“Fine,” she said. “I’m sorry, Jason.”
“No problem, Jess. Okay, Mack, I want you to contact the police department. See if you can coordinate with Captain Mendez. Then I want a briefing. I want all of you in here at the end of your shift. Remember that this is a monitoring job only right now. You’ll operate two computers at the same time, with two individual identities. That’ll help you be in two places at once. Your I.P. is being bounced off servers in Turkey, Greece and D.C. itself. Every time you shut down and reboot, your computer generates a new I.P. address. It would take the FBI with a sophisticated BOT Agent the better part of a week to track you down, so you should be secure from any attempted hackers. We have no leads. No description, no screen names. Nothing even to make us think it’s suspicious, so I’m told. The police department just asked us to cover this area, since we are experienced. It frees them up to do other things. In all honesty, it’ll probably turn out to be nothing. Can’t be too careful though, so watch yourselves.”
Jason motioned back to the center’s main monitoring area.
Everyone got up to leave.
“Alyson, could I see you for a minute?”
“Sure, Jase, what’s up?”
Jason waited for the others to leave.
“Is that true, what you said? About your boyfriend?”
Alyson laughed. “Yeah, he’s a fed. Has a sister too, if you’re looking.”
Jason smirked, “No, Camille and I are doing pretty good, thanks.”
“She’s so not worthy of you, Jase. You know it and I know it.”
“So, uh, your boyfriend?” Jason continued. “Think you’ll be able to get anything from him? Will he be useful to us? On the off chance the feds hone in on this, will we have to take a back seat to federal computer geeks?”
“I’m not going to go over your head if that’s what you’re worried about. And, I’m not a fed so I can’t say what will happen, should things get hairy in Longview. I just said that to chill Jessica out. I love her to death, but little red has some serious guy issues. Probably why she can’t keep a man for more than a month.”
“Well, I appreciate your support.” Jason said, “And, if you think it would help, I would like to meet your boyfriend. About the case. That’s all I meant. If you think it will help us help the police catch this filth, by all means, bring him up here. Put another way, you have my permission to go right smack over my head with this one, so long as you clear it with me first. I just want to be prepared if I’m going to be giving up the keys to my humble kingdom.”
Alyson chuckled to herself. “Whatever you say, Slick.”
“I’m serious, Alyson.” Jason said, getting up and walking toward her. He stopped and sat on the corner of his desk, leaned slightly toward her and whispered, “Alyson, I don’t know the details, but we’ve got a bad one here. This is not just some Dateline special with some guy who touched a kid inappropriately. We were invited in because we have the pulse of the Internet. We might be volunteers, but we’re vetted. Every person in that room has extensive background with Internet security. Several, including Mack, have law enforcement and military in them. Not to mention that Eric Reid kid you brought me is a computer genius! Not bad for a high school kid! I’ve never seen a computer that can change its I.P. address. I told him I didn’t want to know how he did that.”
“Yeah, well, he needed a hobby that got him out of the house. Lost his parents a few months ago. Good kid. Just needs some guidance. A good man in his life.”
“And you brought him to me?” Jason asked, laughing.
“Well, if we’re being technical, I brought him to Josh and Alex first. They suggested I bring him here to make use of his computer talents. You two do seem to have a lot in common. Both good with computers and you both have a knack for getting yourself in trouble with authority.”
“Okay, well talk to your boyfriend if you want. Coordinate with Mack and see what you can come up with. I didn’t want to say anything to Jess or Mack, but we may have two new recruits soon.”
“Anyone I know?” Alyson asked, getting up to leave.
Jason looked down. Stood and ran a finger across his desk as he headed back toward his chair. Sitting down, he took a deep breath.
“Cops.”
Chapter 7
Wednesday, October 12
9:37 a.m.
It was weird to think of the term “shift change” related to Danny outside of work, but when Alex pulled into his driveway and saw one lady in white scrubs, brightly-painted in every color Alex could fathom walking toward the house as another lady in bright orange scrubs walked toward her equally-bright yellow Camaro, the words involuntarily fell out of his mouth, echoing in the confines of his otherwise empty car.
