Chapter 16
Before I could knock, the door opened. VC shook his head then turned to walk toward his bag he was already packing.
“You don’t have to tell me. I did all I needed to do anyway,” he said with his back to me. I dragged my hand down my face, then took a seat on the edge of his bed. VC glanced over his shoulder at me with a smirk before zipping his bag up and giving me his undivided attention. “This woman really got yo’ big ass spinning. You knew this was coming, especially once you allowed her to go to the damn store with you.”
I kept my eyes trained on my hands. I didn’t need him to remind me of my mistake, but I found it hard as hell to tell her no, although I knew her safety was at risk. I tried my best to keep her covered, but I knew I didn’t do well enough to sleep here.
“You don’t think I know that? Nothing has been going according to my plan since I bumped into her in Fiji. Do you know how frustrating that shit is?”
“Actually, I do. More than you would know, so I don’t blame you. I actually envy you for taking what you want, even though now everyone’s lives are on the line, but that’s life. This is shit we can’t control. A hand even we should have never been dealt.”
I lifted my right brow and craned my head to the side. “What do you mean by more than I would know?”
I needed to ask because I had never heard VC talk about a woman or anyone for that matter, but then again, we kept things simple. Mainly keeping our focus on us being safe.
“I met someone and left it all behind. You know this life we live isn’t conducive for a family or even loving someone else. Love can be the greatest weakness, but also a sense of strength. I guess it depends on how you look at it. Enough about me. We got shit to handle. I also made a few calls?—”
“To who?” I asked, cutting him off.
I lifted my brow because we didn’t have many contacts, at least not any we had spoken to since we went into hiding after that mission.
“Let’s just say it’s time for a little reunion.” VC smirked and picked his bag up, heading for the door. I followed as both of our phones rang, stopping us in our tracks. We knew better. No one else outside of the people in this room had these numbers. My heart dropped. I didn’t need to answer the phone to know I dropped the ball with Skye’s safety.
Hesitantly, I pulled my phone out, and an unknown number popped up. I quickly answered, then placed the call on speaker.
“I’m glad you found the time to answer your phone. I have shit to handle,” Ms. Vlad announced.
I clenched my jaw to hold back my annoyance and anger. “Name the time and the place. No need to play games.”
She laughed manically, as if I had told her the funniest joke she had ever heard. I balled my hands up into tight fists until I could feel my nails digging into my palm. It was all I could do not to turn this hotel room upside down. Skye would be yet another person I failed, and I couldn’t deal with that being a reality.
“You’re delusional if you think you’re in control. The rules are simple: When I call, you turn yourself in. One wrong move, and she’s dead.”
The phone called ended before I could say anything else. I slowly pulled the phone from my ear and squeezed it tightly in my hand before hauling it against the wall. The phone broke into a few pieces and I punched the air.
VC never said a word, just allowed me to get all of my aggression out. I closed my eyes briefly and took a few deep breaths. I knew I couldn’t go along with the plan she had in place. Skye would never make it out alive, whether I gave myself up or not.
I finally opened my eyes as the final solution popped up in my head. I glanced up at VC who was patiently leaning against the dresser as if he had all damn day to figure this situation out. I knew if he was this calm he had to have a plan.
“Aight, you got a clear mind so we can get your girl back?” he asked while crossing his arms against his chest.
I nodded, unable to find the words to say anything else.
“I know where to find her parents, and they just might have the answers we will need to end all of this. Also, I might know where she is—” he started.
“What the hell do you mean you might know where she is? Why are we still here? We should go get her now.”
VC craned his head to the side with a flat expression. “Being in love got your mind all fucked. You know that’s not the best course of action. If we ran up in there without backup or a plan, none of us would make it, out and you know it.”
I released a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. My head definitely wasn’t on straight and she had a lot to do with it. Not being in control wasn’t a thing I was familiar with. I was known to assess all situations with a cool head, but this time, it was different.
“I hear you. What’s the plan?”
VC smirked and stuffed his hands into his pockets before pointing toward the door. “Let’s get the hell out of here first. We don’t have much time to make shit happen.”
I knew he was right, so we stepped out of the room, and instead of heading for the truck, we walked in the opposite direction. We would have to get to wherever we were going another way.
Finally, once we were away from the motel. We made our way to a parking garage where VC lead me over to a covered car in the dark corner of the lot. He walked around to the driver’s side, pulling the brown tarp from on top of it to reveal an all black Mustang with a white stripe going down the side.
“How the hell you knew this was in here?” I asked.
“You think I picked that motel for no reason? Come on now, you know me better than that. I like to make sure I’m always prepared to get the fuck on if I have to. Now get in.”
I shook my head as I walked around the car to the passenger side. In the backseat were a few black duffle bags, which I was certain were filled with everything we could possibly need.
“Aight, so first up, we got a little stop to make. You ready to meet your future in-laws?” he asked.
I ignored him and turned to look out the window as he whipped the car out of the parking garage. We grove an hour before he parked down a dark street surrounded my trees. I watched as VC pulled his computer from the backseat and went to town on the keys.
I waited a moment until he stopped clicking around.
“There,” he announced, pointing at the screen.
I glanced at the computer screen and noticed the many cameras the Daniels had all over their house showing up clearly. We could clearly see where everyone was in the house. It looked as if her entire family was at her parent’s home, but the only people awake were her parents. They seemed to have a deep conversation in the kitchen.
VC changed the view of the cameras to the grounds to see how many people I would have to get by. It seemed as if they beefed up their security. I. was sure they got news that Skye was missing, which caused everyone being there.
“Of course they missed a spot in their guarding. You think you can slip through here?” he asked.
I kissed the front of my teeth because I knew this would be a piece of cake. Her parents didn’t know as much about security as they thought. I reached behind me and grabbed a pistol from the bag in the back seat. Once I was certain I had everything in place, I made my way through the woods until I found the blind spot in their security system.
