Determinant: a gene or other factor that determines the character and development of a cell or group of cells in an organism.
Chapter 23: Yellow Brick Road - No Place Like Home
Jamie works to disrupt the Russian support for the Noah Objective as Mitch and Abe scramble to find an enraged Jackson loose in Helsinki.
"Jackson!"
Jamie jerked awake, unsure if she had actually heard Abe's voice or if she had been dreaming it. Next to her, Mitch had collapsed - exhausted and sated - into a deep slumber. His arm was thrown across her bare stomach, and as she watched his back rise and fall with each breath she forgot about the phantom noise.
The gunshot was harder to ignore. Mitch bolted upright, his arm clutching at her and dragging her further in toward the center of the bed and away from danger even as she scrambled to get up.
"What the hell?" He was over her and on his feet in an instant, his hands fumbling for the clothes he'd tossed away carelessly in his frenzy. Jamie was right behind him, accepting the pieces of clothing that were clearly not his and tugging them on as he pulled his shirt over his head.
Mitch was two steps ahead as they raced for the lab. Jamie was surprised to see Dariela standing there, her sidearm tucked against her leg, and Abe lying on the floor. Part of the lab had been trashed, but Mitch had no time to mourn.
"The vehicle bay," Dariela pointed with her free hand. "He ran to the vehicle bay." Mitch was past her in an instant, moving to check her statement as Jamie came to a stop beside the obviously distraught woman. "I'm sorry," Dariela shook her head sadly. "I'm so sorry."
"You shot him?" Jamie glanced down at the gun, then back up at Dariela. If this woman had killed another of her friends, Jamie wasn't entirely sure a simple right cross was going to be enough.
"In the shoulder," Dariela said defensively. "He was going after Abe."
Jamie turned to Abe to corroborate her story, but Mitch had already reached the bay door and threw it open. "He's gone," he reported.
"What's going on?" Jamie reached down to help Abe up, cupping his elbow to steady him as he got to his feet.
"He...he isn't himself," Abe said.
"He lost it again?" Mitch stormed back over. "What happened?"
"That's not important now," Abe pushed away from his friends and started walking toward the remaining SUV. "We need to find Jackson." He was avoiding the question and not doing a great job at hiding the fact.
But Jamie could piece together exactly what had happened. Abe had told Jackson about the source of his mother's injection, and that his father was still alive. Jackson had reacted exactly as Abe said he would. He'd snapped.
"Okay, look," Mitch darted to his computer and began punching in a series of commands. "Jackson implanted a tracking chip in his arm in case...well, in case this ever happened." He brought up a map of Helsinki, and a small greenish blip was moving at a neat clip across town. "There he is."
"Give me your phone," Jamie muscled her way in front of the computer as Mitch handed her the device. It took a few minutes, but eventually there was a second blip centered directly on the airstrip at Helsinki's airport. "There, now I've got your GPS, too. I can track both of you from here and hopefully get you in a position to cut him off."
He took the phone from her and followed Abe to the last SUV, leaving Jamie sitting in the lab with Dariela and Allison. When her phone rang she hit the speaker button and set it on the desk as she watched the blue blip speed away from the airport and out into Helsinki proper.
"You there?" Mitch asked.
"Yeah," Jamie watched as Jackson's dot began to move west. "Tell Abe to turn right at the next street."
"You're on speaker," Mitch said, and she heard Abe murmur something as the tires screeched. Mitch let out a quiet curse and Jamie bit down on the impulse to yell at Abe to be careful. Jackson wasn't the only one not thinking straight right now.
Jamie led them through the streets of Helsinki, hoping to put them on an intercept course with Jackson. But each time they got close, he would turn in a direction she hadn't anticipated and the chase would start all over again.
A horn blared over the speaker as Abe took another turn too sharply.
"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Mitch asked.
"Just tell me which way to go next," Abe's voice shot back.
When he spoke again, Mitch was louder, like he was holding the phone closer to his face. "Uh, Jamie, we just turned onto a street called Ra-Racoon-something. I don't know, there's too many vowels in this language."
She found the street name as their dot slipped across the map. "Rakuunantie," she said. "You're going the right way. He's just a few miles ahead of you."
"How did Mitch sneak a tracking chip into Jackson?" Dariela asked.
"He didn't," Allison said. "Jackson put it in himself."
Jamie turned to the woman standing just over her shoulder. "When?"
"In Holbeach, after his little grave digging episode."
Jamie opened her mouth to give a scathing reply to Allison's callous words, but Dariela pointed at the screen suddenly, "Look, he just turned south."
"You hear that, Mitch?" Jamie turned away from Allison and tried to focus on the task at hand.
Mitch directed Abe to turn left, and squealing tires told them he'd listened. Blaring horns and the sound of brakes screaming made Jamie wince. If Abe wasn't careful he was gonna kill both of them.
Over the line, they listened as Abe lamented his guilt in their current dilemma.
"You didn't shoot Jackson, okay?" Mitch was saying. "Your girlfriend did. But if we don't find him, we can kiss the cure goodbye."
Jamie saw Dariela swallow thickly as she took in Mitch's words. But Abe wasn't really hearing them. "I never should have told him about his father."
"His father?" Jamie could practically see the way Mitch's face scrunched in confusion. "Robert Oz...what about him?"
Abe's answer was hesitant. "He's alive."
"What?"
"And he's working with General Davies."
Mitch sounded livid. "When were you going to tell me?"
"I'll explain later." More screeching tires, more horns. Abe was losing control.
"You know I'm the leader, right?" Mitch was still angry, and Jamie hoped Abe didn't say anything more. If Mitch found out she knew and hadn't told him, there would be hell to pay.
"My God!" Abe exclaimed as the engine sound died out. He must have stopped.
Rumbling like a distant thunder came over the line. Jamie looked up in confusion at Dariela, but she didn't seem to understand either. Then all hell broke loose, and the thunder became a barrage of warping metal and the oddest barking she'd ever heard.
"Mitch!" Jamie leaned into the phone like it would get her closer to him. "Mitch, what's happening? Are you alright?"
He didn't answer. The crashing faded away along with the weird grunts, but still Mitch said nothing. Panic gripped her and Jamie was halfway out of her seat when she heard Abe's voice.
"The animals are acting just like they did in Mozambique," he said.
"They weren't coming after us," Mitch added. "They were running from something."
Hearing his voice alleviated her fear, leaving a rush of adrenaline that morphed quickly to anger. "Mitch!"
"Yeah, we're still here," he answered finally. "Apparently Santa left the barn door open."
"I'm sorry," Jamie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you telling me your SUV just got trampled by reindeer?"
"Yep," Mitch popped. "Guess that means we're on the naughty list."
"Can we focus?" Allison reined them back in. "Jackson's blip has stopped just in front of you."
"We see the SUV," Abe said.
"We'll call you back." Mitch hung up before she could protest. After a few more minutes, their blip and Jackson's began moving back toward the plane. Jamie ran a quick check, but no one with a gunshot wound had checked in to any hospital in the area. They could do little now but wait for Mitch and Abe to return.
"I need to make a call," Allison stated haughtily before slinking out the door.
