by LM. Preston
Everyone got up and headed for the exit. Shamira waited, hands on hips staring down Officer Dax. How could he do this to her team? Make them wait while the others graduated to the next level? She had to talk to him before she poked around and did some investigation on her own. Maybe, there was a chance to save face by finding out where those assassins were hiding out, and how many there were. She’d have to include her team so they wouldn’t get too suspicious. They may even find more information about the birth of a possible new crime organization.
She waited until the room cleared and Dax was gathering his paperwork before she approached. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the last piece of paper off the podium and handed it to him, holding it firm until his steel gaze looked her in the eye. “Don’t punish the others for my mistakes. All of them deserve to move on to graduation. They wouldn’t betray the Security Force, it’s all they have and they wouldn’t jeopardize a chance to graduate. Cal was like a father to some of them… I’m begging you to please just save your punishment for…me.”
His cool eyes studied her. “It’s not that easy. You and team Underground are a unit. If you screw up—they screw up. My decision stands, now…get out of my way, some of us have criminals to catch and not friends to play with.” He snatched the last paper from her grasp, grabbed the handle of his briefcase and sauntered out the room.
Chapter 25
Shamira straightened her shoulders on her way to Cal’s office. She hoped to get more answers there, because the only way should could convince Dax, the now acting leader of the Security Force, that her team was innocent was to shove the evidence in his face. That, she admitted, she would greatly enjoy.
She made her way down the hall trying to hide her residue of anger from her discussion with Dax, and nodded greetings to fellow cadets and Elite officers who whispered their support. One officer stopped to tell her he was sorry about her dad and the bum deal Dax gave her team. She appreciated knowing that others supported her, but all she really wanted now was answers.
Standing in front of Cal’s door, she recalled the code he used to get in, and entered it on the keypad as her gaze flitted around to make sure she went undetected. With a slight click, the door slid open. She touched the button on her left to stop the door’s progress. Then it clicked once more and closed behind her. Working fast, she swiped her fingers across the mini-computer on her wrist. It would scramble the tracking signal from her technosuit and would make her location unreadable. She looked deep within the walls to verify Cal’s admission that he’d requested no cameras in his office since he handled private affairs within he didn’t want traced.
Quickly, she went to his desk, opened the drawers and slid her hand under the frames looking for clues to where his secret files were held. She’d remembered walking in on him once and he hastily pushed something onto his lap. The item had disappeared as they spoke.
“C’mon. Where would you hide it? Cal, you have to help me out here…”
She forced her sight within the desk to make sure she didn’t miss anything and caught a glimpse of papers lied flat under the drawer of hanging folders. Her heart thumped excitedly in her chest. She’d found what she was looking for. Shamira fiddled around the deep drawer after taking out the loose folders. Pressing down on the bottom, she slid it back and forth until it gave. One final push, the firm piece of wood at the bottom of the drawer collapsed backwards to reveal several file folders.
Shamira inhaled and opened the first folder. As she absorbed the contents, she sank to her knees at the brevity of Cal’s suspicions.
“How could they? Why didn’t you tell us that all Monev’s assassins went missing?” Shamira blew at a lock of brown hair that escaped her bun. “God, that would explain why that little girl said Keeper was still alive. If I can remember correctly, he was the leader of the assassins who trained Dion and Kurt. Since all of them went missing there’s no record of the Security Force searching for them. The investigation was …” She turned the page of Cal’s notes over as she studied drawings he’d made of Snake and Renu, his twin brother who betrayed him. “Suspended by Internal Affairs? What other leaders in Monev are still running free?” She picked up the diagram he created. It represented tiers of the crime organization who’d kidnapped children of the Security Force members over a year ago, to enslave them as bait to capture their parents who’d been untouchable—until then. Renu was at the top, Snake just under him with another named Keeper. A scribbled note in Cal’s hand had ’Assassin’ over Keeper’s name and ‘Drugs and Body trades’ over Snake. But the one sketch that made her swallow back the bile that rose in her throat was the one that read, “Mars Security Force? Mole?”
