Chapter 7
I was barreling towards headquarters when Morgan called. My first thought was to ignore her, but after the third ring I answered.
“Where are you?” She sounded out breath. “We need to regroup.”
“That’s what I’m doing.”
“No, what you’re doing is being impulsive. What you need to do is meet me and Bryce at your apartment.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Zeke, stop being so damn stubborn. We need to go back to the drawing board and fill in the missing pieces.”
She was absolutely right, but I needed to pick up something from headquarters before I met her. I told Morgan that I would meet her in an hour.
The moment I walked into headquarters, something felt off. I was used to Crysten standing at the top waiting for me arrive. If Crysten died, I would never get over it.
“Zeke, can I speak with you a minute,” Tara, Crysten’s assistant, said softly as I was heading for my sister’s office.
“Give me a minute.”
“I know what you’re looking for.”
I turned around. How could she know what I was looking for? Hell, I didn’t even know what I was looking for. I kept walking towards Crysten’s office.
“Zeke,” she snapped.
“What?” I didn’t have time for Tara and all her antics.
“I know what you’re looking for.” She pulled her blazer off the shoulder and revealed a barcode. “Like I said, I know what you’re looking for.”
Tara had been my sister’s right hand since I-CAT began operations. And, it made sense that she gave her all the information.
“Follow me.”
I did exactly that. When we walked inside she locked the door. I watched as walked over to the wall for an iris scan. The wall opened up, and she grabbed a small scanner from the shelf. I tried to see what else was inside, but she was too fast.
“Here scan the barcode.”
Within a matter of seconds, I had everything I needed. “You need to come with me.”
“No, my place is here. I’ve trained for this moment. And, I’m ready.”
Tara was absolutely right. We all had been training for this.
Before leaving I asked her to find a place for Roosevelt to go. The last thing I wanted was him to get caught in the crossfire of anything that was about to go down.
“Already taken care of. They extracted him 20 minutes ago,” she replied.
On my way out, I looked over at Omar’s desk. I couldn’t believe that he had turned on us. He was dedicated to his job, and something about him drugging my sister was off. He loves Crysten. And, she loves him.
I walked over to his desk. Everything was nice and neat on his desk. Nothing out of place.
As I was standing there scanning his desk, I noticed a sticky note with a phone number on it. I immediately realized that it was a Serbian country code. “Think Zeke,” I mumbled.
My phone started vibrating. It was Morgan.
I grabbed the note and headed for the elevator. When the doors opened I was greeted by Morgan and Bryce. “I thought you were going to my place?”
“It was a car parked out front with the two Serbs from that bust in Peru last year,” Bryce told me.
I stuffed the piece of paper in my pocket. I’ll worry about it later.
“Have you heard from Crysten?” Morgan asked as she dropped her phone in purse.
“Not yet.”
They started asking question after question, and I needed time to think. Time to figure out what the hell was really going on. Bryce suggested that we put I-CAT on lock down until we heard from the higher ups.
“We have our orders,” Tara said as she walked up behind me.
“And, what are our orders,” Bryce asked. He didn’t give Tara time to respond. “Well, what are they?” He seemed anxious.
“Zeke has the instructions. He’s in charge for now,” Tara stated.
“Zeke.” Bryce seemed surprised that she said my name. “I thought.”
“You were in charge.” Then, she turned to me, “Zeke, we need to get you to the Ready Room.”
“The Ready Room,” I asked.
“What the hell is that,” Bryce snapped.
“Operations. Follow me.”
Tara was unbothered by Bryce’s attitude as we headed down the hall to the door marked electrical. “Place your right hand on the keycard.” And, like magic the door opened.
“Crysten is my kind of girl,” Morgan stated as we walked inside.
“This attack has been looming for the last year. From here you have access to I-CAT, CIA, FBI, Homeland, NSA, and even MI-6. And, any other alphabet organization in the world.”
“Are you sure, she said for Zeke to be in charge,” Bryce asked again.
“Yep.” She turned to walk out. “Oh, if you need me, press this button,” she pointed to the console. “No cell phone use after this point.”
My big sister had thought of everything. Too many people underestimated her, even me. Never again.
