Expectation (Ghost Targets, #2)

by Pogue, Aaron

She spoke a command to turn off the room's lights, and for a long time she just sat there, in the silence and the darkness, alone with her thoughts. The next time her headset buzzed, nearly an hour later, she rose mechanically and went to grab her handheld from the nightstand. It showed her a travel itinerary warning, letting her know she needed to be at the airport in twenty minutes. She pressed the button to call for a cab, then moved into the bathroom to gather her things.

  Five minutes later she was at the curb, and in fifteen she was at the airport. She waited alone in the boarding area until another buzz and another message on the handheld directed her through the boarding gate and onto her flight. She picked a seat by the window and sat staring out into the dark night while other passengers took their places.

  She startled awake at a thud as Reed threw his bag into the overhead bin. The window's chill felt sharp against her forehead, and the soft little noises of passengers settling into their seats felt eerily exaggerated all around her. She blinked at Reed as he fell into the seat next to her. Then he turned to her.

  "Oof," he said, shaking his head. "You look exhausted."

  "I am exhausted," she said. "Can we go home?"

  He smiled at her and almost patted her knee. "We can go home," he said. "We're heading there now." He pressed back in his chair, and pulled out his handheld. "Why don't you get some sleep on the flight? I'll get us checked back in at home."

  She turned her head his way, curious what exactly he was working on, but couldn't quite focus on the screen. Before the plane ever left the ground, she was asleep again.

  In DC, Reed woke her with a gentle touch on her arm. He spoke her name softly in her ear and she smiled, climbing slowly out of a dreamless rest, then stretched lazily and looked around the plane. Apart from the two of them, it was empty.

  She looked to Reed, uncomprehending, and he smiled back. There was a sadness in his eyes that he tried to hide. "Good morning, Agent Pratt."

  "Morning?" Katie said. "Really?"

  He winced. "Only technically."

  She gestured at the empty seats. "What's going on?"

  "I exercised my special executive authority to buy you a few more minutes' rest."

  "You shouldn't have," Katie said. "I'll be much more comfortable at home in bed."

  That brought back the smile. And the sadness. He looked away. "We're not going home. Not yet."

  Katie felt a black weight settle on her chest. She took a deep breath, trying to shake the feeling, and let it out in a sigh. "Accountability?"

  "That's right. They've got some questions." She groaned, but he was watching her with too much concern, and there really wasn't any getting around it. "Fine. Let's get it over with."

  He nodded and climbed from his seat.

  Katie followed him, down the empty rows, through the empty gate, and out into a concourse that was still bustling, even at this time of night. She moved mechanically, dragging her bag behind her, and let Reed pick their path. He had a car waiting for them by the curb, and they rode most of the way to the office in silence.

  Nearly there, he broke the silence. "Oh, hey, I got your message. Back at the clinic? It's no problem you heading out like that."

  She frowned at him, confused, and he shrugged. "I just wanted to let you know that. Whatever else we've got waiting for us, I understand what happened after the bust. Meg gave us a pretty good account of what went on in there, and Mrs. Barnes corroborated it point for point. We got what we needed, and after what you went through, I wouldn't have expected you to hang around." He patted her knee. "I'm just glad you made it through."

  She arranged her face into something like a smile for him. "Thanks," she said, and then the silence came back.

  The building was mostly dark when they stepped out of the car. The lights in Rick's office upstairs stood out sharply against the blackness all around, and Katie and Reed both stood transfixed for a moment.

  Then he took her hand and pulled her toward the doors. The lobby was empty, the elevator ride miserably quiet, but he didn't let her hand go until the elevator doors opened on their floor. Then he pulled the door open for her, and Katie gave him another smile.

  The Steves were waiting for them. Stephen Penn had his back to the windows, waiting patiently in one of the guest chairs, but Steve Fredrik was in Rick's old throne, feet propped up on the desk while he read a report off a tablet-sized handheld. He set it aside as Katie approached and met her eyes with a glare.

  "Thank you for joining us, Agent Pratt," he said. "That makes things much easier. Agent Reed, please place her under arrest."

  From his place by the door, Stephen Penn shook his head. "Is that really necessary?"

  At the same time, Reed stepped in front of Katie. "Not a chance," he barked.