Dariela just looked at Jamie and shrugged. "Gonna grab some chow. You want something?"
"No," Jamie shook her head. "You go ahead."
Jamie took advantage in the lull to grab a quick shower. She set the temperature to just under the highest setting and stripped down, taking a moment to check her reflection in the mirror. Up until last week, her hip bones jutted out from her body due to her severe malnutrition and bed confinement. They'd filled back out with regular meals and exercise, though she still bore some traces of her time in Canada.
Her right foot twinged and she looked down at the space where her big toe should have been. She'd read up on amputees and phantom pain, though she'd not experienced it yet. From what she'd read, she didn't really want to. She wasn't even sure if she could classify herself in the same boat as people who'd lost whole limbs. In the grand scheme of things, she was actually very lucky. Sometimes, when she couldn't escape the biting cold in her nightmares, she didn't feel so lucky.
Further up her body she found a few ringed bruises on her arms where Mitch's fingers had gripped her a bit too firmly in their passion-fueled lovemaking just hours before. She poked at them experimentally, but they weren't deep and didn't hurt much. Still, she'd probably wear long sleeves for a while until they faded; no need to give Mitch's mind more ammunition for his guilty conscience.
Another mark in the mirror caught her eye, and she leaned forward to inspect it. It was just above her collarbone on her right side. At first she thought it was a lingering bruise from her tussle with Mace, but that had been weeks ago now. As she got closer to the mirror, however, she finally realized what it was. A hickey. Mitch had left a hickey on her neck. She was going to kill him...right after she returned the favor.
She stepped under the hot spray and soaked for a moment. Her fingers mapped her own curves as her mind replayed the memory of Mitch's touch. It hadn't been the slow, maddening pace he'd set on their first night or even the enthusiastic passion that gripped both of them in the nights after. This - he - had been a different animal entirely.
She could tell from the moment they'd lifted off for Helsinki that this leg of their journey was going to take its toll on him. He'd never mentioned his father, other than a few brief contemptuous asides. After meeting Max, Jamie could understand why.
If she hadn't known anything about the man, she might have found Max Morgan charming. He had a charisma about him that drew people in. And, to boot, he was a great storyteller. But she'd heard enough, and every interaction she had with the man was tinged with the knowledge that he'd wrecked his first marriage via infidelity and poached his son's girlfriend and eloped with her without so much as an explanation or apology. He'd hurt Mitch, and in Jamie's book that made him the bad guy. So she treated him like one.
She hadn't been outwardly rude to the man - they did still need his help after all - but she was careful to keep her distance. When it looked like he wanted to withhold information, Jamie used the same tricks she used on her sources to get what they needed. When Max showed a little more than friendly interest in her, she retreated and tossed Allison between them as a distraction. And when Max had refused to take the hints Mitch gave him, refused to let his son have his peace, Jamie had stepped up to the plate.
"Hey, Max?" She had to jog to catch up to him before he made it to the hatchway. She was still a little off balance, but thankfully he didn't seem to notice as he turned with an inquisitive smile. She held out the jar she'd swiped from the counter top. "You forgot your fish."
"Thank you," he accepted the jar gratefully.
"You know," Jamie rocked back on her heels. "I'm glad I met you."
"You are?" He seemed genuinely surprised, and maybe a little flattered. "Why's that?"
"Because now I understand why Mitch is so…"
"Irritating?" Max supplied lightly.
"Withdrawn," Jamie corrected firmly. "You have no idea what you did to him, do you?" Max started to protest, but Jamie wasn't done. "You're not that stupid, Max. Come on, put the pieces together. You cheated on his mom, abandoned your family, maintained sporadic contact throughout his adolescence…" It was all conjecture, guesses from what little Jamie had gleaned from Mitch's brief mentions. Judging from Max's expression, she wasn't too far off the mark. "And just when he thinks things are turning around, that his father actually wants to reconnect and become a part of his life, you swoop in and take his legs out from under him again by stealing his girlfriend." Max shook his head, obviously too stunned by her sudden assault to say anything. "It's a wonder he can trust anyone at all."
"He trusts you," Max said finally. He was more subdued now, a little unsure, and for a moment Jamie thought she might have seen a glimpse of the real Max Morgan beneath the mask of aloofness he wore.
"He does," Jamie agreed. "And I trust him. More than anyone in the world."
Max thought on that for a moment, then sighed. "My life's work has been the endless search for the mythical. And really, what's more mythical - more out of reach - than love?"
"Love's not out of reach, or mythical at all," Jamie countered. "Life can be a bitch, and sometimes navigating it seems impossible. But love? Love is simple. With the right person."
"And Mitch," Max looked up as though he could see his son through the walls of the plane, "he's your right person?"
"He is," Jamie answered easily. "And I hope I'm his."
Max smiled wanly at that. "Then I'm glad he found you, Jamie Campbell. And I know you might not believe me, but I do love my son." He glanced down at his jar of fish sadly. "Will you...will you tell him that? For me?"
"I will," Jamie agreed. "When he's ready to hear it."
Max nodded, knowing he could ask no more of her than that. "Thank you."
"Goodbye, Max."
Jamie hadn't gotten the chance to tell Mitch about her little chat with his father, and he hadn't asked. Instead, when she found him in his room, he'd been so despondent that she'd immediately sought for anything she could do to alleviate his pain. She'd expected to spend the night with him and had even prepared for the way his touch screamed out his want of her. She hadn't expected that his need would turn to such an urgent yearning, or that the hands that had so gently cradled her during her night terrors would suddenly be so hard and rough against her.
Jamie gasped as the sensations of their evening washed over her again. The memory of his mouth worshipping her skin, of his body above her, driving out the demons in his mind with each push of his hips against hers, all replayed in vivid technicolor in her mind. She shivered under the cascade of near-scalding water, and before she could think about cranking the heat up further she shut the water off. She needed to focus, to help the team find Jackson before it was too late. The rest could wait until later.
Jamie found Dariela in the bar munching on the remains of a veggie tray. Allison was curled up on the sofa with her laptop open, but her expression told Jamie she wasn't enjoying whatever she was reading. Footsteps grabbed everyone's attention, and Jamie let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as Mitch and Abe walked into the room.
"We found the car, but no Jackson," Mitch reported as he shed his jacket. "No sign. He's gone."
"I checked all the hospitals in Helsinki," Jamie said. "No gunshot victims."
"Well, I don't think medical attention's his priority right now," Mitch shot back curtly. She knew he was tired and frustrated and probably just a little scared, so she didn't take offense.
"I shot him in the shoulder," Dariela added. "Tends to sting a little."
"Well you speared Kovacs through the chest and he kept coming." Mitch ended up behind the bar as the others gathered on the stools. "Look, the mutation causes an adrenaline rush," he explained. "It blocks the transmission of pain. He's not feeling anything right now."
"Jackson is not Kovacs," Abe argued.
"No, not yet." Mitch reached under the bar and grabbed the first bottle he could find. He set it on the counter with a dull thud. "Look, the brain has three levels. One controls logic, one controls emotion. The other is reptilian. Right now," he screwed the cap off the vodka, "his reptilian instincts are completely overriding the logic."
