EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) (44 page)

“Why didn’t Dad come home with you?” I wondered. I was so wrapped up in being angry
at her that I forgot to ask where Dad was.

“Before the hospital
releases him, he must be examined by the doctor. The doctor hasn’t made his rounds yet this morning. I came home to shower and change. I’ll call and let you know what’s going on as soon as I know.”

The minute she left, I called Daniel and he came right over. I swung the door open and his smile warmed me all over. He must have just gotten out of the shower because as he kissed me, his wet hair touched my forehead.

“It was nice having you with me all night,” I said happily.

“I was thinking about you all morning,” he said, as he kissed me quickly. “What happened with your mom? I took a quick shower so I didn’t eavesdrop.”

“She was angry, but she calmed down after Lily told her we asked you to stay.”

“I’m glad. I really don’t want to upset your parents.”

“Neither do I,” I admitted, even when they annoyed me.

We sat on the couch and Daniel said, “I have to tell you something.”

“Is it bad?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not sure, but we have a problem. The Laura Burke we met the night Amber went missing wasn’t the real Laura Burke. The real Burkes have been in California all month visiting their daughter who just had a
baby.”

“What?
Who was she?”

“We have no idea.
She must have put that tracker in Amber.”

“I can’t believe this!”

“James is checking all the surveillance footage. Maybe we can get her license plate and track her that way.”

“How about that man that grabbed me yesterday?” I asked. “Did you find anything out?”

“Yes, his name is Gilles Barnes. We’ll ask him about that woman today and see if he’ll tell us who she really is. We have to find her and find out how she got that tracker from the future”

“What else did he tell you?”

“Basically, it’s what the agency suspected. This involves a terrorist group called Chakir. Since they need to fund this attack, this is all about money and access to it. The terrorists are looking for the banking information for close to ten billion dollars. Only three people were given the information to access the account. One of the three men, Omar, a chemical engineer, works in the technology division at a French firm and your dad is their attorney on a lawsuit. Omar put the banking information in some files involving the lawsuit and for some bizarre reason he put the data in three separate envelopes. Omar’s new secretary sent the files to your dad’s New York office by mistake.” Probably the same one that called us early that morning, I thought.

“When Omar asked for the file, she told him that she sent it to New York. When Emir, the leader of the group, called for the information to transfer the funds, Omar had to tell him what happened. Since Omar was no longer useful, Emir had him killed after first torturing him to make sure he wasn’t lying and trying to steal the funds for himself.”

Even though I was still shocked by all the brutality, a part of me was getting numb. “Why didn’t Emir just go to the other two men, get the information and access the account?”

“When they heard that Omar was killed, Gilbert and Farid thought they were next and went into hiding. Emir got two teams together to handle the problem. One group is searching for Gilbert and Farid, while Gilles and his group tracked down the envelopes in New York. Gilles paid someone at the law firm to get the files out.”

“Who?”

“A file clerk named Todd Madison.”

“I can’t believe it. He’s so nice,” I said shocked. I would have never suspected him. He seemed so nerdy, but maybe they threatened him. “How did he do it?”

“Todd labeled all the files that your dad worked on by number and sent them one by one to your apartment by messenger whether your dad asked for them or not. Gilles would be told and he’d meet the messenger to search through the package. If your dad hadn’t requested the file, the messenger brought the file back to Todd. When Todd told Gilles that there were no more files, they knew something was wrong since they only found one envelope. Todd overheard Sonia ask you to take
files home. He realized that there were files in your dad’s office that he didn’t have access to and he alerted Gilles. That was the day in the park that I stopped them. Eventually, you gave them that envelope. There’s still one piece missing of the password in the third envelope to access the bank account.”

“
How did the information get into more than one file?”

“I don’t know. Maybe somebody in New York was working or looking through files and didn’t know where the envelopes belonged and just stuck them wherever. Even if they had looked inside the envelopes, it wouldn’t have made any sense
.

“Did catching Gilles change anything?”

“One of the agents went into the future and the attack still happens. Even if they don’t find the envelope, they eventually find one of those two men, get the money and proceed with the attack. If they find that last envelope, it happens sooner. Without the envelope, the attack is put off by six months. At least, we know what we have to do, but we need the information to access that ten billion dollars.”

“Where did all the money come from?”

“Gilbert worked for a French bank and stole the money in a trading ponzi scheme. He put the funds in a Swiss account, but Emir wanted the money moved to Singapore and called Gilbert, who was on a flight to China and was unreachable. That’s when Emir called Omar to transfer the funds and… the rest of the story you know.”

“
Don’t most people put their money in Swiss banks? Why did they move it?”

“With new laws to counter money laundering, they got worried. Switzerland has been participating in joint task forces that target the financing of
Al-Qaeda terrorist cells. Switzerland has helped find and freeze these assets. That’s why the group decided to move the funds to Andorra. It’s getting harder to hide ill-gotten money because a lot of countries are working together now. Singapore is now the most enticing for crooks and offers depositors privacy and protection because of the changes made in the Swiss bank secrecy protocol. In order to promote itself, Singapore now imposes steep fines and long jail sentences for personnel who leak information to international authorities.”

“But why wouldn’t Emir know the banking information? It doesn’t make any sense,” I said.

“I have no idea. Perhaps it was a good faith gesture to show the men he trusted them or he didn’t put his name on the account, so that the stolen money wouldn’t trace back to him.”

