She patted me on the arm and turned to Dee Dee. "Tomorrow morning, right?"
"You bet. I don't want to miss the view." Dee Dee cackled and waved again. She waited until we were in the house before driving away.
"What view?" I asked, taking the brown paper bags to the kitchen. My voice was almost as morose as my mood.
"Dee Dee has a new man she's chasin'," Gran said. "I don't know what she's thinking, since the man must be nearly eighty. I told her he's too old for her, but he has his own hair and teeth, so she thinks he's hot stuff."
I nodded, not paying too much attention.
"How are you feelin', sugar?" Gran asked. "No, don't answer that. That's a silly question. I've got wine and ice cream. Once we get settled in front of the TV, you can let it all out."
The tears that had died away started to come back. "You brought ice cream?"
"Of course," Gran said. "Ben and Jerry's is the first step to get over any break-up. No woman should have to get by without those men in her life. Although, you could make do with wine. We've got both."
"Thanks, Gran. How much do you know?"
"Never mind that. You tell me what you need to, but first, go get in your pjs. We're going to do this right."
Gran busied herself pulling out bowls, spoons, and wine glasses. I interrupted her with a hug, which she returned before shooing me upstairs.
And we did it right. No one could do a break-up like Gran. Even Mom would have agreed with that. We talked for a while. Once I got the worst of it out, I was forced to admit I knew this was coming. And while, yes, I was sad and my heart hurt, I wasn't devastated. After Ethan had walked out the first time, when I told him about the Lost, I had been bracing myself for the time when he would walk out for good.
My world was too much. Remembering the look on Agent Watts’ face on the video when I opened the door, and Agent Paulson's face when I asked if he wanted me to read the Path at the office, I had come to the conclusion that even for people in my world, dealing with me might be too much. Shattered soul, powers that were stronger than anyone could expect, fragments of other souls littered through me, and the memories of I don't know how many Lost streaming through my mind.
No one deserved to have to deal with that.
Before I went to bed, Gran said something that took me by surprise.
"None of us know what's going to happen tomorrow. Not even me. We can't give up before we start." Then she looked lost in thought. "That's truer than even I thought. I don't see what's going to happen tomorrow."
Her distant look made me uneasy. "Everything okay, Gran?"
"Well, I was visiting your mother today. It's her house. All those fake plants she insists on keeping around sap the future right out of me."
"How's Mom doing?" I asked. Visiting Mom wasn't typical, especially considering the fact that it was a workday. Mom never misses a workday unless it's serious.
"She's having a hard time, I think," Gran said.
"With Bob? What's wrong?"
"Bob's been sick lately, and your mom needs help with a few things."
"Oh," I said, not knowing what to say to that. "Is there anything I can do? Does she need anything?"
"Not yet, but I expect she will," Gran said. "You should run and get some sleep. You have a full day tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure what to expect."
Gran chuckled. "Even I don't always know."
Chapter 4
Unsure if I was still a suspect in yesterday's murder, I went into the office early. The command room was more crowded than usual, but the atmosphere had calmed down. It was subdued compared to the frenzy of the hunt the day before. Now, everyone was more resigned in going about their business.
Gone were the stares of yesterday as well. There were a few glances, but my return to work was yesterday's news.
"Hey, Hank," I said, going straight to our handler. "I didn't get the chance to get my computer access yesterday. Um, is there anything new?"
"Yes and no." Hank leaned back in his chair and I saw the deep, dark circles under his eyes. "We know more about how the recordings were scrambled, but there's not much we can do about it."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No, we've got our techs, as well as techs from Washington, going over the footage. I'm not sure if Paulson has anything new, but I expect we'll find out sometime today."
"What's on my agenda for the day? Do I join Logan again?"
"Later today. This morning, you're with Boone."
"Agent Boone? Why am I with him?" The idea of working with an outsider made me uncomfortable. Besides MyTH, I'd never worked much with someone outside of my team.
"Paulson is going to be interviewing your team this morning. Standard procedure, but who knows when he'll get to them. Boone met them yesterday. This morning, he's joining the specialists that will be sealing the goblin portal."
Despite my unease of working with someone new, this piqued my interest.
"It'll give you two a chance to meet and you can both join up with Logan later today."
"Do you know how they close the portal?" I asked.
"From what I hear, they're a bit like you and Clan... Well, you and Vincent now, I guess." Hank clicked a few keys, uncomfortable with thinking about Clancy in the past tense.
I couldn't blame him. It was hard to believe he was gone.
"Anyway," Hank said, scrubbing his face with his hands, "this portal was forced open and it’s clearly unstable. They use their abilities to seal the world away at that point."
"Rider's going to miss the gremlins." The attempt at lightening the mood wasn't great, but it did the trick.
"Yeah, who would have thought a werewolf would look forward to catching gremlins. Maybe it's the chase?"
Not having thought of that, I grinned. "That could be."
"Let me get your log in information and you can get caught up with whatever you can this morning."
