Wrong Place (The Wrong Series) Read online

  “God, I hate these things, but here goes,” he said to himself as he placed his hand on the doorknob and gently opened the door.

  As his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room, he saw Sam. She had been beaten almost beyond recognition. She was sitting there tied to a chair with a gun to her head, and the person on the other end of that gun was the same man who had taken him before.

  “It’s so nice of you to join us,” Jacob said while raising his gun from Sam’s head and pointing it toward Nathan.

  This was the opening that Nathan had wanted. The gun was off of Sam, and it was time to strike. He clicked the safety off on his gun, and in one smooth motion he raised his gun and fired. What he saw next horrified him. Jacob fell to the floor, and he was motionless. He was clearly dead. Nathan was shocked, horrified, and scared, but at the same time, he was relieved. The person who meant so much to him was now safe. He lowered the weapon and then felt an extreme pain in the back of his head and heard a ringing sound in his ears. He hit the ground, and now it seemed that he was losing consciousness.

  Chapter 16

  Michael got in his car and raced toward the hotel room. He had only brought a baseball bat with him because he wasn’t exactly advised to own a gun, considering his mental issues. He didn’t have one, and there was no time to go and find a gun, so he made do with the only thing he had. As he arrived and parked, he noticed that Nathan was standing in front of his hotel room with a gun drawn, and he had a very worried expression on his face. What is he about to do, Michael wondered. As Michael exited his car and grabbed the baseball bat, Nathan opened the hotel room door. It looked like he was talking with someone. After a moment, Nathan suddenly raised his hand and fired a shot. A girl from a hotel room a few doors down ran outside. With a Taser in her hand, she approached Nathan from behind. Michael began carefully but quickly making his way behind the girl, who no doubt was going to try to hurt his friend. Suddenly, the girl stopped. It was as if she were shocked and unable to move after seeing whatever was in view of the open hotel doorway. Michael took her momentary freeze as an opportunity and leapt out from behind her. He swung the bat with all his might, but to his surprise, the small girl easily evaded the blow. He still felt the bat connect to something, however. He was sure of it. There on the floor lay Nathan. He had been knocked out at the well-meaning hands of Michael.

  * * * * *

  Back in Trish’s hotel room, she and Jess were talking.

  “Please don’t hurt Michael,” Jess said.

  Trish thought for a minute.

  “You know what? I’m actually tired of all this business. If Jacob isn’t back by the time your boyfriend gets here, then I’ll just let you two go,” Trish said.

  “Thank you, but he isn’t even close to being my boyfriend, and how will you deal with Jacob?”

  “I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure something out. You never know, maybe Ms. Fisher and Mr. Grey will take care of that for me.”

  “Why don’t you just come with us?” Jess asked.

  “I just kidnapped you a few hours ago, and now just because I show you a little kindness, you trust me fully? You definitely shouldn’t be so trusting, especially of people like me.”

  “I think there’s more to you than whatever it is that you do. You’ve proven that you’re kind, and if you want a new life, I can give you a friend and the support to start that life.”

  Trish thought for a second. Why is this strange girl so kind to me? Haven’t I been looking for a way out of my situation since I started working for Mr. Boyd? Shouldn’t I take this opportunity, no matter how ridiculous it sounds? I just don’t know, Trish thought. The two girls then heard a shot cry out. That wasn’t very far from here, Trish thought.

  “Stay here. I’m going to go clean up whatever mess Jacob has just created,” Trish said and exited her hotel room.

  She began walking toward Nathan and Sam’s hotel room where she feared she would find Jacob and two dead bodies. Why is this guy so stupid? You simply cannot question someone who’s already dead, she thought. She pulled the Taser out of her pocket. Once she got close to the door, she could see that it was standing wide open. Just inside the door was Nathan. He looked like he was in shock as he stared down at the floor. What is he staring at, Trish wondered. As she stepped behind him, she saw the source of his shock. Jacob had been shot in the forehead, and he was lying dead on the floor. Samantha Fisher was tied to a chair, and she had obviously been beaten up pretty badly. Trish was shocked, but honestly, she was also relieved. Nathan had just done what she herself would have ended up having to do eventually. She heard a sound behind her and quickly sidestepped her attacker. Michael missed her and plowed a baseball bat into the back of Nathan’s skull.

