Wrong Place (The Wrong Series) Page 5

  “Really? Well, in that case, you have to see what’s on that flash drive.”

  “Well, obviously, but I just wonder what that girl could have done to make them shut the place down. I mean, it’s hard to believe she could be a threat to anyone.”

  “It’s a solar panel plant, Nathan. What could she have taken that was so important from there?”

  Nathan had no answer to Michael’s question. The place did seem too irrelevant for anything of any importance to possibly be housed there, and the girl seemed far too harmless to cause any real damage, even if there were something of importance there. The most puzzling question in all of this, however, was how Michael was asking all the right questions. He was normally all over the place in their conversations, but today he seemed to be spot on.

  “So have you talked to Lee lately?” Michael asked.

  “No. Isn’t he in Georgia with you?”

  “Nope. He’s been back in Mississippi for a few days now. I’m surprised he didn’t let you know.”

  Honestly, upon hearing the news that Lee was back in town, Nathan couldn’t help but feel a little offended that he hadn’t come by or even called, but he understood why. Lee has always had one problem. He’s brilliant. If anyone ever needed anything from a fake passport to a hacked cell phone, he was the guy to go to. While his many skills had benefited him in the past, they had also come with a price. Every time he saw anyone he knew, they wanted him to do something for them. If they weren’t asking him to hack a phone or game system, they were asking him to hack their cable box so they can get all the channels for free. Then there were always the high school and young college kids who wanted fake ID’s made. He simply refused to make such ID’s for them, but it still didn’t stop anyone from asking him to do it. Nathan had always tried to leave him alone and not ask for much, but he even caught himself at times asking, “Hey, can you do this?”

  “He’s probably just busy,” Nathan said, while visually shrugging to no one in particular.

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “Wait a minute. How did we get off on this? I thought I was telling you some potentially really important information. Like conspiracy theory stuff.”

  “I have no idea, but let me know what’s on the drive, and if you see Lee, tell him he really needs to get around to looking at my phone.”

  “I will. I’ll talk to you later.” Nathan responded and hung up the phone.

  As he neared his house, he felt the anticipation growing. He had to know what was on the flash drive that the mysterious girl dropped. Honestly, though, he still thought this would all be a misunderstanding, and he would only find a ton of useless information on the flash drive. After all, nothing exciting ever happens here, or so he thought. Boy, was he about to be proven wrong.

  * * * * *

  Later that night in her hotel room, Sam was desperately going through any and all files that she had taken from Mr. Fields’ office. She was hoping she would find some relevant information, incriminating information even, that would make her efforts worth it and keep her from really having to worry about the lost flash drive. As time went on, one thing became clear. She had nothing. The files that had looked irrelevant were just that, irrelevant. The files that had caught her eye appeared to be records of different business transactions and they were. The only problem was that they were fake records of fake transactions for a phony business. There was nothing incriminating here at all. Maybe I’m just on a wild goose chase, she thought. She was discouraged, but hadn’t quite given up on this assignment yet. There was still one more opportunity to come out of this ahead, and though it seemed like a long shot, even to her, it was ultimately worth exploring in her mind. She pulled a laptop out of one of her bags. The laptop was small, but she very vividly remembered receiving it a few weeks ago from an agency tech. The woman had gushed over the computer’s specs. She spouted off all different types of numbers and figures, but truthfully, Sam hadn’t understood any of it. After all, Sam was trained to be street smart, athletic, cunning, and had even been trained to kill. A computer’s specs meant little to her, but nonetheless, here she was using this supposed cutting edge computer to try to find someone. Social networking? How would I know what that is supposed to be, she wondered as she turned the laptop on. Sam had been highly educated on everything, including English, math, science, history, and psychology. She just couldn’t understand what could be so odd about not knowing what something so irrelevant was. She pulled up a search engine and typed in social networking. The site was easy enough to navigate. Upon searching the name Nathan Grey, she found that there were only six people by that name within a fifty mile radius. With a very small amount of investigation, she found the photo of the Nathan she was looking for. This was just too simple. His address and phone number were all right there. She wrote down the address, grabbed her phone, and then she was off. Sam had made up her mind that either she would find that he had the flash drive or she would return to the plant that night and find what she had lost.

