Anonymous (Anonymous Trilogy Book 1)

by Sweth Water

  “What it has to ... You are not implying that!”

  He nodded.

  “Have you lost your mind? Rose will never do that. You believe the reporters? They are fucking story-makers.”

  “Fog has proof, March. We should stop thinking that we knew Rose. I am against the wall with nothing in my hands. I have to start from somewhere.”

  “Someone was helping her?” March muttered the words.

  “Yes. Chase has this theory. They got Wind because he is in the city. I had told her that people with Wind Chisel name are many in the country. They had nothing to grasp, so they filtered the people in this city. And they got to Wind. He is in no danger either from the people who attacked me or police.”

  “You said someone knocked on the door? Why would he run then?”

  “He had seen me.”

  “Was he there to harm Wind?” she stood up at once.

  Coal took her hands in his and made her sit. “No, March. He was not there to harm Wind. He might have the intentions to see me by knocking at your door. Or you have something in your house that he didn’t want me to see. A link probably.”

  “To what?”

  “Rose.”

  “Coal, you are going too far. Please stop now.”

  He breathed heavily and looked into her eyes. “I am ready for it. Please.”

  She sighed.

  Coal sat in the chair, his hands on the knees.

  “Rose didn’t have many friends. And I have met all the friends that she had. Do you have a specific mien that I should tell you about?”

  “No. That’s why I am here.”

  “Pictures?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t have all the pictures, but I can show you the ones that I have.” She stood and walked inside the house, Coal following. “On parties and vacations, we clicked many of them. I have them on my laptop.”

  Coal climbed the stairs after March. He had never been to this part of the house. The walls were painted with white and marbles under their feet were sparkling as if cleaned minutes ago. March liked the cleanness. All the things were as they should be. Rose was like her when it came to keeping the place tidy. Maybe all the women are same in that case.

  Three rooms were ahead of him. Sun was sleeping in the first room. A big crib was in the middle of the room, balloons and other playthings over the rod. The light was dim in that room and windows were close. Coal had the same room on the first floor of his house.

  March went into the bedroom, which was congested with one big bed, small couches, tables and chairs. Coal was surprised to see that. All the things were in order except this room! Was March sleeping here? Alone? It was none of his business.

  “I am sorry for this mess. I didn’t get the time for cleaning.”

  “It’s okay.” he said.

  She rummaged through the wardrobe and took out the laptop. She sat next to him on the couch and gave him the laptop.

  It took few moments to boot up the laptop.

  He opened the folder after March said where they were. There were many pictures. Even if he had to guess, there were more than three thousand of them. Who would do that? He shook his head and clicked the first one. It was from the vacation when all four of them and some other friends of Rose went to Greece.

  “How many times you took the pictures when you and Rose were with a male friend?”

  She stared at him.

  “For God’s sake, I am not saying that. The person who was at your door was a man. There are not many chances of a woman to look like a man. It was definitely a man. I have seen him two times.”

  “Then why are you looking for him in the pictures?”

  “Because ... because I don’t know who he is. I remember seeing him somewhere.”

  “It will be hard to segregate the pictures on the basis of men and women, Coal. You have to go through all of them.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  His finger was on the arrow key and punching it fast enough to go through all of them in an hour.

  He stumbled upon some pictures of men. He stopped there for few moments, checking them if any of them was who he was looking for. Two times he’d seen the man – he believed that both were same – and it was only for a small fraction of time. He was not sure if he would be able to identify him correctly. But he could mark those pictures and check them later. Likewise he did. In the first two hundred photos, he had seven pictures he was interested in. He copied them in a different folder.

  “May I ask you something?” March asked.

  He was still pressing the button. “Yes.”

  “Are you sure there was someone at the door?”

  He stopped for a brief moment. “March,” he turned his head and looked at her. “I know you have no reason to believe whatever I am saying after what I did that day in the backyard. And about Rose to be alive, that was crazy. I hadn’t slept the whole night. But the man ... yes, he was there. I didn’t drink at night, and I slept for hours.”

  “I am just asking.”

  He focused on the photos again.

  “What will they be doing at the Headquarters?” March had some pain in her voice.

  “Nothing. All the people there are nice. They will be sued if they harm him in any way. I work there, March. I know the protocols they would be following. Only one crazy person is there who doesn’t follow that, and he is sitting with you now. Wind is fine.”

  “They should have let us meet him. I got a call from some news channel, asking me about Wind. I didn’t answer and hung up.”

  “Don’t talk with reporters. Stay away from them. You know what they talked about Rose.”

  March swallowed. “But you said they were right.”

  Another brief moment of silence. This time he didn’t stop going through the photos. “They are.”

  “What if they are right about Wind too? He must have something that the police found about him.”

  “They didn’t find anything. I told you how they got to him. No proof they have against him.”

  “I am scared.”

