by Meg Buchanan
“Want me to find out where Mike Fraser’s got to?”
“Yeah, and anything else about him you can get.”
“That woman who owns the pub, do you know who she is?”
But it’s hard to touch stuff when you can’t see your hands. I turn the haze off. I keep reading.
“No.”
“Patsy Fraser.”
“Some relation to Mike Fraser?”
“Ex-wife. Got a kid too. Jack Fraser, eighteen. He visited Jacob with the granddaughter. Ran a search on him. Works for Jacob. Police record as long as your arm.”
“What for?”
“Kid stuff. But in the wrong place a lot. Disappears OffGrid a fair bit too.”
There’s a handwritten comment on the transcript.
‘Likes to be OffGrid – needs watching – put intercepts on all the devices in the pub. See if the kid or the mother are up to anything.’
When did that happen? How long have they been listening to us?
I check the date. Nearly a week. I frantically move to the next transcript.
“Anything else on Hennessey?”
“Nothing yet. I’ve got Jacob under surveillance but nothing to report. He’s just getting visits at the hospital from that granddaughter and the Fraser kid.”
I flick to the next page.
“Or she doesn’t exist. What about the vault?”
“Nothing there either. That guy we talked to in Sydney gave us the plans.”
“We’ll step up the surveillance and start looking at the old records. Something will give.”
Then transcript after transcript of Vincent and the sidekick just talking through the case.
A couple of transcripts about the trolley incident and Ela’s mum calling Jacob when she asked him to look after Ela.
“Something you might be interested in, boss.”
“What is it?”
“A couple of things picked up by that Intercept you asked for.”
“The Hennessey Intercept?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would I be interested in some kids racing trolleys?”
“Look at the name.”
“Ela Hennessey?”
I read the transcript of the call.
Doctor Hennessey: Can Ela come to the farm and stay with you for a while?
Jacob Hennessey: Is there a problem?
Doctor Hennessey: Yes. She’s in trouble. She got herself arrested by Vector, and the situation could catch fire at any moment.
Jacob Hennessey: Is she in custody?
Dr Hennessey: No, she’s home. But I have a conference next week, so I won’t be here to protect her if things go wrong. I want to make sure she’s safe.
Jacob Hennessey: Send her here for as long as you need to. I’ll look after her.
“Bit of an overreaction from the mother. Has the kid gone?”
Then another transcript about Ela.
“The Intercept picked this up. Don’t know why it’s taken so long to get to us.”
“A DNA test on Ela Hennessey? Why’s that interesting? They would have done one when she was arrested.”
“It’s a match with Thomas Hennessey’s. That’s why the Intercept picked it up.”
“He’s a Local, and she’s his kid, so it would match.”
“He is but look at the next match. The mother isn’t a Local. She’s Elite.”
“He wrote the report about his own kid?”
“Looks like it.”
“How did we miss that?”
“Don’t know, but I think it’s the final piece of the puzzle.”
Next transcript.
“They got no one at the road blocks?”
“No. Only one kid, and his story checked out.”
“Check who else was in the vicinity before we arrived?”
“No one.”
“Not even the kid at the roadblock?”
“Can’t find him.”
“Go forward in five-minute leaps.”
“Got him. He appears out of nowhere about forty minutes later.”
“Is it the Fraser kid? He goes in and out of the pub all the time. Has to be going somewhere.”
“No, but he was OffGrid all day too. Appeared about three kilometres from the farmhouse. It looks like the other kid picked him up. Do you want me to go get them, have a talk?”
Fuck. I move to the next pile. It’s all the results of an electromagnetic survey and some maps. There’s a hand-drawn ring around the waterfall site on a map under a survey printout and a big question mark.
I guess it’s the printouts of what Henry and Charlie were getting Huey to do. Vincent has worked out where the vault is. Whether the Willises knew it or not, they found it. Lucky Joe and Lucinda have already been moved.
I shift to the next pile of papers and find the plans for the vault. Could be the originals. All Dad’s work. I don’t know how they got them. Vincent’s careful. He’s right OffGrid. Why would he leave this stuff lying around?
I check the plans. No handwritten numbers on the bottom, so Dad must have done that just on Jacob’s copy. But there’s a handwritten note of the coordinates of the waterfall. I figure Vincent did that just after he drew the circle on the survey results – same pen colour. Under the plans are more drawings, this time of the Outpost. I recognise them from the Nav Map Curley put on our Coms so we could find Lucinda.
Under that are consignment slips for building materials. About every third one has a question mark on it or a figure circled in red. I keep going through the piles, more and more urgently. Records from building the Outpost. The quantity surveys. The accounts. Plans. Orders for deliveries matched to invoices. Handwritten notes where the quantities supplied don’t match estimates by the quantity surveyors. It looks like truckloads of building materials went missing while they were building the Outpost, like Jacob said.
On one estimate there is a handwritten comment: ‘The vault exists’. Then a big exclamation mark.
I figure I don’t have long to look at the papers. The way all this stuff is in piles, it looks like they’ll be back. Maybe they’re just in the middle of shifting the stuff here.
