Look out for the <>!
"Just remember to take the bug and show her," I said to Auggie over the phone two days later.
After they took Tori's body away, we got carted off to the airport and flown back home as soon as possible. There was a sense of urgency that no one wanted to address. There were secrets that were starting to come undone and I had a feeling that we were on the edge of something.
"I will," Auggie laughed lightly.
I knew I could count on him. I needed him to show Gram the bug because then she would believe me. She would understand that MIA needed to be address and fixed and we need the full support of the CIA.
"Annalise, I got to go," Auggie said over the phone. "But I love you, remember that. I always will."
I smiled. Ever since that proposal in the elevator, we had no time to talk about it. Yes we were engaged, but it didn't feel like it. I had no ring, no plans, it was just words that were said between us. We wanted to be together and for now, that was good enough. "I love you too," I said as I hung up the phone. I pulled out my milk and sniffed it. It was still good. I poured it into a cup and sat down at my small kitchen table and looked at my computer.
"What am I going to do?" I said out loud with a sigh as I thought about the next month that I would be benched for. Then I remembered that I never looked up who sat at B26. I needed to know who stayed there so quickly I went on to the CIA website search page.
My heart started to pound in my chest as the page loaded. Once I figured out who owned this desk, I was one step closer to finding out who B26 was. I was excited but nervous at the same time. What if this didn't answer my question? What if no one owned the desk in the last 20 years? Then I would be back at the drawing board.
I watched the bar spin as it loaded. My fingers hit a study rhythm on the table as the search came up, then finally after a minute, it showed the history of B26. The last owner of that cubical was James Phillips.
If I wasn't sitting down already my legs would have given out. In that moment, I knew. After all these years, he wasn't dead. James Phillips, my dad was B26. That was why he reached out to me. He knew I could do it because he knew me, he trusted me. Tears started to fall down my face. B26 was my father and he wasn't dead.
I shook my head as I tried to wrap my head about it. After all these years, I was never alone like I thought, he had always been there, watching me, helping me though every mission. I got up from the computer brushed some over my hair out of my face as I walked back and forth in the kitchen, trying to grab a hold of this. In my mind I pieced together the hints that he gave me.
You're a bright girl, you'll figure it out. You always do.
I was starting to get worried about you.
That's my girl. :)
You can't do this to me. I need you.
Be safe.
All the little things he said, he cared. No stranger would care about me like my father did. How could I have not seen this? I frowned at the computer, suddenly furious. Why didn't he just reveal himself instead of beating around the bush? He left me alone for years. I struggled, I was the blunt of jokes, people hated me, my grandmother thought I was trouble. I needed him so why didn't he come back sooner?
I walked back to the computer and sat down. I needed to talk to him right now, I couldn't wait any longer. I went to the main screen of my computer and typed B26.
Suddenly the screen turned black and said, "Did you get the bug?"
"Yes. Thanks for the help." My hands shook, I was suddenly terrified to ask. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get a the response. "Dad..." I typed hesitantly.
<>
Then there was nothing as seconds ticked by. I frowned at the computer as I sank deeper into despair. He wasn't my dad and he didn't know how to respond. I waited patiently in excruciating silence until he reasoned. "You figured it out. You always do."
I smiled lightly. I missed him. I didn't want to type anymore. I wanted to see him face to face. After all this time, he was still alive. "Dad, why didn't you tell me?" I asked, crushed that I was alone for years. I needed him then, didn't he see that?
"Sweet heart. I couldn't. MIA, they're after me. I'm always on the run. Annalise, they're down the road from me now, I only have a minute. Go to the CIA now. They're planning to bring down Langley within days. You have to stop them. Warn your grandmother before it's too late."
I nodded at the screen as if he was right in front of me. I wasn't sure how I could do that when she didn't believe me, but I had to at least try.
"You have to understand that when I faked my death, I did this to protect you. You were too young, but I couldn't risk putting you in danger. But look at you, all grown up... I know this is a lot to take in but I know you can, you're my girl."
I frowned at the computer. I couldn't imagine the thought of him leaving again. "Dad, come back. Don't go." I typed as my fingers starting to tremble again. I needed him to talk to me as long as possible. I needed him like the air I breathed.
