Cheating Time (10 page)

"I…" My voice was hoarse and cracking. "I
never knew."

"Until now, your mom's never really wanted
to admit that she's the reason we are where we are, that her
technology has been President Barone's greatest weapon when it
comes to silently executing by the hundreds anyone who doesn't meet
his expectations of the perfect citizen. She…" Dad put his hand to
his mouth and choked on his own words.

I'd only ever seen Dad cry one other time,
and that was when Aunt Christi, Tawney's mother and Mom's sister,
and her husband Uncle Ron had been violently murdered while Tawney
slept the night away in the safe room Gran had built for her.

I felt guiltier for making Dad cry than I
had all night long… than I had in a long time.
Maybe ever.

"You have this all wrong, Carlie. Your mom's
the one leaving us tonight. Not you. At first, we were going to
send you back with Jayden. Actually, he probably thinks that's
still the plan. The thing is… she's worked out a deal with Barone
in hopes that he'll leave us alone. Leave
you
alone," Dad said, having to clear his throat
several times afterward.

What the hell?

My stare snapped up. "Mom can't go back to
the capital…
She can't go
anywhere near Barone
by herself
. You and Jayden can stay
with Gran and Tawney. You'll be fine. I'll go with Mom. She'll need
someone to help her. I can be her assistant. I can make sure she's
safe."

With pride I'd seldom seen from Dad (at
least not when it came to me and not Jayden), he smiled down at me.
He, a military man through and through, may have been yelling at me
a few minutes earlier, but his frustration was more about how
powerless he was over our situation, not how angry he was with me.
I'd seen that side of him every single time Barone sent Jayden on a
mission. Dad would pace our house the entire time Jayden was away.
The instant Jayden had returned so had the Dad I'd known and
loved.

There was no way for me to understand fully
how Dad felt at this moment, but the stress etched into his every
tight-fisted grip was evidence he was feeling out of control when
it came to what was happening with his family.

"Sweetie, you
can't
go with her. Sh-she needs someone who is
better equipped to protect her. Jayden's that person. He'll keep
her safe," Dad assured me.

"It needs to be me. You know Barone will
manipulate Jayden just like he always has. He'll send him on
missions and leave Mom unprotected. We can't let that happen," I
argued.

Dad looked at me strangely before saying,
"Carlie, I know you and Jayden have always had a unique
relationship. It's as if you've never really understood what a
Surrogate is… You've never really realized he has no biological
mother or father. At least not ones he can call a parent. Your
mother and I have taken on those rolls for him, and you've resented
any respect we've afforded him. That's not like you at all.

"What you need to know right now is that I
trust him. He's the only person besides me that I'd let protect
your Mom. All Jayden knows is what he's exposed to. We've spent
years showing him he can be a better person than the one Barone was
trying to mold him into becoming.

Dad stared over my shoulder, studying
something.
Studying nothing in
particular.
He sighed.

"I've known Barone my entire life. He's
always been a talent scout. He took one look at Jayden, who was
still a toddler at the time, and saw his potential. He did the same
thing with your mother. He used his charms to win their trust and
loyalty.

"Until Jayden began living with us, he
thought the package Barone had been selling was the real deal. When
Jayden became a member of our family and saw what a real family was
and what real love was, he changed. I saw it. I knew he was
different." Dad chuckled, and it was nothing less than sad. Then he
gulped. "Jayden has never known what to think of you. He… he'd
never been loved unconditionally until you accepted him and loved
him like he was the big brother you always wanted. Even as a small
child, you were opinionated and demanding. Unsure of what to do
with you, he pushed you away. Not because he didn't care just as
much as you, but because your intensity scared him. It took a long
time, but you eventually began to follow his lead, pushing him
away."

Dad's gaze was still faraway, and all I
could think was how alike he and I were. In the middle of the
mayhem we were dealing with, he was taking time out to consider
events that had shaped our lives. Like me, he feared the cusp of
change we were so obviously on. With it, there would be no going
back. The only guarantee we had was that our lives would move
forward with or without each other. That thought frightened both of
us and instigated memories that had led us to where we were.

"You probably don't even remember this, but
when you were two and Jayden was four, Ms. Sarah watched both of
you. Of course, Jayden stopped going to Ms. Sarah's house when he
started Elite, the Surrogate preparatory school, but until then,
the two of you were inseparable.

"Ms. Sarah thought of the two of you as a
married couple. You'd bicker and argue over the silliest things.
Who would go to the bathroom first. Who got to pick the movie you
were going to watch." Dad chuckled. This time it was more sincere.
"Like I said, silly things. What was frustrating to Ms. Sarah was
the way you would hide in the corner and cry if she used the first
cross word with Jayden. Even at two years old, you had a sense of
justice about you. You couldn't stand it when anyone treated him,
or any other Surrogate, with anything less than respect. Ms. Sarah
was prejudiced. In her eyes, Jayden was not your equal. In yours,
he was.

"Funny enough, the only person who could get
you out of the corner after you'd gotten upset was Jayden. No
matter how many warnings Ms. Sarah gave you about keeping your
distance from
the Surrogate
you
ignored her.

"When you were at your most defiant, you
would hold Jayden's hand and demand he skip around the parameter of
our yard with you. It was as if you knew how much the integration
of Surrogates with Procreates bothered her, and you were on a
mission to prove to her there was nothing wrong with it. Honestly,
if President Barone himself hadn't insisted she be Jayden's
caretaker, she'd have never agreed. Not as much as she hated
Surrogates."

