by S. M. Dapelo
He winced, “I don’t know. I’ve seen Tanner pissed, but not like this.”
“Follow him, keep him safe,” I said.
“I can’t leave you here alone,” he argued. I rolled my eyes.
“I’m in the equivalent of a safe room, Berto’s here, and so is everyone else technically. Find them, keep my husband and brother safe from each other,” I stared at him, willing tears, “Please.”
Xavier put his hands up, “Fine, I’ll check on them. I’m not sure where they went. I’ll be back as soon as I can, keep the door closed. Just don’t cry.” He scuttled through the door quickly.
I sat down on the sofa, my head in my hands, “Berto, does Ethan have any water in here?”
“No, he finished his before he left. The rest of us didn’t have anything.” Berto got up and put a hand on my shoulder, “Do you want me to get you something?”
“Please. I’ll just start the movie up again until you get back,” I kept one hand on my forehead, and reached for the tablet sniffling.
“I’ll be right back,” I heard him open and shut the door, then stood up. Its fantastic what movies teach you. For example, men are terrified of women crying. I walked over to the secret door on the bookcase, opened it, and slipped into the library. Then I quickly walked over to the door, locked it, and went back into the office.
I shut the swinging door, engaging the lock on my side, then walked over to the office door and locked it as well. These doors were so well built, solid oak. Then I sat at Ethan’s desk and looked at the computer. Berto, in his haste to ease my discomfort, hadn’t even locked it. Let’s see how well I still remembered my Computers for Old People.
I pulled up a chat box and sent a quick message to Lyssa under Berto’s name: Hey, how about meeting me in the kitchen and we’ll play Angry Chef and timid waitress?
I was hoping that would give me a few extra minutes. I couldn’t explain why, but I had to know what was in those files.
When I was stuck in my bedroom, I’d gone through all the Bourne movies, all the Mission Impossible and most of three different TV shows. God, I loved Leverage. I quickly pulled up the window that Berto had minimized and started going through the files: Project Chimera.
I stopped for a second, darkness closing in, then pulled myself together. This was threatening my family, I had to know what it was. I took a breath and continued. Thanks to my reading speed I quickly went through several files before I heard footsteps running up the hallway.
“Don’t grab the doorknob,” I called out. “I ran a live electrical wire to it and the one in the library. If you touch it, you’ll get a shock.” I wonder if they’ll believe it.
“I’m not touching the door,” I heard Lyssa say. “If you think she’s faking, you touch it.”
“I’ve got to find Ethan,” I heard Berto say, and the footsteps run away. Yep, they believed it.
There were videos attached to some of the files. I knew my time was limited, so I played them at double speed, taking in everything. Well, now I knew why Tanner was pissed. I bit my lip, trying to go through everything. I was only a quarter of the way when the pounding on the door started.
“Open the door Samantha,” I winced. Ethan sounded annoyed.
“No,” I yelled back. “You all seem to think I lost my intelligence when I lost my memory. If anybody’s going to see the pattern, it’s going to be me. You have to stop cutting me out.”
“She locked the damn library door, too,” I heard Tanner. Could this possibly end poorly for me? Nah.
“Samantha, open the door, or we’re breaking it down,” Ethan commanded.
“Funny thing, most of these rooms are designed as panic rooms,” I tried talking, stalling for time as I reviewed the files, speeding all videos up to three times. “They’re tough to get into. I mean, the doors are oak with, I’m guessing, a metal core. The locks are state of the art, and there’s a computer override, so even people who should be able to get in, can’t.” I wasn’t sure about the last one, but bluffing worked before.
“Berto,” I heard three male voices yell. Oops, Xavier was there too.
“You told me to,” he yelled back.
“How the hell did she find it,” Tanner was in full rage mode. I opened four video screens, absorbing them all at once. And from what I could tell it was working, even at the advanced speed.