"I'll try to get a hold of you again. Soon. Annalise, I love you." And with that the screen went back to normal.
I just sat there for minutes as I tried to process what happened. I couldn't think straight. I went to his and moms funeral, I saw they're bodies with my own eyes. How could he be alive? And if Dad was alive was Mom? Why did he just start talking to me just a few months ago? Why now? Why me? Why not my grandmother? I was sure that she could have helped him more then I could ever.
Breaking me out of my thoughts was my phone that started to buzz. I jumped and ran to it. "Hello?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"Annalise? Can I talk to you?" my grandmother said over the phone. I could hear concern in her voice as I looked at my eggshell white wall. It was about time she gave me some concern.
"Yeah..." I said, my mind wondering from this conversation.
"Are you ok?"
I shook my head to clear it. There was a reason why my dad faked his death and kept it secret from us. Now it was my job to keep it from her. She would never know my father was alive, not until he was ready to share. "I'm fine."
"Can you come in now. Please?" her voice sounded urgent.
"I'll be there," I said and hung up the phone. Her urgency made me worry. Something was wrong.
Without even taking a shower, I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my keys. I looked at my bed head with a frown but knew I had no time. I left out the front door and hopped into my car.
In minutes I pulled into a parking spot at work. I turned off the car as Auggie called.
"We're going to tell her about the bug," he explained to me over the phone.
I looked up at the sky as it threatened to rain. There was a storm about to come. "I thought you already did."
"Not yet. The power shut off for a good five minutes, so we waited."
It was like the mission all over again. "The power shut off?" The power never shut off. It's the central base for the CIA, why would we lose power? Nothing was right and I had a feeling that this was just the beginning. MIA was attacking and we had to be ready.
"Annalise? Are you there?" Auggie asked.
I forgot I was talking to him. "Oh yeah, I'm here," I said snapping out of my thoughts. "Hey Auggie, I'm at the building. I'll let you go and we can talk in person," I said to him and hung up as I walked into the building.
I looked around the lobby. There was something in the air that I haven't seen before. It was fear. It was like everyone knew something was going to happen but no one knew what that was. I quickly walked up to my grandmother's office only to see that Auggie and Mara were already there.
"Hi," I said looking at them. I walked over to a chair and sat down. I decided to let them do all the talking since I was late to this show.
"MIA is real and it is a threat," Auggie said to my grandmother with confidence.
Grandmother looked at her desk as she mulled over his words then nodded with sadness. She finally got it. MIA was real and they were coming. "Annalise, I'm sorry for not believing you," she said as she looked at me as if I was the only person in the room.
"It's ok. It's in the past now," I said coolly as I could. I knew that I didn't have facts and she couldn't see that. I was right all along. She was the one that messed up. I never head my grandmother say she was sorry. She was a proud woman. My grandmother and I have never been close but right now, no one in the room mattered except her at this moment. "I think that the power outage was MIA too."
She looked at me with worry although she didn't dispute it. She was thinking the same thing. She was starting to draw lines in her head.
"Tori, she told us that she was hired by MIA to find all the weak spots of our bases. I think that outage was a test, to see how much they would get away with."
"How did you find out all this information?" my grandmother asked as she pushed her glasses up her narrow nose.
I stood up from my chair. "All this time, I've been guided by a person I called B26. But today, I found out that B26 is a living breathing person."
My grandmother shook her head at me as she looked out the window. She didn't believe me. She thought I was crazy. "That's not possible. B26 was your father's cubical and MIA killed him along with your mother."
Everything was making sense. That was why MIA was after him. That was why Toby dated me. MIA knew he was alive and they were using me to get to him. That was why MIA never killed me, because I was bait. "What?"
She nodded. "That's when we shut them down. MIA started to not follow commands, they were getting to much power. And well, you're father, he wanted it shut down from the start. He set off to prove to me that MIA could not be trusted. But MIA got to him before he finished the job. That's why me and the board members shut it down soon after your parents died. I realized how dangerous they were."
My world was spinning. I stumbled back into my seat. All these secrets were kept from me to save my grandmother's short falls. It was my grandmother's fault my father went into hiding and faked his death. She always had a problem with believing people.
