Wrong Place (The Wrong Series) Page 10

  Jess was very skeptical of anyone Michael talked to. Michael had a heart of gold, but people often took advantage of that, and she just didn’t want to see someone try to exploit him for some type of gain with a wild story.

  “I know that it’s hard to believe, and in your shoes I probably wouldn’t believe it either, but it’s all true,” Nathan said.

  “Come on. You can trust this guy. I would know. He was my roommate for two years,” Michael said.

  “Okay, whatever,” Jess said in a still very skeptical tone.

  “Well, I don’t mean to break up the reunion between you two, but we really need to go,” Sam said.

  “All right, but the only question is where everyone’s going to sit. The back seat is pretty small,” Michael said.

  It was true that the back seat was tiny. He had a 2005 Mustang, and it seemed like the back seat had just been an afterthought to the manufacturer.

  “I’ll sit in the back. You guys were nice enough to drive all this way, and I’m not going to make either one of you sit in the back the whole way to Atlanta,” Nathan said.

  Sam and Jess, however, said nothing. I don’t want to sit in that tiny of a space over the next two and a half hours, Sam thought to herself. Sam then felt a poke at her side. Nathan was nudging her to be courteous and offer to sit in the back seat.

  “I’ll take the back,” Sam finally said.

  As they all took their seats, it became apparent that there wasn’t enough room for both Nathan and Sam, but what choice did they have now? They had to make it work. Sam shot Nathan a look that clearly said thanks a lot. In actuality, this wasn’t so bad to her, though. I’ve never been this close to him, she thought. It was both an uncomfortable and peaceful feeling to be close to him. She really couldn’t comprehend her own feelings in that moment.

  “Well, to Atlanta we go,” Michael announced as they drove away from the hotel parking lot.

  Nathan and the others were nearly halfway to Atlanta when Michael had to stop to get gas at a service station. As they all exited the vehicle to stretch their legs, Michael called to Nathan.

  “Hey, can you get the usual for us?”

  “Of course,” Nathan said.

  The usual, Sam questioned to herself. When Nathan exited the store from getting “the usual,” Sam couldn’t help but wonder what was in the large mysterious plastic bag he was carrying. As they got back in the car, Nathan began taking out large foam cups and passing them out to everyone. He then handed them all a short drink that probably only had about eight ounces of liquid in it.

  “If anyone needs more, then just tell me,” Nathan said while starting to set the bag down.

  “I need more,” Sam said.

  She was a bit ticked off that the beverage Nathan had gotten her was so small. She was extremely thirsty, after all.

  “Are you sure? You do know that this is an energy drink, right?” Nathan asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, I don’t care what it is. I’m going to need more than this to drink.”

  “Okay then. Here you go,” Nathan said in a hesitant voice.

  Within a couple of minutes, the drink was gone. All of a sudden, Sam felt an odd feeling in her chest. Her heart was beating a thousand miles per hour, or at least that’s what it felt like to her. Her body was getting warmer, and suddenly, she felt the need to move. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn’t hold them still. She began asking Nathan all types of questions. Some made sense, while some were just wildly inappropriate. She literally held back nothing.

  “What is the deal with barbecue sauce and the city of Memphis?” she asked quickly.

  “Umm” Nathan responded before being interrupted.

  “And the ducks! Why the ducks? I know that you liked the duck shirt Nathan, but it just looks ridiculous. I never had the heart to tell you that before now,” Sam said sounding almost drunk.

  “It’s just a duck walk,” Nathan said in a confused voice.

  “So you people walk ducks? That is so weird!”

  “No, I don’t know how to . . .”

  “And why do you stare at me so much?”

  “Well . . .” Nathan said before being interrupted once again.

  “No, scratch that. Why were you staring at Jess back at the hotel?” Sam asked in a disgusted tone.

  “I was just thinking that Michael did good to find such a lovely girlfriend. That was all.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” Jess quickly said.

