Half Light

by Matt Doyle

  “So, as soon as I got there, I went undercover. It became very clear, very quickly, that Arthur would not be an easy person to get close to. But, if he had one weak spot, it was his wife, Isabelle. He was devoted to her to the extent that he’d do anything if she asked. Isabelle, we were told, wasn’t the most faithful person in the world. So, I worked my magic. She was in her late thirties and beginning to feel it. When a twenty-year-old suddenly started showing her some attention, she took the bait.”

  “Huh,” I say. “I didn’t realise you like women.”

  “I prefer men. And truth be told, Isabelle was a little too prim and proper for my tastes. It was a job, though, so I did what I needed to. Time went on, and I wormed my way in enough to start getting chances here and there to check files. The problem was, Isabelle was hurting. She’d begun to see a future with me, and we both felt shitty about it. Me because I knew I was leading her on, and her because the truth was, Arthur was a good husband. She hated what he did for a living, but he treated her well. She only slept around because he said he was fine with it due to his need to be away from home so much. Talking to her…she was a nice person. She just fell in love with a criminal. Then started falling for me.

  “It got harder and harder to keep it up. She’d burst into tears at random times and start doubting whether she wanted to be around me and then spend hours apologising. In the end, I slipped up. She caught me communicating with my PD contact and flipped. I tried to calm her down, but she pulled a knife. I shot her. We were staying at a hotel at the time, and the whole thing was caught on the security cameras, so that was me done. I had to get out of there, fast. The hallucinations Angel showed me? Hotel footage. Like I hadn’t relived the moment enough already. If I’d just been a bit more careful…”

  “Does Casille know what happened?”

  She nods. “He would have been eight when it all happened, I think. The thing is, she had a reputation for sleeping around. Even at that young age, he knew something was up even if people didn’t spell it out for him. He was angry with me for a long time, especially when he heard the truth, but we worked it out.”

  “So, what happened to Arthur?”

  “He figured out I was undercover and traced my contact. A little torture loosens lips, right? Arthur was efficient, I’ll give him that. Long story short, he found me and Dean Hollister. He would have killed us there and then if Dean hadn’t taken a risk and shown him some footage of Angel’s early days. I think he thought we were nuts at first; he told us he pitied us and wanted us out of the city. He started seeing the signs, though, and within three months, he was working with us. He’d made it fit in his head that it was Angel’s fault Isabelle died; if she had been human, I wouldn’t have been sent in and so on.

  “The plan changed then. He was going to find a way to take her down and come with us. He didn’t know it, but he was going to step into the role Casille now holds. He figured out Angel was on to him and decided to throw himself at one big attempt on her life. He asked me to save his son first, just in case it went wrong. So, I got him out of there. You know how that turned out for Arthur.”

  “I just realised something. You were twenty back then…that would make you forty-six now.”

  “Yup, and I look great. Dev was surprised too. He’s actually only a little older than I was when I went undercover in California. In a way, I’m surprised the gap doesn’t bother him. I’m glad it doesn’t though.”

  “You sure he isn’t going to be another fly in Suzy Spindle Legs’ web?”

  Hanson looks down at her black widow spider tattoo and laughs. “I hope not. He’s one of the good guys.”

  “Still, I never really considered people’s ages before. Looking at the people involved with all of this, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the only one in New Hopeland who doesn’t have a magical ageing portrait in their home.”

  “Nah, you’re just too self-critical.”

  “That so? So, you’d happily manipulate me into bed if you were undercover, would you?”

  “In a heartbeat,” she says, and gives me a cheeky wink.

  Knock-knock.

  The door to the cell opens and Devin Carmichael walks. He tips his cowboy hat at me and says, “Hey, darlin’. Glad to see you’re awake. How’s your head?”

  “Fine,” I reply, finishing off the mug of brown stuff. “Well, as fine as it can be after being knocked out.”

  “I can relate,” Hanson says.

  Devin smiles and offers Hanson a hand up, which she takes. “It’s almost time.”

