The Terrorist (Lens Book 3)

by J B Cantwell

  She didn’t budge, didn’t show me an ounce of emotion.

  “So,” I said. “You’re not going to believe this. Can you please give me the benefit of the doubt? It’s quite a story.”

  “You’ve got sixty seconds.”

  I smiled. I knew she wouldn’t shoot me in sixty seconds. Still, it was encouragement enough.

  “I’m not who you think I am. I know you can’t see my designation, but I’m now called Audrey Page. I am, in fact, your new benefactor. Audrey joined the Volunteers back before the wall was breached. Her chip information had been removed and stored in a safe location. Then the bombs hit, and she was gone. Only Chambers and a man named Adrian Valle knew about the hidden chip. Chambers was the one who planted it in my head.”

  “What are you even talking about?” she asked. “Chambers is gone now.”

  “Yes, I saw that on my lens. But he did this work before he was taken.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “Hear me out,” I said. “I can give you details, all the proof you want. The only thing I ask is that you don’t shoot me before I’m done talking. Can I expect you to not shoot me until I’m done?”

  “I’m not promising you anything. As far as I know, you’re from the Champions. Or the Service. Anyone. You could be anyone.”

  “Melanie, Audrey is my new name. But it’s not the name you know me by. My whole life before now, I’ve been Riley Taylor.”

  She stared for a moment, then shook her head.

  “That’s nuts.”

  “The last time you saw me was before Alex and I made an attempt to take the server buildings down. We used an EMP, and we failed. We both nearly died, but I was picked up by Chambers. Actually, I’m not really sure how he got me out of there alive, but he did.”

  “You’re not Riley,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t look like her … sound like her. There’s no way that—”

  “Ask me something,” I said. “Anything. Anything you think of that might prove to you who I am.”

  She approached me, and it happened so quickly, I didn’t even see it coming. She took the butt of her pistol and hit me in the head with it. I saw stars as I fell down to the wood floors of the studio. I lay there, not unconscious, but not fully awake, either.

  I heard someone enter the room, then recognized the sound of a voice. It was Jay.

  “Who is she?” he asked Melanie.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “She says she’s Riley.”

  “What?”

  Rough hands grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me onto my back.

  “Hey, Jay,” I said quietly.

  My head was beginning to pound, and normal speech felt far away.

  “You can ask me, too. Anything that you want to know.”

  His grip on me loosened, and he let go of me, letting me lie down on the floor. I hoped that Melanie would refrain from kicking me in the head.

  “Come on, guys. Anything.”

  “How did we get out of the Burn?” Melanie finally asked.

  “We took Wilson’s card key and ran through the hallways, hiding from the guards. He was a mess. Blood everywhere, blowing bubbles with it in his mouth as he tried to talk to us. After that, once we got outside, we took one of the trucks in the yard. Not the first one. The second. That was your idea; we used the first truck as cover while we got into the second.”

  She frowned at me, clearly confused.

  “How did you meet me?” Jay asked.

  “I met you here,” I said. “You tried to get me to leave, but I wouldn’t. You were worried that we’d get caught, and you along with us.”

  “Okay,” Melanie said. “Tell me about the server buildings.”

  “The server buildings?” I asked, suddenly nervous.

  “Don’t you have anything to tell me about them?”

  I pulled myself up to sitting and leaned back against the glass wall.

  “We were able to produce two blasts. But in the end we failed. The lights came back on. I thought we were both dead. Somehow Chambers got to me. And the Service, well I think the Service, got to Alex. I saw images of him—”

  Suddenly, I could no longer speak. The picture in my mind of Alex hooked up to all those tubes left me without words. Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled to my cheeks.

  Where is he?

  “How did you and I meet?” she went on.

  “Outside my cell at the Burn. You brought me food, even though you knew you’d get in trouble for doing it. You were like a little mouse. I never imagined you had as much strength as you do. After that, once we got away, you were the one who took out all the chips. You and I traded off on each other, but once we rescued all those people, you became our surgeon. You were covered in blood by the end of it.”

  Her eyes were starting to show some alarm. She hadn’t expected me to convince her.

  “But you don’t look like Riley. You don’t sound like her, either.”

  “That’s because they changed me after they pulled me from the server buildings. They operated. I have a new face, new voice, new chip, new name. I’m rich now, if you can believe that. I can buy anything I want.”

  I dug into the pocket of Albert’s jacket.

  Melanie, whose gun had gradually fallen as I talked, was suddenly alarmed. She raised it quickly, this time pointing it at my head.

  “You stop right there,” she said. She advanced on me, and I put my hands up. “What are you digging around for?”

  “Take it yourself if you want.”

  She looked back at Jay, and without a word, he walked up and went through both of my jacket pockets. From one, he pulled out a fat stack of credit cards.