She read further. “The Mons…you took us there, knowing you suspected a regeneration of energy in the drug lab we burned down, and you didn’t even tell me? Why? Why didn’t you trust me with this, Cal? Oh, but you gave clues to your concerns to my dad, Officer Logan…and Dax, humph.”
Voices filtered in from outside the door. Hurriedly, she cleaned up and put the folders into her backpack. She opened Cal’s weapons closet. The vest with weapons sewn snugly within caught her interest. She yanked off her outer jacket and slid on his leather weapons vest. Tentatively, she grabbed the belt of gadgets from his closet created by Valens’ dad, who specially made his weapons. Her heart trembled as Valens’ face flashed in her mind.
Cal had also mentioned divulging some of his suspicions with Garcia. Shamira figured Garcia was an easy target compared to Dax or Logan since she did beat cop work. Hopefully, Garcia may actually have a contact if she was working with the Monev. After one final glance around, Shamira smirked as she reached for the controller to Cal’s most prized possession—his souped-up motorcycle that he only used when he was off work. He’d told her if anything happened to him, it was hers. With a final nod of respect and regret at his loss, she slipped out his office.
Within two steps she looked up, and nearly bumped into Dion. “Oh, hi… you cool off yet?”
Dion frowned at her. “Do I look like it?”
She shook her head. “Definitely not.”
“Well, I almost cursed out Garcia on my way here. She actually smacked me—in my face! She’s lucky I want this damn job so bad I didn’t smack her back … Sorry.” He stopped short to run an angry hand down his face. “Anyway, look I gotta do something to get us back on the list for promotion. I talked to Anthony and Kurt. We figured we could contact some of our old friends—well, I wouldn’t call these guys friends exactly but they were trained like Kurt and me. They should know what might be going down, because they decided to stay on the streets. Didn’t want to be under no adult, if you know what I mean.”
Shamira’s eyebrow lifted at his recollection of ‘friends’ still out on the streets. “Then where do they live? How can we trust them?”
Dion grinned. “Who said I trusted them? I have my ways of getting information from them. My old ways.” He winked.
She snorted. “I understand. Seems like pulling something from our past is probably the best way to handle this. It’s what saved us before—it can work again.”
“With their leader, Renu dead, Snake may just want to run his own thing. But he wasn’t a drug man; he just liked to kill. I think he may have someone working with him, because he will need money. Before Kesha blew up their office building in Sector 1, she released a computer virus to wipe all their funds clean.”
“Yeah, I heard that. What made her want to join the Earth force?”
“Love. She fell for one of the Earth cadets—Rob. Remember him? Well, she followed him there.” Dion’s expression turned serious, as he flicked his gaze past Shamira to Cal’s office door. “So…uh, where you coming from?”
“The meeting, but I got to go now. Later, I’m going to see my parents. They should be getting cleared for visitors today.”
He eyed her for a moment as if thinking. “That’s good. I’m real sorry about, you know…what happened.”
“Yeah, well, I
’ll call you or Anthony when I get back here later.”
Dion nodded. “Sure, make sure you do.”
She headed for Phillip’s desk. He was an Earth cadet in the class that just got promoted. He worked part-time in research during his training rotation. She walked down the hallway covered in light brown woods, to the open office of cubicles in steel. She couldn’t miss Phillip’s because he’d hung one of his drawings on the front of his cubie, with a sculpture of a vampire holding out chocolates. She couldn’t figure out how the kid kept his slim muscled form, with all the candy he ate. His Asian heritage probably had a lot to do with it.
She strolled to his desk and stood there a moment tapping her booted foot on the carpet while he worked on his computer, his back toward her. Clearing her throat, she said, “Phillip?”
