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Chapter Thirteen

Jolie

The days quickly turn into weeks, and we’re still no closer to knowing why Mr Z has so many people at the school. My training is going well. I can now confidently say I can shoot and kill someone at least seventy percent of the time—good enough odds for me.

Today I finally get to meet my uncle, Ziyon. I’ve been growing impatient, wanting to know what he plans. So far, I have been putting in the hard work of getting to know Mr Z and trying to find out what his connection is to the secret organisation in his will. There’s no chance in hell I would hand the company over to a man I have never met. And if he really could take down Mr Z, why hasn’t he done it yet? There are so many unknowns in this situation, and that doesn’t sit well with me.

Brennan drives us to an underground parking garage located in a less than desirable neighbourhood. Apparently, Ziyon doesn’t let more than one of the guys into his house at a time, and that in itself tells me he is scared of them.

After weaving through a few rows, he finds an empty spot and parks. We exit the car simultaneously, and I smooth down my blouse as we walk to what looks like an elevator. Brennan reaches out, placing his hand on a black box off to the side of the metal doors. A beep rings out in the expansive space as it scans his fingers, and the doors slide open. We step inside, and after another scan of his fingers, the elevator jolts, but instead of going up, we move down. When the doors finally slide open, the view of an underground tunnel greets my eyes. It’s nothing fancy, just looks like a large water drain. Our path is only visible because of the torch on Brennan’s phone, which he turned on the second we stepped out.

“We have to walk from here. It’s about one kilometre, so it shouldn’t take us longer than ten minutes.”

“What a load of shit, Brenny. I dressed up for this. These”—I point to my shoes, even though he can’t see them—“are not walking heels,” I complain.

“I did try to warn you that you should have worn more comfortable shoes,” he says as we continue walking, the click clack of my heels echoing through the tunnel.

“Right,” I mutter, rolling my eyes. “Then I couldn’t have worn a power suit and looked like I actually have my shit together. First impressions are important.”

We keep moving forward, and I wonder how many of these underground tunnels exist. It makes sense that someone wanting to not be tracked would go underground where there is no service. Unless we have microchips inside us. If we are viewed as someone’s property, wouldn’t that make sense? Since I was away for years, I would have to presume that I’m not or Mr Z would have brought my ass right back. That makes me wonder... Why hasn’t he chipped us? Does he think he holds that much power over everyone? If he does, his ego must be so damn big.

“Are we microchipped?” I ask.

“Yes. But Marlow managed to hack into our chips, so we have full control and can scramble the signal for a few hours. If Mr Z checks on us, it will look like we’re still in the parking garage. The building is registered as a clothing store, so he will just think we are out shopping.”

“How the hell was I chipped and when?”

“When you first came back. I had to do it at the motel when you were sleeping.”

“How the fuck did I sleep through that?”

“I administered a sedative beforehand—it’s similar to chloroform—then a needle in the back of your neck.”

My hand slides around the back of my neck, feeling for this microchip. If I didn’t know it was there, I wouldn’t have been able to feel it. I shudder as my finger runs over the slight protrusion.

After what feels like hours, we come to a stop at a ladder on the right side of the tunnel.

“This just keeps getting better and better,” I mutter under my breath.

Brennan climbs up first and pushes open a metal grate at the top of the ladder. He pulls himself out as I make my way to the top, then helps me the rest of the way out and closes the grate behind us. I take in my surroundings and see that we’re inside a lavish backyard, with three armed guards pointing their guns at us. I did just say this was getting better . One lowers his gun as he stalks over to us and pats Brennan down. When the guard is satisfied he’s not hiding any weapons, he moves closer to me.

“Now I understand why you came with me.” My words end on a laugh. Chester would lose his damn mind if he could see the way this slimeball is leering at me.

He steps closer and I raise my arms in the air as his meaty hands run over my curves. I restrain from kneeing him in the nose when he gets a little too close to my inner thigh. Once he’s satisfied that neither of us has any weapons, we’re instructed to follow him inside.

The house is absolutely beautiful, reminding me of a Tuscan villa. We are led into a dining area where the mirror image of Mr Z sits sipping a coffee and talking on his phone. We stand and wait while he finishes his conversation in a language that I don’t understand but think could be German.

