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."

Darkstone Secret Agent: Episode 4: Unexpected Complications

Episode 4: 

Unexpected Complications

Angela Hastings had managed to trip no less than three times, and that had been before her date with Ethan even started. She sat at home staring into her Ben and Jerry's knowing full and well that Ethan's promise to call her would never happen. No man ever called when they said they would. It was probably some unwritten male law of the universe, or something.

Gorgeous hunky men never took an interest in her. The only men who found her charming were either gay or currently pursuing other women.

She glanced down at her cat and made a face. "What's wrong with me Chipmunk? I'm a relatively attractive single professional woman. I don't smell, have bad breath or scratch in improper places. Tell me the truth," she said as she stared into the cat's bright eyes. "Do I have a sign on me that says ‘BEWARE! DANGEROUS COMMITMENT AHEAD?'"

Angela shook her head and sighed heavily. "Maybe I should enter a convent. At least I know God wouldn't reject me." She jammed an Oreo cookie into the quickly melting chocolate ice cream and scooped up some of its velvety goodness. She looked at the sugary confection and sighed again. "Not as good as mind-blowing sex, but it will just have to do."

***

Ethan Fairchild's date with suspect number one was less than enthralling. It wasn't that Angela Hastings wasn't captivating. She certainly was in that quirky, accident-prone, endearing way she had. But she wasn't his rogue agent. He knew that almost from the beginning, and he wondered why Gia even suspected her. No one could be that clueless on purpose.

He knew Angela was waiting for a second invitation, but Ethan had a mission to attend to.

After he dropped her off at her apartment, Ethan made himself comfortable in a bar called the Rathskeller. A bar known for its television personalities. He wasn't quite ready to turn in for the night and thus far he had had a hard time getting in touch with his controller, Jeffrey.

***

A knock at the door came unexpected. Angela had only eaten a quarter of the pint of ice cream and she wasn't yet halfway contented or comforted.

"Go away!" she grumbled. "I'm not quite depressed enough yet."

The knocking didn't stop, it only persisted. "I know you're in there, Angela. Your car is out front."

She recognized the voice immediately, but that didn't mean she had to let him in. Angela had to be the only woman in the known universe who would turn down attention from the world's hottest actor.

"That shows what you know," she shouted back. "That car isn't even mine."

Chance Michaels shifted from foot to foot. He was used to attention from his female following but there was something eerie about Angela's neighbor who leered at him from across the street.

"Come on, Angela! Cut a guy a break. That old lady is eyeing me again."

Angela marched over and thrust open the door. "Don't even bother to say it," she said, waving a spoon filled with ice cream at him.

"Date with the mystery man didn't go quite as planned, I take it?" Chance pushed past her and walked into the multi-level house. The neighbors weren't as surprised to see him as they used to be. But the grand motherly woman across the way still brought out her binoculars every time Chance was visiting.

"So, what brings you to my humble abode? Come to gloat about your fab sex life with Miss Rachel?"

"Rachel and I only have a sex life in my dreams."

Angela tried not to chuckle but she found both their situations amazingly funny. Chance couldn't score with the woman he wanted and Angela didn't have a chance in hell with Ethan.

Chance hooked a questioning eyebrow upward.

"I don't find this even a little bit funny."

Angela handed him the remaining ice cream and plopped down on the sofa. "We're both such losers."

***

Ethan fingered the signet ring on his right hand. He had worn it since his employment at the Legacy. Maybe even before. It was a gift from his father.

Now, suddenly, the skin around where the ring touched was red and irritated. Ever since he'd been exposed to those damn nanites, his life had been hell.

He couldn't sleep more than a few hours a night. His hearing had sharpened as had his eye sight. But that didn't make up for the nightmares. Whatever those little mini machines were doing in his blood, they were damn well wreaking havoc. But the nightmares were the worst part. In the nightmares he watched helplessly as his body didn't respond to his inner commands. Innocent people died, and he betrayed every moral value he possessed. A few more nights of this and he knew he would certainly go insane.