  He stopped, his eyes were on her face. She was right. He could tell by looking at her face. March was like a delicate child, especially when it would come to Wind. Coal was not sure what he should say on that. Image of the Headquarters was not good in the minds of people, and he was the reason behind that.

  “I will call the attorney after dinner.” he said finally.

  “Thank you.”

  It took him more than two hours to go through all the pictures. Out of them, he had seventy-five pictures in a different folder. It wouldn’t take much time to have one picture in hand. He needed to lie down in the bed and then think about it. He transferred the folder to the flash drive that March handed him.

  Coal thanked her and was outside the house.

  The sun was going to set and the night would be cooler than other nights of this season. He liked winter. Chilled air on the face would be like hands of angels. Rose and he were the people who would be walking in the fog just to chill their bones. They were lucky to have each other.

  At his house, a man was standing. It wouldn’t be that he was the same person who was at March’s door; he had no audacity to confront Coal. He had no gun, but he was ready if it came to fight. Coal doubted that the man was a reporter. They had not come to his house so far. It was a relief.

  He was someone else.

  Brown jacket he wore and was rubbing his hands. He turned and Coal saw his face.

  “Hey!”

  It was Holl.

  “How are you doing? No calls. Everything all right?”

  They hugged.

  “I got scared after watching the news. I was alone there, Coal. I thought of visiting you and talk about what reporters have been saying about my sister. Truth should come out. They can’t just degrade my sister.”

  “Come. We can talk.”

  Coal opened the door.

  Holl put his hand inside his pocket. A wicked smile passed over
Holl’s face as the door closed.

  Chapter

  24

  She slept without any dreams. It was hard to sleep on the ground, but she did not complain about it. She was the one who told to come in this abandoned building. Venhoa had many of these building, hundreds she’d seen in her life. Staying inside one of them was a different thing.

  She looked outside the broken window. Army personnel were patrolling the streets. There was no activity outside the building. It was so serene that it created a disturbance in her head. Something was going to happen, and they were not prepared for it. Shoot at sight! She disgusted the decision made by President Earl. President Earl couldn’t be so dumb to do it.

  “What is the plan now, Summer?” Taking asked her.

  He had removed his shirt and was stretching out. There were some people who would not leave their daily routine in any circumstances. Summer didn’t remember when she followed it.

  “Army personnel are still outside. They won’t ask us to go inside; their bullets will talk for them.”

  “Staying here will not give anything. We will not find anything to eat here. And I will die without eating.” He laughed.

  She saw the smile on his face first time. She thought of him as a strict person, but today it was a different day. The man can laugh too!

  “Can you call the President? She can tell these people to let us go to the local PD, if not my office, and then we can operate from there.”

  “My phone is dead. What about yours?”

  “Let me check.” She pulled out the mobile from her pocket and flipped it. The battery was full but no signal. “Won’t be able to make the call.” She threw it to Taking

  He caught it. “Damn. Any public booth nearby?”

  Summer had not been in these streets for scrutinizing. It was hard to tell that. “I don’t think so.”

  “But you knew the building.”

  “Yes. I saw it one day while going to the office. Public booths will not be here where nobody lives.” She raised her head. “These walls and roof are older than both of us. Chances are very unlikely that you will find a phone in the near streets.”

  It was a four-storey building. The house that they were in didn’t have any bed or couches. Shelves had some old books and dirt covered the place. Soon it would be demolished and a new building would be built.

  “So you are saying there is no way?”

  “There should be. We should be ready to take the risk. Surreptitiously, we can walk on the streets. We may get a signal on the phone too and then call the President.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  He wore his shirt and tied the shoelaces.

  They were on the second floor. It was Taking’s idea to stay on the second floor, searching would start from the ground floor, and they would have the time to run. Taking had more experience in that than she had. But it was not possible that army would start searching the houses.

  They stopped at the door. There was no-one outside. The men Summer saw were gone to another street. Taking signalled her to come behind him; he may know how to deceive them. The street was taking a turn on the right side. They were slowly moving. Snipers could be there on the roofs. No muzzle was pointing at them from the top. But the bullets would let them know of their presence. Summer shook her head.

  The street was blocked ahead. Summer looked behind and saw the army coming to their way. Taking took her hand and ran behind the dumpsters. Summer’s heart was pounding very fast.

  They heard their boots’ beat on the ground. A deep roar was there as if there was a tank. She stuck to the wall, not even trying to breathe. If the army caught them outside, they both would be dead. No other option was there. She knew it had to be done. Staying inside would not have given anything. And, now, outside it was a nightmare.

  Their mumbling was loud enough to reach Summer’s ears. She cringed, her knees pulled to her chest. Taking was peeking between the dumpsters. Backside of his neck covered with sweat. He was not in any uniform, and he had a gun. That will go wrong. Don’t do anything stupid, Taking. She frowned.

  The army personnel didn’t come to their direction. Soon the mumbling was gone as if they were not there.

  “Come,” Taking said.

