A Chosen Destiny (The Samantha Project Series #3) (11 page)

I shuddered. “Well, that’s never going to happen.”

“Jack, you know that GlobalLife will still test the combined DNA,” Dave said. “They won’t wait. They can’t. Their investors are demanding results. GlobalLife has to make those enhanced genes work.”
 

“The enhanced genes are just part of the plan,” Erik said. “GlobalLife has other plans we haven’t told you about.”

Erik and I described what Drew said about limiting the population, leaving only a select group of people on the planet.

“When Drew talked about it, Owens didn’t seem that surprised,” I said. “He acted like he was on board with the whole thing.”

“He was playing along, Sam,” Dave said. “If he was in on that plan, he wouldn’t have allowed you and Erik to listen in.”

“But Owens didn’t even react when Drew explained it. Doesn’t that seem a little strange? You would think he’d have some kind of reaction.”

Jack motioned for us to get closer so he could lower his voice. “Dave and I were talking earlier and we’re starting to think that we can’t trust Owens. We don’t believe that story he told us about his intent for the genes. And we don’t like the way he’s already made plans for you two to live in his house in Switzerland. And I’m still troubled by the fact that he went to so much work to find Erik. Making that online code game. Getting Luke and Dan involved. Even if Owens didn’t intend to, he got Paul killed. And Dan. And possibly Luke. All in his attempt to get Erik.”

“And Owens lied to me in Minnesota,” Dave added. “He assured me he would have the alien genes by the time you two arrived here in Iceland. He never mentioned your involvement in getting the genes. That makes me wonder what else he’s not telling us.”

“We don’t want to wait around to find out what that is,” Jack said. “We have to get out of Iceland and back to the U.S. But the only way we can do that is with Owens’ help. We need his private plane. GlobalLife is monitoring all commercial flights in and out of here.”

“To make sure we get out of here, Jack and I told Owens that we would help him open those files when we get to New York,” Dave said.

I glanced around to make sure none of Owens’ employees were around. “But we don’t want Owens to get the remaining gene samples. You just said you didn’t trust his plans for them.”

“He won’t get the genes, Sam. Once we locate them, we’ll tell Rachel where they are and she’ll have members of that rebel group she works with retrieve them from GlobalLife. They have people working on the inside. Owens will never get his hands on the genes.”

“But if you agree to this, we’ll have to live in his house with his security people watching everything we do.”

“Rachel is working on getting us a different place to stay. We’ll stay at Owens’ house until she lines that up. If Owens gets upset about us moving, then we’ll refuse to help him with the files.”

“How do we know if we can trust Rachel?” Erik asked. “I mean, she does work for GlobalLife.”

“I trust her more than I trust Owens right now,” Jack said. “Sam. Erik. I want you both to start listening to Owens’ thoughts. Same for Rachel.”

“We already tried that,” I said. “Erik and I tried listening to the thoughts of people here in the building right before Owens’ dinner with Drew. We were just practicing, but we couldn’t hear anything. Owens must have installed one of those brain wave scrambling devices in here.”

“Well, that just proves there’s something going on with him. We need to—” Dave stopped when we heard someone coming in from the parking garage. We went out to the common area and saw Owens talking on his phone.

“I don’t care what you do to him!” he yelled. “Try it on him for all I care!” He put his phone down on the table next to him.

The room got quiet. Owens noticed us, but before he could say anything his phone rang. “Yes,” he answered. “Tomorrow morning? Excellent. What time?” He listened. “That’s early. But good. It will still be dark. And the plane is ready?” He nodded. “Fine. Yes. Very good.”

Owens put his phone away, then took his coat off and set it on a chair. “That was about Brittany.”
 

I immediately feared the worst. “What about her? Is she hurt?”

“My team is getting her tomorrow. Well, they’re attempting to. She’s being moved at 5 in the morning. We’re going to ambush the transport vehicle. It’s very risky. And, well, I’m sorry, Samantha, but this will be our only attempt. We can’t try this again. If we don’t get her now, then—”

“You’ll get her,” I insisted. “You have to.” Part of me wondered why Owens was even trying to rescue Brittany. If he was a bad person, wouldn’t he just forget about her? Maybe Owens wasn’t so bad after all. He
had
saved Erik and me. And now he was trying to save Brittany.

