David returned the grim look. “I’ve still no idea what’s in the bag, or to whom he’s delivering it, but I don’t think it’s that simple. Because he’s definitely doing something that ties back to the governor.”
“You’re sure?”
David eased his hands off the back of the chair and forced himself to sit down in it. “I told you of the sergeant’s night visit to my house. I thought he was there to meet Crystal.”
“This housekeeper of yours that you suspect?”
David sighed. “I don’t know about Crystal anymore. But what I do believe is that Rossiter went to the house to meet my mother. And that it’s all to do with Governor Roberts.”
“Hold on, David.” Henson leaned forward. “I’m not following. Your mother?”
David fidgeted in the chair. “I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
“I have a duty, a responsibility.” The lieutenant looked David straight in the eye. “There are different ways to discharge one’s duties, though.” Henson seemed to search around for something more to say. “I’ll take your concerns into consideration, but I’m afraid I can’t promise more than that.”
David nodded. “I understand.” It would have to be good enough. His choices were limited.
The lieutenant waited while David took his time trying to decide exactly what to say.
David stared at the top of the desk and cleared his throat. “I couldn’t find anything to back up my suspicions of Crystal. I couldn’t help but start wondering about my mom—whether she’d been the one meeting Rossiter.” He didn’t see the need to drag in Caroline Sanderson. “My own mother. I had to find out one way or the other.”
“Sure. I get that.”
“I got a look at the files on her workpad. She takes it home in the evening.” Now he was committing himself. “I examined her recent activity logs, and there’s no question. She’s been using her access codes—the ones that let her change the restrictions on the FURCS communication node. She’s been in contact with Governor Roberts. Multiple times.”
Henson’s voice was soft. “Still, it could be something legitimate. Negotiations?”
David shook his head without looking up. “That doesn’t explain Sgt. Rossiter’s visit.” He didn’t want to hear the excuses he’d tried to tell himself. “And I checked the time and date stamps of those communications.” He felt himself deflate in the chair. “She contacted the governor while Rossiter was there, in the house. That’s no coincidence.”
The lieutenant frowned. “No, I can see there’s only one conclusion to draw.”
“I think she’s involved in something shady with Governor Roberts. Giving him the ability to communicate with conspirators inside the compound. That would make her one of them.” David thought she could well be in charge of the whole plot, whatever that might be, but he wouldn’t mention that. He was trying to get his mother out of trouble, not into more.
“You’re not in the mood to hear this.” Henson offered a weak smile. “But your deductions, your results—they’re pretty impressive. I have to admit I didn’t expect so much.”
David sighed. He didn’t want to hear that. “But the question remains—what now?”
The lieutenant breathed in and out and worked his jaw for several moments before he responded. “Technically, this is a matter for Internal Security. They have a liaison officer here, but I believe she’s already left for the day.” Henson paused to rub his earlobe. “I should take this straight to Chief Nelson or Director Miles. But let’s table that for the moment and see if we have any alternatives.”
“I appreciate it.” David sat up in his chair. “But if this is an urgent problem, I don’t want to be responsible for delaying any action.” He wondered if they could find another way.
“I don’t know that it’s urgent. Serious, yes.”
David hated to shake his head. “If my mom is facilitating messages being passed between Roberts and Gray—” He’d given this a lot of thought and was satisfied to see the lieutenant paying full attention. “They could use that communication to coordinate sabotage by Gray on the inside with an attack from the outside.” That’s why David had been compelled to say something to someone. “The results could be devastating.”
Henson sat back in his chair and scratched his nose while he thought. “Your mother. She can’t—won’t want to be seen acting in the open. Same goes for Gray. They have to keep everything secret.” The lieutenant paused for another long moment. “That’s their disadvantage.”
David thought he saw where Lt. Henson’s mind was headed, a benefit of his having stewed over the problem so much. “We have our own disadvantage, though. We don’t know exactly what it is they might be planning. Worse, we don’t know how close they may be to implementing whatever it is.”
“True. But I’m not sure we need to know.” Henson sat forward again and looked David in the eye. “Not in order to use their disadvantage to create an opportunity. All we have to do is keep any messages from being passed in the meantime.”
David shook his head. “How can we do that? We know Sgt. Rossiter must’ve been relaying things between my mother and Gray, and presumably the governor. I still suspect Crystal. For all we know there could be others.”
The lieutenant smiled. “But as long as we can contain any communication with the people on the outside, we can delay whatever they’re planning. It buys us time.”
David leaned forward onto the edge of his seat. “But how? And what do we do with the time, if we can get it?”
Henson frowned. “Let’s look at the opportunity first. The director himself sent his daughter here as a so-called liaison officer—the motive is transparent. The administration’s already unhappy with the job Gray’s doing. Her report won’t help Gray. They will just use it as a lever to get rid of the man. I can do my part by putting in my own report, revealing some of the problems I’ve seen with Colonel Gray. And once they’ve replaced him…”
“Then the threat he poses is neutralized.” David wondered if part of Henson’s plan was designed to get himself promoted, but he didn’t care. “The danger Gray poses flows from his authority. If that is taken away, it certainly hobbles what the conspirators could do.” It was a promising idea, but it left some loose ends. A threat would remain. “There’s still Rossiter.” And my mother.
