Operation Heartbreaker (4 page)

“Alienor, I have to fly to Washington D.C. earlier, but I’ll be back tomorrow night. Don’t go to bed too late and don’t eat too much junk.”

There was a short pause as the driver told him that he would have to circumvent a traffic gridlock. He was already on the way to the airport.

“When I’m back we are going to talk about the
Seattle Times
.” He hesitated. “I’m not happy about you having secrets,” he added more quietly.

Was he for real? Her little secret was a joke compared to all the info he had collected about her in his back room. She checked the time of the call. Darn it, she had been on the way to the editorial office. Because of the loud music she missed the call. He was probably in the air by now, but regardless she pushed the speed dial key for his mobile. The mailbox kicked right in.

“Uncle David,” she said in a husky voice, “somebody broke into our home.” Why hadn’t she thought before about what to say? A thousand thoughts rushed through her mind at once and she picked the first one she could capture. “You lied to me.” She swallowed hard. “Why?” Her eyes were suddenly tearing up. “And what about Cole?” she sobbed. “I found the files. The little spying chamber was also broken into,” she added so he wouldn’t even consider denying the existence. Since she didn’t know how confidential the files were, she couldn’t call the cops. Especially not as her uncle wasn’t there to monitor their activities.

“I can’t stay here.” She took a quivering breath. “Please call me when you get this message. I’m…” Devastated? Wiped out? A picture of misery? “…confused,” she added and ended the call.

Without thinking she dialed the first number that came to her mind.

“Don’t tell me we’re not flying!” Julie’s voice sounded indignant, but there was a begging undertone.

“Can I sleep at your place tonight?”

“What’s wrong?” The teasing tone had left her voice.

“Oh, God! You had a fight with your uncle and now you’ve decided to run away!”

If only it were that simple. Ally cleared her throat. It felt like she’d swallowed a bunch of tacks. “It’s a bit more complicated than that. Is it okay if I drop by?”

“Mi casa es su casa,” Julie said. “Oh, you know what, I’m going to order us a
Grande Alfredo Speciale
with double cheese, pineapple and shrimps. Sounds good?”

“More than good,” When she came home she war starving. No she’d lost her appetite. She left the room behind, just the same as she had left behind her unshakable trust in her uncle.

One could call David all sorts of things, but liar had never been in her mind. Strict and unyielding, straight-forward and decisive. That was David. He had to be, after all he’d built up a reputation for himself as a lawyer. As soon as his name was mentioned, his opponents bathed in cold sweat. It was the same as with Pawlow and this dog–they had no choice.

As with all tough guys, David, too, had a soft core underneath the rough surface that showed from time to time. But it happened so rarely that she sometimes wondered if he was really made of flesh and blood, or if he was just a well-oiled machine looking like a human.

Like now.

She opened her bag and put the MacBook and some of the files she randomly pulled from the pile into it. After that she went to her room and packed a few things, blinded by tears. Even here the idiots had torn through her things. In the bathroom she noticed in horror that her heart pills had vanished. Hello? Who in the world left the valuables untouched and stole worthless medicine instead?

This was getting better and better.

*

On a normal day walking to Julie’s home took her ten minutes. Today, though, nothing was normal, so she almost needed half an hour.

When Julie discovered Ally’s luggage, her eyes became wide. “Woah! You were serious about staying over.”

Julie’s reaction wasn’t a surprise. Uncle David had only once allowed Ally to stay at Julie’s overnight. She’d been ten years at the time. After that, her friend hat to come to her house. There had never been an explanation for this. That was David for you.

It took a while for her to fill her friend in. Julie only interrupted her once when she mentioned the laptop. Her eyes became shiny when she opened the computer and the question of the password arose. Julie cracked her knuckles. “I can concentrate better anyway with my hands busy,” she said in a business-like tone. “What was the code on the file about this Collins and what’s-his-name?”

“The guys that attacked me?”

“Yep.”

