“Yeah,” Cassie groaned rolling her eyes.
I put on my best fake smile and pretended to be happy for her. “Hey now, cheer up. I thought you were all excited about going to school. Ugly uniforms are just part of the deal. Just like a horrendous dress to a bridesmaid. It won’t be that bad. Come on let’s go meet and greet.”
“Yes Old Mother Grey.”
“Oh great, now Mary has you doing it too?”
As soon as we entered the main building we were separated. It happened so fast I never even had a chance to wish her a good day. Within minutes of my arrival, I found myself in a leather-bound cherry wood office. The oversized wingback chair I was told to sit in made me feel small and helpless. It was like when I was a kid in trouble and sent to the principal’s office. And the principal looked like an evil bitch.
“I am Administrator Kerrigan, the administrator of this facility. You are the one that brought Cassandra, are you not?”
“Yea, that’s me.” I suddenly shrunk down in the big chair under the evil gaze behind the 1950's horn-rimmed glasses of the woman on the other side of the desk. “I mean, yes Ma’am, Cassie is my little sister, and I brought her here.”
“I see,” she sneered down at me through her glasses that added a menacing dimension to her appearance. “Well, Cassandra has begun her testing now. Soon we shall see if Cassandra is indeed worthy enough for Tarter Academy.”
“Cassie,” I corrected her.
She waved her hand in the air as if to shoo away my words like a pestering insect. “Yes, of course. Cassandra will undergo an intense schedule, if we choose to accept her.”
“And if she chooses to accept you.”
She looked taken-a-back by that. “Why in the world would Cassandra not want to attend Tarter Academy? We are after all the most prestigious school in the entire state.”
I could think of a few reasons.
“Well, Cassandra will be in testing and orientation all day. You are dismissed.”
She couldn’t have gotten a rise out of me faster if she had slapped me. “Excuse me?!”
“You are no longer needed. Please return to gather Cassandra at the end of the day. You are dismissed. . . . That means you may leave now.”
“Cassie, her name is Cassie,” I growled through clenched teeth. I just knew if I opened my mouth to say more I was going to regret it.
“Yes, yes, of course, Cassandra will be fine.”
I wonder about that.
Outside, Mary called me as I was walking to my car in the snow.
“Did you get her dropped off okay?”
“Yea Mary, but I don’t know. This place is . . . different. I realize I only met a few of the staff, but if that administrator lady was any indication . . . let’s just say I would hate going to school here.”
“There are two other schools around that have the security clearance to have Cassie as a student. Just ask her when she gets done if she wants to go to school there or not. If not, then make an appointment to visit the other schools,” she offered the simple solution that was so obvious I hadn’t thought of it.
“I suppose you’re right. Besides, I’m not sure about sending her to a school named after a restaurant condiment.”
* * *
I only half paid attention to the movie. It was a romantic comedy, I think. I was too worried about Cassie to watch. About then was when I would expect Mary to pop out and call me Old Mother Grey again. My glasses started ringing. I ducked out of the theater in order not to annoy the others that were trying to enjoy the movie. It was the Tarter Academy calling.
“How dare you leave that monster here! I assure you that as soon as the proper authorities arrive we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law!” Administrator Kerrigan was screaming in rage.
“Wait a minute! What happened? Where is Cassie? Is she alright?”
“That heathen has been locked away! She tried to slaughter all of our students!”
“I’m on my way.”
“Don’t bother! The GCP already dispatched a representative, but it will do no good! That creature will be punished!”
The line went dead.
“Oh god Cassie, what did I get you into?”
Chapter 6
I sped into the parking lot at the same time as Tanaka, narrowly missing each other. He waited beside his car for me. I didn’t want to talk with him at all, but he stepped forward before I could sneak past. He held up his hand stopping me before I could ask why he was there.
“Since you are Cassie’s sister, the GCP sent me to represent them as an agency. However, you are my commanding officer. I will follow your lead.”
Ok, good. Well, let’s get this other thing over with.
“Tanaka, about yesterday–”
“Cassie needs us right now. The only thing to be said about yesterday is that I dropped off your underwear at Emmy’s office earlier. You can get them from her. Now let’s go.”
Fine by me. I really wasn’t ready to talk to him anyway. At least not in a civilized manner. It’s really tough to be civilized anymore for some reason. This would all be so much easier if everyone just did what I wanted without question.
We entered the Administrator’s office a few minutes later only to be verbally assaulted as soon as the door opened.
“I told you not to bother coming! Are you so uncivilized that you can’t take a simple order!?!” The Administrator’s face was flushed with anger as she threw the words in my face.
“Cassie is my sister and my partner. Everything that happens to her concerns me! Now tell me, what in the hell is going on?”
“Going on!?! That little assassin attempted to kill everyone here!”
I couldn’t keep the chuckle buried from her poor choice of words. “Ha! I hardly believe that, if she wanted you dead you would be dead.”
“Oh! Now you are threatening to kill me!!! I never!”
“No, you probably haven’t you senile bi–”
Tanaka stopped me when he placed his hand on my shoulder lightly. “Kieran, your charm is getting a little thick.”
