C
HAPTER
24
M
organ woke up, chilled to the bone, to the sounds of birds chirping and the sun peeking through the branches of the trees.
Damn it
, he thought, checking his watch: 6:50
A.M.
He had slept for more than five hours.
Shit
.
He drove the rest of the way as fast as he could, tires squealing at every curve. If Alex and Jenny had been found while he was asleep, he would never forgive himself. The wooded highways of the Northeast were a blur as he pressed on with a single-minded purpose, weaving through sparse traffic and stopping only for gas on the way.
Just after 1:30
P.M.
, he turned onto the short stretch of dirt road in the woods that led to his father’s hunting cabin. The undergrowth had already crept onto the path, and there were even a few saplings that had taken root. From the flattened plants and broken branches, it was obvious that another car had passed through recently.
At least they made it here
, he thought hopefully. But thoughts of Alex and Jenny dead or captured still invaded his head and refused to leave.
He pulled up to the cabin a few minutes later and found the GTO parked near the door. The cabin itself was a small hunting lodge in the forest a mile or two from the highway, where the noises of civilization didn’t reach, except for the occasional plane passing overhead. Morgan parked and got out of the car. As he approached the entrance, he could hear Neika scratching at the door from inside. He raised a hand, shaking in anticipation, and knocked.
The door opened, and there stood Jenny, tired and disheveled, holding a stun gun in a defensive crouch. To Morgan, she had never looked more beautiful. Her kind brown eyes, exhausted from the past few days, widened in surprise. Dropping the weapon to the ground, she fell into his arms and a deep, passionate kiss.
Neika, puppylike, had already bounded outside and was jumping for joy, not knowing what to do with herself. Alex emerged from inside, holding a knife in her trembling hands, her athletic frame showing the weariness of nervous, sleepless nights. She approached slowly, repeating, “Dad? Dad?” with tears in her eyes. Morgan put an arm around her, as well. Relief poured over him. For a moment, as he held his wife and daughter tightly in his arms, everything was right in the world.
“Are we safe?” asked Jenny, finally. “Dan, tell me we’re safe.”
“I can’t know for sure,” he admitted, as they walked inside. “But this is the safest place I know of right now.”
The cabin was old but sturdy, and structurally, it had held up well over the years of disuse—his father, who suffered from a bad back, had not been hunting in over a decade. It was furnished with two rustic beds in the bedroom, a few wooden chairs, and a table. Jenny had clearly been working to make the place livable. No amount of her interior design skills could transform it into a dream home, but it was as comfortable as Morgan had ever seen it. The floor and other surfaces were mostly free of the dust that had no doubt accumulated, and there were some groceries on the table, mainly snack foods that required no preparation or refrigeration. He was surprised to find the room cozy with warmth, and he noticed that a fire crackled in the iron woodstove in a corner.
“There was an old pile of chopped wood out in the back,” said Jenny. “A couple of logs were still good enough to burn. I figured we’d have what comfort we could manage.”
Dan smiled. Jenny Morgan certainly wasn’t a helpless woman in need of being saved.
“Speaking of which,” added Jenny, “Alex, could you go get a couple more logs for us?”
“Sure, Mom.”
Jenny waited until Alex walked out the door, and then she turned to Morgan. “Dan, I know there are things you don’t want Alex to hear, but I sure as hell deserve to know. Why are we here?”
“It’s a long story,” he said, sighing. “Did you tell her? You know, about me?” he asked.
“No,” she answered calmly. “It’s important for you to explain it to her yourself. But you have to, Dan. She needs some explanation for what’s going on. There were armed men in her home. You need to tell her. Today.”
“Yeah . . . ,” he said. “You’re right. I do.” He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation.
“And I need some answers, too. Like, who were the men who came to our house?” asked Jenny.
He frowned. “What did they look like? What did they say?”
“They were two men in suits claiming to be with the FBI. They wanted Alex and me to go with them. Dan, who are they?”
“Boys from the Agency, if we’re lucky,” he said.
“If we’re
lucky
?”
Alex kicked the door open, carrying two large, partially rotted logs in her arms. “These were the best I could find,” she said.
“You seem to be getting the hang of this roughing it stuff,” Morgan observed.
“Well, it
has
been three days,” said Alex, with a hint of coolness to her tone.
“I’m sorry you had to go through all this.”
“It’s all right,” she said, sighing stoically, tossing the logs into the smoldering embers. Then she turned and looked him straight in the eye. “Dad, what’s going on here?”
Morgan took a deep breath. “Some people, some very bad people, are out to get me right now. I had your mother bring you here because they might have come after you to get to me. And from what she tells me, it sounds like they did.”
“Who, Dad? Who’s coming after us? Why would anyone want to do that?”
“They’re bad people with a lot of power. It’s all very complicated, sweetheart.”
“
Stop
talking to me like I’m a child.”
“Alex—”
“I’m not a kid anymore,” she said, her voice cracking. “You need to be honest with me. For once.”
“Sweetie, it’s complicated.”
“Don’t give me that!” she exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. “Don’t even! I mean, you miss the game and leave for days to go God knows where. Then Mom tells me
we
have to leave home. Then two men with guns show up at our front door. And now we’re in a cabin in the woods I didn’t even know existed, and I still don’t know
why
.” She stopped, out of breath, looking at Morgan, her eyes pleading for an answer.
He sighed. He’d always known this day would come. He had put it off, again and again, and now he was forced to come clean at the worst possible moment. “You’re right,” he said, pulling a chair out for her. “I think it’s time we had a conversation. One that we should have had a long time ago.”
