Chapter 20

The next day, there was still no sign of Jessica, and I was going out of my mind before Cierra called and filled me in on what was going on. She also shared Jessica's background and the crimes she'd committed over the years, and I shivered at having come that close to evil without knowing it.

The little bit I'd learned before was nothing compared to the things they had since uncovered, and as a mother with daughters, it almost made me want to call them home and lock them in the safe room. Then my thoughts went to the babies and the world they were going to be born into, which looked more and more different from the one I knew.

As far as I know, Jack was still here and yet to be dealt with. When I checked the clone, I saw that there were tens of messages from him reaching out to her with no luck. By the end, they were all filled with panic. Someone had entered the apartment at some point after the night it went dark because there was a new coat of paint on the walls and I'm pretty sure the curtains had been changed.

I was dying to go there and see for myself, if only to make sure that the snake had been taken care of, something Cierra later assured me was the case. "So, what happens now?"

"Now, we bleed her for all the information she has and use it to save as many victims as we can."

"And Jack? What about him?"

"He'll be gone soon, so there"s no need to worry about him. Your part in this is basically over. You did great, by the way."

"Wait, that's it? Just like that, it's over?"

"From your end, yes. Besides, your husband sent out an order that we dare not ignore."

"What order?"

"Are you with child?" Her question threw me for a sec. I hadn't shared that news with anyone else, so it could only be my husband who blabbed.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"That's the one boundary we dare not cross. If he says you can't be involved, we can't go against him this time, not while you're with child."

"Why not? It's not like I'm doing anything that will harm the babies."

"Because he has as much right to their health and care as you do. This is one of those two yes situations where both of you have to agree. If we let you get involved any further after being warned off, it could go bad for us."

"Whose rule is that?"

"It's a conglomeration of thought. We all agree."

"I guess you're right. There's nothing more left for me to do with Jessica, Samantha, whoever she is, gone anyway." It seems almost anticlimactic that things were over so soon.

I'm still not even sure what I had done or anything that followed after. I don't know what it was that I wiped onto the doorknob or why Jessica had reacted the way she had. I have no idea why she gave up the information so readily or what was said to make her do it.

Cierra didn't share any of that information other than to insist that I get rid of whatever was left of the contents of the vial and how. I still felt like there was more to be done, that everything had happened too quickly.

But then I realized as time went by that that was only because things felt unfinished, especially when it came to the kids that that monster had taken away from their families. I also realized that I could do stuff without leaving the house if I chose, like gathering information.

I had learned a lot these last few weeks about a lot of the things that had been going on behind my back, so to speak. Mark has been sharing more about his family background and the whole organization, now called the Squad, and the work that they did, centered around the rescue of trafficked human beings.

I was even more proud of him after learning these things, and my admiration for my father-in-law increased tenfold. I wasn't even too bothered by the fact that he had kept it all from me in some misguided effort to protect the kids and me from what he calls the darker side of life.

Cierra had shared a lot of information with me as well, mostly about the medical complex they had where kids and adults alike who had been saved were treated before they were placed back with their families. That's something I can help with, maybe fundraisers and such or just a donation to the cause. Just something more than what I had done.

I sometimes feel guilty because of how this all started. The fact that I had dove in headfirst when I thought my husband was cheating, not knowing that there was something much darker going on.

For the last few days, my mind has been filled with all the ways I could help now that I knew the truth, but Mark was hellbent on keeping me on the sidelines, and it seems he had forbidden the others to even share new information with me.

It wasn't long before I could no longer see inside the apartment where Jessica once lived, which meant someone had found my little cameras and listening devices and gotten rid of them. Marcus never even made it, as far as I know, but had called with an apology for standing me up.

If Cierra hadn't told me that they were the ones who had taken Jessica, I would've believed that it was her own people who had done it. One thing I will say is that the more I learn about the Squad, the more disbelieving I am, and then I remember that my husband has been by my side for twenty years, and I had no idea of the strength of his abilities, so anything is possible.

I'm still bummed, though, that I have to bow out now before I get all the details. I really wanted to be the one to hurt Jack in innumerable ways, but now, even the women were against me getting any more involved. But how the heck do I just turn it off? How do I go back to the way things were before I knew?

* * *

MARK

* * *

"So,what are they going to do with her?" I was on the phone with Marcus Blair, who had left town a few nights ago, taking that Jessica person with him. I'm still a bit, shall we say, perturbed, though that may be too strong a word, at the way things had gone down.

You see, since Dad is old school, we were used to doing things a certain way. The organization under his control tended to do things in that old-world style, where a handshake was still all it took to close a deal. It was outdated, sure, as were many other things we did, but in the end, it was obvious to see that it worked and kept things in order.

This new squad seems to be on the other end of the spectrum. First, I'm having a hard time accepting that a bunch of kids had practically taken over, though that wasn't really the case. From what I have gathered, Lyon, the new head, has his own way of training future members.

Their age isn't the issue; most of us started as soon as our abilities were confirmed, and neither is it the fact that most of them are females. It's the fact that they seem less…. What is the word I'm looking for? Pliable? I guess.

The kid had done in a few days what it had taken us two years to achieve. Not because we couldn't have gotten there had we used the same tactics, we just weren't allowed to. Dad was big on us not doing the things the enemy does and, therefore, becoming like the thing we hate. Lyon doesn't seem to live by that same rule of thumb.