  “Already?” Hanson asks, and he nods. “I still think it should be…”

  Devin cuts her off. “No, it shouldn’t. And ya know that.”

  Hanson sighs and then looks over at me and says, “Well…good luck, Cassie.”

  I hold the mug up and reply, “Thanks for the coffee, Rebecca.”

  She waves in response and starts to leave, but stops dead in her tracks when what I said sinks in. She turns back towards me and asks, “Donal?”

  “Yup.”

  “Okay, I’m letting you off this once. He’s gonna get it though.” And with that, she leaves the room, leaving me alone with New Hopeland’s number one hitman for hire.

  He reaches behind the door and pulls out a bag of clothing. “I grabbed ya some clothes from your place. Some wash stuff too. I know it ain’t much, but the sink works fine. You’ll probably want to freshen up. The Council wanted to speak to you in person, and trust me, they don’t do that often.”

  I study his face for a moment. He’s smiling the same smile I’m certain he shows his clients; all charm and all designed to make you feel comfortable. Almost time, eh? Here’s hoping this goes how I want it to.

  *

  I give the cell door a knock to let Devin know I’m done, and he comes back in. He looks me up and down and says, “I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I went with what I’m used to seeing ya in. White shirt, black trousers, black tie.”

  “Works for me. Until this day is done, I’m classing myself as still on the clock. My work uniform fits the situation.”

  “It does that,” he replies. “The Glock and your main phone will be returned to you when this is done. I don’t think they’re gonna give the NHC Blend back though.”

  “That’s fine. I was going to turn it in anyway. Gives you a chance to see exactly what Locke, Angel, and I found.”

  He nods and pulls the door open again. “Shall we?”

  “Not like I have a choice,” I reply and follow him out into a hallway. Everything seems deserted. That makes sense given what happened, I guess. Speaking of which. “Did Sunglasses survive?”

  Devin chuckles. “He’s fine. Those two were…motivated, shall we say? But nothing Ethan and I couldn’t handle. I’m sure he’ll appreciate your concern.”

  “So how do you two know each other, anyway? Way back when you took me to meet him and Casille, I got the impression you went back a long way. Given the stuff I dug up, I doubt it’s just a case of you meeting in the King’s Guard.”

  “I guess there’s no harm in you knowing that, under the circumstances. Remember the story Angel told ya about Joe? We were both part of that unit. See, until then, we had a bit of a rivalry. Who could take down the most bad guys, that sort of thing? That day though? It made me doubt things. I’d always believed no matter what we did, it was always for the greater good. We were the heroes, doing what needed to be done to keep everyone safe. I didn’t take it as hard as Joe did; I kept going for a while, but I couldn’t help but question things.

  “Ethan, he took it all in his stride. He knew we fucked up, and he knew what we did was wrong, but to him, it was his job. Sometimes things happened, but overall, he was fighting the good fight. So, there came a time we parted ways. He stuck with it, I quit. Then, a short while later, Ethan comes to my door with a man named Dean Hollister. I’d become a postal courier, believe it or not.”


  “Really?”

  “Hard to imagine, ain’t it? I hated the job. When they explained what Dean had planned, all the fail-safes and things like that? They drew me back in. Truth be told, I never was much good at anything other than killing. So, here I am. He worked his magic on Joe too, obviously. It’s funny, but Ethan and Dean both have that way about them.”

  “I assume Hanson wasn’t part of the same team?”

  “Nah, she came much later. And Dean found Donal somewhere; I never was sure where.”

  I look around, taking in the lack of change in personnel numbers. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

  “Maybe,” he says, without a hint of humour. “The Council appreciates what you did, but they also know how deep you dug. That don’t leave them many options, darlin’. Still, it ain’t a lost cause. I wouldn’t have insisted on taking you to the meeting if it was.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. Why did you insist on taking me?”