  There was a moment of complete silence, and then Michael crumbled to the floor.

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry,” Michael said in a panic.

  “Look, the cops are probably going to be here any minute now, so I need you to do something quick,” Trish said before being very rudely interrupted.

  “And just who are you?” Michael asked in an irritated voice.

  “I’m going to help you, so does it really matter who I am?”

  Michael only nodded in approval of her.

  “Look, your friend Jessica is in room 116, and a man I assume you also know as Lee Higgins is in room 115. Go get Jessica, and then go get Lee. After that, meet me back here.”

  “What about Nathan and Sam?”

  “Don’t worry about these two. I’ll take care of them.”

  “All right.”

  Michael ran to room 116 and opened the door.

  “I’m so glad that you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” Michael said while embracing Jess.

  “Thank you for coming for me. It was stupid of you, but thank you anyway,” Jess said and smiled.

  “Oh yeah, we need to help Lee out, too!” Michael said, and then they headed off to the room next door.

  Lee was gagged and bound, but before too long Michael had him loose.

  “I never thought I would be saved by someone like you,” Lee said in a hoarse voice.

  “Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Michael asked.

  “Nothing. Thanks a lot, man. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t shown up.”

  Back in the Nathan and Sam’s hotel room, Trish had just gotten through untying Sam. Sam wanted to rush straight to Nathan’s side, but she was in no shape to do so. She was dizzy from the concussion that accompanies someone just about anytime Jacob hits them once, much less a half dozen times. Her arm was also hurt, and shards of broken glass were jammed in her skin from her struggle with Jacob on the bathroom floor.

  “No, I’m going to get him up. You just lay here and rest,” Trish said as she laid Sam on the bed.

  Trish walked over to Nathan and felt for a pulse. His pulse was strong. Trish was not even close to being a doctor, but she assumed that Nathan was probably only knocked out. We don’t have time to be dealing with these kinds of things! The cops will be here at any moment, and we have to get out of here, Trish thought desperately.

  She began slapping Nathan on one cheek after the other.

  Nathan felt an extreme pain in his head, and now some other type of pain. Was someone slapping him?

  “Wake up. You have to get up!” a voice said desperately.

  “All right, just quit hitting me!” Nathan said while opening his eyes.

  “Sam! Where is Sam?” he asked the girl standing above him.

  She only pointed to the bed. Nathan jumped to his feet, and though he felt extremely dizzy, he made his way to her.

  “Are you okay? I am so sorry that I left you.”

  “It’s okay. You came back for me. That’s all that matters now.”

  “Look, I don’t mean to interrupt you two, but we need to get out of here before the cops get here and start asking questions about why you killed a man,” Trish said.

  “A
ll right, let’s go,” Nathan said while scooping up Sam in his arms.

  The truth was that Nathan was extremely confused. This was, without a doubt, the same girl who had been with Jacob when he was kidnapped. Why would she be helping him? Couldn’t she be leading them straight into a trap? He shook off his confusion and doubt. Who cares why she’s helping us. Beggars can’t be choosers in a situation like this, he thought to himself. As he and Trish walked outside, they met Michael and the rest of the group.

  “Okay, we have six people and only four seats in my car,” Michael said.

  “I’ve got a car,” Trish said.

  “I’m riding with you,” Lee said to Trish.

  Lee was confused, and he knew that Trish had the flash drive, so he wanted to keep an eye on her. Why would this girl who just Tasered me a few minutes ago, have such a change of heart so suddenly, he wondered.

  “Fine, but where are we going?” Trish asked.

  “We need to go back to my place and get my laptop so I can unlock that flash drive,” Lee said.

