Finding You Again
Chapter Eleven
"I am moving through the crowd, trying to find myself. Feel like a guitar that's never played. Will someone strum away? And I ask myself who do I wanna be? Do I wanna throw away the key and invent a whole new me?"
No One by Aly & A.J. (Hollywood Records) from Into the Rush
"No," Joline breathed. "No…I mean, my daddy wouldn't…he…"
Darren wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulders. "If you're telling the truth," he said, a bit of suspicion still lingering in his voice, "then what are you going to do to stop the assassination?"
"I thought it would be obvious," Arthur Gray said.
Joline choked on a sob.
Darren glared at the government agent. "If what you've just told us is true, my uncle doesn't know who he is! He's been brainwashed! Now you're telling me that you're going to take out a man who has been through something you can't imagine in your worst nightmares? Can't you just find another way to stop him?"
"He is no longer Joe Hardy," Arthur Gray said sadly. "When our intelligence uncovered the truth, I was sad. Joe Hardy was a fine young man. A bit hotheaded, yes, but still, he had a good heart." He paused, not looking sorry at the least. "But that person is gone. Joe Hardy is dead."
"You just told us yourselves, he's alive!" Darren shouted.
"Technically, he's still alive. But the person he once was isn't."
Darren narrowed his eyes. "How long have you known about all of this?"
"All of what?" Arthur Gray snapped.
"The Assassins Superior. What they do to their prisoners. That Jo's father is alive?"
"It has been…ah…in our knowledge for almost ten years," Arthur Gray said, turning his back.
"Ten years?" Darren whispered. "Ten years? Do you have any idea what kind of torture my family went through? My dad, devastated because his little brother was killed? My grandparents sobbing over the empty casket? My aunt—Jo's mother—waking up crying every night, screaming for her husband? And you knew he was alive? You didn't tell anyone?"
"By that time it was too late," Arthur Gray said stiffly, his back still turned. "Joe Hardy was probably already someone else. Don't you think it would have been even more devastating for your family to realize that the son, brother, and husband they loved was still alive, but someone else entirely? And not just any somebody! A killer!"
"They could have done something!" Darren spat. "I bet my uncle would recognize his brother! His parents!"
Arthur Gray shook his head sympathetically. "You really don't get it, do you, kid? The Assassins are bad enough. But the Assassins Superior? Joe Hardy would kill his father, brother, mother, even daughter if the Assassins Superior ordered him to. In all respects, Joe Hardy is dead to a world. That's why it's so important for us to take him out."
Joline was shaking with sobs. "You're the government!" she cried. "You can do something!"
Arthur Gray bowed his head. "I can do nothing. I'm sorry." He sighed, then said, "Philip Walker will begin his speech in front of the Days Old Motel in an hour. I'll get my agents ready to go. We'll take Joe Hardy out before he has a chance to fire a shot. We'll have to…ah…keep you under wraps until we finish the job, otherwise you might do something stupid and get yourselves killed—or worse, ruin an operation that has been going on for ten years!
"I'll have some of my agents escort you back to Bayport when I get back and come up with a cover story."
"No!" Joline cried, "I'll tell everyone the truth! Then they'll come here and set you straight! You can't murder my daddy!"
Arthur Gray smiled sympathetically. "It's not murder. It's ridding the world of a murderer. And you can tell your folks whatever you want. It's not like they're going to believe you."
15 YEARS AGO
SECRET BASE IN THE JUNGLES OF ROMANIA
He had been in a stupor for days, weeks, or maybe years.
"You are Eric," someone said.
"No, I am Joe Hardy," he struggled to say. He wouldn't forget who he was. He tried to keep his brother's face in his mind. Frank, I won't forget you.
An agonizing jolt of energy coursed through his body.
"You are Eric," someone said.
"I am Joe…Joe…Hardy."
Another jolt. Maybe he was Eric. No, he was Joe Something.
"You are Eric."
"I am…" He didn't know who he was. But he clung to the image of the brown haired young man and beautiful ash-blonde haired woman. Whoever they were, he loved them.
PRESENT
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Eric was feeling very conflicted. He had fallen asleep for a very short period of time. While he was sleeping, he had dreamed about a brown-haired young man. He liked this person. And a beautiful woman. Maybe it was Anya. But no, she was nicer than Anya. And she was pretty in a different sort of way.
Eric didn't know if he really wanted to kill Walker.
His mind told him that he did. So did the implant at the base of his skull.
His heart told him he didn't. Something deep inside of him continued to whisper that he wasn't a murderer. That he was meant to be something more.
But I'm not a murderer, his brain argued with his heart. I'm an Assassin. There's a difference.
Oh really? said his heart. You really don't want to do this.
He fingered the scar that had resulted from the implant being put in.
Regardless of what he wanted to do, it seemed he had no choice. He glanced at his watch. Only an hour until his job. He had to prepare.
He took his gun and loaded it. He was prepared. Now there was nothing to do but wait…and think.
~Emachinescat ^..^