“Please, sit,” he says, motioning to the empty chairs when he finally ends the call.

Brennan and I take a seat next to each other and opposite him; I want to be able to look him in the eye as we speak. The guards that accompanied us inside fall back far enough to give us privacy.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” I say, and he smiles.

“You look so much like your mother—it’s like I have gone back in time.” He tilts his head to the side, considering me. “Besides the eyes. You get those from our mother.”

“I’ve seen a few pictures of her, and she was beautiful.”

“That she was. Now, Brennan tells me you want to have a discussion with me. I’m sorry that it took so long to arrange this meeting, but I was out of the country on business.”

“That’s totally fine,” I murmur with a wave of my hand. “I don’t want to beat around the bush, though. There are a number of things I think I’m entitled to know, but the most important question is—what is the overall plan? What’s the plan with your brother and why is he still alive? What’s your plan where Olympia and the teams are concerned, and what is your plan regarding me?”

He laughs and leans back in his seat. “All valid questions. My brother is a crazy bastard—to put it lightly. I’ve wanted to make a move for a while, but we needed to know who would get the company after his demise. We recently came into more information on that matter, and I made some calls to the new woman in charge, hence my recent travel. It was not an easy meeting, to say the least. Her and her men were not very forthcoming, and they wanted to meet with you, as you’re the other person listed. I passed along Brennan’s contact details and her assistant will be in touch shortly. We need her to agree to sign the company over if my brother doesn’t change his will first.”

“What do you get out of this?”

“I just want my half of the company back. You’re free to hold the rest of the shares.”

“Okay, but how does it benefit me or mine to give them to you? With all due respect, I don’t know you or what you plan to do.”

“I want it to run how it was originally intended.” He shifts slightly in his chair. “I still believe in what he does, just not how he goes about it. Olympia was created to help, and the medical advancements were supposed to be used for good, but my brother has always been greedy. He felt lining his pockets with cash was more important than the greater good.”

“And how can I trust you?”

“I thought you would say that. Let me show you something.”

He stands from the table and motions for us to follow him. Brennan and I share a look but get up and trail after him. He leads us through the house and down into the basement, where a lone door sits ominously. He pushes it open and steps aside. My mouth hangs open, stunned, as we enter an underground house.

“Melinda, honey.”

I stumble as my mirror image enters the room. Brennan’s arm comes around my waist and catches me before I can fall.

“I...” I don’t understand. How is she alive?

My mother is alive and staring back at me. My body shudders and sweat beads my brow as she steps up beside Ziyon. This can’t be real, can it?

“Hi, I’m Melinda,” she says, offering me her hand.

“Jolie.”

I look at Ziyon for answers. “Melinda... Jolie is your daughter.”

“My daughter?” She frowns. “When did I have a child?” she asks, turning to gaze up at my uncle.

“Eighteen years ago,” he says. “Let me explain.”

He leads us over to a sofa and we all take a seat. Brennan sits next to me, intertwining our fingers and lending me his strength. Melinda sits beside my uncle, and he places his hand on her knee, squeezing it in reassurance.

“A few days before your birth, Jolie, Melinda told my brother she wanted a divorce. He couldn’t handle that and flipped out. She called me crying, afraid for her life. Zacari had told her he would kill her after she gave birth, and he would take the baby and raise it without a mother. There is no way he would have let her come to me, even without you.” He shakes his head. “We had to work fast to make sure she was safe. I still had a few friends within the organisation at the time, so I called the doctor and explained to him what was happening. For the right price, he agreed to induce labour while Zacari was out of town. Melinda was under the watch of a handful of guards when she went to her eight-month checkup, but the doctor was able to excuse them for privacy reasons. Once they left, he explained to Melinda what was going to happen: he was going to induce labour and Zacari would get a call that his wife and child had died. The plan was in place, but what we didn’t know was that he returned early and had a plan of his own. He couldn’t bear to kill her, the guilt of that was obviously eating at him, so instead he wiped her memories. Back then, the drug wasn’t stable, and so far we haven’t found a way to reverse the damage.