“Everybody calm down,” Ethan yelled. “Samantha,” his voice was eerily calm, “Open the door, or so help me God, hurt or not, I will punish you when I get in there.” That made me hit pause for a moment. Then I went back to watching. Time to stall again.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You read the book, you know exactly what I mean,” he responded.
“Not sure I can figure out how to disengage the system,” I tried.
“You know I can get in,” he said. I did, but did he know that?
“I still don’t know what you mean by punished. You’d never hurt me.” I yelled to the door, “Holy shit, is that a bomb?” That escaped from me before I could stop myself. Damn, this was going to need drastic measures. I opened the drawer that I’d seen Ethan in the day before and grabbed the weapon readying it. Quickly shutting the drawer and pointing it at my own head when the door opened.
“Don’t move, or I swear I’ll pull the trigger. I have to get through this. I don’t know why, but I have to,” I kept my eyes on the screen, using one hand to navigate.
“Where’d you find the gun, Sam?” Tanner’s voice was calm.
“Where’s Ethan?” I asked, ignoring the question. He knew where it came from.
“Be happy it’s me and not him.” I could see Tanner from my peripheral vision, his hands were out in a calming gesture.
“Hey, there’s no electrical cord,” Berto yelled.
“Nope,” I muttered, opening another file, and reviewing it, “You’ll also notice the override was never turned on.”
“Samantha, give me the gun,” Tanner tried.
“Ummm, no,” I said. “You can have it when I’m done. I’m about half-way through.”
“How are you half-way done? There were a lot of files,” Xavier asked.
“Both of us, we read faster than most people,” Tanner said, starting to approached. I cocked the trigger.
“Don’t move Tanner,” I muttered, hitting another key.
“You promised Ethan you wouldn’t leave him,” Tanner tried to reason in a shaking voice.
“I can’t explain why, but I have to go through these,” I explained, “It’s important.” I felt my eyes widen, then hit the pause key. “There,” I started to put the gun down, when another arm grabbed me and yanked the gun up, pointing it at the ceiling.
“Put. It. Down.” Ethan seethed behind me.
“There’s another hidden passage,” I sighed, releasing my grip on the gun. “I’m not stupid, I unloaded it.”
“Samantha, when I’m done with you, you won’t be able to sit for a week,” Ethan seethed into my ear.
“There’s the ring, and the asshole who’s wearing it,” I nodded toward the screen, the others racing over to look.
Tanner grabbed the gun from Ethan and growled. “It’s missing the magazine.”
“I just said that,” I glared at him. “I’m not suicidal, but I had to hold you off as long as I could.”
“Just where did you come up with that genius idea,” yelled Tanner.
“Burn Notice,” Ethan was so angry he was visibly shaking. I eyed him wearily. I might have made a tactical error. Time to get everyone to refocus.
“You’re all missing the point.” I pointed at the screen, “He’s wearing the ring. The one from the torture video.”
Ethan’s nostrils were flaring, “Call Hill, see if he knows where he is. We need eyes on him now.” He picked the gun back up and took a look at it, “Tanner I love you like a brother, and you're a great shot, but your stupid when it comes to the mechanics of guns.” He pointed it at the floor and pulled the trigger. A
powerful shot echoed through the room and everyone's jaws, including mine, dropped.
“I took out the magazine,” I said quietly.
“I always keep one in the chamber,” Ethan growled.
I looked up at him slowly, “I’m gonna be stuck up in the room again, aren’t I?”
“Ya think,” Ethan hissed right before he threw me over his shoulder and headed out the door.
Chapter 28
Ethan tossed me on the bed. “Are you trying to fucking kill me!” he screamed.
“No, I honestly thought I emptied the gun,” I tried to reason as I scrambled to sit up. “I don’t understand why, but I had to go through those files. Only Tanner or I can get review them quickly, and he was so mad he couldn’t see straight.”
“Now you know why,” he yelled. “Did it ever occur to you that that could have sent you over the edge again? Or caused another seizure?”
