Fly: A PORTAL Chronicles Novel (The PORTAL Chronicles) (20 page)

“That’s a chance you must be willing to take. But Divaldo’s followers are shortsighted. The attack is targeted on Brightman, so they probably won’t look for Sophie in town, but there are no guarantees. Watch your back.” Someone mumbled something to Sal in the background. “I gotta’ go, Rett. Your dad just arrived. I’m assigning him head of Hagen’s surveillance team. Keep Sophie safe.”

“Consider it done, sir,” I replied.

The line went dead.

Mia met me at the bedroom door looking worried. “Sophie won’t talk to me. She just stares into space like a zombie.” She sighed. “How was your phone call?”

“Not good. Hagen has been linked to Divaldo and Sal is deploying a task force to arrest him tonight.” Mia put her hand to her mouth. “That’s not even the worst of it. Hagen was talking to some guy on the phone named Furlow. Sal said he’s—”

“Wait! You mean Alpha Project Furlow?” Mia’s eyes got big. “Divaldo’s bringing out the big dogs. This is so not good.”

“I know. Furlow is orchestrating an attack on Brightman at any moment. We need to get Sophie off campus.”

“Everett, you have to tell her the truth. It’s time.”

“Mellow out!” I hissed, glancing at Sophie. She obliviously held herself and rocked. “She’s been through enough for one night. Stay calm or else she’ll suspect something.”

“Good. It’s time she understands the danger she’s in,” Mia argued. I shot her a look and she relented. “Fine. You’re in charge. Do it your way.”

A sob caught our attention. Curled into a ball, Sophie cried into her knees. Right then, a high-keening alarm went off. It took us a moment to orientate ourselves.

“My food! I forgot to take it off the burner!” Mia exclaimed, running for her dorm.

That left me to console Sophie. I sat beside her, leaning my back against the front door. “It’s okay. Hagen’s gone now.” Compassion overwhelmed me and I put my arm around her. She slumped into me like a rag doll, her body shaking as she sobbed harder, reminding me of the time I held my mom while she cried only a few months ago. It angered me to see the women I cared about so upset. That would be the best part of defeating Divaldo: no more grief, sadness, or pain. I rubbed Sophie’s arm, allowing her to cry.

“I was so scared,” Sophie whimpered after a time.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, hugging her tightly. “I should have come sooner.” First not checking in with Sal and now this? I was totally blowing it. I then asked the only thing revolving in my head. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Sophie said, dismantling from me. I reluctantly let her go and she wiped her face with her shirt.

Mia returned after the smoke alarm finally went off. “Anyone up for some takeout?” she asked, looking more than a little disheveled. “You were right, Sophie. I should have accepted Everett’s assistance. I totally burned all the food.”

Sophie laughed. “If it makes you feel any better, you were right about me, too.”

Confused, I gave Mia a searching look. She winked at me, replying to Sophie, “Yes, but it makes second chances that much sweeter.”

Chapter 25

Take Out

We ended up at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint where the food was cheap, but particularly good. Despite knowing Divaldo’s operatives were in the area, Mia and I managed to stay upbeat for Sophie’s sake. Conversation flowed and Sophie and I were laughing hysterically at Mia accidentally spewing soda from her nose when a familiar voice interrupted our gaiety.

“Fancy seeing you here, son.”

Despite his calm voice, Dad looked down at me with a bewildered expression. The tell-tale twitch of his eye told me I’d done something wrong.

Not knowing him well enough to notice, Mia greeted him exuberantly, “Hi, Alex! It’s been too long.”

“I agree, Mia. We’ve missed you at the house lately. Up until last spring, I could have sworn you practically lived there.” The comment sounded innocent enough, but it was clear to me that Dad’s intentions were lethal. He knew Mia and Benson had been close and that she now avoided our house as it reminded her of him. The way he smiled as he said it was only salt to the wound. He was on a warpath.

Stunned, Mia abruptly clamped her mouth shut and acted interested in her food, profusely blinking the tears from her eyes.

Turning back to me, Dad asked warmly, “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Sophie Cohen. She attends Brightman,” I answered, humoring his charade for Sophie’s sake. “Sophie, this is my dad, Dr. Alex Sinclair.”

Recognition lit Sophie’s face and she smiled largely, politely extending her hand. “So nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Dad replied, shaking her hand. “Everett, may I have a word with you, please?”