“Neither the doctor nor I knew of the memory loss at this stage. At the checkup, the doctor gave Melinda a drip under the guise that she was dehydrated, and labour began. The guards called my brother and when he turned up, the doctor was obviously shocked and called me. We still went along with the plan, only we had no way of taking you without him knowing. My brother was there when you came out, and he whisked you away before we had a chance to stop him. Melinda lost a lot of blood and needed surgery to repair the damage that was done. While she was in the operating theatre, the doctor informed my brother that she didn’t make it. After cutting a deal with the morgue, they wrote a report indicating that they had cremated her. That is why I had this house built, so we could live here away from him and the danger he represents.”

We sit in silence, my mind reeling. What the hell is wrong with Mr Z? We can’t wait much longer; he needs to be taken down, and fast. They have until the end of the year or I’m going to take matters into my own hands. Someone as deranged as him needs to disappear.

“I have a daughter,” Melinda whispers, tears in her eyes. “I’ve always wanted a child.”

“Melinda had some complications with the bleeding after you were born, and she was unable to have any more children.”

“Would you boys mind giving me and Jolie a moment to talk?” Melinda asks, patting my uncle’s hand. Ziyon nods and stands, motioning for Brennan to follow him.

“I’ll give Brennan a tour of our underground paradise.”

Once they leave the room, Melinda moves closer to me and reaches out to take my hand. “This must be a huge shock—I know it is for me.”

I laugh ruefully. “You can say that again. So, you don’t remember anything?”

“I remember waking up after surgery and Ziyon was there. My heart skipped a beat when he first walked into the room, but I didn’t know who he was. He explained I was in danger and he needed to take me to safety. I was sceptical since I had no memory of even meeting him before, so he showed me videos and pictures of us together. One look at the smile I was directing towards him in those photos, and I just felt like I could trust him. I have all the memories from then until now, but what I really want is to know about you and your life. Give me the quick version.” She giggles softly. “And I hope we can spend more time together and get to know each other.”

“For you to fully understand, I’ll have to work backwards for my story. A few months ago, I was brought back into this world, but”—I wave my hand—“that’s a story for another day. As a young teenager, I lost my memory and was hidden away from Mr Z. Before that, I was raised at Olympia and trained to be in his super team. There isn’t much else to tell, really.”

“Were you happy?”

“I think I really was before my memory was taken from me. I was raised by nannies, but my team was always around.”

“And what about now? Are you happy?”

“I’m trying to be. I just lost five people close to me not that long ago and I’m trying to get back to a normal existence without them, but I think other than that, I’m content.”

We spend the next half an hour talking. Melinda asks me questions and I answer them. All the basic things like favourite colour, food, and who my friends are. When Brennan returns, he lets me know that we have to go. We only have so much time before our microchips will activate again, and we need to get back to the garage before our cover is blown.

Melinda gives me a quick hug and makes me promise to come back. We are led back outside by the same guard, and we make the ten-minute walk back to the car in silence.

“Did you know she was alive?” I ask Brennan as he drives us out of the underground parking lot.

“Honestly, Jolie, I found out when I came a few weeks ago. Ziyon didn’t let me meet her, and asked if he could tell you himself. I gave him a month and here we are.”

“Do you trust him?”

“More than I do Mr Z. But we’re hoping now that we know you’re named in the will, you can talk to this Amelie woman and get her on our side. That way, when Olympia is in your name, you can sign 49 percent over to Ziyon. He can run the company, but you’ll still hold the majority vote in case something goes wrong.”

“That makes sense, but I just don’t know.” Tilting my head in thought, I elaborate on my suspicions. “While I understand why I’m supposed to hate Mr Z, and I do, I also get a weird vibe from Ziyon. It could just be because of how we were greeted by guns, but still, something doesn’t sit right with me.”

“This is exactly why we never rushed into killing anyone or bringing you back. There are still so many unanswered questions.”

He’s right, some things can’t be rushed. I just need to focus on my training and school for now. When the time is right, the guys will let me know, and I will be right there with them to take him down. Only something in my gut is telling me we might have to add another name to that list.