“No,” I shook my head, “but we need to find …”
“No,” Ethan put a finger in my face. “You are out. You are recovering from an injury. You do not get to make any decisions. For fuck’s sake Sam, you’re acting like we’re new. We’ve been doing this a long time.”
“Apparently so have I,” I yelled back, “According to those files, they started training me when I was fifteen.”
“And I’ve been trained for it since I was born,” he growled. “Tanner would have calmed down enough to go through those files by tonight. He’s pissed because he thinks he failed you again. Then you go and put a gun to your head.” He stalked back and forth, pulling on his hair, “You promised you wouldn’t leave, then you almost killed yourself.”
“I thought I emptied the gun,” I lamented again.
“Well, that makes me feel better. My wife didn’t kill herself because she wanted to get away from me, she did it because she can’t tell if a gun’s loaded.” He swung to me. “You never point a gun at anyone, including yourself, unless you’re willing to actually pull the trigger. Never.”
“I’m sorry,” I sighed, “I know you’re mad …”
“You think,” he yelled again, “First you tell me you want to run away, then you lock us out, then when we finally get in, you have a fucking gun at your head.” He pulled at his hair again, “Go to bed Sam, I’ll be up later.” He stalked out of the door. I heard the lock engage and laid back. When I mess up, I mess up good.
◆◆◆
I changed into pajamas and closed my eyes. I woke to the door banging open and Ethan stumbled into the room. I opened my eyes and watched as he steadied himself, then shut the door and leaned against it for balance. I started to sit up, “Are you okay?” I asked.
He put a finger in the air for a moment, “I gave Tanner a few drinks to calm him down. I had one with him.”
“One?” I asked as he turned and stumbled. I jumped up to help steady him.
“It might have been two,” he mumbled as he gave a lopsided smile.
“It might have been six,” I said as I held onto him. I could smell something wafting from him, “What were you drinking?”
“Whishkey. Don’t worry, I think he’s calmed down now. Might be a few days before anyone talks to you again. Except for Lyssa, she loved that you faked everyone out. She has Berto figuring out how to do the door handle thing for real.” He looked at me and frowned, “Why do you want to leave me?” He sounded so young when he said that my heart broke.
“I don’t want to leave you, I want to keep you safe,” I helped him over to the bed, sitting him down. “I don’t remember much, but I know with all certainty that I don’t want you hurt because of me.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me to him, his head to my chest, “Don’t leave me. Everyone leaves me,” he whispered hoarsely.
I stroked his hair, making a decision I was worried I’d live to regret, “I won’t leave you. I promise.”
“You already said that then you held a loaded gun to your head,” he started stroking my back in small circles.
“I thought it was unloaded. It worked in that TV show,” I tried to explain.
“Sam, TV’s make-believe. It’s not real,” he sighed into me.
“I know.” I kissed the top of his head, “How about I promise to think about how you’d feel before I do anything. I can’t promise it’ll always work, but I’ll try.”
“It’s a start,” he was starting to lean more into me.
“Let’s get you into bed,” I pushed him back and leaned down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt.
He stopped me and grabbed the back of my head, putting his forehead against mine, “Sugar?”
“Yeah?”
He gave a wicked smile that tightened my body, “I’m not that drunk.” He flipped me over so fast it surprised me, so that my back was on the bed and he was leaning over me, “Now,” he leaned down and kissed me so that I tasted what he had just drunk, “Anything you want to do from those books?” he chuckled as he buried his head into my neck.
Chapter 29
I woke up the next morning, wholly entangled with Ethan and the sheets. The sun was already high in the sky, and I saw Moonshine ambling through the field. It seemed like we never shut the curtains. I felt a hand stroking my arm, “Good morning,” Ethan leaned into me and kissed the side of my neck.
“Morning,” I smiled shyly at him.