His phony grin didn’t fool me. I knew I was in for it. “Sure.” I reluctantly followed him to a dark corner of the empty restaurant. “Is something wrong?” I asked, dreading his answer.

Turning his back to Sophie and Mia, his eyes pierced mine with stifled anger. “What are you doing here?” he growled through gritted teeth.

“Sal told me to lay low in Annandale, so I’m doing just that,” I explained. “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be watching Hagen?” Dad waited a beat. Panic pulsed through me as realization hit. “No! He’s here?”

“At a bar across the street.”

I looked over his shoulder. We were less than fifty feet from a small strip mall housing a few clothing stores, a shoe store, and a bar with red flashing lights.

“Hagen Dibrom is across the street at that bar?” I clarified.

“Yup. I tracked your phone to see where you and Sophie ended up and lo and behold, what do I find? That you’ve dragged the girl who is supposed to be kept as far as possible from Hagen to a restaurant right across the street from him.”

“I… I’m sorry, Dad,” I sputtered. “I didn’t know. Hagen usually goes to a bar called JB’s. I thought—”

“That’s your problem, Rett. I’ve had my eye on you, and lately you make assumptions, don’t ask for help, and underutilize the resources given you. What’s gotten into you? Between you and Benjamin, you were always the cool headed one, but his absence doesn’t give you the right to walk around with your head up your ass.”

I reeled as if the blow was physical. Dad knew Benson was a hot topic with me, and he understood how far I’d come since his disappearance. His attack wasn’t fair.

“You’ve been getting sloppy so I talked to your mom,” he continued.

“It’s great to see you two talking again,” I shot back. “Considering you sleep in different rooms and spend your lives avoiding each other, I’d say talking is a step in the right direction.”

Dad glared at me. “She mentioned you might be falling for this Sophie girl.”

I made a mental note never to tell Mom anything ever again.

Dad stepped forward, getting right in my face. “I don’t care who she is. You can’t go there, you hear? Your emotions are getting in the way of your performance at a time when everything is riding on you. Enough of this puppy love nonsense. End it. Now.”

Fearing my infatuation was a dangerous distraction was nothing new to me. Dad was right, but thankfully, there was no way for him to know that since we hardly talked anymore and I had no plans of admitting it.

So I stood my ground, saying, “I’m not in love and my job performance is fine.” It came out sounding unconvincing even to me.

“If you’re so on top of things, then why haven’t you been briefed on Hagen? If you’d been at the briefing like you were supposed to be, then you’d know you’re not the only one getting sloppy and that Hagen no longer frequents JB’s because he raped and strangled one of the waitresses behind the building Wednesday night.”

“What!?! Who?”

“A girl by the name of Sarah Holt.”

Sarah! I felt like I was going to be sick as I remembered the pretty blonde waitress with the sweet disposition and girl-next-door charm. After witnessing how Hagen had treated Sophie with such disregard tonight, I could only imagine how he’d treated a stranger like Sarah.

Dad added, “PORTAL’s research on his other known name, Adam Sorento, brought up countless sexual assault and murder charges, many of them leading back to Divaldo. Hagen is the real deal, Rett. He’s bad news.”

I was suddenly irate. I wanted to find Hagen and rip his head off. “I can’t believe I’ve been sitting by while Sophie’s been dating that—”

“Rett!” Dad snapped. “This is what I’m talking about. Your recent habit of acting on whatever tangent your emotions carry you is going get someone hurt — or worse — killed.”

“Good. I want Hagen dead.”

My words were the detonator, and right on cue, Dad exploded. “Hagen isn’t who I am referring to and you know it. That girl’s life is at stake and our lives hang in the balance, too — not to mention your rank at PORTAL and our family’s reputation, which, might I add, has already been damaged enough by Benjamin’s betrayal.”

His phrasing rubbed me the wrong way.
Benjamin’s betrayal?
Things I had long misunderstood suddenly made sense. Ever since Benson had disappeared, Dad had insisted on referring to him as Benjamin. It sounded so foreign, like he was talking about a stranger and not a beloved son. Now I knew why. He was ashamed of what Benson had done — enough so to disown him.

“Sorry to disappoint, but my mission is to do what’s best for Sophie, not our family’s reputation,” I seethed. “And your son’s name is Benson. As I recall, it’s the nickname you gave him.”

