Chapter 37 #2
While they bicker, Liz and Riley slide in unnoticed. They hang back, listening to what everyone has to say, attempting to figure out what they missed. When nothing makes sense, Liz trails behind as Riley makes his way to the table, clearing his throat to get the team’s attention.
“What did we miss?” he asks, looking at Mikey.
“Paula called. She saw Scott leaving in the middle of the night with Ivan and a few other guys. None of the higher ups believe her. I’ll give you one guess who is getting blamed for abducting a general,” Mikey quickly explains.
“Awesome,” Riley mutters. “Anything else?”
“The five of us are all over the news. We are blamed for orchestrating the base being attacked last year and now kidnapping. As of today, we are all domestic terrorists. She has no clue where he is, but she suggests we get out of here today,” Mikey adds solemnly.
Liz fights to stay standing. Things are always at their worst when Mikey isn’t his joyful, goofy self. Right now, she sees none of that in him, only the soldier he truly is.
“I didn’t want to say anything until we got their intel, but here…” Tyler says, tossing a thick manila folder onto the table. Riley snatches it up, thumbing through it.
“Ty, I could fucking kiss you right now,” Riley says, passing the folder to Mikey.
He strides up to the table, standing tall he continues, “I think it’s safe to assume you two spent the night reading through everything.
Tell us what you found.” Riley orders. Liz watches him, beaming with pride.
Whatever they found must be big to have him stepping back into full command mode.
Tyler stands, clearing his throat, and outlines everything he found buried.
“First things first, General Scott Murphy is now our biggest enemy. I have backups of every word in that folder as well as backups of the backups. It will take a few days to encrypt them myself and get them sent to everyone who may be willing to hear us out. As for what is in that folder, he has been working with Dmitri for years. Some of their oldest communications go back to right after he took over Nemesis. All these years, he has been supplying weapons to K.E.I.M. Scott was also aware of Dmitri’s plan involving Liz,” Tyler explains.
“What plan?” Matt blurts out, watching Liz.
“Ivan met her brother in prison, to prove himself, offered her up as bait to get to Riley. Scott knew, that’s why he ordered us not to look for her.
He knew Riley would take the bait and ignore his orders.
Riley was never supposed to make it out, let alone make it out with her in tow.
Everything has been orchestrated,” he says.
“They were working together when Fort Stryker was attacked, he informed Dmitri of our plans at the grove and when they changed, told him that, too. From what we could see, the president is also in on it, although he is letting Scott take the lead to keep his hands clean. His hard drive has years of classified, heavily encrypted emails detailing how they will help Dmitri overthrow the Russian government, allowing him to take over and create a union between our two countries to become what they call, a global powerhouse,” Alex chimes in.
Liz didn’t think it could get worse, but every word fills her feeling more and more hopeless.
She’s not alone. Everyone surrounding the table is watching Tyler and Alex, keeping themselves composed, but she can see it.
Small things most wouldn’t notice. The way Mikey and Riley clench their jaws at the mention of Scott or Dmitri.
The way Alex keeps glancing at his partner, his finger twitching like he wants to reach out and take his hand.
Even their newest members can’t hide their disgust. Maya has tears rimming her eyes, tears she blinks back every so often, refusing to let them fall.
Matt has begun pacing back and forth, brows knit in anger.
“In more than one letter, Scott bragged to Dmitri about blowing up the building, claiming if Liz didn’t attack, he could have taken them both out that day.
Everything will be put in a folder, and I will make enough copies for each of you.
I suggest you read it thoroughly and learn everything we are up against,” Tyler finishes, settling back into his seat.
“Thanks, Ty. Is there anything else? Any information that has not been said we should know? Now that we have physical evidence, we are in the home stretch. If you know anything that may be helpful, speak up,” Riley orders.
When no one does, he continues. “Now, anyone not a main member of Nemesis, go gear up and begin loading the cars,” Riley orders.
When the table clears, Liz slips into an empty chair next to Mikey.
She wraps her pinky around his, refusing to let go.
“What’s the next best safehouse?” Alex asks. He pulls out their map speckled with little red dots all over the country Liz never noticed before.
“It doesn’t matter,” Matt says cynically from behind them. He marches to the table, sliding in next to Tyler, unsurprisingly choosing the furthest seat from Liz.
“And why not?” Mikey responds.
“Because he is sending everyone who is afraid of him out looking for you. Every single safehouse is being searched. It’s only a matter of time before we end up at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he explains, locking eyes with Riley.
“So, what are you suggesting? We stay at the fucking four seasons?” Riley snarks back.
“No, sir. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sure you were already worried about him finding us wherever we go,” Matt responds timidly.
Liz almost feels bad for him. He may have done awful things, but he is showing remorse and trying to right his wrongs. That’s more than most people would do.
“What if we had somewhere to go that isn’t on his radar?
Would he still be able to find us?” Liz asks quietly, looking only at Riley.
She lets the rest of the team fade away before she loses her nerve.
“I mean, he can find us no matter where we go, but it would be a whole hell of a lot harder.”Riley says, eyeing her. “Why? Do you know a place?”