My brows furrowed. "I remember a little boy
and the way I harassed him nonstop, insisting he play hopscotch,
baby dolls, and jump rope with me, but I can hardly believe that
complacent little boy was Jayden. The same Jayden who's so hateful
to me," I exclaimed.

I couldn't help but soften when I thought
about the torture I'd put Jayden through, when I remembered how
sweet he'd been to me when we were little. My chest squeezed
tight.

"Okay, Dad, I get it. You trust him. I hear
you. Like I said, let him go with you, Gran, and Tawney. He'll keep
all of you alive. You may have to get used to eating bug drop soup
as a staple, but there's no doubt in my mind he'll keep all of you
alive until Mom and I can figure a way out of this for us."

Dad shook his head. "No. No. You're right.
Someone has to go back with your Mom. I told the Coxes I'd stay
here and help them, but I can't leave your Mom. I'll go back with
her. I want Jayden to go with you, Tawney, and Gran to the next
house. By then, I'll know if it's safe for you and Tawney to go to
the academy. Jayden won't let the Surrogates pick up the two of you
until he gets word from me."

As soon as I opened my mouth to disagree,
Dad put his hands out and said, "I mean it, Carlie. I need you to
be the soldier I've raised you to be and for you to do whatever I
ask you to do without questioning me. This one time. I need you to
do that for me. Can you? Please."

Dad had turned into the slightly frightening
soldier that was not to be refused. The only options being handed
to me were impossibly difficult ones and all of them split our
family apart. The only ray of hope I had was the fact that Dad was
almost as famous as Mom. He'd once single-handedly taken back the
president's house after it had been hijacked by Shadow
Soldiers.

It was before I was born, but I'd heard the
stories my whole life. There was an entire population of people who
considered him a hero because he'd taken down the Shadow Soldiers
who'd successfully crossed the border, made their way to the
capital, invaded the presidential home, and captured the former
president and his family. If anyone could keep Mom safe and get our
family out of this and back together, it was the man who'd forever
be a hero in the eyes of this nation's citizens: Dad. It was my
responsibility to make his job easier, to listen to him and follow
his instructions meticulously.

Straightening my back, I turned into a
soldier more loyal than any to ever exist and said, "You tell me
what you need me to do, Dad, and I'll give my life doing it. I
promise."

Again, a smile of pure pride crossed Dad's
face. Everything about it felt good and reinforced the promise I'd
just made.

"I'm going back with your mom, and I'm going
to let Jayden take you, Gran, and Tawney to the next house. You'll
be safer in the woods or at the next house than you'll be here.
There's too much going on here. You are leaving this farm tonight.
I don't want any of you to come out of hiding until I give the all
clear," Dad ordered.

In my new soldier mindset, I knew his
decisions should not be questioned. As his daughter, I wanted to
demand that we not be separated. Letting the soldier win out, I had
every intention of doing exactly as he was asking.

I nodded. "You take care of Mom, and I'll
take care of everyone else, Dad. We'll be back together before you
know it."

Before the words were out of my mouth, a
look of fear and anguish crossed Dad's face. As quick as it came,
it was gone. He tried to hide it before I saw it, but his cover-up
had come too late. I wanted to wrap my arms around his neck and
sob. I didn't. I refused to have him worry that I wasn't going to
be able to make it without him and Mom.

Dad's head bobbed. "We will be together
again, Carlie. Your mom and I'll work to get back into Barone's
good graces. When that happens, you'll be able to come home from
the academy on weekends. It'll be just like old times," Dad
lied.

No matter how hard he was trying, I didn't
believe a word he was saying to me. I kept that to myself.

"Yes, sir." I agreed.

"There's something else you need to know.
Your mom wasn't sure if we should tell you, but you've proven to me
that you're ready to know just one of the many things that makes
you more important than anyone will ever know."

My brow furrowed as I waited for Dad to
finish.

"Every bit of the research your mom and Gran
has ever done has been scanned into a file and stored within your
MicroPharm chip. Your Mom wanted you to have it in case anything
ever happened to her. She knew you would be one of the only people
in the world to understand it.

"After you began assisting her, she realized
you were as much of a researcher as she and Gran. You've been
working with your mom in the lab because that training is just as
important to your survival as your combat training," Dad
explained.

Over the clucking of chickens, I heard the
barn door behind us open and close. Dad and I glanced toward it and
watched Mom as she made her way to us.

Before she was halfway, I ran toward her,
slung my arms around her shoulders, and wept.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I'll keep my mouth
closed from now on. Everything I do… I swear to you… I swear to you
everything I do will make you proud."

Mom pulled back and tucked my bangs behind
my ears. "If you never do another thing in your entire life, I'd be
proud of you. You're an amazing person with a giant heart. I love
you. I want you to take care of your dad. I'm going back to the
capital. Barone swore to me he'd leave all of you alone if I did
that. Gran offered to take my place, but I'm the one who shared my
research with Barone. Not him. It's my responsibility to make this
right," she shared.

Reminding me of Jayden after he came back
from Barone's assignment, Mom had a gleam of determination and
resignation in her eyes that made me want to join her on her
mission.

Dad stepped next to us and cleared his
throat. "Babe, Carlie and I've been talking. There's going to be a
slight change of plans."

Mom cut her eyes Dad's way. Just like he'd
done to me earlier, Dad held up his hands in surrender.