AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I-that,” Jasper stutters, words failing him. “That was Steve.” He says so quietly I get the impression that he doesn’t want me to hear. Either that, or he is in such a state of shock that he doesn’t realise how quiet he’s talking.
“Steve, who?” I ask as he starts the car again and drives off.
“He came up to me this morning and started talking to me,” he starts. I can tell he is trying to compose himself by the way he is tapping his fingers relentlessly on the steering wheel. Although, I get the sense he is more shaken up by this than he’d care to admit. “He was being super weird and saying how he’s known me since birth and how one day soon I’ll be the leader. Apparently, there are a lot of people who supposedly like me a lot better than my father.”
“I can’t argue with that. Sounds logical to me.” He laughs.
“But when he told me that he knew me, it was like he really did. It seemed like he was saying that he knows me even better than I know myself.”
“Well, I mean that can’t be too bad, you’ve basically been in the spotlight since you were born. Isn’t that just a given with having a father that is the leader of the CSO.”
“I guess, but he told me that he’d meet me again very soon. Doesn’t it seem a little bit suspicious that right after he says that he tries to kill us?”
“I see what you mean.” I don’t know what else to say, so we go back to sitting in a comfortable silence.
When I see the gate to head into Black Opps ahead of us, I wonder if Jasper has really thought this through. I know how hard it was for Albert to get past the gate, and that was when his own son was missing. I can’t begin to imagine the whopper excuse that Jasper is going to have to come up with to get into Black Opps.
Luckily though, as soon as we pull up to the gate and Jasper winds down the window, I notice that it’s Bradly, the same guard as last time. He seems more focused on keeping his cool rather than asking why we are here. “Master Cunningham, what an absolute pleasure it is. You look so much like your father.”
I steal a glance at Jasper quick enough to see him scowl in displeasure. “Thank you,” I hear him say between gritted teeth.
“Now luckily for you, Annabelle told me specifically that you would be paying me a visit today.” At Jasper’s confused look he says, “Well, not, me, me, because you didn’t travel all this way to talk to me. She just said that you would be coming through here, to talk to me. And who do you have with you today, sir?” He peers his head through the window, and I give him a small wave. I remember all too well the last time I talked to him, when I was yelling in a desperate attempt to save Jasper. He smiles warily and says, “Oh, look here, you seem to really be out and about, don’t you, miss. Emerson.”
I laugh, “What can I say Bradly, it gets tiring doing nothing all day.”
“Yes,” he says, “I’m sure that’s what you spend your days doing…nothing.” He looks between Jasper and I and gives me a not-so-subtle wink.
“Just let us in, will you?”
“Some manners would be appreciated,” he shakes his head and walks over to the control desk.
“I didn’t use manners last time and it worked out for me.”
“That’s because last time you were off saving the world.” Bradly looks back to Jasper, and as if remembering whose presence he is in, adds a quick, “sir.” The gate opens and we drive through.
“Good day, Bradly,” Jasper says.
“Good day, sir. I am sure we will meet again.”
Jasper shares a small laugh, winds up his window and starts taking deep breaths. He resumes tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Before we enter the garage, he stops the car. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” he whispers.
His offer is generous, but I know he wouldn’t have driven me all the way here if that were the case. I don’t know why, but I want to be there for him, to let him know there is someone he can depend on. That I can be the person he depends on. I want to learn about his goals and his passions, his past and his future. And if this meeting with Annabelle even chips the surface into letting me know who Jasper really is. Then I want to be a part of it.
“Come on,” I tell him, “let’s figure out what this psycho woman wants, so that we can get out of here.”
Chapter 25 - Emerson Clarke
The last thing I expect when Jasper and I walk into Black Opps is to be greeted with open arms, a surprisingly comforting hug, and Annabelle’s bright smile. “My dears,” she cries as we enter the building, “I knew I would see you again soon. Your father is always so harsh and stern, telling me to back off, but I knew you’d come back. I just knew it.” She smiles with glee and claps her hands together, “Follow me, and we’ll have a nice, overdue chat.”
Completely shocked but unable to do anything else, we follow her into a large room. Unlike the stark white walls at Calveron, the walls were painted a deep red, with pictures and windows all over the room with different locations before the war, and other random pictures that had been stuck up around the place. The room is cosy, with a small kitchen to one side, a dining table, and couches on the other. Everything about the room screams contrast, as if it wants to be known as the complete opposite to Calveron, despite the two companies being strangely linked.
Annabelle sits down on one of the couches and pats the couch across from her, motioning for us to sit. Jasper does so without hesitation, but I remain standing, unsure of whether I should trust her. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the hospitality, but the last time I saw her smile was because she was in the process of killing my friends. That’s not exactly something that I can forget as easily as Jasper seems to.
“What’s the matter, Emmy?” She asks and I flinch at the nickname. Emmy was the nickname that my dad used to call me; it was his thing. After he left me, everyone knew not to use it. It hurt to hear the name said like that but not coming from his lips. “You two are both so grown up! The last time I saw you, you were both so little-”
“You saw us yesterday,” I interrupt with a little too much sarcasm, considering that if she wanted, she could probably kill me right now.
“Ah, yesterday. Yes, well yesterday didn’t go exactly how I wanted it to. I wasn’t able to test what I needed to, but my message got across loud and clear. So really, everything worked out just as I hoped.” She gives a pointed look to Jasper, her blue eyes sparkling with delight.