Lee Myers, the man who saved his life only months ago, had made arrangements for him to take his ATP energy treatments in Hollywood while he was on assignment. It surprised him that the movie capital of the world would have such devices. From the way Myers talked, ATP energy was pretty hard to come by. He was looking forward to the day when the treatments ended and the nightmares disappeared as magically as they had started.

The bar he had retired to was dark and smoky and filled with disreputable men and woman. Just the way he liked them. It reminded him of the Wolf's Den in a very Burbank sort of way. Maybe tonight he could find some sexual distraction to keep sleep from claiming him. Tonight, he didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to feel. He just wanted a hot and willing body under him to keep him occupied for a few hours.

Ethan knew what hell was. Hell was a place where you never slept and where the only sounds were the screams of tortured victims. He'd been hearing the screams and seeing the tormented in his mind's eye. And he couldn't wipe the images away.

A woman approached him, exactly the type of prospect he was looking for. She shimmied up to the bar barely wearing a red dress that matched her hair. Her eyes slowly scanned the crowd as if she was looking for someone. An easy smile spread across his face. He could be anyone she wanted him to be. Anyone at all.

Her eyes landed on him taking in his disheveled hair that now was almost too long. It curled up just above his shoulders. His feet were covered in snake skin boots and his legs packed into a pair of slim-fitting 501 Blues. Aside from the 5 o'clock shadow and the hair, he was perfectly presentable. Her long perusal of him seemed to say she was in agreement with his conclusions.

Her auburn hair gleamed, and from a distance, for a split-second, the woman almost looked like Gia, only this lady looked like Gia with a soul. But he wasn't kidding himself. There was no one else like the ice woman.

Ethan was so entranced by the woman's obvious charms, he failed to notice when the real Gia Doyle walked into the very same establishment. She pushed by the auburn haired lady and headed straight for Ethan. Her back was ram rod straight and her eyes spit fire. She was angry. What else was new?

"What happened to the body?" Gia spit at him.

"Nice to see you too, boss lady."

Gia leaned down and blew a puff of smoke into his face from the cigarette that must have been surgically implanted in her hand. He never saw her without one. Her voice lowered but the venom was still evident. "Don't play with me, Fairchild. Where is the body?"

"Body?" Ethan tried not to smile, but he actually didn't know which body she was referring to.

"The guy from the television show that you found on the set a few days back. That body."

Finally, the picture became clearer. Even through his sleep deprived brain he could remember what happened to Carter Wayne.

"You're asking me? As far as I know the clean up team took him away. Since when are you so concerned about someone like Carter Wayne? I've heard you call such nuisances trash."

"This nuisance is a different animal all together. We need him back."

Ethan eyed Gia suspiciously. Back? They needed Carter Wayne back? What in the hell was really going on here?

Her eyes darkened and turned icy. She had a spooky way of almost reading his mind sometimes. Today was no different.

"I'm just checking every detail. We need to make certain Carter Wayne isn't the rogue spy."

Ethan watched her walk away, thrusting people out of her way as she went by. He had a feeling there was more to Carter Wayne than anyone was telling him.

***

Back at Legacy Headquarters.

"We have a problem."

Philip Lancaster was surprised to hear the stodgy old voice address him. It had been a very long time since one of the High Council contacted him directly.

"I did as you instructed, sir." Philip said, trying like hell to maintain a subtle calm he wasn't feeling. "I had Franklin Fairchild jailed and placed in the Legacy dungeon."

"Apparently, Lancaster, that wasn't adequate enough. Another Fairchild has become a security risk." Philip's eyes grew wide. He knew the implications of what Bishop was saying. "Either the signet ring we gave him is defective or the nanites coursing through his blood has disrupted the ring's effectiveness."

"What do you want me to do, sir? I mean, Mr. Bishop."

"I want you to deal with our problem. If he starts remembering his alternate assignments, the Legacy's very identity could be in jeopardy. Either repair the ring or –"

"Kill him?" Philip added with a gulp.

"You catch on quickly, Lancaster."

"But Mr. Bishop, he's our best agent... He's done so much for us..." Philip wasn't looking forward to trying to kill the best of the best. He knew it could pose a big problem.

"You do understand me, don't you, Lancaster? If he becomes a glitch to the very success of our organization, terminate him! That is an order."

