Wrong Time (7 page)

“Maybe. How would you feel about
crushing the facility in Mississippi?” Trish asked.

“Why would we do that? Right now it’s the
least relevant facility.”

“Because, it’s the smallest and least
secure location they have, and it sends a message that no one within their
organization is safe,” Jess answered.

“Okay. Let’s just say that I’m
interested in your idea. Who would be at the forefront of this operation? Zane
and Dan are tied up in Atlanta right now.”

“How about Nathan and Sam?” Trish asked.

“They are on their way back here, and I
suppose that they could take a break from what they’re doing for a day or two,”
Campbell said.

“Plus, Nathan is from there. I’m sure that
he would love to be able to go back, even if it was only for a couple of days,”
Jess said.

“All right, I’ll see what I can do about
putting together a small team. Good work, you two.”
 

As Trish and Jess exited Campbell’s
office, Jason walked up to them.

“Can I borrow Trish for a moment?”
Jason asked.

“Sure,” Jess responded as she continued
walking to her office.

“What’s going on?” Trish asked.

 
“We’re about to conduct a few interviews
with some of the people we thought might be traitors. I knew that you wanted to
sit in, so I came to get you.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

They made their way to what looked like
an interrogation room where they met Burt. The three of them interviewed a half
dozen people, and each one of them answered all of their questions right and
with no sign of deceit. They were all very frustrated.

“Well, that was a complete bust,” Burt
said.

“No, we still have one person left,”
Jason said as he called the final man into the room.

What Trish saw next shocked her. The
man who walked into the room was someone from her past. When she worked for
Markus, she had worked with this man on many occasions. His name was David
Houston, and he was just as shocked to see her as she was to see him. Upon
seeing her, a wave of panic appeared on his face. He sat down anyway, but it
was obvious that he was very bothered.

“Is something wrong?” Burt asked the
man.

“No, not at all,” David said.

“He’s the one we’re looking for,” Trish
said.

“What? How do you know?” Burt asked.

“Because I used to work with him.”

Security was let into the room, and the
man was taken away. Trish felt bad about selling out David. He had always been
so kind to her. He was the exact opposite of Jacob. He was compassionate and
smarter than anyone else that Trish had ever gotten to work with. It was really
no surprise that he was chosen to pose as a CIA agent. He had the perfect
golden boy attitude and look. Trish began to walk out of the room.

“Where are you going? Don’t you want to
ask the guy some questions once he’s restrained?” Jason asked.

“No, I need some air,” Trish said and
exited the room.

* * * * *

In the early morning, Nathan and Sam awoke.
Sam took her shower first, and only after Chloe had been removed from the
bathroom was Nathan allowed to do the same. The three of them made their way to
a small airport just outside of town where a plane had been arranged to take
them back to Washington. When they finally boarded the plane and were seated, Nathan’s
curiosity got the best of him.

“So what is your real story? I mean,
since that whole back story that you gave me last night was bull,” Nathan said
to Chloe.

“Nathan, you really shouldn’t talk to
the prisoner. Remember what happened last night,” Sam said.

“What’s wrong? Are you a little jealous,
blondie
?” Chloe asked.

 
Sam simply reached over and grabbed the
vein on the side of Chloe’s neck and squeezed it. After a few seconds, Chloe
was asleep.

“You know that one day you’re going to
make a prisoner slow in the head from doing stuff like that, right? Nathan
asked.

“Maybe, but it will probably be because
you talked to them,” Sam said and smiled.

* * * * *

Trish went to the roof of the building.
She needed time to reflect and remember what had been. A few years ago, she and
David were sent on a mission to kill a man who had run away from one of their
facilities in Dallas. The man simply wanted out of a life that he didn’t know
would be so immoral when he got into it, but in his line of work, you didn’t
get out, especially when you knew as much as he did. This man’s name was Garret
Red, and he was the second in command at the Dallas facility. The two of them
tracked him all the way to Arizona. It wasn’t hard to find him. That was where
Garret was originally from, and he simply wanted to go home. When they found
him, he begged for his life. Trish never wanted to kill a person to begin with.
She only wanted to work on a more intellectual level. David was not so
different from Trish, and neither of them had the heart to kill the man. They
let him go. David advised him to leave the country as soon as possible, and the
two of them went back home. Officially, Garret Red was dead. Trish and David
went on close to ten more missions together. Throughout each mission, they did
things their own way. They somehow always found a way to finish their task with
a clear conscience, and it didn’t take long before the two of them were more
than work partners. Trish, a woman who had only used people, was in love with David,
and David was just as in love with her. The two of them talked about
disappearing together, but then one day, David was just gone. She asked her
superiors where David went, but she never got an answer. When she pushed the
issue, she was transferred to an irrelevant facility in Mississippi that only
housed records. As she snapped back to reality, she knew that she had to be the
one to question David. I can’t let anything happen to him, she thought.

Chapter 7

Nathan and Sam had already landed in
Washington and handed off Chloe to their fellow agents.

“We need to check in, and then maybe we
can go home for a while,” Sam said as the two of them entered the CIA building.

“Home? Where is home exactly?” Nathan
asked.