“I know all about the sergeant. And the director’s daughter clearly has her suspicions. Without Gray around, I doubt that Rossiter would be able to pull anything.”
David returned to the more immediate issue. “So how do we keep my mother from coordinating anything until Gray’s gone?”
“No offense, but I don’t believe we can rely on your surveillance. Not when it’s this serious.” The lieutenant paused in thought. “I’ll have to make up something to get Rossiter out of the way for a while. I have a couple of guards I can trust to be discreet.” Henson ran his thumbnail up and down the bridge of his nose. “They can watch your mom.”
David agreed that his own efforts would be lacking, but he was unsure of the rest. “Can you find a way to deal with the sergeant? And will two men be enough to keep an eye on my mother?”
“Yes. She won’t be able to make a move when she’s at work, so they’d only have to keep her under surveillance outside of that. And she can’t communicate with them over the FURCSnet—there’d be too much chance of getting caught. So it’s feasible. And I can keep an eye on Gray personally.”
David nodded. It seemed like it might work, but it was a big chance to take. They only needed it to work for a short time, though. “If this works, then I wouldn’t have to worry about my mother being exposed?”
“Not from me.”
“I want to do my part. I can watch Crystal, just in case.”
Henson grinned. “You do that. And I’ll get the ball rolling on my end right away, by taking care of Sgt. Rossiter.”
David stood, offering the lieutenant his hand. He felt relieved. He’d shared his burden, unloaded onto someone
with authority who could and would do something about it, and in a way that might keep his mother out of it completely. After they shook hands, Henson rose and walked with David out and down the corridor before turning back.
David’s steps were lighter as he crossed the lobby and waved to the guard. He walked right out into the rain. He stood outside in the dark and let the rain fall and didn’t mind that he was getting soaked. It felt good.
He started strolling up the sidewalk without giving a thought to where he was going or why. He’d told the lieutenant he’d keep an eye on Crystal, but he doubted that was necessary. He should head to the house anyway. It would take Henson a while to make his arrangements, and David could watch his mother in the interim. But he couldn’t make himself do that.
He was weary with the effort of the past weeks, and despite sleeping most of the weekend away he still felt like crashing. He still had his dorm room, and he let his feet meander in that direction. He was beginning to get water-logged now.
As his soggy clothes grew heavy, his thoughts grew heavy as well. He hadn’t been forthright with Lt. Henson, for all he’d wanted to share. He hadn’t told the man about Caroline Sanderson’s activities, or how he suspected his own mother’s involvement to be deeper than he’d intimated. And even if they could manage to thwart Chief Gray, the community remained under serious threat. And any number of potential enemies would remain on the loose—capable of doing unknown harm.
The full impact of David’s choice began to dawn upon him. He had put his concern for his mom, for protecting her, above everyone else’s safety. Ahead of everything. He loved his mother. But he should have just gone straight to Director Miles with what he’d found, all of it. That’s what Ken would’ve told him to do.
Now David could only hope that this alternate solution he’d grabbed at to make things easier for himself—that it didn’t backfire and create a terrible mess for them all. What if it’s not enough, or not in time? As right as it had seemed at the time, now he was having second thoughts.
The pouring rain no longer refreshed him as it streamed down his face. Up ahead he saw the Green with its already dim lights almost completely extinguished by the downpour. He was well past the side street leading to his own house. And the dorms felt far too distant to him now. He glimpsed one of the wooden benches that sat, dotting around the sidewalk that circled the Green, and managed to make it that far, his feet dragging.
He sat down with a muffled thump and squish. He propped his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands and just let the wall of water wash over him. He drifted. He didn’t know how long he sat there, quietly drowning in the dark, before he realized he needed to ask for help.
David started praying. Lord, if you’re listening, I don’t know what to do. I want to do what’s right, but I can’t seem to understand anything anymore. It’s too much for me. I can’t handle it on my own. God, help me. God help us all.
David continued to sit in the pouring rain, helpless and wondering how he’d managed to get to this point. He’d started by trying to do what he thought was right. But somewhere along the way he’d gotten off track. Somehow he’d lost his direction. And he no longer had the energy to do anything about it.
Then he heard the sharp voice over the sound of the falling rain.
“You look like a drowned rat. I should lock you up for your own good. At least it would keep you warm and dry.”
Chapter 12
When it Pours
8:50 p.m. Monday, December 16th
KAT looked down at the sad, pathetic figure on the bench as he lifted his head at the sound of her voice. She saw his hair was plastered with rain, and water was streaming down his face like a river, and while she must have looked a picture herself, it couldn’t be as bad as this poor trout. She hoped.
She couldn’t tell if the kid had been crying, but he looked about as low as anyone she’d ever seen. He just sat there, staring at her. She couldn’t allow him to stay here and catch his death of cold. “There aren’t any proper cells at Security. Hopefully no one will mind if I park you in the break room while you dry off. And get some hot food in you.”