He swirled around in his gray, cushioned chair—unlike the other standard metal chairs the rest of them had, and smiled. His tan skin and almond-shaped brown eyes, accented by his jet-black hair. “Shamira,” he beamed and said, “the gods have answered my prayers and my caramel goddess has dropped that sunshine geek to run to me.”
Shamira rolled her eyes, not really in the mood for his teasing, but if she wanted his help she’d have to play along. “Phillip, you know I’m not single…”
“Oh, yeah, you are single, so don’t play hard to get with me, babe. Katie didn’t wait a second to spill the dirty details and…well you know, your trash, her uh...” He leaned back in his chair, his voice deepened and got serious. “My treasure.”
“Look, I would hang out and play words with you, but I was hoping you would…uh,” she tried to think of a way to flirt with him, like Hedi always did with the guys. Shamira bit her bottom lip, coyly raised her eyes at him as she sat on his desk. Lowering her voice to a husky whisper, “Could you do me a small favor—please, Phil-lip?” She smiled shyly.
“Oh, you are good! Been picking up lessons from your redheaded around-the-way friend Hedi?” He chuckled. “I’d do anything you want for a…kiss,” he whispered back.
She fought her desire to tell him off, and slowly took a breath. Shamira felt like she was cheating on Valens. Although she found Phillip attractive, he didn’t stir feelings in her that Valens did. “No.”
He shrugged. “Then my answer is…no.”
“C’mon why are you being so difficult?” She couldn’t stop her fist before it hit the desk. “This is important, and you know the only guy I want is Valens.”
“How do you know? Word is, you’ve never given another guy a chance. I bet if you did, I could make you just as happy as the blond humanitarian. Besides, I’m not changing my mind. Either give up the kiss, or get out of my cubie.” He nodded toward the opening.
She shuttered her eyes closed, and her chest felt like it was throbbing. Doing this could mean a permanent end to her and Valens if he found out. But it couldn’t be helped; she had no choice. “Okay, just on the cheek. But I need this favor quick.”
Phillip looked amused, but took the bait. “Sure, I’ll take what I can get.” His index finger tapped on his cheek.
Shamira let out the breath she’d been holding. Then closed her eyes and bent forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. When she was barely within an inch of his cheek, he turned and kissed her on the lips. Surprised, her eyes opened when his hands rested on her shoulder. She stood still, stunned, before she mooched him in the face to push him away. “Hey! What the heck did you do that for? Do you have a death wish?”
She wiped the back of a hand across her lip. Her heart pounded in her chest as Valens face floated within her thoughts and her ache for him re-submerged. “I may not be with Valens—but I’m still in love with him. So don’t push your luck, Phillip.”
“Sue me? I couldn’t resist, you are way too gullible.” He laughed. “But a deal’s a deal. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. And keep it just between us, cause you have that look of mystery about you. Besides—you just made my year, babe. “
She huffed and folded her arms. “Can you check the communications database and find out who were the last few people to talk to Cal on our training day?”
His eyebrow lifted. “Oh, yeah, I knew I’d pay big for that kiss. To do that, I have to break some serious rules. I could get kicked off the force.” Phillip eyed her for a moment, his buoyant expression fallen.
She glowered. “You promised. It’s important. And don’t you dare repeat this to anyone.”
“Fine, just promise me one thing. If you don’t get back with Valens, you’ll give me a call.” He beckoned her closer to his computer with his finger.
Shamira leaned in, hesitant. “I guess. But until then, if you pull a stunt like you did earlier—I’ll knock you out cold.”
He winked. “That’s a good enough answer. I’ll take what I can get. You know what they say… that thin line between love and a little hate never hurt nobody.” He spent several minutes pounding on the keys. “Last person he spoke to was Officer Garcia, but talked to Special Dax just before he left headquarters.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Shamira checked her watch knowing Garcia’s shift would end soon. It was getting late.
She rushed to the garage in search of Garcia’s sports car. Shamira fought to hold her anger in check. Dax and Garcia. Which one had betrayed Cal?
