Category: E/Drama
Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Up to IOTH

Summary: Part ten of the Labyrinth Series.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.

“Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.” ~Author Unknown

“I just wanted to see my favorite sweeper.” Lyle had said before he’d told her everything, but not quite.

He hadn’t said anything about Cox, and now he stood before them, holding Aidan in his arms.

Emily trained her weapon on the man. A clean shot in the head would bring him down and Aidan; the resilient toddler would have a bump or two. Well worth the risk in her mind.

“Put him down.” Emily growled. Cox smiled at her and then gently set the boy on his feet. He straightened and held his hands out at his sides.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone.” He said.

“Shoot him, Emily!” Zoe called out beside her.

Emily looked over at her and in that instant Cox rushed her. He grabbed her gun and they wrestled for it momentarily before he yanked it from her hands. He took a couple steps back and Emily glared at him.

“Well, you people certainly don’t waste any time.” Emily said placing her hands on her hips defiantly.

“Waste any time with what?” Cox asked with an amused expression. Emily and Zoe exchanged glances.

“After we blew up that frozen food place.” Zoe snapped at him. Cox raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

“Well, I didn’t know about that.” He said. Emily motioned for Aidan to come to her and he ran to her side.

“Then why in the hell are you here?” Emily demanded.

“A mutual friend gave me strict instructions to escort you from the premises.” He replied. She frowned at him.

“And to the Centre, right?” She challenged.

“No, quite the contrary.” He said. Zoe grabbed Emily’s arm and Emily turned to face her.

“No, don’t listen to him, Emily. He’s one of the bad guys; he’ll kill all of us!” Zoe said, wide-eyed and frightened. Emily turned back to him.

“If he were going to take us to the Centre, this place would be crawling with sweepers.” Emily replied. She took a couple steps toward Cox and then stopped, holding out her hand. He placed the gun back into it and she nodded.

“So, where are we supposed to go?” She asked.

“I can only get you started.” He replied.

“Are you serious?” Zoe shrieked. Emily turned back to Zoe and nodded. Her eyes scanned the room. It was then that she noticed.

The disarray they’d left the place in earlier had been picked up and everything Emily had scattered about the Cabin had vanished. Her eyes widened and she gaped at Cox who merely smiled, amused by her confusion.

“Where is it?” She asked.

“Where is what?” Cox replied.

“All the stuff!” Emily said taking a few steps around the room in amazement. “All our plans! Cox, what have you done with it?” She demanded. It was his turn to look confused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied. Zoe started looking around then too.

“Yeah! There had to have been ten boxes of stuff!” Zoe shrieked. She walked over to Cox and grabbed his jacket in her fists. “What’s going on? Where is everything?” He shook his head and took a step away from her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He replied his tone was unchanged with their excitement. “This is how the place was when I arrived.” He said. “The door was open.”

Emily looked around once more and then walked over to the door. She noticed that the lock had been broken. Someone else had been there and had whisked away all trace that Lyle had been involved, not to mention took all their plans with them.

“Let’s get our things together, we have to leave.” Emily said to Zoe.

*~*~*~*~*

Emily slammed the trunk closed on Zoe’s red convertible and then caught the glance of the woman who eyed her warily.

“It’ll be all right, Zoe.” She said. Zoe shook her head and looked up into the night sky. A full moon and heavily overcast. The air smelled like rain.

“We should probably get on.” Cox called. “The Centre has undoubtedly widened their search by now.” Emily nodded and headed toward Cox’s dark blue pickup truck.

“Em?” Zoe called after her. Emily turned back.

“I should probably ride with him. That way I’ll know if he’s up to something and be able to stop it.” Emily replied. “Go ahead and take Aidan with you. If anything weird happens in the truck, keep on going.”

Zoe reluctantly nodded and buckled Aidan into his seat before hopping into hers and starting the car and waiting.

*~*~*~*~*

Emily slid into the passenger seat of the truck where Cox waited behind the wheel. He grinned and she grimaced and shook her head as she snapped her seatbelt closed and sat back.

“Why did he send you?” She asked once he started the engine and began to pull away.

“Lyle and I go way back.” Cox smiled.

“Oh.” Emily said passively. She looked at the rearview mirror and saw Zoe following them in her convertible. In a few minutes the other car, the one Lyle had left at the airstrip, would explode.

