Girl Undercover 8 & 9: Traitor & The Smiley Killer (7 page)

“Well, that explains all the blood stains in the apartment,” Ian said to me.

“Yeah, it sure does,” I said to him, then faced Nadja. “So, to conclude, Burt’s execution of you was interrupted by this drive-by shooting. I think it’s safe to say that it was some kind of gang settlement.” I glanced at Ian and he nodded.

“Yes, I can’t see what else it could have been,” he agreed.

“You told me you were undercover at the club,” Nadja said, looking at me. “What are you investigating? These people? The governor and the senator? They’re involved in something
majorly
crooked, that’s for sure.”

“Um, kind of,” I replied, not sure how to answer her question. Part of me wanted to tell her the truth—that I’d come to investigate my husband’s murder and that I’d done so without the permission of my superiors. But another part wanted to tell her what that had led to—the discovery of a secret, worldwide conspiracy that was in the process of changing the world as we knew it by filling it up with super humans and getting rid of the others. The ones who weren’t deemed good enough to be allowed to live. But first the “sub-standard” people would be used as slaves or for experiments. How did you tell someone something like that? I knew myself just how hard it was to buy a truth as extreme as that. You just didn’t. At least not until the evidence was so ample that you simply couldn’t ignore it any longer.

“Kind of?” Nadja asked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think we need to get off here,” Ian said then, rescuing me from having to explain myself further right then. He got to his feet and motioned for us to do the same. The train slowed as it entered a station in midtown and then came to a full stop. I got to my feet and so did Nadja. Ian grabbed hold of both of us, ushering us toward one of the train’s exits. Soon, the three of us were walking on the platform, mingling with the other subway riders who had just left the train, surprisingly many considering that it was ten o’clock a weekday night.

“Where are we going?” Nadja wanted to know.

“For now, let’s just go to a diner or something where we can continue our conversation,” Ian said. He smiled at Nadja. “You must be starving.”

Nadja returned his smile. “Actually, I’m not, but I’d better eat something anyway.”

We left the subway station and came up on Lexington Avenue and forty-second street, which told me we were close to Grand Central Station. Ian spotted a cheap-looking diner at the other side of the street, so we walked over there and entered. The hostess showed us to a booth where we slid in, grabbing the menus the girl placed in front of each of us before she left the table. A busboy instantly showed up and filled our glasses with ice water.

Ian placed two cell phones on the table, regarding them.

“That must be Burt’s phone,” I said, pointing at the iPhone with the blood flecks on it.

“Yes,” Ian replied. “After hearing what Nadja here just told us, I’m really wondering how that phone ended up under the living room couch.”

Nadja stared at Burt’s phone as if hypnotized. “That’s where you found his phone?”

“Yes,” Ian replied, glancing at Nadja. “If it hadn’t been for that phone being in that apartment, we would never have found you. We were trying to find Burt by locating his cell phone.” He explained how he had software installed in his tablet that allowed him to track the location of cell phones.

“Wow,” Nadja said, looking up at him, impressed. “Thank
God
you were looking for him. If not, I would surely have died. If not by them, then from my insulin dropping. So thank you. I don’t think I ever did thank either of you for saving me.” She glanced at me and Ian with reverent eyes.

“You’re welcome,” Ian said. “We were just doing our job. Unfortunately, your life is still in danger. You now know too much and as soon as they see that you’ve escaped, they’ll be coming after you. Not Burt, but someone else. And they’ll kill you immediately.”

Nadja’s slanted eyes widened with fear this time and she swallowed. “Really?”

“Yes,” Ian confirmed. A male waiter appeared at our table then, asking us if we were ready to order.

Ian glanced at me and Nadja. “Are you?” he asked. “I know what I want.”

“Me too,” I said, looking at Nadja, who told us to go ahead and order and then she’d be ready. I ordered a tuna melt and coffee and Ian got a chicken sandwich and a Coke. Nadja settled for a Diet Sprite and a pasta dish.

As soon as the waiter had left, Nadja turned to Ian. “What do you mean by me knowing too much? All I know is that they’re crazy crooks. Can you please explain?”

I glanced at Ian, not envying the position he was in. But I’d rather he explain the disaster that was facing us than me.

