by R. D. Brady
How was this legal? How could anyone think this was okay? And what kind of person could look at Molly and think she deserved any of this? Where were their consciences? Where were their hearts?
But she knew the answer to that. They had no heart, no conscience. In their minds, they had stripped Molly of her humanity. She wasn’t a person. She was a thing to them. And you can abuse a thing.
Next to her, Danny wiped at the tears on his own cheeks. He had sat next to her, tears streaming down his face. But he didn’t leave her side. She knew he felt guilty for showing her. She hated that he now had these images in his head.
He looked at her, his eyes swimming in tears. “How could they do that?”
He sounded so young then. And he was. With his intellect and responsibilities, it was easy to think of him as a full-fledged adult. But he wasn’t. He was the same age as her boys. She couldn’t imagine them being able to watch that. But Danny had stayed.
Danny’s bottom lip trembled. “I shouldn’t have let you watch it. I shouldn’t have—”
Mary Jane took his hand. “Thank you, Danny.”
“What? Why are you thanking me? I never should have told you that I found the recordings.”
“You didn’t, remember? But now I know what she went through. Now she doesn’t have to tell me for me to understand. That is a gift you gave both of us. Thank you.”
Danny shook his head. But Mary Jane just leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Images, they have power, Danny.” Mary Jane stood up, her knees buckling for a moment.
Jake grabbed her before she could fall. “I’ve got you.”
She held on to him. “I know.” He nodded at Danny over her head and led Mary Jane to the door. Images have power, she repeated to herself, then she went still.
“Mary Jane?” Jake asked.
She turned to Danny, an idea forming in the back of her mind. “Can you take still images from that footage?”
Danny nodded slowly. “Yeah, but why would I want to?”
“To help Molly. To help all of them.”
CHAPTER 63
Rome, Italy
It took David a full day to arrange a safe way to sneak Laney and Drake over to Germany. The jet they would be taking was in a hangar at Ramstein Air Force Base. David would be able to get to the plane without an issue. It was getting Laney and Drake on it that would prove problematic.
They made it most of the way without incident. Drake fell asleep in the back of the car. But Laney kept checking the newsfeed for any new developments. The recordings from the raid were playing over and over again. Laney tortured herself by watching them.
Laney felt sick watching the people she cared about being hunted like that. But what happened to the McAdamses, that was beyond any piece of human dignity. Even after she shut off the recording, she could hear Mary Jane’s agonized screams.
And I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there for them.
She turned and looked at David, who’d sat silently as the recording had played out in the car. He was part of the government. He was allegedly on their side, but wasn’t that what spooks were good at? Convincing you of one thing while doing another? The longer she studied the man, the more her anger began to boil. All those people on the run, the McAdams family torn apart, a little girl being terrorized, and Laney couldn’t reach any of them. Her voice was low when she spoke.
“Did you know?”
“Laney, I—”
“Did you know?” she yelled. Wind slammed into the side of the car, sending it sliding across the road.
“What the hell!” Drake bolted upright, instantly awake.
David wrestled with the wheel, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “No, no! It had to have been Shremp. He’s grabbing power, using the Day of Reckoning as a stepping stone to the White House. But he and I, we are not exactly friends.”
“And if you had known?”
David glanced at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. “I don’t know. I’d like to think if I had known that was going to happen, I would have warned them.”
She studied him, not sure what to believe. “I’d like to think that too.”
She looked away from him, taking a deep breath. She needed to calm down. She needed to trust David, at least to a certain point. Her anger was just going to make things more difficult. She closed her eyes, breathing deep. Drake, for once, decided to stay silent, perhaps recognizing how precarious her emotions were right now.
No one said anything for the last twenty minutes of the trip. Laney managed to work her anger down. She needed to focus on what was right in front of them. One step at a time.
David pulled to the side of the road two miles from the Air Force base. He turned to look at Laney and Drake, his eyes almost lost in the car’s dark interior. “You two understand the plan, yes?”
Laney tried not to be insulted. She knew David did not really know them. She knew he was risking a lot. But honestly, it was not exactly a difficult plan.
“You mean the ‘jump over the fence and run to the plane’ plan?” Drake asked. “Yes, I believe we can recall it.”
“No one can see you, at least not until after I have the plane.”
“We got it. Stay quiet. Stay down. Run like the wind when you roll out of the hangar,” Laney said.
“I’ll text you the code for the plane door as soon as I’m in the cockpit. That’ll be your two-minute warning.”
“We’ve got it, David. Now how about you go get us a plane?” Drake stepped out of the car. He leaned back in. “And remember, if you are betraying us, I will pull you apart limb by limb.” He smiled, shutting the door.
Laney shook her head at him.
David raised his eyebrows. “He’s not serious, right?”
“Oh, he’s serious all right. But as long as you don’t betray us, you have nothing to worry about, do you?”
“Where’s the trust?” David grouched.