  “I have a van at my house that we could all easily fit in if everyone wants to switch vehicles,” Jess said.

  “That’s definitely a good idea,” Trish said.

  She really didn’t care if everyone could fit in one vehicle together. What she was thinking about was the fact that the security cameras at the hotel had likely caught much of these events on tape including their vehicles. A fresh set of wheels would likely keep them from having to deal with any law enforcement.

  “Okay. Lee and I will go get his laptop. The rest of you will go get a different vehicle and then meet me and Lee back at his place.”

  “What are we going to do then?” Michael asked.

  “Safe house,” Sam said in a very weak voice.

  “What?” Nathan asked.

  “There’s a safe house that we can go to in Orlando.”

  “Great, we’re off to Orlando then,” Trish said.

  “All right, then let’s move, people,” Nathan said as he ushered Sam into Michael’s car.

  As Lee and Trish got in the car and began to leave, Lee broke the silence between them.

  “I don’t trust you,” Lee simply said.

  “I don’t blame you. I Tasered you.”

  “So why did you have a sudden change of heart?”

  “I found a way out of a life that I never wanted to be living in the first place, and I took it.”

  “It’s really as simple as that?”

  “Yeah, it’s as simple as that.”

  “So what can I do to get you to trust me?” Trish asked.

  “Well for starters, you can give me the flash drive that you have.”

  “Here,” she said while reaching into her pocket and handing him the flash drive.

  As their conversation was ending, they pulled up to Lee’s apartment complex.

  “I’ll run in and get everything I need to unlock this device,” Lee said while exiting the car.

  He ran as fast as his body would move to his room and went inside. He grabbed everything he would need to do the job, and then one more thing caught his eye. For some reason, he simply couldn’t leave this item behind. He grabbed it and exited the building. As he got back down to Trish, the others were just pulling up. He loaded his gear in the back of the van, and he and Trish jumped in.

  “Okay, we’re officially off now,” Jess said from the front seat as she began to drive.

  In the very back of the van, Nathan held Sam. He felt terrible for how beaten and battered she looked. If he had only been there, things may have been different.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Sam said.

  “Like what?” Nathan asked.

  “Well, you used to look at me in a sort of mesmerized way. It was like I was the only person in the room. Now all I see is pity in your eyes. Do I look that bad?”

  “You look just as mesmerizing to me as ever. I promise you that. I’m really sorry that I let some stupid feelings I had for you endanger you. I promise that you won’t ever have to worry about that happening again.”

  “Well, that’s pretty disappointing,” Sam said while looking up into his eyes.

  “Disappointing? What do you mean? I thought you would be relieved.”

  “Yeah, you see, the truth is that I’m just a little scared. Everything is so new to me, and you just seemed so nice. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was rushing toward something so great, but at the same time, so terrifying. I was hoping that you might not give up on me just yet. I’m not perfect, and I don’t know how to act or what to do in this situation, but if you want to explore it, I think I’m game,” Sam said.

  “I definitely want to explore whatever’s happening with us.”

  With that, he gently reached down and gave her a light kiss on the lips. Her face was beaten and bruised, but in that moment, she was perfect to Nathan.

  * * * * *

  Back in Washington, Dan and Jason were in a meeting with Mr. Campbell.

  “How hypocritical is this? We take the fight to anyone around the world who’s trying to build weapons of mass destruction, but we won’t do one thing about the people in our own backyard who are selling those same weapons to our enemies,” Jason said in frustration.

  “Look, I don’t like this anymore than either of you, but there’s simply nothing that can be done right now,” Campbell said.

  “Is there really nothing that can be done, or are we simply sitting back and choosing to do nothing?” Dan asked.

  “We’re choosing to do nothing for lack of a better option,” Campbell answered.

  “What if we could give you a better option?” Dan asked.

  “If you can tell me how to bring down a corporation located all over the world that holds almost limitless power and resources, then I’m all ears.”

  “I’ll come up with something,” Dan said to himself.