He’d come at a good time. As he parked in the driveway, he recognized Brenda Johnston – the black woman in the painted scrubs that had obviously never met a stranger – entering the house. The pudgy blonde woman in bright orange was foreign to him.
“Hey, Mrs. Brenda!” Alex said, reaching around to open the screen door. Turning the knob, he cracked open the front door, tapping gently as he did so.
“Hey, Captain Alex! How you doin’ today?”
“Doing good, you?” he said.
“Uh huh. You know it,” she said.
“Hey, Danny? You awake?” he shouted, rapping on the wall as he entered.
He walked into the small foyer, turning into Danny’s well-lit living room to the left. For a bachelor, he sure decorated a lot. There were all sorts of police awards, news articles. And the occasional photograph. Alex recognized the younger version of Mrs. Peterson and assumed the man beside her was the younger version of Danny’s dad. The three boys in the picture were Danny and his brothers. Alex had no problem picking out the eyes of his old friend’s younger self, flanked by his older brothers. Knowing Danny, Alex surmised that the decoration was probably done by his Aunt Aggie. She was a sweet woman, pushing 80, and extremely doting on Danny. Having had no children herself, she’d lived vicariously through her siblings quite well over the years, doting endlessly on each of their children. Though Danny would never have admitted it, Alex couldn’t help but wonder if there was a pink bunny suit somewhere in the back of his closet.
“I’m in here, Alex.” Danny called from the kitchen, just off of the living room. Rounding the partition, Alex looked to the left and saw Danny standing at his refrigerator, his walker strategically positioned to the side, so as to not obstruct Danny’s access to the fridge.
“Mr. Danny. What you think you’re doin’?” Mrs. Brenda chided. “You know you ain’t supposed to be up on your feet. You sit right down and tell me what you want. I’ll get it for you.”
Scowling, Danny resisted, albeit weakly. His legs would not yet allow him much in the way of protest, so Danny was forced to grasp the handles of the red and black walker that had been purchased for him by the department.
“What I want,” Danny said, in a voice that was filled with too much angst, even for Danny, “is to go for a stroll around my own house. What I want is to get my own drink out of the refrigerator, stand up like a man when I pee, and what I want is to not have somebody play nurse maid to me 24 hours a day, 7 days a stinkin’ week!”
“Well,” Mrs. Brenda said, stepping aside, “By all means, Mr. Danny. Have at it. I’ll just be headin’ home. My husband and I’ll just go have a nice quiet dinner. But don’t you worry, none. Ms. Nina will be back here first thing in the morning. And you can send her on home as well.”
Alex loved Mrs. Brenda’s voice. It was a mixture of so many things. A throwback to a time hundreds of years ago with a modern air of strength and determination. Authoritarian and loving. Intelligent, but in possession of a child-like ignorance he’d often wished for in adulthood. It was, to Alex, as if nothing evil or negative could touch her. He was often reminded of a verse he’d read in the Bible that spoke of no weapons formed against you can prosper. Meeting Mrs. Brenda, Alex was certain that the verse covered
verbal weapons as well.
“Danny,” Alex said. Danny met his eyes with a disapproving stare.
“I know what you’re going to say, Alex. But I’d prefer it if you’d just save it.”
“Well, I’d prefer it if you’d just sit down and let me have a nice visit with my friend.”
“Don’t you have a case you should be working on?” Danny chided. “For that matter, don’t you have my caseload you should be handling?”
“I’m handling it, Boss.” Alex said, walking toward the living room. He turned just long enough to see Danny following him.
“You’re handling it, huh?” Danny scoffed. Brenda adjusted the pillow in his leather easy chair just as he sat.
“Thank you Brenda.” He smiled. A genuine smile. Taking Brenda’s hand, he continued. “I’m sorry. Ah, don’t pay me any mind, Alex. You know me. A cantankerous old coot. This being helpless stuff ain’t for me, Bro.”
“From the looks of things, you don’t seem too helpless, Danny. You seem to be doing pretty well if you’ve got the energy to be a fussbudget. Much better than when I stopped by last week.”
“Yeah, well, I’d be doing better still if the doctor would let me have some Dr Pepper!”
