Wallace, page 12
“No, I just feel as if I’ve been through enough, so it would have been nice to know what the wages for my skills would have been. Regardless I would still turn you down,” she added, “but …”
“Would it make a difference?” he asked curiously.
She pondered that, then shrugged. “I don’t know if it would or not, money being what it is. I still need to make a living, you know?”
He didn’t say anything to address that. “Since the team itself isn’t up and running, I wouldn’t disclose that detail regarding money anyway,” he shared. Yet he did glance over at Wallace. “However, if you ever want to talk, let me know.”
Wallace snorted. “Right. So, I’m still on the docket, but she’s not?”
Jonas shrugged. “After what she’s been through, I don’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with it,” he conceded. “And maybe it’s the same thing for you. I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel like it’s the same thing.”
“No, maybe not exactly the same, but still I have a certain level of uncertainty,” he added cheerfully.
“So, in the meantime, you don’t want to work for us, I suppose.”
“Nope, not particularly,” Wallace responded.
“If that’s how it is, how about working for Terk?” Jonas asked.
“I’m not sure that Terk needs more people at this point, but, if he does, I would definitely consider that option.”
“Why him and not me?” Jonas protested.
Terk chuckled but otherwise stayed silent.
Wallace replied, “For one thing, I understand where he’s coming from and what he needs done. In your case it’s the government,” he noted, as if that explained away all his insecurities, “and that’s kind of like operating in the dark all the time. It’s not very comfortable for any of us.”
“So what you’re really saying is, you’ve got this problem with government again.”
“Again?” he repeated, chuckling. “I think you’ll find most of us do.”
“Yep, that’s exactly what we’re finding. Most of you do, whether it’s justified or not.”
“Most of us would say it’s fully justified, and most of us would say that anytime the government’s involved, we have to watch out.”
Jonas snorted. “But you do realize, while you can say that, it doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with working for us.”
“Other than the lack of transparency?” Amy added, with a smirk.
They were outside in the parking lot by now. She looked around and suggested, “Why don’t we just meet you at the hospital?”
He nodded. “See you there in ten.” He hopped into his vehicle as they walked over to theirs.
She looked between Wallace and Terk. “Anybody else get that weird feeling?”
Terk immediately nodded this time. “Yep.”
Wallace asked, “But what was it?” He was clearly frustrated, more than any of them. “I got weird vibes off him, but I don’t know what could be there.”
“You really trust him?” she asked Terk again.
He nodded. “I do, and there’s never been any reason not to. So far, it has all been in the clear.”
“How about now though?” she asked, with a wry look. “I don’t think even he’s aware of it.”
Wallace leaned forward and asked with suspicion in his tone, “Is he being tracked?”
“I think so,” Terk stated. “I’m getting a weird buzz every time I’m around Jonas. Somehow we’ll have to get a message to him and let him know that things aren’t copacetic in his world, without triggering him to inadvertently pass that same information to whomever has bugged him.”
“I can’t imagine he’ll be happy to find out that somebody got close enough to get the upper hand on him though,” Amy noted.
“No, of course not, but he would still rather be free of that influence, instead of having to deal with whatever the hell’s going on,” Terk pointed out, looking at her. “When we work with somebody like that, we always try to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
She muttered. “I might have trouble always being the better person.”
“You’re the better person until there’s a reason not to be,” Terk declared instantly. “When that happens, then there’s a reason why, and we move on.” They all piled in Terk’s rig, as he drove them to the hospital. After he parked, he turned and nodded at them. “I presume you guys want to talk to the patient on your own.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “And since you have a rapport with Jonas, you need to talk to him.”
Terk nodded. “Yeah, I do. I just don’t know that I want to do it the easy way.”
“Because there is no easy way with him,” Wallace stated, with a nod. “Telepathic communication is one thing, for those of us who at least have some idea of what the hell’s going on. However, to work your way into somebody’s cognitive senses when they haven’t had any training—or worse, someone so skeptical as Jonas—that’s a whole different story.” Wallace smirked at Terk. “You could just write him a note instead.”
“I was considering that,” Terk admitted, with a sigh. “It’s probably faster to do it that way, but it would be a lot more fun to scare the crap out of him.”
With everybody still laughing, Wallace and Amy headed into the hospital, leaving Terk behind to catch up with Jonas. Once inside, the two walked toward the patient’s room.
She asked Wallace, “What’s his name?”
“It’s Wallace as well, but that’s his last name,” he explained. “That was part of the confusion. It’s Gerry Wallace, if I remember correctly.”
“Poor man,” she murmured.
As they got closer, they found a guard standing outside the room. As soon as Wallace identified himself and pulled out his ID, they were allowed to enter.
“I’m glad they’re looking after him at least,” Amy pointed out. “It seems he’s been given the short end of the stick.” As they stepped inside, the young man was sleeping. Hesitating at the doorway, she looked at Wallace. “Should we wake him?”
At that, the other man opened his eyes and stared at them. “Do I know you?” he asked in confusion.
