The Double Cross

Jess sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window as they drove toward the address from the records office. The countryside stretched wide and empty, the road lined with skeletal trees that had long since shed their autumn leaves. The house, when they finally saw it, wasn’t quite what they had expected.

It wasn’t abandoned. The property was old, but not neglected. The grass was cut, and a faint wisp of smoke curled from the chimney. A silver sedan sat in the driveway. The place wasn’t bustling with life, but it also wasn’t the forgotten relic the records office had led them to believe.

Leanna slowed the car, parking a short distance down the road. "This doesn’t feel right."

"No," Olivia agreed, her eyes locked on the house. "Someone’s definitely living here."

Jess exhaled slowly, gripping the door handle. "Then let’s find out who."

They approached cautiously, Jess leading the way. The porch steps creaked under her weight. She knocked twice. A long pause followed, and for a moment, she thought no one was going to answer.

Then the door opened. Jess’s breath caught in her throat. Her mother stood before her.

Margaret Carter looked older than Jess remembered, but not by much. Her hair was neatly pulled back, a few silver strands framing her sharp, calculating eyes. She wore a sweater over casual jeans, looking every bit the picture of an ordinary woman living in quiet isolation.

"Jess?" Her mother’s voice was calm, almost too calm. "What are you doing here?"

Jess’s chest tightened. "Looking for you."

Margaret’s gaze flickered to Leanna, Olivia, and Hannah standing behind Jess. "You should come inside. It’s not safe to talk out here."

The words sent a shiver down Jess’s spine, but she stepped inside anyway.

******************************************

The house was warm, the scent of tea and old books lingering in the air. Everything was neat—too neat. No dust, no signs of disrepair. This wasn’t just a place Margaret had abandoned and returned to. She had been here all along.

"Why did you leave?" Jess asked, sitting across from her mother at the small kitchen table. "Why were you in this town?"

Margaret sighed, folding her hands in front of her. "I had to disappear, Jess. They were watching me. Vanguard Biotechnics doesn’t let people walk away so easily."

Jess narrowed her eyes. "And yet, here you are. Practically in their backyard."

A flicker of something unreadable passed over Margaret’s face. "I needed to be close enough to monitor what was happening. I had to make sure you were safe."

Leanna, standing with her arms crossed, scoffed. "And yet you never reached out to her."

Margaret’s eyes darkened. "Because I knew this day would come. The moment you started digging, they would come for you. And now you’re here, walking into their hands."

A cold knot formed in Jess’s stomach. "Who says I walked in?"

Margaret held her gaze for a long moment, then exhaled. "You have to trust me, Jess. We don’t have much time. You need to come with me."

Something about the way she said it sent alarms blaring in Jess’s head.

"Come with you where?"

Margaret stood, moving to the counter. "Somewhere safe. You don’t understand what you’re dealing with. You are valuable to them. More than you realize. They need you alive." She opened a drawer, pulling out something small—a syringe.

Jess shot up from her seat. "What the hell is that?"

Margaret took a step toward her. "A sedative. Just to keep you safe. They’ll kill your friends if you resist. Please, Jess, you have to trust me."

Jess’s blood turned to ice.

Leanna moved first. "Oh, hell no—"

Margaret lunged, but Jess twisted away just in time. The syringe fell to the floor, rolling beneath the table. Olivia grabbed a chair and swung it between them, creating a barrier. Margaret’s expression twisted, her carefully measured facade breaking apart.

"You don’t understand!" Margaret snapped. "They’re coming! If you don’t go with me now, they will take you, and I won’t be able to stop them!"

"You were never trying to stop them!" Jess shouted. "You were delivering me to them!"

The sound of tires crunching on gravel made them all freeze.

Leanna glanced out the window. "Black SUVs. Two of them."

"Damn it!" Margaret cursed. "Jess, please!"

Jess backed toward the door. "I’m done listening to you."

Margaret’s expression flickered with something that might have been regret. "Then you’re on your own."

They bolted out the back door just as the SUVs screeched to a stop out front.

******************************************

Meanwhile, Ryan and Kevin sat in Ryan’s car, parked a short distance from the heavily secured Vanguard Biotechnics research facility.

"This place is a fortress," Kevin muttered, watching through binoculars. "Guards at every entrance. Cameras covering all blind spots. No way we just sneak in."

Ryan nodded. "That’s why we don’t sneak in. We walk in."

Kevin lowered the binoculars. "Come again?"

Ryan smirked. "See that cleaning van? Vanguard hires an outside janitorial service. We get hired, we get access."

Kevin scoffed. "You really think it’s that easy?"

"No," Ryan admitted. "But it’s our best shot."

Kevin leaned back in his seat, considering. "Alright. But if I’m scrubbing toilets for nothing, I’m blaming you."

Ryan grinned. "Deal."

******************************************

Jess and the girls sprinted through the tree line, the sound of men shouting behind them. They reached Leanna’s car just as the first gunshot cracked through the air, shattering the rear windshield.

"Go, go, go!" Olivia screamed.

Leanna floored it, the tires spitting gravel as they sped down the backroad. Jess clutched the seat, her heart pounding.

Margaret had tried to turn her in.

Her own mother.

Leanna glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "What now?"

Jess swallowed hard. "We find the boys. And then we burn this whole damn thing to the ground."

Leanna grinned despite the situation. "Now that’s a plan."

But deep down, Jess knew this wasn’t just about survival anymore. This was war, and Vanguard Biotechnics had no idea what was coming.