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“What order?”
“Are you with child?” Her question threw me for a sec. I hadn’t shared that news with anyone else, so it could only be my husband who blabbed.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“That’s the one boundary we dare not cross. If he says you can’t be involved, we can’t go against him this time, not while you’re with child.”
“Why not? It’s not like I’m doing anything that will harm the babies.”
“Because he has as much right to their health and care as you do. This is one of those two yes situations where both of you have to agree. If we let you get involved any further after being warned off, it could go bad for us.”
“Whose rule is that?”
“It’s a conglomeration of thought. We all agree.”
“I guess you’re right. There’s nothing more left for me to do with Jessica, Samantha, whoever she is, gone anyway.” It seems almost anticlimactic that things were over so soon.
I’m still not even sure what I had done or anything that followed after. I don’t know what it was that I wiped onto the doorknob or why Jessica had reacted the way she had. I have no idea why she gave up the information so readily or what was said to make her do it.
Cierra didn’t share any of that information other than to insist that I get rid of whatever was left of the contents of the vial and how. I still felt like there was more to be done, that everything had happened too quickly.
But then I realized as time went by that that was only because things felt unfinished, especially when it came to the kids that that monster had taken away from their families. I also realized that I could do stuff without leaving the house if I chose, like gathering information.
I had learned a lot these last few weeks about a lot of the things that had been going on behind my back, so to speak. Mark has been sharing more about his family background and the whole organization, now called the Squad, and the work that they did, centered around the rescue of trafficked human beings.
I was even more proud of him after learning these things, and my admiration for my father-in-law increased tenfold. I wasn’t even too bothered by the fact that he had kept it all from me in some misguided effort to protect the kids and me from what he calls the darker side of life.
Cierra had shared a lot of information with me as well, mostly about the medical complex they had where kids and adults alike who had been saved were treated before they were placed back with their families. That’s something I can help with, maybe fundraisers and such or just a donation to the cause. Just something more than what I had done.
I sometimes feel guilty because of how this all started. The fact that I had dove in headfirst when I thought my husband was cheating, not knowing that there was something much darker going on.
For the last few days, my mind has been filled with all the ways I could help now that I knew the truth, but Mark was hellbent on keeping me on the sidelines, and it seems he had forbidden the others to even share new information with me.
It wasn’t long before I could no longer see inside the apartment where Jessica once lived, which meant someone had found my little cameras and listening devices and gotten rid of them. Marcus never even made it, as far as I know, but had called with an apology for standing me up.
If Cierra hadn’t told me that they were the ones who had taken Jessica, I would’ve believed that it was her own people who had done it. One thing I will say is that the more I learn about the Squad, the more disbelieving I am, and then I remember that my husband has been by my side for twenty years, and I had no idea of the strength of his abilities, so anything is possible.
I’m still bummed, though, that I have to bow out now before I get all the details. I really wanted to be the one to hurt Jack in innumerable ways, but now, even the women were against me getting any more involved. But how the heck do I just turn it off? How do I go back to the way things were before I knew?
* * *
MARK
* * *
“So,what are they going to do with her?” I was on the phone with Marcus Blair, who had left town a few nights ago, taking that Jessica person with him. I’m still a bit, shall we say, perturbed, though that may be too strong a word, at the way things had gone down.
You see, since Dad is old school, we were used to doing things a certain way. The organization under his control tended to do things in that old-world style, where a handshake was still all it took to close a deal. It was outdated, sure, as were many other things we did, but in the end, it was obvious to see that it worked and kept things in order.
This new squad seems to be on the other end of the spectrum. First, I’m having a hard time accepting that a bunch of kids had practically taken over, though that wasn’t really the case. From what I have gathered, Lyon, the new head, has his own way of training future members.
Their age isn’t the issue; most of us started as soon as our abilities were confirmed, and neither is it the fact that most of them are females. It’s the fact that they seem less…. What is the word I’m looking for? Pliable? I guess.
The kid had done in a few days what it had taken us two years to achieve. Not because we couldn’t have gotten there had we used the same tactics, we just weren’t allowed to. Dad was big on us not doing the things the enemy does and, therefore, becoming like the thing we hate. Lyon doesn’t seem to live by that same rule of thumb.
I had picked up on Lyon’s murderous aura the first time we met, and that was through a screen, so I can only imagine. I’m not a mind reader or I could’ve handled it long ago. I have the ability to see things and to even share things with those close to me through my mind, but I can’t pick a name out of someone’s head.
The one Lyon calls Mengele didn’t even try; she just went right for the jugular. I guess it’s a sign of youth that impatience. Even Dad seemed a bit impressed when he received the report and had to concede that this new way of doing things seemed to be more effective.