“Back in Rome. Look at it from our perspective: You work for the United States government, who has attacked all the people I care about. You led us hundreds of miles from the people you care about to a heavily fortified, highly populated military base. Now you are about to walk in there, where you can raise the alarm and have dozens of soldiers ready to take us down when we hop the fence. Or you can wait until we’re on the plane. We open up the door, then boom, no more Laney or Drake.”
“Ah, but bombing planes doesn’t seem to be able stop you either. I’d probably need a better plan than that.”
All civility dropped from Laney’s tone. “Yes, you would.”
The smile dropped from David’s face as well. “I’m not here to betray you. I know who’s in the right here. Be prepared. It should take me about ten, fifteen minutes once I’m on the base.”
“We’ll be waiting.” Laney stepped out of the car.
Laney watched the taillights of David’s car until they disappeared from view.
“He’s probably setting a trap,” Drake said.
Laney pictured David with Bas and Angelica. She shrugged. “It’s possible. But I say we give the man a chance. He’s risking a lot for us.”
Drake picked up her hand, bringing it to his lips. “Your wish is my command.”
Laney raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“As much as is possible.” His lips traced the back of her knuckles. “But if he does betray us, I will make sure he has a very short time to regret it.”
But David was as good as his word, and fifteen minutes later, Laney and Drake were buckling into the SR-72 as David took off from the runway.
David grinned back at them. “See? Piece of cake. We’ll be crossing into U.S. airspace in only a few hours. You two might want to get some sleep, especially if you want to hit the ground running.”
Laney groaned at the joke attempt.
After all, the plan was for them to parachute from the plane at an altitude humans probably wouldn’t survive while David landed a few states away.
“Don’t give
up your day job,” Drake said.
“Not sure that’s an option.” David turned back to the console.
“You should try and get some sleep,” Drake said to her.
“I know. But every time I close my eyes, I see Molly.”
“We can’t help her at this moment. The best we can do is prepare ourselves for when we arrive.”
“Look at you, being all mature and rational.”
He smiled. “Like I’ve told you many times before, I am a man of hidden depths.”
She smiled, but then it dropped from her face. “Tell me it’s going to be all right, Drake.”
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I can’t tell you that. But what I can promise you is that I will be right by your side helping you through it.”
She squeezed his hand. “Right now, I’ll take it.”
CHAPTER 64
Inez, Kentucky
Molly lay wrapped in Mary Jane’s arms. She seemed to be in deep. Mary Jane hated to leave her. But there was something she needed to do.
The door pushed open softly. Jake stood in the doorway. She nodded. “I’ll be right down.”
She ran her hand through Molly’s hair. She needed to go. She knew that. But she could not seem to make herself step away from her daughter. Those images kept lurking in the back of her mind, reminding her that she had not protected her daughter before. How could she leave her now?
The door opened again. She looked up, expecting to see Jake. But Cain stepped in. The bed shifted as he sat on the other side of Molly. “Are you all right?”
Mary Jane started to nod but then shook her head. “No. Not at all.”
“Jake told me what you are planning. I think it is very brave.”
She ran her hand over Molly’s curls. “No. I’m not the brave one.”
“I think it may run in the family.” He paused. “I’ll stay with her. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
She nodded, her gaze on Molly as her heart broke yet again as she pictured what had been done. Her voice shook as she spoke. “They hurt my baby.”
“The world can be a cold place. In my life, I have seen the best and the worst humanity can do. And the people here in this house, they are amongst the best. None of us will let any further harm come to Molly.”
“Will you stay with her? Until I get back? It will be a while.”
“I will not leave her side. I have already arranged for Lou and Rolly to look after Susie and Nyssa. Molly will be my sole focus.”
Mary Jane nodded, knowing Cain would keep his word. She trusted him. But still she couldn’t make herself step away. “I don’t understand why any of this is happening. I don’t understand why my daughter has these abilities. I don’t understand why Laney can do what she can. I don’t even understand why Elisabeta wanted Nyssa.”
Cain took her hand. “And you deserve to understand. When you return, you and I will sit down, and I will answer all of your questions. If there is anyone who can answer them, I can.”
She looked into his face, his dark glasses still hiding his eyes. “Why do you wear those glasses even in the dark?”
“That is part of the explanation. When you return, I’ll explain it all. Now, I think you need to get going.”
She glanced at the clock. They had a long drive ahead of them. She leaned down and kissed Molly’s cheek. “I love you, little girl. I always have, and I always will.” She stood up.
“I’ll keep her safe. Now go.”
Mary Jane turned her back to the bed and walked quickly from the room before she could change her mind. But as she stepped outside the room, her back straightened. She needed to do this for Molly. She headed down the stairs.
Danny stood waiting for her. He handed her a flash drive. “Everything is on there. You just need to plug it in.”
She gripped it. “Thank you, Danny.”