"Yes, Mr. Bishop. As you wish, sir."

Philip returned the receiver to its cradle, his hand visibly shaking. God, he couldn't believe it. Kill Ethan Fairchild? Ethan had been their best assassin, even if he didn't remember the true nature of his assignments.

Philip's voice quivered with emotion as he called for Bobbie Sullivan. Bobbie had quickly taken over for Jeffrey Sogard after the young controller's sudden death a few weeks back.

"Get me Dr. Lee Myers on the tele. Then find a way to contact Solitaire. We might have one more freelance assignment for her."

Bobbie nodded. "Yes, sir. Right away, sir."

It was the dawn of a new day at the Legacy. Why did Philip feel like it was the beginning of the end?

***

Franklin Fairchild couldn't believe he had allowed it to go on for so long. That they all had allowed it. The Legacy might have been ultimately responsible for the deeds, but he and Harry and Nathan had let them do it. In the beginning, over thirty-six years ago now, it seemed like such a far-fetched notion. A strange dream. Create the perfect mercenary. The perfect operative.

The perfect assassin was someone who didn't know they were an assassin.

At first, he had done it because it was his job. Later, he had justified staying because they needed members of the resistance inside the Legacy. He knew it might take years to bring them (the High Council) down, and the sacrifices would be worth it. But somehow all those children's lives had gotten lost in the shuffle.

Just one more day, he would think. One more day and then it would all be over. But for the Lost Children, it was never over. One more day for them meant more long hours of treatments, mind-therapy and weapons training. Things they would never remember once they reached home. But things they could recall once programmed to do so.

For years it had terrified him that someone could take over their minds without their permission. He would look across the dinner table at Ethan, Ian, Kevin and Faith's innocent faces and wonder if today was the day one of them would rise up, aim a gun at him and kill him as he ate dessert.

It was a horrible way to live – wondering if your next meal was your last. He regarded the steel bars of his cell and knew sooner or later he would be terminated. The only thing he wondered now was – why had they kept him alive so long?

***

Back in Hollywood

"So tell me about this hunka hunka burning love who dumped you tonight."

Angela blushed and turned her head away from Chance. "What's to tell? I met him on the train. He seemed nice. But he blew me off. He practically left the restaurant before I was even finished eating. I mean, right after I..." Angela stopped. She didn't know if she wanted to tell him the embarrassing parts of the ruined date.

"Let me guess. You went to that new Italian restaurant? The one with the awkward steps that shoot down unexpectedly?"

"How did you..." This time Angela did blush. Chance knew what a klutz she was, but she didn't like reminding him, or herself.

"Fell flat on your face, did you?" Chance tried to hold in his chuckle.

"More like fell flat on my butt and spit my new dress up the seam. I'm surprised Ethan even came over and admitted I was his date."

Chance's expression grew concerned.

"Ethan? That was your date's name?"

Angela looked at Chance quizzically. "Yeah, Ethan Fairchild. He mentioned he knew you when you were kids. He even told me this funny story about his brother, Kevin, and your sister, Sabrina."

Chance stood, knocking over a few of the handmade journals Angela was fond of creating.

"I have to go, but whatever you do, don't let Ethan in here. If he comes by and tries to let himself in, call the police."

He ran to the door opening it with a jerk. He could tell Angela wasn't taking him seriously.

"I'm not kidding, Angela. Ethan is a dangerous man. Don't ever let him near you again."

Angela had never seen Chance so agitated. He was indeed deathly serious.

"Okay, okay. I'll call the police. I will."

Chance then left in a rush. She wondered what Ethan had done to make her friend so concerned. Well, it didn't matter anyway. It wasn't like the date went well. Maybe all those accidental prat falls were a good omen. But the thoughts rushing through her head didn't make her worry any less. She just hoped the man stayed away.

***

Solitaire brushed a stray auburn hair behind her ear and listened on her cell phone as an image was transmitted to her PDA device. The man's photo was familiar. She glanced over her shoulder to the man she had been eyeing earlier with the snake skin boots and the chocolate eyes. It was too bad. It was just too bad. He matched the description of her new assignment. She sighed.