“I have a place here that the CIA
provided me with. I’ve actually only been there once, though.”

Nathan was curious to see what Sam’s
place could possibly look like. The two of them walked straight to Campbell’s
office.

“You did a good job out there.
Hopefully, we can get some good information out of her, but until we do, how
would you two feel about doing some work on the side?” Campbell asked.

“Sure, but what did you have in mind
for us?” Sam asked.

“We want to take the facility in
Mississippi.”

Nathan was excited to hear that. He
wanted to take this opportunity to not only get some unfinished business done
at that facility but also to check in on his family.

“Here’s a list of the people that
you’ll be working with if you choose to accept this assignment,” Campbell said
while handing Sam some files.

Sam took a second to look through them
and then started to pass them to Nathan.

“I’m in,” Nathan said before Sam could
even hand him the files.

“Jessica said that you would be eager
to take this assignment,” Campbell said while laughing at Nathan’s eagerness.

“I think that we can do this, sir. When
do we leave?” Sam asked.

“Tomorrow morning.”

As Nathan and Sam left Campbell’s
office, they saw Trish.

“Hey, Tri . . .” Nathan said before
being interrupted.

“I don’t have time,” Trish barked while
throwing a hand up and quickly walking past them.

“What’s her problem?” Sam asked in
surprise.
 

Trish hurried to David’s location. The
interrogation had already begun. A large guard tried to stop her from entering
the room, but the much smaller Trish grabbed him, hit him squarely in the
throat, and tossed him to the side like a rag doll. Then she proceeded to bang
on the door until Jason opened it.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked.

“Both of you need to get out now,”
Trish said.

“What? Why?” Burt asked while getting up
from his chair.

“I’m not going to repeat myself,” Trish
said.

The two men were confused, but it was
obvious that Trish was going through some type of mental crisis, so they did
what she said and exited the room. Trish closed the door behind her and sat
down across from David.

“You are going to tell me everything
you know because if you don’t, these people are going to hurt you, and I don’t think
I can live with knowing that I was a part of you being hurt,” Trish said while sounding
depressed but angry.

“I’ve missed you,” David simply said.

“I’ve missed you, too. If you give us
something to use, then I’m sure they’ll help you disappear. We’ll protect you.
I promise that Markus, or anyone else, won’t be able to get to you.”

“You know you can’t promise that, and
you also know that a little torture isn’t going to make me break.”

“Then please just do it for me,” Trish
said while laying her hand on his and looking deep into his eyes.

Her eyes were piercing to him. The
truth was that he wasn’t nearly as softhearted as she was, but back when they
were partners, those sad eyes had made him alter his actions. Those eyes made
him a better man.

“Okay. I’ll make a deal with you. Get
the guards to give me something good to eat. Then get me a pen and some paper,
and I’ll write down everything that I know,” David said.

“Thank you.”

Jason and Burt had been listening from
outside, and they were amazed that Trish was able to get this man, who they had
been able to get nothing out of, to just agree to tell them everything. They
opened the door, and the guard that Trish had formally thrown to the side entered.

“Okay. Let’s get you that meal,” the
guard said while shooting Trish a hard look.

The guard and David walked out and made
their way down the hall until they were out of sight. Then Trish and the others
heard a gunshot. The three of them and a few more guards ran toward the source
of the shot. There on the ground, David lay dead with the guard standing above
him.

“He tried to escape,” the guard
explained.

Trish could tell that was a lie.

“This man is a traitor, too,” Trish
announced.

“Arrest him,” Jason said to a couple of
more guards who had come to see the source of the shot.

After the man was taken away, Burt
looked at Trish.

“Are you sure that the guard was a
traitor, and if so how?” Burt asked her.

“He just lied to us, and think about it
for a minute. David was about to give us everything that we needed, and then he
ends up dead. How suspicious is that?” Trish asked and walked away.

She was going home. There was no way
that she could stay in this place for another minute. She popped her head into
Jess’s office.

“You and Lee will need to get a ride with
Jason. I’m leaving.”

Before she received an answer, Trish
quickly walked away. As she walked, she felt tears starting to form in her
eyes. David, the best man she had ever known, was dead, and in her mind, that
was her fault. Why did I have to say that I knew him? If I had only just let
him go, Trish thought behind those tears.

* * * * *

That evening, Nathan and Sam went back
to her house. As she opened the door, and they stepped inside, one thing became
apparent. The place was really empty.

“There are no pictures, and there’s no
furniture. Is there even a television? Oh, God! Please tell me there’s a
television,” Nathan said in desperation.

Sam only laughed at his desperate
expression.

“Relax. We can get some furniture and a
television if it’s that important to you,” Sam said.

“Okay, but why don’t you already have
that stuff?”
 

“I told you that I’ve only been here
once before.”

 
“I get it. So when are we going to go get
some stuff because I have no idea what we’re going to do here with nothing but
a bed and ourselves,” Nathan said before realizing how strange his comment sounded.

Sam looked at him with suspicious eyes
as he appeared to have some type of daydream. I don’t think I like the way that
one is thinking, she thought while examining the look on Nathan’s face.

