Darkstone Secret Agent: Episode 5: Legacy of Secrets

Episode 5: 

Legacy of Secrets

Haunting eyes followed Ethan as he attracted the admiration of every beautiful woman in the establishment. It was rather funny considering that being in the job he was, attracting attention was a severe no-no. But that didn't seem to bother Ethan Fairchild one bit.

The bulky jacket he had purchased from the second-hand store smelled like must and mildew and looked even worse for wear, but that was what the part entailed. He had to look the part, become the part, blend in. No one could recognize him or it would blow his entire assignment out of the water.

His tall, bulky frame moved awkwardly. His usual movement was fluid and graceful, almost too much so for such a big guy. He had to work at slouching and dragging his feet. But he was confident his scruffy appearance made him appear as he wanted them to see him... as a homeless man. Someone overlooked and kept away from. It was a perfect ruse. Carter Wayne had become a master at hiding in plain sight, and he was sure it would take all his acting ability to succeed here tonight.

He closed his eyes, resting them for a moment. It was hard to remember exactly how long he had been awake. He had been stretched to his limit. The images before him were blurring and the chair in which he sat felt almost glued to his posterior.

He watched Ethan from a distance. Carter knew his droopy eyes only lent credibility to his disguise. After he met up with Fairchild, he promised himself a long nap.

Carter had intel photos of the key players from The Legacy. He had memorized everything about them. The two operatives he knew were in town had come to Hollywood from across the ocean. Ethan Fairchild was the favorite son of The Legacy's High Council. He doubted many knew of the operatives in the secret organization knew how powerful the High Council was, or that it existed at all.

Carter had had many a run in with Bishop. They all named themselves after chess pieces. He only knew two members of the High Council and two was enough. Donovan Jackson Bishop was the loner of the group choosing to live in a small mountain town hours from Legacy Headquarters. But that didn't stop him from ruling the roost when the time came for that. The other council member he had crossed paths with was Chandelor Knight, infamous head of the council and father to The Legacy's nemesis, Julian Black.

Whether Ethan knew it or not, he continued to prove his allegiance to the High Council daily. Carter wondered if he would be such a willing pawn if he knew the truth of what he had done to gain their trust. Carter had done similar things in the name of the establishment, but most were things he never knew he had done or missions he didn't remember being on.

The next person in the photos he held was Gia Doyle. She was quite a complex woman. Her history with The Legacy started eight years ago after a plane accident. She had been the only survivor. Philip Lancaster had gone to bat for Doyle and brought her into The Legacy as a historian. It soon became apparent that Gia's strengths were not only in history but in leadership and murder. She was an intelligent beauty who possessed a deadly aim and a lethal charm.

Carter reveled momentarily how striking the similarities were between Gia and his Darkstone co-star, Rachel Demarco. From afar they could easily be mistaken for one another. He had almost made the error of approaching the red-head earlier and now he was glad he hadn't. the women he had nearly confided in was Gia Doyle not Rachel.

Carter stayed in the shadows of the bar. He looked for his opportunity to confront Ethan. Tonight might be his only chance because in days, if his superiors had anything to say about it, Ethan Fairchild would be terminated, permanently.

His opening came minutes later, but a hand reaching from the darkness grabbed his coat lapel. Carter was momentarily taken by surprise, an unusual feeling for him. He still tried to maintain his composure and not draw attention to himself and the person dragging him closer to the exit.

"What do you want from me?" Carter ground out in a menacing voice. He tried to stay in character, but wanting to haul back and deck the intruder was clouding his vision.

"Cut the act!" the grim voice intoned. "We both know why you're here. And we both know what our mission is."

Carter recognized the voice instantly. It was his other Darkstone co-star, Chance Michaels. He had hoped Chance wouldn't find out about Ethan being in town, but obviously someone had spilled the beans.

"How did you find me?" Carter wrenched free from Chance's grip once the two of them were away from listening ears and prying eyes.

"You know how our superiors are. They like nothing better than tailing us just for the hell of it. Tonight the person hired to keep an eye on you recognized Ethan Fairchild from our intel photos."

Carter shook his head. He was incensed. "I can't believe you're about to kill a man you used to call a friend!"

Chance's face became a mask of anger. "He killed my parents, Carter! I can't just look past that." Chance kicked a nearby trash lid and growled.

"So, what are you saying? You feel the same way about me?" Carter said passionately. "When I was under the Council's control I was also involved in that mission eight years ago. Ethan may have detonated the bomb, but I had a hand in it as well. I never would have found that out if Doc and you and Rachel hadn't helped me rid myself of the microchip."

Chance threw Carter an icy glare.

