They'll Call It Treason

by Jordon Greene

  “And?” Austin pushed.

  “He told Kate to call Gray, have him meet her and take her to the safe house.” Dante explained.

  Austin threw up a hand, stopping Dante, “Safe house? What do you mean safe house?”

  “A few years ago Ethan convinced me and Gray to go in with him on a cabin down in Blowing Rock, in North Carolina. A nice little getaway. But he always referred to it as the safe house.” Dante groaned, waving his hand dismissively. “It’s a long story. The point is that Ethan plans to meet them there. Gray is meeting Kate in Greensboro, but he plans to have her come back and cooperate with the investigation, let the Bureau weed it all out.”

  Austin nodded. Quickly he realized Dante was not done as he glanced over his shoulder yet again. “Is there something else, Dante?”

  “Well,” Dante said more carefully. “I just don’t think I’m convinced Ethan did it. I mean, are you? He couldn’t have, right?”

  Austin paused. It was the same inward battle he was going through. “No… It’s hard to disagree with the official story, but something doesn’t feel right. But I don't know.”

  “Can you get into the records for the case? Maybe get a hold of some surveillance feeds? See exactly what happened?” Dante asked.

  “Dammit Dante. You would ask me do to this right before my polygraph,” Austin complained, realizing how much harder it would be now.

  Dante’s bright blue eyes lit up and his lips pursed, “Ah. Sorry. I thought you already had yours. I finished mine thirty minutes ago.”

  “No, not exactly.”

  “Well, can you by chance still check those feeds?” Dante asked again.

  “Why not?” The thought had entered Austin’s mind earlier, but he had been quick to squash the idea. It had seemed too risky. “It’s not like I don’t have enough to hide already.”

  “You’ll do fine,” Dante assured him with a not-so-gentle slap on the back.

  CHAPTER 25

  January 29 at 3:50 p.m. EST

  Greensboro, NC

  Joy surged through Kate as Ethan knelt in front of her in the cold night air. He held a diamond ring up high, his sea-green eyes locked with hers.

  She held his gaze as he slid the ring over her finger and stood up and embraced her. Kate relished the warmth of his body. She longed for his lips as he moved closer.

  Abruptly a sting shot through her head. Cold enveloped her body. Scared, she pulled away from Ethan as he vanished into nothing. She screamed, opening her eyes to the cold reality of a dream. She winced as the pain came rushing down her spine.

  “Ugh…” Kate groaned. The crash.

  Everything was a blur at first. Slowly her vision cleared. Her head throbbed intensely. She must have hit the side window, or the dash, when the car had hit the ground. She was unsure which.

  Confused and disoriented, Kate felt gravity weigh her down head first. She hung upside down, suspended in air by her safety belt. Instinctively, she squirmed, her breathing quickened. The need to escape her bindings became overpowering.

  It was useless.

  Seconds passed and she became more aware of the safety belt digging into her skin. A burning pain crossed her chest, and the fire in her head grew more intense. She was close to passing out again.

  Calm down, Kate. Just breathe.

  She stopped moving, closed her eyes and tried to breathe calmly. Outside, the whirring of distant cars and the faint pitter patter of rain reached her. She considered screaming for help, but something made her stop. There was something she needed to remember.

  Gray?

  She looked next to her, remembering why she was here.

  “Gray!” she croaked as she caught sight of him hanging limply. His head laid precariously against the ceiling. The SUV's roof had caved in on impact, shards of broken glass littered the ceiling next to Gray. Blood trickled from his cheek and brow. A pale red puddle of rainwater had formed at the back of his head.

  “Gray…” she whispered, barely able to get the breath to speak. He gave no response. The pressure of the belt against her chest was becoming unbearable.

  She pressed her hand against the ceiling below and pushed up just enough to take in a gulp of air.

  “Gray!” Louder this time, but still no response. “Grayson!” Her voice trembled, tears welled up and poured to the ceiling. She could not lose Gray, not like this.

