by Orion Gaudio
“I never thanked you for getting me out of San Francisco,” he said.
“Don’t mention it.”
The majority of their drive had been done in silence. It was Holloway that hadn’t wanted to talk. Turner would say something or ask him a question, but the other agent tended to answer with one or two words. Turner eventually gave up and just tried to sleep as much as possible when it was his turn to rest.
Holloway pulled the car into the parking lot of the mine a few minutes later, and they got out. Once they were inside, they both headed straight for Howard’s office. Jess jumped up from her desk and headed them off before they reached the door.
“Let me see if he’s ready to see you.”
Turner stopped in his tracks and nodded.
She disappeared into the office and came back a few seconds later.
“He’s ready.”
They walked into the office just as Howard was standing up from the couch. His face was covered in stubble and he looked as though he’d just woken up. The smell of stale whiskey hung in the air.
“You been home lately?” Turner asked.
“Sit down, both of you.”
Holloway and Turner sat down across from him.
“What the hell happened out there?” Howard asked.
“Well, Sir… it was that agent you set me up with.”
“What about him?”
“He shot me.”
Turner pointed at his chest.
“What did you do to provoke him?”
Turner frowned and shook his head.
“Nothing. Our plan was half-baked, but I carried it out best as I could. I got possession of the flash drive and jumped off the ship into the water. He had a boat, so he picked me up. Then he demanded the flash drive. I tried to reason with him, but he wasn’t having it. I finally gave it to him, and he shot me right in the chest. I fell off the boat into the water. They told me the Coast Guard pulled me out of the bay and brought me to the hospital. The police ended up fingerprinting me while I was unconscious and they questioned me briefly.”
“You didn’t give them anything, did you?”
Turner shook his head.
“Not really, no. But… I did kind of assault a police officer.”
Howard raised an eyebrow.
“Is that why you needed an extraction?”
“Yeah. Holloway got me out of there, and then we drove back.”
“Nice work, Holloway. You’re dismissed for now.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
He stood up and walked out of the room.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Howard asked.
“I… I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Assaulting a police officer? Getting fingerprinted by the police? You totally compromised yourself.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Howard shook his head and looked down at his desk.
“I’m putting you on ice.”
“Sir… that’s not fair.”
“I don’t expect you to understand, but we needed that flash drive. I thought I made myself clear.”
“I had it. It’s not my fault that Rollins turned out to be a double agent.”
“Does it look like I care? Your mission was to retrieve the flash drive and bring it back to me. You failed.”
“Sir, I did my best.”
Howard slammed his fist down on his desk.
“It sure as shit wasn’t good enough.”
“I can get it back. Do we know where Rollins went?”
“We have some idea, yes, but you’re done. Smith and Rhys already left to go after him.”
“Please, Howard… you’ve gotta give me another shot.”
Howard shook his head.
“No. You should feel lucky that I’m only suspending you from active duty. You need to reevaluate your choices… and decide if you really want to be a part of this team.”
“But….”
“Get out of my sight.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Turner stood up and walked out of the office. He slammed the door behind himself and headed toward the parking lot. It was a long walk back to town, which was good because it would give him time to think.
He was proud of what he did for his country and he wanted to do it for as long as he could. Turner had always looked up to Howard as a leader and a mentor, but he had never seen him under so much stress. It was obvious there was more to Chimera than Howard was letting on, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t get the chance to find out. He hoped Smith and Rhys would be able to track down Rollins and recover the flash drive. If not, Turner had a feeling that his days as a field agent might be over. His entire identity was wrapped up in his work and he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if that happened.
Turner walked by the guard shack and headed for the main road. He had to figure out a way to get back in the good graces of Howard.
18
Turner stepped out of the shower and looked down at his stitches. He should have checked in with Dr. Harrison, the resident doctor at headquarters, but he was so angry over what had happened with Howard that he’d completely forgot he was still recovering from a gunshot wound that was barely two days old.
He took a pack of gauze out of his medicine cabinet and taped it in place. The area around the wound was less inflamed than the previous day, so he hoped the worst of it was over. Getting a bandage onto the exit wound in his back proved to be a challenge, but he managed after a couple of tries. It still hurt when he moved around too much, but it was nothing he couldn’t push through.
There was nothing in his fridge when he looked. It wasn’t a surprise, but Turner still found himself scanning the shelves for something edible. The only thing he’d eaten the last two days was junk food from gas stations when they stopped for fuel on the drive. Turner checked his cabinets, but they were bare. He walked into the living room and sat down on his couch. There was nothing exciting on TV, so he flipped to the news and just zoned out.
