Jackie's p.o.v

The moment the doors were locked I knew it was a moment to panic.

That is if you are anyone else, but me.

 I shifted back in my seat and slowly pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"I have the signal jammed, don't even bother." The driver told me.

I sighed. He was right. Smart move.

"So why am I kidnapped? I know it's not for ransom and I know it's not because I'm pretty so...the reason?" I asked crossing my legs and keeping an eye on where he was driving. 

"He said you'll rather ask these type of questions than panic."

"Who said that?" I asked pressing record on my phone. At least I can get some evidence when the police arrests this person.

"You'll find out soon enough." The driver said and then he drove off to the highway. Just my luck the whole damn highway had maximum three cars. The probability of anyone seeing me through the dark windows and calling the police with the license plates was very low. 

Being cooperative was my best move for now.

And then it hit me.

"Is this by any chance connected to Ethan?"

The driver said nothing.

Oh boy.. this is going to get way more complicated.

Ethan's p.o.v

After the fifth missed call I got annoyed.

I know she said she was going to study, but was it so hard to pick up the phone to hear her boyfriend's voice.

Or maybe she was too embarrassed to talk and that's why she ran out like that.

I grinned. That was probably the real reason. Well, guess i will just leave her to come to her senses.

I threw myself on the bed. My heart was beating really fast just thinking about it. 

Ah, I wanted to see her.

My phone rang and instantly I picked up. "Hello?"

"Ethan will you tell Jackie to come home. She's not picking up and she promised she..."

"Wait wait.. what?" I jumped up from the bed. "Jackie left my house hours ago. She got into a cab, that was the last time i saw her."

"She never came home." I heard the panic in her father's voice. "Do you think something happened to her?"

"Give me a second sir. Stay on the line."

I ran to my work desk and opened the first drawer taking another phone out and dialing Tazia's phone number.

"Hello? Who's this?" She answered.

"Hi Taz..." I stopped and realized I shouldn't panic. "Jackie is not picking up her phone, is she with you?"

"Ohy what did you do lover boy? No, I'm not with her.  And Dom is with me so I guess she's at home."

"Thanks."

I hanged up and put Jackie's father on. "Did you hear that sir?"

"I am officially in panic mode."

"Come to my house right now. I will check my security cameras and we can ran the license plate of the taxi and find the company."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

I hanged up hoping I was overreacting and I was going to get an earful later.

JACKIE'S P.O.V

Okay. I was ready to panic.

After the highway and going into some neighbourhoods outside the city, through tunnels and empty streets, I lost sense of direction. It was pretty hard for me to focus and I couldn't remember all the street names and numbers.

Then he went underground and it was all dark with just the headlights lighting up the next few meters.

Then he stopped driving.

Big neon green lights lit up what seemed like an abandoned subway line.

"Okay this is scary." I said and leaned over the driver from the back seat.

"Get out of the car." He said and I pulled back getting my stuff.

"Leave it in the car." He warned me and I left them.

I saw few people talking to each other and then one of them instructed me to sit down on an old metal chair.

Many thoughts were rushing through my head. What did they want from me? Was I just a bait for Ethan?

Did they even know who I am? Wait, the driver said someone told me I'll be asking questions. That means they knew who I was and what I worked.

Ugh what was this all about and why now? I thought everyone got arrested from the people that broke into Ethan's agency. 

But this was all I could think off. 

"I can tell by your face that you are very confused." The man who instructed me to sit spoke again.

"I am. I also have a lot of questions."

"I'm sure you do." The man smiled and suddenly another one sat me down on a chair and tied my hands behind my back. They also put a gag around my mouth.

This wasn't good at all.

"Great job." The man smiled at the driver and handed him a bag.

The driver opened it and pulled up a stack of cash grinning. 

"Go now but leave the car here. I don't want to leave any traces." He told him.

The driver nodded and walked back to where we came from abandoning his taxi.

I looked around to take in any details. What were they after?

 There weren't weapons or money or drugs. There were just few people with laptops.

Hackers?

I closed my eyes. None of this made sense. Damn it.

If this had anything to do with Ethan I wouldn't know, because he hid things from me.

There were probably so many other cases he solved that could have brought this on.  I had no leads and very narrow intro into all of this. Not to mention a limit to ask questions that could help me here.

Ah, this was so much different than me sitting at home and looking at the evidence. Field work was a whole other level.

I was not trained for this. My palms started sweating, my forehead was getting greasy and my vision blurry. 

