| |
My heart sank as my last hope for finding out anything about my parents was flushed down the drain.
“Alan.” Chris stepped between us and Mr. Jackson. “May I speak to you a moment?”
“You may.” Mr. Jackson nodded curtly. “But don’t expect...”
“In the hall, please,” Chris interrupted, turning toward the door.
Mr. Jackson silently followed Chris into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“What are we going to do now?” Matt whispered as soon as the door was closed. The other agents continued to work on the attached bathroom at the back of the room as if meltdowns like this happened everyday.
“Not give up, no matter what Mr. Jackson thinks.” I knew I was being both naive and stubborn. We seriously could have been killed today. We were in way over our heads and risked definite expulsion if we defied Mr. Jackson’s orders. “Go back to where we started, I guess, back to the wreck. But I really think that this Snake guy behind Dr. Kestler’s kidnapping is probably behind my parents’ disappearance also.”
“You are aware we could be worse than just expelled, right?” Matt looked down at the red Snake logo and rubbed a hand over his face. “Mr. Jackson’s right. This is way too dangerous for teens.”
“I won’t ask you to help me.” I lowered my voice and turned to face the door. I couldn’t ask my best friend to give up everything for my problems. “I can handle this alone.”
“Absolutely not!” Mr. Jackson’s deep voice thundered through the closed door.
“I’ll take full responsibility for them.” Chris replied just loud enough for us to hear him.
“Scott,” Matt whispered, grabbing my arm. “Chris is trying to convince Mr. Jackson to let us stay on the case!”
“Pray he succeeds,” I returned and put my words to action. If Chris had our backs, perhaps there was hope after all.
“Do you realize what a publicity nightmare it would be if two civilian teens get killed because SATURN put them in a compromising situation?” Mr. Jackson shouted. He didn’t seem to care who heard him. “I would lose my job!”
“Nothing will happen to them,” Chris assured him, his voice soothing. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You can’t be sure of anything! Do you want to babysit twenty-four-seven?”
“I’ll keep an eye out for them,” Chris promised confidently. “You don’t think I’d allow anything to happen to my own brother, do you?”
“Give me one – just one! – good reason why I should let you,” Mr. Jackson demanded.
I bit my lip anxiously as I strained to hear what was being said. Unfortunately, Chris’ answer was too quiet to be heard through the door.
Mr. Jackson’s response was not. “What?” he roared so loudly that the door shook.
I took a step closer to the door to be able to hear better and motioned for Matt to join me.
Chris repeated himself, now just barely loud enough to be overheard. “Tehran.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Mr. Jackson asked sharply.
“You owe Eric.”
“Killing his only son is no way to repay him,” Mr. Jackson returned angrily. “I’m doing Eric a bigger favor by keeping his kid out of trouble.”
There was a long pause. It looked like even Chris couldn’t convince Mr. Jackson to let us stay on. Unless I wanted to drop out of school my senior year, investigating on my own was out. Perhaps over Christmas break I could do something.
If Mom and Dad live that long.
“Clovergate.” Chris’ voice was soft, as if he regretted having to say the word at all.
Mr. Jackson did not answer.
“You owe me, Alan.”
“That’s blackmail, Agent Marshall.” Mr. Jackson’s softer voice only amplified his deadly tone. I remembered Mr. Jackson’s threat to pull Chris off the case as well and was glad I wasn’t in Chris’ place right now.
“Jesus, don’t let Chris get fired,” Matt breathed beside me.
“If there’s any chance the Snake has Eric and Marisa, you have to let me go after them,” Chris countered. “You know what the Snake will do to them. You can’t risk another Clovergate.” His voice was decided. “Pull me from the case; fire me if you have to, but I will go after them either way, even if my brother and Eric’s son are the only ones willing to help me.”
I held my breath for the answer. Say yes, please, say yes.
“Have it your way,” Mr. Jackson snapped. “But hear me, you are totally responsible for them.”
“Agreed.”
“As far as SATURN is concerned, you are on your own, I will not sanction their involvement.” Mr. Jackson continued. I could almost see him wagging his finger at Chris. “If anything happens to either of them, you will answer to the board of directors.”
“Agreed,” Chris repeated with a grin in his voice. “Thanks, Alan.”
“He did it!” I gave Matt a silent high five as we stepped back away from the door.
Mr. Jackson’s heavy footsteps stomped down the hardwood stairs and a moment later Chris opened the door. His sunglasses were on and his lips were a thin line. “Scott, Matt, come with me.”
Matt and I followed Chris outside without a word, in spite of the many questions I was dying to ask.
As soon as we were in the yard, Chris turned to us. “You two are now my complete responsibility.”
“We know,” I admitted sheepishly. “We overheard.”
“Mr. Jackson was kind of loud,” Matt added quickly.
“Mr. Jackson was ‘kind of’ mad.” Chris smiled ruefully. “But I know him well enough that I knew he’d give in eventually. In spite of his public stand, I’m certain he hopes I’m right about Scott’s parents.”
“We overheard you say ‘Tehran’,” I spoke up as the three of us walked toward my car. “What does the capital of Iran have to do with anything?”