She shook her head. “No, but this is the Wallace who you were mistaken for.”
He studied Wallace, then nodded. “We have met then, but I don’t remember much of that right now. We have a similar body type too.”
“I was thinking that,” Wallace added, as he walked closer. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t say I’m terribly impressed either. It’s one thing to be punished for shit you’ve done, but another thing to be grabbed for somebody else’s folly,” he shared, with half a smile. “I’m Gerry Wallace, by the way.”
“And I’m Wallace Cremayne,” Wallace replied with a smile, as he reached out a hand. “How’re you doing?”
He shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere soon,” Gerry noted grimly, “but I’m out of that hellhole and alive, so believe me that I’m doing just fine.” Gerry looked over at Amy. “So, if you are with Wallace, then you must be the woman those guys went after too.”
She nodded. “Apparently.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gerry muttered.
“Yeah, they got me too, but Wallace here rescued me.”
At that, Gerry looked at Wallace and smiled. “It sounds as if you’re the man of the hour then.”
Wallace snorted. “I would have much preferred that there hadn’t been any need for the two of you to be rescued in the first place.”
Gerry’s expression lost its humor, and he nodded. “I sure would like to get my hands on those men,” he declared. “When I have the advantage, of course, not them. It’s one thing to beat up somebody when they’re drugged or restrained in some way, but it’s hardly fair or sporting when two or three are against one, who didn’t have a sporting chance to begin with,” he pointed out, with a headshake. “Yet it does make you wonder what they’re used to, … if this is the way they operate.”
Amy grimaced. “I suspect they’re used to taking advantage of people and taking what they want when they want it,” she suggested. “Unfortunately you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Story of my life,” he said, with a cheerful glance in her direction. “Did they hurt you?” he asked in a sympathetic tone.
“They were getting ready to,” she replied carefully. “They wanted to do some weird testing.”
“Right?” he said, shaking his head. “Like what the hell was that all about? I don’t know for sure, but they heard that I was in for a job interview with the government,” Gerry offered. “And they seemed to think it was for some secret spy thing. They kept asking me what I knew and what would I do about this job offer,” he added. “I couldn’t figure that one out. I’d come to town for an interview and felt okay about it, but there had been no talk of any offer. I could use a job as much as the next guy, but I don’t have anything to do with psychics or that sort of thing,” he shared, with a headshake.
“I know, right? Who does?” she asked, with a snort. “Have you spoken to the government yet?”
“Yeah, I’ve had all kinds of police in here,” he replied, “including government police, whatever the hell that means. At least as near as I could tell, MI5 was here, plus somebody else named Jonas was here earlier.”
“Yeah, he’s on his way up again,” she noted. “We just spoke with him at his office.”
Gerry rolled his eyes at that. “Good for you. I would just as soon stay well away from that sorry lot.”
“Understood,” she muttered, with a smile. She sat on the chair by the bed. “Look. I had a very different experience at their hands because I wasn’t there very long, but I just wondered if you had any idea or overheard anything that would help us figure out who these guys were, what they were after, who they were working for, or anything along that line. I’m just afraid that they’re not done and are planning on coming back after us.”
At that, Gerry shifted in alarm. “They better not,” he wailed. “Jesus, I hadn’t even considered that.” He stared at her and then shook his head frantically. “I’m a sitting duck in here. I really don’t need them coming back after me.”
“I’m not sure it’s you that they would come back after, rather than Wallace here, but, in my case, the torture wasn’t complete,” she shared, with a grimace. “So, I don’t know what it is that they were truly after, and I don’t know what it’ll take to get them off my case.”
Gerry sat back slightly, relaxed a little more, and nodded. “That’s quite true. They got rid of me fast. I couldn’t even fake being psychic, if that’s what they were looking for.” He shrugged. “How does one even deal with that shit?” He looked over at Wallace. “If they haven’t tried to recapture me yet,” he suggested, “chances are they’re really after you.”
Wallace nodded. “Believe me that’s on my mind.”
“Yeah, it would be,” Gerry confirmed, but with obvious relief he felt he was off the hook. He turned to Amy. “I don’t know what to tell you about my experience with them. I felt lost most of the time that I actually remember, as if I wasn’t cognitively aware of most of it.” He shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I was drugged for a large portion of my visit. Then they kept asking me questions about something called remote viewing, plus ESP. and stuff like that,” he shared, with a headshake. “That’s not my field at all, so I don’t know where they got the idea that they should even be talking to me about it. Of course they weren’t talking to me. They thought they were talking to you.” Gerry pointed to Wallace, with a nod. “Do you do any of that stuff?” he asked, looking at Wallace with suspicion and a mixture of fear.
Wallace shook his head. “No. There was talk within MI6 about setting up some remote viewing team, like they had in the Cold War,” he explained, knowing he had to give something to get something here. “Yet I’m not sure how these kidnappers got hold of that information.”
“One did talk to somebody on the phone.”
“What was his name? The caller or the guy on the other end?”