“Tara, did she say what I needed to do,” Bryce asked before Tara walked out the room.
“Yes.”
“What’s that?”
“Do whatever Zeke tells you to do.”
I could tell by the look on his face he wasn’t happy with the instructions. But, it was what it was. The last thing I needed was someone in their feelings.
“Alright. If there’s nothing else, I’m going back to my office and try to get operations back on track. We still have operatives in the field that I need to make sure are protected.”
“No problem,” I replied.
“What do you need me to do,” Morgan asked.
“I need you to pull up the footage from my apartment. Look to see if the Serbs are still waiting out front. And, see if you can locate Omar’s ass.”
“And me?” Bryce’s ego was wounded. I could see it all over his face.
“I need you to get out of your feelings. We’re a team.”
He didn’t say a word, and just nodded. At that moment, I believed the rookie would make me proud after all.
With everyone squared away, I started reviewing the file. The first part of the file was a video from Crysten. “If you’re watching this it means I-CAT has been compromised and I’m no longer able to fulfill my duties. So, Zeke I need you listen and listen good.”
She started to explain that the meeting at Blue Face was a setup from someone on the inside of I-CAT. “The Serbians are the missing link. I don’t know how. But, they are. Zeke it’s easier to make enemies than friends.”
“What does she mean by that,” Morgan asked when she sat down beside me.
“It’s just something that our mom used to say to us when we were growing up.”
“Smart woman.” She reached over me and turned on the screen. “I don’t believe things are the way they seem.”
She played a video of Omar and Crysten meeting with the Serbs the day before outside my apartment. “Can you pull up audio?”
“Give me a minute.” A few seconds later, “Here we go.”
“So, your brother will know what to do when it all goes down,” one of the Serbs asked.
“Yes, I’ve left him very detailed instructions.”
“Alright,” the second one said. “Just give her half, it will knock her out. But, not kill her.” He handed Omar a small vile.
“I will,” Omar replied.
“It has to look like you tried to kill me and then go on the run,” Crysten told Omar. Then she turned to the Serbs. “My brother will come back here. When he does you will give him this. She handed him a small chip. He’ll know what to do.”
“Pull up the video from my house.” The two men were still waiting. I remember the number I had gotten off Omar’s desk. I took a long shot and called it.
“Zeke,” the guy said when he answered the phone.
“Yeah.”
“Your sister said we could trust you.” His accent was heavy, but I didn’t have trouble understanding what he was saying.
“You can. Is this Vladimir or Dragan?”
“Dragan.”
I needed to get them to safety, and fast. “I’m sending a car to pick you guys up now. Code word is crystal clear.”
“Who are you sending to pick them up,” Morgan asked when I got off the phone.
“Bryce.”
“Good because he’s looking like a sad puppy,” she chuckled.
Once I explained the plan, I told, “By any means you get them back here alive. You understand.”
He nodded as he headed out. Whatever was going on, they held the answers to it all. I finished combing through the file when a name popped out to me. Bernice LaSalle. I stared at the name for a minute.
“Morgan what’s your parent’s housekeeper name?”
“Bernice LaSalle. Why?"
“Because she works for I-CAT.”
“What are you talking about?” She walked up behind me. Her breast were pushing up against my back. Making me forget what I asked her to look at. “It can’t be. Pull up her info.”
I clicked on her name, and sure enough it was her. She had been employed with I-CAT for the last three years. Her file stated that she was former Navy, a commander of a Navy Seals operation back in 1995.”
“This doesn’t make sense. That’s when she came to work for my family.” She started pacing back and forth. “What does I-CAT really want from Bernice?”
“I don’t know,” I told her. “Maybe she was getting info on your mom’s research. Wouldn’t be the first time I-CAT infiltrated families.”
“That doesn’t make sense. My mother was trying to save lives. I don’t get it.”
None of it made sense. I needed Crysten to fill me, but that wasn’t going to happen because I had no idea where she was. And, it was against protocol to track a wounded operatives, for security purposes. So, I had to figure this out on my own.
Shit was definitely getting crazy, why was Bernice listed as an operative. What part did the Serbs play in all of this? And, where the hell was Omar?