He was giving a sly grin, “So did I answer all your questions from earlier?”
“Very thoroughly.” I bit my lip, not able to get the smile off my face. “How are you today? Hangover?”
“I’m energized.” He smiled and nipped at my shoulder, “But I won’t say no to pancakes.”
“I think I know how to make those,” I leaned into him and kissed him.
“After a shower,” he said against my lips. “There are some unique features I want to show you.”
“Then after the shower,” I replied, sinking into his kiss, starting to put my hands into his hair. A knock at the door interrupted us. Ethan swore, rather colorfully. Kissed me once again and jumped out of bed, throwing his jeans on.
“Wrap yourself up, Sugar,” he said as he stalked to the door, yanking it open. “What?” he growled.
It was Tanner, looking a little rougher than usual, “We need everyone downstairs, including Sam. There’s been developments.”
Ethan’s jaw tensed, “How soon?”
“ASAP man. This can’t wait,” Tanner coldly glanced my way then did a double take. “Of course, she almost kills herself, and you have sex with her.”
“It’s none of your business.” Ethan ran a hand through his hair, “Isn’t that what you’ve said we’ve needed to do all this time?”
“She put a gun to her head,” yelled Tanner.
“That both of you thought was empty,” Ethan crossed his arms. “I’m pulling books for you to review. You need to understand what guns keep one in the chamber and how to recognize them.”
“Great, she gets sex, I get homework,” he growled as he stomped down the hall.
“Well, he’s pissed,” I muttered.
“He will be for a couple of days,” sighed Ethan. “Well, no fun time in the shower, let’s get ready and then see what the hell’s going on.” He grabbed and pulled me out of bed.
I looked up at him, “Are you still mad?”
He nodded, “Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” I gasped as he cupped my cheek, “I always will.” He kissed me and headed into the bathroom as I stood there stunned.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, Ethan led me into the office again, with everyone already around the computer. I was still stunned by what he’d told me and trying to come to grips with that. Xavier looked up and frowned, “What’s wrong with Sam today?” The man notices everything, except when I’m faking crying.
“Told her I loved her and she’s reacting as well as the other two would,” Ethan said as he walked to the monitor. Then he shrugged, “Actually, she is reacting better than they would.�
�
“What is it with you three and that word?” Xavier looked at Tanner and Lyssa, who both looked uncomfortable.
“None of the Laffertys believe they deserve it,” Berto said typing into the computer, “While all of us had a messed up childhood, theirs was especially rough.”
“Shut it, Berto. The only thing I’m happy about with this whole situation is that Sam doesn’t remember our childhood.” Tanner was looking angry again, his arms crossed and a vein throbbing in his neck.
“Just giving the simplest explanation.” Berto never looked up from the keyboard, the leaned back, “They’re all dead.”
“All of them?” Tanner leaned over him to look at the screen.
“All but Sam,” Berto said.
“Whose all dead?” I looked at everyone in the room.
“Last night General Edison Tyson’s car was blown up near the Agency’s headquarters. He was the head of Project Chimera,” Berto started. “The Horsemen Team broke into his house in San Francisco and found records on his personal computer. It’s an old style one from the mid-nineties. They yanked all the files off it and sent them to me. I did a search on everyone in them. There was a total of fifteen, including the general. As of last night, fourteen are dead. Eight from aneurysms,” Berto’s mouth was grim.
“Why wouldn’t they kill the general like that?” Ethan walked around to view the screen.
“Who knows? Because we know what’s causing it? And they want us to know they know we know?” Berto shrugged, “I’m still pulling all the autopsy reports. We’ll need Rich to take a look at them. The brain’s his specialty, not mine.”
“So. this has nothing to do with the Sacristy?” I asked, walking around to look at the screen.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Berto stared right at the screen refusing to look at me.
“How long’s it gonna take to go through all the records?” Ethan asked.
“I have a program running now that will convert and search,” Berto was still hitting keys.