Or moving it somewhere else.
It’s all making me pretty anxious. But I keep looking.
In the next pile are lists of names.
All Ela’s family.
All my family.
Fitzgerald.
Curley.
Everyone.
Under each name a summary about the person. There’s Ela’s birth record with a big red question mark under it.
A DNA test on Ela.
There’s Ela’s father’s report of what he discovered about Genus 6.
There’s Vector’s report on an explosion at the Outpost. I guess it was when Dad and Ela’s dad tried to blow up the records office.
I go to the next page.
There’s a transcript of Ela’s dad being interrogated by Vector. It doesn’t look like he told them anything. He was real brave.
I hope Ela never gets to see that report.
It goes on and on and on.
I get to one that seems to be Vincent and the sidekick talking again.
“Anything else on Hennessey?”
“Nothing yet, I’ve got Jacob under surveillance but nothing to report. He’s just getting visits at the hospital from that granddaughter and the Fraser kid.”
“So far, the story – that we’ve been sent in to round up OffGridKids and RogueSeeds – is working as a cover, but it isn’t getting the results with the real mission. We might have to step up the pressure. I would have thought Hennessey would have done something by now. Contacted her, tried to move her somewhere safer.”
“Doesn’t help that our guys put him in hospital.”
“Maybe he knows nothing about her.”
“Doesn’t seem likely. It was his son who wrote the report.”
“Or she doesn’t exist. What about the vault?”
“Nothing there either. That guy we talk
ed to in Sydney, the one that gave us the plans, seemed sure it existed. He had plenty of incentive to tell the truth.”
“We’ll step up the surveillance and keep looking at the old records. Something will give.”
Then another conversation between Vincent and the sidekick.
“Bad news.”
“From the way you look, it can’t be too bad.”
“Our prisoner’s gone. Disappeared last night.”
“How?”
“Don’t know yet. Security checked their surveillance records but haven’t found anything. I haven’t had time to check the Loop I set up. The Outpost Commander’s got itchy fingers, wants to shoot Locals until the kid’s returned.”
“Just remind him it’s not his decision. Our commander will have to wait a few days before there are any reprisals. Don’t want anyone to close ranks. She isn’t the girl we want, and if the right girl is still around we don’t want her spirited away. So far all they know is its business as usual. We’re looking for RogueSeeds and OffGridKids. We’ll flush them out. A few more raids should get a reaction.
And another.
“What have you got?”
“Accounts, records from building this place, quantity surveys and so on.”
“Put them in the corner. We’ll get to them soon. I’ve found something here.”
“What’s that?”
“Vector’s report on an explosion when this place was first built.”
“Someone tried to blow up the records office?”
“Yeah. A Jules Willis was badly injured, and died under interrogation. But he implicated Thomas Hennessey and Mike Fraser first. Thomas Hennessey died while he was being questioned too. He never talked. Mike Fraser disappeared.”
“Want me to find out where Mr Fraser’s got too?”
“Yeah, and anything else about him you can get.”
Bloody Vincent has been putting it all together, and he has most of the pieces, even Lucinda and Dad.
Finally, between the piles is a notebook.
It’s shut.
I start to frantically flick through it. I figure it has to be Vincent’s handwriting, or maybe the sidekick’s.
It’s like an old book my granddad used to have – two fighters on each page, and they change position a bit as you flick through the pages, so it looks like they’re fighting. But this is words, not pictures.
From the beginning to the end, and it’s all there.
The meeting with Leblanc about Ela’s dad’s report.
Trying to find the girl.
A seed vault in the region and the find and destroy order.
Using Charlie and Henry to find OffGridKids and the vault. There’s even a few notes about Henry and Charlie doing some surveying.
Then at the end of the notes are two entries.
‘15th of March. Girl taken from Outpost. Curley there –talked to him. Caught on surveillance tapes. No record of a call out.’
Then
‘Nick on surveillance tapes. 15/4. No record of callout.’
Both entries have a few exclamation marks after them, circled in red. Underneath is the comment with another red circle and exclamation marks.
‘DNA test, report about own daughter.’
And the pen used to do them is still sitting there between the pages, like Vincent made the circles, banged the pen down, and flipped the book shut as if he’d just figured something out. I’ve seen him do things like that a couple of times when he’s been with Henry and Charlie.
Vincent has figured out he’s looking for Ela.
I need to warn her and Jacob.
And Vincent knows Curley and Nick helped rescue Lucinda.
I don’t know where Vincent is.
I don’t know where Curley or Nick are.
I fish in my pocket for my Com to make a Connect with Fitzgerald. I need Fitzgerald to help to get rid of these papers, neutralise Vincent and the sidekick before they get back, or get to Nick and Curley.
I switch my Com on, send the CatchingFire to Fitzgerald.
And see an Intercept hit the Com.
Fuck. I knew about the Intercepts. And I still used my Com. I break the Connect real fast but figure whoever monitors the Intercept on calls from the pub knows I’ve made it.
