Audio Assault

by Jeff Adams

  “Spend the time with your family. I’ll only interrupt if it’s urgent. Thanks, Winger.”

  “Talk soon, Doc.”

  I sat for a few minutes, computer still open. The screen cleared as Lorenzo disconnected. Thoughts raced around my head, slamming into my brain’s virtual walls. The calm I’d found during the bike ride gone.

  There was nothing more I could do for now.

  A long shower was in order as was some aspirin for the headache that formed behind my eyes. Then it’d be time for dinner.

  The Glenwoods planned to cook so everyone was involved, kinda like the breakfast I’d had yesterday. I expected tonight to be enjoyable and that the conversation would likely stay away from the mess of previous days.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  INSTEAD OF flying home from New York, we headed to TOS HQ outside of Washington, DC. All of us had been called in to debrief. The last of the meetings took place in a conference room with Lorenzo, Joanna, who was his boss, and Raptor.

  So far most of the questions revolved around why Mom and Dad started working with the Glenwoods without notifying TOS. While it was okay to help a friend, had TOS been aware of the details when they started, the response could’ve been faster once it was clear the agency needed to be fully engaged.

  My interest piqued as the meeting shifted to details on the people taken into custody.

  Raptor laid out the facts. “This is part of a Blackbird plan to cause extreme discord around the world. They went after Glenwood Music first because they’re a smaller distributor. The plan was to roll this out across all types of audio, recorded and live, and be able to cause a segment of people to go berserk on a whim. They’d be able to have pop-up riots, on a global scale, whenever they wanted. We expect they’ll continue to try and perfect this and make it so it can affect more people. It’s a priority for Joanna, Lorenzo, and the tech teams to find a way to prevent this on a permanent basis.”

  The implications of Blackbird’s plan where horrific. I imagined I’d be on the team—if I still had a job when this was done.

  “We recovered everything in Philly,” Raptor continued. “But, we have to assume they have as sophisticated of a backup system as we’ve got, and they’re development work continues. We continue to question the people in our custody for information on the mastermind. We still don’t know if Overture remains embedded with Blackbird as we haven’t heard from him since his transmission was halted a few days ago.”

  In the years I’ve worked with TOS, I’d never seen Raptor hesitate. This was the guy no one knew by anything other than his codename. Always calm, cool, collected. The look that played across his face was unsettling.

  “We also have to be aware that four, and possibly more, of our agents are compromised. In the coming days, we’ll work with you together and separately to piece together how this could’ve happened so we can work to prevent it in the future. Our utmost concern now is for your safety.”

  Mom, Dad, and I discussed this before we’d left New York. We didn’t include John because he’d have to decide how he wanted to proceed—stay with us or get a new assignment and identity.

  We obviously wanted to be safe, and we talked a lot about the disruption of my final year in high school and my college plans.

  “We’ve discussed this at length,” Mom said, “and we’d like to try to use this as an opportunity to make Blackbird fully reveal themselves. We can’t speak for John and will respect whatever decision he makes, but for many reasons we’d like to stay where we are and continue in our present capacity.”

  Raptor nodded, but his concerned expression remained. “I respect and appreciate your decision, Victor, Katherine. I have to agree that using your blown cover in this way could be useful.” He paused, and I fought to not squirm with the gaze he leveled at me. “But does that take into account what’s best for Theo?”

  “It’s what I want too.” At least my voice didn’t betray my nerves since my insides felt like a knotted mess. “It’s important to me because I feel I may have caused the breach.” Raptor shook his head and waved his hand in front of his face. “I know we don’t know for sure, and we may never know. But I want to help find closure on that and bring down Blackbird.”

  “I’ve been told a few times over the years that we forget you’re not an adult because of your natural talent and adeptness in the job. But we cannot downplay the danger you’re in. It’s very important to the people at this table, that you in particular are good with what comes next.”

  That was another thing we talked about.

  “I have a fairly good idea. There’s a constant target on my back—on all of us really. Beyond seeing this through, I want to hang on to the day-to-day life I have.”

  Raptor looked to Joanna and Lorenzo. For the first time in years, I couldn’t read Lorenzo’s expression. He usually wore his feelings on the surface when he wasn’t on a mission.

  Would we be forced to relocate and change our identities or would TOS cut ties with us completely? Those options would be devastating, although in different ways. Moving would suck. Of course, being let go would suck too, especially for my parents. Even if it was retirement, I knew they weren’t ready for that.

  “And what about you, John?”

  “I’ve been through too much with these guys to give it up. I’m staying put.”

  I’d hoped he would choose that because of the ties we have with him. I gave him a smile, which he returned.

