Shattered: Episode 5: The Price He Paid

Shattered: The Price He Paid
Part 5
by Toni Walker

"What in the hell is going on?" Phoenix Gray posed the question to himself. He didn't express the question verbally, that would only warn Scarlett something less than kosher was happening. He internally laughed. Things hadn't been normal in a long time.

He remembered following Faith down the hole in the monastery as it exploded and than having Julian Black, Gia Doyle and Chandelor Knight find them. Things after that seemed to get a bit fuzzy until one day he woke up in his own house. For a time he wondered if it had all been a bad dream, but in the end, his memories didn't lie.

It wasn't long after his re-emergence into the world that Abraham Moses began his vendetta. At first, it was merely loud-mouthed accusation The verbal abuse accelerated until Moses actually sent a cleaner team after him claiming he was the one who kidnapped Faith Fairchild. He knew this was utter nonsense. Phoenix would have to find out why Moses was targeting him for termination.

Phoenix actually knew very little about the Knights Foundation, except that it posed as a high-class think tank. And the thought of his father working there seemed strange. He couldn't see his father being a covert anything much less a spy. And Nigel? Forget about it. Bumbling was Nigel's middle name. Any good spy would catch him in a second.

All he really knew about the Foundation was what he had learned from Faith in Bulgaria. Her brothers were spies of the deepest caliber, so, over the years, she'd learned a great many things about secrets, how to keep them and who to trust. For some reason, she chose to trust him.

He kept his eyes on the road ahead trying to ignore the gentle falling snow and the forcast for a near blizzard coming the next day. The road to Chandelor Knights mansion was free from traffic. Not many people used this stretch of highway. He remembered his grandfather mentioning that fact when he stayed here briefly. And Chandelor himself used a helicopter, making the road extremely smooth and easy to navigate, not one pot hole or bump in sight.

His sister, Scarlett, was quieter than usual and Nadia Kassoff, his new sort-of partner, never spoke much anyway. So it made the drive easier if not slightly disturbing since he was used to women talking up a storm on a road trip across country. It made the silence in the car all the more deafening.

Nadia was the first to break the spell of quiet.

"So, we're visiting the main cheese of the KF because of your mother?" She seemed to find this fact interesting considering their current mission. "Whatever happened to your "I-have-to-find-Faith" mantra? Although, I don't mind the side road, I don't want Moses to kick my ass if he finds out I'm helping you on your Fairchild mission. The faster we find this chick, the better."

"This is just a slight detour," Phoenix explained.

"Yeah, a slight detour that could get you killed." Scarlett's cheeks blossomed with color. It proved she wasn't used to disagreeing with her brother.

"Ya see? My point exactly. Even the sibling questions your thinking with regards to this."

"Mom's been dead for a long time, Phoenix. How do we know that was even her?" Scarlett's mind raced a mile a minute and it had been the entire drive to the Knight mansion.

"And if it wasn't her," Nadia added. "Someone is going to want to know there is a lookalike running around. Those covert types get all edgy if things aren't what they seem."

"My main concern is the person she was seen with. Cameron Cash is a dangerous man. He worked for the Black Council before Julian hired that new security expert."

"You mean, Helms Solomon?" Nadia said.

Phoenix angled Nadia a curious look.

"What? I get intel. I'm informed."

The quiet stretch of highway suddenly became a bustling nerve center when cars converged on all sides of them.

"Heads up," Nadia said. "Looks like we have company, and I doubt they want to wish us tidings of comfort and joy."

***

The mill house and monastery where they were hiding Faith was not far from the Black Council's compound where Julian Black did a majority of his business. Nigel dressed as a monk in order to come and go freely. Graham Gray, known mostly as only Gray to his colleagues, had been forced to use the complex network of tunnels underneath the holy place. A few branches even reached as far as the Black compound and Julian's private villa. It made checking on Faith easier than if he were to travel above ground.

Gray's long hair matted against his face as he followed the path he'd memorized back to the villa. He had masqueraded as Helms Solomon so many times over the years that the KF had invented some of Solomon's history to mimic missions Gray had experienced. It made becoming a whole new person much easier when he didn't have to remember every single detail.