“You know what? I think that we’ll be just
fine here with no furniture or entertainment,” Nathan said while showing a hint
of a smile.

“I think that we should go get some
furniture and your precious television. Come on,” Sam said as she walked to the
door and motioned for Nathan to follow her.

Me and my big mouth, Nathan thought.
When the two of them got back, they had a television and some fold out chairs.

“It’s too bad that all the furniture
stores were closed,” Sam said.

“Well, at least we have something to
watch now while we’re here.”

“True. I have a question for you,
though.”

 
“What is it?”

“You were really eager to accept our
new assignment. Why is that? You know that you shouldn’t contact your family,
right?”

“I just wanted to go home for a while,
and why can’t I contact them while we’re there?”

“Well, everything that you know is
classified. How are you going to explain why you’ve been gone?”

“I don’t know, but I could think of
something to say.”

“Look, I want you to be able to talk to
them more than anyone, but the less they know, the better.”

Nathan only nodded and looked off into
nothingness with sad eyes. Sam felt terrible, so she gave him the only hope
that she could think of.

“When we do get out of this life . . . you
know, when this is all over, we can go talk to them and tell them everything.
We just can’t go right now,” Sam said.

“Can we at least ride by the place so I
can see if they’re okay?”

“Yeah, I think that would be fine.”

Nathan’s expression seemed to change to
one that was a little more hopeful. Sam was glad that she could at least give
him some hope of getting his normal life back someday.

* * * * *

Jason had just dropped Lee and Jess off
at their home, and Lee was beyond excited. He hurried inside and immediately
started to get ready to go pick up Megan. Jess, meanwhile, went to check on
Trish. She knew that Trish was upset earlier, but she didn’t know why.

“Trish, can I come in?” Jess asked as
she knocked on Trish’s door.

“Go away,” Trish responded while
sniffling.

The whole time that Lee was getting
ready, Jess tried to get Trish to let her in, but it did no good.

“Hey, Lee, come here,” Jess said as he
exited the bathroom.

“What’s going on?” Lee asked.

“Trish is upset about something, and
she won’t talk to me. Can you see if you can talk to her?”

 
Lee was a little ticked off that he had
to talk to Trish when he should be leaving to pick up his dream girl, but he
agreed to try to talk to her anyway.

“Trish, what’s wrong? Can I come in and
talk about it with you?” Lee asked.

“Just go away. Why won’t you two leave
me alone?”

“Look, I have a date with the woman of
my dreams, and I don’t want to be late, so if you don’t open the door, I’m
going to break it down.”

“Just go on your date. It’s not like you
give a damn about me anyway.”

 
Her comment hurt Lee. He had wanted to go
pick up Megan, but this was more important to him than some date with a woman he
actually didn’t even know.

“I do care about you, and that’s why
I’m not leaving until I know that you’re okay,” Lee said as he sat down beside
the door.

Lee heard the door unlock, and he got
up and entered the room. The first thing that Lee noticed was that Trish looked
like she had been crying all day. Her usually beautiful face was red and puffy.
He had never seen her so upset. She didn’t even look this bad back in Tampa
when they saw the stadium explode on TV.

“What’s going on?” Lee asked.

“You’re going to be here for a while if
you’re staying until I’m okay because I don’t ever think that I’m going to be
okay again,” Trish said.

Lee sat down on the bed beside her and
put his arm around her.

“I can stay forever, if that’s what it
takes.”

Trish simply leaned on his shoulder and
sobbed.

“What did someone do to get you this
upset?” Lee asked.

“I really don’t want to talk about it
right now.”

“That’s okay. When you’re ready to talk
about it, I’ll be here.”

Lee stayed with Trish all night. She
never told him what was wrong. She simply leaned on him. Throughout the night,
Lee’s phone vibrated many times. Every time Megan called, he hit the ignore
button. In this moment, this is exactly where he belonged.

* * * * *

That night around eleven, Michael,
Zane, and Dan were on their way to meet their crew. Just a few blocks away from
the facility, they spotted four large trucks. Zane pulled in behind them and
walked to the front.

“I’m Zane, and we need to get suited up
and ready to go,” Zane said to the man in the front vehicle.

The three of them stepped into the
front truck where they were given body armor to put on.

“Are you ready for this?” Dan asked
while looking over at Michael.

“As ready as I’m ever going to be, I
suppose,” Michael said.

Once they were ready, Zane and the men piled
out of the trucks. There were a larger number of people present than Michael expected
there to be.

“I won’t lie to you. The odds are
stacked against us. We’re outnumbered, and we’re fighting on someone else’s
ground. This will be difficult, and not all of you will make it out of this
alive, but if you’ll join me in this pursuit, I promise that you’ll be able to
take pride in the fact that you were part of the beginning of what is our
retribution as a country for the travesties that were committed just a few
short days ago. We will set the tone, and we’ll do it with honor and bravery,
no matter what the outcome may be. I couldn’t ask for a better group of young
men and women. Thank you for being a part of this beginning with me,” Zane said
and began to walk straight toward the large facility just a few blocks away.

The men followed close behind him. I sure
hope that I’m not leading these kids to their deaths, Zane thought behind what
looked like confident eyes.