"Fight or flight," Jamie translated. It was a feeling she knew well. Mitch's look of understanding told her that he'd followed her train of thought. "We need to find him now. The Noah Objective is days away, and we still need a saber-toothed cat."
Dariela whirled. "Aren't those extinct?"
Jamie felt an almost perverse glee at the confusion on her face. "Not on an island called Pangaea." She knew it didn't clear anything up - and in fact probably created more questions - but they didn't have time to get into the details. They had more important things to worry about.
Mitch seemed to agree. "We can't do anything without Jackson."
"Because he's the incubator?" Dariela had apparently accepted the crazy and moved on.
"Yes," Mitch poured a bit of vodka into his glass, stopping at a finger or two at Jamie's pointed look. "I've been working on an anti-rejection drug, just in case his body can't handle the cure. I mean," he capped the bottle and took a sip of his drink, "I'm going to be introducing seven genomic fossils into his DNA. If his body rejects it, no more cure."
It was harrowing to think that they could still fail, even after all they'd been through. Jamie tried to call on that confident optimism she used to have, but all she could think about was how it could all go wrong. With the way things had gone for them in the last year, Jamie wasn't going to hold her breath.
"I think I know where he is." Everyone turned to Abe, and the man licked his lips as he laid out his thought process. "He'd want to find his father - get answers as to why he gave Jackson the ghost gene in the first place."
Jamie could think of only one person who knew where Jackson's father was. "We need Davies," she said. "He knows where Robert Oz is."
"General Davies is in Washington," Allison joined them from the back of the room with a grim expression. "He's prepping for the TX gas launch. I just got an update, but with commercial flights suspended Jackson won't get his hands on him unless he swims the Atlantic."
Jamie had a feeling something like a moratorium on air traffic wasn't going to stop Jackson from getting to his father. "Well, the only way out of the country is by airplane, and the only planes leaving are military."
"He could be going to a nearby base," Abe finished for her.
Jamie nodded. "We need footage from there." She turned her head to give Allison a expectant stare. "Can you get that?"
Allison didn't look terribly thrilled with the hint of command in Jamie's voice. "Sure," she agreed coolly. "I'll send an order."
"Great," Mitch stepped back from the bar and looked at Abe. "We'll get to that base."
"Not so fast," Allison stopped him. "I need you here."
"What's more important than Jackson?" Mitch's tone said he didn't think there was a suitable answer.
"Mass genocide," Allison tried anyway. "Dariela said that the horses ignored everyone she was traveling with, but came after her. That means they could all have the ghost gene. A lot more people could die than we thought."
"Look, maybe I was wrong." There was a hesitation in Dariela's delivery that tweaked Jamie's interest, and a sidelong glance confirmed there was definitely something the other woman wasn't saying. "There could be another reason," she hedged.
"What reason could that be?" Allison seemed to sense something was wrong, too.
"Don't know," Dariela shrugged. "I'm not the scientist."
Mitch was done with the chatter. "Allison, what do you want me to do?"
She sighed wearily. "Look, Russia is thinking of pulling out of the Noah Objective, but Davies needs their airspace to launch the gas."
"I don't speak Russian," Mitch held out his hands impertinently.
"No, you speak science. I need you to come to the embassy with me and convince the Minister of Defense that we're close to a cure."
Mitch shook his head defiantly. "Without Jackson, there is no cure. So I'm gonna go get him, okay?"
"No, you're not."
Jamie clenched her fist beneath the bar and bit her tongue in an effort to keep from snapping at the woman. Allison's order rendered everyone silent as they waited for Mitch's reply. He just squared up and raised his chin as he gave her his answer.
"Watch me." He left her standing there stunned and followed Abe out the door.
Jamie and Dariela stayed, and Allison's displeasure was palpable as she looked at the other two women, almost daring them with her silence to say something. They didn't. Jamie chanced a look and barely held back the urge to shrug helplessly. She wasn't sure why, but she almost felt bad for Allison. She was under the illusion that she had any control over this team, and it made Jamie miss Chloe more. Chloe, at least, had understood that directing this team was a lot more like herding than applying direct pressure.
Allison left them with as much dignity as she could muster, her heels tapping out a quick rhythm on the floor. Jamie looked over at Dariela, shared a muffled snicker with her, and then tapped the top of the bar with her hands.
"I should go see if there's any way to track Jackson." Jamie pushed up and stood. "Maybe I can find some ripples."
As it turned out, they didn't need ripples. Jackson had attacked a hospital, prompting a citywide manhunt and a rather prominent story on the global news. Abe and Mitch had gone out immediately in search of him, hoping to figure out where he'd gone by visiting the scene. It wasn't much of a lead, but it was all they had right now. Jamie would stay behind and look for any more reports that would let them know where Jackson might have gone. Allison was still holed up in the lounge; with the Noah Objective now only days away, she was scrambling to find anything that could delay it just a little longer.
Jamie retrieved her laptop and settled in the meeting room just off the lab. She checked every local news site, but since she didn't speak Finnish it was hard to find any useful information. She broadened her search worldwide, looking for anything that might have caught the attention of those news sites that had dedicated themselves to reporting events related to the animal uprising. Jamie had to sift through several reports, each worse than the last, but there was no mention of Finland.
Things were getting worse. South America was slowly being overrun by animals, and those that were lucky enough to find a way off the continent were having a hard time finding a place to go. In America, safe zones were filled to capacity, causing tensions to rise. One terrifying group actually advocated for anyone over the age of fifty to be kicked out of the shelters, opening space for those who would be useful in populating the human race if and when the madness ended. Jamie immediately thought about Mitch's mother. She'd gone to a California shelter with Ethan, Jamie's ex. She was likely still there, alone and frightened.
Jamie set alerts for any mention of Finland or an attack nearby and began a new search. This one took a bit of digging, but eventually Jamie had a location and number. She dialed it, leaning back in her seat as she tapped one long finger on the edge of her laptop as it rang.
"Zone Four." The woman who picked up sounded young, too young to be manning the phones at a major safe zone, but Jamie couldn't worry about that now.
"Yes, hi, my name is Jamie Campbell. I need to speak with whomever keeps track of the residents in your safe zone. I'm looking for someone specific."
"Hold, please." Jamie heard a click, then silence. There was no hold music, nothing to indicate the woman hadn't simply hung up on her. But she waited, and a few moments later she was rewarded.
"This is Major Daniels."
"Major," Jamie adopted her best professional tone, "thank you for answering so quickly. I am looking for a woman who came to your safe zone during the summer last year."
"Last summer?" He asked. "We've had thousands of people come and go since then."
"I understand it's a longshot, but this is important."
What's the name?"
"Last name Morgan," Jamie said. "I don't remember her first name, but she's late fifties, early sixties. She came from the Lakewood area in Los Angeles. She probably came in with a man named Ethan Boyd."
Jamie heard him typing, and after a moment he took a breath. "I have a Dianne Morgan that fits that description."
"Yes!" Jamie jumped in her seat and sat up straighter at the familiar name. "I need to speak with her."
"It's almost five in the morning," Daniels argued. "And all of our residents have allotted times to speak with loved ones. Mrs. Morgan's next slot isn't for another four days."
