Hidden Hero

by Nix Whittaker

  Actually, she had barely slept for the last two days. She wasn’t sure if it was thoughts of her biological father or that she was so close to finding the secrets of Ambrosia.

  He flashed some teeth but there was no humour in it. “Good because I want to take this very slowly.”

  She shivered with anticipation at the glint in his eyes of the wicked things he wanted to do to her. Maybe dangerous was sometimes a good thing.

  ___

  The Agent building had a whole floor that was set up for the agents to practice and keep up their skills. Rawiri was there with Jephry as they circled each other in a sparring match.

  Rawiri had learned the hard way that Jephry, though a cautious fighter, was brutal as well.

  Rawiri asked, “Do you think we have enough evidence?”

  Jephry grunted. “I hope so. I haven’t been able to figure out where all his money is coming from. Some of it could very well be coming from the Council coffers but his touch is just too light.”

  Rawiri cursed. “He is a slippery bugger. When we get him, we’re going to need a smoking gun.”

  Jephry feinted as Rawiri made his move. They danced for a moment then Jephry said, “I don’t think it’s the smoking gun we will need. We will also need to present it to the Council in a way that they can’t doubt he is guilty.”

  Rawiri frowned. “As long as we keep Freya out of this.”

  Jephry lunged and clipped his cheek. Rawiri was used to taking a beating so he recovered quickly and retaliated. But nothing landed.

  By silent agreement they pulled back and circled again.

  Jephry said, “We can keep her out until we reveal everything to the Council. Then we will need her to testify against the bastard. I take it you are worried that your lady love will get a scratch.”

  Rawiri snorted. With the atramento there was no chance of that.

  Jephry grinned. “You’ve fallen hard, haven’t you?”

  Rawiri wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t put his feelings into words yet but he did know he wanted to be around Freya all the time.

  When he didn’t answer Jephry laughed. “Have you met the old folks yet? Because that’s a sure sign that it’s serious.”

  Rawiri shrugged. “She is over there today. She wants to ask her parents about Portland being her father.”

  Rawiri stepped back and dropped his fists. Jephry did the same.

  Rawiri let out a breath. “I think I’ll head over there. See how she is doing.”

  Jephry laughed. “You have it bad, son. Might as well capitulate and accept that you have fallen head over heels for the girl. She is certainly worth it.”

  Rawiri returned his grin. “Yeah, she is.”

  ___

  “Mom, are you there?” The door was open but that wasn’t unusual. It was the weekend so both her parents should be home. She had thought about asking just her mother but she realised this really had to be with both of them.

  Her father came out of the kitchen with a tray of drinks. “Hey, Sweetheart. You’re just in time. We are out back.”

  They had a small garden out the back that they shared with three other neighbours. It made a small courtyard that would have been overshadowed if they had lived anywhere but under a dome where the light of the sun was diffused through the membrane of the shield plant.

  She followed her father into the garden. He carefully set out glasses and Freya smiled at her mother as she came onto the small porch.

  She kissed Freya’s cheek. “It’s good to see you, Sweetie. Where have you been? We missed you last weekend?”

  She let out a breath. She was tempted to sit down but she was too restless. She paced and rubbed her hands on her coat.

  She said in a rush as she was nervous, “Mom, Dad, I was speaking to Isabella this week.”

  Her father growled and her mother asked with concern, “Was that necessary? She is a dangerous woman. There’s a reason they locked her up.”

  She nodded. “That isn’t important. What she had to tell me was rather, well shocking. She told me I looked like my father.”

  She turned to look at her parents when she heard the sharp silence.

  Her father nodded to her mother and her mother sighed. “We were newly married. We had discovered that your father was unable to father any children. Something about exposure to some type of radiation. It is common with many of the men who lived outside the city for any length of time. There are still pockets that are highly poisonous. We were fighting. I wanted children.”

  Her father interrupted, “I wanted children as well. It just hurt that it was all my fault we couldn’t have any. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. What happened was partly my fault. You would never have given that man two seconds’ worth of your time if I had been treating you right.”

  Her mother reached over and took her father’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. “I know. Well, the fighting put a lot of stress on our relationship. I was working as a temp at the Council and I caught the eye of one councilor. I tried to tell him I wasn’t interested but it was difficult. He was so influential and, in the end, I was a little flattered he had chosen me. I was stupid and it went too far. I felt terrible afterwards. I should have said no and I did after that. The temp agency stopped sending me to the Council building.”

  Her father reached over and held her hand and murmured, “We both made mistakes. We were young and just a little stupid.”

  She nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat before she continued. “When I discovered I was pregnant, I knew I had to tell your father about the whole thing. It was difficult. Your father understood and he was so mad at the Council member. He should never have pressured me to sleep with him but we were also both happy we would have a baby. We decided then that it didn’t matter who was your biological father, you would always be our child. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We used to worry that you would figure it out.”

  Tears glistened in her mother’s eyes as she told her story.

