Chapter 21

"Cierra, what's going on? I didn't expect to hear from you this soon."

"Someone wants to talk to you."

"Oh, okay." The child that I had taken to calling Shirley Temple came on the line. Her greeting, as always, was respectful, and she'd taken to calling me Aunty Britt; I mean, seriously, could she be any more adorable?

"Let's play a game." I don't know how I knew she wasn't talking about ‘game' in the normal sense or why my heart started racing.

"What game?"

"Do you still have the cloned phone, or did Uncle Mark get rid of it?"

"I still have it."

"Do you know what that means?"

"Not really, no." I didn't think it meant anything.

"It means he knows you're going to stay involved, and this is the only way he will allow." How did she come to that conclusion?

"Do you understand?"

"Not really, no." I think she sighed, which made me feel like I needed to keep up.

"It means he knows you have the phone and still lets you keep it. If he didn't want you to have it, he would've taken it. Do you get it now?"

"I think so." Why didn't I think of that? "Wait, he knows about the phone?"

"Yes!" How does he know about the phone? Did I tell him? I don't recall.

"Now, send this message to Jack."

"Okay, I'm ready."

Two hours later I was still no closer to understanding the messages she'd had me send. Especially the first one. Jack, be nimble, Jack, be quick. Isn't that a nursery rhyme? I thought after she called that I was back in the game, especially since she was so sure that Mark was willing to let me do at least that much through the phone, where there was no danger of me coming to any harm.

But after I sent the last message, there's been nothing. She'd stayed on the phone with me the whole time, telling me what to say each time he answered, but none of it made sense. Now, I was sitting here waiting to hear what had happened after he cut off communication.

I would call Mark and ask him what was going on if anything, because I was sure Jack was at work at this time, but then he'd know what I was up to, and I wasn't a hundred percent sure that he was okay with me doing even doing that much.

* * *

JACK

* * *

Jessica?:Jack, be nimble; Jack, be quick.

This stupid bitch.

Jack: Jessica, where the hell are you? What the hell does this mean?"

Jessica?: Watch

Jack: Watch what?

Jack: Hello, what the hell is going on? Watch what? Where the hell did you go?

My phone alerted with an incoming text from a different number. "The bank? What the hell is going on?" I switched over to the new message and felt my heart stop. "No-no-no, that can't be."

Bank: Your account ending in four-five-nine-nine has less than one hundred dollars.

I switched back over to her screen.

Jack: You bitch where is my money? How did you get it? So that's what she did. She stole my money and ran. No doubt she got tired of waiting. But how did she expect to get away with this? There's no way she could think she would get away with it.

Jack: Do you think you will get away with this? I'll find you.

Jessica: I'll be waiting. Come and find me before I spend it all. You should be thinking about what you're going to say to the others. Bye!

Oh shit! If she pulled a runner what does that mean for me? I rushed into Mark's office and tried not to show my panic. "Sir, I'm very sorry, there's an emergency; I have to go." I didn't wait for his approval because there was no chance of me coming back here.

"Take all the time you need." I barely acknowledged his words as I rushed from his office and bolted towards the elevator. I have to get in touch with the bank; I have to turn this around somehow. Then I'm going to find that bitch and make her regret ever being born.

I rushed out onto the street and almost collided with someone. "Hey, watch it." I ignored the man and kept rushing towards employee parking, where my car was. "What the fuck? Where the fuck is my car?" I spun around in a circle, looking for the Mercedes I'd parked there a few hours ago.

I walked up and down each aisle, but there was no sign of my car. What the fuck is going on? The bank. I checked the number in the message and hit the call button. I listened to the recording and entered the last four digits of my account.

"We're sorry there is no account matching these details. Please check your information and try again." I did it three times with the same result. "Okay, okay, take your time. This has got to be a mistake." I tried it again, but the same thing happened again.

Things only got worse when I spoke with a live agent. "You stupid bitch, I've had this account for ten years. Hello, hello." She hung up on me. What am I supposed to do now? I have to get back to my place and get the hell out of here; something is not right.

I hailed a cab out on the street and gave them the address. I threw a few bills at him when we reached and bounded up the stairs once I reached inside, too impatient to wait for the elevator.

I was out of breath with fear by the time I closed the door behind me. My head started spinning, and the room tilted and twirled. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to the nearest chair as I went in and out of consciousness. What the hell? Did I come down with something?