But that didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun with him first.

Ethan was on his third tequila and having a wonderful time when all activity at the bar ceased. The woman in the barely there red dress was provocatively dancing. All the men in her general vicinity had their mouths hanging open. He didn't know what in the hell she was doing, but he had a game of pool only half finished. Pool was the only game Kevin consistently beat him at. While he was here, he planned to brush up on his technique and show the little squirt that big brothers always win.

He was angling to sink his last stripe when someone picked up his cue ball off the table. It was the woman with the dress. She was tall with straight hair down to her shoulders and a body to die for. At first glance, as before, she reminded him of Gia, but upon closer inspection, he discovered this woman definitely knew how to smile.

"Hi ya, handsome," she said in a slow seductive voice. "Wanna play?"

Ethan gulped then smiled. Maybe he was going to get some sexual satisfaction after all.

Darkstone Secret Agent: Episode 3: Ghost of a Chance

Episode 3: 

Ghost of a Chance

As soon as the director yelled, "Action!" Chance Michaels was in his element. Playing super spy Nico Knight on primetime's hottest drama did as much for his ego as it did for his pocketbook.

A year after filming began, Chance found out his wife, August Rae, was having an affair. And like in Hollywood gossip rags, this affair was a shocker. Not surprisingly, the press ate it up like children scarffed up chocolate pudding or ice cream.

He had always heard about losing your wife to another woman, but usually that was restricted to television pilots and people who lived in San Francisco or L.A., not real life and certainly not in his real world. Chance found out the hard way that sometimes fiction reflects reality with an all too mind blowing reality. So, to find out that his wife was busy getting it on with a female studio executive, was more than a shocker. It was a blow to his masculinity.

About the time August Rae became his ex-wife, she also became his new boss. Life was funny that way. Just when your life seems to be going down a different road, a crossroads comes your way and suddenly you find yourself traveling down the same path again. It was just so unfair.

August was now not only the new head writer, but one of the executive producers. Chance figured this was his payback for letting August Rae's needs go unfulfilled for so long. Not that he could have actually fulfilled her needs considering she had been a closet lesbian for so long. He wondered if her sister and his co-worker, Rachel Demarco knew about August Rae's coming out. But if she didn't know, he wouldn't be surprised. Rachel and August had never been close. Rachel had always been the one to overshadow her sister's success with even more of her own. It wasn't that Rachel rubbed August Rae's face in her overwhelming vocational happiness, she just came by it more naturally than August Rae did. And being the co-star with him in Darkstone: Secret Agent was just one more slap in August Rae's face.

He assumed this was the main reason why August campaigned so strongly for the head writer position. If she couldn't get Rachel to do what she wanted, the only way to effectively 'beat her' was to literally put words into her mouth. Now August Rae held all the power and there was nothing he or Rachel could do about it.

Where August Rae was overbearing, mouthy and angry, Rachel was soft, sensuous and womanly sensitive. If it hadn't been for Rachel and her constant advice and TLC, Chance was sure he would have gone truly insane with August's many plots to ruin him. Rachel offered him her friendship and help in a time when catastrophe seemed to define his life.

Things had finally semi settled down, and Chance was ready to put himself out there again emotionally. The divorce had garnered a lot of publicity and his own sort of inner searching. He hated every minute he was under the media's microscope, but to the studio bad publicity was still publicity. Free publicity. And they milked it for all it was worth even leaking information about his and Rachel's friendship making it seem like it was more than it was.

Not that he didn't want there to be more, he did. In fact, he was already half in love with Rachel Demarco. But the closer he and Rachel became the more overtly demanding August Rae would make his and Rachel's life. It got so bad at one point August Rae tried to kill off Rachel's ever popular character, Cyn Sanders. But the studio would have none of that. The hotter their personal life became in the tabloids, the higher the ratings skyrocketed. So, August Rae had to live with the fact that she couldn't ruin her sister's life by taking away the job that she loved.

Chance was certain that August would find a way to make Rachel's life miserable. The only question was, how would she do it?