  Her mother took a deep breath before she continued. “I never trusted myself after that with other men and I stopped going out. Your father always tried to make me come out of my shell and he would get so mad that I was throwing away my life as he saw it. It wasn’t that. I just wanted you to be my world.”

  Her father’s voice was soft. “You are our world. The rest doesn’t really matter. It took us a long time to realise that.”

  Freya knew he was worried she would reject him. She couldn’t blame him for keeping this a secret and she understood her mother. Freya was angry as well.

  How dare Portland use his position to coerce anyone to sleep with him?

  Freya could imagine it now. She had seen it in the University with the students that flocked to the professors. They were enamoured of the position and the power but not with the man.

  Freya went to her parents and caught up their hands. “You are my world. But I have something to tell you. Portland is the one that started the drug dealing in this city. He was the first gang leader and all the others followed him until recently. The government is going to take him down soon and I just wanted to warn you guys. It is going to get messy and the media might splash some things out there when it all hits the fan.”

  Her father looked at her mother. “We knew it would come out. It doesn’t matter what others think, it only matters what you think.”

  Her father gave her a sad smile.

  There was a knock at the door and Freya went to answer it before her parents could get to their feet. She thought they could do with a moment on their own, anyway.

  When she opened the door, she saw it was Rawiri and she smiled. “What are you doing here?”

  “I knew you were going to talk to your parents and I wanted to make sure you were alright.” His voice was warm.

  She reached out to him and caught his hand. “Come in and meet my parents.”

  He hesitated and she wasn’t surprised. They hadn’t spoken about love or relationships even though they w
ere now lovers.

  Thinking of their lovemaking made her realise something and she kissed his cheek. He had also been abused by someone in power. She looked at him with warm eyes and wondered if his experience had been anything like her mothers.

  She shuddered a breath as she realised her mother really had been raped. Just as Rawiri had been as a child.

  Portland might not have used force physically but he had forced her with his position.

  Freya reached up and touched Rawiri’s cheek. “I’m so glad there is such joy in you. Your life could have snuffed it out so easily.”

  Rawiri gave her a confused smile but she didn’t explain and only shook her head. She pulled him further into the house to introduce him to her parents.

  It was then that she realised she did want them to have a long term relationship and not just be lovers. The fact that he followed made her hope he felt the same.

  ___

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Freya asked at Rawiri’s home.

  He had made her dinner and she was sitting curled up on his couch. He didn’t want to explore the feelings he had when he saw her in his space or the urge he had to see her in his bed.

  He settled down next to her and passed her a glass. “It has to be this way. It won’t matter how much proof we have; he is the real head behind this conspiracy, the city Council will want him caught in the act before they will act on it themselves and they are the only ones who have a right to accuse him.”

  Freya took a sip and stared off in the distance for a moment obviously thinking about something.

  After a while she said, “I understand that you have to put yourself at risk but does it always have to be you?”

  He smiled. “And what were you doing when you kept up with your research? You could have lost your grant or Portland could have killed you.”

  She flicked a sharp glare at him and pursed her lips so he continued, “That was more dangerous than this. He had already threatened you and even when he tried to kill you and burned down your house you still kept at it. Even after he had you kidnapped. Don’t tell me you think I shouldn’t take risks.”

  Freya waved a hand at him. “Alright you have made your point and you never complained either.”

  She frowned as she added this last.

  He knew what she was thinking. “I trusted you to know what you were doing and besides, I have your back. I have your back now and you have mine.”

  She looked at him with a warm look. “Thank you for that by the way. I don’t think I could have gotten so far in my research without you looking out for me. Portland would have sent more goons or whatever if you hadn’t been around.”

  She was surprised as she thought of something. This wasn’t their first argument and it had been nothing like what her parents went through when they had argued. Even when he had been sharp with her in the Edge. It hadn’t been like the angry yelling fights her parents had while she was growing up.

  She couldn’t put into words how grateful she was that they could disagree and snipe at each other but never really hurt each other with their words. Was this what real a relationship looked like?

  Freya almost let out a sigh of relief. She had always worried that when she finally found someone that she would take after her parents and argue like cats and dogs.

  She chewed her lip as she thought of the issue at hand. “But this is different. You are inviting him into your house. Why not use Hal’s place? It is like a fortress.”

  Rawiri caught a curl of her hair and twisted it around his finger as he spoke. “Well, because it is a fortress. Portland won’t bring himself out into the open unless he thinks he can succeed. I’m just hoping he comes himself and doesn’t just send my brother. We have to make the bait seem accessible but hard enough to get that he has to come and get it himself.”

  He had spent the day out asking questions about the canister amongst his old crew. He knew the word would get back to Portland that he had his DNA and he would come for it sooner or later.

  What Freya didn’t know was that his apartment was like a fortress as well. This apartment building was popular with agents because it was near work. He had already talked with his neighbours who were all agents.

  There was also extra surveillance that was being monitored off site. Freya didn’t know that Agent Harold was also staying next door. If anything happened, he would have an army a moment away.