Dad huffed at my response. “I’m trying to help you, but if you want to be responsible for killing the girl PORTAL’s only hope of survival hinges on, be my guest. I doubt you’ll be so smug when Sophie’s death is on your hands, or when every PORTAL agent you know is being hunted down and killed, one by one.”

A sobering image of me bending over Sophie’s cold, limp body flashed before my eyes, smothering my anger. “You’re right. I’m sorry. What else do you know?”

It took Dad a moment to decompress. My sudden calmness seemed to surprise him.

“Divaldo planted Hagen at Brightman to convince Sophie to serve his side and use her powers for his benefit. Word came tonight from one of our spies in Divaldo’s camp that Hagen screwed up and was taken off the case. Divaldo is furious his plan failed. Realizing Sophie will be unstoppable once Dio manifests her powers, he has given up wooing her, instead issuing a death warrant for her. Divaldo has offered to pay handsomely for her assassination, meaning every demon and possessed human alike will be out to get her soon.”

The news was numbing. “Sal mentioned Divaldo’s operatives are in town, but this...” I didn’t know what to think.

Dad nodded. “This isn’t our regular cakewalk. Divaldo’s followers are bolder and more vulgar than ever. Danny York spotted an operative scoping out Brightman’s campus this week. Normally, Divaldo’s operatives are easily spooked and run away, but no sooner had York called the sighting into PORTAL headquarters when the guy attacked him.”

“Isn’t York the agent who’s undercover as a Brightman security guard?”

“Yes. On the recorded phone call, he said the operative wore a black hooded coat, preventing York from seeing his face.”

“The guy Hagen met at the bar?”

“Yes. York was found unconscious, badly beaten with broken legs. He’s now in a coma at PORTAL’s hospital. Elizabeth Berg and Joe Delores didn’t fare as well, disappearing shortly after York’s attack. It’s a distinct message, Rett. One by one, people who are protecting Sophie are being targeted and taken out.”

“But what would Divaldo want with an English teacher and a math teacher?”

“They’re PORTAL agents, Rett,” Dad said matter-of-factly.

“I didn’t know.”

“Which is why I’m so up in arms about you avoiding distractions. This assignment is bigger than you. Agents put in play aren’t told of the other players involved in order to safeguard PORTAL strategies. This way, if anyone is captured, they only know a piece of the puzzle.”

“I understand. You’re right,” I said. “What should I do next?”

“That’s why I came here. As we speak, Jenny Bentley is doing surveillance in the bar. She reported that Hagen is thoroughly drunk. She’s going to lure him out so we can arrest him and take him back to headquarters for questioning. Hagen knows he’s dead if he ever returns to Divaldo, meaning there couldn’t be a better time to catch him. He’s probably emotionally compromised over failing Divaldo and his camp turning against him.”

“You’re right. And good call putting Jenny in.” She was a beautiful, unexpectedly-lethal, twenty-something red head. If anyone could get the job done, she could.

“Yeah, but Rett, she’s never failed a mission, meaning she and Hagen will be walking out those doors within minutes. Unless you plan on spilling the beans to Sophie, or worse, explaining to Sal why Hagen got to Sophie and killed her, I suggest you get her out of here now.”

Realizing the danger we were in, I immediately ran to the table. “Another snowstorm is on its way,” I said. The girls looked up, startled. “We need to leave now.” Sensing the urgency in my voice, they clambered up with confused expressions, grabbing their coats and gathering food. “There’s no time. Leave it,” I barked, already headed for the door.

We were out of the restaurant in a matter of seconds and nearly to my Trailblazer when…

“Wait! Is that Hagen’s truck?” Sophie asked.

We turned to see Hagen’s unmistakable big, black truck with the “VIOL8R” license plate parked near the bar Dad had pointed. As if on cue, Hagen stumbled out of the bar with his arm around Jenny’s waist.

This isn’t happening!

I froze. Dumbfounded. Stunned. Nonplussed. I could only imagine how this looked to Sophie, or to Mia as she didn’t know Jenny so wasn’t aware we were in the middle of a PORTAL takedown. A palpable tension hung in the air only accompanied by Jenny’s fake giggles as she walked Hagen towards two very large PORTAL agents hidden in shadows just around the corner. Thoroughly distracted, Hagen was oblivious of the agent silently easing up behind him, dressed all in black with his gun drawn.

Time slowed as the scene played out before me. I looked to my right and saw Mia frozen with a disgusted sneer, her eyes glued to the scene ahead. To my left, Sophie’s expression was more anger and sadness than shock.