Camouflage

by Aaron Pogue

  "Well, yeah," Katie said. "But I just thought...."

  Eddie shook his head. "There's nowhere in this hemisphere that's not under Hathor coverage. It may be spotty, it may be cheap, but she's got eyes everywhere. And she's making it better all the time." He held her eyes for a moment and said too-innocently, "Almost makes you think there ought to be some sort of defense against it...."

  "Defense?" Katie said. "No, it...." She trailed off, and sighed. "Of course. You admire Velez as much as any of them, and that's the sort of thing he would say."

  "Something wrong with that?" Eddie asked.

  "Yes," Katie said. "And that's what sets Martin apart. The answer isn't to hide better, it's to see better." She tapped the desktop in front of her. "Mr. Burke's killer hasn't gone free because there's cameras in the woods—it's because those cameras were off."

  "Maybe," Eddie said with a shrug. "Then again, maybe he wouldn't've had to die at all if there were some way an average guy could slip away for a quiet conversation now and then."

  "You can't really mean that," Katie said.

  "I mean it," Eddie said. "Sometimes people have got to let off steam. Maybe we've all quit talking about it—"

  "We didn't just stop talking about it," Katie said. "The evidence is in. It's been in for decades. The numbers don't lie. Since the implementation of Jurisprudence, incidents like Mr. Burke here are part of an unbelievably tiny minority in all monitored nations—"

  "For now," Eddie said.

  Katie's eyes narrowed. His voice was perfectly neutral, but the words implied a threat. She leaned forward. "What are you talking about?"

  He shrugged. "I'm just saying, maybe people aren't as happy with Hathor as you think they are."

  She shook her head. "That's nonsense. I mean, sure, years ago...." She shuddered at some of the memories but quickly pushed them back down. "It's been a long time since anyone really objected to the system," she said.

  And immediately she knew it for a lie. Eddie saw the realization in her eyes and nodded. She'd believed that before she came here, but she'd seen plenty of evidence to the contrary in her year with Ghost Targets. She thought of Velez and of Ghoster, made rich by all the people wanting to hide little details—and the man across from her, who'd built his own little fortune importing SpectreShields.

  Her eyes fell to rest on her desk, and she suddenly felt tired. "Are there...." she said, and then started over. "Are there really that many out there?" She heard the sound of defeat in her own voice.

  Eddie didn't answer right away. When she looked up to meet his eyes, she saw something like pity in them. He gave half a smile. "You saw my invoices, Katie."

  Thousands of SpectreShields sold, and backorders for far, far more. She sighed. She hadn't stopped to consider for whom they were destined.

  "Most of them weren't for criminals, either," Eddie said. He waited for her to meet his eyes again, and then nodded to underscore his point. "Most of them were for normal people. Maybe scared people. Maybe law enforcement who thought they had a legitimate reason to keep some things secret...."

  She nodded, distant. That had been the one she'd run into. He'd certainly been a criminal, though. "I just...I just find it hard to believe—"

  "The database doesn't lie," Eddie said, with a little snort at the irony of it. "They checked on every one of my clients when you busted me—"

  "We did," Katie said quietly, nodding, knowing where he was going.

  "And the vast majority were perfectly pleasant people." He leaned forward, brows knit. "What? You thought that was just some trick I'd pulled?"

  She shook her head. "Truth is, I had other things on my mind."

  The corner of his mouth turned down, then he slouched against the back of his chair. "That's half the reason they let me go, Katie. This—" He stabbed a finger at the technical report on her desk, detailing total geographic coverage of the recorders. "There's a lot of people out there who think this is the real crime."

  She stared at the report for what felt like a long time. She felt stunned, dizzy, like someone had hit her with a baseball bat. She felt the blood pounding in her head, heard the heavy thrum of it, and then suddenly her eyes focused on the report.

  She caught her breath. She gave herself a little shake, then sat up straight and squared her shoulders. She met Eddie's eyes, and when he raised an eyebrow in question she gave him a cold little smile.

  "Regardless," she said, "we've got a job to do. There's a man dead, and it's our job to put the murderer back into the database."