  Michael couldn’t help but show on his face the disappointment he felt inside. Jess’s words seemed to cut him deep. Nathan exchanged a look with him almost as if to say, “I’m sorry man.” Then Nathan felt something fall against his shoulder. Sam had literally fallen asleep right then and there. Nathan looked confused.

  “What just happened?” Nathan asked as he looked up toward Michael and Jess.

  He looked down at the girl who was sleeping on his shoulder. She really is cute, he thought. He then grabbed the bag of drinks and passed it to Jess in the front seat.

  “You’re cute, but no more energy drinks for you, like ever,” Nathan said while smiling at Sam.

  * * * * *

  Jacob and Trish had just gotten in the car and left to go to Atlanta when Trish suggested they talk about the strategy they should use for their mission.

  “I think we should get the flash drive, and if possible, capture one or two of them to bring back to the base,” Trish said.

  “One or two? Why would we not bring them all back?” Jacob asked.

  “Where would we put them all? We’re in a small car. We’ll capture one, get the flash drive, and then notify the boys in Atlanta that there are two more who need to be captured. That’s the safest and most realistic course of action.”

  “Screw that! We’ll capture one, get the flash drive, and I’ll personally kill the other two,” Jacob said with a smile.

  “That’s unacceptable. Who will question them? It will literally be of no use to anyone to kill them.”

  “I don’t care what use you believe it will be. That’s the way this is going to happen, and if you don’t stay out of my way, I won’t hesitate to snap your little bitchy neck,” Jacob said in a crazed voice.

  For the first time in her adult life, Trish felt fear. This man is either going to kill me or get me killed before this is all over, she thought. For the first time in a long time, she prayed.

  Chapter 12

  Back at Zane’s house, the phone suddenly rang.

  “It’s for you,” Zane said while handing Dan the phone.

  “Hello,” Dan said.

  “Hello, Agent Driver. I hear you helped our girl out quite a bit,” the voice said on the other end. “This is Jason, by the way.”

  “Have you got new orders for me?” Dan asked anxiously.

  “Well, yes. I do.”

  “What are they?”

  “You’re to leave on the first plane back to Washington tomorrow morning,” Jason said in a discouraged voice.

  “What? Do you expect me to just forget about everything I’ve seen over the last few days?”

  “Look, I’m not any happier about this than you are, and just between me and you, I hope that you come back here and raise ten kinds of hell, because quite frankly, I’m tired of being the only one here who’s trying to keep this op alive.”

  “Do you really think any good can be done from Washington?”

  “I think this is the only place that we have a chance to do good from. If someone doesn’t change Campbell’s mind, then there’s no funding for this op, and anyone pursuing a lead in it is simply rogue. Who better to change his mind than someone like you who has dealt with them directly?”

  His logic made sense, but Mr. Campbell seemed like his decision was set in stone when they were on the phone earlier. Could I really change that man’s mind, Dan wondered.

  “Okay, if you think that I can change his mind, then we’ll do it your way, Jason.”

  “Good man. I’ll see you first thi
ng tomorrow, and we’ll come up with a way to change this situation,” Jason said.

  “Great. What about Zane, though? Shouldn’t he be a part of this, too? At this point, he’s as much a part of this as anyone else,” Dan said.

  “I want him to stay where he is right now. If we can turn the tide here in Washington, then I’m pretty sure that we’ll be sending agents back to his area very soon. He’s good at what he does, and I plan to need his services again very soon.”

  “Okay, everything sounds set. I’ll talk to you as soon as I land, Jason,” Dan said as he hung up the phone.

  “Well, it looks like I’m going to Washington,” Dan said as he turned toward Zane.