Alex laughed. “You and your Dr Peppers!”
Danny scowled. “Laugh it up, jerk. At least you can eat and drink whatever you want. When you got one kidney, a ruptured bowel and half a liver, the food they let you have—“
“Danny, I’m—“
“Shut up!” Danny interrupted, loud enough that Brenda came back out of the kitchen into which she’d ventured. “You apologize to me and I swear on everything I hold dear, I’ll—“
Alex sighed. “Danny, I can’t help it. You and I both know this happened because of me.”
Danny had been shot a few weeks back. Shot by a couple of gangbangers who were attempting to dissuade the Longview P.D. from pursuing an investigation into the death of Andrew Kramer – father, husband, racist. He’d taken the bullets meant for Alex, or so Alex had believed. And now he was sidelined, recovering from wounds he never should have suffered in the first place. Survivors guilt some would call it. Alex called it truth.
Alex hadn’t spoken of it to anyone – except God of course – but a huge part of him felt like it was happening all over again. Or maybe it was still happening. “It” being the revenge of the universe for daring to want to step out of his brother’s shadow. While he’d never felt truly in Danny’s shadow, there was an understood bit of hero worship, in that Danny had been Alex’s trainer just as Ted had been one of the men to train Danny.
“I love you like a brother, Danny.”
“Okay, don’t start that either!”
Looking down, Alex chuckled. He raised his head, looked at Danny.
“Kick me if you want. Or just put it on your ‘to do’ list for when you’re better, but Danny, I am sorry. I’m sorry this is you going through this. It should be me.”
“I mean it, Alex! Shut up, right now! It shouldn’t be you anymore than it should be me! You didn’t do this to me!” He pointed to his stomach area. “You didn’t stick a gun to my belly and try to take my life. You didn’t try and threaten me. You didn’t bow up to the entire Longview Police Department! I know what you’re thinking, Alex. I know what you’ve always thought. You are not responsible for your brother’s death and you’re not responsible for me getting injured. You are responsible for one thing. Your family. Your family now. Wife, kids. Your mom, Alyson.”
Alex started to speak, but Danny raised a defiant hand.
“Shut it, Kid! You’re gonna listen to me and you’re going to listen good! I did not pay for your sins, whatever you might think those sins are. Whatever little bit I know about that God of yours, I don’t think he’s going to hurt me to get to you. And I sure don’t think he’s going to hurt me because of something you think you did as a kid! You are a better man than all of us put together. If this God of yours is the loving thing you all believe him to be, why would he seek revenge on his own kind? If your God is half as smart as you want him to be, He’s smart enough to not take down one of the best men to ever grace this planet.”
“Danny, I—“
“Shut… Up!” Danny’s gritted teeth and wide-eyed anger caused Alex to lean back slightly.
Alex folded his hands, ringing his fingers back and forth, twisting and contorting them to relieve his stress.
“Alex,” Danny continued. “I’m going to tell you something I haven’t told anyone since this whole thing happened. I don’t think I’m coming back.”
Alex’s eyes widened. He could feel the blood rushing from his face.
“I know what you’re going to say,” he continued. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with the department. I didn’t want the job when I took it. It was supposed to be temporary, so I thought. I fully expected we’d be demoted back to Lieutenant once a new Captain was named. Then, I started to like it a little bit. Not the command part. I’m not a commander. But I enjoyed not having to be on the street. I enjoyed being a paper pusher.” He paused, sighed. His entire being seemed to soften, “When the attack happened, I realized that we’re not safe. Cop or citizen, we’re just not safe anymore. Cops have to abide by the law. Criminals don’t.”
“Mr. Danny,” Brenda Johnston interrupted, “It’s time for your pill.”
He said nothing. Took the pill, popped it in his mouth and took a big drink of water, tossing his head back as he swallowed. Handing the cup back to Brenda, Danny looked around the room, as if searching for something.
Pointing, he said, “See that picture?”
Alex noticed a picture sitting on Danny’s mantle. He stood and approached it. He recognized the younger version of Danny standing aside the last version of Ted Mendez he’d ever seen alive.
