Chapter 9
The fact that I couldn’t go on the mission, still wasn’t sitting well with me. Since I was technically in-charge, I couldn’t go on the mission. Crysten was sitting right beside me, but she was still weak from the injection. I was just happy she was alive. As well as Dragan, who was able to talk to us before we executed the plan. He knows the entire layout of Blue Face because he designed it. He was the final piece of the puzzle. Once, I brought him the blue prints, he was able to show the secret tunnels Blue Face would be using. “They’ll be waiting here because it gives them direct access to the interstate,” he said as he pointed to the map.
We knew that while the FBI were going in through the front door with warrants to secure the hard drives, documents, and research in Blue Face, Antoine Benjamin and his partner Zachary Warren would be escaping through the 23-mile tunnel. “FBI is onsite,” Morgan said as she pulled up visuals on the screen. You could hear a pin drop as we all looked on. For a moment I thought, I that I knew how President Obama felt when they caught Bin Laden.
Everything went as plan as seventy-five FBI agents swarmed into the front door of Blue Face carrying the warrant. And, just like we expected, Benjamin and Warren were heading out in the tunnels, in two different cars. They were smart. And, they even had decoys in the tunnel as well. There was a dark spot in there, where we couldn’t get any visuals. Dragan said that is the point they would possibly switch cars. We had teams ready to follow them all. After a deep dive, we’d learned that Blue Face had been selling information that could possibly destroy us to our enemies and allies. The biggest threat was the algorithm they were creating for the upcoming election to sell to the highest bidder.
“Commander.” I turned around to see who Crysten was referring to as Commander. To my surprise, she was speaking to, Sandra Carmichael, the head of I-CAT. Seeing her here, made me feel somewhat uneasy.
“Hello Crysten, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” she told her. She looked around the room for a minute as if she were accessing the situation. “I was filled in on the flight. Have the subjects, been apprehended?’
“Not yet,” I informed her.
“Good. Tell your men to stand down.”
I wasn’t sure if I heard her right. “What was that Commander?” I needed her to repeat it.
“Stand down.”
“Commander, what’s going on?” Crysten was just as confused as I was, but she was way more professional than me. “Apprehending them gives us the formula to the rest of the virus."
“They don’t have the formula,” she said sarcastically.
“What the hell are you talking about?” We were moments from taking Warren and Benjamin down, and she comes in talking crazy.
“They don’t have the formula. And, they never did.” I looked at her for minute because I could tell by her expression and body language, that the situation had gotten a lot more complicated than we had anticipated. “You’ve been played.”
I slid back in my chair and crossed my legs. One thing about Zeke Jordan, I didn’t like being played. She nodded for one of the men to close the door. Again, she looked around the room as if she were accessing the situation. “Mr. Jordan, tell your men to fall back, and I’ll tell you everything.” Hesitant, I radioed my men and instructed them to fall back. But, I did tell them to follow, until they heard from me.
“No coffee,” she said as she walked over to the table that sat in the middle of the room. We all followed suit. Crysten sat near the head where the Commander was. Morgan and Omar sat on the opposite side of the table from Crysten. And, I of course headed to the other end of the table. For some reason, it seemed to be a power struggle between us. Then she explained the situation.
“Hold up,” Morgan interrupted her. “Run that by me again.”
“Sure. I’ll start at the part where this was all a plan that your parents, she put an emphasis on your, “came up with to eliminate Dr. Perez, and secure Blue Face for themselves.”
I leaned back in my seat because what she was saying was mind blowing, but it was also a damn good plan by Roosevelt and Dr. Sinclair. Commander explained that the formula that Dr. Perez had was not the correct formula. Dr. Sinclair had kept it for herself. “I do believe it was your mother’s intention to destroy it, but after the G8 Summit, the government hired her. At some point she decided to sell it. But, she knew Dr. Perez wouldn’t go for it.”
I looked over at Morgan who had this blank stare on her face. Sitting there looking at her, I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking.
“Dr. Sinclair knew Dr. Perez was a spy, and by putting I-CAT on her heels, she would assume it was because she was a spy,” Crysten stated.
“You’re absolutely right.” Commander looked over at Morgan, “ And, with Dr. Perez out of the way, her stock in the company falls to you.”
“You who,” Morgan snapped. It took her a minute to wrap her head around everything. Took me a minute too. Her parents played there hand, very well. Apparently, Roosevelt helped fund the project. In return, Dr. Perez left her shares to Morgan. “Wait, why would she agree to that?"
“Simple, they were lovers.”
“Well damn.” Everyone turned and looked at me. I just shrugged my shoulders. This situation was getting crazier by the minute. While Commander was filling in the pieces, I had the team to fall back because clearly Warren and Benjamin. It was clear they were not the masterminds behind any of this.
