Tethered Twins

Chapter Forty Three

Grace Wilkerson

“What were you thinking?” shouted Grace, as she forced her knee into Gabe’s crotch.

“I couldn’t lose her,” replied Gabe through gritted teeth.

March emerged from his lab. “What the hell is going on?” he prised Grace from Gabe. Chris came over, grabbing Gabe and holding his arms.

“He tried to shoot Emmie,” shouted Grace. She looked disgusted by what he had done.

“I wouldn’t have fired! I couldn’t allow her to leave!” said Gabe.

“So you thought pulling a gun would be the best option?”

“Three years of research and planning will be ruined if we can’t get her back. If Tobias finds her first things will be even worse. What else could I do?” replied Gabe as he clenched his fist in frustration.

“It’s all ruined now anyway,” said Jill. “Emmie was our only hope for stopping that signal. Unless you know of another person like her?”

Everyone looked at Gabe for an answer. He looked back at his team and realised that no one, not Grace, March, Jill, Chris or anyone else could help. Everything relied on Emmie and he had allowed anger to ruin their chances.

“What happened to you?” asked Grace. “You know violence is only necessary in extreme scenarios. You taught us that. Yet Emmie told me that you tried to shoot Faye and now this is the second time you have threatened Emmie.”

“Violence is necessary now. I’ve seen what Tobias can do and I’ve seen the cruel human nature we have to stop by any force necessary,” said Gabe.

“What did they do to you in that cage?”

He stayed silent and refused to explain anything that had happened.

“Then fine. I’m going to get Emmie back but I need you to get yourself together. We can’t afford for you to lose it again. She is my friend first and I will protect her,” said Grace.

Gabe nodded and waved his arms at the rest of his team as they got back to work. Grace grabbed another keycard from March who handed her a new phone “You’ll need this,” he said.

Grace didn’t feel right leaving Gabe after what had happened. There was definitely something not right with him but right now she had a duty to her friend and to everyone in the world.

Grace knew that no matter what Emmie wanted, she would have to trust The Deck. For the good of everyone.

--<><>--

Rex T Jules

Rex stared at his phone in disbelief. “Emmie?”

He hadn’t heard from her for months and he was starting to think he never would again. When he heard that Vlad had escaped from the Smyth West jail, he knew Emmie would be under threat again and he had been in no position to help her.

The doctors had managed to save one of his lungs but the other one had been too badly damaged and had completely shut down.

Medical care in Smyth West wasn’t as good as the rich could afford but the doctors did what they could for him. They removed his damaged lung and made sure he’d be able to live with the other. So long as he didn’t subject himself to a high amount of physical activity he’d be fine and could still live a good life. Admittedly a shorter one than he would have otherwise.

Where his lung had been removed he had a scar, as well as several marks across his chest from the knife Vlad had struck him with. Those marks were a reminder of what he had done for Emmie and how he had tried to save her. He hoped she had used the extra time wisely.

He smiled at the thought that she could still be alive but dreaded that it could be a trap, especially given recent events.

After three weeks in hospital a tall man dressed in a long black leather jacket had come to visit Rex. When Rex saw the man he reached for the emergency call button but his hand was stopped.

The tall man was the spitting image of Vlad but his face was different. He had none of the scars that clouded Vlad’s face but the rest of his features were almost identical. He wore sunglasses so Rex was unsure if he had orange eyes.

“I just want to talk,” said the tall man, as he released Rex’s hand.  Rex pulled his hand back to his chest and stared at the man with fear. He looked at the man’s waist to see if he had a concealed belt of knives but there were no obvious places it could be. Whatever this man’s weapon was it was well hidden.

“Ok,” replied Rex. “Talk.”

“Three weeks ago you wasted my time. You told my brother that Emmie was in London and yet I searched and searched for hours and found nothing. Do you know how valuable my time is? You wasted four hours of my life. That’s 240 minutes I will never, ever, ever get back. Time is a valuable commodity Rex and you took it from me.”

Rex stared at the tall man. Great, another psychopath, he thought.

“You took time from me and it would only be fair if I took it back,” said the tall man as he moved in closer to Rex.

“Yet I see you have already paid the price. A very, very, high price, for your deception,” the tall man opened Rex’s shirt, to reveal his scar. “One lung left. If you live a healthy life then in a best case scenario you’ll have only lost ten years from your life. That’s 3,653 days. 67,672 hours. 5,260,320 minutes and many, many, more seconds you have lost. I’d say that’s more than fair isn’t it?”

“It was worth it,” replied Rex, without really thinking.

“How so? The way I see it you have lost far, far more time than I. What could you possibly have gained to make such a sacrifice worthwhile?”

“I saved someone I love. That is worth any amount of time,” replied Rex, thinking about what he had done for Emmie.

The tall man laughed. “Really? You think you have saved her? She may be very, very far away but we are so, so close to catching her. When we do then all that time you gave will have been oh, so, so wasted. “ he backed away from Rex and stood tall once again. 

“I hope you will remember this lesson and remember it well,” he said. “If you waste my time or my brother’s time again then we will make you pay it back in kind. Remember, it will be a very, very hefty price.”

He left Rex alone to ponder his warning and to live in fear for the next few months. He now had two psychopaths watching him. What did you do Emmie? he wondered.

Now Rex looked at his phone wondering if this was a test from Vlad and his twin. He couldn’t take the chance that it wasn’t. If Emmie was alive he had to see her. It was worth the risk. He called Rufus to explain what had happened. They knew exactly what her cryptic message meant and the two of them travelled to meet her.

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- Blagman