“W
hat happens now?” I asked.

“James sent agents to look for those two men.”

“It was Gilbert and who was the other man?”

“Farid. He’s a nuclear physicist and works for a French nuclear company. Gilles said that Emir is desperate to find him not only for the banking data, but for his expertise to help in the nuclear attack.”

My cell rang and it was Mom. “Sweetie, I don’t have time to come back to get you. I’ll meet you at the doctor’s office.”

“Okay, I’ll leave now.” I went in the kitchen and got the address.

“I’ll have a car take us over,” Daniel said as I came back and texted on his cell.

“How about you just drop me off at the
building? I’m not sure how Mom will be.”

“I’ll deal with it. I’m not leaving you alone until this is solved.”

“Okay, it’s your funeral,” I said jokingly, but was glad he was coming.

Sure enough, as
we entered the office, Mom looked livid when she saw Daniel. Rising from her chair, she beckoned me to follow her into the hallway.

“I really don’t understand what’s going on. Why are you two always together?” she whispered to me. I didn’t answe
r her because a group of people got off the elevator and were standing staring at a directory. I walked back into the waiting room and sat down next to Daniel.

Mom walked over and said, “Daniel, I don’t want to find you in Paige’s bed again. Do you understand me?” Thank goodness no one was sitting nearby to hear her.

“Yes, I do. I’m sorry. I should’ve had Paige call you.” Why was he being nice to her?

“Mom, please stop being so rude,” I snapped.

“Watch your tone, Paige,” she said threateningly.

“You’re not being fair. I already told you it wasn’t Daniel’s fault and the reason we’re together is
that he’s my boyfriend.”

Daniel looked embarrassed and tried to hush me. “Paige, stop.”

Mom looked furious, but instead of yelling at me, she walked away and sat far way from us.

“I suggest you stop fighting with her
unless you want to get grounded,” Daniel advised.

“I know, but
I was so angry that I couldn’t help myself.”

We waited almost thirty minutes before my name was called.

Daniel squeezed my hand and said, “I’ll be right here when you come out.” Hopefully, no one on the doctor’s staff wanted to kill me except for my mother.

As Mom and I entered, she said under her breath, “We’ll talk about your behavior later.”

I knew I should apologize. “I’m sorry about before Mom.” She didn’t say anything.

After examining my arm, Dr. Weston said he wanted to see me in three weeks.

“We’re leaving for Europe this Saturday. I’ll see you when I get back,” I said.

After we walked out, Mom said, “We can’t go. Dad can’t fly because of his concussion.”

“Poor Dad, but I just can’t believe this. My trip to London has now been canceled three times. Nana’s leg, my arm and now Dad’s concussion.”

“I
know. It’s been a crazy summer,” Mom agreed.

Daniel was reading a newspaper and when he saw my sad face, asked, “Are you okay?

“I’m fine, but we’re not going to London. Dad can’t fly because of his concussion.”

“We’ll go another time. There’s no other option,” Mom answered. “I have to get back to the hospital to get your father. Please walk Amber when you get home.”

After
we walked Amber, we sat in the living room to wait for Dad. Almost an hour later when they hadn’t shown up, I called Mom, but her cell was off. Mom finally called and said that Dad was exhibiting memory loss and they were keeping him another day.

I
hung up and turned to Daniel. He heard what was going on. “What if he has brain damage?”

“
He’s probably okay. They just want to be safe.” Daniel held me while we sat on the couch.

“Can you check
Dad’s condition in the future? If he’s going to be okay?”

“I’ll
see if I can, but James might not allow it.”

As if on cue, my house phone started ringing. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“Just answer it.”

“No…okay.” I relented.
I had no choice, but it felt good to refuse, if only for a moment.

“Hello?” I answered nervously.

“We need that envelope,” a gruff man’s voice barked.

“I’m looking for it
, but I can’t find it.”

“You have till Friday. After that there will be problems for you and your family.” Tears streamed down my face as I dropped the phone.

“How do they know I’m home alone? If they’re outside, don’t you see them?”

“We have no idea where they are? We think they might be in one of the apartments across the street?”

“I can’t handle this anymore,” I said and started to cry.

“It’ll be okay, calm down.”

“You don’t know that, things keep changing and no one’s safe.” Keys were jingling in the lock and Mom entered to find me hysterical.

“What’s going on?” she asked and looked at Daniel accusingly.

“I’m worried about Dad,” I said honestly.

“The doctor said it’ll take
time, but he’ll be fine,” she said and started to head upstairs.

“
Thank goodness. Are you going back to the hospital?” I asked.

“In a little while. Martin is with him now. Do
you want to come back with me?”

“
We’ll walk over later.” I realized quickly that was the wrong answer.

Mom stopped on the stairs and glowered down at me. “You can go see your father alone.”

“Yes Paige, it’s not necessary that I go,” added Daniel.

“Please come and wait for me outside,” I
said. Little did she know, he’d be there whether he was asked or not.

“Can I speak to you upsta
irs, please?” she asked curtly.

Daniel stood up and said, “I need to go. Call me later.”

I walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye. I turned to find Mom watching me with a worried expression. Now that Daniel was gone, she came back downstairs.

“This is getting ridiculous. That boy is always around. Don’t get me wrong, I like him
, but this is all too much. You two are attached at the hip. Why are you rushing into such a committed relationship? You’re too young.”