In an assignment such as this, there were very few people he could speak to frankly, and virtually no one he could trust.

Nigel Bennett and Gray had been friends for a long time. At first, he trusted the safety of his children to him, and now he trusted him with his life. Nigel knew the things he had once had. The great love he had lost and the price he paid to keep those he cared about safe from the enemy.

The bumbling British man knew what Gray most desired: a life with Roanna and his children, Scarlett and Phoenix. But that desire was something fate had taken from him. Early on in his tenure with the Knights Foundation, he learned of a plot to steal the children of top agents and brainwash them into walking in their parents footsteps.

Gray didn't want that future for either Scarlett or Phoenix.

So, in the end, he made the greatest sacrifice he could, he let them go. Gray created an accident. He made it appear that his wife and children had all died in a fiery car crash. In order to keep them all safe, Gray made the children believe their mother was dead. He left Roanna at the scene sedated with an undetectable drug that would fog her memory of the accident and make her think the rest of her family was dead as well.

It was as brilliant as it was heartbreaking. Walking away from her that cold winter's night had torn him up inside. He still had nightmares about it.

In the eyes of the world, he had succeeded in his quest. His family was gone. And with their departure from his life, so went his heart.

***

A candle flickered a dim flame in the dank room where Faith Fairchild was fighting the brainwashing process the real Helms Solomon had put her through. She was greatly resilient to infection and in the end, the brainwashing hadn't succeeded. But the after effects were hell on her mind and body.

She thrashed on the bed and Nigel Bennett tried to calm her. While he struggled with her flailing hands, he ruminated on Gray's situation. A long time ago he had made his choice. He had sacrificed his own happiness in order to keep Roanna and his children alive. They may have called him father, but in the eyes of the world and any document you could dig up, they belonged to his dead brother, Hunter.

He still couldn't believe Gray had kept up the masquerade for so long. The man was beyond paranoid when it came to the Knights Foundation and the LEGACY.

Faith slapped the glasses off his face and he watched them skid across the floor and into a dark corner.

"Blast!"

Nigel knew how important this girl was not only to Gray but to the Legacy. He had to keep reminding himself of that fact. Maybe when she finally woke up she'd be easier to deal with, but for now, the nightly seizures were getting on his fraying British nerves.

"Calm down, Faith," he whispered in a low accent. "It's only a dream."

In that moment, Faith went from a bucking bronco to a docile lamb. She was completely still, fightingly so. This shocked Nigel. He pressed two fingers to her throat.

There was no pulse.

Shattered: Episode 4: Impostor

Shattered: Impostor
Part 4
by Toni Walker

The days after realizing his mother was alive were difficult and mind-numbing at best. Most of his life he had taken on faith that his mother was dead and buried. Not once had he even considered that she was alive. It made him wonder about the strange things that had happened leading up to her death. His father, Graham Gray, shut down soon after her death becoming uncommunicative. It had been up to their housekeeper to raise them and not much later Nigel Bennett, their father's assistant was thrown into the picture.

Nigel was only a few years older than they were. And during his ruminations Phoenix wondered if maybe Nigel had some insight into what was really going on with their father.

The American Embassy building in Athens loomed above the street like a mighty icon of safety. Phoenix had always felt at home there. But walking into the main foyer, he received the immediate impression that things in the world of Embassy business weren't as safe as he might have thought.

Many of the security guards had changed since his last visit but one man, Kahler, at least looked happy to see him.

"It's been a while Mr. Gray," Kahler said by way of a greeting. He glanced over his shoulders at his slightly meaner looking co-workers and offered Phoenix a wan smile.

"Looks like there have been a lot of changes." Phoenix signed the guest book and Kahler handed him his visitor's pass.

"Yes, yes," Kahler said with a nervous twinge to his voice. "You could say that. Who did you come here to see?"

Although the answer wasn't obvious, the question surprised Phoenix. "Dad's usually too busy to see me so I've stopped by to talk to Nigel."

Kahler's eyes grew wide. "I'm afraid that's not possible."

***

The apartment Nadia Kassoff rented wasn't large or swank, and it didn't need to be considering what she did for a living. There was no television and barely a stick of furniture. Scarlett Gray paced around the apartment like a caged cat. She wanted to talk to her mother, find out where she had been all these years, but her brother and this new Nadia person wouldn't let her out of either of their sights.