  “Those are for you,” I said. “I told you, I’m rich now. And I’ll support you. There’s a hundred thousand there in untracked cards. Jay, you can up your supplies now with some real drugs. Keep everybody healthy.”

  He paused, looking at me in disbelief.

  “What did we do with Mila?” he finally asked, taking his turn.

  My face fell as I remembered her, the injured girl who had followed us from the Burn.

  “She’s down on two, as far away as we could get her from here. We couldn’t bury her, and we could hardly let her body float out to sea.”

  “But how is it possible?” he asked, confused.

  “She’s lying,” Melanie said. “That’s how.”

  “You guys should just go,” I said. “Did Jonathan help you at all? I paid him off to warn you to move locations. You should move every couple months or so. And make sure you have lookouts twenty-four seven. Things are going nuts with the Champions. They’ve got Chambers and—”

  I couldn’t go on. I’d told them the truth, and that was all I had to offer.

  “Just one more thing,” I said, holding back tears. “Mel, meet me back here October 10th. I’ll try to make it. We should be in contact as much as possible.”

  She slowly started to lower her gun, shaking her head.

  “How is it possible?” she asked, awed.

  “Audrey Page was one of the original Volunteers. She had been extremely wealthy. She died in the bombing of the Stilts. Then, everything happened with us at the server buildings. We were dead in the water, and Chambers took the opportunity. As long as I have it in my head, I have many, many millions of credits that I can use as I please. You have to believe me.”

  Finally, she put her gun back into her belt and stared. She didn’t speak. Then, she turned, picked up my gun off the floor and made for the door.

  “One more thing,” I called. “You see Jonathan, you run the other way. Understand?”

  She paused over the threshold. Then turned to go.

  “October tenth,” I said as she walked out.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Jay said. “But you have to admit, it’s hard to believe.”

  “You should try waking up as a completely different person,” I said. “I thought I was a goner. The world went black. And then …”

&n
bsp; “Then, this,” he finished for me.

  I was able to manage a small smile.

  “Then, this.”

  He turned to go, then stopped and looked back.

  “See you on the tenth.”

  “You did well,” Valle said to me late that night at my apartment. “You smell bad, though.” He wrinkled his nose.

  “You know, this is the first time I think I’ve seen you sober,” I said, irritated.

  He smiled.

  “Well, I can hardly figure out how to end the world while I’m wasted.”

  I shut the door behind me and sloshed into the living room.

  “Seriously, get in a shower or something.”

  I sighed.

  “What happened to my champagne greetings?”

  I sat down on one of the bar stools and felt the back of my head. The hair was matted over the spot where Melanie had hit me with the gun.

  “Do you, I mean, do I have any pain killers in this place?”

  “What kind do you want? Addictive, or non-addictive?”

  He smiled wide. Blink.

  I supposed it didn’t matter so much whether he was drunk or not. And I had to admit, there was an odd sort of charm about him.

  “Non-addictive, please.”

  “Well, in that case, I hope you’ve got something.”

  He went into the kitchen and started digging through the cabinets.

  “So, what happened?” he asked. “Did you fall on your head or something?”

  “Ha, ha.” I groaned. “She hit me with the butt of her gun. Then she took mine.”

  “Do you think she believed you?”

  “I think she might’ve. Jay did. He came, too. Backup, I guess. I gave them the money and told them they need to move camp. And to steer clear of Jonathan.”

  “Good. That guy’s a rat.”

  “I know it.” I sighed, exhausted. “So, what’s next?”

  “We’re going to need to lay low for a little while, a few days at least. I can head into the lab, start to make my presence more regular. It’s been a while since I spent much time there.”

  I stared down at my hands, which I had folded on the countertop.

  “What is it, love?” he asked, pushing a couple pills and a glass of water my way.

  I picked up the pills, examining them, then popped them into my mouth and washed them down. I gulped the water until the glass was empty. I put it down and looked up at him.

  “I want to find him,” I said. “Alex.”

  Valle shook his head.

  “You know you can’t do that,” he said.

  “Why not? I’ve got more money than anyone in this city. I bet I’ve even got more than you. Surely that’s enough to pay someone off to get him out of there.”

  “But how are you going to find that someone?”

  I wracked my brain, trying to think of anyone I knew who might have access to him.

  “Chambers told me it was the Service that captured him. And I don’t think it was the Champions. If it was, Damien would’ve used him against me by now. He took my mom, Chambers; why wouldn’t he take Alex, too? It had to be someone else.”

  “I hear you.”

  “I’ve got endless resources.”

  “As do I.”

  He put his hands on the counter and stared down at me.

  “You know, it’s dangerous for you to have so many attachments. You’d be better off if you could only play for number one.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes weren’t.

  “If I were only playing for myself, I would’ve quit all this by now.”

  He looked down, and what was it? Sadness? Shame?

  “You know, I’d quit before you came along. There’s something about working for the enemy that tires you out.”

  I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.