I had picked up on Lyon's murderous aura the first time we met, and that was through a screen, so I can only imagine. I'm not a mind reader or I could've handled it long ago. I have the ability to see things and to even share things with those close to me through my mind, but I can't pick a name out of someone's head.

The one Lyon calls Mengele didn't even try; she just went right for the jugular. I guess it's a sign of youth that impatience. Even Dad seemed a bit impressed when he received the report and had to concede that this new way of doing things seemed to be more effective.

I'm almost ashamed that it has taken us this long on our end while the women handled it with such ease in less than a fraction of the time. I wonder, though, if Lyon realized what he was unleashing. If someone that young was given free rein now, what would the future look like?

She'd wasted no time; she just got right down to it, which leaves me with the question of her abilities. Lyon has been keeping her well hidden since he took over. Even in our briefings, her name never came up, though we knew there was a new program involving kids; that's all we were told.

Dad was all for it since he, too, had worked with kids, myself included, in some capacity. But there was a limit to what he'd allow us to do or get involved in. From what I have seen the last few days, Lyon placed no such limitations on the kids in his squad, though Hank's description of what was going on on that island was confusing. It sounds to me like the father and daughter were playing a cat-and-mouse game with each other.

I was all set to deal with Jack myself now that we had the information, but it seems the kid has a different idea, so I can only sit back and watch. I'd asked only one thing, and that was to not involve my wife any further. Not because I doubted her ability to do it, but because she's now pregnant, so all bets are off.

I don't care how strong she thinks she is; she's not putting herself and our children in danger. Once the children are born, we'll revisit the issue since she seems hellbent on sticking her nose where it doesn't belong. Another testament to the way things have changed; Mom never got involved in anything to do with the organization and was kept pretty much in the dark for the past half-century.

None of my children have my abilities, something I was very thankful for in the past because I know the strain that can come with special powers as they were. I never wanted that hell for any of them. Now, my new fear is that one or more of the new babies might not be so lucky.

* * *

JACK

* * *

Something is very wrong.It's been days since I heard anything from Jessica, and that's not like her. We usually keep in touch at least once a day after she leaves to go back to the apartment. I'm afraid to get in touch with the boss to let him know of my fears because that could end very badly for me unless, of course, he had something to do with her sudden disappearance.

Then again, if he'd been the one to take her, I would've been forewarned. I knew he was getting a bit frustrated because things were taking as long as they had, but this was a big deal after all, one of the biggest jobs we'd been trusted with, which made it all the more annoying that we hadn't gotten anywhere.

If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn that Mark Wilson was always one step ahead of me. No matter what I set in motion, he never fell into my trap, and Jessica had even less luck because he tended to stay away from her at every turn. Even when we blindsided him, he always seemed to find a way out.

This was the first time we'd been on the job this long without any results, and though we knew it was going to be harder this time around, we thought for sure we would be done within six months. It's true the pandemic had added more time than we'd expected, but things had let up there a while ago, and nothing had changed on our end.

Now, my partner was in the wind, and I had no clues. My fear of letting the boss know this before I knew anything more about her location or what was going on left me in a bind.

I find myself looking over my shoulder for the first time since coming here. What makes it worse is the fact that just days before she disappeared, she'd run into Trudy at the restaurant, and now I'm beginning to wonder if all those things were indeed a coincidence or if someone here had figured us out.

The not knowing is playing hell on my nerves, not to mention I can't get to her apartment to check things out myself because there's always someone lurking around the building for some reason or another. The little paved yard behind the building where the trash was kept that I used to use to get to her place without being seen has a new gate that's always closed these days so there was no way in or out without going past the front desk

Things like that are making me paranoid that someone has been watching us. But since no one has approached me or said anything to me, and Mark does not seem to be onto me, I'm still left with questions. The not knowing is wreaking havoc with my life.

I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I'll have to report to the boss sooner or later, but I dread telling him about this new screwup after all the time we've wasted. On the other hand, if he were the one to take her, I would have no idea what that means for me.

She'd had a few mishaps in the last few weeks before disappearing, like the snake that appeared in her apartment. I was sure that it was someone's pet that had gotten out somehow and ended up there, but now I'm not so sure.

But if all the things that occurred in her last weeks here were more than coincidence, who or what was doing these things, and where the hell did they take her? Or maybe she was dead. In which case, what the hell happened?

I still have to go to work to keep up appearances, and that's about as uncomfortable as you can imagine. Mark has been the same as always, which only makes me more nervous for some reason. No one had asked me about Jessica's disappearance because we're not supposed to be that close, but there's been talk around the office about her not showing and not calling.

As each day passes, speculation has been running high among the staff, and now, something even worse than not knowing has happened, and I don't know what to think anymore.

That's because five minutes ago, Wilson had claimed in my presence while speaking on the phone with HR that he'd heard from Jessica, and she was fine. She had a family emergency and had to go back home, so she won't be back at the company.

None of that made sense, and that was the reason I was now looking over my shoulder every few seconds. I was beginning to feel hunted. I have to get out of here, but where can I go? I've been working for the boss for the better part of fifteen years. I have no doubt he would find me wherever I go. But I can't stay here. Something is very wrong.