Nadia lounged on the bed spewing out a stream of cigarette smoke that literally managed to choke her. She waved the disgusting smell away and begged her jailer one more time for release.

"Why won't you let me see my mother?"

"Not safe. Your brother has a big issue about you being safe. I mean, Abraham Moses is out to slam his ass in jail. He doesn't want Moses to use you as bait in order to capture him." She flicked the still lit cigarette butt out the window and lit up a second.

"I still don't see what Abraham Moses thinks my brother has done." Scarlett stepped back a few paces to keep herself way from the smoke which was rapidly filling up the apartment.

"It's all about Faith. Last time she was seen, she was with your brother. Bulgaria, I think. He's being real closed-mouthed about what happened and where Faith ended up. Faith is a pretty important gal to some high-ranking LEGACY agents. And let me tell you. You don't want to go pissing those people off."

"Yeah, I know Faith... and her two brothers. I still don't know how Faith or my brother got out of that monastery alive. The thing literally blew up on top of them."

"Phoenix is a pretty resourceful guy. And knowing his code of honor, he wouldn't leave Faith in there to die alone." Nadia held her cigarette out the window and flicked the ashes into the street.

"He could have gotten out. Kevin did. But he said my brother stayed behind."

"He's either pretty brave or an idiot."

The apartment door slammed open and Phoenix marched in with a grim expression on his face.

"That was a useless trip."

"What's wrong? Did Nigel not know anything?"

"I have no clue. Nigel doesn't work there any more," Phoenix's pause was intentional. "And get this... neither does dad."

"No way," Nadia jumped off the bed to hear more of the juicy details.

"Kahler told me in private, away from the new security team, that Nigel works for a place called the Knights Foundation."

Scarlett was familiar with the organization. She ought to be. The place was run by her grandfather and a council of other men.

She couldn't believe that this bizarre story kept coming back to what happened in Bulgaria with Faith. Their grandfather had come to rescue them when he learned of their existence. Graham Gray wasn't one to stress the importance of 'family time.' Until that moment, Scarlett didn't know she had any living grandparents.

"You mean our grandfather Chandelor's Knights Foundation?"

"Looks that way."

Nadia grabbed her coat off the single chair in the apartment. "Road trip anyone?"

***

While Phoenix set up plans to meet with their grandfather, Nadia took a moment to pull out her cell phone. The streets of Athens were bustling so she walked to a quieter corner of the neighborhood to place her call.

"If you want to do this, you're going to have to make it soon. They're going to visit their grandfather in order to find some guy who worked with their father. I think he's English. Nigel something."

Solomon cursed. He didn't want Phoenix or Scarlett anywhere near the Knights Foundation or their grandfather.

"What about the girl? Julian said he wanted her."

Solomon stalled for a moment. He couldn't let Scarlett become a prisoner of the Black Council. He at least owed that much to her mother, Roanna.

"I'll send some of Julian's men out there. Don't worry about it. We won't blow your cover."

"So, does this mean I get a little fighting action? A gal can only go so long without kicking someone's ass."

Solomon shook his head. This girl was sick. "Have as much fun as you want, but don't kill any of Julian's men. I don't think he would appreciate the gesture."

"Sure thing. But I may mangle a few."

After he related the area for the ambush, Nadia clicked off her cell and joined the twins at the car.

"Nice ride," Nadia said sliding her hand over the leather seats. "Yours?"

Phoenix didn't answer which meant one of two things. He was either still in a pissy mood over his father not leaving a forwarding address or this car was stolen and he didn't want his clean cut sister to know.

***

Helms Solomon opened a hidden compartment and withdrew a satellite phone. He could place a call from it making the signal virtually undetectable. He dialed a familiar code. The receiver on the other end rang only once and a machine picked up. There was no voice, only a tone.

"I need you to set something up for me," he said to the answering machine. "The kids are trying to reach their grandfather. Make sure that doesn't happen."

He ended the connection and replaced the phone into its hiding place.

If Phoenix and Scarlett were to reach Chandelor Knight, it could mean disaster for them all.

