Chapter Thirteen - It's Only Fair
“Not that I care,” Mary Medina said flippantly, “but why exactly are you killing a fake psychic?”
Gregori looked towards the narrow staircase that led down to Madame Madeline’s Den, dark for the night, and blew a loud breath through his nose. “She was nice enough to send me a letter.”
The short Japanese man standing next to the Russian tilted his head slightly, but didn’t ask his question.
The freelance teleporter, Mary, tugged on the end of her black ponytail, “What kind of letter gets you killed?”
Gregori’s smile was lopsided, “Turns out she’s not so fake. She knows what I’m going to do, and was kind enough to warn me of the consequences.”
The fourth and final member of the group, a dark-haired man, grunted slightly at Mary’s confusion, “Don’t ask what he’s planning, I don’t want to have to kill you too.”
Mary put up her hands, but there was no fear in her eyes, “Alright alright. Call me when you guys are done here,” and then she disappeared.
Gregori turned towards the Japanese man waiting patiently beside him, “Shin, go see if she’s home.”
Shin sank into the darkness. The only acknowledgement of his passing once he was inside Madeline’s home and office, was the sway of the candles lining her path as if in a stiff breeze. Madeline was sitting in her back room, lounging on the couch, reading a book. The candles flitted again, and then Shin was standing next to Gregori. He nodded once, the movement very precise.
“Alright, that’s our cue,” Gregori said, his voice serene and pleasant. He started to stroll towards Madeline’s door.
Everything went black, and then Hugo was staring up at his ceiling, breath short. He’d seen the date on the watch on Madeline’s wrist. They would try and kill her tomorrow. Hugo drew a hand across his eyes, his jaw tight. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He would take care of the murderers that wanted to hurt her simply because she’d been trying to do the right thing. They deserved to die.
He sought out CJ first thing that morning. She was spinning a bagel on a table in the cafeteria, giving the task all of her concentration. He sat down before she noticed him. “Hey, CJ.”
“Hmmm?” She asked, blinking at him.
Hugo pursed his lips together, debating if prying was the right thing to do. Maybe if he was vague about it, it wouldn’t seem intrusive. “Did you talk to Mr. Hansen?”
“Yeah.” She took a huge bite out of the cinnamon bagel. He waited for her to elaborate, but she never would. He wanted her to be ok. He needed her to be ok.
“I need your help,” he admitted, watching her expression carefully.
CJ brightened, finally taking interest in the conversation, “What with, boss?”
Hugo took a deep breath, “I need you to help me save Madeline tomorrow. Someone is going to try and kill her. Will you-”
“You bet!”
Hugo smiled, “Thanks. I’ll let you know the details as soon as I have them worked out, ok?”
“Alrighty.” She waved as he made his exit, heading towards the roof of Gideon Enterprises. He didn’t know why he was going all the way up there to call Madeline, he just really needed to be outside. CJ looked fine, she sounded fine, she was fine. They were all fine.
He sat down on the roof, watching the small people across the street walk by. The sky was gray. He pulled out his cell phone. After a moment’s hesitation, he called her, “Um, hi, Madeline, this is Hugo. Do you remember me?”
“Of course I do,” she replied. She sounded tired. She must have known her death was coming soon too. “What can I do for you?”
The words spilled out quickly, “Let me help you.”
There was a long pause before she answered. “How?”
“I’ve…seen…Gregori,” he really wished he’d planned the conversation better, “I know he’s going to try and kill you tomorrow. He’s crazy, so your letter didn’t do any good. He’s just going to kill you. Let me help you.”
There was another long pause, and then an almost imperceptible sigh, “You can’t change the future.”
“That’s not true. It’ll be easy! He’ll come to your place and you just won’t be there, and we will handle them.”
“Them? How did you get this information, Hugo?”
“I…uh…well…um…talked to him?”
There was another long, slow pause. Hugo tightened his grip on the phone, it would be hard to do anything if she didn’t agree. He would need Maggie to find Gregori, if she’d even help them, and tomorrow it would be too late.
“Alright, I will let you try,” she said softly.
“Ok, we’ll have someone come pick you up tomorrow morning. Just, be careful until then, ok?”
“I will do my best,” there was a hint of amusement in her voice.
“Ok. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.”
Now he just needed to clear it with Mr. Hansen, because he was going to need his help.
Hugo stood up just as the door to the roof swung open. It was Dr. McFadden. When she spotted him, she quickly walked over. Her whole body was tense and her eyes were darker; something was wrong.
“Neal said he saw you come up here,” Dr. McFadden tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but it was a lost cause because it was pretty windy on the roof. Hugo drew in a small breath and the wind slowed. The doctor looked around, and then gave him a small smile. It quickly faded. “Thanks. Um…I don’t know how to say this…” she stared at the ground for a second, “The Burnout patients are awake. I had to show them what happened.” She paused and Hugo felt like he should say something, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what would be appropriate, so he stayed silent. “They want to…speak…to you,” she shifted restlessly. There was more.
“Ok,” he responded, voice flat.
Dr. McFadden pressed her hands together in front of her, “No. I mean they want to put you on trial for…what happened. I told them that wasn’t an option but-”
Hugo nodded, “Ok.”
The doctor took a step back, finally meeting his eyes, “You can’t be serious. I’m not going to let them-”
Hugo shook his head, “It’s ok. It’s fair right? I killed the person that brought them together. They deserve a trial.”
“But…” she said weakly, and then paused when she finally accepted it wasn’t a debate, “They said you could have representatives. I volunteered, and I’m sure CJ would too.”
“I don’t need representatives,” he asserted with a frown.
“Yes you do. And if you insist on doing this, I’m going to have to insist that I get to be one of them.” Her voice was firm.
Hugo blinked a few times, the frown deepening, “But you weren’t even there.”
“It doesn’t matter. I heard every little detail, remember?” She looked away again for moment, but when she was focused on him again, her mouth was set in a firm line, “I know what went on up there.”
Hugo sighed, knowing she wouldn’t budge on this, “Ok. You should probably invite Mr. Hansen as well.”
The doctor brushed at an invisible strand of hair, then clasped her hands carefully in front of her. She wasn’t looking at him again. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“But Hermes was his brother, he should be there too.”
“Hugo…” Nothing else came out.
“Oh, can this wait a couple days? I have to go save Madeline tomorrow.” The doctor’s eyes widened. He hadn’t meant to make it sound so casual. It wasn’t an errand, he was trying to keep her from getting killed. But everything would go smoothly and then Gregori would be out of the picture and Madeline would be safe. It was simple.
“Who’s Madeline? What’s going to happen to her?”
“Madeline used to work for the company. She was one of the founding members, actually.” Hugo unconsciously lowered his voice, “She can see the future.”
“Oh…” The doctor brought a hand to her l
ips, and her expression turned sympathetic, “Oh. And you saw her…”
“Yeah, tomorrow.” Hugo nodded, “But it’s ok because I’m going to fix it.” A smile almost edged its way into his voice.
“O-okay. I’ll let them know. I think they’ll understand.”
“Thanks.” Hugo smiled. He’d do this one last good thing and then he’d let them kill him. It was only fair.
The doctor took several hesitant steps back towards the door, but turned to him; she looked upset, “You don’t have to do this, you know that right?”
“Oh, but I do.”
Her frown deepened, and then she turned and walked away. Now he needed to talk to Mr. Hansen about his plan.
The Sound of Wind Page 56