The oxygen was almost non existent. It was stuffy and hot and dark. I suddenly felt something I never thought would happen in this kind of situation.

Tears gathered at the corner of my eyes.

Ah, no. no.

I shook my head and bit down on the gag.

What was wrong with me.  I can't cry. I can't let fear get me in this situation.

But it wasn't helping. It was already so hard to breathe and my chest was getting heavy. Great,  a detective with a panic attack.

No wonder I was not in Ethan's agency.

They were never going to hire me.
 

The man with the cold smile came up to me and leaned closer. "Now, let's see what you know."

With that I felt a harsh blow on my face

Ethan's p.o.v

I saw the taxi drive away from my street on my security camera. We watched it over so many times while we were waiting on a lead.

"I got it." Jackie's dad came back in the room. "Luckily it's a company car and they know the driver. John Laster. But he was just fired a week ago. They gave us his address let's go."

"I'm sure this is my fault. I've been getting threat calls since yesterday." I told him on the way out. "I should have said something about it but..."

"We don't know what's going on so don't even blame yourself. Someone is responsible for this and that's not you. " He said angry.

I nodded and we got in the car.

I don't know how fast Jackie's father was driving but we were there in ten minutes. I was sure we were going to break some laws here.

All kinds of things were running through my head. What if they keep her locked up like they did me. It's been hours. What if they were torturing her?

What if she was dead?

I rubbed my eyes nervously. Fuck, I can't think like this. This is Jackie we are talking about. She was smart and strong and she was going to do something to give us a clue.

We parked in front of sort of a motel. It looked really worn out. Climbing the stairs to the second floor we found the room number we were looking for.

"OPEN UP!FBI." He banged loud on the door.

After no one opened Jackie's dad went few steps back and then he kicked the door open.

Damn. I do not want to get on his bad side.

"The place looks abandoned."

I quickly scanned the places for any details. It was stuffy in the apartment and there were lot's of things left in a hurry. This guy  wasn't thinking of coming back.

My eyes fell over something that seemed like a brochure. 

"Look at this. It seems like a rent a car brochure." I picked it up off the table.

"So?" Jackie's father looked at me.

"So what do you do with brochures ?"

"I throw them out." He answered.

"Exactly. And this even has a number circled on it." I passed him the  brochure. "Call the company. Ask if they recently rented a car to a John Laster. I'll look around for more stuff."

"Got it." He tapped my back and went to the other room.

For someone who has their daughter kidnapped he was keeping it pretty well together.

And then I heard a crush sound. I ran to the other room. Jackie's father was trashing the room.

"Our only fucking lead and they have nothing. He probably used a fake name. The rent a car company has no information about him. " He kicked a trash can and kneeled down going through it.

I pressed my lips together. 

"Still nothing from her phone?"

"It's turned off and I can't locate her. Something is jamming the gps signal."

"Check again." I told him.

"I told you..." He picked up the phone. "something is...wait it's on."

He got up and rushed through the door. I ran after him.

We drove until we were back in the city center. 

"It's here somewhere." He parked and rushed out of the car.

"Wait. Why would she be here? Maybe it's a trap." I told him and ran after him to stop him.

"I can't wait I have to find her." He was frantically looking around and following the signal.

"There." He said and walked over to a bench where a man was sitting and eating a bagel.

"Can I help you?" He said.

"That's him." I said remembering the taxi driver form the security camera.

"You need to get up and come to the station with me for questioning. If you even make a scene i'll break your legs." Jackie's father grabbed him and started pulling him up.

"Oh what ground? I will sue you !! Let me go."

I pulled out my phone and rang to Jackie's phone. Suddenly something started buzzing in his pocket.

He seemed startled.

Jackie's father grabbed him by the collar. 

I quickly took the phone out of his pocket and my heart clenched. It was Jackie's phone.

"Where is she you son a bitch?" Her father yelled. "Tell me or I swear I don't care if I shoot you."

"I don't know how that got there." The man jolted.

Suddenly her dad swung at the man so hard, the hit made a crack sound.

"Aaagh. Aaagh." The man started screaming. His nose was bloody.

"Where is she?" I asked.

He grinned with bloody teeth and spat at us. " Hahaha. That fucking bitch. She must have slipped it in my pocket before I dropped her off. You will never find her."

Jackie's father was silent for a second and then he picked him up from the bench. "Then I'll take you to a place where no one will ever find you."

With that he dragged him back to the car.