Ally pulled the folder from her bag. “OpMT-046-07/07/2010.”

“Hm,” Julie mutters, completely in her element. With her free hand she made a circular motion. “Go on. What else did you find out?”

Ally sighed with relief. That’s the thing with Julie. She left the drama up to others. For her, life was only about ones and zeros, though people also landed in those categories. Luckily, Ally was one of the ones and Miranda one of the latter.

Ally took a deep breath. Time to set off the bomb.

“There’s one more thing.”

“Spit it out. It can’t get any worse, can it?”

Ally cleared her throat. “Well, this is about the person who is probably behind this. You know, the tailing and all.”

“So, you don’t believe your uncle acted on his own?” Julie’s fingers were flying across the keyboard.

“Most likely not.” Why would he be sending reports after reports like it was a sport to keep her under surveillance. Her uncle was a control freak, not a stalker. Or so she had thought until recently.

“Do you suspect someone?”

“Sort of.”

“Well than, who is it?” Julie inquired, her eyes fixed on the monitor.

Ally took another deep breath. “My dad,” she said quietly.

And finally Julie looked up.

03

“Um, didn’t he die, like, a decade ago?”

That’s what Ally was told. And she believed until, well, just now. According to David, her parents had perished in a car accident. Under the circumstances though there was the possibility that this had been a lie. Just like the rest of her life. Julie hadn’t been able to hack into the computer so far, but the files Ally had taken spoke volumes.

Contrary to her, Julie didn’t just look at the photos, only superficially scanning the texts written. Over a gigantic pizza, she read the entries all the way to the last page. That way she found out that William Collins and Steven Brown hadn’t been some thugs that had randomly targeted Ally. And David hadn’t hunted them down in an unparalleled crusade of revenge. Oh, no! According to the documents, he was the one who’d thrown them at her. The bottom line was, that her own uncle had her attacked and beaten up by these guys. Ally couldn’t believe it, she was in plain shock.

Julie flicked her fingers in front of her nose and pulled her out of her bitter thoughts. “Who do you think broke into your house?”

Wow! She’d totally forgotten about those jerks.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Julie asked.

The alarm system was armed again, but it probably had been before. And that hadn’t been able to prevent the break-in. That could only mean that there were professionals at work. As far as she remembered the alarm system had cost a fortune.

What were those people looking for? Had they found it or had they been interrupted by her? What if they had followed her to Julie’s?

On the other hand, why should they do that? Whatever they had been looking for, it was either in David’s home office or in his safe. It had nothing to do with her…at least she hoped so. She took a deep breath.

“Holy Moly!” Julie looked at her, waving a document in front of her nose.

“What’s that?”

“You won’t believe it!”

Ally leaned over to her and realized that it was a phone bill.

“So?”

Her friend rolled her eyes and pointed at the column of figures. If it was supposed to tell her something, it certainly didn’t make sense to her.

“This is a country code,” Julie explained impatiently. “Guess of where!“

Besides the states and capitals of the countries of all five continents, Ally had also learned other things in order to distance herself from the feelings of strangers. For example the prefixes of the big metropoles. This was one of them. “France.”

Julie nodded approvingly.

“The one behind the three is for Paris.”

“Bingo!” Julie exclaimed and grinned. “Paris has a one as prefix. Every idiot can remember that.”

“So what? Uncle David called somebody in Paris from time to time. How is that supposed to help?”

“From time to time?” Julie held the bill up high. “Three times a week is not from time to time. Also, according to the fax protocols, your stalking reports have been sent there as well. If you ask me, we’ve found your, um, the client.” She pointed at the telephone number again. “Whoever it is, he’s in the French capital at the moment. Look at the date.”

Shoot! The last contact had been two days ago.

Julie got up and rummaged through her denim jacket. Finally, she pulled out the two airplane tickets and started fanning herself with them. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a change of scenery. Especially after failing the last French exam.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Don’t look at me like that. Where, if not in the city of love, can I get some private lessons in conjugating?”