A nurse walked out of the darkened room next to where Solomon was standing. She was shaking her head and mumbling.

"What's wrong," he asked. "Did she wake up?"

"No, sir. She's still asleep, but her fever is rising again. None of the other servants want to come near her. Neither do I. This will be my last visit." She started to run away, the bowl of cool water she held sloshed when Solomon grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"You can't leave. She needs medical attention."

"The sickness is growing. There is nothing more I can do for her."

"Yes you can, you can help me."

The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir. She is in God's hands now."

Solomon cursed and strode into the darkened room. The figure on the bed was frail and sweating. She tossed and turned. The nightmares had taken over her dreams again. She couldn't get past them. And he wanted to kill the monster who had given them to her.

A British voice from behind him had Solomon looking toward the door.

"How is she?" Nigel Bennett sat on the bed next to the sickly girl.

"I think she's getting worse and to make my day all the more peachy, the damn nurse just quit." Solomon's voice was full of venom.

"You know that they have this same thing planned for your daughter, don't you?"

Solomon rose from the girl's side and strode toward the door but didn't walk through. He pounded his fist on the wall. "Tell me something I don't know."

"The real Helms Solomon is cracking, Gray. We are very close to getting him to reveal the cure to us." Nigel wiped the girl's forehead with a damp cloth.

He turned to her.

"Did you hear that Faith? You could be better any day now."

Shattered: Episode 3: Exit Wounds

Shattered:
Exit Wounds
Part 3
by Toni Walker

Phoenix had easily extracted Scarlett from the infirmary with the help of his good friend, Nadia Kassoff who guided them via an untraceable earpiece communicator called a com-link. Nadia had discovered some intel that would help him track down Faith Fairchild and prove to Abraham Moses that he was not guilty of killing her.

The man they had to track down was named Cameron Cash. He was Julian Black's previous security advisor before he was gunned down by some Council minions for his disloyalty to the top dog.

It was lucky that this man was being kept in a security wing not too far from where Phoenix had extracted his sister only a few hours earlier. Maybe if they could make this man talk, he could tell them where Black was holding Faith hostage, because Phoenix was sure that she was being held somewhere inside the Black Compound.

Dark clothing or camouflage did nothing to disguise their appearances since the people of the infirmary walked around in the daylight wearing mostly white lab coats. Both Phoenix and his sister had donned similar get ups in order to blend in a bit better with their surroundings. But they still wanted to be careful while they traipsed around the security floor. There was no telling who they would come across.

An orderly suddenly walked by as they peeked out the maintenance door. He passed by without seeing either of them. They both breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like they were going to get lucky this time. Phoenix Gray ventured forward, came to the end of the hallway, then disappeared around the corner.

"You lead a charmed life, Ms. Gray," a disembodied female voice said through the com-link.

"Clean living does it every time," she responded.

Phoenix and Scarlett rushed toward the elevator holding their gear. Quickly and quietly they strapped themselves into the harnesses and forced the silver doors open. Scarlett shot a grappling hook up the shaft using a modified mini bow. It caught on the bottom of the elevator car waiting on the top floor.

"Ladies first," Phoenix said gesturing forward.

She placed a motorized device onto the rope and clamped it in place. All she had to do was hold on while it propelled her upward. Phoenix soon followed.

"It's the last door on the left," the voice told them as they slipped onto the sixth floor unseen. "Remember, we need this man's intel if we ever want to bring Julian Black to justice for his part in Faith's kidnapping and your mother's murder."

"Cash should be a piece of cake," Phoenix said. "I hear he keeps a very detailed journal."

"We prefer first-hand accounts," the female voice told them.

Scarlett and Phoenix spanned the last few feet to Cameron Cash's door. What they found inside wasn't exactly what they were hoping for. Cameron's body was face down on the carpet and a huge red spot stained the floor beneath him.

"I think you're going to have to rethink that whole first-hand account idea, Nadia."

"Why's that?" the young controller asked.

"The only way we're going to get any intel out of him is if we call up John Edward," Scarlett said.

"What?" Nadia's voice gasped from the other end of the com-link.

"John Edward. You know. He talks to dead people."