  Eddie's eyes betrayed his disappointment. He'd clearly enjoyed pleading his case. Katie just shook her head. "It's not up to us to decide the fate of Hathor. You already tried that, and you got shut down. So did Velez, for that matter. As long as we're working for the FBI, our job is to preserve the status quo. You sure that's what you want to do?"

  He pressed his lips together in something like a smile. "I can do more good on the inside than on the outside. So yeah. I'm here for the long haul."

  "In that case," Katie said, pushing to her feet, "you're going to need your own desk. I can't have you distracting me all the time."

  He shot her a blank look. "I thought we were hitting the road."

  "Not until tomorrow morning." She glanced at her watch. "You've got plenty of time to work through the casefile tutorial with Craig." She grinned, showing all her teeth. "It's loads of fun."

  He rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

  "I'm serious," she said. "Go tell Reed you need a desk. He'll get you set up. And while you're at it, let him know I'm knocking off early. I need a drink."

  Eddie's jaw fell open. "What? You're leaving?"

  She shrugged. "One of the perks of being an oldtimer. Don't worry. You'll be there one day." She started toward the door, then looked back over her shoulder and called to him, "Make sure you ace that tutorial for me, okay, partner? It's barely three hours, as long as you pay attention."

  She didn't quite laugh, but she couldn't hide the grin as she turned her back on him and stepped onto the elevator. Even so, the grin faltered before the doors finished closing, and by the time she stepped out onto the busy sidewalk out front it was a frown.

  Forty minutes later, Katie was sitting at a table by the window in Lee's Bar down on the corner when the door swung open to admit Reed. She glanced up from her handheld just long enough to meet his eyes, then went back to the casefile she was reading while he crossed the room and pulled out the chair opposite her.

  He sank down and she could feel his eyes on her face, but he didn't say a thing. After a moment, he said softly into his headset, "Nothing for me, Lee. Thanks." Then he fell silent again. She skipped to the next page on her report, and Reed chuckled.

  "Not really your style to slip away for a drink," he said.

  She had a half-empty Diet Coke on the table in front of her, and she knew Reed knew what it was. She met his eyes, and the corner of her mouth quirked toward a smile. "Not really your style to turn one down."

  He laughed, and spread his hands. "What can I say?" he said lightly. "I've got responsibilities now."

  The words came with a sadness in his eyes, and she knew some of it was for her. She put her handheld away, and sat up straighter. "I'm sorry, Reed. I—"

  "It's an ugly situation," Reed said, doing his best to sound reassuring. "I wish I could've given you more warning, but I didn't have any."

  "I understand." Katie felt the twitch of a smile again. "Maybe we need to assign a task force to track developments in Congress."

  "You're kidding," Reed said seriously, "but I just put Dimms on that very project." He held a straight face for maybe three seconds before it broke. Then he laughed. "I don't think they've made a machine yet than can predict what kind of madness those guys will get up to."

  Katie shrugged. Her eyes cut toward their offices, high above, and then back to his clear green gaze. "What about us? What are we up to?"

  He didn't answer her right away. He bit his lip. Th
en his eyes followed the same path hers had and he shook his head. "It's hard to say."

  She chuckled at that. "Got it."

  "Gimme a minute." Reed dropped his eyes while he thought about it. "There's...some evidence we've just uncovered."

  She frowned. "Wait. You mean this isn't just...like when you and I went to Boulder?"

  He moved his head side to side, weighing the question, then finally shook it. "Not exactly. But, well, in a way yes." He gave her an apologetic grimace, and she fought down a sudden, urgent wish that she had one of those SpectreShields around right now. The irony of it didn't escape her.

  Last time, the Accountability Office had been investigating, and Reed had dragged her off to Boulder to get out from under the noses of the investigators. Now he was sending her and Eddie away, and she was confident there was something strategic in the decision.

  "Like I was saying, we think we've uncovered some important new evidence," Reed said, trying to sound casual while his eyes screamed it was something important. "It's related to the case you were working on before the Austin affair." The one before the Austin affair had been Eddie's case. Her eyes shot wide and Reed nodded, but he gestured with one hand for her to keep quiet while he went on smoothly. "I just wanted to send you out in the field so you could get this case settled quickly, then get right back on that one."

