He answered all of the questions correctly.
He smiled at the right moments.
He sat just like him.
He was an imposter.
I just didn't have a way to prove it yet. Eric was kept under surveillance around the clock. I spent more time in our new headquarters than in Blaire's apartment. I couldn't help but rewatch all of his interview videos time and time again.
It just didn't make any sense but at the same time I couldn't prove otherwise. If only we had a way to find out where Akio and Eric were on their mission then we could at least begin to form a trail. However, hoping Eric would tell us was not even a considerable option at this point.
"Charlee, there's nothing else we can do right now. You need to go home," Palma said breaking into my thoughts as she stepped into the computer room where I had isolated myself.
"It's been nearly a month. We can't go on like this, acting like the Eric in there is the same one that we used to know. He's gone Palma, and I don't know what to do anymore," I shook my head wanting to break down again but I was tired of that too.
"Charlee, we're going to figure this out. We're barely getting the technology we need to do further testing," she reminded me. It was true, for the first few weeks all we had to work with was the empty shell of a warehouse.
Little by little we've been able to install our old tech equipment like the cameras, ID scanners, a weapons room, and other things that we had been cut off from when the CIA stopped our missions.
"But what if it can't be fixed? What if this is Eric now and forever?"
"We're not there yet. Right now you need to go home and sleep. Bet you haven't done that in a while?" she offered me a grin.
"Maybe," I replied, not able to give her one back.
.
.
.
.
.
If Palma and Tiffany thought I was just going to go home and read a magazine or something then they truly did not know me as well as they should have.
I had copied at least seven of the interviews conducted on Eric onto my flash drive so I could rewatch them at home. By home I mean the guest room I'm living in at Blaire and Jacob's place. Our houses couldn't be more different.
While mine was a rustic style apartment, Jacob and Blaire lived in a modern apartment with steel and glass corners everywhere. I was scared of impaling myself on the table or something. The freaking stairs themselves were a hazard but I had to admit it was all very pristine and well put together.
Bullet was peacefully sleeping by the fireplace, he had yet to break anything. I was sitting curled up on the seemingly stiff, yet somehow comfortable, armchairs in the living room.
I finally got around to eating something while I went over the tapes on my laptop. I knew it was obsessive but there had to be something helpful in the videos. Sadly there is only so much variety in a set of standard interview videos and soon enough I was dozing off.
"You finally took a nap?" a voice chuckled and I lifted my head to see Jacob picking up my cup from the coffee table.
"Oh, sorry about that," I apologized, rising from my seat and stretching. For a blissful moment I had totally forgotten why I was even at Jacob and Blaire's place to begin with.
"Its alright, it took you a while. You kept dozing off and then waking up. You looked like you were twitching," he laughed taking the cup to the sink.
"Wait, I was what?" I asked him.
"Um, twitching? Kind of," he shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh my god!" I exclaimed.
"You ok there?" Jacob asked me.
"Where's my laptop??" I asked, looking around me frantically.
"I put it on your bed, I didn't want it to fall off your lap while you were asleep," he explained although he still looked at me as if I were insane. I ran to my room, my socks nearly slipping on the wooden floor.
"Is there a particular reason you're gliding around my living room like a newborn deer on ice for the very first time?" Blaire called out as she entered through the front door.
"Guys, guys! You need to see this!" I told them gliding back with my laptop.
"You're not even supposed to have these!" Jacob chastised me. I noticed Blaire didn't even seem surprised. Good.
"He twitches!" I said as if I were announcing my baby walking for the first time.
"So? Criminals who lie twitch during interviews all the time," he shrugged it off.
"Don't call him a criminal," I glared at him.
"Charlee, he tried choking you. And not in the kinky way..." Blaire retorted.
"Alright, alright. But look, these are different. They're like clockwork. He twitches like every thirty seconds. What if its something neurological?" I asked.
"What like him having a tumor and that's why he's acting up weird?" Jacob voiced out loud.
"Yeah something like that," I said.
"I guess we can call a neurologist and have him tested and scanned," Blaire offered.
"You know things are bad when you hope your boyfriend has a tumor," Jacob sighed.
We started making phone calls and attempted to reach neurologists but things were a lot more complicated now that we weren't a part of R.I.P. It was hard finding a doctor willing to run tests without reporting it to the CIA. The others who were willing didn't have time to fly in and see Eric in a moments notice.
We were running out of options and ideas...
"There has to be someone who can help," I sighed exasperated.
"What about, um, what's her name? The one who helped identify the weapon in your parents' case?" Blaire asked.
"Arielle? She's a doctor but she's not a neurologist," I shook my head.
"But she has a lab and if not she probably has colleagues or contacts we can also ask for help," Jacob added.
"I don't have her number, it was saved in my office in R.I.P. How do I get it without them finding out?" I asked feeling useless once more.
"There's one person left over there who might help us..." Blaire drawled out.
"I hope you don't mean who I think you mean," Jacob shook his head.
"I think she does," I sighed picking up my phone.
"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call to?" Max's usual annoying voice resounded on the other end of the line. It took him approximately three calls to finally answer.
"Are you sure its all clear?" I asked him, we couldn't be bugged or else our whole plan was ruined.
"This is my personal cell, its not bugged. I'd know if my office were bugged," he said.
"Your office??" I asked. Last time I checked he didn't have one.
"Oh yeah, since you and your friends vacated headquarters I took advantage of one of the many empty rooms. I think this one belonged to the lady lover one," he replied.
"The what?" I asked confused.
"Oh has she not told you yet? My bad, I won't give spoilers. Anyways, do get on with your phone call, lunch break is only so long and I'm famished. Solving cases for R.I.P does get me quite tired," I could hear his smirk over the phone.
"Listen you little twit, I'm trusting you, and don't make me regret it. I need you to transfer all of my contacts over to me," I told.
"What makes you so sure I can?" he asked.
"Please, don't play stupid. This is very important ok, I'm trusting you,"
"I'm genuinely surprised if not slightly touched," he replied.
"Yeah yeah I guess I've had sympathetic tendencies towards egocentric idiots," I said staring at Jacob before hanging up.
"Are we seriously going to trust a conman?" Jacob asked me.
"We trusted you and you were a killer. Are standards haven't always been very high," I reminded him.
"Good point," he shrugged
True to his words Max had all of my contacts transferred for me in less than ten minutes. I was able to contact Arielle and she agreed to run tests on Eric, however begrudgingly.
"We're gonna have to sneak Eric out of his holding place," I noted.
"I'll get him out," Jacob offered.
"No offense, babe, but I'm more intimidating," Blaire smiled and headed out the door.
We barely got time to pace and worry properly before I had an incoming call from Blaire illuminating on my phone.
"Well, answer it," Jacob stared at me.
"I kind of don't want to," I sighed and he glared at me.
"Fine...." I slowly inched towards my phone and answered it.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Charlee, you need to get over here," Blaire said frantically on the phone.
"Is everything ok? Are you having trouble getting him out of the building?" I questioned.
"No I got him out ok, we're at Arielle's lab. You were right, there was something off about Eric but it wasn't a tumor. Get here, quick," she said before the line went dead.
For once, I'd love to answer the phone and receive good news.
~~~~
I want to try bringing back the dedications so if you want a dedication/follow back from me check out my book Instagram @ lornaslibrary and I'll follow you back on there and wattpad too. I'd love to interact with y'all more and wattpad gets a little hectic so feel free to talk on my insta :)
Until next week spy kids!
~Lorna~