Ever Hayes - Redemption

Danny couldn’t shake the feeling this entire scenario was being dictated according to a bigger plan. “This is more than a kidnapping for ransom,” he’d said. He felt like he was—like we all were—being played. We weren’t being proactive in any of this; we were only reacting. As a trained Marine sniper, he was used to being ahead—to being able to see what was coming—not behind like this. This was pissing him off.

Danny called Governor Barnes back after he’d collected himself and asked if the governor had told anyone about the message from the boat regarding the “terrorists” being killed. He hadn’t. Damien had picked up the message when he’d checked the line and called the governor directly. I listened over the speakerphone as Danny and Governor Barnes discussed the situation.

“Governor, please don’t say a word about this to anyone, not the other operatives—not even Nicole. I’ll tell Damien to sit on the message for now—there’s something about this that isn’t right. Those people at the house know a little too much about our capabilities. They seem to know everything.”

“Wait…so are we talking about a mole, Danny?”

“Honestly, Governor, I don’t know. But it makes sense if there is one. How else would the kidnappers know exactly what we can and can’t do, see, record, et cetera? How is it that an area of the island we weren’t even looking at suddenly ends up on that screen showing us everything we needed to see?”

“What do you mean? I thought you stumbled across it.”

“That’s just it. I didn’t. We didn’t. The compound wasn’t in any of the zones we were searching.”

“So Nicole—”

“It came up on her screen—somehow—that’s all I know for sure. I have to believe we saw what the kidnappers wanted us to see exactly when they wanted us to see it. All of this so far has gone according to their plan.”

“So you don’t think Nicole’s in on it—that she’s one of them?”

“I don’t know,” Danny said. “But we can’t tip her—or anyone else—off to anything we’ve discussed here. Not until we know more.”

Governor Barnes agreed.

After Danny hung up with the governor and spoke to Damien, he expressed his concerns to the rest of us. “The DTF operatives in Area 52 are people just like us. They have their loyalties as we do, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be compromised. They’re as skilled as they come—and are all capable of manipulating the system. Wouldn’t you say, Keena?”

She nodded. “It’d be pretty easy for any of them.”

“You seem to be suggesting you know who set this up,” Kate noted.

Danny nodded. “Set it up? That I’m not sure of. But to guarantee no one found the house earlier when we were searching the satellite feed Nicole preset all the screens on specific coordinates. She delayed us—wasted our time—and then suddenly found the property outside the coordinates. Too convenient to be coincidence.”

“But we wouldn’t have even known about the ELF idea in the first place if it wasn’t for Nicole. So why would she have wanted us to get a message to the carrier if she’s helping them?” Kate sounded unconvinced.

“Hang on.” Danny held up a hand. “I don’t think she’s necessarily helping them. Obviously it looks that way, but maybe she was forced to do what she did, and sending a message to the aircraft carrier might not have had an effect on anything else.”

I am so lost. “Okay.” I couldn’t take it anymore. “Explain this to the rest of us, so we can understand what the heck you’re saying… or is it just me that’s confused?”

There was a hot-potato exchange of glances around the room but no comments. Maybe it was just me .

“I think what Danny’s trying to say is that the kidnappers have something on us…” Blake volunteered. “… and they could have leverage on Nicole too.”

“So you’re not going to do anything about it?” Frustration was eating me alive. Seriously?

“Exactly.” Danny nodded. “Without knowing specifically what’s involved, if I pull Nicole out now, I could threaten whatever—or whoever—they’re holding over her.”

I didn’t like it. It still didn’t make perfect sense to me, but I wasn’t going to mention that now—not when everyone else seemed to understand Danny’s theory. I had thought all the operatives lived at Area 52 and never left there specifically so they couldn’t become a security breach. Isn’t that the whole idea? So do these people have one of Nicole’s siblings? Or her parents? What is their leverage? Does it even matter? If Nicole was helping them, she had to have a reason compelling enough for her. I’d have done anything to save my daughter and Emily, no matter who asked me, so I definitely could understand. But I still didn’t like it.

Danny decided he needed to go talk to Nicole in person, and he asked Tara and Kate to go along with him. Blake, Trigger, and Twix went as well, and Axel flew them all to the Hexagon. Deacon, Keena, and Royce stayed here with the rest of us. We’d watch the meeting via satellite.

When Danny arrived at the Hexagon, he directed Damien to open up a secure direct feed between the interrogation room at Area 52 and the computer we had on Redemption. Danny looked up into the camera and told Keena to kill the line if she caught any sign of someone tapping in to the feed—even from inside the Hexagon.

We watched from the computer in Blake’s office as Nicole knocked on the interrogation room door and entered. Danny and Kate were the only ones in there with her. Danny must not trust Tara’s emotional state . Nicole looked nervous. Then again, my hands were shaking, and I wasn’t anywhere near there. Nicole sat down and looked at Danny and Kate. We couldn’t see her face clearly, but her voice was noticeably shaky when she spoke. “What’s this about, Danny?”

“Nicole, the only way this goes bad for you is if you pretend you don’t know why I’m here talking to you right now.” He paused. “You have my word. I will not act on anything before tonight. Nothing… I promise.”

I saw her wipe her face a couple times and knew Danny was right. She is involved. Dang it. How did I not get any of this?

“Danny, I’m sor—I’m so sorry.”

“I need to know what’s going on, Nicole. Who are we dealing with here, and what do they have on you?” He tossed the patch from the boat onto the table and tapped the emblem. “Who are you working for?”

She glanced at the patch then up at Danny in obvious surprise. “I have no idea what that is. And… have on me ?” We saw her look at Kate then back at Danny. “N-n… nothing. They don’t have anything on me. You mean…wait, you don’t know? Why are you—”

Now Danny looked surprised. “I don’t know what?”

Nicole looked like she had several different thoughts she wanted to express at that point—like she didn’t know where to start.

“Come on, Nicole,” Danny urged.

“They… they don’t have anything on me. They have Hayley. Hayley is on the aircraft carrier with Lazzo.”

Danny stood up suddenly, his chair slamming back against the wall. His “What?” preceded mine by a millisecond. “Nicole, you’re certain Hayley is on that ship?” He almost yelled the question.

She nodded. “Pretty sure, yes. Lazzo forced her…”

“I know what happened. So she’s…”

I was stunned. I sank into a chair, and Keena turned to look at me. Was Nicole saying what I thought she was saying? A glance at Dad’s stricken face and I knew she was. Hayley was one of the “terrorists” they’d killed on the carrier. Hayley is dead. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. I stared blankly at the screen that had become a blur.