  Kate reached out and touched his cheek. He was cold

  Is he breathing?

  She winced, trying to push herself up with her hands again. She reached up and groped with her hands, trying to find the unseen release latch. Nothing.

  It hurt to move. Kate had to rest from the exertion. She searched again, and this time found it. It was stuck. She pressed it over and over again, but nothing happened. Panic set in as she jerked and pulled, her breathing quick and shallow.

  Suddenly she heard the rhythmic revving of an engine. The noise grew steadily then stopped with the screech of tires. A door creaked opened. There were footsteps.

  They were coming closer.

  Please be EMS, please.

  She knew it was not; the steps were too slow and deliberate. She watched out the window, awaiting the inevitable.

  A pair of feet came into view. Black oxford style shoes, black slacks. A yank, accompanied by a dull thump. Again. The SUV shook suddenly. A metal screech echoed from the door. Whoever it was, they were trying to get in, but the door was jammed. Kate fought between the desire to get out and the need to escape the man outside.

  The car rocked back and forth. Metal screeched and with a loud crack the door swung awkwardly open. Drops of rain splashed on her face. Kate closed her eyes as a drop hit, then looked up at the man standing outside the door. It was Townsend.

  “She’s still alive! I’ve got her,” he yelled, not an ounce of emotion in his voice as he shook his head at her.

  Townsend reached into his pocket and pulled out a large pocket knife; Kate’s heart sank.

  “No! Please!” Kate screamed.

  Townsend swooped down and placed a hand over her mouth to silence her and shoved his knife toward her stomach. She braced.

  Without warning the tension around her chest released as the safety belt split. The man stepped back and let Kate drop hard to the ceiling. Her head slammed the ground as her arm bent backward unnaturally. She moaned in pain. Her eyes went fuzzy for a moment.

  Kate glared up at Townsend with all the fury she could muster, but words would not escape her mouth.

  In one swift motion, he lowered his hand and covered her mouth again. She felt a wet cloth touch her lips and nose. She tried to scream again, to fight back. Rapidly her vision began to blur, her limbs became limp, and then once again all was dark.

  CHAPTER 26

  January 29 at 3:55 p.m. EST

  Greensboro, NC

  “Ah!” Gray grunted, opening his eyes. The dull light seemed like the sun. It forced him to shut his eyes again. Everything hurt. Confused, he became aware of his body, half- hanging from his seat against his safety belt, the other half crumpled against the ceiling. His cheek awkwardly pressed against the clothe lining of the roof.

  Gray strained to lift his head and uttered a strangled scream. It felt like a freight train had crushed him and it was still running over him with each throb of his skull. The effort made him dizzy. He let his head rest on the glass shards covering the ceiling. He closed his eyes and took in a deep, labored breath.

  Kate!

  In spite of the pain he pivoted his neck to his right.

  Where is she?

  Gray’s breathing quickened, and his lips curled away from his teeth as he felt his temper rising.

  “No.” he wailed. “Not Kate!”

  He punched what was left of the steering wheel, bellowing in rage and agony, ignoring the pain shooting up his shoulder. He had failed Kate. He had failed Ethan.

  They took her. Why didn’t they take me?

  Kate must be alive, she had to be. He had to find
her. But he could not do that from a hospital bed, under the Bureau’s custody. He could not wait here for help. He held his breath as he lifted his upper torso. Fireworks exploded in his head and down his side.

  He forced himself to curl upward, reaching for his ankle. Almost. One more push and he managed to pull his pant leg down, revealing the knife he kept hidden there. With one more agonizing curl, he took hold of the knife and allowed himself to flop back down. The safety belt compressed against his chest again as he dropped, and his blood-soaked head thumped against the ceiling. Water and blood splatted from the puddle under his head. He gasped and waited for the pain to recede.

  Raising the blade, Gray sawed at the safety belt. He gritted his teeth, waiting for the moment that the belt would break and his body would fall. He sawed back and forth for what felt like an eternity until the belt finally gave way and his body fell hard against the ceiling and door.