“How long have you known?” She asked.

“Not until I found the message he left me at the Centre.” He replied. He turned to her and smiled again. “If I’d known, things may have turned out differently.”

“Yeah, right.” Emily replied. “You and Lyle being the tight buddies you are you’d think he wouldn’t have been shot then, huh?”

“I think Lyle wanted to be shot.” Cox replied. Emily looked at him cautiously.

“Yeah, me too.” She said quietly.

“What has he told you?” He asked.

“What he said was everything.” She replied.

“Everything.” Cox mused.

“So, who are you, Mr. Cox?” Emily asked, looking at him from the corners of her eyes.

He drew a deep breath and began a story.

*~*~*~*~*

Jimmy Radloff came into the hunting shack where Bobby had been waiting. Bobby stood in anticipation of his friend’s arrival.

“Hey, what took you so long?” Bobby asked. The boys were dressed in jeans and white T-shirts with flannel shirts over them and each carried a knapsack.

“What’s your hurry? I got held up. Hey, I swiped these from my dad’s dresser.” Jimmy said grinning devilishly as he dug a pack of Marlboros out of his pocket. Bobby looked at it warily.

“Mister Lyle would be so mad if he smelled that on me.” Bobby replied. Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a cigarette and clumsily lit it. He drew in a deep drag and came up coughing and gagging.

“Damn, dad never does that!” Jimmy choked. Bobby laughed at him and Jimmy eyed him warily.

“Here, you try it, or are you some kind of momma’s boy?” Jimmy smirked. Bobby gazed his friend coldly, his expression momentarily drawing a shadow of the man he would become.

“Momma’s boy.” Bobby snorted as he took the cigarette from his best friend and drew a drag himself. He held his composure for a few moments before succumbing to a convulsion of coughs himself.

The two teenagers laughed at each other as they finished their first cigarette and then headed off along the path they had worn.

Deep in the woods, Bobby studied the compass as Jimmy stood beside him impatiently.

“Admit it, we’re lost!” Jimmy sighed in frustration. Bobby looked at him and shook his head quietly. Jimmy shrugged and grunted. “You are so damn stubborn, Bobby!”

“It’s getting late; we should probably just set up here.” Bobby replied calmly. Jimmy reluctantly agreed and the two kicked rocks aside on the ground and unrolled their beds. They collected some wood and built a small fire.

They ate their dinner out of cans and Jimmy pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

“I suppose that is courtesy of your dad too.” Bobby said as Jimmy held the bottle out to him. Bobby accepted it and took a swig. He made a sour face as he returned the bottle to Jimmy.

“Where do you go?” Jimmy asked.

“What do you mean?” Bobby replied quietly.

“I mean, when you go off on your own for days at a time. Mister Lyle and Martha say that you just go off and come back when you please.” Jimmy prodded.

“Do you really want to know?” Bobby replied sullenly.

“Yeah. I’m your best friend. If you can’t trust me, who can you trust?” Jimmy said. Bobby sighed and looked at his friend sadly.

“Mister Lyle locks me in the shed.” He replied. Jimmy raised his eyebrows as his eyes widened.

“He locks you in the shed?” Jimmy said in disbelief. Bobby only nodded and took another drink.

“Did you tell Varian?” Jimmy asked. Bobby nodded to this as well.

“He told me to ‘embrace’ my anger.” Bobby replied and chuckled darkly. Jimmy shook his head.

“He always says stuff like that. What are you going to do?” Jimmy asked. Bobby looked at him sullenly.

“I have a plan, but I’m going to need your help.” Bobby replied.

*~*~*~*~*

The windshield wipers swung hypnotically across the windshield as Emily gazed at him skeptically.

“And then Lyle killed Jimmy. I know that, he told me all about it.” Emily said.

Cox smiled confidently.

“Oh, I’m sure he told you everything.” He replied.

*~*~*~*~*

Bobby stood over the body, staring at it in disbelief. He looked at his hands, which were covered in blood and then back at the body. He didn’t even start when the hand clapped down on his shoulder from behind.

“Are you okay?” Jimmy asked. Bobby hesitantly turned from the body to look at his friend. Jimmy was as pale as Bobby was. Jimmy had been the first to throw up, once he saw the man lying on the ground, twitching in death.