  * * * * *

  Nathan entered his home and found that his mom was already gone. She had recently gone back to school to be a nurse, and his dad was an over-the-road truck driver so it was no surprise that on today, a weekday, he found himself with enough privacy to view what was on the flash drive alone. He examined the flash drive and found that it was a very odd device. There was a switch on the side that clearly said Copy and View. It was odd, but he flipped the switch to view and inserted it into the computer. Immediately a screen came up that was asking for a password. Great, he thought. He typed the only thing he could think of, which was password. Of course, it wasn’t so simple, and he immediately got a denied message.

  “Well, great,” Nathan said to himself.

  At that moment, he heard a car drive up. The car was rather loud and had obviously been customized in such a way that would make it sound much louder than the manufacturer had intended it to. There was no mistaking it. It was Lee’s car. He went back through the house and walked to the front door to greet his old friend, and a thought occurred to him. Lee could probably crack this password for me. As Lee came inside, Nathan greeted him in the typical way you greet an old friend. He asked all the basic questions that most people would likely ask, and when he could wait no more, he very hesitantly asked.

  “So I’ve got this thing, and I was hoping you could help me out with it.”

  “Already? I just got here,” Lee said with a half laugh.

  Nathan explained the strange things that had happened throughout the day, and told him how he was locked out of the flash drive.

  “Well, I can’t do anything from here, but I have a program to get through stuff like that back in Atlanta. I’m driving back tonight, and I could take it with me and mail it back to you when I unlock it.”

  Lee may have hated always having to do stuff for everyone, but even he was curious to see what was on this device after hearing Nathan’s story. Plus, he couldn’t help but think that this particular device looked a bit strange. The flash drive was different than anything he had ever seen, and he had seen just about every electronic device you could possibly think of, so that was saying something.

  “That sounds great,” Nathan said.

  Lee and Nathan talked for a couple of hours, and then Lee began to make his way to the door. Before he left, Nathan remembered that he was supposed to tell him something.

  “Oh, Michael wanted me to try to convince you to hack his cell phone if I saw you, so pretend that I made a strong case for him the next time you see him.”

  “That guy . . . I don’t see how you lived with him for two years.”

  “Hey, he’s your idiot now, man,” Nathan said while laughing.

  “Don’t I know it!”

  And with that, the two friends said their goodbyes.

  * * * * *

  Back at the solar plant, Fields was satisfied with his capture of Dan. Soon they would make him tell them who he really was, and then later he would let Jaco
b have his fun with him. First he had a job for Jacob, though. Nathan Grey may or may not have been a part of all this, but at the very least, he could have seen something. Fields needed Jacob to bring him in, and from there they would interrogate Nathan. If he knows something, we’ll get the information out of him, and if he doesn’t, well, we’ll just kill him, Fields thought. In his sick mind, this was just a win-win situation. He would need one more person to help; someone who was a bit smarter than Jacob. Sure, Jacob had his uses. As a matter of fact, he was easily the strongest man Fields had ever encountered, but if he sent Jacob on his own, he feared that Nathan would not even live to see an interrogation. Jacob had a certain bloodlust that Fields shared in, but the difference was with Jacob’s extreme strength, he could easily kill a man without even meaning to. He decided to send Trisha Morris with Jacob. She was young and a bit too much of a moralist for Fields’ liking, but perhaps that would make these two individuals balance each other out. She was a genius, and she was very athletic, but lacked the overall strength or size that would usually be expected of a soldier. In fact, she was only 5’3” and weighed almost nothing. Fields called both of them into his real office that was located in the large underground area below the solar plant.