  Gray pushed the pain away and gathered his senses. With a searing pain in his shoulder he got on his hands and feet. There was no use trying to open his door. The ceiling had caved in, crunching the door tightly in place. To his right the passenger door was open. He crawled under the center console and out the passenger door into the nippy winter rain.

  Gray was certain there was more to their ordeal now. The doubt that had plagued him only an hour ago was firmly replaced by the surety that Ethan was innocent. He did not know how. But someone was taking desperate measures to keep them quiet—at any cost.

  Across the street Gray saw a man jogging his way, a dingy brown umbrella swaying above him. Distantly the sound of police sirens echoed. They would be here soon.

  Whoever had taken Kate had left Gray for dead. Townsend and Howard, if those were their real names. Once they found out Gray was alive, he was sure the chase would be on again. He needed to stay low.

  Just behind the man Gray spotted a parked silver Ford sedan. He got off his hands shakily, trying to will away the throbbing in his side. Abruptly a sting of pain shot down his left leg making it go limp for a split second, almost sending him back to the pavement. He regained his balance and did his best to ignore the pain surging all over his body.

  “Sir, are you okay?” called out the man, his face showed signs of aging. His skin was roughened by time, and his hair was beginning to grey.

  “An ambulance is coming,” he assured Gray. “Sit and rest.”

  Gray nodded as he walked up to him. The man placed a consoling palm on Gray's shoulder and scrunched his cheeks as he gave him a once-over. That told Gray all he needed to know about how he looked: pretty much like the walking dead.

  “Is that your car?” Gray asked the man. He needed to be on the move.

  With a raised brow the man nodded, “Yes, it’s mine.”

  Gray reached into his pocket, wincing from the discomfort, and drew out his badge.

  “I’m with the FBI, sir. I need your car,” Gray said apologetically.

  “You can’t…”

  “Give me the keys! This is a matter of national security!” Gray cut him off, letting the pain funnel into his voice.

  The man stepped back and reached for his keys, throwing them to Gray without saying a word. Gray unlocked the car door and slid in, ignoring the pain.

  “You need to see a doctor,” the man plead. “You can’t just leave like this.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, then pressed the accelerator.

  CHAPTER 27

  January 29 at 3:34 p.m. EST

  Norfolk, VA

  Austin eyed the clock on his monitor. In fifteen minutes, he was expected to report to his superior, Agent Elena D’Cruze.

  Since joining the Information Security division, Austin had managed a congenial work relationship with his superior. Rarely had he visited her office for anything more than the yearly review, a quick chat, an update on regular system maintenance or some new upgrade. Never like this, a polygraph.

  He already dreaded meeting her pale brown eyes.

  For the past twenty minutes Austin had tried to talk himself up to checking the surveillance feed. He sat at his desk, surrounded by cubicles and the pounding of his own heart. He could not wait any longer. Austin let his fingers loose on the keyboard. Windows opened and closed.

  Access Denied.

  Seconds later the protected folder containing Ethan’s case appeared on the screen. Within a few keystrokes, he was viewing the video evidence locker. Tentatively, he tried to access it.

  Hmm… He typed in another command.

  Access Denied.

  He looked at the screen, only slightly perplexed. He should have expected that D’Cruze would revoke his access with Ethan out gallivanting only God knows where. He could not help but respect her initiative. Glancing back he eyed the row of shoulder height cubicles behind him where the two most recent interns sat, occasionally bobbing around the corner to ask the other a question. To his left a few more cubicles outlined the central path down the corridor leading up to D’Cruze’s glass walled office at the end. Austin caught a glimpse as she walked around desk and took a seat, her hips swaying. Satisfied no one was watching he tilted his monitor down and began typing again.

  Instinctively Austin looked over his shoulder before entering another command. He easily bypassed the security protocols. It was a perk of having helped design the system. He could not be in the system long. Someone would soon wonder why one of the few test users was logged in and viewing these specific folders.