Ally stood up and put her hands on her hips. “That’s not funny! I can’t just run off. I have to talk to my uncle about this mess.” She pointed at the files spread all over the floor.

“Ally!” Julie sat down on her desk and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Your uncle has been taking you for a ride for years. Why, in God’s name, should he stop doing so now?”

Well, she had a point.

“If you want the truth, you have to find out yourself.” She caressed the MacBook next to her. “All you need is in here.” In her other hand she was waving the airplane tickets. “And these things.”

When Ally didn’t move, Julie leaned in. “Don’t you want to know who your parents are?”

More than anything in the world. But what if this was some misunderstanding? If they got the information all wrong? Okay, after all they had seen so far, this was unlikely. But there was a slim possibility that they were mistaken. “You seem confident about bout cracking the code,” She said to gain time.

“No problem, I only need some peace and quiet for that.”

Ally quietly exhaled and looked at her friend. “Why do you want to do this?”

“Ally, my horoscope said that today is the ideal day to start a journey.”

They remained serious for a moment, then broke into laughter.

“You’re crazy!“ Ally replied, shaking her head.

“You might be right, but this is the best adventure of my life! Although that’s beside the point. There are a bunch of people out there looking for something. What if they come back? If they followed you here and will show up tonight? What are you going to do about it? Pull the blanket over your head and wait until it’s over?”

Damn it! That made the score two to zero for her friend.

But that wasn’t the point. This was the first real chance to meet her father. Or, if she was wrong, the person who had spied on her for years. In either case, she would find out more about her past. About herself and her parents. Her uncle hadn’t breathed a word about them, she didn’t even have a picture. Besides, maybe she could find something about her abnormality. There were tons of medical reports in the files. Maybe her uncle had lied about it as well. What if there was a cure? A way to block the strange emotions without feeling wrapped up in cotton.

She took a deep breath. Julie was right. David had jerked her around for years. Why would he put the cards on the table now just because she asked him nicely? And how would she know he wasn’t lying again?

“Do you really think you can crack this code?”

Julie grinned confidently. “One hundred percent!”

Internally, Ally shook her head. What had she gotten herself into?

On one hand she had to agree with Julie. If she’d really been in a Snow White slumber all these years, it was time to wake up. She learned the hard way that couldn’t rely on her uncle. But she could on Julie. Contrary to him, her friend had never let her down. Or had backstabbed her, for that matter. “Okay.”

Julie clapped her hands. “You’re doing the right thing,” she squealed. “Besides, your calendar said you should modify your life.”

“Well, actually, it said that I should use the word ‘modify’ as often as possible.”

“Then you should start doing so right away, because it’s getting dark outside already.”

It was one of Julie’s talents that she’d always get one laughing. If Ally would throw herself into an adventure, then only with her by her side, that’s for sure.

In case the intruders had followed her, they decided to go to the airport right away. Thanks to the tickets they would be in a relatively safe place once inside the transit area.

While Julie sat down at her computer to rebook their flight so they could take off tonight, Ally tried reaching David one more time. As expected the mailbox kicked in. This time she didn’t leave a message. What could she say?

Hi, Uncle David. I’m on my way to the airport to look for my father in Paris, if it’s even him. And, of course, given that he is actually there and we are able to find him. So, other than that, don’t worry about me.

After Julie logged out she gave Ally a wide grin.

“There is one more flight to Paris tonight and guess who checked in five minutes ago?”

Wow. “Was it hard?”

“Not if you fly First Class.”

Renée had booked them First Class seats? The questions was obviously written all over her face.

“She had booked herself a Business Class seat and one in Economy Class for you. Rather stingy, don’t you think?”

“But isn’t it awfully expensive?”

“You bet!” Julie sighed. “I wish I could see her face when the credit card bill arrives.” Shaking her head, she zipped up her duffle bag.