Bobby had only stared until the man stopped moving. Now he turned around and fell to his knees. He was sick. Sick with anger, shock and horror. Jimmy crouched beside Bobby as he threw up and patted him on the shoulder. Jimmy couldn’t even bring himself to look back at the body.

“Jesus, Bobby.” Jimmy said breathlessly. Bobby looked at his friend and then embraced him. The two boys held onto each other, realizing the depth of their actions. There was no turning back for them as they had now applied what they had been taught.

They finally looked back at the man who lay in the middle of the floor of the hunting shack. The vagrant they had led there under false pretenses.

“So, now what? We take him out in the woods, right?” Bobby said. Jimmy looked at him wide eyed.

“Yeah, uh. Yeah, that’s what we planned to do.” Jimmy replied. “Then I’m going to Arlen and I’ll come back to...” Jimmy stopped and looked at Bobby. “Do we even know what his name was?” Jimmy asked in disbelief.

“No.” Bobby said shaking his head. He walked over to the body and dug through the pockets until he found a wallet. He flipped it open and found a long-expired driver’s license. He handed it over his shoulder to Jimmy.

“Dolan Cox.” Jimmy said quietly.

*~*~*~*~*

“My God.” Emily gasped.

Cox chuckled slightly and stared at the road before them. Emily looked at him for a moment longer and then turned to stare out the window and the rain that fell in sheets.

“Well, you two certainly can keep a secret.” Emily said after a while.

“Besides us, only you know.” Cox replied.

“Is that a threat?” She replied.

“It’s an iota of trust.” Cox replied. Emily’s head whipped back toward him.

“You were listening!” She snapped. “So you lied about not knowing.”

“I didn’t realize what you were talking about until after, the airstrip.” He replied.

Emily lowered her head and studied her hands. She hadn’t asked him the one question that had been nagging at her since she’d arrived at the cabin a week before.

“Is, Lyle, all right?” She asked hesitantly.

“He is awake now.” Cox said grimly. Emily looked at him expectantly and he shook his head. “That is why you must leave.”

“Why?” She asked.

“Because when they, reeducate him, they will use his knowledge against you. You can’t go on with his plans or go anywhere he told you about or set up. He will definitely find you there.” Cox replied.

Emily shook her head in denial and squeezed her eyes closed. She squeezed the bridge of her nose to try and avert the headache that was forming.

Then the toast had seemed so trite, even funny. She still didn’t know what to think of him. She was certain about everything but him. He was complicated. She was drawn to him.

“You never gave me the reason you’re doing all of this.” Emily said quietly. Cox was silent, thoughtful.

“I owe it to him.” He replied.

*~*~*~*~*

Cox pulled open the door to find a frightened and bleeding Lyle on the other side. His mouth was agape as he ushered in his childhood friend and led him to the bathroom.

“What the hell happened?” Cox cried. Lyle sat on the toilet lid and gripped his left hand in his right.

“They did this to me.” Lyle growled in anger and pain.

Cox pulled Lyle’s hand away to reveal the bleeding stump where his left thumb was. Cox winced at the gore and pulled a wash cloth out and soaked it in hot water. He placed it around the stump and Lyle howled in pain and grabbed Cox’s wrist in a harsh grip.

“If you want me to help you, you’re going to have to trust me.” Cox said calmly. Lyle looked at him with wild eyes and then nodded for him to continue.

Cox washed the stump as Lyle clenched his teeth and winced every time Cox touched him. Cox secured a tourniquet around Lyle’s left arm and instructed Lyle to hold the cloth over his hand.

Cox went to his office and retrieved a bag. He returned to Lyle and began pulling out instruments that he washed with alcohol. He pulled out a needle and surgical thread and then began to carefully stitch the open wound closed.

Once he’d finished his stitching, he pulled out gauze pads and antibiotic cream. He rubbed the cream into the wound and covered it with gauze.

When he’d finished Lyle stood and looked at his old friend.

“Thanks.” Lyle said and tried to push past him to walk out the door. Cox caught the man’s good arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Cox asked in amazement. Lyle pulled out his gun.

“I’m going to kill them.” Lyle replied. Cox shook his head and tightened his grip on Lyle’s arm.