***

Meanwhile, not far from the studio, Gia Doyle and her team of agents swept the area looking for runaway computer hacker, Dexter Vargas. Finding the body of Jeffrey Sogard lying in a pool of his own blood made Gia want to pop the head off of the pesky nerd who had the gall to call himself Jeffrey's best friend. Dexter and Jeffrey had come up with an amazing technology called Wayback. It was time travel at its best. But now that device had been lost along with the whereabouts of Dexter, things around headquarters were becoming more and more dubious.

The doctors had yet to figure out what killed Jeffrey. But signs were pointing to some sort of mutant virus. If they didn't find Dexter in time and he too had contracted the virus as Jeffrey had -- they would be in for an epidemic even the best scientists wouldn't know how to cure.

The biggest problem was – Gia didn't know how to tell Ethan about Jeffrey. The kid was a genius, but Ethan was his hero and because of that bond the two of them had grown close over the years.

"If you don't find that little twirp, your life, as you know it, is over!" Gia was not known as a patient woman. And losing Vargas and a contraption worth a cool mint to the American government didn't make her any less testy.

Her chestnut hair glinted reddish fiery streaks almost as volcanic as her piercing eyes. Gia ordered the agents around with a natural authority. When Gia talked, people jumped.

She nearly lost her carefully capped cool when she found some of her agents gawking at bikini clad starlets near the studio entrance.

"Did you not hear me the first time?" she bit out. "Find me Vargas and find me that damn machine. NOW!!!"

Agents scurried in all directions. There was something to be said for seasoned agents who actually had a clue what they were doing. Why was she being tormented by all the greenhorns? She let out an exasperated sigh and headed towards the television studio lot. She hoped she found Vargas before the rogue IEA agent did. If the rogue found the computer hacker first and discovered how valuable the technology was that he carried, Dexter would definitely be dead, virus or no virus. And then another fool could go traipsing through time screwing up things for them all.

***

Dexter Vargas didn't know what to do next. Everything was in jeopardy. If the rogue spy found the Wayback device, time as they knew it would belong to the evil ones of the universe. But he didn't want Gia and the Legacy anywhere near the device either. He didn't want to put time travel in the hands of questionable people with even more questionable morals. Jeffrey Sogard had been the only one he could trust with such technology and now he was dead. Dexter wasn't completely sure if the virus was an after effect of time travel. Maybe Jeffrey had time traveled with a cold during one of their experiments, and then the cold mutated into something more awful than either of them ever imagined.

Sweat dripped from his head. Dexter had somehow also contracted the virus, but he didn't have time to find out how or go and get it treated. He needed to hide the Wayback device. A spasm racked his brain with a pain so severe he felt like dying was the only cure to take away his torment. He had never encountered such a headache before. But he couldn't worry about his poor state of health. He had to keep the Wayback device safe.

As he scurried like a rat through the maze of cars in the parking lot of Avatar Studios, he clutched the wristband-like device with a steel-like grip. He frantically glanced in all directions, his paranoia mounting. He stumbled into an area where trailers lined the outside of one of the sound stages. He'd finally made it. The Darkstone: Secret Agent set. If there was anywhere to hide such a high tech device, it was amidst other similar devices. That way, he could hide the machine in plain sight and come back for it at a safer juncture.

His luck was holding out. One of the doors in one of the trailers was open. This was his best opportunity to secure the device in a safe location.

He carefully climbed into the trailer. Spasms still flooded his brain and the pain was still unbearable but he had to complete his mission. Every movement was a subtle type of torture. He needed to be in a bed back in the hospital, but he had to finish what he had started. He had to keep the device safe so eventually he could go back and make sure Jeffrey never contracted the virus in the first place.

The trailer was smaller than it looked. The only thing out of place was a script with green fluorescent swashes accenting particular lines in a scene. As he gazed at it closer, he realized that every dialogue bit in green belonged to the actress who portrayed Cyn Sanders, director of the make-believe covert agency, AIDE.

Dexter couldn't laugh at the irony. Not only was the rogue spy trying to get the device, he was sure the female director of the Legacy was somewhere out there not far behind him. Here he was in the trailer of someone who could be considered Gia's television alter-ego, and Dexter was about to leave a priceless treasure among her things.