They didn't have four days, but Jamie wasn't going to tell him that. "I'm willing to bet, in all the time she's been there, she's never used her time," Jamie bargained. "Please, Major. I work with her son, and she hasn't spoken to him in months. I just need a few minutes." She didn't say that Dianne's son wasn't actually with her right now, knowing he'd likely tell her to wait until Mitch had returned.
After a few seconds she heard him sigh on the other end. "Give me a few minutes. I'll get her and set up a video chat line. I need your connection information."
Jamie gave him what he needed to call her personal laptop, then thanked him profusely. She wished Mitch was here so he could talk to her directly, but just knowing his mother was okay would hopefully be enough. Jamie's finger hovered over the green button, and when her computer buzzed she tapped it a little more forcefully than necessary.
Jamie had only spoken to the woman on the phone once, very briefly, months ago in Brazil. She knew little about Dianne Morgan except that she had been a teacher in Alabama, and that she'd moved out to California to be closer to her family after retiring. Jamie's mental image of a matronly woman with gray hair and a mischievous smile had been fairly close to the mark.
Dianne's silver-blonde hair fell a little past her shoulders, wavy and frazzled like she ran her hands through it constantly. She had green eyes and an angled face that bore the evidence of her years when she frowned. Her glasses were halfway down her nose, and her chin was raised slightly as she peered at Jamie through the camera.
"You're not Mitch," Dianne said.
Jamie shook her head softly. "No, ma'am. I...work with him, though." She held off on any further revelations until she knew better how Dianne would take the news. "We spoke on the phone last summer."
Recognition lit on the older woman's face. "Jamie Campbell?"
"Yeah," Jamie laughed. "Good memory."
"Mitch said you died in the plane crash."
"I, uh, almost did. A Canadian fisherman found me and took me back to his home, nursed me back to health." Jamie rubbed her thigh absently where the ragged scar from her injury sat just beneath the denim of her jeans. "Unfortunately, I was in and out of consciousness for a while, so I couldn't let anyone know I had survived. I finally managed to get a hold of Mitch about a month ago."
"Well, I'm glad. He -" she stopped abruptly, then cleared her throat. Jamie wondered what Dianne had been about to say. She could guess, of course, if Mitch had talked to his mother any time after the crash. Jamie had read enough of Chloe's journal entries to know he hadn't handled things well.
"Ethan talked about you a lot on our way to the safe zone." Dianne's tone gave Jamie no indication what kind of things Ethan might have said about her. She hoped it was nothing too bad. "Where's Mitch?" Dianne craned her neck as though she could see around Jamie.
"He's...he's not here right now," Jamie told her. She hoped Major Daniels hadn't stayed around; he might not appreciate the half-truths Jamie had given him to get Mitch's mom on the phone. "He went out to look for a friend of ours," Jamie explained. "We're in Finland right now."
"Finland," Dianne's face morphed into an expression Jamie was familiar with. If things weren't so serious, Jamie might have laughed at the identical expression of disgust shared by Dianne and her son. "Mitch went to see his father?"
"Not voluntarily," Jamie answered ruefully. "But yes, we needed his help. You know that your son is working to solve the animal problem?"
"I know he was," Dianne answered. "Before the plane crash. We...we haven't spoken much since just after the Reiden hearing." She laid her arms on the table in front of her and leaned in. "How is he?"
"He's good," Jamie nodded quickly. "We're working on a new cure. I'm sure you've heard about the Noah Objective?" Dianne Morgan scoffed so viciously that Jamie had to stifle a smile. "Yeah, we feel the same way. But we're trying to find an alternative before they launch in three days."
"Well, for the world's sake I hope you succeed." Dianne looked up at something off screen, then back at Jamie. "Major Daniels says he needs his office back. Listen, can you tell Mitch...tell him I love him."
"Actually, you could tell him yourself. I can record a video for him if you want? I'm not sure when the next time he'll be available to call." Jamie didn't say what she was actually thinking - that she wasn't sure if the world was going to end in three days and he might never get the chance to call.
"Would you?" Dianne's eagerness solidified Jamie's decision.
"Of course," Jamie navigated to another program and set up the video recorder. "Okay," she pressed the red button, "go." Jamie moved away from the screen as Dianne recorded her message for Mitch. She felt like a voyeur, listening in on a private words between mother and son. The least she could do was stand out of view of the camera, give Dianne the impression of privacy.
"Hi Mitch," Dianne's voice filled the room as Jamie leaned against the far wall. "I'm not sure how much time I have, so I'll be brief. I don't know what's happening out there in the world, but from what Jamie told me it sounds like you're right in the middle of it." Jamie swallowed thickly at the worry in the woman's voice. "I want you to be careful. You hear me? I know you have a tendency to throw yourself all in, and sometimes you forget to take care of yourself. But you can't forget, okay?" Dianne's voice broke on the last word, and Jamie could imagine the tears she was holding back. "I don't know if... I'll be able to see you again, so I want you to know that I love you so much, and I'm proud of you. Of the man you've become. And no matter what happens, we'll always have Turtletown." She laughed wetly, then cleared her throat. "Jamie?"
"Yeah," Jamie sat back down in front of the screen and stopped the recording. "I'm here."
"Thank you." Dianne's eyes were shining with unshed tears. "For this, and for looking out for Mitch. I could tell from our talk months ago that he cares a great deal for you. Losing you...it hurt him."
"I know," Jamie was fighting her own tears now. "I care a great deal for him, too." She could see in the older woman's gaze that she understood her meaning immediately. "And I'll make sure to give him your message just as soon as he gets back."
"Thank you," Dianne's smile was one Jamie knew well; she'd seen it enough times on Mitch to recognize the gratitude in her eyes. "Take care, Jamie."
"Bye, Ms. Morgan." The image winked out and Jamie sat back in relief. Mitch's mom was okay...for now. If things got worse, however, she wasn't sure what would happen.
"Any luck?" Allison had apparently finished whatever she had been working on and was now standing with her hands folded over her chest, staring down at Jamie.
"Nothing," Jamie shook her head and reopened the tab with her news search.
"Well then, I need to talk to you about something important. About you and Mitch."
Jamie raised an eyebrow incredulously. "With what's going on with Jackson right now, you want to take time out to discuss personal business?"
"This mission is the only thing that matters, "Allison continued. "I need Mitch one hundred percent focused if we hope to have a chance to succeed."
"And you think that Mitch and I being together, that's a distraction?" Jamie stood up slowly, ready to go to war if she had to. Allison was crossing a line and Jamie was going to let her know it.
"Hey ladies," Dariela stuck her head in, oblivious to what she'd just interrupted. "We've got a problem. The Russian Minister of Defense is in our kitchen."
It was just ludicrous enough to believe, and Jamie swallowed the fire in her throat as she followed Allison and Dariela through the hall of the plane. Sure enough, two men with nice suits and square jaws were waiting patiently at the island when they walked in.
Allison was immediately in politician mode. "Hello."
"Hello Ms. Shaw." Leonid Ivankov spoke English with a thick Russian accent that reminded Jamie of the old spy movies her cousins used to watch. The man standing just off to the side and behind the minister was obviously a bodyguard of some kind, and he remained stoically silent as Allison took control of the conversation.