Someone knocked on his door. Turner looked down at his phone. No messages or missed calls. He assumed that anyone from work would try to contact him by phone before showing up at his house. They knocked a second time. He sighed, stood up from the couch, looked through the peephole, and opened the door.
It was Alice. She smiled.
“Alice.”
“James… how are you?”
“I’m fine. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I saw you walking down the sidewalk a little while ago… and I hadn’t heard from you lately.”
“Oh… right.”
“Sorry, I just… I thought… I still don’t know anyone in town.”
“It’s fine. Did you need something?”
She frowned and shook her head.
“No, not really.”
“Look, I’ve had a couple long days of work….”
“Right… of course, sorry. I’ll leave you alone.”
She turned and started to walk away from his door. He started to close it, but she stopped and turned around.
“Hey, do you want to go grab some food?” she asked.
He sighed. The sheer gravity of everything that had happened over the last couple days was still sinking in, but he did have to eat and his car was still parked at the airport in Pittsburgh.
“Sure.”
Turner left his door open, went back inside and grabbed his phone and some cash to pay for a late breakfast.
“What are you in the mood for?” Alice asked, as he walked back outside.
“I don’t care.”
“Should we just do the diner?”
“That’s fine with me.”
They walked in silence for the next minute. Turner wasn’t in much of a mood to talk, but decided he should at least make an attempt to be friendly.
“So, how’s the new job?”
“Pretty good. Nothing exciting, but it’s a job.”
“Yeah.”
“How about you?”
> “It’s a job,” he said.
“I hope this doesn’t sound offensive… but you don’t exactly strike me as a miner.”
Turner cracked a smile and looked over at Alice.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.”
She looked over at him and smiled.
“Sorry. I just… I meant that you seem like an intelligent guy, so it’s hard for me to picture you doing manual labor.”
“What do you picture me doing?”
She shrugged.
“I don’t know. It seems like a job for a guy that never went to college and didn’t have many options in life. You know what I mean?”
He nodded.
“I guess I just kind of fell into it.”
He felt a twinge of guilt. Lying to people about what he did for a living had never been a problem for him, but it was somehow different with Alice… and he wasn’t sure why. Turner reminded himself that he needed to be careful. If he let any details slip about his real life, not only would he put himself at risk… it could put a target on her back.
“Have you ever thought about doing something else?” she asked.
Turner opened his mouth to give her a canned response, but then shut it just as quickly. He always assumed he’d work at NIA for the rest of his career. He planned to be a field agent for as long as they’d have him and then maybe transition into another role… perhaps training new agents. Everything was up in the air, though. Howard had made it clear that he was hanging on by a thread and that his employment status could change at any moment.
“No, not really.”
“Seriously?”
He shrugged and pulled open the door to the diner. They walked inside and sat down at an empty booth. It was the middle of the morning, so the only people inside were the employees and a couple of old guys sitting at the counter.
“It’s just who I am,” Turner said.
Alice smiled and nodded.
“Sorry, I feel like I’m being nosy.”
“It’s fine.”
“You can tell me if I’m crossing a line.”
He shook his head and took a menu from the waitress.
“You folks want something to drink?” the girl asked.
“Coffee,” Turner said.
“I’ll just have water,” Alice said.
The girl nodded and walked away. Turner picked up the menu and scanned the offerings he was already familiar with.
“So, what do you like about being a miner?”
He lowered the menu and looked across the table. It was the first time since he met Alice that he started to really look at her. Their first encounter was in the bar when he was already on his way to being drunk, and the second time was the next day when he was hungover. She was really quite beautiful. Her hazel eyes complemented her brown hair and her smile was warm enough to distract him from everything happening in his life.
“What?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“You were looking at me like you wanted to say something.”
Turner shook his head and looked back down at the menu. It had been a long time since he had been in a relationship and he found himself wondering if she had a boyfriend. He had had a few casual flings since he moved to Altoona, but nothing that lasted more than a couple of weeks. His job seemed to always get in the way. Not to mention, Turner was always hesitant to get involved in a relationship—he risked his life every time he went on a mission and it made things complicated.
The waitress walked up to the table. She set their drinks down and took an order pad from her apron.
“You folks ready to order?”
“Go ahead,” Turner said.
“I’ll have two eggs over medium, sausage… and wheat toast.”
The waitress scribbled it down and then looked at him.
“Pancakes… and hash browns.”
She nodded and headed toward the kitchen.
“So, who is James Turner?”