I looked down at Jackie's phone. Hang in there Plush. We'll find you. I clenched the phone. I swear I will find you.

Jackie's p.o.v

I coughed up blood that was again soaked up by the gag in my mouth. After the second punch i could taste the iron in my mouth and knew it would be minutes until I'll be choking on it.

It hurt. It was gut wrenching painful and I wanted to scream at them. I had never felt a wish to scream at someone so much.

But I held it in. And I held my tears in. Ethan or my dad was coming for me. I know it.

The number one question was why he was beating me up and what information he wanted out of me. This wasn't just violence. This was violence with a reason.

"Call the others." The man said after a distracted phone call and waved at what seemed like men of heavy work. Bodyguards, if you will.

"Uh.." Some of the men working on the laptop waved at their boss, but he seemed distracted.

He waved them away.

"Nygel. We have a problem." He repeated and instantly the man got off the phone.

I blinked.

Nygel? He said Nygel. Nygel as in Ethan's Nygel? Nygel was the one who got Ethan the job. So that means Nygel is the boss of the agency. The agency I wanted to work for.

And then it hit me.

I laughed in the gag getting their attention.

Ah, I know the reason.

I looked at the computers, the people working on them. People like me. Smart nerdy and good at following orders. Scared of the boss. 

Except I wasn't like them. I was connected to the FBI. I was a top notch detective with a fighting spirit.

But just like them I was willing to do anything to get in that organization. And they also are probably willing to do anything to keep the job they love and solve crimes.

Except they were not solving crimes, but probably covering them up. This whole organization was a fraud. This was a cover up agency for illegal things I was sure of it. If Nygel who was at the top or one of those at the top, was here beating up a highschooler than this whole organization was questionable. 

Nygel came closer and pulled off my gag.

"What's funny little girl?"

I smiled. "I figured it out."

"Figured what out?" He asked.

"Why I'm here."

"And you learned that just by staring at us?"

"By hearing your name Nygel." 

"Oh." He smiled and completely pulled my gag down. " Alright, I'll bite. Tell me. Let's see if you really figured it all out." He mocked me.

"I thought this was something connected to Ethan. Someone wanting revenge or to get his attention. But, it was never about Ethan. It was about me." 

He smiled. I was right.

"Everything that happened, it started once Ethan got me on one of your detective projects. I heard you never hire anyone outside your agency, but that time Ethan hired me on his own. And we solved the case together. But I was eager to get hired to a top agency that was higher than the FBI and Ethan offered to put in a good word for me. So he perhaps told you as his boss, that he had contact with someone from the FBI and wanted you to hire them. That's when your agency got broken into and you went after Ethan to find out who he was talking to. Because an outsider is not someone you control and if they know a little too much, they can figure out the illegal things you are probably hiding."

I coughed and kept going seeing how Nygel's face was giving away everything. "But you didn't find me. You couldn't. So you staged the whole arrest of the ones who broke into the agency and waited to figure out who was the agent. And then you found me."

Nygel was frowning for a bit and then he started clapping. "You're right. This was all about you from the very beginning. You probably don't know anything yet but I can't risk you finding out anything from Ethan."

"About PROJECT E.N.D?" I asked. "I already figured that out too. You kidnapped Ethan, staged it all as if you saved him and hired him to keep an eye on him. He saw something or heard something as a kid that compromised you when you first met. An eight year old probably wasn't going to put much thought into it, but as he grew up, who knows what he'll remember right?"

"If only you used your powers for evil. Then you'll be a genius mastermind.  But what can i tell you kid. You just got yourself killed." He came closer to lift the gag.

"Nope. You need me for something. That's why I'm here alive. And those laptops all hiding underground, probably trying to hide their location means you need to hack into something and as long as I'm alive you have leverage."

"I hate that your smart." He smiled and went to cover my mouth.

"wait." I gasped for air. "I have one question."

"What?" He smiled.

"What are you hacking into?"

"Shh, that's a secret." He winked and brought the bloody gag back in my mouth.

Ethan's p.o.v

"I swear that's all I saw." The man cried out giving out his last tears out of him.

I stood in awe and at the same time tried to hold the contents of my stomach in, of what Jackie's father could do.

"What else except laptops. Think!" Jackie's father demanded.

"They were working on something." The man stuttered and whimpered and swallowed tears as they dropped on his face.

"The man who gave me the money was tall and had a beard and he didn't seem dangerous. More like a type with a suit. Please let me go know."

"More." Jackie's father lowered his voice. "Or you know what's coming."