He wished he knew for sure if he could trust Gia, but he didn't know if he could fully trust her or anyone at the Legacy. That's why he fled the confines of the hospital earlier in the day. He couldn't let anyone get their hands on the device. A device that could potentially be used for an evil destructive end.

He placed the wristband-like device on the counter top next to a similar one used by the fictional spies of AIDE. It could be weeks before anyone noticed it so far back on the counter behind the sugar decanter. By then, he hoped he was fit enough to come back and retrieve it.

Another spasm racked his body and this time the force of it sent Dexter to the floor. He put his hand to his head and felt something thicker than sweat pooled there. When he pulled his hand back, he realized it was blood.

"NO!" he cried. "Not yet! I'm not ready to go yet."

He barely heard the gasp from behind him. As he turned to view the person behind the gasp, he lost his balance and fell to the floor. He looked up at her from the floor where it was much more comfortable and he realized how much she did indeed look like Gia Doyle. The same chestnut hair straight to her shoulders. The same concerned line between her brows.

The woman, Rachel Demarco held a towel tightly around her breasts and grabbed for a baseball bat hidden on the other side of the refrigerator. She threatened to beat him within an inch of his life, but her threats didn't seem too alarming since he could barely hear them. Her voice faded and then sounded very far away. Suddenly, he could hear nothing at all.

Rachel Demarco could feel her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest. At first the man who had infiltrated her trailer seemed sully and intimidating but now he looked more like the boy he was. He seemed to be unconscious now. She leaned down to feel for the pulse in his neck but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Touching him seemed like the wrong thing to do. Her mind ran in a million directions as she reached for the cordless phone near the bathroom door. She fumbled with it to call 911.

When the operator answered, Rachel saw the blood pooling around the fallen boy's head. Her scream was ear piercing. "Oh, my God!" she cried into the receiver. "I think he's dead!"

Darkstone Secret Agent: Episode 1-2

Mission: Darkstone

Prologue, Episode One and Two

by Toni Walker

Prologue

The life of a spy was indeed a strange one.

In what other occupation could you go from the wilds of Bulgaria, to the foggy streets of London and end up in the concrete jungle that is Hollywood?

When Ethan Fairchild finally stepped onto the studio lot after finding a creative entrance, he found each building was a muted shade of death. The color seemed to washout everything around it, even any feeling people surrounding the building might be experiencing. It was exactly like a black hole in outer space, except this black hole was tan. It was a rather numbing sensation to take in.

Finding a dark corner, on the sunny lot wasn't easy. Luckily, the Darkstone set was filled with such niches. Ethan placed a call to his Legacy contact and awaited a response.

"This is hell," he said, once his superior, Gia Doyle came online. His PDA displayed her image to crisp perfection. "You've sent me to hell. I always knew you'd find a way to get me back for Amsterdam."

Gia chuckled at the memory. He deserved to be tortured for Amsterdam, but that wasn't the reason he was in Hollywood. It hadn't been her intention to send him to hell, but subconsciously she knew she wanted payback. For now, she'd let him stew in the fire with Satan.

"It can't be that bad," Gia said, sharply. "You're a trained operative. It's not like I"m sending you into the middle of a war."

"Speak for yourself." Ethan observed actors of all shapes and sizes as they paraded around the lot in the most bizarre costumes. "This makes Carnival look like a cake walk."

"You should be in heaven. After all, aren't all the women blonde, skinny and brain dead? Sounds like a recipe for your favorite date." Gia couldn't help but throw in the slam.

"She could hear the catch in his breath even through the small, souped-up spy gadget that resembled a PDA.

"They are not," he said in defense of women everywhere. "Some of them are brunette."

Even he laughed at that one.

"Well, hot shot. If you can control your sexual urges long enough to focus on this mission, you could be back in the land of fog in little over a week."

"What am I looking for?" Ethan asked, suddenly serious.

"Anything out of the ordinary. We accidently intercepted a burst transmission during one of Darkstone's broadcasts."

"I thought those types of spy tactics went out with the dark ages."