  “Well, this is gonna get tricky. I think ya knew that already though. Ethan is what I’d call efficient. One slipup, even slight, and he’d execute you on the spot. And let’s be fair here, Caz. You are prone to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Hanson and Donal? They like you far too much. They know the risks, and there’s a good chance you’d never make it to the meeting with either of them, simply because they’d find a way to let you go.

  “Now me, I’m a bit more balanced. I like ya, Caz. And I have every faith ya can work your way through this. If ya say something stupid, I’ll at least give ya ample opportunity to recover.”

  “But if I don’t recover, you’ll kill me,” I reply, pointing out the obvious. “I think I’d have preferred Hanson to take me.”

  He chuckles. “Would ya though? Deep down, ya know how that would go. Sure, you’d be free, but you’d spend what remained of a suddenly very short life on the run.”

  “With friends like these.” I shake my head. “How would Joe have treated me in the same scenario?”

  “Same as Ethan. You may not have realised it, but Joe respected what you do. He trusted in the quality of your work, or he wouldn’t have been willing to act the way he did. He did hate you though. I wouldn’t take it personal by the way; he hated most people, even those he liked.”

  “And here was me thinking it was my charming personality. Okay, so what can I expect?”

  “I couldn’t tell ya for sure. But I’ll give you some free advice; if they make you an offer, there are four possible answers ya can give. Only one of them doesn’t result in death. You’d do well to look at it like a business meeting. In a way, that’s exactly what it is.”

  “Four choices. Rejecting the offer has to be death. Accepting whatever they say should…no, wait. If I accept it blindly, that’ll be the same, won’t it?”

  He nods. “They’re businessmen. They like to know how to motivate people and keep staff happy. If ya were to accept an offer without question, they’d view ya as likely to do the same again for someone else. Maybe someone who stands against them under the right circumstances.”

  “Then negotiation is the key. Ask for too much and I’m a liability but make myself clear and I’m safe. That doesn’t leave me much of a target to aim for.”

  Devin shrugs and stops at the door to the room where Casille shot Angel. “I never said it would be easy.”

  He opens the door and we enter.

  Chapter Nine

  The table I saw earlier snakes around three sides of the room in a semi-circle shape. Looking around me, I recognise Dean Hollister, Jonah Burrell, and Casille di Franco. There are six empty seats. I nod to them and ask, “Aren’t we missing a few people?”

  Dean Hollister responds, “Bar Devin, we don’t need the King’s Guard present for this. And sadly, Marie Chambers has to hold things together with the mayor today. She trusts us to make the right decision though. Please, take a seat.”

  He points to a single chair, placed in the middle of the room, facing the three people in charge of my life. I do as I’m told and notice something on Jonah’s lap. “Bert?”

  Jonah helps him up onto the table and explains, “He’s in docile mode. Every Familiar built in New Hopeland has a unique vocal code to place them into it. Don’t worry, I’ll return him to normal once we’re done here. And I’m sorry about the, ah, misunderstanding earlier.”

  “Misunderstanding?” Casille says. “If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have shot her.”

  “I owe you my thanks for that,” I say and then turn to Jonah and add, “And don’t worry about it. You weren’t to know.”

  Dean Hollister clears his throat and says, “I’m sorry, but I would rather not drag this out longer than we have to. Miss Tam, we know you’ve uncovered a lot of information about New Hopeland. Could you please, in as few words as possible, tell us what you think is happening here?”

  “Does the NHC Blend summarize that?”

  “I’m sure it will, yes, but we haven’t finished analysing it yet. On top of that, raw data does not allow for differences in interpretation. So, please go ahead and tell us what your thinking is.”

  I cross my arms. “I think New Hopeland is some sort of test zone. You wanted to check the viability of asserting governmental control covertly. You secretly watch everything and have fingers in every pie the city has to offer.”

  Hollister nods and asks, “And why do you think we are doing this?”

  “To perfect the model before rolling it out across the rest of the country. Stretching the reach of the Four Kings further into the State was the first test of how easy it would be to control a larger area.”