I had a mic in my ear so VC could be my eyes. All I had to do was make sure my steps were light enough to get through. Once I jumped over the fence, I made my way over to the closest tree, then moved toward the darker part. Before VC told me to move to the next spot. It wasn’t long before I was using my pick to open the side door and entering the house. VC removed the sensors that would alert anyone that I was on the property.
I slowly walked through what looked to be their family living room. There were pictures of the family posing together, smiling and laughing, even pictures of their kids playing different sports. A bitter feeling settled into the pit of my stomach, causing me to look away from the pictures.
My purpose instantly renewed. I continued toward the office further down the hallway. I could still hear her parents talking in the distance as I slipped into their office and more pictures of their kids adorned the walls. I couldn’t help but laugh aloud, not enough that they could hear me. It was crazy the things people would do when they had all of this to come back home to.
I opened file cabinets to find the information I needed because they were going to answer for their part in all of this. It took me a few tries before I finally came across a safe behind a painted family portrait. I stopped briefly before finally removing it from the wall.
“Aye, you think you can open this safe?” I asked.
“Damn, you not trying to do a damn thing, huh?” VC asked then laughed.
I waited for a moment before I heard it click, so I pulled it open to reveal the very files I had been looking for. Project Void was written in bold red letters across the top of the file folder.
“Alert their phones that there’s movement in the office. They will come check it out for themselves.”
“Already ten steps ahead of you. No back up is coming their way, even if they tried,” VC answered.
I strolled over to the front of the desk, then took a seat at the edge as I looked through the files. None of the kids who were part of the program were mentioned in this file, but the things we experienced were all here. The twisting of the door knob let me know I had company. I pulled my pistol from my waist and stepped over into the shadows of the room behind the door.
Gun first, he entered the room with his wife following close behind. Skye’s father looked in every direction with the hope and fear that someone was actually in here. Before his eyes could land on me, I quickly slipped behind his wife, then placed my pistol on her temple.
The air immediately felt sucked out of the room as if time stood still, waiting for either of us to decide how this night would end.
“I’m here to save your daughter. All you have to do is put your gun down,” I instructed.
Her father scoffed and held on tighter to his gun. “I’m supposed to believe a thug who broke into my office and is now holding a gun at my wife’s head? Nah, I’m not stupid enough to believe you can help me. We’re trained for shit like this.”
I chuckle lightly and then look back up at him. I should have known this wouldn’t be easy.
“You know what? I’m glad you bring up training. I’ve had a bit of training myself since I was a little kid, which is why I walk around with a target on my back every day. All thanks to a Richard and Barbara Daniels.”
Barbara loudly inhaled, and Richard’s eyes expanded for a moment before he steeled his features once again.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked.
“Let’s not play dumb. That program you created called The Void, well, you’re looking at one of its creations. You want to know what makes all of this even more funny? I truly believe you know who has your daughter just as much as I do. It’s something that you’ve quickly gotten your other children under one roof with you. You realize if she wanted you, she could have you. As quickly as I slipped in here, she could too.”
Richard kept his gun trained on me, still not willing to give in to the situation that was happening. I didn’t give a damn. This was bigger than me or him, and we didn’t have time to waste.
“How do you know anything about my daughter?” he asked.
“I met her in Fiji and she was quickly put on Vlad’s radar. Not just because of me, but you, too. I didn’t know the ins and outs of this program, but how did you get on her bad side?” I asked.
I needed answers, and whether he believed me didn’t matter to me. We only had but so much time to get Skye out of the situation she was in. Our eyes stayed locked until Richard slowly lowered his gun and placed it on the desk behind him. He noticed the file I had secured from the safety box. I removed the pistol I had positioned at Barbara’s temple. I stepped back as she ran over to her husband’s side.
“This program was not created for children and it was never supposed to be involuntary. It was supposed to be tested on adults who knew all the risks and wanted to protect this country. Patricia flipped and turned this project to mirror her own perverse scheme. It didn’t help that the government backed her, thinking the idea of children who didn’t have anyone being the best course of action. I told her we were going to notify the public and that it didn’t matter what happened to us,” Richard explained.
“That’s when she started threatening our kids and sending assassins to watch them when they would hang with their friends or go to school. Then they would send us pictures regularly to keep us in place. I regretted the very day that we made this thing. We were just trying to show we could take initiative,” Barbara added.
I nodded, taking in everything. Although I understood what they were trying to do, it didn’t help the fact that this was who I had become because of it, while their children got to live a life that each of us in the program deserved, too. In their eyes, we were disposable and worthless.
“I’m glad my pain and the deaths of many other kids, just like me, afforded you all of this. I don’t care about the why’s anymore. I came here for one thing and one thing only. I need the coordinates for that camp. They made sure any time we left to do missions, or when we came back, our eyes were covered, so we would never know how to get back. I need them.”
Richard took a few steps in front of his desk as guilt settled into his features. “You think they’re holding her there?”
“I know. Vlad is all about control, and what she can do to get it. She wants to bring me back to a place that held ultimate control over me. That’s the only place. Now I need those coordinates. Skye is a good shot, but she is not prepared for what takes place in there.”
Barbara’s eyes misted as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She turned to look through the file before pulling a single sheet out of it. She walked over and handed it me but held on tight.
“Please save my baby,” she pleaded as she finally released her hold on the paper.
I nodded and turned to leave the room, but not before Richard called out to me. “I’m going to do my best to fix this for you and all those who are still alive.”
I never turned to face him because I didn’t need hope, especially when I didn’t believe there was life after all of this. The end was still my plan as long as I saved her. She didn’t deserve to pay for the sins of her parents or me. If anybody should, it should be them.