"Apparently, not. We've got the most advanced equipment and even we almost missed it. If it hadn't been for Sogard's obsession with that damn spy television show, I doubt we would have put two and two together." Gia's face left the small screen for a moment. "We have no names, but we do know this particular spy has gone rogue. He or she was working for the International Espionage Agency. And you know how they work. No one knows the identity of any of the agents."

"So, track down the rogue spy and foil their mission?"

"That about sums it up. Jeffrey will have the dossiers on each member of the Darkstone staff that is suspected. So far, the most likely candidate is web designer, Angela Hastings. During a routine sweep we found a microdot embedded in one of her handmade journals. You're mission..."

"Should I choose to accept it?" Ethan said, playfully.

"Is to find the rogue IEA agent and bring him or her down by any means necessary. If any more information gets released via the television show, we don't know what the president will do."

Gia's image disappeared from the PDA and he placed the computer device into his pocket. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted what appeared to be a scuffle between two people. One was a large man he had already identified as Carter Wayne. The other person was obscured by the large trash dumpsters separating them.

Ethan ran to intercept, but by the time he arrived on scene, the perp was long gone. What lay left behind was a crumpled Carter Wayne lying among piles of black trash bags.

"Well, Fairchild," he said to himself. "I think you've found your something out of the ordinary.

He checked the man for a pulse. Thready, but still there.

"Looks like the game is afoot."

Ethan placed an anonymous call to 911.

Episode 1

She wasn't expecting to see him, especially not this close, mere inches away.

Who was he?

For two weeks, Angela Hastings had watched him, gazing at him like some star-struck teenager mooning over this week's hottest teen heartthrob. She was far from the groupie type. In fact, the entire time she had been working as web designer for the television series, Darkstone: Secret Agent, she hadn't once felt attracted to any member of the cast.

So then, what was she doing fantasizing over this unassuming mystery man on the train?

It would have been easier to be attracted to Darkstone star, Chance Michaels. At least, he she knew. But when had Angela ever taken the easy road?

Today, he was closer to her than he had ever been. All she could remember was the sudden connection she felt and strange way her breath had literally been taken away by the sight of him. She thought such things only happened in the movies and books.

How wrong she had been.

It wasn't as if she had done anything to draw his attention. She didn't even know he was on the train until he was suddenly there. She looked up. He looked up. And bam, connection time.

Angela couldn't say exactly what it was that attracted her to this mystery man. Why did he draw her attention like the south end to the north end of a magnet? Were they unconsciously seeking each other out in some cosmic way? She had never believed in such things, but certain circumstances were beginning to make her wonder.

When his eyes rested on her face and fully took in her features, she could see recognition light his eyes. Did he wonder about her in the same way she wondered about him? There had to be a reason for this almost unearthly attraction. Or maybe Angela had blown this all up in her mind into some obsessive fantasy. She wouldn't put it past herself. She was the dreamer of the family, after all.

Angela had never been one to moon over the looks or body of a man, but there was something different about him. Something that drew her on a carnal level, a level not seen by the human eye.

But she knew nothing would ever happen between them. First off, she was painfully shy around men. And secondly, last week she had spied a wedding band on his finger. It figured he was married. The only man she had ever really been attracted to at first sight and he wasn't even on the market.

It just damn figured!

The "cute man on the train," as she had come to refer to him, passed by that day and said nothing, and she had stupidly kept her trap clapped as well. When you didn't put yourself out there, you didn't get burned. But she knew if eyes could speak, his were saying something to hers. A minute later, he was gone and it seemed the incident had never occurred or was only a figment of her fertile imagination.

"That was him, wasn't it?"

Angela spun around to find her friend, Janey, from work, standing behind her. When had she gotten on the train, Angela wondered.

"Him?" Angela couldn't remember ever telling Janey about the "cute guy on the train."

"Your mystery man. The one who always eyes you. That was him, in the red jacket, wasn't it?" Janey was more observant than Angela had ever given her credit for, but Janey was one of the biggest contributors to the office grapevine. Next to her Jack Richards, the make-up artist paled in comparison.

"Yes," she admitted. "That was him. But... how did you know?"