"Minister Ivankov, what a surprise. Doctor Morgan and I were going to come to you."
"I had to see this for myself," Ivankov answered curtly. "Your team. What you do here. Tell me," he glanced around slowly, "where is Doctor Morgan?"
Jamie remembered what Allison had told her in the hall just before they entered. She was afraid if the Russians found out the mutation had jumped to humans, they would throw their support behind the Noah Objective. Jamie decided a half-truth was better than a lie.
"There's an animal we need for the cure," she said quickly. "He's out hunting it."
Ivankov turned his cool gaze on her. "And you are?"
"Jamie Campbell."
"Ah," the minister nodded thoughtfully. "You are the girl with the leopard. You had the cure, but it failed."
Jamie wasn't surprised at his blunt summarization, but it still irked her. She recovered quickly. "Yes, but we're close to another one. When Mitch gets back, he'll show you."
"There is no time," Ivankov looked at Allison. "The gas will be released in three days. With no alternative, the Noah Objective appears to be the most effective way to end this."
"Davies is lying to you," Jamie blurted suddenly.
He seemed unperturbed by her outburst. "So are you, Miss Campbell. You are not being honest about Doctor Morgan's whereabouts." He lowered his chin and stared into her eyes. "What don't you want me to know?"
"I have nothing to hide," Jamie countered firmly. It wasn't entirely true, but she'd already committed to the bluff. Backing down now would cost them everything.
"We'll see about that." Ivankov's gaze never wavered from Jamie's. "I need to speak with Miss Campbell alone."
"I don't think so, Sputnik." Dariela's immediate response was encouraging, if expected. Jamie was still lukewarm about the woman rejoining the team, but no one could say she wasn't fiercely protective of those on her team.
Jamie's instincts were telling her to refuse - being in a room alone with two strangers was low on her to-do list. But Ivankov had keyed onto Jamie for some reason, and Allison had already stated in no uncertain terms how much hinged on Russian support. She would do her part to make sure they got it.
"I got this," she told the others.
"Okay," Allison agreed, then turned to Dariela. "Let's go see if we can help the others find their target."
Jamie led their two guests to the meeting room and shut off the television. There was no need to give them hints as to what their target really was. Ivankov sat down and gestured for Jamie to sit just opposite him. The other man posted up nearby, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
"What's his job?" Jamie asked.
"His job is to watch," Ivankov said simply. "Now place your arms on the table."
The order surprised her. "Seriously?"
"Your pulse doesn't lie, even if you do." It was an old school lie detector, she realized. Ivankov just wanted the truth, and Jamie knew she wouldn't be able to hedge around it this time. Reluctantly she placed her elbows on the table and held her hands out. Ivankov wrapped his cool fingers around her wrist and pressed them into her pulse point. She could feel her heart racing already at the foreign touch and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down.
"You said you were close to a cure," he began. "How do you know that?"
Jamie tried to recall as much about the science that Mitch had been spouting for the last few weeks. "We found a way to take specific animals that have a - bear with me - a triple-helix DNA strand and use their genomic fossils to synthesize a cure."
Ivankov turned his head slightly and muttered something in his mother tongue. His guard replied in kind, and Jamie wished she'd taken Russian in college instead of French. When he looked back at Jamie, his face gave away nothing. "And how many of these 'triple helix' animals do you need to make a cure?"
"Seven. We have six, but the last one is proving...hard to get." She couldn't possibly tell him what it was - a saber-toothed cat that, by all historical accounts, had been extinct for almost ten and half millennia. Ivankov and his guard spoke again, and this time Jamie couldn't handle not knowing. "I don't know what you're saying," she said, "but we are close to finding a cure. If you let the Noah Objective go forward, the gas will kill millions of people. And Davies knows it; that's what he's hiding." She finished her rant with a fierce nod, and she thought she saw a flicker of surprise on Ivankov's face.
"How do you know this?"
"We've accessed his files," Jamie told him.
"This team of yours," he changed subjects, probably to throw her off balance. "Why won't you let me know where they really are?"
"They're hunting for an animal we need," she insisted.
"And what animal is that?"
There it was. The question she didn't want to answer. She could lie, of course, but what good would that do? At best, Ivankov believed her and stuck around to meet Doctor Morgan, in which case he would catch her out in the lie. Worst case, he found out the mutation could jump to humans and he threw his weight behind the Noah Objective, which was already set for launch in three days. Their best bet was convincing the Russians that those like Jackson, people with the ghost gene, would be killed as collateral damage.
"A man," Jamie said finally. "A member of our team."
Ivankov took a deep breath and turned back to his companion. They began conversing in Russian, leaving Jamie to guess what they were talking about. Neither of them seemed overly worried or fearful, just concerned.
"Excuse us, please." The minister stood and followed his guard out the door. Jamie watched them go, sending a prayer heavenward that she hadn't just doomed humanity.
"What happened?" Allison asked immediately when she stepped inside. Jamie rubbed her wrists absently and shrugged.
"I told him the truth," she said.
Allison lowered her voice and angled her head toward Jamie. "That is not what I told you to do. You have just jeopardized everything we've done here -"
"Listen," Jamie lifted her chin in challenge, "either we tell him the truth about the human casualties and possibly turn them away from the Noah Objective, or we don't and they find out, pushing them firmly into Davies' camp. Which do you think gives us the best chance of success?"
"That wasn't your call," Allison returned.
"Well, it doesn't much matter anymore, does it? It's done."
"I hope, for everyone's sake, those reporter instincts are working properly." Allison turned and stalked away without a backwards glance. With nothing else to do, Jamie decided to check in on the boys.
Mitch picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hey," Jamie replied. "How are things on your end?"
"We're at the hospital, but Jackson isn't. We're still looking for why he was here in the first place. You?"
"We have an unexpected guest," Jamie glanced back to where Ivankov had disappeared.
"Max is back?"
"No," Jamie laughed at the horror in his tone. "Actually, it's the Russian Minister of Defense."
"Seriously?"
"Yep. He wanted to meet you, and since the mountain wouldn't come to Mohammed…"
She heard Mitch sigh heavily on the other end. "What does he want?"
"The truth," Jamie said. "He wanted to know about the cure. I told him as much as I could remember, but he still wants to speak with you."
"Well, we need to find Jackson first. And, judging from the mayhem he left here, it's not going to be easy."
"Alright, well be careful. I'll call you when I know more."
"Me, too. Bye." Mitch hung up abruptly, and Jamie hoped he'd found something that would help them find Jackson. She slipped her phone back in her pocket as Ivankov came back with his guard in tow.
The Russian minister stopped just inside the door with his hands clasped behind his back. "It is a scary thing to realize the mutation has jumped to humans. All the more reason to find this cure."
Jamie stood with a hopeful smile. "Does this mean you're withdrawing your support from the Noah Objective?"
"Yes," he nodded. "We corroborated your story."
Hope melted into relief, and Jamie's smile broadened. "That's great news."
"Hold the celebration," Ivankov held up a hand and took a few steps toward her. "I must convince the Cabinet of Ministers. They're meeting in Washington in two days." His steps carried him past her, but he turned back toward her as he continued to speak. "They need to be told that the TX 14 gas will cause human casualties."