“I think you should stay here for awhile.” Cox said sternly. Lyle met his gaze with an angry, stubborn one, but then relented.

Lyle walked past Cox and into the kitchen where he pulled a bottle of vodka from the freezer and pulled off the cap. He downed a few gulps from the bottle and then looked at Cox from where he watched leaning against the doorjamb.

“How did it happen?” Cox asked.

“I was set up.” Lyle replied. “The Triumvirate...” he began and then paused “Amaru wanted to make a deal with the Yakuza so I was drafted to make sure it went down smoothly.”

“I suppose things did not go according to plan.” Cox said.

“Thank you Captain Obvious.” Lyle said sarcastically. “The plan was to prevent a witness from testifying in Tony Tanaka’s trial. We used one of Jarod’s old simulations to secure the witness. Jarod realizing this made it his crusade to stop it and the Centre helped him.”

“The Centre?” Cox asked with raised eyebrows. “Who specifically?”

“That I can’t say for sure. I suspect Miss Parker had a hand in it and that could mean Mr. Parker and Raines as well. They probably came up with the set up themselves.” Lyle replied.

“And they assumed that Jarod would take care of the rest for them.” Cox said nodding.

“So, the Yakuza came to collect and that they did.” Lyle said holding up his wounded hand.

*~*~*~*~*

“Lyle told me that Amaru kept his thumb.” Emily said. Cox nodded.

“That he did.” Cox replied. “Amaru was with Tommy Tanaka when they claimed their prize so to speak.”

“So how did Amaru end up with it if the Yakuza keep the digits so to speak?” Emily asked.

“He bought off Lyle’s debt.” Cox replied. Emily shook her head.

“You people are terrible.” She said quietly.

“I had nothing to do with it. I wasn’t even a part of the Triumvirate at the time. Then it was Mutumbo, Lyle and Amaru.”

“Where did Adama come in?” Emily asked.

“Part of the price Lyle paid was that he was exiled from the Triumvirate and Adama took his place.” Cox replied.

“How did he get back in?” Emily asked.

“With a little help.” Cox replied.

*~*~*~*~*

“I’m going to punish them all.” Lyle said. Cox shook his head, for a week he’d listened to his childhood friends’ insane ranting.

“Where do we start?” Alex beamed from his seat. Cox dismissed the even more insane man who’d joined them two days before.

“You should be carrying out your Triumvirate directive, lest you fall victim to Amaru yourself.” Cox said.

“Screw Amaru! We need to take care of these traitors.” Brigitte snapped.

“And turn traitor ourselves.” Cox replied.

“We’re hardly betraying the people who took us from our homes to use for their own designs.” Brigitte bit back and then twirled her sucker in her mouth.

“You’re all starting to sound like Jarod.” Cox said.

“Maybe Jarod is right.” Alex replied. “But he has no idea what he could have if and when he comes back.”

“And probably never will.” Lyle said sitting on the couch beside Brigitte. Brigitte scooted closer to him and slid her arm though his and leaned against him. Alex shook his head in disgust.

“So when does Che Ling arrive?” Alex asked. Brigitte frowned at Alex.

“Next week.” Lyle replied. I’ll be meeting her in Vegas.

“I think you’re making a mistake.” Cox said. Lyle glared at him.

“I’m not the one who made the mistake.” Lyle replied holding up his hand with the missing digit.

“I just don’t think you should do any more to incite the wrath of the Yakuza than you already have.” Cox replied.

“All right, Cox, you can sit here and make cupcakes and crochet blankets while the rest of us do the dirty work.” Alex prodded. Cox merely shook his head.

“I’ll just be waiting for when you show up in the middle of the night in need of my assistance.” Cox replied. Alex rolled his eyes at him.

“So, first we kill Mr. Parker, right?” Kyle asked from the back of the room.

*~*~*~*~*

Emily gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at Cox with abject disbelief.

“Kyle?” She asked in a small, surprised voice. “Kyle was working with you?” Cox nodded.

“Yes, he and Brigitte were the key players in the assassination attempt on Mr. Parker, only he wasn’t caught.”

“Kyle.“ Emily whispered and then shook her head.

“I’m sure Jarod told you only rosy things about Kyle, but there is a lot he didn’t know about him.” Cox replied. “He was one of the most dangerous pretenders.”

