Trinity

“No fucking way.” Alec’s voice mirrored the group’s shock. “I saw you in the water at the falls. You were dead. There wasn’t any heartbeat.”

Paige stood before them obviously alive and well. She smiled at the group as she pulled a box towards them to sit on. She dusted it off with her hand and majestically sat down on it. It was almost like watching a queen holding court.

“Poor, sweet, impressionable Alec.” Paige sounded like a mother dealing with an unruly child. “There was a heart beat, sweetie, but you just couldn’t feel it.”

“How is that even possible?” Joshua asked.

“I have one word for you. Atenolol.” Paige sweetly replied. She seemed to enjoy revealing the information to the group. “It’s a beta-adrenergic blocking agent. It helps to block the sympathetic nervous system.”

“In other words, it lowered your heart rate to the point that it was virtually undetectable.” Vanessa smoothly added. “You had to have combined it with other drugs though because it wouldn’t have caused the paralysis that gave your body the appearance of rigor mortis, and you would need something to lower your breathing rate.”

“I’m impressed!” Paige’s laughter echoed over them. “I told Sabrina not to underestimate you, and I was definitely right. I did have to contact some of my friends in the pharmaceutical industry for some help. They were able to combine Atenolol with some experimental drugs that gave me the look I needed. I like to call it my cocktail of death. I had to use some professional special effects makeup to make my skin that pale and my lips so blue, but I think it was worth it.”

“You’re going to be wishing it did kill you by the time we get done with you.” Alec growled at her.

“Normally such a strong man would turn me on, but since you’re going to die soon I won’t waste the energy.” Paige’s voice dripped with honey. “I’m surprised that Joshua didn’t fill you in on just how dangerous I can be. Then again, the two of you don’t really have a history of talking, do you?”

“Someone sounds just a bit jealous.” Vanessa’s voice was so calm that it impressed Joshua and Alec. The woman definitely had an amazing amount of control. “I take it you and Joshua have worked together before, Dreamcatcher.”

“Yes, we have. My, my, Vanessa, you really are perceptive. What else have you figured out?” Paige asked.

Vanessa was quiet for a moment as a thousand things rushed through her mind. Suddenly all the pieces to the puzzle seemed to be right in front of her, and all she had to do was put them together. An idea started to form in her mind, but Alec beat her to the punch.

“You and Sabrina are here to kill the President.” Alec stated quietly. “But why?”

“I don’t think that really matters now since we aren’t going to have the chance to kill him.” Paige said with a sigh. “But if you really need to know I’ll tell you. I’ve been offered a very prestigious position with one of the best terrorist organizations in the world. Because my position on the other team made them a bit leery about bringing me on board, they requested that I prove my loyalty. I must tell you that I couldn’t think of any greater show of loyalty than killing my country’s leader.”

“You would think that your loyalty would be with the Covenant, and not against it.” Joshua growled.

“I could see how you would think that.” Paige said with a smile. “Unfortunately this group is offering a very lewd amount of money for my services and the Covenant is not.”

“So you would expose the organization just for your own gain?” Alec asked in disgust.

“I didn’t expose anything, Alec. They are under the impression I work for the U.S. government, and I didn’t correct them on that.” Paige replied.

“Why not?” Vanessa questioned. “If you’re going to sell out, why not do it completely?”

“That’s one of the better parts of my plan, Vanessa. I’m glad you asked.” Paige’s smile grew even wider, if that were possible. “Instead of just advising my new bosses of everything I knew, I thought it would be better to just play both sides. I’ll know what activities are planned by the Covenant so I’ll be able to warn my other bosses, and by keeping my knowledge of the Covenant a secret, it will make me more powerful in my new position. They’ll have to come to me if they want to find out if the good guys know what is being planned.”

“How do you think the Covenant finds out what the other side is up to Paige?” Vanessa asked. “We have people everywhere, and I’m sure there are people at your new place that will know exactly who and what you are. It won’t be long before you’re taken out, of course that is if you somehow manage to get away from us.”

Paige reached into her pocket and retrieved a box that looked identical to the one Sabrina had. She set it down in her lap and looked at each of them in turn.

“None of you are going to be getting away. It would be better if the three of you just realized it now. It would make it easier to deal with.” Paige said sweetly. “So Alec, any more thoughts on what happened?”

