Angels Mark (The Serena Wilcox Dystopian Trilogy Book 1)

Angels Mark Chapter 17

17

As William’s five men watched the three vehicles, one of them reported back that everyone was accounted for. The response: Orders are to leave no witnesses. All eyes were trained on the targets; two of the less fortunate assassins were assigned to keep their scopes on the most volatile and least physically attractive witness Clyde Tracy.

Clyde hugged himself tightly, as close as he would ever get to being embraced by another person. This was the highlight of his entire life: the fate of the world was up to Clyde. He had always known that this was his destiny. Everything he had ever done in his life was worth it, for this very moment, one of few moments he had left here on this earth. He would have done it all over again.

Clyde was with President Kinji’s new covert A Team, to oversee the install of Angels Mark and the re-insertion of the modified Identity Chip under Bryce’s skin. He watched the testing of the chip, and gave it his approval. He nodded authoritatively toward President Kinji’s secret service agents. The procedure was complete. He looked with satisfaction at his lab, newly staffed with government suits, buddied up with his teenage hackers: how else could they be brought up to speed on everything so quickly? These kids were having the time of their lives, just as Clyde was. The mood in the lab was buoyant to say the least.

Nancy and Rick were taking lead on the Angels Mark project. Rick said, “We’ll be bringing Bryce back to Chicago now.”

“What about me, about us?” said Paul.

“No, we won’t be needing you,” said Rick.

“Yes you will,” fumed Clyde. “You need someone to analyze the data.”

“We have people who will analyze it. You’re staying here,” said Nancy.

“You can’t take my technology and leave me behind,” said Clyde.

“Someone will be in touch,” said Nancy curtly. She spun on her heels and took Bryce by the arm. Rick took up his other arm. They half-dragged him out of the building even though Bryce was leaving willingly.

“Wait, wait!” called Bryce. The two agents ignored him, so Bryce kept talking, shouting over his shoulder, while Clyde and Paul followed him out the door to catch his every word. “Gustavo, the general, he’s sympathetic to your cause. Talk to him!”

Bryce was pushed into yet another government vehicle and rushed to a secret runway where a small jet was waiting to return him to the White House.

The two brothers went back into the computer lab; Bryce’s parting comments weighing on their minds. Clyde asked Paul, “Where’s that detective lady?”

“Who?”

“Serena what’s-her-name.”

“She’s a detective?”

“She used to be.”

“What do you want her for?”

“My lab is tied up, my hackers are tied up, and besides, they’re watching us.”

“You want her to find the general?”

“They said they don’t need us. We’ll see,” said Clyde defiantly.

“She went home with the rest of her clan. But there’s security on them.”

“We aren’t going to scare her. No reason for security to have their panties in a bunch. Let’s pay her a visit.”

The farmhouse the Meadows family was resting comfortably in was only a few miles from the lab. In less than ten minutes Paul and Clyde were at her doorstep, where they were greeted with suspicion by two secret service agents.