“Are my parents being arrested?”
“No. Technically, they didn’t do anything against the law. We are going to keep a close eye on them.” She took a sip of her coffee, “And, we’re taking possession of the virus.”
I looked at Crysten and Omar, they seemed to be in just as much of a shock as Morgan. As for me, I was numb. Just another day at work for me. At this point, nothing surprises me in this job anymore. The same way I’m not surprised that the occupant of the White House, hasn’t said anything about George Floyd getting killed. Instead he was hiding in his bunker from the protesters. “Listen, what do we need to do now. Is Crysten back in charge?”
They turned towards me. My sister already knows, when the mission is over, I’m out. There was no need for me to stick around, especially with Commander in town. And, she stated she would be around a few more days to tie up loose ends with Crysten.
“Yes, I’m turning everything back over to her. And, all I need is a detailed report of everything that has happened the last few days.”
****
Six hours later, I had finally made it home. I decided to head over to my apartment building I purchased last year, over by Commons Central University. I rented mainly to professors, and a few grad students. To most people, I just a landlord and not an undercover agent for an off the books organization for the government. And, at this point all I wanted to be was a landlord. I needed a minute to come down from the craziness of the last few weeks.
“Hey Mr. Jordan,” one of my tenants said as I made my way up the stairs. “What you think about them opening the world back up?”
“I’m staying in.” Which was the truth. I was sleep deprived. All I needed was hot shower and a shot of cognac to put me straight to sleep. When I reached the third floor, where my apartment was located, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around to see Morgan coming up the stairs. “What’s good,” I asked when she made it to the top.
Morgan was visibly out of breath because she had ran up the last flight. “I was thinking that we could take a couple shots together.” In her hand was a bottle of Ciroc in her hand. She was speaking my language, but I was wondering why she was here and not with her parents.
I unlocked the door and stepped back for her to go inside. It’s been a minute since I’d been here and the air was stalled. I lit a few candles to freshen up the place. “Have you eaten,” I asked. She shook her head no. “I can order some food for us.”
“Alright.”
It was clear that learning the truth about her parents had her shaken up. Which is totally understandable. I’ll probably be in shock as well. Wait. Hell, no. Her parents figured out a way to give her a billion-dollar company. It’s no way she should be hanging her head. I tossed her the remote, “I’m go jump in the shower. If the food arrives, I’ve already tipped driver.”
When I got out of the shower, I felt refreshed. I had almost forgotten Morgan was in the living room until I heard her playing Lauryn Hill’s Ex-Factor. She was definitely setting a mood for the evening with Lauryn. I grabbed a pair of pajama pants from the drawer and a t-shirt. I laid her one on the bed just in case she wanted to get comfortable. When I offered it to her, she happily accepted.
“I fixed you a drink,” I told her when she walked back in.
“Thanks.”
“Come on now. I know today was a lot to take in, but we did our jobs. Tomorrow we can think about all of this. But, for now let’s eat.” I sat a plate in front of her and started fixing her a little of the Japanese food I had ordered. I lifted my glass, “Here’s to us.”
“To us.”
It didn’t take long for the frown on her face to turn into a smile. Zeke’s signature drink did it every time. “What do you know about that?” She was playing Gladys Knight’s Midnight Train to Georgia.
“The question is what do you know about it?” I watched as she swayed to the beat, giving me her best Gladys Knight impression. This was the first time I had seen her smile in a couple of days.
I sat back on the couch as she used the remote for her mic. She was pouring her heart and soul out in the song. The way she licked her lips while she was singing, turned me on. I readjusted myself, because in a minute she was going to have me standing at attention. The light was hitting her just right, and her brown skin was glistening.
“Thank you, for letting me chill out with you tonight. I didn’t want to go to my place, my parents are crashing there.”
“Got you. Did you talk them?”
“Yeah.” She sat down beside me and laid her head on my shoulder. “My mom said that she found out about them years ago, but she was so focused on her health, me, and her research. She let it slide.”
“I can respect that.”
“I guess. I just don’t know what to think. It’s like my daddy convinced his mistress to leave her shares to me. I don’t want to run a damn company.”
“You don’t have too. You have enough money to hire someone to run it for you.” She slid her body closer to mine. I was trying to act casual, but it was nothing casual about this.
“You’re right. I’ll just let Daddy handle it. It’s probably what he wants anyway.” She paused for a second, “Let’s watch a movie.” She decided on Lovebirds, on Netflix. Seeing her laugh, made me laugh.
Just like that the night had gotten away from us. When I woke we were still on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket. She was laying on my chest, and my arm was wrapped around her. I stroked her face as the sunlight hit it. She adjusted herself, before looking up at me. Without saying a word, I placed my lips on top of hers. Yeah, today was going to be a good day.