“We know that you and Joshua have worked together before…” Alec began thoughtfully. All of his thoughts seemed to suddenly focus and he realized what had happened. “You and Sabrina showed up here to take care of the President and unexpectedly ran into Joshua. He had worked with you before so he obviously recognized you. Since he’s Backdraft he would have been expecting two people to show up to help him. He must have assumed that you two were his contacts and he explained the situation to you.”

“Impressive.” Paige gave Alec an amusing smile. “I realized of course that there were two more people coming. So I gave Joshua the same line that I had Sabrina give the two of you about a mole. Luckily he bought it hook, line, and sinker. I was able to talk him into not wearing his pendant since Sabrina and myself weren’t wearing one either. I explained how easy it would have been for you two to spot them. This way we could be undercover and you wouldn’t realize what was going on. I was able to get his pendant from the office safe for Sabrina to use that afternoon. Fortunately he had no clue what was going on.”

“This is all my fault. If I would have kept my eyes open more maybe I would have caught something to tip me off.” Joshua’s voice mirrored the intense frustration he had.

“You had no reason not to believe them, Joshua.” Alec gripped Joshua’s hand as he spoke. “Who wouldn’t believe a fellow member of the Covenant?”

“My point exactly, handsome!” Paige giggled as she looked at the trio. “The plan was just too perfect for words, however, I underestimated the power of attraction.”

“Alec and Joshua.” Vanessa’s mind had completed the puzzle. “Their attraction was intense enough that Joshua started to doubt what you were saying about Alec. You had Sabrina help you stage your death and you were the one that sent Alec the note. You wanted it to appear as if Joshua had killed you. That caused the three of us to confront each other and gave you the opportunity that you now have.”

“It was too difficult to believe that someone could act as innocent as he was.” Joshua’s voice washed over Alec’s body. “I couldn’t see him being an evil person. Just looking into his eyes was enough for me to start to realize that something wasn’t right. There was no way that anyone could fake what I saw in him.”

“Enough of the mushy shit, please.” Paige’s voice finally lost some of its sweetness. “No matter what you realize now it doesn’t matter. Nothing is going to change the fact that all three of you are going to die.”

Vanessa decided that it was time to end the game. She quietly popped her hand free of one of the handcuffs. She went to grab Alec’s hand and wasn’t surprised to find that Joshua’s hand was there. That was all for the better because she was able to signal both men that it was time for them to do something. Vanessa forced each of them to open their hands, and she signed the word ‘basket toss’ to them.

“Got it?” Vanessa asked out loud.

The men glanced at each other and recognition dawned in their eyes. What Vanessa had planned was a bit far out there, but it was crazy enough it might just work. They had to move quickly though because time was running out.

“Got what?” Paige demanded.

“Ready.” Joshua said as he gripped his still locked hand with Vanessa’s.

“Let’s do this.” Alec added.

Joshua and Vanessa quickly spun their bodies around and locked their hands together. Alec easily somersaulted backwards and as he finished his roll he positioned his feet over their interlocked hands. Joshua and Vanessa stood up and with a sharp lifting motion they launched Alec into the air towards Paige. As Alec flew through the air he tucked his body and was able to maneuver his hands to the front of his body. As he landed in front of Paige he allowed his body to somersault forward and he used the added momentum to launch his body at Paige. She was able to duck out of the way at the last moment and Alec went crashing into the ground.

While Alec was airborne Joshua grabbed Vanessa’s wrists and nodded towards Sabrina. Vanessa nodded her head in understanding and grabbed his wrists in return. Joshua stepped to the side and Vanessa leapt into a flying kick. Joshua spun her body towards Sabrina so Vanessa’s feet lashed out at the woman’s head. Sabrina was able to jerk backwards in just enough time to miss contact with either of Vanessa’s feet.

“Nice try.” Sabrina said as she laughed.

Joshua locked eyes with Vanessa and nodded his head. As Vanessa landed she allowed her body to continue to turn and Joshua leapt into the air. Sabrina was not prepared for the second assault and his right foot caught her in the side of her head. Her body tilted backwards and she fell to the ground. Joshua landed as smoothly as Vanessa had.

“Awesome move, Vanessa. I didn’t think you had the strength to lift me.” Joshua said with a grin.

“Never underestimate a pissed off woman.” Vanessa replied with a smile. She quickly unrolled her other sleeve and was able to pull her hand free of the cuff. She turned to see Alec trying to fend off Paige even though his hands and feet were still tied. Joshua noticed Sabrina taking off down the tunnel.