My phone started ringing in my hand, and I answered without looking at the caller ID. "You're going to die."

"Who is this?"

"Did you feel the prick in your arm when the gentleman bumped into you?"

"What? You crazy bitch, who are you? Wait, what bump?" The man on the street that bumped into me when I left the office. Is that why my head is spinning? "What did you do to me? Where is Jessica and my money?"

"She's waiting for you in hell. See you soon, Jack."

My hand went numb, and then the rest of my body, but my eyes remained open. I heard a noise at the door but couldn't move my head in that direction. I was aware that I was drooling since I had no muscle control.

I wanted to scream when I saw the stranger who had bumped into me not too long ago standing over me. He got down low, so our eyes met, and I never felt such fear before in my life. "Who…are…. you?" My words were slurred and felt weird on my tongue.

"Lyon, don't move." He held my head in place and stared into my eyes, and everything went dark.

* * *

LYON

* * *

Fucking Mengeleand her mind games bullshit. I caught her trying to talk that asshole Mancini into bringing her here to do this shit, and he was about to agree before I stepped in. Even her mother and aunts knew not to let her do this shit because they did not want to feel my wrath, but he's a whole other breed of idiot when it comes to my kid.

She's graduated to playing with people's lives, something I wish she'd wait at least another ten years to do, but fuck it. She'd already worked on the chick. It was only when I got on the plane to come here that I realized the two of them had played me.

I looked up when he walked through the door. "You played me, you fuck."

"Not me; take it up with your daughter. She wanted to see which of you did it best."

"She does realize she's sending them to their deaths, right?"

"Tell me, do you think she cares?"

"Is this what she was doing with the dolphins?"

"This, and the fact that they fight sharks."

"What dafuq does she want with sharks? Did you fools get her sharks?" He clammed up the fuck.

"Did you put the tracker on him?" Mancini asked as I got to my feet.

"It's in him, yes."

"Cool. Jessica should be on her way as well. Let's get out of here." I rolled my eyes and stepped over the hump on the floor before following him out the door.

"Did she come up with this on her own, or did you guide her?"

"Nope, it was all her idea. She's getting really good, don't you think?" I just looked at him and kept moving. I'm trying to keep my kid as a ten-year-old, and this fuck is always looking for ways to give her free rein.

"When she starts testing her mind control bullshit on you idiots, don't come crying to me."

"She had to start somewhere. Let's see how it goes."

"That's what I'm afraid of. You don't know my kid the way you think you do. If it works, she'll do it all the time. If it doesn't work, she won't stop until she gets it right."

"Nothing is going to go wrong; she'll be fine. We have everything in place to make sure she's taken care of. Besides, you're here to help her along; she'll be okay."

Yeah, but she's ten fucking years old. I'm now beginning to see why Char did what she did more and more. As an adult, I could do without this shit; as a kid, I would've lost my shit.

Even though my kid seems to enjoy pushing herself to the limit to see what all she's capable of, I'm afraid of the day she regrets wasting her youth. That balance I've been fighting for since realizing that she was the one who inherited my shit is leaning more and more in the opposite direction these days.

It"s as simple as that. I'm just a man trying his damnedest to give his kid the best childhood he can, knowing better than anyone else what's going on inside her head. When my five-year-old started reading ancient philosophies and quoting fucking Sun Tzu, I knew there was going to be trouble.

That's only one of the reasons I didn't fight against the organization when Mancini came calling. I had no idea they existed before then or that it had anything to do with me because I'd learned over time how to quell my abilities so I could live some semblance of normal.

Mengele doesn't give a fuck. She embraces it all. But I know she can burn out or, worse, lose her fucking mind. The only one other than myself who knows exactly what she is is the pothead; even she doesn't know because I haven't told her. But she knows that I know.

So we play this game and dance this dance while I stand between her and everything else, which I will do until my last breath. The one thing I won't do is stop her from doing what she wants. I could try to slow her down some when she rushes full steam ahead, but with each new development, I'm going to be there to guide her. The day that stops is the day the known world is fucked.

"What is it that you're really afraid of Colt?"

"Take a wild guess."

"If I had to, I would say you fear that she is worse than you. Why do you think that?"

"Because she's a fucking living, breathing weapon."