Chapter 6
The look on Zeke’s face was priceless when I told him I created the cure. It was obvious that he wasn’t buying it. In 39 years, I have never been able to tell a lie. And, I don’t know what made me think I could now. Especially to Zeke Jordan. But, I had to do whatever I had to, to protect my mom. She had been through enough in her life, and all she was trying to do was cure cancer.
“Where’s Zeke,” Omar asked.
“Not sure. The last time I saw him, he was talking to Bryce.”
Omar looked around the room. “Where’s Bryce?”
I turned around because I thought he was playing. I didn’t see either one of them. And, from where we were sitting in the kitchen, we had a full view of the entire lake house. “I’m not sure.”
He grabbed his phone and tried calling Zeke. “That’s strange. He’s not picking up.”
Just then my dad and Crysten came inside from the patio. “This view is absolutely gorgeous. I need property on this end of the lake.”
I just looked at my dad. The last thing I wanted to talk about was him purchasing more property. I shook my head.
“You guys seen Zeke and Bryce,” Omar asked them.
“No. Why,” Crysten asked.
“I wanted to show Zeke something.”
“Did you call him?”
“Yeah, but he’s not answering.”
She grabbed her phone. “Zeke where are you?” By the look on her face everything was fine and it was nothing to worry about. “Alright, see you when you get back.”
“Where that fool go,” Omar asked.
“They ran to the store. He said they’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Now that we had figured out where they were, I turned my attention back to my hacking into Dr. Perez’s system. I had broken into the first layer of security, but I still have more firewalls to get through. I was focused on getting into the system, that I didn’t answer my phone when it started vibrating on the counter.
“Somebody is blowing you up,” my dad said.
I looked up at him like, what do you know about blowing up somebody’s phone. He was right though. My notifications were coming in back to back. I finished up what I was doing, before grabbing it. It was Zeke, and I had like a 100 messages from him.
CALL ME
Yo you guys good
MORGAN WE NEED TO TALK
I don’t trust Omar
The last message threw me for a loop, so I called him. Zeke and Omar were thick as thieves, and I needed to know why he didn’t trust him. So, I called him ASAP.
“Yo, everything alright at the house,” he asked as soon as he answered the phone.
“Yeah, we’re good? Where are you?”
“Headquarters.”
“I thought you were at the store.”
“I just told Crysten that. I’m heading back to the house now. Whatever you do, don’t let Omar get any of you alone.”
“Why not? What the hell is going on?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll be back to the house in 15 minutes. Just do what I asked.”
And, just like that he hung up. “Rude ass,” I huffed.
“Who’s rude,” my dad asked as he was fixing himself a sandwich.
“On no one.” Again I was trying to lie, and I didn’t sound convincing at all.
“Your mom just called. She’s safe,” he said the moment I stepped in the house.
“That’s good. Umm, where’s Crysten and Omar.”
He looked around. “I don’t know. They were just here.”
Not knowing why Zeke said for us not to be alone with Omar, made me worry. My dad was talking my head off, so I composed myself and hid my panic from dad. The last thing I needed was for him to become a total wreck.
I walked over to my computer and tapped into Zeke’s home security system. It took me a few minutes because he had more firewalls than the normal security system. But, that’s what I expected.
Surveillance of the entire house popped up on my screen. He had cameras in every room of his house. Inside and out. At first glance, everything looked normal. But, I did worry because I didn’t see them anywhere. Panic started to set in a bit. Pull yourself together Morgan. You’re letting this knock you off your game, I told myself.
“Everything alright,” my dad asked. I didn’t realize that he was standing over my shoulder looking at the screens.
“Yeah. Why you ask?”
“The way you’re acting. You’ve zoned out. I asked you three times if you wanted me to fix you a sandwich.”
“Oh.” My dad was right. When I was working on something, I would zone out. “No, thanks, I’m good.”
“Alright. Well, I’m going to try to find Crysten. I just thought about something I need to ask her.”
“No,” I squealed. My dad looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “She’s probably working on something with Omar.”
He didn’t argue and walked back over to Zeke’s fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
I can’t find Crysten or Omar!!!!!! ETA
Pulling up in 3
I had this gut feeling something was about to go off. I was a trained I-CAT agents. I may not have been the first choice for a recruit, but I aced every test they threw at me at Quantico and The Farm. I-CAT agents received FBI and CIA training. Yeah, you already know we half past crazy.
I scanned the entire house over and over again, and I still didn’t see them. Then I realized it was one room that wasn’t on the cam. Zeke’s bedroom. I figured that’s where they were, so I made my way upstairs. Zeke’s master bedroom was the entire second floor, with a loft that overlooked the first floor.
“Damn it.” Half way up the stairs, I realized that I left my gun in my bag. Which was in Zeke’s car. I looked around to see what I could use as a weapon. My eyes went straight to a baseball bat that was in the corner of the loft. Perfect, I thought.
“Morgan,” my dad yelled from the kitchen.
This man is going to get us killed, I thought. I leaned over the railing, with my finger over my mouth. Signaling for him to be quiet. All of a sudden, he started gasping for air. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I forgot about looking for Crysten and Omar and rushed to my dad’s side.
“Did you bring your epi-pen,” I asked.