"You American's and your unusual slang," Nadia commented. "Now what are we going to do?"

Before Phoenix or Scarlett could find a proper place to hide, a woman entered the room. Her red hair shouted out to them as she said, "Cam, they didn't have coffee, but the nurse said you could have...."

Her gasp was audible when she noticed Cameron's body on the floor.

"Oh, my God! What have you done?"

Roanna Ambrose turned to face the people who had killed her lover. Who she found wasn't who she was expecting. "Phoenix? Scarlett?"

Scarlett was shocked into silence. But Phoenix had no trouble muttering the only word that came into his mind.

"Mother?"

***

Nadia Kassoff took off her earpiece and congratulated herself with a Russian cigarette. She had spent many years establishing an identity inside the Knights Foundation and she wasn't going to ruin it now by revealing her true motives.

She was sure this would keep Phoenix and Scarlett busy while Julian set up the plan to extract the Gray child he wanted to contain. Soon they would bring back the Paris identity. And that identity would be alive and well inside Scarlett Gray.

Shattered: Episode 2: The Reluctant Brother

Shattered:
The Reluctant Brother
Part 2
by Toni Walker

They seemed to be at a stalemate. Abraham Moses, the Knights Foundation head honcho, wanted to terminate Phoenix's employment with the KF and he was dead set against it. If he had been a normal agent, he would have escaped with guns a blazing. But Phoenix had respect for life... in spy terms that meant, he wasn't yet old enough to carry a gun.

Even with that said, Phoenix Gray wasn't one to kill unnecessarily. But he was the type of agent who could think on his feet.

"Can't we talk about this?" Phoenix asked as he walked backward while raising his hands in surrender.

He glanced around taking in his options. The fire extinguisher to his left had been recently updated and the glass cover had yet to be installed. That was a happy coincidence.

It took him only a moment to formulate what he was going to do.

Phoenix lunged for the extinguisher. He hit one man over the head with it while spraying white foam in the face of the other.

Abraham Moses sat down calmly behind his desk and called security. He was sure Phoenix would never be able to exit the building.

For the first time in his life, Abraham Moses had been wrong.

Phoenix ran from the room like a man guilty of the crimes he had been accused of. Abraham didn't want to realize what he had feared was true about Phoenix.

Moses's two security guards, the ones Phoenix had dubbed Mean and Ugly, chased after him, but by the time they reached the hallway, the kid had disappeared behind a fog of fire extinguisher dust that lined both wings of the corridor.

Phoenix Gray was indeed a crafty one, Abraham had to admit.

***

"I want you to find that boy! He doesn't know what kind of trouble he'll be in if anyone from the Black Council (BC) finds him first."

The security guards nodded to their employer and set off to search the building. The boy couldn't have gotten far.

***

Phoenix hadn't spent a lot of time in the Knights Foundation building, but if his knowledge of building schematics was up-to-date, he could get to a main air duct and repel down it like riding down the side of a mountain. He and his sister, Scarlett, had learned to mountain climb when they were just children... back when their father Graham Gray actually cared about them and was around to show his affection.

The initial thought of his sister had him fixing a fire hose and using the long length of piping to lend to his escape.

He was out of the building five minutes later, and heading to a location neither Abraham or Mean and Ugly would look for him... right under their noses.

***

"My aunt doesn't work for the Black Council and I don't work for the Black Council," the raven haired beauty told Helms Solomon, Julian Black's new head of security for the BC.

"Octavia may not work for us, but we've had agreements in the past. That's all I'm asking for now."

"You want me to bring you some rookie agent who knows the location of Julian Black's niece? Are we brown-nosing or what?" Nadia Kassoff didn't know how to respond. She had never been selected for such an honor before. Why now, she wondered.

Julian Black appeared over Solomon's shoulder. "Yes," he said. "You will have a distinct advantage over any of my other agents due to your own youth and young Phoenix's attraction to beautiful brunettes."

"Exploiting his weakness, yes?"

"Yes, This will be a two-pronged assault. You appeal to his natural urges and gain his trust and I'll plan for a back up option in case you fail," Solomon said.

Nadia scoffed at his disdain for her talents.