  “I’ve summoned both of you here because I need you to find this man and bring him back here,” Fields said as he held up a picture of Nathan.

  “I don’t need any help. I can handle this on my own,” Jacob said while glaring at Trisha.

  “Where will you find him? Who is he, Jacob? Do you even know?” Trisha asked.

  “Well I . . . I,” Jacob stuttered.

  “All the information to find him is in this file,” Fields said as he handed the file to Trisha.

  “See, I’ve got this, so you can just relax and let me handle this one solo,” Jacob said.

  Jacob had always hated working with others. Anytime he was sent to capture a target, he liked to have a little fun with them first. It was a good thing if their tongue was already loose, or at least that was what Jacob told himself. The problem was that the majority of people didn’t approve of his actions, so he didn’t approve of being paired with someone, especially someone so small and obviously weak.

  “Oh no, I am going! Do you actually think you can leave this up to this idiot? I doubt that he can even read what’s in that file.”

  “What did you just call me?”

  “Okay. Let me spell it out for you. I think you are an I-D-I-O-T. Is that simple enough for you?”

  Trisha had always hated big hulking men such as Jacob, and she had heard stories of his brutality. That wasn’t something she was willing to be a part of on this mission, or any other one for that matter.

  “Look, you two are going to work together. Trisha, you will not refer to him as an idiot, and Jacob, you will learn to work with her and incorporate her methods into your own,” Fields said in an authoritative voice.

  “Yes, sir,” they both said in unison to Mr. Fields.

  “Good. You’ll do this as soon as possible, preferably before night falls. I want to get both interrogations over with quickly and get home.”

  They both nodded to Fields and left the office. Upon exiting the office, Jacob turned to Trisha.

  “You just stay out of my way or you might end up dead. Trisha, is it?” Jacob asked.

  “First of all, I prefer to be called Trish and second of all, I’m just surprised that you haven’t already found a way to accidentally kill yourself. I swear, sometimes I really do wonder how some people survive so long.”

  “You! He just said for you to quit calling me stupid.”

  “Technically I didn’t call you anything, but I don’t expect you to understand that.”

  One thing was for sure that day. The partnership between these two was going to be interesting.

  * * * * *

  As night approached, Nathan found himself bored and alone in his house. His mother would normally be at home by now, but today was Thursday. Thursday was the day she bought groceries. As he lounged around the house in his boxer shorts, he heard a car outside. It’s probably just Mom, he thought. He heard a knock at the front door.

  “That’s odd. Mom normally just uses her key,” Nathan said to himself.

  It was about this time that he wished their door had a peep hole in it so he could tell who was outside the door and whether or not they were someone he trusted enough to see him in his boxers.

  “Just a minute,” he called and then started walking back to his room to get some pants.

  When he reached his room, he heard a loud crack at the door. There was no doubt about it. Someone was kicking the door open. He immediately ran to his dad’s room and grabbed the black 45 caliber pistol that his dad had previously purchased for protection against a home invader. Nathan had treated him like an idiot over the concept that they would ever need it. As a matter of fact, he made sure to point out that more people die from gun accidents in the home than are ever protected from an intruder, but now he was the one who felt like an idiot. He was holding the very gun he had protested and refused to even test fire. Now, he wished that he had test fired it at least once. Having collected the gun, he darted from the room and ran to the front of the house. There he pointed the gun straight at the two intruders. One was the biggest man he had ever seen, and to top it off, he was pointing a gun back at Nathan, while in contrast, the other was a girl who wouldn’t have struck an ounce of fear into a mouse. She was short with brown hair and a small frame. Nathan’s hands were visibly shaking.

  “Don’t come any closer,” Nathan said in a shaky voice.

  In spite of his warning, the man started walking forward. Nathan began backing up as the man was moving forward.

  “What’s wrong with him? Is he slow in the head?” Nathan shouted to the girl while still aiming his gun straight at the man.