Gerry pondered that for a moment. “I forgot until just now when you asked me that. They were talking about somebody having information, or at least some of the information shifting,” he began, as he stared off in the distance. “I want to say, Dominic, but I don’t know for sure.” He closed his eyes in pain and shifted uneasily. “It was all pretty blurry.”
“Any idea what the context was?” she asked, studying him closely. “Was it during a phone call, and your guard mentioned something like, Okay, Dominic, thanks, or was it more like, Talk to Dominic or …”
“It was about Dominic bringing something—or more like he’s found new information—something like that.” Gerry shrugged. “Again, really not my thing, and, as I told you, I was pretty damn out of it.”
Amy grinned. “You did great. I’m not sure it’s really anybody’s thing though,” she clarified, with a smirk. “When you think about it, this group had caused a lot of headaches.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” Gerry yawned just then. “I really just want to go home.”
“Where’s home?” Wallace asked curiously.
“Brighton,” he replied. “I want to go back to my mates and forget this ever happened. I wish I could tell them, but it’s not as if they’ll believe me anyway.”
“You’re probably better off not talking about it,” Wallace suggested. “Not only will your friends probably not understand, but you don’t want word getting back to these guys that you’re talking about them and maybe could identify them.”
Visibly paling and sinking back into the hospital bed, Gerry stared at him and swallowed hard, nodding several times. “That sounds like good advice. The last thing I want is these guys coming back, thinking that I ratted on them.” He shook his head, then looked over at Amy. “They’re really scary.”
She nodded. “You’re right. They aren’t people I ever want to see again either.”
Wallace reached out a hand and squeezed hers. “That’s why we’re here,” he noted. “We’re trying to figure out who these guys are and confirm they don’t come back after any of us again. Not ever again.”
“Yeah, well, I hope all you guys just lose my name and number,” Gerry added. “I don’t know whether you did something to attract their attention or not,” he said, “but, from my point of view, it would be great if you could just keep me out of it.”
Amy smiled. “You were never intended to be in it in the first place.”
“Yeah, I know, but somehow that’s not bringing me much comfort right now.”
“Have you had any other visitors?” she asked curiously.
“No, and I haven’t told anybody I’m here. I’m not sure anybody even knew I was missing, and I wasn’t gone all that long, so they probably thought I was off on a bender.” He sighed. “Believe me that I do want to go on a bender, but considering I was drinking at the pub when I was picked up by these lunatics, that’s the last thing I feel like doing right now.”
Amy nodded. “I agree and totally understand,” she replied. “I can’t say that would be anything I would want to go back to myself.”
“Yeah, it might have been the last drinking binge I ever go on,” Gerry noted, with feeling. “So, maybe something good came out of this after all.”
Amy watched as Gerry was starting to look tired and worn down. So she got up to head out. “Thank you for speaking with us. I know you probably didn’t want to, but you did. So, thanks for that.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, if I remember anything else, I’ll contact you.”
At that, Wallace handed over his phone number. “If you do remember anything, please contact us. And, if you need anything, I’ll be there. I really don’t want to end up in their clutches, and I don’t want Amy here to get caught up in it again either.”
Gerry winced at that. “No, you do whatever it takes to avoid them. They’re just asshole enough that I could see them torturing the both of you.”
She nodded. “I didn’t get the impression that they gave a shit about anybody except themselves, so, yeah, any information you can come up with would be a huge help.” She gave Gerry a wave, stepped out into the hallway, looked at the guard, and asked, “Anybody else been here?”
He shook his head. “Just MI6.”
“No MI5?”
He frowned at her, then shook his head. “No.” His tone was not very friendly.
“Okay,” she muttered. “I’m a little worried about his kidnappers coming back after him.”
“And yet we aren’t expecting it, are we?” the guard asked curiously. “The kidnappers seemingly got what they could from him and dumped him.”
“That’s our impression, but he just remembered a name,” she shared. “If the kidnappers find that out? … Well, all bets are off.”
He looked back at the door to Gerry’s hospital room.
When Wallace joined them, the guard added, “Poor bugger, it’s one thing to get beat up for shit you did, but it’s another to get beat up for somebody else’s shit.”
She smiled at him. “That’s what we were just saying. It sucks to be him right now.”
“Absolutely.”
With a wave of her hand, she headed off toward the parking lot, Wallace right behind her. As they headed down the stairwell, he asked her in concern, “Are you okay?”
“I am,” she replied, “but it still feels as if something’s very wrong in all of this.”
“Yeah, but what could be wrong here? Have you got a reason why that would be?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t, and that’s the problem. … I feel as if I’m in a holding pattern, as if I’m just waiting for the kidnappers to come back after us. Nothing worse than that, you know?”
“Let’s connect with Terk and see if he’s got any information.”
As they headed out to the parking lot, she looked around. “I see no sign of him.”
Wallace nodded. “I’m not sure I would expect him to be waiting in the parking lot anyway.”
She hesitated. “They wouldn’t go after him, would they? The kidnappers?”