  "Oh really?"

  He nodded. "Analysts are going to need a little time to put it all together, so I figured...."

  "Better to have me in the field," she said, nodding. But it wasn't her. It was Eddie. She was taking him away, so he wouldn't see whatever it was they'd uncovered. For all the trouble he was going to, Reed might intend to have the whole home office working on it. Katie almost grinned. "Makes perfect sense. We'll get the Burke case sorted out while you work on that. You can count on me."

  Reed smiled across at her. "I never doubted it for a moment." He glanced at his watch then back up at her eyes. "Are we good?"

  "We're good." She gave him that smile she'd held off before. Ten days with Eddie McSisters wasn't going to be any fun, but if it meant a chance to put him away for good, she was willing to do what was necessary. She nodded. "I've got this."

  "Good!" He climbed to his feet and clapped her on the shoulder. His eyes drifted toward the bar, and he said, "If you feel like doing this again in five hours or so, I'll take you up on that drink."

  She smiled at him and said with real regret, "I wish I could. But if we're heading out tomorrow, I really need to...." She gestured helplessly to the casefile still open on her handheld, and he nodded.

  "Of course.Next time." He took a step back, then smiled at her. "See you upstairs."

  She nodded and watched him go.

  3. West Virginia

  When the car began to slow, a little after noon the following day, Katie breathed a quiet sigh of relief and cleared her window. She saw trees, huge and dense, crowding up right next to the highway. Eddie glanced up from his handheld at the sudden wash of sunlight, then shook his head and looked away.

  "We're here," she said.

  He glanced up again, away again. "Looks like we're the only ones."

  She rolled her eyes at him, but as the car turned into the lot of a sprawling convenience store and diner, she couldn't help thinking he was right. An old Jeep had just finished filling up at one of the old gasoline pumps that still stood under an awning out front, but as it roared noisily away down the twisting road, it left the lot completely empty.

  Thick clouds crowded the sky, threatening rain, but aside from a few big, fat drops splattered against the windshield, there hadn't been any all morning. Still, the cloud cover lent a gray pall to the afternoon, and when Katie climbed out of the car and looked around she felt incredibly alone. She looked through the big wall of windows into the diner, past a row of booths to a linoleum-topped counter lined with bar stools, but it was all empty, lights out.

  She checked her handheld just to confirm the location details of their first interview, then shook her head and walked toward the convenience store. Halfway there, she finally heard Eddie's car door open as he followed reluctantly after.

  A bell announced her entrance when she stepped through the door into the convenience store, and she found someone there after all. It was a tall, skinny fellow in red plaid flannel, wearing a ragged baseball cap pulled low. He was behind the counter, leaning back in a cheap office chair with his feet propped up on the register, reading from a battered old paperback. Katie arched an eyebrow in surprise at the sight of it.

  "Can I help you?" he asked, in a drawl that suggested he hoped the answer was no.

  "I'm Katie Pratt, FBI." She stepped up to the counter. Eddie pushed in behind her, paused just long enough to give the local a once-over, then moved over to a rack of spicy peanuts and dried meats.

  The guy behind the counter finally looked up, glancing at Eddie's back before turning Katie's way. She saw he wasn't wearing a headset. "I tried to schedule an interview—" she said, but he cut her off.

  "I ain't checked my messages in a couple days," the fellow said, almost apologizing. He bent his knees, pulled his feet back, and then rolled gracefully to stand across the counter from her, towering over her at six-six. He scratched his left ear then extended a hand. "Jim Dade."

  "Nice to meet you. I'm here concerning Timothy Burke—"

  "Aww, hell, yeah, it'd have to be that." Jim shook his head. "Too damn bad. Too damn bad."

  Katie's eyes narrowed a hint, but she smoothed her face and went on. "I understand you'd had some trouble with Mr. Burke."

  "Me and Timmy? Nah. Nothing you'd call serious—"

  "He detained you on over twenty different occasions for drunk and disorderly conduct."