He started crying and then he almost choked as he seemed to remember something.

"The thing on her hand. On the girl. On the hand. She had a rubber band."He swallowed and he stuttered but he was on to something.

"The men working on the laptops had that sort of rubber band as well."

I came closer and grabbed him. "Are you sure. Absolutely sure?"

"Yes the marks on it were the same. I noticed it when they tied her up."

My stomach clenched at the sound of her being tied up.

"I uh.." i turned towards Jackie's father trying to get it together.

"I gave her that rubber band. It's the one we wear at the agency." I took a deep breath and lost it somewhere in the middle of the sentence. "My um..mentor um.. The guy who hired me. Nygel. He gave it to me the day he saved me and told me I should work for him. If others had the same rubber band means this was an inside job all along."

I dropped down on the ground. This was all my fault. It was because of me.

"Hey get it together son." Jackie's father grabbed me and got me on my feet.

"Where is your head going? Is it an inside job? Use that brain of yours that's million of times faster than mine and tell me."

I closed my eyes. Why was I always useless under pressure?

Think Ethan think.

"This is Jackie we are talking about. She can hold on, but for how long?" Her father's voice broke. "She needs us to find her. Think Ethan."

I was thinking. Why did they kidnap her? If it was about me then...

wait..

what is this wasn't about me at all?

I assumed because they called to threaten me..

"I know that look Ethan. I've seen it on Jackie. You have something."

"It was never about me. They wanted Jackie. From the beginning when I met her. The reason they were after me was to get to Jackie. Someone broke into the agency, the moment I went to Nygel to tell him I have someone from the FBI who I think it will be a great fit for the agency. He then chased me out in a hurry and a week later that happened."

"Why?"

"Because each and everyone who works there is chosen by him. If we brought an outsider...an outsider who can see things from a different perspective..someone who might look into something he wanted to hide in the agency...something illegal..."i muttered to myself and then I hit my head.

"The Project E.N.D.. It was named after me and Nygel and called the Domino case. When I was kidnapped as a kid. Long story that I will tell you another time Mr. Summers, but the moment I looked into it, I got hacked and got threatening phone calls.

"What was on that file?"

"Nothing. It was just some information from my kidnapping, it was something around that time...and my records and.." I stopped. "The laptops. They must be trying to delete whatever is in that file. I put IT people I trust to help me keep it online and safe. It was hacked and coded but it can't be deleted while they are keeping it alive."

"And if your team manages to hack it?" Jackie's father asked letting go of me.

"They can't but if it was possible we will find out what they are desperately trying to delete. And I think it's an information about me or something I know."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I can't remember. I was fourteen when I met Nygel officially. He saved me from kidnappers he.." I stopped right there and gasped. "But I was eight when I first met him.That's when he first saw me.He was with the guy that was trying to scam my parents. I must have heard something then, but I was just a kid. However with my teenage years I was getting smarter and smarter and if I could remember what I heard, that means.."

"they had to shut you up. And when you didn't remember after they kidnapped you instead of killing you Nygel decided to use you. He lied he was there to save you and he used you from that point on."

Everything dawned on me. I was just a pawn. Not the number one greatest detective. JUST A FREAKING PAWN.

"Try to remember Ethan. What information are they after?"

"I will never remember in time to save Jackie." I answered. " I need to see what's in that file. I need the readable files."

"How are you going to get them if even your IT members can't decrypt them?"

My thoughts were rushing through my head. I needed a hacker.  A good one. Logan and Landon were good with computers but not that good. Who do I know that's good with computers.

"Andy." I muttered.

"What?" Jackie's father looked at me like I lost it completely.

"Andy. I have uh..my enemy or what he makes me to be. He is great at computers. Or at least he used to be. He was a genius child, his parents owned a large TECH firm so he knew his way around it pretty good. But his parent's projects always costed lots of money and they borrowed money from companies like the ones my parents had. I'm not sure what happened in between, but his parents went broke after the deal with my parents for canceled. If  there is  anything I know about him is that he hates me to the core."

"Listen Jackie's life is in danger Ethan. We can't waste anymore time looking for other people to help us. You have to persuade him."

"Okay I'll go meet him." I nodded.

"I'll clean this mess and go to the FBI to report this. Call me as soon as you find something."

"i will." I said and ran out the door.

