Dangerous Memory {ONC 2021}

Chapter 20

"They landed in London, stopped for an hour, probably to refill with fuel, and departed again. I don't have a final destination, but they are heading to Scandinavia. If our guess is correct, then Helsinki is their final destination."

Axel had gathered a small group of trusted people to hear Alba's announcement.

"You heard her. Agent 16-E, you are in charge while I'm gone. We'll need your help."

"Yes, sir."

"The jet is ready, and so are we," Susan said.

"Alright, Agents." Axel looked around him. "Let's finish this."

Alba packed a bag of light clothing, a flashlight, two guns, a few knives, and her tablet.

Within forty minutes, Axel, Susan, three other agents, and Alba were driving to the airport. In Helsinki, a few agents that worked in a smaller base would provide them with everything they needed until they had a solid plan.

They entered the jet, and Alba sat next to Axel. Nat's tracker was still shining red on her screen.

"We need to talk."

Everyone was occupied with something. They had a few hours to relax and prepare themselves, but there was nothing more they could do.

Axel stopped looking out of the window. "Firstly, I want you to take this."

He reached for his pocket and took out a silver necklace.

"My star necklace."

"You didn't know it was your mom's. I didn't know it either. And since you lost your bunny necklace during the accident, I think you need this."

"Thanks," she took it and tried to wear it. "Dammit. I can't do it."

"May I?"

She nodded and lifted her hair, revealing her neck. "Why bunny, though?"

"Done."

She let her hair fall and turned to look at him, waiting for an answer.

"The first time I saw you running was during the training in the woods. There were many agents there, and usually, newbies fall, get stuck in the mud, or stumble over rocks and bushes. But not you."

That's a day I don't remember, great.

"I see. I need to show you something."

She didn't wait for a question or an answer and started typing on the tablet. Making sure that no one else could see the screen, she opened a file.

"I was wondering why the tall guy would work with Neva and Azarov. I was also wondering who brought him in PROTEA. That would probably be Agent O. I checked PROTEA's records and during tall guy's-"

"Will you keep calling him that?"

She smirked. "Not for long. Just listen." Looking at the screen, she continued, "Alaric was responsible for tracking new people and investigating their past. Tall guy's records look okay, but they missed a tiny detail. One that not many people know."

Axel leaned closer to the screen.

"I estimated tall guy's age because I didn't know if it was real and checked his birth certificate. It's fake. Whoever made it missed a detail."

"What?"

"Even if tall guy is 6 or 7 years older than what his records state, it would still be wrong."

"Just tell me."

"During that period, the country who supposedly made that certificate changed the way they tracked the births. That means that if the certificate was real, then it would have a different code. This certificate has the code that was used after the change. Which isn't possible. Unless you think he's 30 years old."

"He's not." Axel was smiling proudly. "But how does that help us?"

"Knowing that his birth certificate was fake, I wondered who he really was. I ran a face recognition in every system. Yes, I hacked the government again. His face is nowhere. But his eyes are."

Axel laughed awkwardly. "What?"

"You knew the tall guy." She stared at him. "You've been searching for him with my father, but he was in front of you."

"No..." His mouth fell open, and a look of fear appeared in his eyes.

"Yes. His real name is Henrik Kotila, and he's your father's friend."

"I don't get it."

"I don't know why, but he made a face transplant. He changed his skin, his nose, he fixed his crooked teeth. You were very young when you last saw him, and he changed a lot. You couldn't have recognized him."

"I know why."

"Hm?"

"I know why he had to change. And it wasn't because he wanted to be unrecognizable."

"How would you-"

Axel rolled up his sleeve and revealed the small burn mark on his wrist. "I had told you that this scar is a reminder of who I was. I got burned while I set fire to the house I was born. My father was there, and so was his friend. I thought his friend had escaped before the fire did any damage to him but obviously not."

Alba moved her body as far as the airplane chair allowed.

Staring in front of him, to the back of the front chair, he continued, "I knew they were there. I wanted to kill the bastard that was called my father, and I wanted him to suffer."

She flinched at Axel's cold and calculative voice.

"He abused my mother and hit me several times. He raped her, he made her bleed, and one day-" his voice broke for only a second, "he almost killed her. That's when I decided that I had to kill him. While no one was watching me, and after I took my mother out of there, I poured gasoline all over the place and started the fire.

"I still hear the screaming. The Chief was working at the time at that small base in Helsinki. Agents came to investigate, and he understood that something was wrong. He tracked me down because apparently, the small, dirty house I had found for my mother wasn't secure enough. I don't know why, but he looked genuine. He took care of my mother, and he gave us tickets for another county. A few years later, my mother died. I remembered a phone number he had left in case of an emergency.

"I said I wanted to be an agent. He trained me personally, and we agreed we would never talk about the past. He broke his promise when he told me about you. I'm sorry for not telling you the truth, but I was afraid I would lose the only friend I ever had."

He finally turned his gaze to her.

Her skin was pale, and her eyes frozen.

"Did you know about Erik Neva?"

"No. I found out about it years later during a case. Look, I get-"

Alba raised her hand and stopped him. "I can't deal with it now. That's too much. I need to focus on the mission." She got up, headed to the back of the jet, and sat alone.

I had to deal with the Axel I remembered, the Axel I didn't remember, and the Axel who hid the truth about his father. But now, I got the Axel who burns people alive. Dammit!

She huffed and looked at the blue sky. She wished she was a bird to fly away, to fly to the land of dreams, to a place where her friend wasn't a monster, to a land where her parents were alive. Touching the star necklace, she remembered the people she had lost, but also the one person who was always there.

I need you, Kayla, she thought and hugged the tablet as if it could fix everything.