  “Why are you doing all this?” I asked. “If you’re on your own, no attachments, what’s the point?”

  “What’s the point, indeed?”

  He leaned down on his elbows and put his head in his hands.

  “You know, I’ve never had much in the way of friends, and certainly not women. I mean,” he motioned his hand over his face, “I’m no heartthrob.”

  I didn’t argue. I hadn’t been much to look at before Chambers got his hands on me.

  But no friends?

  “I find that hard to believe,” I said. “I mean, you’re no beauty, but you’re funny as hell. No friends?”

  He looked up, and I saw that tears were in his eyes.

  And suddenly, I understood.

  “They took someone from you, didn’t they?”

  He stood up and wiped his eyes. Then, he turned away.

  “This is all just a game, you know,” he said. “Only the players are all real, live people.”

  I nodded. I knew he was right.

  “We’re going to win, you know,” I said.

  It was a lie, an idea that was becoming harder and harder for me to believe, myself.

  But he turned back to face me, and he smiled that sad smile.

  “We’re going to win.”

  Chapter Two

  The next night, Albert pulled the car up to Valle’s building, but he didn’t kill the engine. Instead, he sent Valle a message, letting him know we were there.

  I wondered who might be watching my moves. Did anyone care enough to be following me?

  Certainly.

  “Where do you want me to go once he gets down here?” Albert asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “Anyone watching will see that we’re together. Again. You think I could get away with just claiming we’re friends?”

  But I knew the answer to that. The likelihood that a woman like Audrey would be spending her time with Valle was not very high. If he had been some handsome, rich man with flashy clothes and cars, it would make a lot more sense.

  I wondered if I should stop meeting with him after all. But what else could I do? There was no way to hide our broadcasting lenses. Our unlikely friendship might perplex the people watching us, but would that be all?

  Somehow, I didn’t care.

  I tried to imagine someone looking in from the outside. Audrey, beautiful, rich, new, spending time with Valle, unattractive, rich, a legend. Was companionship enough of a reason for our meetings?

  Because maybe that’s what it really was about. For me. For both of us.

  He stumbled out of the building, and for a moment I thought he was drunk again. Then, I realized he was hiding something in his coat and had simply lost his balance. He shook his head, and I heard him curse under his breath as he approached the car.

  Albert moved to step out and open the door for him, but I stopped him.

  “He’s right here. Don’t worry about it.”

  I leaned over and opened the door. He climbed in awkwardly, and as soon as he closed the door behind him, he dropped the device he’d been carrying onto the seat between us.

  “This is it,” he said, adjusting himself and pulling on a seatbelt, which made me laugh on the inside. Safety first? “Let’s move,” he called to Albert. I noticed a tone in his voice. Superiority. He had been wealthy for a long time, and it showed.

  Albert shot me a glance, but responded to Valle seamlessly.

  “Where to, Sir?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Albert hit the gas gently and pulled out onto the empty street. Nobody was out this late. Or, rather, this early.

  “Maybe we should go somewhere,” I said to Valle. “Let’s hit a cafe or something.”

  He looked at me, frustrated.

  “Come on,” I said. “You know we need a cover. Do you think we could convince them we’re dating?”

  At this, his irritation evaporated, and he laughed heartily at the question.

  I didn’t think it was very funny, though.

  “Okay, then,” I said. “We’ll just drive aro
und.”

  “Yeah. You think?”

  He leaned over and picked up the device, checking it from all angles.

  “Here it is,” he said, handing it to me.

  “You sure this won’t hurt anyone?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “And it won’t take down the electrical grid?”

  “It shouldn’t. It’s quite brilliant, actually, if I say so myself. And they’ll never see it coming. I’ve thought about detonating one like this before, but I never got the opportunity. Or the nerve. I guess I sort of gave up for a while. That was before you came along. Together, we have the perfect weapon.”

  I was nervous and relieved at the same time. The electrical grid would stay intact. Communications would be interrupted, but the land lines, those few who had them, would still work. Food would be delivered. Life would still go on. Maybe not business as usual, but it would go on nonetheless.

  We would rebuild. And we’d all be free.

  “So, how does it work?”

  He smiled as he tinkered with the device.

  “It scrambles the signals from the cell towers. All we need to do is attach it somewhere big enough, high enough, and all the chips will go blank.”

  “So, it’s not perfect, then,” I said.

  He scoffed.

  “It’s damn near close. The government won’t want to take down their own towers, so the likelihood that they’ll send in bombers is pretty low. At least at first.”

  I tried to think farther out. How would the government react to a crippling blow like this? The Champions? This would result in people losing their designations as long as they were close enough to the jammed radio signal.

  “How far will this radiate out from the building?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “A few blocks. This is just a test. I’ve never made one this big before.”

  “But the smaller one you made worked?”

  “Worked well enough to take out my chip.”

  “Was it permanent?”