  He shouldn’t have invited Freya over for dinner. It was dangerous here but he couldn’t resist spending time with her.

  He didn’t analyse his feelings but he knew there would come a day when he would have to admit to himself that what he had with Freya was something important and probably permanent.

  He already knew it was special. He just wasn’t sure how special. But he would make sure she was safely away from here before Portland made his move.

  He had asked Misha to come over later and pick her up and she would stay at Hal’s while all of this was going down.

  It would not do for Portland to kidnap her on her way out and use her as leverage to get the canister. Not that the real canister was here. Hal had already put it away somewhere safe and Freya had all the results in a vault at her work. They might be strong with the atramento but they weren’t invulnerable.

  Chapter Twelve

  Whatinga: April, 2088

  Rawiri crouched down as he checked his traps. Nothing had happened the night before. Neither with Freya or with the canister so he was a little antsy today.

  He couldn’t stray very far so he had thought he would come down here to the fields and check his traps. There were some rabbits that would make a delicious stew and there were some rats that would go to a pet food store. Nothing was wasted.

  Rawiri heard Mana approach before he said anything. Those atramento were good with the senses though it had taken a while to get used to them. Mana hid in the tall corn fields and tried to walk silently through the tall stalks.

  Mana spoke casually, “Hey, brother.”

  Rawiri didn’t turn but finished dressing the animals as he answered, “I wondered when you would find me.”

  Mana huffed. “Find you? You were the one who ran off. You killed Tama and just left like a shadow in the noonday sun.”

  Rawiri finished with the rabbit and stood up. Mana really did look a lot like himself but there was a rougher edge to him. He recognised the look.

  When he had been undercover, there were always those who been there for too long, who had seen too much, had done too much. Those were the dangerous ones that any undercover knew to stay away from.

  Mana tilted a shoulder as he tucked his hands in pockets and looked deceptively relaxed. Rawiri tilted his head to indicate outside the shield before he said, “It is different out there. I didn’t think I would be welcome there after what I did to Tama.”

  Mana shrugged. “It was difficult afterwards. Most of the crew split after that. Not enough game to keep us going. I take it you didn’t like Tama fiddling with you.”

  Rawiri gritted his teeth at his brother’s casual tone. “It wasn’t right. I had to stop it. I had to stop him.”

  Mana shrugged nonchalantly. “He only liked boys at a certain age. He would have left you alone after a while. He was fickle like that. I don’t know why you didn’t take your licks like the rest of us.”

  Mana flashed a grin but there was no humour in the expression. “No pun intended.”

  Rawiri growled. “Why are you here, Mana?”

  Mana took his hands out of his pockets and fiddled with some cornstalks as he spoke, “You mean I can’t just look up my long-lost brother?”

  Rawiri watched him closely as he moved. “No. I know you’re into this whole mess, up to your neck. Why are you here?”

  He leant down and plucked a grass stalk that was growing amongst the corn and he stuck it in his teeth before he spoke. “I don’t know if you will believe me but I really just wanted to see how you were doing.”

  Mana motioned
with his head towards the apartment building. “You’ve done well for yourself. A nice place, a cute woman and a good job. Even if it rankles that you went into law. I wonder if they know what you did to Tama?”

  There was a tense silence after that. He knew Mana wanted to say more. He wondered if it would be accusation about his life being better than his brother’s. But he didn’t think his brother actually regretted his life as Rawiri would have if he had been in his brother’s shoes.

  Rawiri said, “You could have that too.”

  Mana tilted his head and shook it slightly. “We both know that ain’t true. You were never like me. I liked what we did. You never did. You were too serious by half. Doesn’t matter, you can’t save me.”

  Rawiri wished things could have been different. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”

  Mana took the stalk out of his mouth and spat on the ground. “Ah, brother do you really care? Well, see you, Waha.” He threw the stalk away and turned to leave.

  “It is Rawiri, now.”

  He hesitated, speaking over his shoulder. “The name Mum gave you? Nice to know you are back to what you were meant to be.”

  He stepped back into the corn and the rustling of leaves was the only sign he had been there.

  Rawiri was bothered by the hollow feeling in his chest. It was almost like his brother had come to see him to say good-bye. If only he believed that this would be the last time he saw him.

  ___

  The sound woke Rawiri from a sound sleep. It was the snick of the lock on his door. He rolled out of bed. He pulled on some pants but didn’t bother with anything else.

  His atramento felt overly warm on his chest and arms. He pulled out his gun and slinked over to the door of his bedroom. He peered through and he could see that there were two people moving into his lounge.

  One moved like his brother. He wasn’t surprised by that. The other was an older man. He was slower, but just as stealthy as his brother.

  Rawiri flipped open the phone and pressed the button that would call in Jephry.

  Mana walked with confidence and searched through cabinets. Portland moved slower and cautiously. But he still made soft scuffling noises as he searched while his brother didn’t.