“Security?” The boy lifted his head a little now and looked at her.
“Yes, I’m a security officer, though you wouldn’t know it.” And Kat wondered why she was wasting her time babbling to this stranger.
“You. I know who you are.”
Kat sighed because she knew where this was going, and she’d grown tired of it. The kid gazed at her with widening eyes. He might be a bit dim.
With the dark and the roar of the rain, Kat didn’t sense anything until a tiny tingle of a presence just behind her gave too little warning, and then she was being pushed roughly aside, shoved to the ground. As she rolled and spun around on the wet grass, she saw the form of her attacker as he went straight for the boy on the bench, going in low with a knife.
Kat rolled right back up to him without pausing and sprung to her feet with one arm thrusting up under the man’s right elbow, punching her palm into the bottom of his chin. She started to shift behind him for a throw, but he was already turning into her, sinking his weight as he jammed his elbow into her shoulder and pushing her back.
Kat started to lose her balance, slipping as the knife flashed up and out toward her face. She let herself drop back, grabbing his sleeve and using her falling weight to pull him with her, closer in, as his knife hand stretched past where her head had been. Then she shifted back in as he fell into her, folding his arm in on itself and driving the knife home.
Her attacker’s eyes flew open wide. His mouth gaped, and he coughed up a bit of blood with a soft moan before jerking in her arms, just for a moment. Then he collapsed.
Kat eased his body to the ground, with the rain already washing away the small amount of blood. She had never killed before but knew she had now. She wondered who he had been and why he’d been trying to kill the kid.
She turned to look at that boy. Dazed and white enough to shine in the darkness, he struggled to his feet. He took a tentative step forward, looking down at the body. “Rossiter.”
Rossiter? Kat worked hard not to gape herself. It seemed she had found her wayward sergeant, and her investigation of the man was over before it had begun. That didn’t tell her what his connection was with this kid. She had plenty of questions to ask, but this wasn’t the time or place for an interrogation.
Kat looked around at the empty night. Quiet except for the constant drumming of the downpour, and no one in sight. She could leave the body here for now. She needed to get to the office to tell Tony what had happened and to get herself and the boy out of the rain so they could dry off. Then she’d find out what in the deep blue sea this was about.
Kat couldn’t keep thinking of him of as ‘kid’ so she asked, “What’s your name?”
He looked from the body on the ground back to her. “David. David Belue.”
So. Kat knew who he had to be. She still hadn’t been able to read Verity’s file, but this would be the woman’s son. Even without getting the details from him, the whole thing already made a kind of sense to her, though she wasn’t sure why. She reached out to grab his elbow. She wouldn’t be releasing this catch until she’d landed him safe into Security Headquarters.
The boy didn’t resist when she pulled him away from the scene, and she had no trouble guiding him along the sidewalk circling the Green. The kid was finding his feet well enough, but she didn’t want to hurry him. He’d come close enough to a poor end tonight. Kat didn’t want to risk letting him trip and split his head on the concrete.
Her right hand piloted the boy forward, and her left massaged her shoulder while she thanked God that Rossiter hadn’t had the leverage to make that blow as hard as it could’ve been. Her shoulder was aching plenty as it was.
She needed to get out of this wet night and into some dry clothes and a warm bed, and grab herself serious shut-eye. She’d have to wait a while though, for the change and for the sleep.
Even moving slow, Kat maneuvered her charge back to the office in no time, dragging him through the door to be greeted by the sight of Hope’s bright smile. Tony had adopted the scheme Kat had suggested. Hope was again a safety aide, not an officer trainee, and much happier to sit behind a desk and not have to go out on patrol.
Kat smiled back. “Please tell me the boss is in?”
Hope nodded and buzzed them through. Then she came around to help keep the kid from slipping on the slick floor, onto which they were both dripping mightily. And if the girl had any curiosity, she didn’t ask any questions. She simply sat back down at the duty desk and gestured at Tony’s office.
Out of the darkness and into the lighted building, the boy seemed less confused—so Kat pinched him on the arm just to check. He turned his head and gave her a sharp look. Then he nodded.
Kat needed to do more, if she was going to get him in shape to be helpful. She pushed him down the hall until she got him into the break room and onto one of the hard plastic chairs. Where the water dripping off him started to pool.
One thing at a time. She poured the last dregs of coffee into a guest mug and began brewing another pot. She cringed at the strong stale crude that half-filled the mug, then shrugged. The kid could surely use the jolt.
Kat set it down on the table in front of him and waited to see if he would pick it up on his own. He reached out slowly, grabbed it and brought it close, peering into its depths.
Then he turned to look at her. “Honey.”
Kat started. Then she saw him return his stare to the coffee, and it clicked. She had no use for the stuff herself, but she knew where it was kept and got a bottle from the bottom cupboard. She handed it over and watched him turn it upside down over the mug and squeeze. And keep pouring honey into his coffee until the mug was full. Well, the kid could use the sugar right now, and it wouldn’t hurt the sludge any, but it almost made her nauseous to watch.
Starting the Slowpocalypse (Books 1-3 Omnibus) Page 17