“I don’t believe you.” She said. “Why would Kyle help you if he tried to stop Lyle?”

“We had ... leverage.” Cox replied. He smiled at her and she looked away from him.

She blinked her eyes and cleared her throat. “What did Che Ling have to do with the Yakuza?” She asked.

“Everything.” Cox replied. “Her name was Che Ling Tanaka.”

*~*~*~*~*

Lyle wrung his hands nervously, avoiding his healing wound as he waited at the airport. Alex sat on a bench ten feet away and snickered at Lyle as Cox shook his head beside him.

Che Ling appeared at the entrance to the jet-way and Lyle approached her anxiously.

“Hi.” He said. She smiled at him.

“He-lo.” She replied beaming up at him. Cox held his head in his hands for the millionth time and then stood and straightened. Alex stood beside him and grinned, slapping him on the back.

“Let the games begin my friend.” Alex chuckled as they followed the couple to the baggage claim.

*~*~*~*~*

“I was only there for the wedding and dinner.” Cox said. “Alex remained in Vegas, in the spare bedroom as the roommate.”

“Roommate?” Emily asked raising her eyebrows.

“So they could work on their plans, of course. I returned to the Los Angeles Triumvirate office.”

“What about Kyle and Brigitte?” Emily asked.

“They returned to Delaware a few days before Che Ling arrived to work on their objectives there. Honestly, I know it was out of jealousy on Brigitte‘s part. Lyle did indeed fall for Che Ling and Brigitte hated her for it. She and Lyle fought constantly over Che Ling which, consequently, was at the root of her demise.” Cox replied.

“Brigitte killed her?” Emily gasped.

“No, Alex did.” Cox replied.

“Why?” Emily gasped in shock.

“Because Alex and Brigitte were brother and sister.” Cox replied. Emily sat back in her seat and thought for a few minutes.

“That’s why he wants Aidan.” Emily said. “Aidan is his nephew.”

“Now you’re catching on.” Cox chuckled.

*~*~*~*~*

“She what?” Lyle gasped in horror.

“Yeah, I was surprised myself. I guess she’d been seeing this guy for awhile.” Alex said shaking his head.

Lyle sighed and slumped down into a chair, deflated. “I thought she was happy.”

“Yeah, she must have been really taken by the guy, although I can’t explain why.” Alex replied.

“As long as the Yakuza knows that’s what happened.” Lyle said.

“I’ve already taken the liberty.” Alex replied. Lyle eyed him warily. “Well, I didn’t think you’d want to face them after your wife ran off with some drifter.”

Lyle buried his face in his hands.

*~*~*~*~*

“What about the others?” Emily asked. “Those other women?”

“They all had ties to the Yakuza as well. Part of the work Varian did...” Cox stopped and looked at Emily “he did tell you about Varian?”

“The German guy who ‘counseled’ him.” Emily said making quotation marks with her hands. “He mentioned it, and I saw the DSA’s. I suppose you’re referring to the one where he had him Sim serial killers?” She asked.

“Not just Sim, become. It was part of his training, part of him. It only needed a switch and Alex turned it on.” Cox replied.

“So he started killing women who were like Che Ling.” Emily replied.

“And with Yakuza ties.” Cox added.

“God.” Emily sighed and held her face in her hands. “And I could imagine who was there to take his mind off of her.” She shook her head.

“I never did like that woman.” Cox nodded. Emily looked at him.

“After the assassination attempt failed Lyle decided that they would deal a blow to the Centre by stealing a semi-conductor panel and chip from a Centre blue box. These contained valuable information that they were going to sell to the Centre’s competition. It was also a way to draw out Miss Parker into the open.”

“Why?” Emily asked. Cox gave her a sideward glance. “He was going to kill her? But she’s his twin sister!”

“He wasn’t aware of that at the time.” Cox replied. “He only knew that she was instrumental in his betrayal. He was also trying to catch Jarod, which he succeeded in doing.” Emily nodded.

“And then he killed Kyle.” She said softly.

“Only Miss Parker was supposed to die.” Cox replied.

“If Kyle was working with you, then why did he try to stop Lyle?” She asked, puzzled.