"Well, can you convince them?"
"We will stop the Noah Objective, with your help." He sounded so sure, so confident, that Jamie believed him. She'd done it.
"Wait," Jamie shook her head as something he said finally clicked. "You said that you corroborated my story. Who did you corroborate it with?"
Ivankov looked almost pleased with himself as he answered. "Everything you said lined up with a Noah Objective scientist we spoke with two days ago. Triple Helix. Genomic fossils -"
"A scientist?"
"Yes."
"What scientist?" She had an idea, but she had to be sure.
"His name is Doctor Robert Oz."
Bingo. If they could talk to Jackson's father, maybe he could tell them how to help Jackson. And maybe Jamie could learn more about why he'd developed the gas in the first place. "I need to talk to him," Jamie insisted. "Do you know where he is?"
"No," Ivankov shook his head briefly. "We spoke on a secure line."
"Was it traceable?"
"By definition, the secure lines are not traceable." Jamie deflated. "But in Russia," Ivankov continued proudly, "we trace everything."
"Doctor Oz can help us. His son is the member of our team that's missing. Can you find out where he is?"
"I believe we can help you," Ivankov said. "If you agree to come to Washington and have Doctor Morgan speak with the Cabinet of Ministers."
"Deal, done," Jamie agreed immediately. "Thank you."
Ivankov just inclined his head and began to walk away. "It will take some time and space to set up," he said over his shoulder.
Jamie just nodded. "I'll make sure our vehicle bay is cleared out for you."
It took less than twenty minutes for the entire apparatus to go up, and in that time Jamie received an update from Mitch. They were on Jackson's trail, likely in search of a woman named Vera Salvon. Jamie filed the name away in her mind and implored them to be careful.
"Was that Mitch?" Allison asked as she hung up.
"Yeah."
"We're almost ready."
Jamie fell into step beside her as they descended the small staircase onto the lower floor of the vehicle bay. The second SUV had been backed out onto the tarmac, leaving space for the large black tent that now took up most of the area.
"What is this thing again?"
"A SCIF Room, "Allison led her to the opening at the side. "A Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility."
Ivankov came to meet them, and Jamie glanced up at the structure incredulously. "You bring this stuff with you when you travel?"
"Yes," Ivankov smiled. "For security. Calls can't be traced, computers can't be hacked."
"From a surveillance standpoint, it's impenetrable." Allison actually sounded a little impressed.
Ivankov just smiled smugly. "Unless, of course, you are inside." He gestured for the women to precede him through the flap. Inside was a vast array of computer terminals and communications equipment. Jamie was shocked that it had all been assembled so quickly.
Ivankov's guard - who Jamie was finally introduced to as Sergio - was sitting in front of a terminal. He gestured to the seat next to him and she sat, leaving Ivankov and Allison to stand behind them as Sergio tapped a series of numbers. A muted trill filled the small space as the connection began ringing.
The program on the screen began working, triangulating points on the map and pinpointing the location of the call. Sergio gestured at the receiver. "Pick up the phone."
Jamie lifted it from the cradle and put it to her ear. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as it rang again, and again.
"Hello?"
Oh, my God. "Doctor Robert Oz?' He didn't answer and Jamie rushed on. "If this is Doctor Robert Oz, please don't hang up. I'm a friend of your son." She spoke in short, clipped sentences like Dariela, relaying the most important information as quickly as possible in an effort to keep him on the line. "Jackson is in trouble. I think he might be trying to find you." Still Oz said nothing, and Jamie feared he'd already hung up. But the program was still tracking, still narrowing down Robert Oz's location. "Please, he really needs your help," she told him. "Hello?"
Click.
Jamie set the receiver down and prayed it had been enough. "Did you get it?"
All four of them watched the screen closely, and when it beeped Sergio nodded. "Yes. An address just outside Washington D.C."
"Guys?" Dariela's voice called from outside the tent. "Trotter says there's a car coming."
Jamie glanced back at Allison, but she seemed just as confused. "I'll go check it out," she told the others and stood to stretch out her hand toward their new friends. "Thank you, Minister Ivankov."
"No, thank you, Miss Campbell. I look forward to seeing you in Washington." He grasped her smaller hand between his in a warm shake. "Do svidaniya."
Jamie met Dariela outside the tent flap and accepted the small handgun she was holding out. Jamie still wasn't the biggest fan of firearms; she couldn't help but picture Ben Schaffer's face as she pulled the trigger in a stairwell a year and a lifetime ago. But she recognized the need for one in times like these, and forced herself to get over the initial contempt at the feel of it in her hand.
The car had stopped several yards from the plane, but no driver had emerged yet. Dariela posted up at the edge of the bay and used the side of the plane as cover as Jamie walked closer. She kept her weapon along her far leg and took measured steps toward the car.
As she got closer she could finally make out the driver, and she had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing it properly. At the same moment Jamie turned to wave Dariela off, the elderly woman stepped out of the car with her hands up.
"Please, don't shoot. I...I was sent by Jackson Oz. He told me to come speak with his friends here."
Jamie relaxed and tucked the handgun into the waistband of her jeans. "Jackson sent you?"
"Yes," the woman glanced over Jamie's shoulder at Dariela, who finally lowered her rifle. "My name is Vera Salvon."
Jamie recognized it immediately; this was the woman Mitch was looking for. "Come on board." Dariela had disappeared, probably to tell the others to stay inside the SCIF Room until Vera could be escorted further into the plane. Jamie guessed Vera had no idea what a SCIF Room was, and as they walked up the stairs to the upper level of the vehicle bay she barely gave the large tent a second glance.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Jamie offered as she led Vera to the day room.
"Oh, no thank you, dear." She took a moment to settle into a plush chair, and when she looked up at Jamie she was smiling. "Is Doctor Morgan here? Jackson was adamant I speak with Doctor Morgan."
"Actually," Jamie lowered herself down into the chair opposite, "he's out looking for you."
"Really?" Vera seemed surprised. "Well, that is a coincidence. Or perhaps not," Vera shrugged. "Jackson was in a bad way when he found me, but he said you were working on a solution to the animal problem."
"Yes," Jamie leaned forward, elbows on knees, as she spoke. "And we need Jackson to finish it. Do you know where he is?"
"No," Vera shook her head apologetically, "but he said that I could help."
"How?"
"I don't know. Perhaps Doctor Morgan will."
"They just pulled up," Dariela announced from the door. "Allison says we should take her to the lab."
"Alright," Jamie stood and offered to help, but Vera waved her off and rose to her feet. Jamie kept pace with the older woman as Dariela led the way toward the lab. They had just made it to the exam table when Abe and Mitch came in.
"What's going on?"
Jamie turned toward the sound of his voice almost instinctively. "Guys, there's someone here you should meet. This," she turned back to their guest, "is Vera Salvon."
"I'm glad you're all here," Vera spoke in a careful, lilted tone. "I have a message from Jackson Oz. He said for me to tell you that I have a ghost gene, the same as him, and that I can be used in his place. Does that make sense?"
