by Sarah Biglow
Tina
Part of me felt bad with how I left things with Reese yesterday. I knew it had been a shitty thing to do to him, but I’d needed to know the truth. Still, while my romantic prospects might not completely be ruined—if Reese agreed to give me a second chance—things were only getting started if I was going to snoop on my mother.
I arrived at the precinct early, a tray of coffee and pastries in hand. Cops and donuts may be cliché, but showing up with food was always a good way to get people to like you. The more people liked me, the better chance I had of looking around without being noticed later. I set my offerings in the break room and nearly jumped when the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I pivoted slowly to find Uncle Nick standing in the doorway watching me.
“Trying to make a good first impression I see,” he said and swiped a blueberry scone from the tray.
I flashed him a smile. “Is it working?”
“I’m glad you finally decided to do this, Tina.”
“You are?”
He nodded. “You’ll be interacting with actual people.”
“Is that your way of saying you think I’m antisocial?”
“You’re going to need to learn to deal with all kinds of people in this world, kid. That’s all I’m saying.” He stepped closer even though we were the only two in the room and lowered his voice. “Just don’t let me catch you doing anything illegal.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.
“I know what you’re capable of, Tina. And what you’ve done. Don’t forget that.”
The tiny hairs on my arms stood on end and this time it wasn’t because I was being watched. I spotted the metal trashcan in the corner starting to levitate and I had to exhale slowly to keep myself under control. The can lowered back to the floor with a clang. Maybe spying wouldn’t be as easy as I had thought. Before Uncle Nick could tell me to keep my powers in check, I heard footsteps coming toward us. He noticed them, too, and stepped around me and reached for a cup of coffee. As if nothing was out of the ordinary.
“Free breakfast, nice,” Reese said as he strolled in, dressed in uniform.
He wouldn’t meet my gaze and I watched as he kept his left hand out of sight. “Just thought I’d try to make a good first impression,” I answered.
Reese bent over the tray of pastries and inspected each one in turn. I watched Uncle Nick sip his coffee, silently praying he would leave. “Once you’ve had your caffeine, I’ll bring you over to the tech department. Introduce you around and get you started,” Uncle Nick said over the rim of his cup.
“I can take her,” Reese offered, still not looking at me.
Uncle Nick’s gaze flitted between Reese and I before he crossed the room, whispered something in Reese’s ear and left the room. I waited a count of ten before I eased the break room door shut.
“I thought he’d never leave,” I sighed.
“He makes you nervous. Good to know,” Reese said, finally settling on a banana nut muffin.
“What did he just tell you?” I asked.
“Oh … A not so nice warning to keep my hands off you.”
I’d always known Uncle Nick was protective of me, but that was just insulting. Besides, he didn’t know how many random guys had already had their hands on me. “Too bad he’s a little late to the party.”
Reese shrugged and spun the muffin mid-air above his hand.
“Did you … uh … think about what I said last night?” I twisted a loose lock of hair around my left index finger.
“I did.” He turned his attention to peeling the paper off the muffin and took a bite. He chewed slowly and I had to bite my lip to keep from snapping at him to hurry up. Finally, he looked me in the eye. I couldn’t read his expression, but his gaze was piercing. “I don’t fully believe you about your mother being the bad guy. I need to talk to Clayton myself. Set that up and if I’m convinced by what he has to say, I’ll help you.”
“I can’t just bring you to him,” I hissed.
“Those are my terms, Tina. If you don’t like them, that’s your problem. I am not going to take a huge leap of faith like this just because you say so. I need proof, actual evidence.”
“That’s your problem, Reese. You’re so busy following the rules you can’t see what’s going on around you. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to really help people.”
“And you think rules are there to be flaunted and broken. It’s like they are a personal challenge to you. Grow up already.” The muffin disintegrated in his hand, tiny crumbs filtering through his fingers like sand, pooling on to the floor at his feet. We both looked at the ground and I caught a flash of embarrassment on his face. His cheeks flushed pink before the mess swirled into his palm and he brushed it into the trashcan.
“Guess I’m not the only one who still doesn’t have complete control of their powers,” I muttered and picked up a cup, pouring coffee into it and swirling it around. “I’ll talk to him, see if he’ll agree to it. That’s all I can promise for now.”
“Fine.”
I gestured toward the bull pen. “You better show me where I’m going. You don’t want people to think we’re flirting or anything.”
He said nothing, opening the door and gesturing for me to walk ahead of him. I caught a glimpse of Uncle Nick with his desk phone pressed to his ear, watching us like a hawk as we passed by. I flashed him a thumbs up and did my best not to look like I was conspiring against my family.
Chapter Eight
Reese
I almost felt bad leaving Tina with Mitchell, the head of our tech department. He wasn’t what one would call warm or personable. He glanced up from his screen when we walked in and let out a sigh.
“This is Mitchell. He’s our resident computer guy,” I said, gesturing to him.
“You the new intern?” His tone was flat, showing his clear disinterest in Tina’s answer before she spoke.
“That’s me,” she replied.
Mitchell pointed to a stack of boxes and then to the second computer in the room. “Get comfortable. We’ve got five years of closed cases to put in the system.”