"Oh, honey," she said, in her candy-coated southern drawl. "That had to be him. The air practically crackled between you when he walked by. And my, my, my! He had no trouble at all zeroing in on you. It was like watching a ballet. He looked up and saw you. Then almost as if you sensed him, your head jerked around."

Janey sighed.

"I tell you, it's kismet. The two of you are meant to be."

Angela couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe you better tell that to his wife. If you hadn't noticed, he's wearing a wedding ring. That means off limits."

"Oh, pooh!" Janey's bottom lip jutted out. "That could only be a ruse ring. I'm going to find out for sure."

While Angela was still contemplating what a ruse ring was, Janey disappeared, enveloped by the commuters on the train, and headed in the same direction as her mystery man.

"Wait!" Angela cried. "Janey, no!"

***

It wasn't hard following Angela Hastings around. Ethan Fairchild tried to blend into the mish-mash of passengers on the train, but Angela's eyes always invariably sought him out. As if, she somehow knew he was observing her.

While trying to keep his eye on her, Ethan found himself distracted by a bevy of women who were throwing themselves at him. He wasn't doing anything to attract their attention. In fact, he dressed in a casual way, to give them impression he was a man who didn't have a care in the world, or a job for that matter. Still, they clung to him like cheap aftershave.

In usual circumstances, he would take advantage of such a compelling opportunity, but today, he had a mission to attend to. His physical needs would have to be put on hold for awhile.

Having the female passengers hit on him was a distraction he didn't need. That's why a week ago he purchased a simple gold band to throw them all off the scent. That tactic alone seemed to keep most of them at bay.

He thought he was having good luck with his woman detractor device until a petite red-head bounced his way. She had more spring in her step than she did in her curls which cork screwed around her face like a demented mop.

She came straight up to him without reservation.

"There you are," she said, with a sigh. "Did you know you are one hard person to locate?"

Now, there was an interesting question to ask an international spy. Ethan wondered if he would have to take the woman out in order to remain on his current mission.

"No," he said, simply. "I hadn't noticed that."

"Well, you are. I'm Janey, by the way. Janey Harris."

She thrust her hand at him and Ethan carefully stepped away. Sometimes the most unassuming person could be the most deadly. Ethan ignored her extended hand and nodded a greeting to her.

Janey's mouth turned into a frown. "Aren't you going to tell me your name? It's only polite."

"No, I wasn't planning on it." Ethan eyed his escape route carefully considering if he might have to use it.

Janey grumbled and gave Ethan the evil eye, at least, what she thought was the evil eye. The attempt failed making her look like her eye was nervously twitching.

"So the mystery man wants to remain mysterious? I can respect that."

Why did Ethan have a feeling he wouldn't like what was coming?

"If you're interested," she said, slyly. "I have a proposition for you."

Episode 2

"Perfect. That's perfect." Ethan watched through Jeffrey's computer monitor as Gia Doyle, their superior, paced back and forth in her office in London. "Get close to her. She's our first link. You can use this to insinuate yourself into the situation. Become her boyfriend. It's absolute perfection."

Jeffrey glanced nervously at Ethan and then toward the monitor where Gia's image was displayed. "That tactic is good," he said, looking to Ethan for conformation. "But I still think it would be better to go in as one of the actors. Now that Carter Wayne is in the hospital in a coma, he'll be out of commission for awhile. They'll need someone to take his place."

"Good. That's good too. We'll work on that from our end. We may end up needing both covers. But until we find out who is transmitting United States secrets through that damn television show, you'll be stuck in America, and I'll be without my best operative." Gia paused, but continued immediately. "Funds are tight, although, we've managed to let you have Jeffrey there as back up for a time. We'll arrange for a command center for you both near the studio."

Ethan could tell Jeffrey was holding back his shout of approval.

"As far as we can tell from our intel, no one has caught on that the Legacy stumbled across these burst transmissions. We've been lucky so far. Let's hope we remain that way."

The screen crackled and Gia's image disappeared from view.

"I'll delve into Carter Wayne's past and see why anyone would want him eliminated," Jeffrey said booting up his laptop.

"And I guess I'll ask Angela Hastings out on a date."

Jeffrey watched Ethan leave and sighed. "That is so unfair."