"It does," Mitch nodded. "Have you been bitten or scratched by an animal, Mrs. Salvon?"
"My parakeet bit me," she indicated her right arm. "A few weeks ago. Jackson seemed to know somehow. Anybody else would have thought your friend was crazy, but I knew something wasn't right. After the parakeet bit me, strange things began to happen."
Mitch moved closer. "Mind if I take a look at your arm, Mrs. Salvon?"
She rolled up her sleeve, exposing a nasty red wound. The veins that criss-crossed up and down her arm were almost a bluish-black, and around the bite the skin had started to discolor.
Mitch looked at it clinically. "So you've been experiencing black tears? Mucus?"
"Yes," Vera nodded. "Jackson explained to me that it was happening to him, too. He said that we both had this thing, this ghost gene. It's what gave us the animal mutation." Jamie felt a bit of relief at her words; if Jackson was coherent enough to relay all of that information, then maybe they could still find him. On the other hand, the more lucid he was, the greater his chances were of finding a way back to Washington before they could get to him. Vera rolled her sleeve back down and clasped her hands in front of her. "He said there was a way to cure. Not just me, but the whole world."
"He wants you to replace him," Mitch explained. "To be an incubator."
"Is that possible?" Jamie asked.
"In theory," Mitch answered. "Yeah, I don't - I don't know. I got to run some tests." He moved deeper into the lab to begin the preparation.
Abe sighed heavily. "This means he's not planning on coming back."
Vera turned as the large man walked by her, clearly distraught. "I'm sorry," she told him sincerely.
Abe's face softened as he smiled at the woman. "No, thanks to you we finally know what Jackson's been up to." Then he turned to Jamie. "And thanks to you, we know where to find him."
Allison turned and started for the cockpit. "I'll get us wheels up for D.C.," she said. "Then I suggest we all get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Jamie decided to hang around in the lab to keep Mitch company. He tried (and failed) to get her to go grab a nap, but she insisted on staying.
"Besides," she added with a teasing smile, "Vera seems smitten. I'm not sure I should leave the two of you alone."
Mitch rolled his eyes and finished the last of his initial tests. "Okay," he said. "I think this'll work." He turned back toward Vera, who was smiling a little too innocently. Jamie wondered if the woman had heard her comment.
"I need some blood, Mrs. Salvon."
"Vera, please." She rolled up her sleeve. "This will tell us if you can use me to...do whatever you call it?"
"Incubate the cure, yes," Mitch confirmed. "But first I need to make sure your body can handle it without rejecting the genomic fossils I need to introduce into your DNA. Shouldn't take long." Jamie watched from the peripheral as Mitch took two vials of blood from Vera.
When he walked away, Vera held down the compress he'd left and turned to Jamie. "He's a charmer."
Jamie laughed at the woman's dry tone and nodded. "He has his moments." She glanced up at the parakeet Mitch had brought back from Vera's home. "Mrs. Salvon? Why did you keep your parakeet after the animals changed?"
"He belonged to my late husband," Vera smiled fondly in remembrance. "That bird hated everyone. When Gunter passed, I couldn't bring myself to put it into quarantine."
"Well I guess we should all be glad you kept him. And thank you for doing this," she added. "Not everyone would be so calm." Even Jamie, who had been neck deep in this entire mess almost from day one, was grateful Jackson had been the one with the ghost gene and not her.
Vera looked up thoughtfully for a moment. "I watched my husband die," she said firmly, "and I've been through two bouts of cancer. I'm not about to let a little nip from a bird get the best of me."
Jamie chuckled at her tenacity. "Well you're braver than most people."
"So tell me," Vera leaned in conspiratorially, "what's a young woman like you getting messed up in all this? The world is ending," she smiled despite the gravity of her statement. "You should be at home with loved ones."
Jamie thought about her words for a moment. Her aunt, uncle and cousins were no doubt still holed up in their home in eastern Louisiana, fending off the coming apocalypse and praying for her. But when Jamie thought about home, there was only one person who filled her thoughts. She glanced up at Mitch, hunched over his workstation and deep in concentration.
Vera didn't miss the small smile that graced her face. "Ah, perhaps your loved ones are here with you," she cooed.
"My family lives in Louisiana," Jamie said quietly, "but yeah, Mitch and I...we found each other among all of this madness."
"Gunter and I met by a crazy coincidence. He held the door for me in a downpour, and we sheltered in a cafe until the rain stopped. He bought me a coffee, and by the time the storm had passed I'd agreed to meet him for our first date. I was a lot like you in those days - guarded, careful. But Gunter had a way about him that made everyone like him instantly. So I made an exception, and I never once regretted it." Vera reached out and laid an aged hand on Jamie's arm. "It's amazing to think that a minute earlier or later, and we might never have met. I might have taken shelter in the bookshop next door, or he could have held the door for someone else."
It was a cute story, like the ones Jamie would often watch on Lifetime whenever she felt like indulging her inner romantic. She could picture it clearly in her head, a younger Vera and a strapping man with a disarming smile sharing a coffee while the storm raged outside.
"I had all but given up on romance," Jamie admitted quietly. "I mean, you get let down enough times a girl has to learn. So I built a wall and tried to keep everyone at arm's length. It was safer that way." Jamie turned her head to glance at Mitch's back. "Then one day, two lions got loose in L.A. and my life changed forever."
"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Vera at up straighter and released her arm. "If there really is a thing like fate. Destiny." Jamie wasn't sure what she believed anymore, so she stayed quiet. "I suppose I'd prefer to be in danger with those I love than safe...and alone."
Jamie agreed, but she didn't get a chance to say so. Mitch came back over with a hopeful expression. "Test looks good," he reported as he replaced her bandage with a clean one. "Soon as we find that saber-tooth, Vera here should make the perfect host." He started to walk away, but Vera reached out and grabbed his elbow.
"I like this one," she said to Jamie with a sly smile. "When this is all over, you and him can work on that wall."
Mitch was completely lost. "What is she talking about?"
"Ignore her," Jamie insisted. Luckily Mitch had more important things to worry about, but Jamie guessed she'd hear about it later. Vera just smiled knowingly as Mitch walked away to finish and clean up. "I suppose I should set you up in a room. Are you tired?"
"A bit," Vera admitted. "Do you have the room?"
Jamie thought about the small storage space near the back of the plane that had been converted for Logan. It was no place for the savior of humanity to rest, and Jamie didn't really feel like stepping foot near it. That left one option.
"You can have my room," Jamie said. "Come on, I'll take you upstairs." Vera tucked her left arm into the crook of Jamie's elbow and let the younger woman lead her upstairs.
Jamie played tour guide as they walked past the lounge, the kitchen, and the bar. Once they made it to the living quarters, Vera stopped. "Where will you sleep, dear?" She asked the question like she already knew the answer and Jamie just chuckled.
"Alright, do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm fine," she patted Jamie's arm affectionately. "You should get some rest, dear. You look tired. Go grab that scientist of yours and take a nice long nap."
"That sounds wonderful," Jamie agreed. She grabbed a few things from the drawers and the bathroom, let Vera know where the clean towels were located, and left her to rest. She intended to go back to the lab and do exactly what Vera had suggested, but as she stepped back out into the hallway Mitch was waiting for her just in front of his own room.