“What exactly are we doing, data entry? This isn’t really what I’ll be doing the whole time, right? I mean, I was sort of hoping to do something … useful, Mitch,” Tina grumbled.
“Don’t call me Mitch.” He scowled at me, as if her nickname for him was somehow my fault. He let out another prolonged sigh. “You get that done correctly, maybe you’ll be able to do something else.”
With that directive given, Mitchell turned back to his own pile of folders, apparently assuming Tina was able to figure things out on her own. She turned to me and mouthed ‘save me’.
“I’ll let your uncle know you’ve gotten settled. Have fun,” I said with a smirk.
I hung around the basement for nearly half an hour, keeping an ear out for any sign Tina had done something she wasn’t supposed to—like shorted out every piece of electronics in the precinct—before I spotted Mitchell duck out of the room, lighter in hand. Sure, I had actual work I should be doing. Still someone had to keep an eye on Tina and I didn’t mind.
I approached the room, but stopped short of going in. I heard Tina’s voice in a low whisper. I only caught her side of whatever conversation she was having.
“Am I okay? I guess that depends on your definition of okay. I may gouge my own eyes out or commit suicide by a million paper cuts if I have to spend much more time with Mitchell, the world’s dullest file clerk, but that’s not why I’m calling,” she said.
I moved closer, waiting for whatever came next.
“So, I might have found an ally here at the station. He needs some assurances. Personal ones. The kind that requires a face-to-face meeting with you.”
I didn’t need to hear the other end of the conversation to figure out she was talking to Clayton Kirkpatrick. I was no doubt her potential ally At least she’s keeping her word and trying to set up a meeting.
Footsteps e
choed in the hallway behind me and I took a few steps back from the partially closed door. I was still near enough to hear Tina say, “I know where that is. I’ll see you at six,” before Mitchell appeared.
“You need something, Officer Finley?” he asked.
“Oh, no I was just coming to see how it was going, that’s all. Officer Boudreau asked me to keep an eye on her. I guess he’s protective of his niece,” I rambled, hoping it sounded convincing.
“Right. You know, I didn’t ask for an intern. I don’t need the responsibility,” he huffed.
Before I could respond, the door opened and Tina appeared, bag slung over her shoulder. Mitchell and I both stared at her, waiting for her to say something.
“I’m going to the bathroom if that’s okay with you two weirdos. Lady stuff,” she said and patted her bag.
Mitchell swallowed loudly and stepped aside. “Right, whatever you gotta do.”
“It can be kind of a maze down here, I’ll show you where the bathroom is,” I offered, leading the way down the hallway and to the left.
“So, how are things going?” I said, pretending I hadn’t heard her colorful description on the phone.
“I’m bored out of my skull. Look, it’s good you’re here. I hope you don’t have plans tonight.”
“I told you I had to think about things, Tina,” I replied before realizing she was trying to tell me about the meeting with Clayton.
“This isn’t a date. I told you that I’d try to set up a face-to-face with Clayton and he’s agreed. Meet me outside at 5:30.”
I knew I should have a plan of attack before I met Clayton Kirkpatrick. I didn’t know what to expect. Lena had built him up to be a villain, a mad scientist hellbent on harming people. I’d believed her, because she’d taken me under her wing and taught me how to control my abilities. She’d given me a mother figure when I’d lost my own to breast cancer when I was seventeen. She’d given me a purpose and an outlet to channel the pain. In a way, she was the reason I had joined the police force. Lena had filled a void for me. Maybe that’s what Tina’s father was trying to do for her now.
At 5:30 sharp, I stood in the precinct parking lot, waiting for Tina to appear. I finally spotted her blue hair in a crowd of uniformed officers heading off shift. She had earbuds in and walked right past me when I raised my hand to get her attention. She marched along, acting like she hadn’t seen me. Giving me no other choice, but to follow her. We headed down the street, across two blocks and along a back road that would eventually lead out of town before I managed to snag one of her earbuds with my finger and yank it free.
“What’s with the cold shoulder act?” I asked.
She pulled the other earbud free. “I had to make sure we weren’t being followed. Obviously.”
“So, you made me chase you for two blocks?”
“That’s kind of your thing, right?”
I checked my phone, it was already 5:49 p.m. “We better be close.” Both my mother and Lena had drilled timeliness into me. If you’re on time, you’re already late, my mother used to say.
“Relax. We’re almost there,” she said and started walking again.
I fell into step with her, but kept quiet. I wasn’t sure what to say anyway. I definitely hadn’t forgiven her for the interrogation last night. Besides, I still didn’t know what to think of the war her parents may have dropped us in the middle of. And I definitely wasn’t ready to talk about the fact that I still couldn’t stop thinking about Tina sitting in my lap kissing me.
“We’re here,” she announced.
I looked around, realizing I hadn’t paid attention to where we’d gone. We were standing in a clearing overlooking a small ravine. A single bench sat in the middle of the space. The trampled grass leading to it from the road signaled that someone had made a habit of visiting frequently. Maybe multiple someones at that. The tree line surrounding the clearing offered a decent barrier from civilization and given I hadn’t seen any cars pass us on our walk here, I suspected the road wasn’t well-travelled. I checked my phone again, now it was 6:01 p.m. I didn’t see anyone else waiting for us though.