  * * * * *

  Nathan and the others were just a little outside of Atlanta. Nathan knew that he would need to wake Sam up soon, but for now, his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. Is my family extremely worried about me, Nathan wondered. Of course they are, he thought. He could only imagine how worried his mother would be when she came home to find that their door had been kicked in and that he was gone. His father’s reaction wouldn’t be much better. He would have to find out while he was in Ohio for work. Nathan made a decision in that moment. He had to send his mother some kind of message so they would know he was okay. He would want the same courtesy extended to him if one of his family members were in the same situation. He took out his phone and sent a text message.

  “Mom, I can’t explain what’s going on or answer you if you try to send me a message back, but I just wanted you to know that I’m okay. You don’t need to worry about me, and I just thought you should know that I’ll be back soon. I love you and Dad both,” the text message read.

  Nathan sighed and then stuck the phone back in his pocket.

  “Hey, we’re now officially in Atlanta,” Michael announced to everyone.

  “Sam, wake up. We’re here,” Nathan said while waking the sleeping girl on his arm.

  “How long was I out, and what happened?” Sam asked.

  “You were out for about an hour and a half. You drank a couple of energy drinks. After that, I’m not really sure what happened.”

  The memories of things that happened earlier started flowing back to Sam. She felt an extreme embarrassment growing within her, and her cheeks grew beet red.

  “It’s okay. Apparently, energy drinks do really strange things to someone who’s never had them before. Who knew?” Nathan said once he noticed the shame that appeared on Sam’s face.

  Sam only nodded. She didn’t know if that was supposed to be his way of comforting her or if he was poking fun at her.

  “We should be at Lee’s place in a couple of minutes,” Nathan said.

  Once they arrived at Lee’s apartment, they had to climb two flights of stairs to reach his room.

  “Apartment 305, here it is,” Michael said as he knocked on the door.

  Lee opened the door and immediately looked shocked.

  “Okay, so you brought a few more people than I expected,” Lee said.

  “I brought my phone,” Michael said.

  “I am not hacking your cell phone, so just give it up, Michael.”

  In that moment, Sam had a realization.

  “You’re the guy from the gas station, and you must be his idiot,” Sam said while turning toward Michael.

  Lee then remembered her, too.

  “I do remember you, and yeah, he’s my idiot,” Lee said while smirking at Michael.

  “Wait. . . idiot? What are you talking about?” Michael asked.

  By now, Nathan and Jess felt a little bad for Michael.

  “Let’s just go in,” Nathan said while motioning for Michael to come into the kitchen with him.

  “What was that all about?” Michael asked as they reached the kitchen.

  “Who knows? I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Nathan said in an attempt to reassure his friend.

  Back in the living room, Sam explained the situation to Lee.

  “Wow! That’s some story! Unfortunately, I have quite a story for you, and you aren’t going to like it,” Lee said.

  “What is it?”

  “Let’s call everyone in here first, or at least Nathan. I think he’ll want to hear this.”

  As everyone began to gather in the living room, Lee couldn’t help but notice the angry look on Michael’s face as he stood in the corner of the room.

  “First off, I’m sorry for calling you an idiot. You would have to know the context of the conversation to know that I really didn’t mean anything by it, and second off, I unlocked the flash drive, which I assume Sam here could have easily done herself, but then I ran into a big problem,” Lee said.

  “What is it?” Nathan asked.

  Every file that was copied onto this device is encrypted. I’m going to have to sit here and unlock each file individually.”

  “How long will it take you to unlock it all?” Nathan asked.

  “It’ll take three or four days, give or take.”

  “That’s just great,” Nathan said sarcastically.

  “It’s fine. We have the time,” Sam said.

  The truth was that Sam knew there was a decent chance that as soon as they unlocked the device, her journey with Nathan would end, and her reentrance into her old life would begin. For some reason, she just wasn’t ready for that to happen. A few more days like this wouldn’t be so bad, she thought to herself. The five of them talked for a couple of hours, and then it became obvious that they were going to have to make plans for the night. Lee lived in a single bedroom apartment, and Michael and Jess both had apartments with roommates, so the question became who were Nathan and Sam going to stay with?