  Finally, a list of videos appeared on the screen, each titled after the location of a security camera.

  World Congress Center Southeast, World Congress Center South 1, Philips Arena Northeast. He scanned the list. Omni Atlanta Southwest, CNN Center Northwest, CNN Inner Floor 1 Exit.

  He visualized the area from the street views he had glanced at just minutes ago on Google.

  Okay, Ethan was accused of shooting Jason in the CNN Center on the fourth floor. Where’s the best vantage point to see that location?

  He looked at the map on his second monitor for reference, matching the camera feeds with physical locations.

  CNN Center Inner Floor 1 Stairwell, CNN Center Inner Floor 3 Sky Bridge.

  Austin stopped.

  Wasn’t the Omni just across from the CNN Center?

  Centered on his map was the outline of the CNN Center. Andrew Young International Boulevard ran just north of the Center, between it and the Omni Atlanta Hotel. His eyes settled on the outline of the Omni.

  He minimized the map’s tab and resumed scanning the list of videos. He found what he was looking for: Omni Atlanta Southwest. His cursor hovered over the file.

  “Here we go,” he breathed, guiltily taking one last backward glance. Austin tried to prepare himself for whatever he was about to see though he knew it was pointless. Nothing could prepare him.

  He clicked the file, and the video opened on the screen. Austin oriented himself. Straight ahead was the CNN Center, a stoic structure cast in grainy shades of grays in the black and white feed. The parts visible in the feed were covered with windows though the video only showed the lower five floors.

  The street below was deserted except for a few police cruisers and what looked to be officers and a few agents standing guard along the street closer to the World Congress Center. Austin checked the time-stamp. 10:31:34. Too early. He slid the timeline forward to 10:46:04 and hit play. He squinted as he scanned the fourth floor windows.

  Come on Ethan… Jason. Where are you?

  A second later he caught movement in the most eastward room on the floor. Austin leaned in. There was only one figure in the room. He looked to be wearing coveralls. If it had not been for the long black barrel protruding from a hole in the glass wall, Austin would have assumed he was a member of maintenance.

  “Hey Austin,” a voice called to him from the next cubicle.

  Austin rushed to minimize the window before a bald head bobbed over the divider followed by a set of large rimmed spectacles. Agent Edward Hall. Austin fo
rced a quick grin, trying to hide the deceit in his eyes, as Hall continued.

  “You still coming out to Tito’s Friday night?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be there,” Austin tried to sound excited. If Edward only knew how hard he had tried to find a legitimate reason he could not go. As if not wanting to go was a bad reason.

  “Good,” Edward smiled. “So…”

  “I’ve got to get back to work,” Austin interrupted him. The man could go on for hours if you let him. Now was not the time.

  With a less than approving nod Edward disappeared back behind the divider and Austin brought up the video feed again and pressed play. He sat straighter in his chair now, working to obscure his monitor from anyone that might walk by.

  Where are you, Ethan?

  The barrel jerked, and the man pulled the rifle back into the room. He must have fired. Another figure hurried into the room, gun drawn.

  Ethan!

  Seconds later, Jason appeared behind him, followed by another person whom Austin did not know. Austin tried to focus, barely able to make out Ethan and Jason. He assumed the other person was Agent Abrams, the man the Bureau claimed Ethan tried to kill.

  For a moment everyone was still. Austin could tell the three agents had their guns drawn on the shooter. Then Jason dropped to the ground. Austin’s eyes went wide as his body shuddered. He looked away guiltily.

  I can't do this. But you have to Austin, he pushed himself.

  He braced himself and rewound the feed one minute. The video started again, and he watched more intently. Austin steeled himself. It was difficult to watch, but he had to see this.

  Austin slowed the playback, continually shifting his focus from Agent Abrams to Ethan and back again. Just before Jason dropped, Austin watched as Abrams redirected his aim… toward Jason. Austin’s eyes widened as he let the video resume its normal speed. Jason fell to the floor again. Ethan spun around as Abrams opened fire on him.

  He is innocent.