Garcia’s car was in her usual spot as Shamira had hoped. She tightened her leather jacket, dug into her pocket and pulled out a small tracking gadget, no bigger than a fingertip. She brushed against the midnight blue ride as she attached the tracking tag. Cal’s motorcycle was covered and tucked away in a small alcove in the garage, viewing distance from Garcia’s ride in her assigned parking spot. Shamira casually made her way to the bike.
As deep as her loathing for Internal Affairs Officer Garcia went, Shamira never really had a concrete reason to dislike the woman. Now, though, she was starting to think she did.
Shamira uncovered Cal’s sleek black and silver motorcycle. While activating the ignition, she slid on as the seat automatically adjusted to her height. She twisted around and put on his helmet, which also amended to fit snugly on her head.
The computer within the helmet activated. “Welcome Cadet Nobles, I’ve been waiting for you,” it said in Cal’s voice.
Prickles of butterflies filled her stomach at the sound of her mentor’s voice, and a tear leaked from her eyes. She missed him, her dad and mom. But she couldn’t dwell on that now; she had to save them. She had to end this.
Shamira cleared her throat. “Lock on transmission device—3298Z.”
“Confirmed and locked,” it responded.
The elevator door chimed. Shamira squeezed the handlebars. She set at the ready watching Garcia’s furtive glance while the woman walked to her car.
“Subject’s moving. Do you desire auto stealth mode?” Cal’s voice echoed in her ear.
“Yes. And while you are at it, feed me specs on the subject’s history.”
Chapter 26
Night came quietly around her as she followed Garcia’s car at a distance. The paved streets, bordered by smoothly rounded, glowing rocks, kept the red sand at bay. Shamira’s hearing was still sensitive, even though she was no longer blind, and she perceived the slight hum of the generators underground that warmed the cool Mars air.
She spotted an air filtration tower ahead and acknowledged Garcia’s turn signal just short of the slender cylinder that stood over thirty feet into the air. Steam rose from the tower while it filtered the air to make it habitable. With a slip of her finger, a cover slid up and over her torso to protect her from the windblown sand.
They rounded the park in the center of Sector Five, about twenty or so miles from headquarters. Over a year ago, Sector Five was considered a paradise—before the demise of Monev destroyed parts of the city. Her team of friends and the many other kids she helped freed were a part of that war. She choked up for a moment remembering the failure she’d felt at the cost of the freedom of so many kids from Monev. The disappointmen
t that some of the kids she’d hope to save had died in the process of helping her cause. Passing through the large family park that separated the harsh streets of Sector Five and the plush, well-kept neighborhoods in Sandlewood where she lived, was never easy for her. Her chest constricted as she recalled the time she and David went to the park last year. She’d taken her brother there to play, and it was the last time she’d seen him since Monev kidnapped him. If she hadn’t met Valens, she would have never been able to save him, or her family, which was falling apart at the time. Thankfully out of it, she gained Taren and Manny as new siblings. She didn’t even want to contemplate on what would have became of them had she not found them when she did.
Since then, she hadn’t brought her siblings here. Instead she dragged them to Sector Four where Valens lived. Sadness closed in on her, since David was the only one of them not to complain when she skipped over the park that held tormenting memories of his capture.
Garcia made one final turn down Sable Street. Shamira stopped short of the city block since it was too narrow to keep her bike hidden. She slid her leg off the motorcycle and commanded her sight deeper onto the dimly lit street to observe Garcia park.
Reaching in her pocket, she put on the sticky stubs Valens had created for the team. She had to admit she couldn’t wait for the rush of free running while following Garcia undetected. She missed her friends, wished they were here too, but it couldn’t be helped. One of them was doing double duty. She’d bet her life on it. She just wasn’t sure who. Maybe this time she wouldn’t be attacked by assassins, because now no one would be around her to send for them. Also, she had scrambled the signal on her suit so not even anyone from the Security Force could find her.