I glared over my shoulder at him. He simply shrugged and let his hand drop.
“Mrs. Kerrigan–”
“MS.! Ms. Kerrigan! You uneducated twit!”
“Tanaka, can I just shoot her?” I growled the question to him while I forced my hands into fists to keep from grabbing my guns.
“Uh, I guess you could, but it might not help much,” he replied sheepishly with a noncommittal shrug.
“Look lady. Where is Cassie?”
“That thing has been locked away!”
“You locked up a student?!”
“She is no student of ours, and she never will be!”
I took a deep breath and tried to keep calm. “What exactly happened?”
“She tried to kill us all!”
Calmness was never one of my better traits. “Quit exaggerating and tell us the truth!”
“That thing almost beat a student to death!”
“So, now it’s only one student? You better get your story straight real quick lady!” I warned her with a shaking of my finger at her.
“More threats?! Well, I never!”
“You probably never did anything did you, you old bat!”
“Uh hum! Ms. Kerrigan, I know for a fact that the entire school is under camera surveillance. Perhaps you could show us the tape of the alleged attack as evidence,” Tanaka diplomatically suggested as he stepped between us.
Is he worried she’s going to attack me or something? Certainly he isn’t worried about ME doing something rash is he?
“An excellent idea. As you can clearly see, she is the criminal here.”
She pointed to the TV on the sidewall. The picture was of the playground. A group of boys were laughing together. Cassie walked clear across the screen, and decked the middle boy, instantly laying him out. Then she turned and walked away, giving him her back as a clear sign that she didn’t think of him as a threat.
>
“ONE HIT!?! You call one hit beating him to death? Christ lady, if Cassie wanted him dead she would’ve just shot him! Not walked across the playground and hit him! Hell you can see him still moving, he isn’t even hurt that bad!”
Tanaka grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back to the wall well out of reach of the current focus of my growing anger. “Not helping much!” he growled at me through his teeth.
I ignored his inhuman mechanical strength pinning me to the wall, and yelled my demands over his shoulder. “Show us the rest of the tape! Why did she walk over to hit him? Something else must have happened.”
“I have shown you all you need to see! I will make sure that monster hangs for this!” she spat at me.
“WHAT?!?!”
“The police are on their way to arrest her for manslaughter!”
“Oh please! At most you could get her charged with assault, besides even the cops need more evidence then that!”
“ENOUGH!!!” Tanaka bellowed at both of us and gave me more pressure to keep me firmly in place.
He was being pushy, but he was right. Neither of was going to win that pissing contest. I closed my eyes and took a number of deep breaths calming myself.
“Ms. Kerrigan,” I began softly, which Tanaka must have taken as a good sign because he let go of me and let me step away from the wall. “As the lead representative of the GCP concerning this situation, I respectfully request to see the recording showing the moments preceding the incident, so that we may properly ascertain what exactly led Officer Cassandra Grey to her course of action.”
“No.” Short, sweet, to the point, and it pissed me off even more.
AAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! Please can’t I shoot her? Just once?
“Fine, we’ll go ask Cassie herself what happened,” I announced spinning on my heels for the door.
“You can’t do that,” the administrator hissed at me.
“And why not?”
“Security has been ordered to shoot anyone who tries to help that thing escape. Unless I give you permission to enter, they will shoot you.”
I froze in mid-step, an evil grin of knowing I’d just won spread across my face. “That sounds like a threat to me. Are you saying that you are holding her against her will by means of armed guard?”
“Yes.”
GOTCHA!
“Tanaka, place Ms. Kerrigan under arrest for violation of global law, specifically article 38 subsection C, the unlawful detainment of a GCP officer,” I ordered and he responded.
In a blur he crossed the room and handcuffed her without a word. I crossed around the desk ignoring her protests and pressed rewind on the security footage. Then I saw something. I pressed play and watched the boy that Cassie had hit, beating on a young girl! A girl even smaller then Cassie, being repeatedly hit and kicked by the boy while a group of others cheered him on. Cassie moved in and comforted the girl after the bullies had left her bleeding on the playground, then stood and nodded. I wish there was sound on this thing. Cassie then walked over and decked the boy. She stood there until he got up and then she returned to help the girl off the playground.
I looked over my shoulder at the now silent Ms. Kerrigan. Tanaka had his hand on her shoulder holding her in one of the oversized chairs. I knew from experience that unless she was some sort of ubervamp, shifter, or a cyborg, that one hand could keep her there forever. She had a strange look on her face, like guilt.
“Care to explain?” I asked jerking my thumb at the screen.
She stayed silent and turned to stare at the floor. The secretary came bursting into the office, tears streaming down her face and shaking. It was obvious she was just one step away from all out shock.
“We had no choice! He said he would make us disappear if we went against him!” the secretary dropped to her knees in front of me, wrapping her fists into the leg of my jeans like a child begging for forgiveness.
“Who?”
“If I tell you, he’ll kill me.”
“We can protect you,” Tanaka said in a deep tone with a finality to it that said he meant it.
