apparent. It heated up my arm to the point of being uncomfortable. I tried to readjust my position without waking Rachel.
We had taken the turnpike all the way down from Orlando. Briana had a SunPass—a device that stuck to the inside of her windshield, allowing her to drive through the tolls without having to stop. It was a huge advantage when she was carrying dangerous cargo. Before the turnpike ended and put us onto the Palmetto Expressway, I got to see the Miami Skyline from afar. It was just like I had seen in movies. The buildings lined the bay, and some of the glass panes glinted from the sun reflecting off of the water. CSI: Miami, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Dexter…all films and shows I had seen Miami in growing up, yet it was different. The lighting was natural, and not the saturated orange tint that was used when filming this area. You couldn’t escape the palm trees, they were everywhere. As we got off the expressway, I noticed this area looked much different compared to the sleek and contemporary skyline of downtown. It was almost jungle-like. The houses were so close together they were almost side by side. I saw people of all ages walking, riding their bikes, everyone was out and about. It was a melting pot. I saw the entire spectrum of possible skin tones just from passing a few blocks. Some of the area seemed run-down, with a few broken down cars on cinderblocks in the yards.
“Bienvenidos à Hialeah,” Briana said.
“Hialeah,” I repeated.
Rachel began to stir. She inhaled deeply and stretched her arms out.
“We’re already here?” she asked while yawning.
“Yep. I was about to have Owen wake you up.”
Rachel rubbed her eyes and peered out of both windows. “Wow, we are near the street Briana and me grew up on. That was quick.”
“Yeah for you, Sleeping Beauty,” I said, poking her in her side. “I was awake the whole time.”
“I could sleep for a week after what we went through in the past two days.”
“I can see that.”
“Rachel,” Briana called to her, “What street is Vinny’s garage off of? 37th of 44th? It’s been too damn long.”
“You should be ashamed,” Rachel answered. “You’re forgetting your roots, amiga.”
“Oh please, it’s been over a decade. Which is it?”
“This one! To the left!” The car whipped around and Briana’s tires screeched. I used my forearm to keep myself from being thrown against the window. We were all shaken up from her sudden turn. “37th,” Rachel said and let out a giggle.
I could see Briana’s sarcastic glare in the rearview mirror.
“A little too late, don’t you think?”
Rachel shrugged. Towards the end of the street, I saw what looked to be a concrete building. Apparently, Rachel had two cousins who owned a garage here in Hialeah. She told me before we left Briana’s this morning that their names were Vicenzo and Luciano, but to call them Vinny and Luke. I would come to find out they were very opinionated.
We pulled up in the small parking lot. As I stepped out, I noticed some of the asphalt was crumbling and deteriorated. My guess was that this building had been here long before Rachel’s cousins purchased it. There were three garage bays, all of which were open. I passed a souped-up Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and a few feet from it was an equally nice Toyota Supra. I took a second glance when I saw it. That was a desired car amongst racers and car enthusiasts. Rachel took the lead ahead of us and strode into the garage like she lived there. I couldn’t help but glance down at her ass. She had borrowed some shorts from Briana. Our clothes were dirty, and Florida was shorts weather all year round. I wasn’t complaining.
“Is that who I think it is?!” a gruff voice asked from inside the garage. It was accompanied by another with the same Hispanic accent. “No fucking way!”
“It’s me, primos!” she shouted in a singsong tone. Two men barreled into her. The first embraced her in a bear hug. He picked her up and swung her around in a circle. She laughed and I heard him mutter something in Spanish with a huge grin on his face. Rachel rubbed his shiny bald head. “What happened to
your hair, Luke?” He laughed, putting her down and rubbed it himself. “It started to go a while back, I had to shave it off. I look like Pitbull, right?” She shook her head and chuckled. “You wish!”
By now Grey, Briana, and I had settled in behind Rachel. Vinny greeted her next, and when he pulled her tight in a hug, I noticed how massive his arms were. The ridges in his biceps and triceps were stone-like. He had a tattoo sleeve on each arm, tribal designs in various patterns. The black ink ended at his wrists. He also had a shaved head. I assumed balding began early for the men in Rachel’s family. When Vinny released Rachel, he straightened his posture and his towering frame became apparent. I couldn’t help but stare. He must have been well over six foot, and his t-shirt looked a little too tight for a man of his size. Perhaps he was trying to flaunt his muscles. Besides his Hispanic features, he almost looked like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Luke was around my height, maybe five-eleven or six foot, but not nearly as built as Vinny. He had muscles, but he also was a little huskier.
By the looks of them, I wouldn’t want to be around when they saw red.
The garage smelled of rubber and motor oil. Rachel hadn’t introduced us yet, so I took this time to survey my surroundings. There was a car in the far bay with the hood open and movement visible from the mechanic’s well underneath. Judging by the fact Vinny and Luke hadn’t a trace of dirt or grease on them, I assumed they were the owners.
Luke’s demeanor turned serious and he glanced at all of us.
“Rachel, what the hell is going on? We saw you on the news. You are wanted big time, chica…” His baritone voice softened. He seemed concerned about her well-being, which made me happy. I then realized that now I also cared about Rachel, and it kind of alarmed me. I’d only known her for three days. Maybe it was fear that caused me to question the sensation as it swept over me. Megan made me bitter when she left. I was afraid to care, to invest so much into another human being again. There was something gravitating about her presence. It wasn’t just her looks, it was the energy she gave off. It made me want to be around her.
The Gambit Page 20