“Kyle was complicated.” Cox replied. “Once he felt he had the upper hand, he turned on us.”

*~*~*~*~*

“Unfortunately, our plans have failed thus far.” Lyle said to the small group gathered in Cox’s apartment. “The chip ruse was a failure, Brigitte’s assassination attempt was a bust...” Lyle continued but Alex cut him off.

“And, you killed Kyle and let Jarod get away.” Alex sneered.

“At least Brigitte got back into the Centre.” Lyle said dismissing him. “And I will be rejoining their ranks before long.”

“How?” Alex asked.

“As it turns out...” Lyle began “I have family in the Centre.” He turned to Brigitte who plucked the sucker from her mouth.

“I uncovered the Red Files from the Pretender project. It turns out that Miss Parker has a twin.” Brigitte smiled at Lyle. Alex and Cox’s jaws dropped.

“No!” Alex said. Lyle nodded and Alex burst into laughter. Lyle glared at him and Alex tried to speak between gasps.

“Are you going to start dressing like her now?” Alex leaned back and heaved more laughter.

*~*~*~*~*

Cox turned to glance at Emily. “I think Alex would have been an asshole even if the Centre hadn’t gotten a hold of him.” He deadpanned. Emily snorted and then started laughing.

“So, Brigitte married Mr. Parker and Lyle helped her get pregnant since Mr. Parker was infertile.” Cox said.

“Why did Lyle do that if Mr. Parker knew he was infertile?” Emily asked.

“Because they didn’t know.” Cox replied. “Of course Mr. Parker was overjoyed to have another pretender on the way, one they could raise unquestioned.”

“Unquestioned?” Emily asked. “If it was unquestioned then why is Aidan riding in the car behind us?”

“Because Lyle didn’t know about Mr. Parker’s plans until it was too late.” He replied.

“What about Brigitte? Didn’t she know what Mr. Parker was planning?” Emily asked.

“She knew all right.” Cox grimaced. “She was going to hand the child over, did hand the child over to the Centre.”

“Oh, that bitch.” Emily hissed.

“Lyle didn’t see her for what she was until it was too late.” Cox replied.

“That’s why he brought you in, to take care of Aidan.” She said. She rubbed her temples with her fingers and then her forehead. “Why was Alex so upset about Kyle’s death?”

“Alex fancied Kyle and himself to be kindred spirits. He was convinced that with Kyle back out, they would be able to take control of things together. Only that wasn’t Kyle’s agenda. Kyle wanted only revenge.” Cox said.

“Alex liked Kyle.” Emily chuckled. “Why on Earth would he like Kyle out of all of them?”

“Because, Kyle had what it took to do whatever he wanted. He was limitless, which is what made him so dangerous. He was completely shred of all morality. The perfect sociopath. Alex admired him. Alex wanted to be like him.” Cox replied. Emily sighed and rubbed her eyes.

“Alex is pretending to be Kyle.” She said in a small voice. She looked out the window once again at the dark shadowy objects, which almost seemed to pass them by.

“You let him play.” She said while watching another Interstate sign fly by. He nodded. “Isn’t that against the regulations?” She asked.

“I set the regulations for Parker since I am the project coordinator.” He replied.

“Very cold.” She replied. “Aidan.” She looked over at him and caught his glance.

“Aidan, I stand corrected.” He replied. “I met with a lot of opposition with this project. I told them it would be wise to raise Aidan with the trappings a regular child would have. That way, he would be less likely to leave if presented with the option like Gemini did.”

“Jordan.” Emily said. Cox looked at her curiously. “His name is Jordan, not Gemini.”

“I stand corrected once again.” He replied.

“You wanted Aidan to grow up like a normal kid. When were you going to try and change him?” She asked angrily.

“Raines was going to take care of that.” Cox replied. “Once Aidan was transferred to the Centre I was to be replaced by him.”

“And how did that make you feel?” Emily asked sarcastically. Cox flashed her a glare.

“I have been taking care of that child since the night he was born.” He shouted. Emily was taken aback.

“You really do care about the little guy.” She said quietly.

“So do you.” He replied. She nodded.

“I love him.” She said. “I love him like he was my own and I’ve only known him for a little over a week.”

“Lyle knew you would.” He replied.

“I know.” She whispered. “So how did he end up back in the Triumvirate?”

