Chapter Nineteen
Harper
When I wake up in the morning I have no idea what to do with myself. I realize, after lying in bed running all the past days’ events through my mind, that I’m waiting for Vincent to appear and tell me what to do.
Just as this thought crosses my mind, the phone on the bedside table rings.
I stare at it. Do I answer it? I even look around, hoping Vincent will come rushing into the room, but he doesn’t. I count the rings and when it gets to seven, I gather that it’s not connected to a machine and pick it up just to make the noise stop. “Hello?”
There’s a bunch of noise on the other end. “Harp?” Nick asks, sounding very distant.
“Nick? Oh my God, is that you?”
“It’s me,” he says over the roar of traffic. “It’s me!”
“Where are you? How did you know I was here?”
“Vincent called me last night. He said you’re having some trouble adjusting…”
I stop listening. Vincent called him? Called him? Like, just pressed a few numbers and presto, he’s in contact with my brother who’s been missing for a year?
“Harper?”
“Yeah,” I answer. “Sorry, I didn’t hear that.”
“I said, he’s worried about you. And how your time with Tet has affected you.”
“My time with Tet.” Nick’s talking again, but I’ve tuned him out. He knew. He knew I was with James. And Sasha knew where he was too. He went to see Sasha. And my father knew James was with me, they were in contact and that’s why James dropped me off at the ship.
“Harper? Are you still there?”
Somehow all these threads are connected. It’s ragged, but somehow, everything is related. I just can’t seem to figure out how.
“Harper!” He yells it this time.
“Sorry,” I say back quickly. “I think I lost you for a second. The line went silent. Say it again.”
“I said you have to stay away from Tet.”
“Why?” My heart is beating so fast I have trouble breathing.
“Listen, Harp. Tet is on a mission, only he’s not aware he’s on a mission. They brainwashed him years ago, Harper. You need to stay far, far away from him, do you understand?”
“What mission?” I think I might get hysterical.
“I know you’re not going to believe me, but he’s been programmed. They’re all programmed. Do you understand? All the assassins are programmed. They brainwash them when they’re young. All growing up. They tell them things to make them loyal and then when they turn sixteen, the programming is activated and they become assassins.”
“But you—”
“I was never programmed, you know that, sister. I was with you. We’re different. We’re the Admiral’s children. We both have a role to play, but I don’t have time to talk about that now. I got to get back on the road and I just needed to tell you that Tet is dangerous. I know you’re probably wondering who to trust right now, but sister—” His formal use of sister makes me stop my panic and listen. It’s how he always got my attention when we were young because he was not allowed to say my name in front of others. Sister, he’d call me. It meant people were listening. “You have to trust me. Listen to Vincent. Please. He’s telling you the truth. I’m on my way to see you.”
“When?” I interrupt him. “When will you be here?”
“Two days, OK? Just hang in there for two more days and I’ll explain. But for now, Harp, please—listen to Vincent. Give him a chance and let him take care of things. Just relax. You’re safer now than ever before. You’re safer with him than with your own father. OK?”
“OK,” I say just to answer him. But he takes that as the end of our conversation and hangs up. The traffic noise cuts off and is replaced by silence.
I just stare at the phone.
My brother just called me. Remember it all, Harper. Remember it all. Tet is brainwashed. Tet is dangerous. Tet is on a mission. Vincent is good. Nick will be here in two days.
Sister.
That’s the only word that counts.
I hang the phone up and practically collapse back into the pillows. Which parts are true? Which of the things he just told me are true and which are a cover for whatever it is he’s planning?
I look over at the phone and sit up in bed with an idea. I can call James myself. I have his number. I reach for the receiver when there’s a knock on the door.
Fuck. “Yes?”
It opens tentatively and Vincent peeks his head through. “I heard the phone. Who was that?”
“Nick,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Vincent eyes them for a moment before meeting my gaze. “He said you called him last night.”
Vincent opens the door all the way and comes inside, closing it behind him. He smiles at me as he walks over to the bed and takes a seat. He sits close enough that our legs touch. “I did. I’m worried about you. I’m worried about Tet’s influence on you. I’m worried about what he told you.”
“Told me about what?”
“Anything. Everything. Everything he says is a lie, Harper. Everything. He can’t help it. His life is all about lies. Lies keep him alive. He’s nothing but the product of a dozen years of lies and secrets. He’s killed hundreds of people. He’s overthrown governments. He killed his own brother, for fuck’s sake, Harper. That’s got to bother you. Even if you think he had a good reason.”
I start to say something, but I stop with my mouth hanging open. It makes me appear stunned instead of on the verge of defending him.
“I know,” Vincent says, “it’s horrific. It’s horrible what they had him do. But Harper, he chose that life. You have to understand this.”
“And you chose this one,” I say flatly.
“I didn’t choose. He did. He chose for me by choosing to be Six. I was always the control—”
“Wait. Control. Is that your code?”
“Code?” He looks at me funny.
“Your code. You know, from the Company.”
“I don’t know why you’re talking about. I don’t have any code.”
Right. Secrets. But control. It’s both a noun and a verb. And the way Vincent used it, it sort of means—
“Harper?” he growls. “Are you listening to me?”
Come can be a noun and a verb too, but—I have a private chuckle—the only noun it can be is semen. “I’m listening.”
“What did Nick say?”
I eye him suspiciously. “You know what he said. You practically told him to call me and tell me these things.”
“I told him to call you. That I was worried about Tet’s influence. And I had every right to be worried, because yesterday, just before you called him, he tried to kill Nick by blowing up a cabin they were in.”