He lifted his chin slightly. "Got a new roommate?"
"Actually," she sidled over to him with a saccharine smile, "I was hoping I could bunk with you in the interim."
"So long as all you want to do is sleep." Mitch ran a hand down his face, and when he looked back at her he'd aged ten years due to exhaustion. "I'm not sure I'm good for much else right now."
"We've been up a while," she agreed. "And the last time we were in bed, we weren't exactly resting."
Mitch smiled at the memory her words evoked. He slid his door back and gestured for her to precede him. As she walked by him, however, he reached out and penned her in between his arms. She accepted the kiss he gave, slow and sleepy but no less powerful than every other kiss they'd shared. She was slumped against the doorframe, her fingers clutching the fabric of his black t-shirt as the day's worth of growth on his cheeks scratched her soft skin.
"Hmmm," he hummed against her lips as he pulled back. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and tugged her to the bed after sliding the door closed behind her. He peeled back the covers as she shucked her jeans and sweater, leaving her in a camisole and panties. Mitch's jeans and shirt joined hers on the floor, and soon they were cocooned within the combined warmth of their body heat and the thick comforter.
"What did Vera mean?" His voice was rough with fatigue, but she could practically hear his brain still winding down from the day's work. He needed an answer to the question or he'd never sleep.
Jamie was tucked against his side with her head pillowed on his shoulder. Her fingers danced lightly over his chest in random patterns as she answered. "She was telling me about her husband, about how they met by happenstance one rainy afternoon."
"That look she gave me...reminds me of when my mother cornered me at Christmas years ago and asked when I was going to give her grandchildren to dote on."
Jamie laughed at the image, then sobered immediately. "Oh my, God!" She pushed up and scrambled over him, her limbs colliding with his in her haste. "I completely forgot! I'm sorry." She picked her jeans out of the pile while apologizing over and over again. Mitch, for his part, looked completely lost.
"Jamie, what -?"
"I'll be right back." She tugged her sweater on as she yanked the door open, ignoring the startled cry of surprise from Dariela in the hall. She raced toward the balcony, down the stairs, and through the lab to the meeting room. Her laptop still sat inconspicuously on the table, and Jamie scooped it up, unplugged it, and dashed back to Mitch's room.
He was still sitting up in bed, half-asleep and half-confused, as she came barrelling back in. "With everything that happened with Jackson and the Russians and then Vera...it completely slipped my mind." She bent one leg under her and sat on the bed as he moved his legs to accommodate her. "I found your mom." She could practically feel his stare on her as she woke up her computer from hibernation.
"You what?"
"She's in Safe Zone Four in California," Jamie went on. "I was watching the news this morning - afternoon...whatever - looking for any news about Jackson, and I fell down a rabbit hole. Needless to say, it was long and convoluted and more than a little bit messed up, but it got me to thinking about your mom and how she was. Where she was. So I tracked her down, called the guy in charge, maybe lied a little, and finally got a hold of her." She knew she was rambling, but the combination of guilt at having forgotten all about it and worry she'd overstepped her bounds was causing a flurry of emotion in her gut that she didn't know what to do with. So she rambled.
"Let me get this straight." Mitch pinched the bridge of his nose - his usual tell whenever something was overwhelming his awesome brainpower and he was trying to sort it out. "You spoke to my mom?"
"I did," Jamie pulled up the file of her recording. "And I even managed to get her to record a message for you, since you couldn't talk to her yourself. Her next phone time isn't for four days." She didn't have to elaborate; in four days, they'd have either solved the animal problem - in which case the safe zones would be obsolete - or the TX 14 gas will have killed every animal on the planet, along with 2.2 million humans.
Jamie loaded the file and turned the laptop around to transfer it into his lap. She squeezed his arm once, then retreated into the bathroom as he pressed play. She could hear the steady alto of Dianne's voice floating from the small speakers even through the door, and she tried to imagine Mitch's face as he watched what could very well be his mother's last words to her son.
When she was finished in the bathroom she stayed by the door, waiting until she heard Dianne say her name. Still she waited a few more seconds before opening the door. When she stepped back out Mitch was already on his feet. He closed the distance to her in two long strides and swept her into a tight hug. She felt something warm and damp on her neck and she realized he was crying.
She heard him breath a thank you into her shoulder, his voice still shaky, and she held him a moment longer until he composed himself. He relaxed his hold on her but didn't step away, moving instead to kiss her deeply. She responded eagerly, her lips laving away the last of his tears. She could feel how tired he was, his mouth sluggish and slow to respond to her ministrations.
"Bed time," she kissed him once more and pushed him gently toward the bed. She moved her laptop to the dresser as Mitch climbed back in bed, and this time when she joined him he turned to his side and tugged her almost flush against him. She tucked her head under his, listening to his steady heartbeat as their breaths synced.
Jamie knew he was almost asleep, but she couldn't help the thread of curiosity that had begun to unravel in her mind. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she reached the end of it, so she grabbed a hold and tugged.
"Mitch?"
"Hmm?"
"Your mom...she said something about a turtle town? Is that like an inside joke or...?"
Mitch hummed something that could have been amusement and she felt him shift around her. "Turtletown, Tennessee," he said slowly. "It's so small, there's no official population count on the census. One of her college friends had a cabin retreat up in the mountains out there." There was more he wasn't saying, but Jamie didn't want to pry into what was obviously a very important, private memory. So she nodded and closed her eyes, her question answered.
"After the divorce was finalized, Mom moved us out to Alabama." Jamie's eyes popped open as Mitch's voice filled the silence. She listened intently, soaking in every minute detail of his words. She knew very little of his life before her, and the more he shared the more she craved. "She...she didn't take it well. It took us a while to get back to something resembling normal, and her friend suggested we take a few weeks before the school year started to rest and recharge at her parents' cabin. So we did." Jamie felt him swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing against her forehead. "It was beautiful. Turtletown's not exactly a tourist spot, so no one bothered us. It was just me and Mom in the mountains for two weeks. It became sort of a yearly tradition, and we did it every year until I graduated and went off to college. There's a lot about my adolescence I'd like to forget, but those weeks secluded in the forest, just me and her...it's the closest thing to heaven I've ever experienced."
Jamie had no idea he could so poetic. Oh, he had a way with words, so long as they were long, scientific amalgamations that made sense only to him. But listening to him describe his mountain getaway, hearing the nostalgic yearning in his voice, made her long to see it.
"Sounds amazing," she whispered into his skin.
"It is," he hugged her tighter, sliding his leg between hers carefully in an effort to tug her closer. "One day, I'd love to take you there."
"I'd like that," she told him honestly. It meant a lot to her, his willingness to bring her into this haven he and his mom had found. It made her feel like a part of a family - his family - and she found that thought to be a pleasant one. She wanted to say more, but as she opened her mouth the only thing that emerged was a wide yawn.
Mitch chuckled softly. "Get some rest," he ran a hand down her arm and let it settle on her hip. "I don't imagine we'll be doing much of that in the next few days." Jamie listened to his breathing deepen and slow, waiting only a few more minutes before following him under.