“You go help Alec and take care of Paige. I’ll take care of Sabrina.” Joshua said.

As soon as Vanessa nodded her head in agreement they took off in separate directions. Paige had pulled a gun out and had it trained at Alec. His lip was busted open and blood dripped down his neck.

“Paige!” Vanessa yelled.

Paige looked up and saw Vanessa running towards them. She quickly kicked Alec in the side and took off down the tunnel. Vanessa pulled the knife from her boot and quickly cut the ropes.

“I would have cut them myself, but Sabrina saw the knife in my boot and took it.” He wearily replied. “Where’s Joshua?”

“He took off after Sabrina. You and I need to go after the pig.” Vanessa replied. She reached out and ruffled his hair. “Let’s move. He’ll be okay.”

Alec nodded his head in understanding and they took off down the tunnel in pursuit of Paige. They could hear her footsteps echoing in the darkness. It was only a matter of moments before they were running up the stairs of the attraction and were back in the darkness of night. They skidded to a stop and glanced around in search of their target.

“You have a decision to make.” Paige’s voice echoed in the night and the pair frantically look around to find where her voice was coming from. “You can either try to follow me to kill me or…”

“Or what?” Alec demanded.

“You can try to kill me or you can try to save your boyfriend.” Paige’s laughter echoed through the still night.

“What are you talking about?” Vanessa asked.

As soon as the words left her a mouth the ground violently shook. The sound of a large explosion echoed through the dark night. Water shot into the sky above the ocean and the water’s surface bubbled and hissed with intense heat. Alec’s eyes grew wide as he understood what had just happened. Paige blew up the tunnel.

“I’ll go after Joshua. You can take care of her.” Alec shouted,

He ran back towards the tunnel’s entrance and went down the steps two at a time. Alec rushed towards the tunnel itself, but the security doors were sliding into place. He tried to stop the doors from closing, but he wasn’t nearly strong enough to stop them. The doors slammed shut with a metallic clang.

“NO!” Alec screamed and punched the doors. He pressed his finger to his ear and activated the earpiece. He just hoped that Vanessa had hers on. “Vanessa! I need the code for the security doors.”

He could tell from her breathing that she was chasing after Paige. She was able to rattle off the number though from memory. Alec quickly opened the access panel and punched in the code.

“Security clearance is unable to be granted at this time.” A computerized voice spoke.

Alec punched the code again, but received the same message from the automated voice. He pounded on the doors and tried to open them, but the doors wouldn’t budge. Alec turned to run back up the steps to try the other side of the tunnel when he heard something hitting the door. He spun around to see Joshua’s face in one of the small windows.

“The doors won’t open!” He yelled through the glass. His heart started to break as he saw the blood that covered Joshua’s face. There was a large cut in his scalp that he must have gotten from the explosion.

“I know. It’s because of the explosion.” Joshua hollered. Alec quickly glanced at the window to see if Joshua would fit through it if he broke it. Joshua could see the look on Alec’s face and he shook his head. “I won’t be able to fit through it. Alec, we don’t have much time and you have to go after Paige.”

“I can’t leave you there.” Alec screamed back. “Vanessa can take care of Paige. We have to get you out of there.”

“There isn’t any way. Once the tunnel locks down like this it can’t be opened again for security purposes. You’re going to have to go help Vanessa. Paige is dangerous, but first I have to tell you something.” Joshua’s face was a mask of pain. “I never meant to hurt you, Alec. I really thought that something special was happening between us. Somewhere deep in my heart I knew that you and Vanessa had to be good because…because…”

“Because why?” Alec’s voice was raw with emotion.

“Because somehow, someway…” Joshua paused. “I could feel myself starting to fall for you. You’re not like anyone I’ve every met. The way you made me feel at the falls was…was beyond anything I could have every imagined.”

Joshua placed his hand flat up against the window. Alec could see something in his palm and he leaned closer to see what it was. Alec’s chest tightened with emotion as he saw what was pressed against the glass. Somehow Joshua had gotten Alec’s pendant back from Sabrina. Alec couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in his eyes as he pressed his hand against the glass.

“I know what you are saying.” Alec replied. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and even though it seemed to happen so fast, I wouldn’t change it for anything. God damn it, I wish there was something we could do.”

“I do too, Alec, I do too.” Joshua sadly replied. He pulled his hand back and placed Alec’s pendant around his neck. Alec went to say something else, but his eyes widened his shock. “What is it?”