Hank took a tablet from his drawer and after what seemed like one hundred taps and swipes, he had me enter a password and scan my thumbprint.
"Here's your cell phone back. You're good to go," Hank said. He took a moment to look around the room. "Your office is open this morning, but everything past that is closed. It looks like we have a few desks out here still unoccupied. I'm not sure when the night shift will go this morning, but day shift is starting to show up early today, so they're filling fast."
"Thanks, Hank."
There was one desk off to the side this morning. It seemed like everyone wanted to be here, but no one wanted to be in the middle of things. At least that's how I felt, so I chose a place at random. I didn't have to go far, but I noticed an office worker not looking at me, walk around the desk I was passing, giving me a wide berth. Shaking my head, I sat the tablet down, claiming the desk, and looked around. No one stared like they had yesterday, which was a relief. Maybe he was being polite and giving me space.
For some reason, when Hank said, 'catch up,' I thought he was joking. Turns out, he wasn't. There were reports from the team to read from while I was gone and what seemed like a thousand emails.
Reading through the emails, my mind started to blank on what I was seeing as I clicked mindlessly through the list.
"Good morning, Agent Heidrich."
I had expected Agent Boone to track me down, but Paulson found me first.
"You look beat," I said without thinking. We knew each other, but he had always been a coworker in the background until he had taken over a case for the team a month or so ago. "Sorry, I mean, you should take a seat."
"I think I will." He dragged a chair over from the desk behind me. He rolled it over—beside me instead of across from me—and sat, watching the room.
He didn't seem inclined to talk at the moment, so I clicked through a few more emails, mostly announcements that were no longer relevant, and let him sit.
Peeking around my monitor, I noticed Paulson was getting the stares I had received yesterday, although neve
r when he was looking directly at anyone.
"Sorry, Agent Heidrich," Paulson said at last, turning to me. "I got lost in my thoughts for a moment there."
"It's no wonder," I said, "and you can call me Cassie."
A ghost of a grin flitted across his face. "Thanks. Everyone is more formal around me today instead of less."
"Oh." Should I have offered my first name or stuck with the agent? Too late now.
"I'm not sure if I'm the pariah, or if they're afraid they're going to be labeled one." He sounded sad as he spoke and I felt for him. Having to interrogate your own coworkers couldn't be easy.
"Don't worry about it," I said, wanting to try to lighten the heavy load he put on himself. "I got all the stares yesterday; it's just your turn today. Once this is over, it'll be someone else."
"Could be. Not the first day back you intended, is it?"
"Not in the least."
"Were you close to Clancy?"
Was he questioning me or did he ask to be nice? Either way, the answer was the same, but hard to explain. "Not close, but..." I tried to put words around the relationship. "I mean, we worked together when we needed to on a case." Even though my feelings on the subject were strong and raw, it was hard to put my thoughts into words.
"You were going to say something else." He sounded interested instead of questioning.
It could have been a tactic to interrogate coworkers, but again, it didn't matter. "It's a little different." Feeling awkward, I glanced around and leaned in, not wanting to have others hear. "He was a clairvoyant and I'm a Reader."
He interrupted before I could continue. "They're different though, right?"
"Yeah. I mean, there's some crossover, but not much. The thing is though, we're both, I don't know, outsiders. We're different. Vincent too. Coworkers treat us differently, and they're sometimes leery of us." I shrugged, trying to play it down.
Paulson looked like he thought hard on what I said. "I guess I didn't realize."
"You see it with the Lost too. They have something in common that others don't relate to. Some humans don't like them. And I know you've seen people steer clear of Vincent."
"Vincent's another story. You and Clancy are normal, though."
I shook my head and looked around. There were a few office workers and agents in the small kitchenette area off the control room. One of them was the same guy who had walked around me earlier.
"Vincent's no different than the rest of us. I'll give you an idea of what it’s like." I sighed, turned off my computer screen, and stood. "Watch me and the others."
I plastered a small smile on my face and went straight to the coffee machine. "Hi," I said brightly as I approached.
The smiles were courteous, and I received a few nods and a good morning before the room cleared out of all but one agent. He also smiled while I mixed up my coffee.
"It's good to see you back in the office," the agent said.
In my periphery, I noticed his eyes look me up and down. It took everything I had not to roll my eyes.
"Thanks," I said.
He leaned closer, taking the coffee pot and brushing against my arm. Getting coffee for both Paulson and myself, I went back to my desk.
He had his arms crossed and was frowning.
"I wasn't sure how you like your coffee, so I brought some cream and sugar," I said.
He nodded and took a cream and sugar, not saying anything.
My computer screen stuttered to life and I logged back in. I scrolled through a few more emails before looking at Paulson. Once again, he watched the room.
Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Oh well, too late now. Besides, how was that something he had never noticed before?
"It's always like that?" he asked after a while.
"With some people," I said.
"And there's always people like that around the office? I wouldn’t have expected it with all that we see."
I shrugged. "Just because you’re in this job doesn't mean you’re comfortable with everything around you."