He raised an eyebrow and looked across the table.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… you haven’t told me anything about yourself. All I know is that you work at the mine.”
“What do you want to know?”
She shrugged.
“Whatever you want to tell me. Do you have kids? Ever been married? Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No, no, and no.”
She laughed and shook her head.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
He smiled and shook his head.
“There’s really not much to tell, honestly.”
“Are you from here?”
“No. I was raised in Nebraska.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“How was that?” she asked.
It had been a long time since he’d thought of home. A few of his memories from that time were good, but he’d tried to forget the majority of them.
“Boring. Lot’s of flat land.”
“Do you still have family there?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Oh… sorry. I feel like I’m prying. I’m going to stop asking such personal questions.”
Turner smiled and shook his head. More than anything else, he was glad to have a normal conversation with someone. His life had been consumed by work for years. It was refreshing.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Well, I’m from Charleston.”
“I feel like you told me that… but that night we met was a bit of a blur.”
She laughed and smiled at him.
“Yeah, you seemed like you were trying to get drunk.”
“It was a bad day at work.”
“Sorry.”
He shook his head.
“It’s fine, really. So, do you still have family there?”
“Yeah, my mom and dad live there. That’s about it. No other close family.”
“Any kids?”
“Nope. I was married, but the divorce was finalized about three months ago.”
“Sorry.”
She waved her hand at him.
“Don’t be. He wasn’t a good guy.”
Alice looked down at the table and took a deep breath. Turner could tell it was a sore subject for her and made a mental note not to bring it up again.
The waitress returned to the table and set down their food.
“Anything else?” she asked.
Turner shook his head.
“I think we’re fine,” Alice said.
He grabbed the bottle of ketchup and smothered his hash browns.
“So,” Turner said, as he set the bottle down and looked at Alice, “did you explore Altoona at all since we last talked?”
She laughed and nodded while taking a bite of her toast.
“I did. It didn’t take that long to see pretty much everything.”
“Yeah, it’s not exactly an exciting place.”
“Don’t you get bored?” she asked.
He shrugged and lifted a bite of pancakes to his mouth.
“I don’t know. Not really.”
“What do you do for fun?”
He chewed while thinking about her question.
“Nothing.”
Alice smiled and took a drink of water.
The food was nothing spectacular, as was typical with Frank’s Place, but Turner was glad to be there… and a part of that was because he was enjoying the company.
“So,” he said, clearing his throat, “how come you’re not at work today?”
“It’s Saturday….”
“Oh, right. I guess I lose track of time when I’m working.”
“It must be hard being in the darkness.”
“Yes, my work is quite dark.”
Turner wondered how he would deal with it if he were to find himself in a relationship. He shook his head. Alice seemed like a nice woman, and she was quite pretty, but they had just met and his entire life was up in the air. N
ot to mention, she had just gotten divorced a few months earlier and was in the process of trying to build a life for herself. The best he could do was get through the next few days and hope that Howard had given some more consideration to his suspension from duty.
“Hey… what are you doing today?”
“After this?” Turner asked.
He took a bite of hash browns and washed it down with a sip of coffee.
“Yeah.”
“Uh… nothing. I mean… I have to get my car.”
“Where is it?”
“The airport in Pittsburgh.”
She tilted her head and looked at him. Turner was feeling so comfortable in their conversation that he forgot for a moment that Alice wasn’t privy to who he really was.
“That’s kind of random.”
“Yeah… I… I loaned it to a guy I work with. His broke down and his mom is sick, so he needed to get home.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet of you.”
She smiled at him and gave her head a slight shake.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re a good guy, Mr. Turner.”
She had no idea what kind of person he really was, but Turner wasn’t about to tell her… he was enjoying her company, and he couldn’t tell her the truth even if he wanted to.
“I do what I can.”
“Well, I’m not doing anything… so I could take you to the airport.”
He shook his head.
“That’s kind of you to offer, but it’s a two-hour drive each way.”
“So?”
“I’m sure you have better things to do.”
“It would be my pleasure. Plus, I’ve never been to Pittsburgh.”
“You’re not missing much, trust me.”
Turner finished his food and pushed his plate a few inches toward the center of the table. He looked up at Alice. The smile had faded from her face. She pushed her eggs around on her plate with her fork.
“I just… never mind.”
“What?”
Alice sighed and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she said.
“Alice, did I say something to upset you?”
She shook her head and finally looked up at him.
“No, it’s fine. Really.”
Turner reached across the table and touched her hand.
“What’s wrong?”