"For your information, the women in my family do not fail. We have all served you well in the past and I do believe my grandmother, the Nightingale is still serving your nefarious purposes."

"You have yet to prove yourself, Nadia. Don't disappoint me." Julian Black exited the room leaving Nadia with Helms Solomon.

The young Russian girl nodded and extended her hand to Helms. "I do believe we have a deal."

"Now, get out there and bring us back what we want."

As Nadia left, Julian reentered the room. He nodded to his new security advisor. "If she fails, kill her."

***

Phoenix ran all the way to the Legacy infirmary without being seen by other LEG or KF agents, and considering he was in mega spy territory, that was an amazing feat.

He wound his way up the duct work of the infirmary until he came out on the floor where Scarlett was being put under observation. The doctors claimed she needed a liver transplant, but he wasn't so sure that was why she was stationed in the security wing.

Scarlett was lying in bed looking as bored as he had ever seen her. She seemed to thrive on unlikely situations, just like he did. Her expression perked up when she saw him crawl out of the duct work near the floor of her room.

"Thank God! I thought you'd never get here." Scarlett sighed. "Did you know, they were talking about operating on me? And hello, not injured any more."

Phoenix laughed at his sister's way with words. "I'm not actually here on a social call. I'm sorta being tailed."

"What did you do? Tick off some head honcho guy?" When Phoenix remained silent, Scarlett blanched. "Tell me you didn't."

"It wasn't my fault. They seem to think I'm personally responsible for Faith Fairchild's disappearance."

"You're kidding?"

"I'm so not kidding."

"Well, then, we have to find her." Scarlett grabbed for her clothes in the dresser next to her bed."

'Oh, no. Like I don't have enough trouble with Faith being gone, now you're going to disappear from here as well? You might as well just lock me up now."

Scarlett smiled. "If you don't take risks, how do you ever get anywhere in this world."

She quickly donned her clothes and grabbed the repelling rope Phoenix had snagged on his way to the infirmary. "Are you coming?" Scarlett asked as she disappeared into the duct work.

Phoenix sighed. "I'm going to pay for this so bad." But he had to admit, in order to find Faith, he would need his sister's expansive intellect. Then he too vanished behind the heating vent.

Shattered: Episode 1: The Curse of Abraham

Shattered: The Curse of Abraham
Part 1
by Toni Walker

He wasn't a spy by any stretch of the imagination. He had merely gotten involved with the Knights Foundation on a lark. Phoenix Gray didn't know what he was getting himself into. He thought it would be fun. It sounded like it would be at the time. Not only would he have fun, but he'd save someone at the same time. What could be better than that?

Unfortunately, he didn't know what a mess he was delving into.

Abraham Moses Wolfe sat behind a large oak desk surrounded by the horizon of Gateway City. Phoenix had met the man only once before, the day he was hired to secretly insinuate himself into the life of Ethan Fairchild and become known inside the Legacy ranks. Abraham wanted him to become familiar with Ethan's sister, Faith. Maybe if he'd thought ahead, he would have foreseen the trouble he was getting himself into. Maybe then he wouldn't have taken the assignment and maybe his sister wouldn't be on life support fighting for her life.

Initially, he wasn't sure why Wolfe had been so adamant in him becoming close with Faith Fairchild. Maybe he would never know.

Phoenix walked into Abraham Wolfe's office and spied the security guards flanking him on both sides. That definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Where is she?" Abraham asked him before he could even sit in the large chair positioned in front of the oak desk. "What have you done to her? What have you done with Faith Fairchild?"

Phoenix had never seen Mr. Wolfe quite so animated or anxious -- not that he was familiar with Abraham's moods or anything, because he definitely wasn't. It was in that split second Phoenix realized why he had been summoned to the Ivory Tower's penthouse.

Wolfe thought his story was a pack of lies.

"I told you what happened. I laid out the entire scenario exactly the way it unfolded." Phoenix eyed the guards then sat down.

"You see," Abraham said cryptically, as if it explained everything. "Therein lies the problem. You called it a scenario. Your wording makes those of us in charge think you had this planned out all along." The black man referred to a pile of printed material in front of him pulling a pair of reading glasses out of his breast pocket.