  Fredrik arched an eyebrow at Reed, then addressed his answer to his companion. "It's absolutely necessary. You saw as much I did, every minute since they left. She's been insubordinate, obstructing her own investigation and participating in the destruction of evidence. And worst of all, after we impressed upon her the seriousness of the crime, she's been willfully colluding with Martin Door."

  "You're wrong," Reed said. "Katie is personally responsible for solving the investigation. And Martin Door isn't a criminal."

  Fredrik showed his teeth. "Oh, he is now. Thanks to Katie, we've got enough evidence to bring the same charges against him. As soon as she's dealt with, catching Martin Door is going to be this office's highest priority."

  Reed smirked. "It's not."

  "Actually," Penn said with a tired sigh, "it is. We understand it won't be your highest priority—"

  "Ah," Reed said. "I see."

  Katie shook her head. "I don't. Reed's done nothing wrong—"

  "Everything about this investigation has been a farce," Fredrik snapped. "From the moment you two picked it for a fun little field trip to the vast resources Reed expended chasing down your theories. You can't really tell me this little adventure is the right way to do business? The whole case could have been resolved from here, with a little bit of patience and a little more attention to detail—"

  "And Theresa Barnes would be dead right now," Katie said. And Gevia's secret would be out. She didn't say that, though. She didn't want these men investigating the dark corners of Gevia.

  Reed wasn't so careful. "This isn't even about the murder. The poisonings! In the course of this investigation—because of Katie's special resources—we were able to uncover a plot to sell national secrets—"

  "Were you?" Penn asked, climbing to his feet. "See...we've been examining the events of the last twenty-four hours, and it seems like your investigation of Ellie Cohn fell apart. Maybe I'm missing something, but according to your records, she didn't turn out to be a threat at all."

  Katie frowned. "What?" All eyes turned to her, and she shook her head. "No, that's not right. He—we found her buyers."

  Fredrik favored her with a cruel little smile and shook his head. "Funny," he said. "I'd expect a detail like that to be entered in your casefile. Your man Reed was awfully careful to put in everything else."

  She rounded on Reed, astonished, but he just gave a helpless little shrug. He seemed as surprised by the outburst as the other two.

  "I don't understand!" she said.

  And then Martin spoke into her ear. "Give it a moment," he said.

  She opened her mouth to shout at him, to demand an explanation, but in front of these two men she didn't dare. She ground her teeth, acid roiling in her stomach, and watched as Fredrik pulled his feet off the desk with a slow melodrama and unfolded himself in front of her.

  "What you need to understand," he said, "is that you're through playing games with the mission and resources of this department. Miss Pratt—"

  "Hold on," Penn said. That drew an irritated frown from Fredrik, but the other auditor ignored him, one hand to his headset as he listened to something. "All right," he said after a moment. "Put this call on the room's speakers."

  Another voice
spoke into the room. "That's a fine idea," it said. It was an older man's voice, rich with authority, and Katie saw a surprised frown crease Fredrik's forehead. At the same time, the corner of Reed's mouth ticked up in a victorious smile.

  "Mr. Director," he said. "Good to hear from you."

  "Thank you, Reed. Sorry I couldn't intervene sooner."

  "Intervene?" Fredrik said. He had his aplomb back, and he showed it with a contemptuous smile. "Under the circumstances, you don't have any authority to intervene here. This is our investigation. Contact Senator Bruin—"

  "I'm here," came another man's voice, this one irritated and tired, and Fredrik's face fell again. "And you're done," the senator went on. "This investigation is over."

  "What?" Fredrik snapped. "But we've got them. We've got them both. I didn't even get to Reed's misdeeds—"

  "Reed is a fine agent," Bruin said, as though reading it off a card. The words were hollow. "And the president has made it clear—"

  "The president?" Fredrik said. "What does he have to do with it."

  The director answered him with considerably more sincerity than the senator had managed. "He understands the importance of Gevia to this nation and its people."

  "And that's precisely why it was a high crime to let this girl play fast and loose with such a critical investigation—"

  The director spoke right over him. "And that's precisely why it was so important to remove the identities of Ellie Cohn's buyers from the casefile report," he said. "Katie Pratt did track that down—"

  "I added it under your name," Martin whispered in her ear.

  "And we pulled it almost immediately, but it was exactly what we needed. We picked up two Chinese nationals with ghosted identities at a Canadian border crossing two hours ago."

  "You can connect them Ellie Cohn?" Reed said.

  Katie could hear the director's smile in his answer. "That we did, but we're going to need your help to nail down the actual conspiracy charge."