“Where is GlobalLife planning to take her?” Jack asked.

“To their storage facility,” Owens replied. “It’s out in the middle of nowhere. It’s where they keep some of their test animals and supplies.”

“They’re storing her with animals?” I felt tears forming, but fought them back. “Why are they even keeping her? Why don’t they just let her go? They don’t need her.”

“They need her to get to you, Samantha,” Owens said. “They know you’ll give yourself up if it means freeing your sister.”

“Did I hear mention of a plane?” Dave asked.
 

“Yes. We’re all leaving tomorrow afternoon. We’re going to New York. I have my plane ready to go. GlobalLife is stepping up their search efforts. They’ve been checking all commercial flights for Samantha and Erik. I told them I have business in the States and that I’ll be flying out tomorrow. They think it’s just me going. But you’ll all be on the flight.”

“Including Brittany?” I asked.

“If we have her then, yes,” Owens said. “Jack, I got your message about agreeing to help me open those files. I was very happy to hear that. I’ve got the house all set up for you. My security team is already in place. We can talk more on the plane tomorrow.”
 

Owens’ phone rang again. He answered it and disappeared down the hall.

“This is good,” Jack said quietly. “We’ll finally get out of Iceland and back in the U.S. I’m going to go pack up my things.”

Erik went with him. After they left, I turned to Dave. “What if they can’t get Brittany? We can’t leave without her.”

“We might have to, Sam. We can’t stay here. We just have to hope they’re able to get her tomorrow.” He got up to leave. “Do you want me to update Colin?”

“No. I’ll do it. We’re not fighting anymore. He’s playing the friend role now.”

“Okay, honey. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

I went to Colin’s room and knocked on his door. This time he opened it right away.
 

“Hi, Colin. I just wanted to let you know that we’re leaving tomorrow. Owens just told us.”

“That’s good. Do you want to come in?”

He sat on the bed with me rather than across the room. I took it as a sign that he was slightly less angry.
 

“We’re flying out in the afternoon. I don’t know exactly what time, but you should be ready in the morning in case things change.”

“What about Brittany?”
 

“Owens has a plan to get her tomorrow morning when she’s being taken to a new location.”

“What if they don’t get her?”

“The plan is that we’ll still leave. But I can’t do that, Colin. I can’t just leave her behind.”

“You have to, Sam. They’re looking for you and they won’t stop until they find you.”

“They’ll look for me wherever I go. It doesn’t matter where I am.”

“Yes. But this is a small country. And it’s isolated. You’re easy to find here. I’m sure Owens already has a safe place lined up for you to stay.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

I told Colin what we’d learned about Owens and how we thought we could no longer trust him.
 

“So none of you trust him, but you’re all still going where he tells you to go?” Colin asked.

“We’re playing along for now. We’re only staying at his house until we have another place lined up.”

“So where are you guys going?”

“To New York. Why do you keep talking like just some of us are going? We’re all going.”

“No, I’m not going with you guys. I’m going home.”

I stood up to face him. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ll get on the plane with everyone tomorrow, but then I’m going back to Minnesota to be with my family and finish school.”

“Are you crazy? You can’t go back there! GlobalLife is looking for you. You’re not safe.”

“GlobalLife doesn’t need me, Sam.”

“Yes, they do! They’ll use you to get to me again, just like they did in Texas.”

“Then don’t let them. If it happens again, don’t bargain with them. Just let me go.”

“I’d never do that! Now stop talking like this, Colin. You can’t go back to Minnesota.”

“I don’t belong with you guys. I’m not involved in whatever your plan is to take down GlobalLife. Jack, Dave, Erik, you? All of you have a role to play. But I’m stuck sitting around, waiting for it to be over. Like you said back in California, I need to move on with my life. Finish high school. Go to college.”

“And I want you to do those things, Colin, but not now. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’ve made my decision, Sam,” He got up and opened the door, signaling me to leave. “I should start packing my stuff. I’ll see you later.”