  “In the meantime, what can we do to help Agent Fisher?” Jason asked in a more worried tone than he had meant to ask the question in.

  “There will be no help for Agent Fisher. She disobeyed our orders, and my guess is that she’ll probably die.”

  “That’s it?! That’s how we treat our agents?” Jason said in an outraged voice.

  “Do I need to remind you that the mission was canceled before it even began? Your agent went rogue, and if anything, your own failure to act as a handler and control the agent who we assigned to you has ultimately been the thing that got her killed. Don’t come to me expecting pity for her and your own mistakes.”

  “Everyone needs to calm down. We aren’t going to be able to change anything today. Let’s go, Jason,” Dan said as he retrieved his new friend and led him out of the room.

  In this moment, Jason felt helpless. He thought that Campbell was heartless and that he was only covering his own butt, but at the same time, nothing he said was false. He had asked Sam to let this case go. He had never told her to. Jason made her his close friend when she should have respected him as a superior and obeyed his orders. If he had not failed to do his job, then she likely wouldn’t have failed at hers either. If this was anyone’s fault, it was most certainly his.

  “This is all going to work out in the end. You’ll see,” Dan said as they walked back to Jason’s office.

  “No, I really don’t think that it is,” Jason said with a frown.

  Chapter 17

  Nathan and the others had been traveling for about an hour and a half when Jess stopped at a large truck stop.

  “You guys can go in and get a bite to eat, but I think that Sam needs someone to tend to her wounds, and now that we’re out of Atlanta, I’m going to do exactly that,” Jess said.

  “What all do you need? I can go get some supplies inside,” Nathan said to Jess.

  “I’ll need alcohol and cotton balls, gauze, tweezers, and try to find some butterfly bandages for her leg.”

  Nathan quickly went inside to get all the supplies. Trish was very hesitant about going inside wi
th Lee and Michael. She may have had a friend in Jess, but Lee and Michael were still very suspicious of her.

  “Are you coming or what?” Lee asked as he started to walk away.

  “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  Once they were inside, the three of them ordered and then sat in silence for quite some time. Lee was the first one to speak.

  “Look, I still don’t trust you, but maybe I could learn to if you would just explain who you actually are and how you got caught up in all this.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know where I would even start trying to explain everything.”

  “Just start at the beginning,” Michael said.

  “Okay, but I have to warn you. This story is kind of long.”

  “Ever since I was very young, I’ve always had two talents. One is that I can quickly learn just about anything, and the other is that I can read people and situations on such a level that I can accurately project the end result of almost any situation,” Trish said and was then interrupted.

  “Are you saying you’re a psychic or something?” a very wide eyed Michael asked.

  “No, you idiot. Stop interrupting the story,” she said while visually showing her frustration at his comments.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m able to read people and situations. A psychic is only a made up thing that idiots believe in. Anyway, not only did I graduate at the top of my class in high school, but I also made my dad rich from sports betting. I could look at any team and take into account their players, coaches, weather in the area, schedules, and injury probabilities to almost perfectly project where they would be at the end of the season. Being able to read people also helped me manipulate them, too. I got anything or anyone that I wanted because with a small amount of effort, I could see what made them tick and how to get them to do exactly as I wished them to. I planned to go to college and eventually make myself rich in similar ways that I had made my father rich, but I was approached right after my high school graduation by a man who called himself Markus. He and Jacob are the only two people whom I’ve never been able to get a read on. I think that’s because the two of them are a little bit off, okay maybe they’re a lot off. In Jacob’s case, I guess I should say that he was off. Markus offered me an opportunity to track people and get information out of them with reasoning rather than by complete brute force. There would be no rules. I could manipulate anyone in any way I wanted to as long as it was to his advantage, and to boot, I could use my skill set for anything I wished to on the side. I enjoyed the challenge of being given a file and having to project where a person would be just based on the small amount of information within the file. After they were captured, I also enjoyed getting information out of them. I could get all the information that someone like Jacob could get out of a person without ever even laying a finger on them.”