  Reed smiled back. "I'll get right on it, sir."

  "I promised the president as much," the director said.

  "You can't just let this go!" Fredrik shouted. "This woman colluded with Martin Door—"

  "We know about Martin Door," the director said, and though he kept his tone even it was clear he was losing his patience. "It's our considered opinion—mine and the president's—that Mr. Door proved to be an invaluable special informant in Katie's investigation. She's to be commended for utilizing him so effectively."

  "But, but—" Fredrik stammered, and Senator Bruin cut him off.

  "Forget it, Fredrik." He sounded tired, and more bored than disappointed. "They've got you all tied up."

  The director sighed. "Your investigation's over. Now. The office still wants to hear your official report, but you're done interfering with this team's work. Understood?" He didn't even wait for answer. "Katie, Reed...good work, both of you. You're national heroes. Reed, I'll be in touch." With that, he dropped from the line.

  Fredrik was still sitting in the chair, stunned. All eyes fell on him, and after a moment he pulled himself up. Fire flashed in his eyes. "That's not the end of it," he said. "I've got evidence—"

  "Give it up," Penn said. He stepped up to Reed and extended a hand with an air of great professionalism. "Thank you for your cooperation in this matter."

  Reed shook it, with just the hint of a sarcastic smile, and nodded back. Penn tipped his head to Katie, too, then left the room. Fredrik looked helplessly after the other, then turned his hateful gaze to Reed and Katie.

  Katie jerked her head toward the door. "You heard the man," she said. "Hit the road. We've got work to do, and you're sitting in my boss's chair."

  ~

  THE END

  Did you love Expectation? Then you should read Restraint by Aaron Pogue!

  We abandoned privacy and turned databases into something like gods. They listened to our prayers. They met our needs and blessed us with new riches. They watched over us, protected us, and punished the wicked. We almost made a paradise.

  But there were those who tried to hide from the databases’ all-seeing eye. They used their wealth or power or intellect to turn themselves into ghosts within the endless archive. The FBI's Ghost Targets team became experts at tracking them down, and they threw the worst of the monsters into private prisons where even Hathor's eyes could not see.

  Now a new threat forces Katie Pratt to enter the dark halls of one of these prisons. An old adversary trapped in Shadow Mountain holds the key to the mystery, and he'll only give it to Katie. But when a Shadow Mountain contractor is murdered, his hidden execution uncovers the most advanced ghosting device ever created. Katie must solve the murder to save Hathor, and she will have to face down wardens, politicians, mob bosses, and deadly ghosts to do it. Only then will she uncover the terrifying secrets locked up in Shadow Mountain.

  Restraint is the third book in the Ghost Targets series. Approximately 65,000 words.

  Read more at Aaron Pogue’s site.

  Also by Aaron Pogue

  A Consortium of Worlds

  A Consortium of Worlds No. 1

  A Consortium of Worlds No. 2

  A Dragonswarm Short Story

  Remnant

  From Embers

  Auric's Valiants

  Notes from a Thief

  Auric and the Wolf

  Ghost Targets

  Surveillance

  Expectation

  Restraint

  Camouflage

  The Dragonprince's Arrows

  A Darkness in the East

  The Dragonprince's Legacy

  The Original Dragonprince Trilogy

  Taming Fire

  The Dragonswarm

  The Dragonprince's Heir

  Unstressed Syllables Presents

  Turn Your Story into an eBook: Easy Self-Publishing with Draft2Digital.com

  Watch for more at Aaron Pogue’s site.

  About the Author

  Aaron Pogue is a husband and a father of two who lives in Oklahoma City, OK. He started writing at the age of ten, and has written novels, short stories, scripts, and videogame storylines. His first novels were high fantasy set in the rich world of the FirstKing, including the bestselling fantasy novel Taming Fire, but he's explored mainstream thrillers, urban fantasy, and several kinds of science fiction, including a long-running sci-fi cop drama series focused on the Ghost Targets task force.

  Aaron has been a Technical Writer with the Federal Aviation Administration and a writing professor at the university level. He holds a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Oklahoma. He also serves as the user experience consultant for Draft2Digital.com, a digital publishing service.

  Aaron maintains a personal website for his friends and fans at AaronPogue.com, and he runs a writing advice blog at UnstressedSyllables.com.

  Read more at Aaron Pogue’s site.