Carter couldn't believe that Chance had given up on his boyhood friend, the one who had even saved his life once. "I'm not to blame for that plane crash, and neither is Ethan. We were being controlled!"

"So you keep saying. But I have no faith in Ethan Fairchild. And neither should you! Who knows what lengths they have gone to now. You've been out of their grasp for years, Carter!" Chance paced as he ranted. "Maybe Ethan does know about the accident. Maybe he wanted it as much as they did. Maybe he wanted to kill those people. You don't know for sure that the microchip was what made him do it."

"I know all I need to know. He is being controlled by the same people who controlled me. And if we don't stop them, they may just succeed in killing him once his next mission has been completed."

The Darkstone star's face flushed with red. "If they don't kill him, then I'm going to do it for them. I hold out no hope for him. Let your faith in him keep you warm at night, but I'm not so ready to lay everything on the line for him!"

Carter watched as Chance Michaels stalked away down the alley toward his black sports car. The man had too much to lose if he let Ethan die. They all did. Ethan could be the key in bringing down The Legacy for good.

Neither Carter nor Chance saw the woman patiently waiting behind a stack of wooden cartons. Gia Doyle clicked on the safety to her gun, her face a mask of concern.

"Curiousier and curiousier," Gia whispered.

***

As her emotions simmered down, Gia tried to recall the snipet of the conversation she had actually overheard.

When she had learned weeks ago about the chip in Ethan's brain and his near death experience, she had been shocked. But this was an all together different kettle of fish. She had no idea that The Legacy was into mind control, but that notion didn't shock her as much as it should. She had come to realize that the Legacy held many secrets, some she was sure she would never learn.

The two men had talked about mind control. She wondered if it was possible. She attached her pen digital camera into her PDA and transmitted the digital photo she'd taken of the men directly to Bobbie Sullivan's terminal. No point in sending up a red flag to the rest of the staff.

As soon as the file transferred completely, Bobbie Sullivan's image came on her PDA screen. "Hi Miss. Doyle." His greeting was voiced brightly yet somewhat garbled.

"Cut the Pollyanna act, Sullivan. I need you to identify the two men in the digital phot I'm transmitting to you."

As the image downloaded onto Sullivan's screen, he noted the grainy quality of the image. "This is a little dark. I don't know if I can..."

Gia cut him off. She didn't like when people told her they couldn't do something. "I don't care about what you can't do, Sullivan. Identify the men. And once you do that, dig up anything we have on them in The Legacy archives, especially the man on the right. Cross reference his name with anything we have on mind control and our assassins bureau."

"But, Miss Doyle. The archives require passcodes I don't have." Bobbie's voice was filled with nervous energy.

"I don't care, Sullivan." Gia's face matched the anger in her voice. "Just do it!" She snapped the PDA closed and followed in the direction the shabbily dressed man had taken. There was something uncomfortably familiar about him.

***

Bobbie Sullivan sighed. It had only been a few weeks since he'd taken over Jeffrey's place as controller and now he was wondering if this was such a peachy job after all. He rifled a hand through his dark blond hair and itched the near beard that had started to grow in a thin strip along his jawline.

In his spare time, when he hadn't been taking orders from everyone from Kevin to Gia, Bobbie spent his time doing a controlled search for Faith Fairchild. He was surprised that no one had mentioned that she had gone missing. Jonah Sogard, Jeffrey's brother, had been watching over Faith for Kevin while Ian Fairchild was being delt with. At least, that's the way he understood it.

Bobbie fiddled with the grainy photo in an image manipulation program while he tossed around ideas as to where Faith had disappeared to. He couldn't help but contemplate on how beautiful she was. Not beautiful in the obvious, flashy, made-up way, but beautiful in that natural way.

He had to stop thinking about her. It wasn't natural to fixate on someone you hardly knew.

Bobbie took a deep breath. "Okay," he said outloud to himself. "First, I'll find Faith. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Cause I'm probably only thinking about her because Kevin is my friend, and I don't want anything bad to happen to his sister." He knew he was babbling again. "Yeah, and pigs fly." He always babbled when he was excited or nervous, and having a missing girl counting on him to find her put him way up on the nervous scale."

He pulled a picture out of him and Kevin and Faith taken a few years back. She probably wouldn't even remember him, but he had to do this. For Kevin and for himself.

"I'll find you, Faith," he said to the photo. "I promise."

***

Carter wanted to ignore Chance's threats but he was certain he would live up to them. Chance didn't make idle threats. But there was more at stake here than any of his co-workers new. Carter hadn't been completely honest about who he really was.