  “You guys can sleep here on the couch,” Lee offered to them.

  “No, that’s okay. We’ll get a hotel close by and then come back tomorrow,” Nathan said.

  He knew that Sam wouldn’t be very comfortable on Lee’s tiny couch with him or he might have taken Lee up on the offer.

  “All right then, I’ll see you all tomorrow. I’ll get to work on this and see what I can come up with.”

  After leaving, Michael and Jess gave them a ride to a hotel that was very close by. The place looked much nicer than the other hotel they had previously stayed at back in Birmingham.

  “I’ll come back tomorrow and check in on you two,” Michael said as he and Jess were leaving.

  “Okay, thanks for everything, both of you,” Nathan said.

  “All right. Maybe I should teach you how to fight a little while we’re here and we have some downtime,” Sam said to Nathan as Michael drove away.

  Nathan felt a twinge of fear shoot through him. Was she about to hit him again?

  * * * * *

  Back in the car, as Michael and Jess were driving away, Michael asked a question.

  “How about we get a bite to eat?”

  “Sure, I don’t see why not,” Jess said.

  “How about this place,” he asked while pointing to the Mexican restaurant to their right.

  “That sounds great.”

  Mexican was Jess’s favorite food, and although Michael didn’t really care for it, he just loved to see her face light up anytime he suggested it. Once they entered the restaurant and got seated, a more personal discussion began.

  “So all of this might actually be true?” Jess asked in a voice that hinted that she still didn’t quite believe what she had been hearing.

  “It’s not that it could be true. It is true.”

  “What makes you believe in this guy so much?”

  “I know this is hard to believe, but there was a point in my life where I wasn’t very popular. As a matter of fact, I had zero friends, and as far as I could tell, people went out of their way to avoid me,” Michael said while pausing as if he was revealing some shocking new information.

  What she was hearing was not shocking in the least bit. Michael could, at times, be irritating and just plain odd, but he had a wonderful heart. The problem was that all people ever
saw was his first initial impression of oddness, and then they never got to know him on a deeper level.

  “Nathan didn’t care what anyone thought of me. He was my friend, and he introduced me to new friends. When I screwed up, he acted as if he didn’t notice. My point is that he was always there for me when I had nothing to offer him in return, so what makes me think he would ever be using me for something by making up some wild story? He’s pretty much the second best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  Maybe Michael is right, Jess thought to herself. Suddenly, Jess caught something that he had said.

  “Second best thing? What was the best thing that ever happened to you?”

  “Yeah, he was the second best thing,” he answered without actually giving an answer to her second question.

  The truth was that the best person he had in his life was her, but he simply lacked the courage to say it in that moment.

  “May I have your order?” an older Spanish gentleman asked.

  Their night went on with a less serious tone.

  * * * * *

  Trish’s phone rang.

  “Hello,” Trish said.

  “Yes, this is Margaret, and I’m just calling you to tell you that the situation has changed.”

  “Changed? What do you mean?”

  “Nathan Grey made a call to a man named Michael Ross. He lives in Atlanta, and Mr. Fields would like you to watch Nathan, Sam, Michael, and Lee. Try to find out how they’re related to one another before carrying out your mission.”

  “Why?” Trish asked plainly.

  “We want to know if Michael and Lee are worth interrogating or if Nathan and Sam are the people we want. Now make no mistake, regardless of what you find, Michael and Lee will need to be dealt with. It’s just a matter of figuring out if these are two intelligent individuals who have valuable information that we can squeeze from them, or if they’re clueless idiots who have seen too much and simply need to die.”

  “I understand. Consider it done.”

  Even if Trish had just said consider it done with confidence, she still secretly had doubts. Could she really just kill Michael and Lee if they knew nothing? Did she even want to do any of this anymore? The truth was that she didn’t know the answer to any of these questions, and there was no time to question any of that now.