Elite 2: The Wrong Side of Revolution (31 page)

Daniel started for the restaurant patio and it did not take long for Jordan to notice him. She waved and gave a big smile which he returned. She ended her conversation with Bachman and leaned against the rail to talk to Daniel.

“I’ve just got one more table left and once they’re done I’ll be out of here,” she told him.

“Okay,” he replied. “Carlos and Marie have the guy who buys their cherries and his wife coming over for dinner so I told him we’d head right back there after your shift.”

Jordan’s expression changed in an instant as though she were very concerned by this change of plans. “When will they be there? Will I have time to shower and change?”

Daniel smirked. The things women worried about. “I’m sure even if they’re already there they’ll understand if you go upstairs to clean off. They’ll probably prefer it.”

Jordan nodded, accepting of the answer but not entirely satisfied with it. “Let me get this table their bill and I’ll meet you out front.”

When they walked through the front door of Carlos and Marie’s, the Boones were already in the common area enjoying hors d’oeuvres. “Shit,” Jordan whispered to no one in particular.

“Hey guys,” Marie greeted the couple as though they weren’t expected. “Come on in.”

Carlos stood up and began proper introductions. “Daniel, you’ve already met David, this is his wife Melinda. Jordan, this is David and Melinda Boone, they are the ones who buy our cherry crop from us every year.”

“And I must say those cherry trees are looking absolutely beautiful,” Boone added, standing up to shake hands.

Jordan, Daniel, and the Boones all exchanged proper handshakes and “how do you do do?”s before Jordan excused herself to take a shower.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just gotten off work at the restaurant. I’ll only be a moment.”

“Take your time dear, we understand,” Melinda assured her in the form of a dismissal.

Fortunately it had been a rather cool day and Daniel hadn’t needed to do any particularly extraneous work at the club, so rather than make things slightly awkward by going upstairs and joining Jordan in the shower he decided to remain in the clothes he had on.

Carlos and Marie went all out for their dinner with the Boones, serving bacon-wrapped scallops as an appetizer with a twelve year-old bottle of Michigan cherry wine.

“So will you be helping Carlos with the harvest next week?” David Boone asked Daniel.

Daniel hadn’t given it much thought, but he could see no reason not to. “Definitely.”

Jordan sped through her shower and was presentable and back downstairs in only fifteen minutes, which as it turned out was just in time for dinner. Marie had made pork loin with a special homemade cherry glaze and it smelled delicious.

“I’m starting to see a theme here,” Daniel commented as they all sat down at the table.

Boone let out a loud chuckle. “It’s that time of year, son.”

It certainly was. Since the cherry trees had started to blossom the whole property had been overtaken by a sweet cherry scent. Daniel found it to be the most pleasant aroma one could wake up to in the morning.

Much to Daniel’s pleasure, the Boones seemed more interested in Carlos and Marie and their cherries than they did in Daniel and Jordan’s origin. Daniel had coached Jordan in the car on the story he had made up for them, but it didn’t appear as though they were going to need to use it. Daniel was relieved because it seemed as though Jordan had been unable to properly absorb all of the intricate details he had conjured up in his mind.

After dinner the company adjourned to the screen porch for desert, where Carlos and Marie brought out cups of cherry sorbet and a pot of coffee.

“Marie you always serve the most delicious meals,” Melinda Boone complimented.

“Well, I learned from Carlos a long time ago the importance of feeding the mouth that feeds you,” Marie quipped.

“And how!” David Boone shouted in agreement.

“Oh shoot,” Marie blurted, looking around the room. “I left the coffee cups in the kitchen.”

“I’ll get them,” Daniel volunteered.

Marie continued her search in the screen room though the cups were nowhere to be found. “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” Daniel replied, standing up and leaving for the kitchen.

When he got in the kitchen, Daniel found the coffee cups all laid out on the breakfast bar. He pulled them all together and tried to determine the best way to grip all six without dropping one.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” a shaky voice called out from behind him. Daniel turned to see David Boone standing in the doorway.

“It’s me,” he said indifferently, not understanding what the old man was getting at.

“You’re the one,” Boone continued. “The one with the special brain.”

Daniel froze, completely taken off-guard by Boone’s statement. How could he know?

Daniel readjusted his expression before turning back to the man. He picked up the cups and headed for the door. “I’m sorry sir, but I don’t think there’s anything special about my brain.”

Daniel tried to make the comment sound like a joke, but Boone seemed all to convinced.

“Come on,” he said, blocking Daniel’s path with his body, “I may be old but I’m no fool.
Carlos’s cousin.
Do you think the Birthright doesn’t know about Agent Stone?”

Daniel kept his head down so as not to give anything away. He used his ability to calm his nerves and avoid shaking.

Boone continued to make his case. “And you arrived the day after Christmas, just a week or so after Chuck Richfield was killed and his building was burned to the ground.”

Daniel tried to convert his worry into confusion through his words. “Mister Boone, I promise you I’ve never met any Chuck Richfield or been to any buildings owned by him—or at least not that I know of.”

Again, Daniel tried to pass the old man, worried about how he was going to manage to make it through the rest of the evening without panicking.

Again, Boone blocked his exit. “Indiana…you think we don’t know everything there is to know about possibly our greatest asset? Where do you think the first place we looked was after you disappeared?”

This struck deep into Daniel’s heart, and he was no longer able to hide his reactions. A darkness came over him—a combination of hatred and fear. If the birthright had done anything to his family, Boone was now first in line to die.