"Yeah, but you get used to it." He was quiet again for a minute. "Have I ever... I mean we've worked together some and..."
I thought of his reaction yesterday when I had offered to read the Path and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. Honestly, it's rare that I even notice anymore. It's the way things are, and like you said, you get used to it."
"I have to ask this for the case. Have you ever noticed anyone who was more uncomfortable with you or Clancy?"
Giving the question due consideration, I tried to run through anyone that had stood out. "Not that I noticed."
"Did Clancy ever mention anyone giving him a hard time?"
Frowning, I thought about the few times I had seen Clancy on the job with others around. "I think a few people didn't like it when he reminded them not to touch anything. But that could be because they didn't think they needed the reminder."
"You think like I do. It's hard to look at your coworkers and not give them the benefit of the doubt," he said.
"Are you positive it is someone who works here?" I asked.
Looking weary, he rubbed his hands over his face again. "No, but it's the most likely option. What do you know about Agent Boone?"
"Only that he's an agent who’s here to watch our team. Logan, Rider, or Vincent could tell you more. They were with him yesterday."
"I keep finding myself looking at him, but he had already left the building when Clancy was killed."
"Do we have a time of death, then?" I didn't actually want to know the answer to that, but needed to know all the same.
"It's only an estimated time of death. A window, but the doctor was there early enough to make the window short. We think when you heard the noises was when the incident occurred."
Nodding, I swallowed hard and looked away, concentrating on my computer until I knew my tear ducts were once again under control. Why had I asked? It was my exact worries come true. He had died while I listened from the other room.
"There's no way you could have known," Paulson said.
"You don't know that," I said.
"Now that you do know, what do you think the noises were?"
Thinking about the sounds, I couldn't place anything. "It was a storage closet. Had things fallen off the shelves?"
"One thing looked like it had been knocked over."
I thought back and frowned. "Did the person clean up after himself?"
"Not that we can tell."
"Nothing else was out of place?" I asked.
"A vent duct cover that had been knocked off."
"Do you think the person went through there?" Why was he talking to me if he had a lead?
"Not that we can tell. It would have to be someone really small, likely not human, and there's still dust in the duct."
"Is it smaller than anything we have on the Farm?"
"No, but I have teams out interviewing everyone."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, wondering why he had sat down here.
"You've already helped. I know more now than I knew yesterday. I'll catch up with your team today to get information on Agent Boone, but I'm afraid that's a dead end."
"I'll be out with him this morning. If I see anything odd, I'll let you know."
"You're going out without your team?"
"Guess so. Only for the morning."
Paulson frowned, but didn't say anything.
"I know I asked yesterday," I said, pushing the idea once more while he was distracted. "But the offer still stands. If you want me to read the Path in the hallway, let me know. I'm not sure what I can find this far out, but if I'm lucky, I might be able to see everything."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
It was my turn to frown and feel confused. "It's what I do. Read what happened at the location. Find a Path and track it if I can."
"Is that what you did to the door?"
"Something like that. It was the adrenaline, though. It had to be." I coul
d feel my face blushing, which sucked. I was usually a much better liar than this. "But somehow, I was able to see the door's Path and pull on it."
He nodded, but didn't reply.
Oh well, I had made the offer. It was strange he didn't take me up on it, but I let it drop.
"Looks like your team has arrived," Paulson said.
Looking around, I saw Logan and Rider entering the room. Vincent wasn't far behind.
"You were wondering if you ever treated us differently." I was pushing things, knowing I shouldn't. Office politics could be like putting your finger in a beehive.
"Yes?" Paulson asked, watching Vincent come our way while Logan and Rider went to see Hank.
"Think about how you look at Vincent."
"Vincent's different."
"Is he?" I asked. "You saw him a few weeks ago in the field, injured and exhausted after taking on a threat. Much like you are now. Well, not the injured part. He's different because he's treated that way, along with rumor and myth."
Vincent was close enough that Paulson didn't reply beyond a nod. His reaction spoke volumes, though.
"Morning," Paulson said when Vincent walked up.
"Good morning," Vincent replied, barely giving the man a glance.
It had been done so often to him that I think Vincent expected Paulson to walk away, but he didn't. Vincent kept his emotions so closely guarded that no one around seemed to be able to see beyond the indifferent mask he always wore. I could read him like a book, though, and when Paulson didn't walk away, Vincent looked wary.
"Would you like some coffee?" Paulson asked, raising his almost empty cup. "I was on my way to get more."
"Thank you, but I'm good." Vincent's tone was careful and calculating, as though he was trying to discern what angles Paulson was playing.
The coffee was going a bit far. Asking a Walker to take coffee when he didn't know you well was a little like offering a fairy food. If they didn't trust you, they'd dust you and chase you away, assuming you were trying to poison them.
Paulson nodded. "I'll need to interview your team, but I'll grab you all sometime this morning so you won't have to stick around here all day."
"We'll be here until you need us," Vincent said.
AIR Series Box Set Page 99