“That picture was taken two days before your brother died, Alex.”
Alex turned toward Danny, but said nothing. The shocked expression on his face was enough.
“I lied to you the last time you asked about Ted. I knew him better than a little bit. He was my trainer. I once told you he was just one of the guys to show me the ropes. Alex, your brother was a good man. Driven and knowledgeable. And he was someone I looked up to. When he died, I swore to him that I’d take care of you.”
“But how—I mean, how could you have known that I—“
“That you would someday be a cop?”
Alex nodded.
“I saw it in your eyes at the funeral. I know you don’t remember seeing me there. I kept my distance. But I saw you. I knew who you were because I saw Ted in your eyes. Not much, but enough. Something in the way you stared at the coffin. It was as if you were trying to will your brother back to life.”
Fighting the echoes of the ghosts of spirits past, Alex felt a tear forming. Looking away, he quickly wiped the tear.
“I was. I’d spent my whole life in Ted’s shadow. When he died, I spent a lot of years cursing God. Mom raised us catholic. After Ted’s death, I never went to confession again. Stopped going to Mass. Still won’t go with Mom when she goes. Although, she’s started going to church with me and Lisa when we’re able. If I have to work, she usually accompanies Lisa and helps with the kids. Does Mom know you knew Ted?”
“I’m sure she does. It was a number of years ago, though. She might not put 2 and 2 together. Could have forgotten. Or maybe she just wants to let him rest in peace. A mother’s heart is not something I’m an expert on, Bro.”
Danny’s cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, pressed the talk button, shouted into the mouthpiece at the top of his lungs, and pressed off.
“Telemarketer,” he said, eliciting a real belly laugh from Alex.
“So,” Alex said, taking a deep breath and exhaling. “Why tell me this now? Why this deathbed confession? And, for God’s sake, why all this talk about not coming back?”
“Honestly? I just saw things pretty clear in that moment. Facing down Death himself is a very interesting fee
ling. And if I’m going to die, I just wanted it to be with a clear conscience.”
“Wait, die? What? Danny!”
“No, Alex,” he said, raising his hand again. He adjusted in his chair, shifting his pillow to a more comfortable position. “I’m not dying. At least not yet. Or, well, at least not planning on it. But, yanno, I didn’t plan on getting my guts shot out either so…”
Alex stood and approached Danny’s chair. He knelt down beside the chair.
“Don’t even think about it, Alex.”
“Think about what? I just want to pray for you.”
“No,” Danny said, “you want to pray over me. Or pray with me. You want me to suddenly have a come to Jesus conversion. I’m just not there yet, Alex. Truthfully, I don’t think God’s ready for a sinner like me yet.”
Standing, Alex reached down and touched Danny’s shoulder.
“God’s ready whenever you are, Danny.”
“Good to know. ‘Cause I’m just not ready yet.”
Alex turned and walked toward the kitchen.
“Where sin abounds,” Alex said, quoting one of the Bible verses from last Sunday’s service, “Grace abounds much more.”
“How do you do it, Alex?”
“Do what?”
Alex opened the refrigerator and found the orange juice. He took it from the fridge, poured himself a glass and replaced the carton on the shelf.
“How do you just accept that God is the way to go? How do you accept it’s all real? I mean, this isn’t our grandfather’s America anymore. There’s Buddhists, Scientologists. Heck, there are a thousand different religions that all call themselves Christian. So, are you Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian or what? How do you do it? How do you separate fact from fiction?”
Drink in hand, Alex walked back into the living room.
“Danny, I don’t have all the answers. I really don’t. And I don’t want to offend my friends at work, so I don’t talk much about it. But, honestly, I don’t put my faith in religion. Religion is manmade. I put my faith in God. My Bible tells me that God sent his only son to die for us. It doesn’t say he only sent his son for one group or another. It says ‘for whoever shall believe.’ I believe. So, if you really want to know how I do it, I do it by faith. Now, am I going to tell you my faith is perfect? No. I’m still learning. For a grown man, I really don’t know much. I’ve made it a point to read my Bible cover to cover twice now. Lisa and I pray together every night before bed.”
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