“Oh don’t worry,” Boone assured, reading the expression on Daniel’s face. “Not all of us are as…
radical
…as Gordon Demérs. I for example, always supported Chuck Richfield. You could call me his biggest fan.”

Daniel now began to fear for the life of not only himself but for Jordan, just a few dozen feet away in the screen room. If the Birthright now knew their location, they would no longer be safe hiding out in northern Michigan or any of the surrounding states.

“Interesting that the resistance would choose to hide you here. I would have thought it would have made more sense to send you out of the country, but I suppose they wanted to keep a close eye on you. Seems you’re a very desirable man Mister Simmons—or rather…Mister Hart.

“Ah well, it worked for a little while. There was no way Stone could have known that her beloved cousin was doing business with an elder member of the Birthright. But as always, we are the superior, as we always shall be, and we will
always
find what we’re looking for.”

Then, with an evil grin, Boone turned and walked out of the room. Daniel had himself all pumped up, but he had no idea what to do in this situation. Clearly Boone was wise enough to know that he would never survive a direct confrontation with Daniel, but sooner or later he would have to tell the rest of the Birthright and they would be coming for him. Daniel needed to do what Boone had suggested—he had to leave the country.

Somehow Daniel managed to get through the rest of dessert without snapping and killing Boone right then and there. He used his abilities to remain calm on the outside, while on the inside he was quickly plotting his escape. Jordan kept looking over at him, sensing that something was wrong. She gave a questioning glance, which he abruptly shrugged off. She wasn’t going to like what he now had to do.

After dessert, Carlos offered to take the Boones on a ride around the farm in his tractor—an offer which they accepted. Daniel, Marie and Jordan said their goodbyes to the couple and as Daniel went to shake hands with David he felt the old man squeeze a little harder than before. Daniel looked up and saw that the old man was gleaming with satisfaction. His finding and confronting Daniel would be considered a great success with the rest of the Birthright.

Once Carlos and the Boone’s were safely out the door Marie started cleaning and Daniel grabbed Jordan by the arm, pulling her toward the stairs. Daniel ran up the stairs and turned to make sure Jordan was behind him. When she got to the top he took her by the arm and pulled her into her bedroom, closing the door behind them. He then went over to the window and closed that.

“What is going on?” Jordan demanded. “Something was wrong when you and David came back from the kitchen, I could tell.”

Daniel gathered himself and tried to decide where to start. “I have to go.”

“Excuse me?” Jordan countered.

“We’re not safe here anymore,” Daniel explained.

Jordan placed on hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. “You wanna tell me what happened in there?”

Daniel put his hands on her hips and stared straight into Jordan’s eyes. “Boone is a member of the group that’s after me. He figured out who I am.”

Jordan pushed Daniel away and started pacing around the room. “Gordon’s group?”

Daniel swallowed and nodded.  “They know more about us than we ever thought. If I stay here, we’re not safe.”

Instantly, Jordan stopped pacing and ran to her dresser, opening it up and pulling a bag out from under her bed.

“What are you doing?” Daniel asked her.

Jordan shot Daniel a glanced that suggested his question was obscene. “I’m packing. You just said we have to leave.”

“No,” Daniel told her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her up toward him. “I said that
I
have to go. You can’t go with me.”

Jordan’s eyes widened, and she looked betrayed. “Why not?”

Daniel let go of her and ran his hands over the top of his head. “Because my biggest concern has always been keeping you safe, and as long as you’re with me, you’re not safe.”

Jordan dropped down onto the bed and Daniel could see tears beginning to surface. “That’s stupid. The whole reason we’re here together is because you needed to be close to protect me. We are in this
together.
”

“That was the case then, but this is different,” Daniel desperately tried to explain. “Gordon is off the grid somewhere building his army of super people, and the rest of the Birthright just wants me out of the way. I need to leave the country, where no one can find me. Boone was just trying to scare me to get me to leave, but if I don’t they will come for me and they will use everyone I love. They know where my parents live Jordan. I have to leave or no one will be safe.”

“But I thought they wanted you dead,” Jordan countered. “That’s why Gordon kidnapped me, to get to you—to kill you.”

Daniel shook his head. “I don’t think that’s what Boone was getting at. He told me that they’d already been to my parent’s house in Indiana. If they wanted to use them against me they would have. I think this is more of a ‘if we can’t have him, neither can they’ type of deal—
they
being the FBI in this case. As long as I’m gone and out of reach, I’m no longer a threat and they’ll leave it alone.”

Jordan threw her face into her palms, her body jerking back in forth as she cried into them. “But what about me? I love you.”

Daniel dropped his arms and slouched over. He sat down on the bed next to Jordan and threw an arm around her. “I love you too, but I can’t bring you down with me. Once I’m gone you can finally go back to having a
real life.
You can see your family again, move back to Indiana. Or you can stay here and hang out with Bachman.”

“Do
not
make this about Bachman,” Jordan ordered sternly.

Daniel shook it off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I was just pointing out that here, or back home, you can have a life. If you come with me you’d be giving that up, and I don’t want that and I don’t think you really do either.”

Jordan put her head between her knees in a full cry, tears running down the bridge of her nose and onto the floor. “I’m going to miss you so much!” she cried, turning and throwing her arms tightly around Daniel.

“I’m going to miss you too,” he replied, tears of his own starting to fall. He probably didn’t understand right now just how much he would miss her, but he knew it was better than the alternative. If he was going to have to spend the rest of his life on the run and never being able to see his family again, he took some solace in knowing that Jordan didn’t have to go through that with him. His final act in protecting her was setting her free.