“Are you sure he’s going to show?” I asked.
“Thank you for coming Mr. Finley,” a baritone voice said from the direction of the bench.
I squinted, but didn’t see anyone. Until slowly, a ripple cascaded over the bench to reveal a man sitting with his back to us and a woman maybe a year or two older than me standing beside him. She had short cropped dirty blonde hair and wore tight-fitting jeans with a maroon tank top. Judging by Tina’s reaction—keeping her distance from the woman—this was a new thing for her, too.
I recovered from the shock first. After all, it made sense if he’d been in hiding, he had special ways of keeping prying eyes away. “So, you’re the elusive Clayton Kirkpatrick,” I said and slowly approached the bench.
“Not by choice,” he replied and stood up to face us. “Tina, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to Taylor before. Her power is rather obvious and necessary for this meeting.”
Taylor offered both of us a small wave before walking past us toward the road. I watched her, but nothing happened. Then, a sensation almost like motion sickness washed over me and I bent forward, gripping the back of the bench to keep myself from throwing up. Tina looked a little green around the gills, too and without thinking I took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
Clayton rounded the back of the bench and put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Just take slow shallow breaths. It will pass easier.”
Even though his advice wasn’t directed to me, I followed his suggestion and the feeling passed. Still, I settled against the bench, taking in the ravine and the sunset turning the area into a watercolor of orange and pink hues. I heard fabric rustle and turned to see Clayton sitting beside me.
“You requested this meeting, Mr. Finley. Why don’t you ask me what you’ve come to ask me?” he prompted.
I propped my elbows on my knees and contemplated my response. Tina lingered behind the bench. Static electricity crackled in the air as a show of her nerves. “How much of it is true? What Lena says about you going crazy and trying to hurt people?”
Clayton let out a hiccup of harsh laughter. “My ex-wife can be quite hyperbolic when she wants to be. At the start, this was all a joint endeavor. We sought out to use gene editing to eliminate or at the very least reduce the risk of birth defects. We helped couples having difficulty conceiving create and carry viable embryos to term.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It wasn’t until after the first group of subjects were born that we realized what had actually happened.”
“Super powers,” I offered.
“Indeed. It was an unintended consequence. We’d already sworn our patients to confidentiality and we had to warn them that their children could develop other … symptoms or traits.”
“So, what happened?” I pressed.
“I wanted to study what we’d already done and see if we could figure out how we’d managed to unlock these abilities.”
“Why? So, you could perfect it?”
He shook his head. “To see where we went wrong and avoid it in the future. I admit, Lena convinced me for a time that this was a miraculous breakthrough and we were going to change the world. But I eventually realized she wanted to use these children and their abilities for darker aims. I caught her sharing some of our findings with a government liaison. I warned her that they would take what we’d discovered and weaponize it. By that point, she’d been wooed by the promise of greater prestige and she claimed that’s what she had wanted all along.”
It certainly fit with what Tina and her friends had tried to tell me last night. Still it didn’t quite fit with the woman who’d taken me in. “This just doesn’t sound like her. She helped me understand what these powers were and what I could do with them. She made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”
“She’s a really good liar,” Tina muttered from behind us.
“Lena c
an come across as very endearing. It’s part of the reason I fell for her initially. But she is also very good at manipulating those around her in service of her own aims.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose again. “I’m afraid I realized too late that she’d used my scientific interest to get what she wanted. I’d loved her, but I don’t think she ever really felt the same way. I don’t think she’s capable of real love.”
“So, what does that make you? You went along with these experiments.” I hitched a thumb over my shoulder toward Taylor standing guard. “You clearly have powered people on your side of things, too. What makes you any better than her?”
“I would love to say I would never put any of them in harm’s way, but that would be a lie. I knowingly risked a young man’s life to keep an eye on Lena’s work.”
“Henry.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t hurt him. He’s my friend.” Or he was until he ambushed and interrogated me.
“Yes, I know he is. I also know from what he tells me that you believe in doing what is right and protecting the innocent. Unfortunately, I fear if Lena gets her way, there will be more innocent lives at stake than we had thought.”
“The super-powered attacks,” Tina said, rounding the bench to perch beside her father.
“Yes. Before Mr. St. Pierre’s cover was jeopardized, he’d found information that there may be other individuals with abilities like yours attacking people. Although, we weren’t able to gain any more clarification given it was a police matter.”
“I told you, I’m working on it,’ Tina grumbled.
“You’re not going to be able to access the systems,” I said with a resigned sigh. “But I might be able to.”
“I know you don’t trust me and I suspect what I’ve shared with you here today raises more questions than actually giving you answers,” Clayton said, turning to face me head on.
“You’re not wrong. I’ll make a deal with you. I have to be at headquarters soon anyway. If I can find even a little proof that what you heard is right and they are covering up super-powered attacks, I’ll be on your side.”