Breaking us from our moment was Auggie. "Who was on the board?" Auggie asked. I looked over at him, forgetting that they were in the room too.
"I don't remember all of them but I know for sure General Smith was on it," Gram said to him.
Hate crashed over me. General Smith wasn't on our team, he never was. That was why Toby talked to him in New York. That is why they worked together and sent me off to do my own thing. The CIA was full of double agents. "Gram can you keep an eye on him and can you get a list of everyone on the board?"
"Of course," she replied with a nod.
"Ok. And can you unbench me?" I asked hopeful. I needed the CIA's full support for what I needed to do next. Without the CIA, I was helpless.
She bit her lip as she shook her head slowly. Her hands were tied. That just sealed my fate. MIA would come for me now, I was key to their plan. They needed me and the CIA wasn't going to protect me. "I wish I could but it's the board's decision as a whole."
I should have known better. I stood up from my chair again. MIA was on to me, it was only time until they caught me. I might as well make as much noise as I could. "I think it's time to go back to the bank," I said looking at Mara and Auggie.
"If you get caught, I can't help you," Gram said. There was a reason why I always followed the rules, because of her.
I knew she couldn't support me in this. But at least she knew and believed me. That was enough help for now. "I understand. Mara, Auggie, are you guys up for this?"
"Heck yeah," Mara said with a smile.
"Yes," Auggie said looking at me.
I nodded at them, my team. "Tonight, let's flip the tables and play on they're field."
Gram nodded at us and sighed. She knew that she could not convince us otherwise. "Be safe. And take these," she said handing each of us two guns that she had in her desk. "they're not registered and untraceable. Use your best judgment."
"Thank you." I took a gun from her. For the first time in a long time, I meant it. I looked at her with gratitude in my eyes then she brought me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, and together we shared a moment fearing what would happen next. Finally after all this time, we were finally starting to understand each other.
"I love you, so much Annalise."
"I love you too." I pulled out of the hug and saw a frown on her face. She was concerned for me. She didn't want me to get hurt. "We'll be fine. I promise," I said to her with little confidence in my voice.
She nodded, taking it. "Now go, get ready."
I put the gun in the back of my pants and untucked my shirt over it so no one would see it. Then together with Auggie and Mara, we walked out of the office.
As we walked into the elevator Auggie shook his head, as if trying to wrap his mind around something. "You're dad, B26, wow," he said trying to process it all.
I nodded as I hit the bottom floor button. "Yeah, but the thing is, he doesn't know we're doing this tonight. We're alone, with no help, no maps, no easy getting in. Are you still in?" I asked them, giving them a second chance to back out.
They both looked at each other then to me. Finally as the doors of the elevator opened Mara spoke up, "Annalise. Like we said before. We're in."
I smiled as we walked out of the elevator to the ground level. We walked out and walked through the base together. I knew we needed help but I wasn't sure where to turn. Suddenly a thought came to me. "Wait, I think we have someone that can help us." As we walked to the cars I told them about Zach and how he was MIA but now was trying to bring them down.
"Call him," they said both said simultaneously. "We could use the knowledge."
I nodded as I unlocked my car. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and searched my contacts for his number. Once found I quickly called it and put the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" Zach said over the phone sounding half awake.
"Hey, did I wake you? It's Annalise."
He yawned. "Yeah, but it's not a problem. What's up?"
"We're going to visit the D.C. bank. Do you have any information on it that you could share?"
"I'll give you more than information. How about if I help in person? I'm in D.C. now."
I put the phone on speaker so they could hear. "Great, I'll text you my address."
"Ok. See you then," he said and hung up.
I quickly texted him my address and shoved my phone back into my pocket of my jeans. I looked at Auggie and Mara with a smile. We did have back up after all. "I have to get home. Can we meet there?"
"Yeah, sure." Auggie kissed me. "It's going to be ok," he whispered in my ear and squeezed my hand lightly, comfortingly.
I looked up at him with hope in my eyes. I want to believe him but what did we get ourselves into? We're walking right into a suicide mission and I was sure they knew that. I was leading them to slaughter.