Page 39 of The Hijack

“What do you know about Hector Abernathy?” Nana asked, surprising me once again.

“I know that he was Clark’s foster father,” I replied hesitantly. “I’ve met a few of her foster siblings and been to their mansion. It’s not exactly homey, but I guess that’s to be expected considering that he was training them all to be spies.”

“Not spies,” Nana corrected me. “Assassins.”

“As in rogue assassins?” I asked, wanting to make sure I was hearing her right.

“How many of the children have you met?” Nana asked pointedly.

“Two,” I admitted. “One works for the CIA, and the other is in business for himself. Although he seems primarily occupied with environmental causes.”

Nana considered that information for a bit before sharing what she knew. “There were at least a dozen children over the years, and many of them are now dead.”

“Clark didn’t mention that to me,” I said, worried about the ramifications of the oversight.

Losing foster brothers and sisters had to be painful, although Clark didn’t seem too close with either Lukas or Z. While Z worked with her on a daily basis, I got the feeling that Lukas had been only a distant memory until we happened upon him through our work. Clark didn’t even seem to know that he was the leader of Dark Sparrow until one of our criminal informants spilled the beans.

“The estate is deserted,” I said, working my way through all the information I had out loud. “It didn’t look like anyone was still living there, although there was food in the fridge and apparently some satellite equipment in an upstairs room.” I paused, remembering the expansive lawn overgrown with weeds and the rundown look of the place overall. “It was the kind of house that probably needed janitors and landscapers every day.”

“Maybe when there were children living there,” Nana allowed. “Rumor has it that there were secret rooms and even a dungeon.”

“I didn’t see any of them,” I replied. It made me nervous to think I had spent the night in a place designed to teach assassins. Trying to reconcile that past to the Clark I knew was even more difficult. With me, she’d blossomed into someone exciting to be around, but I had a feeling that wasn’t her natural state. Early on in our relationship, she had been combative, much more reflective of a person with a troubled childhood than the woman I’d spent the night with.

“You wouldn’t,” Nana cautioned me. “I want you to be very careful. There’s no telling what kind of programming is hidden in her memories.”

I scoffed. The idea that Clark had suffered some kind of brainwashing as a kid was absurd. She was completely in control of her faculties, whether awake or asleep. I was one hundred percent committed to a future with her, and I wasn’t going to let the ghost of her former teacher come between us.

“Abernathy is dead,” I said, certain of the fact. Neither Lukas, Z, nor Clark talked about him in the present tense, and the state of his mansion could only be achieved through years of neglect. Though I didn’t know where he was buried or how he’d passed away, I was sure that Abernathy was a thing of the past. He couldn’t hurt us anymore, whether he pressured Clark to kill or not. She was greater than the sum of her parts and more than an unlucky child who had been forced to study at the feet of a madman.

“Is he?” Nana wondered.

“Yes,” I concluded. I was sure of it. I didn’t want to open the door to doubt between me and the woman I cared for. I knew Nana was only looking out for me, that she thought she was doing me a favor by pointing out Clark’s shady past. But I couldn’t help feeling blindsided. We were all getting along so well, and Nana wanted to question Clark’s loyalty. I wanted to sweep it all under the rug, to go back to believing in Clark wholeheartedly. But as much as I tried, I couldn’t shake the germ of suspicion that Nana’s information planted.

Nana stood up, patting me on the hand. “Just be careful,” she said finally, walking back into the house.

I watched Clark stand at the water’s edge, her hair wafting in the breeze. She was hugging herself, lost in thought just as I was. Suddenly, I wondered exactly what was on her mind and if it had anything to do with Abernathy. I hoped not. I hoped it was about Regg and how we were going to free ourselves from the prison of accusation he’d thrust upon us. Yet my suspicions were aroused, and I couldn’t discount the possibility that there was something else going on. My beautiful Clark was a fierce competitor indeed. I just hoped she didn’t have a hidden agenda and that her days of competing with me were over. Only time would tell.

Chapter 19

Clark

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GAZING OUT AT THE SEA, I thought about my life. It had been hard growing up surrounded by people who only wanted one thing from me. I had been pushed to excel as an assassin and taught that nothing else mattered. When I’d graduated from Abernathy’s school, there were only a few acceptable career options. I could join the CIA, the FBI, or the NSA. As long as I stuck with a government agency that could provide Abernathy with a window into the halls of power, he was agreeable.

He didn’t want us to join the military because he was afraid they would disrupt all his careful training. We were shown countless examples of people who went into service and came out dedicated to law and country rather than Abernathy’s personal whims. On the other hand, we were permitted to go into business for ourselves, to become freelance killers, or in Lukas’s case, leaders of underground organizations.

I’d chosen the CIA because I had my pride. I didn’t want to be a hired gun, and the thought of working for the greater good appealed to me. And the farther I got from Abernathy and my foster siblings, the less I thought about them.

Now it seemed that I would have to partner up with Lukas in order to take down Regg. Not knowing how far into the British and American governments the rot went, I was forced to fall back on the people I thought I’d left behind. Worse, Theo was forced to trust them, and I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with that or not.

I turned around to find him watching me. I waved, and he waved back. All was right between us, even though I was keeping secrets. I turned away from the beach and climbed the stairs back to the house. Theo held a hand out, and I took it, squeezing his fingers in silent approval.

We would be all right, I told myself. We were going to make it. No matter what happened, nothing was strong enough to split us apart. Not even death could stop us, as evidenced by our ability to break free of its grasp and come back together. I had to remind myself that Theo wasn’t going anywhere. I could trust him not to let me down, even though we were going through a rough patch.

“I think I’ll go investigate the boat,” Theo said, standing up.

“Any particular reason?” I asked.