“BEHIND YOU!” Alec yelled.

Alec watched in horror as pieces of the tunnel began to fall and a huge amount of water rushed towards Joshua. Alec began pounding on the doors and frantically looked around for something to pry them open with.

“Go help Vanessa, Alec.” Joshua yelled to him. Alec shook his head. He couldn’t leave Joshua there. “GO BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!”

Alec took one last look at Joshua and gave him a weak smile. He knew that Joshua was right and as much as he didn’t want to accept it, he knew that he had to go. Alec placed his hand on the glass one more time and turned and ran back up the steps. He could no longer hold back the tears that rolled down his cheeks. Rage rolled through his body as he raced to find Vanessa. He hoped that she hadn’t finished off Paige yet. It was a task that he was more than happy to do himself.

“Vanessa, come in!” Alec called out as he rushed through the park. He pressed his finger harder against the earpiece trying to hear. Alec didn’t hear anything but the sound of rushing water. They were back at the waterfall.

Alec pushed his body harder than he ever had. He had no choice in losing Joshua tonight, and he refused to let Vanessa go. His legs were on fire as he ran through the park. Tree branches and bushes scraped and cut him as he ran through the jungle. He had to get there in time. Alec slowed down as he reached the clearing and he could see Vanessa and Paige standing in the water. Paige had somehow gotten hold of a gun and was aiming it at her.

* * *

Vanessa was on the verge of exhaustion. She had chased Paige through the park and wasn’t surprised when they ended up back at the falls. They fought long and hard in the clearing when Paige suddenly dove into the water. Vanessa followed her, but wasn’t able to find the woman. Paige resurfaced with a gun in her hand. She must have somehow planted it in the water or by the falls somewhere.

“Any last words, Vanessa dear?” Paige sinisterly asked.

“Fuck you.” Vanessa spat at her. She tried to keep her face as smooth as possible as she saw Alec enter the clearing. Her heart dropped though when she saw that Joshua wasn’t with him. She had been afraid that he wouldn’t have gotten the security doors open in time. “You make me sick, Paige, and I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer.”

“I’m not the one that’s going to suffer, Vanessa. Alec will be the one to suffer. First, he had to watch his boyfriend die, and now he’s going to find your body floating in the water.” Paige said with an evil smile. Alec dashed towards Paige, but the woman had heard the movement and she spun around. She quickly fired off one shot and Alec dropped to the ground.

“NO!” Vanessa screamed and began to move towards her brother. Paige spun back towards Vanessa and trained the gun on her.

“Looks like Alec changed my plans. Oh well, looks like you get to suffer then.” Paige smirked at Vanessa.

“I’m going to kill you, bitch!” Vanessa yelled.

“This will be more fun though, Vanessa. At least you have a chance with me because you’re tough and know what it’s like to kill.” Paige sighed. “Poor Alec probably never killed anyone before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

Paige’s eyes widened in shock and she spun around at the sound of Alec’s voice. She glanced at him and realized that he wasn’t bleeding at all. Her shot must have missed him, but before she could fire off another round Alec’s fist connected with her jaw with a sickening crack. She felt her body pitch backwards, but Alec grabbed her before she hit the water. His hand reached out and yanked the gun from her hand.

“You couldn’t kill me, Alec.” Paige’s voice still sounded sugary sweet. “Joshua wouldn’t want you to kill me.”

“Well, why don’t we ask him?” Alec coldly asked Paige. He didn’t wait for her to respond. “Wait a minute, we can’t do that now can we? That’s right. You killed him and now it’s time I return the favor.”

“Alec, we both know that you could never…”

Paige’s voice was drowned out by the sound of the gunshot that echoed through the night air. Blood dripped from the bullet hole that appeared between Paige’s eyes. Her body took one final breath as it fell backwards into the water. Alec turned to the side and emptied his stomach.

“Make sure she’s dead.” Alec’s voice was hoarse and raw.

Vanessa watched as her brother stumbled towards dry land. She hated Paige for taking away Alec’s innocence. Vanessa didn’t kid herself in thinking that Alec would hang on to his innocence forever, but she knew that he had to have lost Joshua tonight. She could tell just from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t able to save Joshua. Vanessa watched as Alec emptied what was left in his stomach once he hit dry land. She looked down at the woman floating in the water and her jaw tensed. Vanessa reached down and placed her hands on the woman’s head and with one sharp pull she broke her neck.