  “Yeah, that’s my theory anyway,” the girl responded in a joking tone.

  Nathan backed up until there was literally nowhere else to back up to. He was against the wall. He looked the giant man straight in the eyes and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. He pulled the trigger again and again but still nothing. Then the man was on him. Nathan was easily thrown to the ground face first where the large man grabbed his hands and then tied them behind his back with what felt like a zip tie.

  “Who are you people, and what do you want?”

  “In due time, Mr. Grey, but here’s a little advice for you. If you want to threaten someone with a weapon, first take off the safety,” the girl said.

  How could I be so stupid, Nathan wondered.

  “Now, for a little fun,” The man said wickedly.

  “No,” The young girl said while taking a gun from her side and pointing it at him.

  “We’re bringing him in clearheaded to get as much information as possible out of him.”

  “Come on! It won’t hurt to loosen up his tongue a little.” The man said as he looked at Nathan like most people would normally look at a steak.

  “Absolutely not!”

  “I think I like her idea better,” Nathan interjected.

  “Fine,” the large man said angrily.

  He began to ball up his fist and then drew it back.

  “Hey, what are you . . . ” Nathan managed to say before he felt a hard blow.

  He had thrown one of his large fists straight into Nathan’s skull. Nathan was still conscious, but beyond dizzy. He could hear the two of them arguing.

  “What was that for?”

  “It’s so we won’t be constantly hearing noises from the trunk on the way.”

  They certainly wouldn’t be hearing noises from him because he was starting to lose consciousness. The next thing he knew, he awoke still very groggy in a small and rather foul smelling trunk.

  While Jacob was putting Nathan in the trunk of their car, Trish took a look around Nathan’s house. She wanted to see if this Nathan person was who he said he was or if he was actually someone who could be working
for their enemies. She knew that they were stretched for time, so after looking for a minute, she simply grabbed Nathan’s wallet and walked out the door. With that, she and Jacob were off.

  Sam arrived at the address that was supposed to be Nathan’s and stopped on the road near it. She could tell that something was wrong. The door was standing wide open. She decided that it was best to park a little down the street and go assess the scene in a stealthier manner. She approached the house while trying to stay under the cover of every bush and tree in the area. It wasn’t hard as Nathan’s house was in the middle of nowhere, and there were trees all around it. As she hid outside the house, she saw a large man carrying a limp body. The man, in a not so gentle way, threw Nathan into the trunk. Sam started making her way back to her minivan. She knew that she had to follow them if she wanted any chance to recover what was hers, and now that she knew that these people were literally willing to kidnap or kill for what had been lost, she knew that she was on to something really big. There was more to it than just that, though. Her mess and her mistakes had led to all of this, and if Nathan was still alive, she had to rescue him. No, I won’t just follow them. I’m going to help this guy before they reach their destination, and then he’s going to take me to get what is mine, she thought confidently. As she cranked the minivan, she knew her mission. No mistakes and no excuses. It was time to prove her worth, if to no one else, herself.

  Chapter 7

  Back at the underground base, Dan’s interrogation was just beginning.

  “So Mr. Driver, I’m going to ask you a few questions, and if I feel that you’re answering honestly, everything will be fine, but when you lie to me, I promise that you’ll feel more pain than you can even imagine,” Fields said.

  “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m just a normal guy.”

  “See, I believe that to be a lie, so now I have to hurt you,” Fields said in an almost pleased voice.

  “Guard, let’s give Mr. Driver a small taste of what’s in store for him.”

  The guard quickly and happily complied. He walked up to Dan with a small pair of needle nose pliers and took one of his bound hands. Dan didn’t know for sure what was about to happen to him, but he didn’t think it would exactly be pleasurable. The guard took a firm grip on Dan’s thumbnail with the pliers and in one swift yank, ripped the nail straight off his thumb. Dan cried out in mind-numbing pain.