Chris hesitated before answering. “Several years back, when Mr. Jackson still commanded a field unit, his team was assigned an intelligence gathering mission in Tehran. Certain people were not pleased that they were there. The mission went sour, and only the quick thinking of a young agent named Eric McCully saved the team, including Mr. Jackson.”
“And Clovergate?” Matt asked.
Chris sighed. He stared ahead of him as if he were remembering something painful. “Just something I did to help SATURN. I hate to use it to get my way like that.”
“But what does Clovergate mean?” I prodded. Chris seemed to be in the mood to talk, which was rare. I wanted to get as much information as I could.
“Clovergate was the code name of a massive security leak at SATURN headquarters. Agents’ covers were blown, raids were spoiled, and agents were killed. I had a part in stopping the leak before they could kill Mr. Jackson and the SATURN board of directors.” He shook his head painfully and smiled sadly. “Mr. Jackson owes me a favor. I’m just calling it in.”
“Why?” I asked as we stopped beside my car. Chris was staring absently at the fresh gash in the side of my car. I hoped he wouldn’t ask about it now.
He turned slowly from examining the from the scrape, frowned at me, but didn’t comment. “Why what?”
“Why risk your job to keep us on the case?” I'd gathered that his loyalty to my parents was part of the answer, but still, Chris was putting his job on the line to allow us to do something he had forbidden in the first place.
“First,” Chris said lightly, “it’s not much of a risk. Nothing’s going to happen to you and Matt. Besides, Mr. Jackson wouldn’t fire me.”
“But he said...” Matt looked at his older brother with concern.
“He said what SATURN would have wanted him to say. Alan – Mr. Jackson – is one of my closest friends; he’ll do all he can to keep me on at SATURN.” Chris grinned as he pulled his glasses off and gestured to me. “Besides, you guys have already shown that you’re going to investigate with or without our permission. At least this way, I can keep an eye on you.”
I looked down at the ground with chagrin. Chris seemed to have me figured out.
“The second reason is...” Chris toyed with his sunglasses as if considering putting them back on. He finally decided against it and stuck the earpiece back into his collar as he sat lightly on the hood of my car and looked at me. “I know exactly how you feel. My dad was missing in action in Iraq. Matt was too young to realize what was going on. I was thirteen. Mom cried herself to sleep every night when she thought we couldn’t hear her. I felt so... helpless...” He paused, staring vacantly at the house. “I just wanted to run out there and find my dad. I even tried to run away, but no airline would sell a thirteen-year-old a ticket to a war zone. Even after Dad came home, I felt guilty I couldn’t do more to help him. I want to help you the way no one could help me.”
“I remember Dad being gone.” Matt’s deep voice was barely audible. “I just thought he had gone to war. I never knew.”
“You weren’t supposed to – neither of us were.” Chris shook his head slowly. “I found out on my own, but both Mom and I worked hard to keep you from knowing anything. When Dad finally came home, he didn’t want to talk about what had happened to him, so it wasn’t brought up again.”
“I really appreciate your help,” I said “But what about the directors of SATURN? Mr. Jackson said that you would have to answer to them if anything happened to us.”
“Don’t worry about them.” Chris flashed me a reckless smile. “I’ve been interrogated by them before. I can handle them. Besides,” he assured us as he stood, “you're not going to be in any danger. I’ve got any easy assignment for you. That is, if you’re interested.”
“Sure.” As if anything could keep me away. “Anything, as long as we’re still on the case.”
“Good, because after paperwork, this assignment is about as boring as working for SATURN gets.” Chris winked. “You two are going on a stakeout.”
“Just tell us where and when,” Matt said excitedly.
“You guys ever heard of the Stellar Diner?”
“I think so.” I nodded slowly. Some of the other students at the Academy talked about it. “It’s a crazy sci-fi movie themed restaurant some of the students at the Academy go to in their spare time.”
“Exactly, that’s why no one will be suspicious to see you there also.”
“We’re staking out the Stellar Diner?” Matt crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Chris skeptically.
“The place across the street, actually. The diner will be your base of operations. The place you’ll be watching is called Davis Janitorial Supply. It’s one of many suspected fronts for the Snake’s organization.” Chris’s eyes rested pointedly on the goose egg on my forehead. “I was actually going to suggest it before you made targets of yourselves, but now you’ll have to be extra careful not to be seen.”
“What are we looking for?” I asked. A stake out actually seemed more productive than being tutored. At least, as far as finding my parents was concerned.
“Last night two of our agents informed us that Davis Janitorial is expecting a large shipment from a phony group called Clarion Distributors,” Chris answered. “We think it may be either Kestler or his weapon. Maybe both.”
“And our job is to watch out for the shipment,” Matt finished for him.
Chris nodded. “Exactly. If you see anything out of the ordinary, contact me immediately. The diner’s a public place, so you’ll be safe as long as you don’t draw attention to yourselves. Under no circumstances are you to act on your own. Understand?”
“Sir, yes, sir,” we both answered crisply.
“The Snake is a very dangerous terrorist. Perhaps one of the most dangerous in the world.” Chris stared back at the scrape on my car for a moment, then looked me firmly in the eye. “Your lives depend on your doing exactly as I say.”