  "Just doing his job," Jim said casually, but Katie thought she heard a hint of irritation in his voice.

  "And more recently he'd initiated a review of your firearms policies," she said. She ran a disdainful gaze over the rest of the little shop. "Between the guns and ammo, that's most of your livelihood."

  "You don't have to tell me," Jim said. "But you're barking up the wrong tree. Timmy and me were square. That handgun business was just a misunderstanding."

  Katie nodded, making a note on her handheld that was mostly for show. Jim had a solid alibi and pretty thin motive. Problem was, so did everyone else in town...on the record, anyway. She looked up at him and backed off on the accusing tone. "You know of anyone else who might have felt differently?"

  Jim shrugged. "Timmy had a real government air about him, you know? Not too popular with everyone here in town. But I can't see anybody hurting him. He was a local boy."

  Katie nodded. She glanced back over Jim Dade's POI report, then nodded again. She met his eyes. "How's business this season?"

  "Good enough," Jim said. "Give me a month, and I can tell you better. Black powder's still got some pull in these parts, but things don't really kick into gear until modern Whitetail opens up." He sniffed. "Meantime, good enough."

  "I might have something more for you—" Katie started, and Jim interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

  "I'll be right here," he said.

  She nodded, and turned toward the door. "Eddie!" she called over her shoulder. "Come on. We're out of here."

  She had the door open before she heard Jim's startled cry behind her. "Eddie! Eddie McSisters?" When Katie looked back she found Jim wide-eyed with delight. "I know you!"

  Eddie held Katie's eyes, a smile tugging at his lips, and turned both hands palms up. "What can I say? I've got fans."

  "'Round here you do!" Jim beamed when Eddie finally turned his attention that way. "I recognize you from your ads." His face turned dark. "What are you doing with her?"

  "Would you believe she tried to lock me up?" Eddie said, with a well-feigned horror, and Jim shook his head in quiet disapproval. Eddie clapped him on the shoulder. "No harm done, though. Director saw the light and appointed me to help clean up her act."

  "Good!" Jim said
forcefully, jabbing his chin at Katie. "That make you a government man, then?"

  "Only temporarily," Eddie said. "Don't you worry. I'll have my full line of products back on the market in time for the spring season. Tell your friends."

  "I will!" Jim said. "You take care."

  Katie didn't say a word as they crossed the parking lot and climbed back into the car. She checked the itinerary on her handheld and confirmed their next stop while Eddie settled into his place. Then, both doors closed, she finally rounded on him.

  "What the hell was that?"

  "I've got pull in places like this," Eddie said, not meeting her eyes. "Maybe you should consider that a good thing."

  She leaned toward him, threatening. "It's a federal offense to impersonate—"

  "Ah, ah!" he said, shaking a finger. "I'm not impersonating anything. I'm bona fide."

  "There's a difference between tagging along on my cases and being appointed to clean up my act," she said.

  "A difference in perspective, perhaps." He finally met her eyes. "And I'm not sure which of us has it right."

  "You pulled some strings—"

  "I was appointed," Eddie said. "That's the truth of it. Good ol' Rick Goodall spent way too much time fighting the technology and not near enough time learning about it. Seems like Reed's following right along in his footsteps."

  "Hah!" Katie huffed. "Wrong and wrong. And you're one to talk—"

  "I am one to talk," Eddie said. "Fact of the matter is, nobody's got the clout to bring this system under control through policy or legislation. That only leaves two options." He waited for her to ask. She didn't. He shrugged and went on anyway. "Hardware or software. I chose hardware."

  She leaned back, weighing him in her gaze. After a moment, she arched an eyebrow. "And now?"

  "And now I'm testing my hypotheses," he said. "I'm confirming my theories. I got an opportunity to see if any real change could be made from the inside, and I decided I was man enough to find out the truth."

  She held up both hands between them and raised the index finger on both hands. "Martin," she said, indicating her right hand, "and Velez," her left. She pulled them as far apart as the car's cabin would allow. "Both of them were trying to fix it from the inside—way more inside than you are. And both of them had way more resources than you do. And look where that got them."