I went straight to Dave’s room to tell him about Colin’s decision. Dave didn’t seem at all alarmed by the news. “Well, maybe he
should
go back home, Sam.”
 

“Are you kidding me? Why would you say that? You know GlobalLife will come after him.”

“GlobalLife only cares about you and Erik. I doubt that Colin is even on their radar anymore.”

“But GlobalLife knows I wouldn’t want any harm to come to him. And they’ll use that to get to me. You know they will!”

“That might be true, but Colin is an adult. And if he chooses to go back and live his life, then there isn’t much we can do to stop him.”

“I can’t believe you’re acting this way! I thought you’d be racing to his room to talk him out of it.”

“The only person who could convince him to stick around is you, Sam.”

“But he won’t listen to me.”

“Then you’re not convincing enough.” He walked out the door. “I need to get some paperwork I left in the lab. I’ll see you later.”
 

“That’s it? Aren’t you even going to talk to him about it?” I called after Dave, but he continued down the hall.
 

Later that night, I went to the kitchen and found Colin there.

“I was just going back to my room. I’ll see you in the morning, Sam. What time are they getting Brittany?”

“Around 5 or a little after.”

“Well, I hope everything goes well.” He started to leave.
 

“Wait. Can I ask you something?”

He turned back. “Yeah. What?”

“When they go to get Brittany tomorrow, Owens said we could sit in with the security guys and listen for updates. Would you mind being there with me? Jack and Dave will be there, but I’d really like to have you there, too. I know it’s early so—”

“Sure. I’ll be there. Goodnight.”

I was hoping that Colin would see that I was trying to reach out to him, but he didn’t seem to take it that way. He acted like he wasn’t interested in any attempts at making up. It was like he’d already moved on.

When I went to bed I couldn’t sleep. Owens didn’t go over any details about how they were getting Brittany, which left my mind thinking of a million scenarios for how this could go wrong. If Owens’ team didn’t get her, what would that mean for Brittany? How long would GlobalLife keep her in that storage place? What would happen to her there?

“Sam? You up?”
It was Erik, mind-talking from his room.

“Yes. I’m worried about Brittany.”

“Yeah. Me, too. We all are. My dad didn’t want to act worried around you, but he can’t sleep either.”

“He doesn’t think they’ll get her, does he? On second thought, don’t tell me. Talk about something else.”

“Okay. So I guess this house Owens is making us stay at is in a small town in New York, about an hour from New York City. My dad said the GlobalLife Genetics building is in White Plains, which isn’t too far from the town where we’ll be living.”

“Did he say anything about that group we’re working with?”

“Rachel’s going to introduce us to them when we get to New York. Some of the members have been working undercover at that GlobalLife Genetics building for months and still have no idea where the genes are being stored. So they’re hoping Dave and my dad can help. Some other people from the group are being brought in to help as well. They’ll be temporarily living in the same area where we’ll be staying. Funny, huh? Owens has no clue.”

“You know, I should probably try to sleep a little, Erik.”

“Hey, I heard Colin is flying back to Minnesota once we get to New York.”

“He just said that. He can’t really go back. It’s not like he can get a plane ticket. He doesn’t even have any ID. All his stuff is back in Minnesota.”

“No. He’s definitely going. My dad said that Owens set everything up. He’s going on Owens’ private plane. That’s good, right? Colin can go back to school and be with his family.”

“No! It’s not good, Erik! He won’t be safe.”

“Well, not that we can believe Owens, but he claims GlobalLife isn’t interested in Colin anymore. I guess at that gala, we really convinced everyone that we were a couple. GlobalLife thinks you’ve moved on from Colin. Hey, my dad’s asking me something. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Now I really wouldn’t get any sleep. I had to figure out a way to get Colin to stay. He wouldn’t be safe in Minnesota. And being there would put his family in danger. Why didn’t anyone else get this?
 

At 4:30 the next morning, Colin was knocking on my door. “Hi, Sam. I figured you’d want to get there early and I was up anyway.”

I hugged him, not caring if he didn’t want me to. I needed it. I was so nervous that this wouldn’t go well. Luckily, he hugged me back.