I prayed to find Andy at the spot where we used to hand out.  I walked into the old computer  wearhouse we used to sneak into as kids. The door was opened and I walked in without hesitation. It looked nothing like the warehouse it once was. It used to be high tech and clean, but now  it looked abandoned and there was just a couch and some new stuff he seemed to have brought in as a hang out place for his gaming buddies.

"Oh you have a lot of nerve coming here." I turned around catching Andy glaring at me.

I clenched my fists. "I need your help!"

He snorted. "Get the fuck out."

He walked passed me by and dropped on the couch.

"It's about Jackie. Her life is in danger! Please."

He got serious. "How is a normal high school girl's life in danger?"

"It's a long story."

"Well make it short." He got angry.

"It's because of me." I started.

He shook his head and took the game controller and started playing the game he had previously paused. "Of course it's because of you. You and your family. I warned her about it."

"When?" I asked angry.

"Do you really have time for this if her life is really in danger?" He raised a brow.

I bit my lip so harsh I drew blood.

I sighed."I work for a secret organization that solves crimes that is above the FBI, but it turned out to be an organization involved in something illegal. I was manipulated and i thought I was doing Jackie a favor to employ her there..

"Why?"

"She is really smart and works for the FBI part time."

"Aham. part time FBI agent. Sounds plausible.  Stop wasting my time."

"Look. You tried to get in between us and you met her. You know there is something special about her right."

He kept quiet. "Let's say I believe you. How is she in danger?"

"I think it's because they were she was going to dig some illegal stuff up. "

"And how are you involved?"

"I think I might have witness something as a kid or heard something."

"Okay this shit if getting complicated and I'm not sure I'm following. What did you hear?Or saw or whatever?"

"I don't know. I need your help for that. I have an online file I can't decode. I thought it was a useless file so I never really  opened it, but the information that I skipped might help me remember what is it that I know about them."

Andy sighed. "I don't know. This seems like fiction to me."

I felt the air get sucked out of me. I didn't have time for this. Jackie was alone. Alone as I was and hell knows what she must be going through.

I took a step back and kneeled on one knee.

"what are you doing?" Andry asked.

Then on the other one.  I lowered my head. "Please Andy. I'm begging you. I can't let her die."

"WHy are you kneeling for fuck sake." Andy got up and grabbed my shirt. " Get up. You can't do this. Get up."

I didn't move.

"You have no right to do this." He yelled.

"I know."  I looked up at him. "I apologize for what my parents did. I apologize that I can't be your friend anymore. I apologize for asking you to help me and you hate my guts but I can't do anything else with the time I'm running out. I don't care about my pride anymore, not if Jackie's life is on the line."

"You really are..." He let me go and pushed me to the ground. "Fine. But we are not on good terms. I'm doing this for Jackie."

My eyes went wide open. "Really?"

"Tell me what you need me to do."

Quickly I went to the laptop and typed up until i reached the website with the file. It was completely corrupted at this time.

No! It was beyond saving.

"Oi what the fuck." Andy saw the screen and pushed me off the chair. " Move it."

He sat down and started typing some encryptions. 

"This is some scary level hacking."

"Is it gone. Is the file gone?" I asked.

"Give me a minute." Andy murmured looking at the screen.

In few seconds the page restored.

"Oh you did it." I laughed and slapped his shoulder. "You still got it."

"Of course I still got it. Who you think my parents are?" He said and kept typing. "They will hack in the website again pretty quickly. It's not going to be easy to get out of it again if they add more walls and I don't have my hacking shit in this laptop.This will have to be old school. Where is that file?

"Project E.N.D. That's how it's called."

"Got it." Andy kept typing and after a bit he opened the encrypted file. What seemed like nonsense started translating into text. I pulled out my phone and started record it."

"What are you doing?" Andy asked.

"Just in case it gets deleted. I want evidence."

"Ahh."

"I'll send it to you as a backup."

He looked up. "You don't know my number."

"I know your email address."

"No you don't. I changed it."

I smiled."Please. You hacked and deleted the previous owner of the email matrixmaster just so you don't have to be matrix master 123."

"Shut up." 

"I knew it was still the same one."

Suddenly the website got infected with virus.

"They are on to me."

"Try to lock everything down. Don't let them delete it."

"What are you you doing while I'm doing all the work?" He yelled.

"I need to check this recording and regain my memory from when I was eight."

He narrowed his eyes. "Well fine. Do your thing. I'll be here. Battling off these shits. They are just textbook tech anyways." Andy cracked his fingers and got to work.

I sat on the couch and opened the video I recorded. 

Just hold on Jackie. I almost got this.