“Mutumbo was assassinated and Amaru assumed the seat of power. A replacement was needed so they went through the candidates and Lyle was the one at the top. Mr. Parker pulled a lot of strings to have Lyle reinstated to his former position once he found Lyle was his ‘son.’ Little did he realize that put him back on the Triumvirate roster.”

“But Lyle knew.” Emily said and chuckled. “And you were in the second slot so when Adama was assassinated, you hopped into the vacant seat. So, who killed Mutumbo? I know Lyle killed Adama.”

“Brigitte took the fall for Mutumbo’s death. Too bad the poor thing had already expired herself.” Cox said sarcastically.

“But who killed Mutumbo?” Emily pressed.

“That I don’t know. I was given the weapon and instructions to set up Brigitte, but not the killer’s identity.” Cox replied.

“Does anyone know?” She asked sarcastically.

“I’m sure the killer knows.” Cox replied wryly. Emily shook her head.

“So who’s in line if one of you dies?” She asked and grinned at him. Cox stared ahead.

“That is for the remaining members to decide.” He replied. Her smile faded.

“They’re going to kill Lyle, aren’t they?” She asked.

“That is a distinct possibility.” He said.

*~*~*~*~*

Zoe blinked her eyes again and then trained her gaze at the taillights of the pick-up truck ahead of her. Aidan was curled up asleep on the backseat as Zoe strained to keep her own eyes open.

Despite everything else, she was tired. They had blown up a random frozen food place, come face to face with the enemy who was now carting them off to some unknown location, and she was tired. But sleep was not an option until they knew; she knew what the hell was going on.

She switched on the a/c to blow in her face and turned on the radio. She smiled at the song that reminded her of Jarod. Then she sighed heavily and her face fell.

If she’d never met Jarod, then she wouldn’t be following this bastard and Jarod’s sister who’s sanity Zoe had been questioning seriously since this odyssey had begun. She glanced toward the little boy in the back seat once again and then back at the taillights.

“Well, Zoe, what would you be doing otherwise?” She asked aloud.

*~*~*~*~*

Down the road, after a long silence, the cars pulled to a stop near the intersection of I-95 and I-40. Cox and Emily got out of the truck and walked back to the convertible where Emil got into the passenger side and buckled herself in.

Zoe wound the window down and Cox leaned toward the occupants.

“This is where I leave you.” He said.

“At the crossroads.” Zoe grunted and yawned.

“Yes.” He replied. “Have a safe trip, wherever the road leads you.” He said and walked back to his truck.

“Yeah, and screw you, Cox.” Zoe muttered as she rolled her window back up. She caught Emily’s amused expression. “What?” She barked.

“If I didn’t know better...” Emily started and trailed off. She looked at Aidan who was stirring in the backseat.

“Do you think he bugged us, or something?” Zoe asked as Cox’s truck pulled away before them. “Or is he going to follow us, or have someone else follow us?”

“I think that for whatever the Hell those guys are planning that it’s in their best interests to get us and Aidan as far from the Centre as possible, and way below the radar.” Emily replied. “It’s just a feeling I have.” She smiled at Zoe. “So, you want me to drive for a while?”

“Sure.” Zoe said and the two women got out and exchanged places.

Emily adjusted the seat and mirrors and placed her palms against the wheel before slowly curling her fingers around it. She stared out at the expanse of road ahead of them and the lightening of the sky to the left. It would be dawn soon.

“So, where to lady and kid?” Emily asked looking at Zoe and then Aidan’s sleep heavy eyes, which he rubbed with his tiny hands.

“Floor-duh.” Aidan said behind her in a yawn. Emily smiled and chuckled.

“Floor-duh, huh?” She grinned. “You mean Florida?” Aidan nodded.

“Floor-duh.” He said. “Angel says we got to go to Floor-duh.”

“Your little pal is kinda bossy, huh?” Zoe laughed. “High maintenance for an invisible friend.”

Aidan looked between the two of them and yawned again.

“We got to go to Floor-duh.” He said.

“Uh huh.” Emily said and turned to the wheel. “We’re off to the land of Mickey Mouse!” She chimed and laughed as she put the car in gear.

To Be Continued …

Feedback is Welcome!

melvansickle@earthlink.net