“You were correct in assuming that Senator Easton and Governor Chatterly are involved in something really crooked,” he said. “Though the word ‘crooked’ is not anywhere near an accurate description of what they’re involved in. Not even ‘majorly crooked,’ like you put it. What they’re involved in is much, much worse than something that could ever be deemed majorly crooked. They’re part of a conspiracy on a worldwide level.”

Nadja seemed to take what Ian was saying pretty well because she just nodded and told him to continue.

“To put it simply,” Ian said, “a select part of governments across the world is working with The Adler Group in an attempt to change the world according to their worldview. They’re trying to create a master race in labs and have been doing so for years. Lots of their products are out there already. Human hybrids. Super humans, whatever you like to call them. Some of them are trainers at Nikkei. I’m thinking Burt and Jonah are both hybrid humans.”

Nadja gasped, choking on the water she was currently sipping. I slapped her back lightly as she coughed to get the water out of the wrong pipe. She wiped her mouth with a napkin when she regained control of herself again.

“Human
hybrid?”
she said. “You’re telling me Burt’s not really human then?”

“Well, that depends on how you see it,” Ian said. “What your definition of a human being is. The scientists who have spent decades developing these hybrids would argue that they’re most definitely human. An improved version of the current humans living on earth. To create this improved version, the scientists have used a variety of animal genes. Introduced them in the genes of humans.”

Nadja brought a fist to her mouth and bit it the way she’d done on the train, shock written all over her face. “But how can you—or they—ever claim that these… hybrids or whatever you called them are as human as actual humans if they have animal genes in their system? That would make them part animal, wouldn’t it?”

“Again, it depends on how you choose to view it,” Ian said and had a swallow of the Coke the waiter had placed before him. “The human species is constantly evolving. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that we were all just a bunch of apes. Who knows what we’ll end up like in another ten thousand years?” He smiled. “That is, if we haven’t managed to make ourselves extinct through wars or natural disasters first. Anyway, the scientists and the people ordering them to produce these new humans would likely just argue that they’re speeding up natural evolution. Perfecting the human species by creating these super humans.”

“You really think Burt’s a hybrid?” I asked Ian while Nadja just sat there, looking like she was still trying to digest all the craziness that she’d just heard. I didn’t envy her position.

“Yes, don’t you?” Ian replied. “That would explain why he was with them in that room and why they wanted him to kill Nadja. When they found out that he was dating Nadja, they had reason to believe he was no longer faithful to their cause.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because he chose to date a woman with diabetes. According to their twisted worldview, dating someone with a serious disease like Nadja would be a huge no-no for a hybrid. They’re trying to weed out people with such genetic flaws, not help them to continue to exist.” Ian glanced at Nadja, who was becoming increasingly pale. “Sorry to be so blunt, Nadja. This is obviously not the way
I
think. I’m just trying to give you both a good idea of how these maniacs think.”

“Yes. Yes, of course,” she mumbled.

“Do you see what I’m getting at?” Ian asked me. “I definitely think Burt’s a hybrid now.”

“Yeah, I do,” I replied and poured some sugar into my coffee. As I stirred it, I thought of how Burt had those strange, snake-like eyes that I had always assumed was due to him having a penchant for wearing odd, different-colored contact lenses. He was in a rock band after all, or used to be. I think he told me they were contacts at one point.

Were those not actual contacts then?

If Ian was correct, they were likely his real eyes.

Chapter 6

None of us ate with much appetite when the food arrived. Not even Nadja, who hadn’t eaten anything in a long time. She just nibbled on her pasta, chewing each piece she stuck in her mouth slowly and thoroughly.

“So what’s your take on Burt’s phone being in the apartment?” I asked Ian. “It’s so odd the way it was placed under the couch.” I squeezed my lower lips together as I pictured Burt’s phone. “Though I guess it
is
possible that it just ended up in that position. You know, if it was dropped...”

Ian fixed his eyes on me, staring quietly for a moment. Then the corners of his mouth went up in a smile. “That’s exactly it, Gabi. It must have been
placed
under the couch, not dropped there.”

Nadja looked at me. “Gabi? Isn’t your name Jamie?”