“Y…you can’t be serious!” Renée would kill her. And then sue her. Thank God her uncle was a lawyer. Too bad though he would also kill her as soon as he would find out about their plans.

“Relax! Your uncle will compensate her. It’s not like he can’t afford it. His company owns several private jets, all decked out. Besides, he has a lot to make up. I’d use that against him until  his ears start bleeding.”

“Julie, I…”

“It’s only right that he pays,” she added intently. “Remember, he hired some douchebags to beat you up. That’s just sick!”

Well yeah, it is. On the other hand, her uncle never did anything without a motive, though she couldn’t come up with a deeper meaning of the assault.

She should be livid about that, instead she felt crushed. Within a few hours she had lost her job, had become victim of a break-in, had lied to her former boss and actually sort of stolen from her. To top it off, she had lost complete trust in her uncle and found out that her father was probably still alive. A bit too much for one day. Her emotions had trouble keeping up, especially since she was not even sure what she should feel besides profound confusion. She was appalled, angry and exhausted. At the same time she felt hope, even anticipation.

Because of her heart issue she’d never done anything crazy. Instead, she was leading an orderly life, conformed and completely boring with meticulously precise dinner times and strict rules: Which parties she could attend, when she had to be home, the stuff she was allowed to eat and drink, and when she was supposed to go to bed. She wouldn’t be surprised, if her uncle would make her check in and out at home with a keycard so he could monitor her coming and leaving via mouse click. For all she knows her key may even have an application with a similar function.

Suppressing another sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair. “I can’t believe I’m getting myself into this.”

Julie gave her a bright smile. “Me neither, but so far my horoscope was never wrong.”

They both laughed and this time it was freeing.

The strain of the day was weighing Ally down. When she got up this morning all she’d been able to think about was the interview with Viktor. Half the night she had been lying awake, scrolling through the questions until she’d become cross-eyed. A few hours later her entire world was upside down. It was hard catching up with her chaotic feelings, which couldn’t be suppressed without pills. At least, that’s what they’ve been telling her.

In spite of her inner turmoil she felt somehow empty, like somebody had pulled the plug. Who she was and the foundation she believed in had been taken away from her in a single day.

To clear her head, she went through the players of the
Seahawks
, and after that through their list of injured players, and finally the names of the last ten coaches. It helped. After her inner chaos cleared up a bit she tried to straighten out this day.

Everything had started with Renée and the cancelled trip. Uncle David’s betrayal. Then the break-in. And now she found out that she had been under surveillance all her life. Then there was Cole. Could it really be possible that her parents were still alive? Cole’s name was practically found on every page, but what about Emily? If her dad was somewhere out there, was this also true for her mom?

To get her mind off her misery she helped Julie get packed.

She was surprised how much she could handle this mess without her pills. She didn’t have time to freak out anyway, but that’s a different story. Who could hold it against her if she threw all reason to the curb and holed up in the basement? Instead she asked herself if she had actually packed enough shirts to change. That’s probably just her overly agitated brain reacting to the stress of the last hours. Next year she was planning to take Psychology as an elective, after all it came in handy at times. Like now.

Secretly, she was hoping that this whole muddle would turn out to be a giant mix-up. At the same time it was clear all facts pointed against it. But one can hope, right?

Against all contrariety, she was longing for her uncle, her tower of strength. Normally she cursed his urge to control her and everything she did, but right now a bit control would come in handy. Her life was falling apart and her only footing was an underage hacker girl, whose skills had gotten them two plane tickets. A trip with uncertain ending, on another continent.

Apropos. “Do you have a passport?”

Julie hit her own forehead. “Oh, damn it! No idea where it is.”

Sighing Allys eyelids closed while she concentrated. A blink later her eyes reopened and she knitted her brow. “In the shoe box underneath the bed?”

Julie starred at her for a few moments, then shook her head. “You’re creepy sometimes, you know that?”

Twenty minutes later they jumped down the stairs. With her passport in hand, Julie grabbed her bag and the car keys and they left the house without looking back.