It had been years since he had seen Ethan. Too many years, but Carter knew why he believed Ethan was innocent. He just hoped that when they all discovered his secret that they would understand.

Carter knew better than anyone how it felt to realize you had been brainwashed into completing missions that were "off the record," missions that ultimately only caused harm and global chaos. He had been there. He had felt the conflicting emotions when the memories started flooding back. Knowing the harm he had done to so many had sent him to the brink of despair. He had even considered ending his life many times, but it was Rachel who had pulled him through it alive.

They were more than co-stars and friends. Carter knew he would never meet another woman like her. After his fight with Chance, Rachel had called asking him to meet her. She sounded as if she had news about their plan. He hoped the news was only positive.

Rachel walked out of the shadows and into their desginated meeting place. She was smiling, swinging her purse in a wide arc.

"Tell me you have something good."

Rachel's smile widened seductively and playfully. "I have something great. Are you going to award me for my top notch detective work?" She ran her hands over Carter's chest and neck.

"Later." His voice cracked giving away how much she affected him. He pulled her distracting hands away from his body. "What do you have?"

"Tonight I have a two for one. Your friend Ethan invited me back to his hotel room. I figured we could set up the meet and greet there. I'm sure you have some catching up to do."

"And?" Carter knew Rachel was playing with him and on any other assignment he would play along, but this was personal.

"And... I was contracted to assassinate Ethan Fairchild tonight. Just call me Solitaire." She grabbed at an imaginary martini glass and smiled broadly. "I'll take that shaken, not stirred, thank you."

"So it's all set then? You'll go back tot he hotel with Ethan..."

"And you'll already be there waiting for us. Do you have the key card Lawrence made up for us to bypass the electronic lock on his door?"

Carter patted his breast pocket. "Right here."

"So, we're ready?" Carter nodded and Rachel threw herself into his arms. "Then let's play first and work later." She glanced at the clock blinking from the bank down the street. "We have time."

***

"What do you have, Sullivan?" Gia wasn't much on greetings or smalltalk. She always cut right to the chase.

"A lot, actually. More than I really thought I would find." Bobbie took a second to organize his thoughts. "The two people in the photo were easy to identify. The one on the left is Chance Michaels. He's the star of the television series, Darkstone: Secret Agent. The man on the right is Carter Wayne. Also on the show in more of a supporting capicity. The only bios I found for them were a lot of PR mumbo jumbo. But what I did find in The Legacy database was interesting."

Bobbie paused and Gia could hear him rifling through papers. He then called up a file on his computer that immediately displayed on her PDA screen.

"This is an embassy bombing four years ago. The perpotrators were never caught, but two interesting people show up in this photo. I actually missed it the first time I looked at it. Let me enlarge his section in the corner." The photo grew larger and digitally became clearer. "There. What do you see?"

The enhanced photo was of Ethan and Carter running away from the scene.

"My, my, haven't we been busy boys?" Gia clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth.

"Oh, and another thing. Carter Wayne isn't his real name. Well, it is, sort of. His real name is Carter Wayne Fairchild. He's Ethan's first cousin."

"That it?" Gia asked as if what she had already received wasn't enlightening. "What else?" Gia wasn't known for her patience. She tapped her foot loud enough for him to hear through the PDA.

"Well, both Ethan and Carter were peridiocally sent to something called Factor 6. I don't know exactly what it is, but from what I have been able to find out about it, it looks a little inky."

"Call me when you have more. I'm going to schmoose with the Hollywood types."

Gia clicked her PDA off and Bobbie fingered the print out he'd retreived from The Legacy archives. Carter and Ethan weren't the only ones involved in Factor 6. He'd also found one more name on the list. Faith Fairchild.

"What's going on?" Bobbie didn't know if he wanted the answer to his question. He only knew he had to find out the truth, for everyone's sake.

***

Gia clicked open her cell phone and dialed an unlisted number that connected directly to Mr. Bishop of the High Council. Her voice held no greeting for him, she merely stated her concern in the form of a terse question.

"I thought you said your sniper took care of Carter Wayne!" Gia hissed harsly into her cell phone.

"It was my understanding that Mr. Wayne had been taken care of." Mr Bishop's voice was calm, yet Britishly sophisticated despite the urgancy of the matter.

"Understand this, chess man. Carter Wayne is very much alive and so close to Ethan he could kiss him. He didn't take his eyes off Ethan all night. Why would he be doing that, Mr. Bishop? Is there some connection between Carter and Ethan?"

The line went silent for a moment and Gia knew he wouldn't answer her question. Seconds later the connection was terminated and the dial tone buzzed in her ear. She snapped the cell phone closed and grunted.

"Dammit! I hate it when he does that."