Elite 2: The Wrong Side of Revolution (24 page)

“I’m the reason she’s dead,” Eva said, fighting back her body’s desire to break down in tears.

“No,” Daniel said. “Norma understood what she had signed up for. I could always see that in her, even though I didn’t know what she was involved in at the time. There was nothing you could have done against a man like Titan. Believe me, I know.”

Eva did not seem at all comforted by Daniel’s words. She sniffed violently.

“She saved my life,” she whimpered. “I was supposed to protect her and she died protecting
me.
I failed.”

Daniel shook his head. He could feel the pain coming from Eva, and it hurt him as well.

“I grew very close to Norma,” he spoke softly. “And maybe it was just because she was assigned to keep an eye on me, but there were times when she allowed herself to open up to me, and I like to think I got to know a little bit about who she was as a person. She
never
would have allowed anyone she cared about to die for her. Norma had the heart of a true hero, and she died for something she believed in.”

Daniel reached over and laid his hand on Eva’s arm, hoping it wouldn’t make her uncomfortable. “For some
one
she believed in.”

He turned to glance out the windshield and noticed that they were getting close to the complex. Eva’s expression immediately turned from one of sorrow to business. She reached down to her side and pulled a gun out of her holster. Daniel believed it to be his.

“Have you ever killed anyone before?” She asked Daniel with an inappropriate level of calm in her voice.

“Not that I know of,” Daniel answered. This was the second time in one day he needed to prepare himself to take a life for the first time. “I beat a couple guys up pretty bad, but as far as I know they survived.”

Eva made a left turn onto the street on which the hot dog restaurant was located. She then handed Daniel the pistol.

Daniel grabbed the gun and checked the clip to make sure it was loaded. He then slammed it against his palm, locking the clip into place. It was his gun alright.

Norma parked the car in a parking lot across the street from the restaurant. Through the front window Daniel could see Charlie and Jordan inside, taking a seat at one of the booths. Eva reached into the center console and pulled out a metal lighter.

“It will probably be easier if you don’t see yourself do it,” she told Daniel while simultaneously sending a telepathic message through facial expression.

Daniel looked into her eyes as he took the lighter. He wasn’t entirely sure what she had meant, but he trusted that he would understand when the time came. The two then hopped out of the SUV and quickly made their way across the street to the not-so-discreet rendezvous point.

As they walked through the front door the bell that was strung to it began to jingle. Eva wasted no time marching over to where Charlie and Jordan were seated, taking a seat across from them. Daniel followed suit.

The man behind the counter stared at them grouchily, both confused by their presence and irritated by their apparent lack of interest in ordering any food.

“Agent Stone,” Charlie greeted with an inappropriate familiarity.

“Not now,” she ordered sternly, sticking her index finger aggressively in Charlie’s face. Charlie’s expression suggested that this was not the first time he had received that reaction from the agent.

“You two,” she began, referring to Jordan and Daniel, “I have some things for you.”

Eva pulled a black envelope out of her jacket. Daniel hadn’t even realized she was carrying it. She tipped the envelope forward, allowing all of its contents to slide out onto the table. In front of them were a few extra mag clips for the Glock, a set of keys, a phone, two identification cards, and some other documents.

“Quickly,” Eva warned them. “First, we have set you up with new identities.” She grabbed the two ID cards off the table and handed one to Daniel and one to Jordan.

Daniel’s had his picture on it but read “Daniel Simmons.”

“We used the same first names so there isn’t any confusion if you slip up and call each other by your real names,” Eva explained. “There are a million Daniels and plenty of Jordans out there, so no one will be able to find you by your first name alone. Here are your birth certificates and social security cards as well. Everything you should need to live your lives under your new names.”

“Like witness protection,” Charlie interjected.

Surprisingly, Eva did not seem perturbed by Charlie’s interruption. “Kind of, yes. But even deeper than that.”

Eva then handed Daniel the map. “I was ordered by Director Harvell to choose your identities and your hiding location for you. I will be the only person on this planet who will know where you are hiding. That way there will be no chance that the Birthright can get their hands on the information.”

“Excuse me,” Charlie again interrupted. “Birthright?”

Daniel first looked at Eva for approval, then explained what was happening to Charlie. “The Birthright of the Elite is a secret society of white collar people—some the relatives of British nobility—who want to turn this country back into a monarchy and rule over the lower classes. Richfield is one of their leaders, and he put us together to protect his fellow monarchists. He hired Horchoff to transform me into what I am in order to turn the tides of their secret war against our government, and now I have to take him out to put the kibosh on the Birthright’s plans. Then Jordan and I will need to disappear so that Demérs and the rest of the Birthright doesn’t come after us.”

Charlie stared at Daniel and blinked obnoxiously. “O-okay.”

“I need your help to get everyone out of the complex when I go in,” Daniel instructed.

Charlie nodded. It was clear he didn’t fully comprehend what was happening or why, but he seemed to trust that Daniel and Eva had a very good reason for going to all this trouble.

Eva continued with her instructions. “I’ve circled an area on the map in northern Michigan, with an address. I have a cousin and his wife who own a farmhouse up there, and I’ve called them to let them know you are coming. They are good people and I trust them with my life. Stay with them and keep your heads down and I promise you will be safe. Take whatever route you think best going up there, but make sure you don’t leave a trail for the birthright to follow.

“Here is a burner phone. In it are two numbers—mine and my cousin’s. Do not call me unless it is absolutely necessary, and do not call anyone else. Any contact with your loved ones will only serve to raise suspicion. I will meet with your families personally and explain the situation as best I can. I’m sorry.”