I look away. “What?” He was with Nick? “Why would he do that?”
“He doesn’t need a reason why, Harper. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”
We’re all cold out here.
“—he’s insane. He’s got some secret vendetta programmed into him from years ago and he’s acting it out. He failed his last psych evaluation. After he killed his brother, he failed his psych exam. They had a hit out on him—”
“What?”
“Yeah. They had a hit out on him, but the assassin got cold feet. If she had done her job—”
She?
“—we wouldn’t all be so fucking paranoid right now.”
“The Company has a female assassin?”
Vincent laughs. “That’s your question? After what I just told you? That’s your question?”
“Who is this assassin?”
“Me,” a soft voice replies from the now open bedroom door. A young woman, probably the same age as me, walks into the room. Her hair is dark and long and her eyes are a brilliant green. “I’m the assassin sent to kill James.”
“And who are you?” I ask, my irritation clear.
“Vincent’s sister.”
I look at Vincent. “She’s James’ missing sister? The one he thinks was kidnapped?”
Vincent sighs, his head shaking slightly. Like he’s tried of explaining things to me. Or maybe more accurately, tired of having to explain the things James has been telling me. “Harper, may I introduce my sister, Nicola. This is Harper Tate.”
“Pleased,” she says in a snooty way that makes me want to punch her in the face. “Tet knows where I am. Or rather, where I was. I met him several times growing up. We spent a few holidays together after I was… sent away. And I spent my first six years as his sister instead of Vincent’s. But unfortunately, Tet’s memory—” She replaces her words with a look of sadness and a slight shake of her head. “His memory is so muddled these days, he has no idea what’s up or down.”
She’s lying. I can feel it. I stand up and walk over to the window. It’s a beautiful day out and now that it’s light, I can see the Pacific Ocean. There’s a community of neighboring homes surrounding the woods that line this property. Mansions, just not as big as this one. I can see the anchored boats from this window too. They call to me in a way I haven’t felt in a long time. I love this view. “I don’t believe you.”
“What’s not to believe? He lives from moment to moment.” Nicola stands next to me now. She’s silent and quick. As most assassins are, I’m sure. “I mean, which part are you having problems with? Maybe I can clear things up.”
James’ words in the desert after he fucked me in the bathroom come to mind. I just never know which moments will count, so I treat them all the same.
That sounds like James.
“I loved him too, Harper Tate. I loved him very much. He was a good brother when I was small. He taught me how to ride a bike. And swim. And tell time. I used to call him Tock-Tock—”
That message on the phone back in the desert. Tock-Tock. The message sent to the phone I found in James’ little green house. Tock-Tock. It was her. Nicola. She sent that message.
We’ll talk soon. Don’t forget why this is happening.
What’s happening? Obviously Nicola was not Sasha’s kidnapper, because I killed that guy when I twisted his neck. But Nicola sent that person because she sent that message.
“—you know, Harper, that all of this is true. You know deep down that what we’re saying is true.”
She’s right. None of what they are saying is surprising. Is he insane? Maybe. Probably a little, at least. He’s done some horrific things. And I really don’t have any problem imagining him doing the things they say he’s done.
Except when it comes to me.
Am I delusional? Am I in that fairyland where women delude themselves into believing their captor is the good guy? What do they call that again? Stockholm Syndrome. Do I have that? Did James abduct me without knowing and then brainwash me with sex so I’d be compliant?
That was the very first thing he did. He kissed me. Under the pier. Like he was claiming me. Hell, he might even have used that word a time or two.
I turn and walk quickly over to the bed and sit down before I pass out.
“Nicola,” Vincent says. “Can you please leave us alone for a while?”
I look up to see a sympathetic look on her face as she faces her brother, and then she gives him a nod and walks out.
“Harper.” Vincent sounds tired. I wonder if he got any sleep at all last night. “I’m sorry. OK? For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you have to hear this. I know you think you love him, but he’s been using you. From the moment he saw you on that beach, he was plotting. Ask yourself, Harper. Why did he take you back to your father if he loves you and wanted to keep you? Why?”
I don’t think that’s a real question, so I say nothing.
“He took you back because the Admiral hired him to do that. You’re a job to him. The Admiral wanted you left alone at the beach. Everyone knew where you were, Harper. How stupid do you think we are? But the standing order was to watch and not approach. And then Tet went crazy and killed Cy—”
“Who’s Cy?”
“Tony, I mean. Our brother, Tony. Number Five. We all have nicknames that relate to a method of killing. Tony was Cy for cyanide. That’s his calling card if he needs to kill people on the fly. Like, not authorized. He poisons them with cyanide.”
Sick. And James said his poison was something with tet in in. Tetro something. Pufferfish poison. “Wait. You said you’re not an assassin.”
“I’m not.”
“But you said we all have nicknames. And I asked you what your code was and you acted like I was stupid.”
He raises his hands. “I lied, OK? We’re not allowed to talk about it. Not even to you.”
“So you are an assassin?”
“No. I told you, I’m the control.”
“So Control is your code name?”
“I can’t say, Harper. I can’t say.”
“So do you know that my code is?”
“You don’t have a code. You’re a girl.”
“Nicola is a girl too, and she obviously has a code. What’s her number?”
“Two. She’s Number Two.”
“So if she’s a girl, and she’s an assassin, and she has a code, then why don’t you think I have a code?”
He eyes me sadly. It makes my heart skip, this look. It says so much without words, I have to gulp down some air before I forget to breathe. “Because if you do have a code, Harper, then you’re part of the game too. And that means we’re all in a lot more danger than I originally thought.”