I threw her a quick glance. “My real name is Gabi Longoria. Jamie is the name I use while undercover.” I faced Ian again, returning his smile. “I think you’re right, Ian. The phone was probably placed there at some point. And my guess is that Burt himself placed it there in that case.”

“Of course,” Ian said and had a sip of his Coke. “It’s his phone.”

“The question is, why would he do that?” I pointed out.

“To find his way back to the apartment and rescue Nadja,” Ian said. “Maybe he didn’t know where the place was located and wanted to be sure he’d be able to find it again. He could do that by tracking his own phone. There’s plenty of software out there that would allow you to do so fairly easily. All you need is a computer that you sync your phone with.”

I nodded slowly, liking what I was hearing. “Yes… That must be what he did. On his way out of the apartment, he somehow managed to hide the phone under the couch in the hopes of being able to get back there and save Nadja.” What I had just said sounded exactly like something the Burt I used to know would do, hybrid or no hybrid. He could never shoot an innocent woman to death if he could help it. I felt a pleased smile spread over my lips.

Nadja grabbed my arm and squeezed it. “Oh, God, I
so
hope you guys are right. That would mean Burt really didn’t want to kill me.”

“I’m sure Burt never wanted to kill you,” Ian said, taking the words out of my mouth. “He would never have dated you in the first place if he did. They just wanted to see him do it to be sure they could trust him.” Ian narrowed his eyes and cupped his chin, tapping his nose lightly with his index finger. “Which leads me to wonder just how many of the hybrids are having doubts about Adler’s plan… or are simply disagreeing with it. It sure seems that Burt does.”

“Adler?” Nadja inserted. “Are you talking about The Adler Group as in the one that’s the owners of Nikkei? The real estate company? You said something about The Adler Group before. That they were involved in this conspiracy.” She looked at me.

“Yep,” I said, “that’s exactly what we’re talking about. They are the masterminds behind all of this. Well, their CEO. It’s complicated.”

Nadja shook her head in disbelief. “Oh, my God… This is so crazy. Do you think lots of the trainers are hybrids then? A lot of the new ones seem way too perfect for it to be normal.”

Nadja was part of the old crew of membership sales advisors, having worked at Nikkei during my first stint undercover.

“Yes, we do,” I said. “And I also think that at least Rolf, the fitness manager, is involved in the conspiracy. Who knows who else in management is? It wouldn’t surprise me if Richard is, too.”

“Is Richard the tall, olive-skinned, black-haired man who always dresses in dark suits with bright-colored ties?” Ian wanted to know. “Loves black dress shirts?”

“Yes, that’s him,” I said. “He’s either Arab or Latino. I can’t tell.”

Ian raised his chicken sandwich to his mouth. “He’s definitely in on it. As good-looking as he is, he might even be a hybrid.”

“Yes, maybe.” My smartphone vibrated with an incoming text then. I reached for it in my pocket and lost whatever appetite I had when I saw who had contacted me.
Jonah.

“Jonah?” Ian asked, one brow arched inquisitively.

I grimaced. “Yes, of course. He wants to know how the studying is going.” I sighed and typed Jonah a quick response, saying I was super immersed in it. Which I hoped should be enough of a hint even for someone like him to figure out that he needed to leave me alone for a while.

“So what do we do now?” Nadja asked. “You said they were going to kill me now because I know too much. What am I supposed to do?”

“You’re going to have to go into hiding,” Ian said.

“You mean the FBI or something will put me in the Witness Protection Program then?” she asked.

Ian exhaled and shook his head. “No, it’s best we don’t involve the FBI at this time.”

Nadja stared at him. “Really? Why not? I’m not that familiar with how law enforcement works, but it sure seems this conspiracy thing is big enough to be a federal issue.”

“You’re absolutely correct that it’s big enough,” Ian said, his voice bitter. “Like I told you, it’s
worldwide.
Unfortunately, parts of the FBI are involved in the conspiracy, too. I’m not sure how big the parts are, nor do I know exactly who’s dirty and who’s not. I used to be a federal agent up until discovering what The Adler Group was up to. I was undercover in Europe at the time. I told my supervisor at the D.C. Bureau about stumbling upon strange labs and people in Switzerland.”