  “Quite so.”

  I frown. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Go right ahead,” Jonah replies.

  “The system means Casille, under the guise of the Four Kings, controls almost all the crime in the city, as well as a good portion of it in the rest of the State. But if this is all to assert control, why set up so much crime at all? Why not rein it in further?”

  “Everyone is a bad guy on some level,” Casille replies. “Everyone has urges. To reduce the damage of crime and corruption, you don’t need to wipe it out, but rather control it. Those who are more inclined to break the law will do so regardless; this method just means they have an outlet without ever knowing the government is controlling what they can and can’t do.”

  “It is a thinking we apply to all things,” Hollister adds. “The unsavoury rumours about local politicians? Most conspiracy theories you see pop up about the city? They are all us. People want to rebel; they want to feel distrustful. We allow them to do so without risking the normal potential outcomes.”

  “Even with Casille not killing anyone,” I reply, “this must still all result in you doing things most would at least view as deplorable, if not outright illegal?”

  “Much as you do,” Hollister says. “The ends justify the means.”

  I nod. “Sometimes, good people can do bad things and still be good people after the act.”

  Jonah looks at me and asks, “And you believe us to be good people?”

  I run my hand through my hair and say, “I think you all believe you are, at least on some level. I believe you’re doing something messed up with good intentions. That’s close enough.”

  “For what it’s worth, I understand how you feel about it all,” Hollister says. “New Hopeland was my concept, but I’ve had my doubts over the years. That it works is what tells me it was the right decision.”

  “And was manipulating me into coming to New Hopeland the right decision too?”

  Somewhere behind me, Devin laughs. To my surprise, Dean Hollister is also smiling when he responds, “I wondered if you’d figured that out. All things considered, I think it was. You’ve done a lot of good in this city, Miss Tam. Though I must confess, we were worried for a moment. Why did you destroy the transmitter we gave you for Bert?”

  “G
iven how close an eye Angel was keeping on things, I thought it was likely she knew I was using one. The way I saw it, if she was, then destroying it would make her more inclined to tell me what she was planning. If I was wrong, then it wouldn’t make a difference as far as me working with her went.”

  “You do realise you risked ending up the same way she did?” Casille asks.

  “I did. Looking at it now, though, I don’t think I would have.”

  “How so?” Jonah asks.

  “Because I don’t think you killed her.”

  “Nonsense. Her body completely shut down. I’d know; I designed it.”

  “I know that. But before we started the assault, I was told I had one task to complete but she wouldn’t didn’t say what it was, other than I’d know when the time came. She had complete faith in her ability to pre-empt my actions. Before she shut down, she looked at me and said I didn’t disappoint her. She knew I was going to turn on her.”

  “That doesn’t prove…” Jonah starts, and I raise a hand to stop him.

  “Back when we broke Gary Locke out of prison, she took control of the LV suit I was wearing. She outright stated she could control a flesh bag from across the country if she wanted to. Then, there are the two LVs who tried to stop Devin and Ethan. She told me they were enlisted as a way of paying a debt. They screwed something up and almost got her caught back in California. She said that was last month.”

  “Last month? She’s been here longer than that,” Devin says.

  I shake my head but keep facing the Council. “Examine the remains thoroughly. My guess is you’ll find it wasn’t her original body, but a copy she’s been controlling remotely from California. That would explain what she meant when she said she took care of the tracking bots she had injected in her when she was playing Nurse Bridges too.”

  Casille looks at Jonah and asks, “Is that possible?”

  “It…could be.”

  “Then we’ll have to strike California.”

  “Not necessarily,” I say, drawing their attention back to me. “Angel told me she wanted leverage. She wanted to negotiate. Her goal here wasn’t to bring you down, but to show you what she was capable of and escape. As erratic as her behaviour was, I don’t think she was trying to scare you into backing off. Angel told me with the system you’re running here, her days are numbered. I’m certain she’ll contact you. When she does, I recommend you listen to her.”