He was nodding and pointing towards his briefcase. My dad has a severe allergic reaction to any kind of nuts. For a while I feared I had it too. But, thankfully I didn’t. I retrieved the epi-pen and rushed back to his side. “Brace yourself,” I told him as I drove the needle through his thigh. Within seconds, I watched his breathing return to normal.
My hands were shaking. My heart was racing. The adrenaline was rushing. Losing my parents was my biggest fear. “You’re ok?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I don’t know what brought that on. I read all the ingredients twice.”
“Daddy, you have to be more careful?” I hated sounding like I was fussing at him, but I was serious and scared.
“Everything alright in here,” Bryce said as he and Zeke walked into the house.
“Yes, we’re good,” my dad said as I helped him off the floor.
“Good. Where’s Crysten and Omar?”
By Bryce’s question, I was pretty sure Zeke hadn’t given him the heads up that something wasn’t right with Omar.
“I don’t know.”
“Bryce, check the perimeter,” Zeke said when he walked in looking like a tall glass of chocolate milk.
I would say he was fine, but fine was an understatement. Right after joining I-CAT, Zeke Jordan was the talk of the agency. Every woman that I came in contact with adored him, and every man envied him. And, the fact that I was spending so much time with him clouded my judgment at the moment.
“What’s going on,” my dad asked Zeke.
“Nothing to worry about.”
I watched as Zeke raced upstairs. A few seconds later, he yelled, “Call Med-Vac.”
I grabbed my phone off the counter and did exactly what he asked. Then I rushed upstairs to find Crysten lying on the floor with a needle hanging out of her arm. “Med-Vac is 10 minutes out,” I told him.
“They need to get here faster.” It was clear Zeke was scared and tripping. He was right, but I didn’t know what to do.
“Oh my God. What can I do to help,” my dad asked when he walked in.
We were so busy working with Crysten that we didn’t hear, Bryce come in the room. “What happened,” he asked.
“We don’t know,” I replied. “Med-Vac should be landing in a few minutes. Go downstairs and let them in.”
Watching Zeke perform CPR on his sister was heart wrenching. I wanted to take over, but I knew he wouldn’t let me. So, I kneeled down beside him to be his support system.
A few minutes later, Bryce rushed back upstairs with the Med-Vac team right behind him. “We need everyone to clear the room,” a husky woman said as she kneeled down to take over for Zeke.
“I’m not leaving her,” he snapped.
The woman placed her hand on his shoulder, “We got her.”
Med-Vac were trained I-CAT agents that worked on our emergency medical teams. We had teams deployed all around the world and set up make-shift hospitals. And, from the way she was interacting with Zeke, I could tell they had more than a professional relationship. A part of me started to get a little jealous.
“Son let them do what they came to do,” my dad told him.
Reluctantly, Zeke headed downstairs with us.
“Omar’s gone,” Bryce informed us when we finally settled down.
“What you mean gone,” I asked.
“He’s gone. His equipment, his car, and the drive Crysten gave him are gone.”
Zeke didn’t say anything as they brought Crysten down on the stretcher. He grabbed his keys.
“Where are you going,” Bryce asked.
“With my sister.”
“You can’t. You need to stay here.”
“Rookie don’t start with me.”
“You mean commander. I’m your boss now. And, we need to figure this out.”
Zeke walked over to Bryce and stood toe to toe with him. “I’m going to be with my sister.”
Bryce handed Zeke his phone. Then he played a video from Crysten instructing Zeke what to do in case she was compromised for any reason. “Bryce knows what to do. Trust him,” was the last thing she said.
I could tell it was killing him, but he allowed the team to leave without him. “I’ll be back,” he said before heading down to the basement.
“I’m going to call your mom to check on her and Bernice.”
“Bernice is with mom?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Knowing the two of them were together made me feel a little better. “Daddy, what did you have on that sandwich?”
“Turkey, cheese, mayo and mustard. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
Everything was happening so fast, that I felt useless. I walked over to the fridge and grabbed the mayo. I opened the jar and sniffed. I was trying to figure out why my dad went into shock around the same moment, Crysten was lying upstairs fighting for her life. I stood there a minute before going over to the trashcan. “Bingo.”
Inside was a small vial. I found a towel and grabbed it. If there were prints on it, I didn’t want to smear them. I grabbed my chemistry set out of my bag to test the contents of the vial. Results revealed oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid.
“Peanut oil.” I immediately grabbed the mayo and tested it. And, traces of peanut oil were mixed in with the mayo.
“What you doing baby girl?”
“Daddy, please tell me you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?”
“Put peanut oil in the mayo.”
“No, why would you ask me that.” He walked over to the fridge. “Hell, the mayo wasn’t even in the fridge. Crysten got it from the pantry for me.”
“Who?” Before he could respond, I took off to the basement to talk with Zeke. “Zeke,” I called out when I got to the basement. I searched every room, but he wasn’t there. I even stepped out on the patio to see if he was outside. I ran back upstairs, hacked into his security system.
“How could I have been so stupid,” I spat. Zeke had the cameras on a security loop that was running over the main feed of his system. When I finally got in I saw Zeke exiting the house from an underground bunker. I tried calling him, but he wouldn’t answer.
Then I found the video from his bedroom. I saw Crysten hand something to Omar, and then he sprayed something in her face. She immediately fell to the floor. Then he placed the needle in her arm. I grabbed my phone and sent him a text.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!