“It was his son. His son was the one that got hurt. He will kill us all if we help you.”
“Tanaka, call in an investigation team. I want to know what all is going on here. This is all just too weird.”
“How will you justify it? This is a little out of our jurisdiction for a full inquiry. The boy isn’t in my database of known psionics.”
“This school receives grants and security clearance from the GCP to take in children that are psionics and the kids of officers. Justify it as a review of policy for continuation of security clearance.”
A look of agreement passed on his face as he nodded and put his glasses on. It looked like he was having a one-way conversation with himself as he called in the team.
“He’ll be here soon. You have to help us. Please!” the secretary begged pulling on my jeans again, this time hard enough that I had to grab on to them before she pulled them off.
Whoever it was, she was really terrified of him. She did directly ask for help. That makes it our jurisdiction now regardless. A recent change to the GCP mandate allowed for us to intercede in instances that didn’t involve psionics as long as we were officially requested to interfere. Anyone could ask regardless of age or position, then it was up to the one they asked whether or not to get involved. The main reason behind the change was the local police across the country. GCP officers were being repeatedly brought in on cases that didn’t involve psionics, but were too difficult for the local law enforcement to handle for whatever reason. Mostly against shifters and vamps. Our involvement in a few cases was brought up in court. The expansion of our mandate was the GCP’s answer to those court cases. It silenced the lawyers faster than a cash settlement ever could.
“Okay, we’ll help you, but you have to help us. Who was the girl that the kid was beating on?”
“She’s a scholarship child. Every year we take in a few students that can’t afford us. It’s a tax write-off. Other students pick on the scholarship kids because of their low income.”
“Is that what happened here?”
“Yes, I was out there. I heard what was going on. But I dare not stop him, because of his father.”
“Who is his father?” I asked again.
“Where’s my son?!” the plain-clothes Detective screamed as he stormed into the office.
Him again!?!
* * *
The detective that had tried to shoot me back before Christmas stormed into the room. It was the same guy that Cassie had shot with a pulse gun. The detective that had called me a bully and a freak.
Oh joy!
“YOU!!!” he screeched as soon as he saw me in the office. “What did you do to my son?!”
“Nothing.”
He crossed the office grabbing my jacket and yanking me into his face and shaking me as he screamed at me more. “Liar! Where is my son?! Tell me!”
“Get your hands off me!”
“Your son is in the infirmary,” the secretary said, cringing like she expected to be hit.
Is that it? Is he beating them? Surly not, he’s a cop after all. He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he? But she did say he’d threatened to kill them for helping us.
He dropped me and rushed from the room. I followed right on his heels. It took us three hallways before we reached the infirmary. He busted through the doors almost ripping them from the hinges.
“You little bastard!” he roared running across the room raising his hand.
What the hell is going on?
I looked at the kid lying on the bed. Horror flooded his face; he ducked and curled into a ball. A classic defensive maneuver, especially for victims of physical abuse.
I sprinted across the room behind the detective, throwing myself into his back just before he brought his fist down on the scared child. It took me a second to get my bearings as I stopped rolling on the floor. It was a second too long.
The punch landed s
quare across the left side of my jaw. Without my shields to protect me, it felt like half of my head had been torn off. I hit the ground hard. Bells were ringing in my ears.
Dammit that hurt!
I grabbed my pulse gun and shoved it into his face, only to be looking down the barrel of his revolver. I could see the hollow-point round waiting to be fired down that short tunnel right into my eye. At that range, and with my shields on the brink the way they were, I was going to die.
“So, you beat your son, and threaten to get rid of anyone who turns you in, is that it?” I asked him, fighting to keep the fear of dying out of my voice.
“You have no room to talk murderer.” Then he actually spat at me.
I ignored the spittle that coated my face and kept my focus on the hand holding the gun in my face. “Murderer? You’re the one about to kill me without reason. Think about that.”
“It doesn’t matter. If you’re dead, you can’t interfere again. Never again.”
“Drop the gun Detective!” Tanaka ordered.
I waited until the detective looked away before I risked a glance. I saw Tanaka just inside the door with his own pulse gun drawn and pointed at the crazy cop.
“You won’t take me! You can’t have me!” he muttered as he stepped back.
“NO!!!” someone screamed.
The world went into slow motion as the detective raised his gun to his head.
He’s going to kill himself?!?!
It was too far across the room to stop him, especially without my shields. I did the next best thing. I shot him. Tanaka had the same thought I did, and shot at the same time.
Maybe I need to keep him around after all.
The blue-white plasma exploded as both shots slammed into the detective. He flew into the corner dropping the gun. Not even a minute later the GCP investigation team arrived. And I went looking for a sanitary towel.
Chapter 7
I held my badge out around the corner as I yelled, “I am Hunter Class Officer Kieran Grey of the GCP. If you draw weapons on me I will be forced to react in defense, and I will kill you.”
“No need for that,” a voice called out followed by the sounds of guns sliding across concrete. Two guns slid into view at my feet. “We’re not armed.”
Immortal Death (Kieran Grey Psionic Hunter Book 3) Page 6