  On the opposite street, they ran and turned left. It was a narrow path and it wouldn’t be opening to the main roads where the tanks were waiting for them. Ahead of them was a residential area. No-one was in the balconies or at the doors. Taking scanned the place and cursed something under his breath.

  “What now?” Summer asked.

  “Let me think.”

  He crouched there. Above their heads was a pipe going to the roof. He should not have an idea of going there like monkeys. She had no experience of climbing on the pipes. She used her brain and tapped on his shoulder.

  “There.” She pointed with her finger.

  Stairs were on the eastside. It was not a home but a way to go to the top of the building. It was the second time when Summer was seeing that type of stairs in her life. It was there near her home too.

  “It will be connecting to other roofs. Follow me.” Taking said.

  There were more than two hundred stairs. Taking didn’t let her stop on the way. Like a beast, Taking was climbing the stairs. Summer sighed after one hundred and twenty steps. Counting one by one to have the courage to reach the top. Taking took out his gun when Summer sat on a wooden bench.

  “I can’t. Please. Fi-five minutes.”

  “There are barely fifty steps now,” Taking looked down. It was a wide and long step where they stopped, might be made to take some rest. “We have climbed many. Few won’t be hard.”

  “N-no,” she took deep breaths. She needed water. “Please. You can go, I will follow you.”

  “I ain’t leaving you here.”

  “There is no threat.” she murmured.

  “The army won’t think that. There is a curfew in the city. You go out, you die.” His hands on the knees, he said, “Check your phone. You might have the signal.”

  “I gave you there.”

  Taking sighed, his breathing was a roar. “Yes.” He checked the phone. “We have a signal.”

  “Who are you calling?”

  “President Earl.”

  “Will she listen to you?”

  “Not a chance.”

  He dialled the number and told the secretary about his agency and ID. He waited. After tens of heartbeats, he heard the voice.

  “President Earl.”

  “Madam President, Taking from Top One.”

  “Where are you, Taking?”

  “I am still in the city, ma’am. We got out of an abandoned building. Summer and me. The army didn’t let us go to our office. Are we at war, ma’am?”

  There was a brief pause on the other end.

  “No, Taking. Soon we will be.”

  “Can I know the truth, ma’am?”

  “I will tell you everything once it’s over.”

  “Okay, ma’am. Can you please intervene and tell the army about us? We should be at our desks to give any help that you need.”

  “Top One will not be doing anything. All the accesses have been revoked. RAAD is also not working for now. I will tell them to pick you up. Where are you?”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” He told her the address before the line went dead.

  He gave the phone back to Summer.

  “What happened?”

  “I have good news and bad news. Which one you want to hear first?” Taking laughed with that.

  “Good one.”

  “We will be able to pass the roadblocks.”

  “Great. Bad one?”

  “We have to go back down the stairs.”

  “Damn it!”

  There was no urgency. Summer was taking steps very slowly. Taking talked the whole time while going down. He told her about finding Gin and the help that he would need. He had been doing it on his own, and Tom’s help was enough for that. Now the condition was very seriou
s. It had been days since Gin disappeared.

  They were outside. After ten minutes, the army cars pulled over near the building. They had the guns behind their backs. A big bunker-like jeep was at last, an MMG pointing down at them. Summer couldn’t have said how many bullets it would fire in one minute. Maybe enough to have tens of holes in a body.

  In the second car they sat. Three roadblocks were on the way and they crossed without any IDs. It was good to have the link with high officials of the country.

  Taking didn’t say anything in the car. Two female army personnel were sitting opposite to Summer. Both were charming and had round eyes, hats over their heads, and strands of hair coming out till their chins. They were beautiful girls. Were they in the army or models? On their waists, sharp blades were hanging. Summer looked away when the girl on the right side caught her staring. She smiled and blinked.

  There was only one young man with them and he was driving the car. Time passed quickly and they were at the office of Top One.

  Summer sat in her car (the car that Taking was driving was brought here by the army) and told Taking that she wanted to rest for few hours. Taking nodded and went inside the building. An army officer suggested that he could drop her home safely. She refused that. A badge was given to her to show at the roadblocks.

  She drove the car to her place. Sleeping on the floor had stiffened her back. Never in her life had she slept on the ground but last night. She sighed.

  Few shops were still open. They might not have got the chance to go to their houses. Or it might be that their houses were at the back side of the shops. It was common in Venhoa that some small shops were opened inside the house. But who would buy when there was a curfew in the city? She was happy though. She was famished.

  She stopped the car near a burger shop, peeked in the rear-view mirror to check any army officer, walked out quickly and bought some snacks and two burgers.

  She ignited the engine, and unwrapped the burger. I can’t live without eating. Apart from using her brain, the other thing that she liked was eating. Most of the times she cooked food herself. In many restaurants she had had dinners and breakfasts and asked them about the ingredients they used so that she could make the same dish at home. Of course they wouldn’t tell her. But a little more tip would let her have the entry in the kitchen.