She sat down, her weary expression now mixed with confusion and apprehension. He pulled up a chair in front of her, and Jenny sat a few feet away. He began.
“For over ten years, Alex, I was a spy for the CIA.”
She gaped at him, speechless, looking bewildered and unsure. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again, then said, “What? Dad, that’s ridiculous. I
know
you deal in antique cars. I’ve met people you work with. I even came with you to Los Angeles once, remember?”
“That wasn’t a lie. For many years, it’s been my real, honest-to-God job. But before that, it was only a side job. My cover.”
“For your career as—as a
spy
?” she asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“What does that even mean?” she asked. “Being a spy. I mean, like in the movies? I’m trying hard not to assume anything. I’d rather hear it from you.”
“I was in Black Ops,” he explained. “I ran missions that officially never happened. Dangerous missions.”
“You mean like . . . assassinations?” She spoke carefully, looking down.
“Yes,” he said solemnly. “Among other things.”
“I see,” she said.
“Look, Alex . . .“
“Sorry, Dad, this is just a bit much, all right? I mean, suddenly you’re telling me that you’ve been lying to me my entire life? I mean, this is about who you are! You’re what’s wrong with the world . . . You, personally, represent what’s wrong with the way we deal with the rest of the world! I mean, I knew what your politics were, Dad, but I didn’t know you were at the heart of everything I’m against! Just how am I supposed to react to that?”
“I’m your father,” he said. “I love you, and I have always wanted the best for you. That has never been a lie. That’s stronger than politics. It’s stronger than anything.”
“But you’ve
killed
people! How am I supposed to live with that?”
Morgan took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I can tell you to make you accept it. All I can do is try to make you understand. I did this work because it was the right thing to do. There are evil, dangerous people out there, Alex. People who look for ways to harm Americans. People who would destroy our government and kill our citizens. I know this sounds vague and distant, but I saw it up close. It’s real. They’re real, and this country needs people like me to keep them at bay.
“I know you believe that everything is going to be fine if we all just try to get along,” he continued, “but this isn’t
Sesame Street
. I’ve been there; I’ve seen things; and, trust me, sweetie, things just don’t work that way. And even if you don’t believe me, if you can’t see why, I still don’t regret anything I’ve done, because I know it made the world a safer place for you to grow up in.”
Alex sobbed quietly and said, through her tears, “I don’t even know you, Daddy.”
“Alex . . .” he said, reaching a hand out to her. “It’s still me. I’m still your father.”
“No,” she said, recoiling, and she stood up. “I can’t just accept that. It’s not that simple.” She grabbed her coat.
“Where are you going?” Morgan asked.
“I just . . . I need to be away from here right now.” She turned and walked out of the cabin, slamming the door.
“You could have said something,” Morgan said to Jenny, sadly, without bitterness.
“You did well,” Jenny reassured him. She laid her hands on his shoulders and stroked him tenderly. “It’s just a lot to lay on her. Let her go be angry, blow off some steam. This can’t be easy for her. I know it wasn’t easy for me, either. She needs this time. Let her have it.”
“What makes you so sure she’ll come around?”
“Because you’re her father. You’re more important to her than any political cause.”
“I hope you’re right.” He sighed.
Jenny sat down in Alex’s chair, across from Morgan. “Dan, I know Alex wasn’t ready for this, but I need to know what happened. Why are people after us?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Morgan told her everything that had happened since Plante knocked on their door. She winced at every turn where he might have died had it not been for a stroke of luck or a split-second decision. She demanded that he show her the wound in his side and gasped when she saw it. As he told her about Plante, with her gentle touch she removed the bandages, cleaned away the dried-up blood, carefully placed fresh gauze from their first-aid kit over his sutures, and wrapped the bandages around his torso.
“And those two men who came to our house, they were from the CIA?” she asked him, as she pulled the end of the bandage taut and taped it.
“I think so,” he said. “But they’re not the ones I’m worried about. They wouldn’t have had clearance to kill. They would have just brought you in. The one I’m really worried about is the one who attacked me in Afghanistan.”
“You said it was a woman you recognized?” asked Jenny.
“Yes. She’s a Russian spy who turned double agent for the CIA many years ago. I originally helped to turn her to our side.” He didn’t feel compelled to tell her their shared history in any further detail. “Now she’s hunting me because I have information that could hurt her and whoever she’s working for.” He looked into his wife’s eyes. “Jenny, this . . . I never wanted this for us. That’s why I quit. I never wanted to put you and Alex into danger.”
His wife sighed and looked down, frowning. “I know, Dan. But you did. You got back into it all over again. And now here we are.”
There was a long silence. Neika walked over to Morgan, her nails clicking on the wooden floor, and licked his hands. He stroked her along her back, over her sleek black fur.
“So what now?” said Jenny.
He knew she wouldn’t like his answer to that question. “I need to keep digging into this.”
“Dan . . .” she pleaded.
“Whatever’s going on, Jen, it’s big, and it involves some very powerful people.”
“I think I’m missing the part where that means
you
need to be involved. Isn’t that an excellent reason to
stay away
?”
“But I already
am
involved. I’m in deep, Jenny. They want to kill me. How much more involved could I be? The only hope now is to keep digging until I come out the other side. That’s the only way that we can ever go back. If I don’t, we’ll be running for the rest of our lives. I could deal with it, but I wouldn’t do that to you and Alex. They just used you to get to me, and I have no doubt that they would do it again in a heartbeat. I don’t want you and Alex living like fugitives.”