Phoenix couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You were the one who sent me to Bulgaria in the first place. You were the one who set up for my sister to overhear the guard at the American Embassy which sent us to the Bulgarian park. If anyone is an expert at making a scenario, it's you."

Abraham sat back tapping his fingers together, looking at Phoenix as if he was a criminal of mega proportions. Two guards on opposite sides of him seemed ready to strike. His fate had already been decided, Phoenix realized. He wasn't summoned here to be given a chance to explain. He was brought here to be arrested for what may or may not have happened to Faith Fairchild.

"I'm sorry it went down this way. But the evidence is overwhelming against you."

Phoenix finally stood and rose his voice to his employer. "You actually think *I* set the charges that blew up the monastery, don't you? Have you forgotten I was inside when the building come down around us?"

"A miscalculation on your part, I'm afraid. Unfortunately for you, your only witnesses are unconscious. Kevin is in a coma, due to his injuries sustained in the explosion. And your sister, Scarlett, is in the hospital in need of a liver transplant."

Phoenix wished he was at the hospital right now, and he would be there if Abraham Wolfe hadn't called him in today.

"If you can provide me with some tangible evidence in your favor, I'll let you walk right out of here." Abraham stood and towered above Phoenix who was still merely a boy compared to Wolfe.

"And if I can't?"

"If you can't, these men will take you into custody."

Message From Echelon

Raven Martinez, daughter
of the notorious thief, the Angel.

Mission Intel: Project: Raven

from Miles Hayworth, former top Knights Foundation scientist now working for Esta and Echelon

We have obtained a new subject who has proven to be quite acceptable. She was sent to us from a covert operative inside the Knights Foundation. We are presently making her ready for implantation. Dr. Farley has given us a thumbs up. Her mind is just the type we need for our experiment. 

Will relate more intel at a future time.

Miles

.......................

Raven Martinez, last seen in Legacy of Spies at the Athens Knights Foundation House, finds herself in the midst of Echelon’s influence. She doesn’t know how she’s come to be there. The last thing she remembers is Mitchell Keller, precept of the Athens House putting her on a plane to America. 

Obviously, she never arrived.

Raven stumbled down the hallways of the Echelon compound. Her mind felt foggy and full of static. She bumped into an orderly who gave her a fierce growl and then spun straight into a wall. Raven tried to right herself but her world felt a bit cock-eyed.

"Where am I," she mumbled.

Other patients cowered in their rooms, afraid to walk the halls, as if the hallways were a place of torment. Raven didn't think about them. All she could focus on was her brother, Angel and how he couldn't get along without her, especially here in Athens. 

Little did Raven know that she was no longer in Athens.

Her slightly autistic brother had made it back to America over a year ago. And their father, Rafe Martinez, had gone to the ends of the earth looking for his daughter. He even enlisted the help of the Knights Foundation's best agent, Mackenzie Gray to help in the search. No one had ever discovered where she had disappeared to.

And no one had discovered the mole inside the Knights Foundation, a mole that was eating away slowly at the intel the KF and the Legacy held in the more secure area.

......................

Knights Foundation Memo:

ATTENTION ALL AGENTS: Keep an eye out for this girl. Photo attached. If you find links to her location, please comply with KF and Legacy policy to send in your secure information.

Section Director

The Trust - Episode 7: ESCAPE!

The Trust
Episode 7:

by Toni Walker

"Go on. I'll be right behind you." Phoenix put a calming hand on Jenna's shoulder. She nodded as if finally making up her mind that it was the right thing to do. She began her climb leaving Phoenix behind as she disappeared into the darkness.

Phoenix reached up but a strong hand grabbed him pulling him back to floor level. He landed in a heap and could feel sudden painful aches all over his body but he had to overcome them.

He looked up and saw his adversary. It was Marcus.

"Leaving so soon?" Marcus snarled in his deep baritone. His voice was lower than normal and had an edge to it that was disturbing.

"Sorry to go without you," said Phoenix with surprising zest to his voice. "Sorry to go without you, but I am fond of my life. And staying here is a death sentence." Phoenix sucked in a staggered breath. He had a feeling he might have broken one or more of his ribs.

When Marcus lunged at him, Phoenix just hoped those Judo lessons he had when he was eight kicked in quickly.