Knows I’m here.
I wait, expecting to hear Hovers. But it doesn’t happen.
The Intercept can’t be connected to the DroneCams that surveillance the town. I know from experience that Vector arrives at parties in seconds if there’s trouble.
I figure Fitzgerald has shields to protect his Com, and he’ll be all right. But I’m a goner. Whoever is watching the Intercept on the pub knows I’m in Vincent’s room. I figure, if I move fast, I should be able to warn the others before Vector gets me.
I need to use Dad’s computer. The one good thing about what I’ve read is none of it came from Dad’s computer. So, the shields work and should hold long enough to send out a CatchingFire to everyone.
I activate the HazeApp.
Go out of the room.
Fly down the stairs.
Make my way back to our living quarters.
Jacob needs to get Ela out now.
Curley and Nick need to get away.
I need to warn Mum she’s in danger.
Someone needs to get rid of these papers.
Someone needs to neutralise Vincent and the sidekick.
All those thoughts are running through my mind as I fly up the stairs.
Chapter 34
THE BACK-DOOR SLAMS SHUT behind me. I motor down the passage. Go into the office. I hear Mum come through the front door and along the passageway. She must have just finished work.
“What’s happening?” she asks.
I unhaze and sit at the computer. “You need to get out of the pub now.” I’m frantically sending out CatchingFires to everyone I can think of before that Intercept starts clawing at the computer. I get out one to Jacob, one to Ela, one to Nick then Curley.
I get them done just in time. Only milliseconds before the shields come up. The computer crashes, and I’m staring at a blank screen.
I hear the front door bang open. Not sure who it is. “You’re not safe. Get out now,” I say to Mum again. “You’re on Vincent’s hit list too.”
I hear a voice from the kitchen. “Patsy? Jack?” It’s Fitzgerald.
He got here fast. Mum disappears into her room. I go and meet Fitzgerald.
“What’s happened?” he asks.
By the time I’ve explained about papers in Vincent’s room and the Intercepts Mum’s standing beside us, out of her work clothes, dressed in jeans, boots, black long sleeve t-shirt.
“What’s the plan?” says Mum. And Fitzgerald doesn’t even question that Mum will be helping solve the Vincent problem.
*
Me and Mum start clearing out Vincent’s room.
Fitzgerald takes off to get some help.
Mum just keeps working methodically to get rid of everything. “I’ll take this load of papers to my car.” At first, she stops to read a paper here and there, but now she’s all business.
“Can you get another box?” I say. “I’ll carry on packing the stuff up.”
“Okay. Back in a minute.” Mum goes out the door.
I keep packing. The last box is just about full. There’s still a couple of piles to go. Then I hear a noise behind me. I turn and see the sidekick coming into the room carrying a briefcase.
Shit. I drop the folder I’m holding, pick up my Com, not a weapon, but I figure if I can’t be seen, I’ve got a chance of getting out of here. Preferably without getting shot.
“What the hell?” The sidekick drops the briefcase. Launches at me.
He always looked like he spent a fair bit of time in the gym, but coming towards me, all power and threat, he looks the size of a gorilla.
I hit the HazeApp. Move fast to the other side of the room. The sidekick pulls a gun with a silencer. I see him watching the carpet, like he k
nows why I’ve disappeared and is trying to track my footprints.
He smiles. Moves towards where I’m hovering. I have to get out of here. I move to the side then forward. He’s concentrating on footprints on the carpet.
I gather up every ounce of strength I have. Launch at him.
And hit him hard in the throat. I can’t see the impact, but I feel it through my arm. The sidekick’s head flies back. His body goes rigid then folds. He falls on the floor and lies still. There’s something about the way he is resting. I know he’s dead. It was a lucky hit.
If I had any plan when I hit him, it was just to distract him while I got out of here.
But I’ve killed him. The gun’s fallen about a metre from the body. I pick it up.
My mind thinks about all the problems that killing a Vector hit man at the pub is going to cause. Fitzgerald was planning on ambushing the sidekick and Vincent somewhere near the Outpost. I think about who this will affect, what needs to be done.
He probably has his Com on him. It’ll have a Locate that will put him right here in the pub. That’s going to mean trouble for Mum. There’s the Tablet that was on the table. It will have a Locate too.
There’s all the papers. Some still here. Some in Mum’s car. They tell the whole story. They mean trouble for everyone. Then there’s the sidekick’s briefcase. It could have a Locate too, or more incriminating evidence.
Then I realise the Eco Vincent drives will have one as well. And the thing has to be parked right outside the pub. Probably with Vincent in it. I haven’t ever seen either of them without the other. The problems are getting bigger and bigger.
A body, Coms, an Eco, the Tablet, all the stuff in the room and Mum’s car. It all needs to be erased.
I think about Curley. Could he change the Locate records? I think about Scott or Nick. They could help get rid of the body.
And then I give in again.
I get my Com out. Make the Connect to Fitzgerald. Decide to ignore the Intercept. There’s so much to clean up now, what’s one Connect?