“I could go with you, if you need me to.” His big eyes looked up at her. Another young one who had been through too much in a short life.
She squeezed his arm. “I appreciate that, but they need you here. But thank you, Danny, for everything you’ve done.”
“I wish it was more.”
She sighed. “I think we all wish we could do more.”
Jake stepped out of the kitchen, a thermos of coffee in his hands. “Mustafa’s already in the car. You ready?”
She nodded. “Yes. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 65
Washington, D.C.
The phone rang, jerking Shremp into wakefulness. He blinked hard, staring at the clock on the table next to his couch. Seven p.m. He’d been lying on his stomach and his back ached. Drool had pooled on his pillow, and he wiped at his mouth as he scrambled for the phone, knocking over his tumbler with the last remnants of his third nightcap.
“Yeah?” His voice was scratchy from lack of use. He cleared it. “Who is this?”
“It’s Sheila, sir.”
Shremp rubbed his forehead, trying to work away the effects of the alcohol. He’d had his staff cancel all his afternoon meetings and then headed for home. Just as he’d stepped inside, Sheila had sent him some preliminary information on Okafur. The information within had made what little hair he had left stand on end.
David Okafur had been orphaned at the age of ten. He’d spent the next seven years in an orphanage in Italy. Then he’d gone on to Oxford University before moving on to graduate work at MIT. The CIA had recruited him while he was in grad school. He’d shown an incredible proficiency at all types of spy craft from hand-to-hand to espionage to strategy to even technological warfare. He was a master spy. His missions had been classified. It would take time for Shremp to work through that. None of that was what concerned him, though. It was his personal life.
Okafur lived with a man. A man who had lived his entire life in Iran until seven years ago when Okafur had arranged for him to get a visa and move to the United States. Shremp had started drinking then.
Okafur was obviously compromised. Who knew what type of influence this Rahim had exerted over him? They knew countries across the world were looking into ways to incorporate the abilities of the Fallen into their military forces. The country who was able to create Fallen first would win. And Delaney McPhearson, she was the lynchpin to make that all happen.
What would happen if David turned her over to the Iranians, a religious despot’s regime with no interest in human rights? It would be a nightmare. If that happened, Shremp would personally make sure that Bruce Heller was charged with treason. He had handpicked David from MIT and mentored him throughout his career. If David had turned, it was Bruce’s fault.
“What do you have?” Shremp asked.
“One of Okafur’s aliases was used a few hours ago.”
“Hours?”
“It took time to put traces on all of them. He has a lot of them.”
“Fine, fine. Where was he?”
“Germany. At Ramstein.”
Shremp frowned. “A military base? What was he doing?”
“He borrowed a jet.”
“A jet?” He pictured Okafur with a military jet loaded with tactical nukes.
“Yes, sir. It’s a high-altitude plane. It’s used for covert surveillance. It travels at Mach 3.3, making it virtually untraceable for radar.”
“But you can trace it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Let me know when you figure out where—”
“That’s why I am calling, sir. We have found it. It is about to enter U.S. airspace outside Maine.”
Shremp paused. He was coming back to the U.S. “Was he given permission to enter U.S. air space?”
“No, sir. No one but us even knows he’s there.”
Shremp’s mind whirled frantically. What was Okafur up to? Why come back to the United States without letting anyone know? Unless he was bringing back someone or something that he was trying to keep hidden from the United States. And Shremp couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Connect me w
ith Air Force Strategic Command. Immediately.”
CHAPTER 66
Off the Eastern Coast of the United States
The flight had been uneventful. Laney had even fallen asleep, although she’d done it sitting upright in a jump seat, so it hadn’t been the most restful of sleeps. But she’d take what she could get these days.
“Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes.” Drake turned around and smiled at her from the co-pilot seat.
“Hey.” She wiped at the side of her mouth self-consciously. “Where are we?”
“Just entered U.S. airspace,” David said. “We’ll be over the jump site in only a few minutes.”
Laney undid the straps of her restraint and stretched, trying to work out the kinks in her back and neck. “So no problems?”
“Smooth sailing,” Drake said. “Perhaps—”
An alarm sounded, accompanied by a blinking red light on the console.
“What is that?” Drake demanded.
David ignored him, his hands flicking switching and buttons. A radar screen appeared on his right-hand side. “We’ve been spotted.”
“I thought this thing was supposed to be able to avoid that,” Laney said.
“It is! Unless someone’s looking for it.”
“And did you tell someone to look for it?” Drake asked, his voice low.
“I’m on the plane too! If it gets hit, I don’t have any superpowers to keep me alive. So no, I did not tell anyone to shoot down this plane.”
Drake growled. “If you—”
Laney put a hand on his chest, cutting him off. “What do we do?”
“Strap in. This is going to get dicey.”
Laney retook her seat, securing the five-point harness. Drake moved to sit across from her in the other jump seat.