***

Jenna West had nearly reached the top when she heard the commotion below her. Marcus had caught up to them and had Phoenix is a standoff. The person getting the worst end of the punches was Phoenix. Jenna winced each time Marcus landed a strong blow to Phoenix's mid-section.

"Leave him alone, you bully!" Jenna screamed as she began to climb down. Liz was too fast and grabbed her shoulder.

"No you don't. You're no match for Marcus. Come on!"

Liz pulled Jenna upward as she fought to return to ground level. Phoenix didn't seem to.be fairing very well. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, it looked like she was letting Marcus win.

"Is that all you've got, tough guy?" Phoenix wiped blood from his mouth. He wasn't sure how much longer he could put up with this. But he had a plan, Liz was sure.

Jenna realized Liz was right. Even if she climbed down, she couldn't fight a man as big as he was. Phoenix was a man and he was having a hard enough time on his own. She closed her eyes and sighed. She had to think of herself.

Jenna grabbed the rung above her head and continued the climb upward.

***

Phoenix wasn't much of a fighter but he knew how to think on his feet. He used the objects at hand in the room to fight off Marcus. He grabbed the edge of a metal desk, put all his weight on it and kicked upward.

Marcus flew across the room like a rag doll smashing into the wall. It was the last thing Phoenix was expecting.

"What the heck!" Phoenix stared at his feet surprised they had performed such an action.

Marcus quickly recovered and lunged at him again. Phoenix dodged his advances and moved closer to a breaker box. Somehow, he could internally sense the electrical impulses. He'd been noticing similar sensations for days, but he hadn't realized what it meant.

The area was under renovation and exposed wires were hanging from the wall. Phoenix grabbed a live one paying particular attention not to electrocute himself. Marcus tackled him just as he got a good hold of it. The two of them slid across the floor. Phoenix managed to turn enough to touch the live end of the wire to Marcus. He stopped moving, was completely still for thirty seconds then grabbed his head, shouted in pain and slid to the floor.

Phoenix dropped the wire and ran for the metal ladder. Marcus groaned and called after him but Phoenix was too far away.

The evil Stepford-like glint had left his eyes and his voice returned to normal. "Wait! Help me."

But his cries weren't loud enough to reach Phoenix. Marcus watched helplessly as Phoenix disappeared into the ceiling.

Marcus struggled to sit up, his arms collapsed weak from shock. And he passed out weak and alone on the floor of the dark basement.

* * *

Farley studied the screen monitoring Marcus. One minute his vitals were at optimal levels and the next he was nearly flatlining.

"What happened," asked
His assistant Addie Parker. " Is he dead?"

"No," Farley said preoccupied. "But he's definitely injured."

Farley's signal for Marcus had been strong in the beginning. All signals in the facility were strong. But as time moved forward it became weaker and weaker until suddenly it winked out entirely.

"We lost the tracker."

"That means we lost him, doesn't it?" Addie said, her voice weary and emotional.

"We can't lose him." Farley ran from his office and down the hallways following Marcus' original tracker
signal to where Marcus was kept when he wasn't on assignment.

The room was a mess. He particularly noticed the blood on the floor and the sink.

Farley frowned. The tracker hadn't just stopped working. Marcus had removed it. They had no way to track them now. Addie rushed in behind him out of breath.

"Dr Farley? Jenna West's tracker has also failed."

These were words he didn't want to hear. "What about Phoenix Gray?"

Addie gulped and looked to the side in dismay. "We never had a chance to put one in. He escaped from the table in the lab.

Farley began shaking as he imagined what Esta would do to him now that he'd lost three assets.

"Mr. Farley!" Esta's voice roared over the loud speaker inside the base. "My office -- NOW!"

"How did she find out so fast?" Addie remarked. "That's just creepy."

"I'm pretty sure she has the entire place wired," Farley said. He sighed and left Marcus' room. Addie followed.

"You're just going to go in there?" Addie asked. "She'll crucify you."

"She can't kill me. She needs me. I'm the only one who completely understands and can create the ADP protocols. Without me, the program is useless."

Addie watched as he disappeared into the executive suite. She only hoped he'd come back out in one piece.