Daniel saw Jordan start to cry at the gravity of the situation. The thought of not being allowed to see or contact his family would eventually catch up to him as well, but right now Daniel was all focus. Lives were on the line.

“Here is a credit card in your name.” Eva reached up and handed the plastic card with the name Daniel Simmons on it to Daniel. “Don’t worry about paying it off, that will be handled. And here is the number of a bank account that will be opened in your name as well. Each week I will deposit one thousand dollars into the account. That should be more than enough to get you by.

“And finally, here are the keys to that red sedan in the parking lot.” Eva slid the keys over to Jordan and pointed to a mid-sized four-door just outside the door of the restaurant. “It’s gassed up and ready to go. The license plate is registered to no one. If a cop pulls you over they will run your plate and they will receive instructions from the FBI to let you go. They most likely won’t even step out of their cruiser.

“And you know what these are.” She picked up the two magazines off of the table and handed them to Daniel. The man behind the counter now seemed slightly panicked by what he was seeing.

Daniel took the clips and put them in the inner pocket of his jacket before standing up from the table. When Jordan stood up she held up the keys as if she didn’t know what to do with them.

“Hang out at the corner and wait for me to come out the front,” he instructed her. Jordan sighed and nodded her head in acknowledgment.

Charlie and Jordan lead the way out of the dimly lit restaurant and Daniel followed. Eva stopped to drop a hundred-dollar bill onto the counter before following the other three outside. Once out the door, Eva grabbed Daniel’s arm and turned him toward her.

“When things have settled down and we find out where Gordon Demérs is, I will come for you.”

Daniel grimaced and shook his head. “I’m not a soldier or an assassin. I won’t make any promises to you.”

Eva glared back, a blaze of hopeless distress in her eyes. “We
need
you. You may be the only one who has a chance of stopping Demérs. This country depends on it.”

Daniel sighed. The last thing he wanted or needed right now was the fate of the country being put on his shoulders.

Charlie approached the pair standing outside the doorway. “Why not just call in a SWAT team?”

“Can’t let the media know that the FBI was in on this,” she responded. “Too many questions.”

Charlie made a dissatisfied face, but accepted the answer nonetheless.

“Start getting as many people out as you can,” Daniel instructed. “Discreetly.”

“Right,” Charlie agreed sarcastically before turning and heading back over to the complex.

“Good luck,” Eva told both Daniel and Jordan as she made her way toward her vehicle.

Daniel turned to walk Jordan to their getaway car.

“And Daniel!” Eva shouted back to him before crossing the street. “She didn’t get close to you just because it was her job!”

Daniel smiled as he watched Eva turn and scamper across the street with a grin of her own. Jordan looked on suspiciously, but knew now was not the time to ask about it.

Without warning Daniel threw open his arms and wrapped them tightly around Jordan. If she was going to be the last friend he ever saw, he wanted to make it count.

“I love you,” he said sweetly.

“I love you too,” she replied honestly, though clearly filled with fear and distrust.

“I’ll meet you at the front of the building,” he told her as he walked away. It was time to cut one of the heads off of the snake that was the Birthright of the Elite, and this time he would not fail.

Chapter 14

Daniel stood at the unmarked entrance of the Elite complex. Snowflakes were beginning to flurry upon the cold December air. He tucked his gun into his waistband against the small of his back. He was still dressed head to toe in black from his assault on Gordon Demérs. He slowly pushed open the front door of the building and walked inside.

The lobby looked exactly as it did the first time he had entered into this strange world of Elite, as though it were the lobby of any normal industrial warehouse. To his left, Frank sat behind his desk as he always did.

Frank glanced up from the magazine he was reading to see who had entered his lobby. “Hey Danny, how are ya?”

Daniel glanced at the man, a certain darkness in his eyes. “Get out of here, Frank.”

Frank removed his eyes from his literature again, unsure how to respond to the agent’s order to leave.

Daniel glared back at the man behind the desk, a fire beginning to ignite inside of him. Frank saw the undeniable intensity in Daniel’s eyes, and immediately stood up from his chair and scurried out the door. Daniel strode toward the elevator, his neural pathways already kicked into full-gear. He was now in total control.

He reached forward and pushed the call button for the elevator. It only took a moment before the car reached the first floor and the metallic doors slid open. Daniel stepped forward into the car and reached behind him to push the button for the second floor. As the doors slid shut behind him and the lift started upward, Daniel stood unmoving, staring at the back doors.

After a few more seconds the rear doors slid open, and Daniel started forward onto the catwalk. There was the normal flurry of activity happening on the floor of the complex, but Daniel blocked all of it out. His eyes were fixated on Richfield’s office. The door was open and amber light was shining out onto the floor of the balcony outside. Richfield was inside.

When he reached the halfway point of the catwalk, Daniel saw Blank step out of the office. He noticed Daniel immediately. Blank opened his mouth to yell something to Daniel but Daniel quickly raised his finger to his lips to signal Blank to keep quiet. Thankfully Blank followed Daniel’s command, and instead hurried over to him on the catwalk. Daniel stopped where he was so as not to alert Richfield to his presence.

“Danny,” Blank said softly as he neared the agent. “You made it! Everything okay?”

Daniel stared at his recruiter, his eyes still filled with darkness. “Did you know?”

Blank removed his grey fedora and scratched his head. “I think by now you know you need to be more specific than that, Danny boy.”

Daniel’s lip curled. According to Harvell, Blank was as much a victim as Daniel, but a part of him still held the man responsible for dragging him into this mess.

“Did you know that Richfield killed Norma?”