  “I can’t say I’m not uneasy about the choice, but I admire everyone’s desire to stay on the case and perhaps neutralize Blackbird once and for all.”

  Raptor stood and the rest of us did as well. He came around and shook hands with Dad. “Thank you all for your work.” He moved on to Mom. “We’ll keep fighting the good fight.” He stopped when he got to me and, instead of the handshake, put his hand on my shoulders. “Theo, you make sure you take care of yourself.” Then he shook my hand and gave me a clap on the shoulder.

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “I have another meeting,” Raptor said as he shook John’s hand as well. “I’ll leave you to finish up.”

  Once Raptor left, Lorenzo came around and put his arm across my shoulders and rested the hand on my shoulder. It was a very brotherly move. “Can I borrow Theo for a few minutes?”

  “Of course,” Mom said. “We have a few more things to do so you can take your time.”

  “Cool,” he said and we exited. “Buy you a Dr Pepper?”

  That put me at ease.

  “I think we need to stop sending you in the field,” he continued, dropping his arm so it was easier to walk. There was a lightness in his voice, and it left me unsure if he was joking or serious. “I feel like every time we do, something super bad happens.”

  Déjà vu swept over me and, as so many memories had done recently, clinched my heart. Mitch and Eddie had the same talk about me the last time we were all together. I stuffed the thoughts away quickly because this wasn’t the place to dwell on them.

  “You know, I’ve only officially done field work once. The computer science tournament and this didn’t start as missions.”

  We arrived at the cafe, and Lorenzo pulled a Dr Pepper from the fridge and got himself a mineral water.

  “Seriously? Water?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, trying to kick the soda habit. Girlfriend’s idea. I’m not 100 percent sold on it.”

  I chuckled. Lorenzo had been with Ellen for about six months. He talked about her every now and then—just like I’d done with Eddie—when we goofed around playing video games.

  “I’m not sure I could be with anybody who got between me and Dr Pepper.” I held up the can before the full weight of what I’d just said crashed into me.

  Sadness rolled in like cloud cover. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed them with my free hand. Lorenzo didn’t need to see me cry. And it was stupid to cry over a soda or talking to Lorenzo about Ellen.

  God.

  “Sorry, I shou
ldn’t of….” Lorenzo’s hand was back on my shoulder with a squeeze.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got to get used to it.” I looked at him. “It’s gonna be hell at home. I’ve only managed to put Mitch off by a few days since he thinks I detoured to work with a client. Times like this make me happy I’m almost never on Facebook because at least I’m not getting a million questions.”

  “I’m not sure I can say this enough—if there’s anything I can do, or you want to talk. I’m here. As a friend or your boss. Whatever you need.”

  I opened the soda and took a long drink to buy me some time before I had to talk again.

  “I appreciate that. I’ll take you up on it if I need to.” I looked at him sheepishly. “Can we talk about something else?”

  We navigated the hallways to his office. “How was New York? The time-off part, I mean.”

  “I enjoyed biking around the city. It’s different from Boston. And I had no idea how great the new bike would be. I can’t wait to get it home. It was cool doing family tourist stuff too. We checked out the Statue of Liberty, went up the Empire State Building.”

  In his office we took our usual spots. Unsurprisingly nothing had changed here in the week or so since the training exercises.

  “Can I be candid with you?”

  Lorenzo usually spoke his mind, so the question was unexpected. “Always.”

  He hesitated, and I wished people would stop that. “After we finish working on the current prototype of the contacts, I want you to go on inactive status for the rest of the summer.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up his hand, cutting me off. “This isn’t a punishment, I promise. But you need time to work through what happened with Eddie. I know you blame yourself. And no, I don’t know that because anyone has told me. I know because that’s how you are.”

  He might as well have been striking me his words hit so forcefully. I gripped the chair arms, feeling like I might either cry or throw up.

  “And I see it in your eyes, right now. This is about keeping you in top shape. Everyone takes time off, and you don’t take enough. You know how inactive works—we’ll call you if we need to consult, but you won’t be assigned a new project or mission until you’re back.”

  I’d been on the vacation list from time to time—and even the injured and recovering list—but never inactive. People went inactive all the time for various reasons. I needed to buck up. Lorenzo of all people wouldn’t do this if he didn’t feel it was in everyone’s best interest.

  “Okay.” I did my best to not sound disappointed. “You’re probably right that it’ll be good. As long as you’re sure I’m not shirking my responsibilities.”

  “I would never think that of you. There are people twice your age who aren’t as dedicated as you.”

  I nodded. I got my work ethic from years of being on hockey teams and from my parents. It was a good combo—watching them do their thing and playing sports with good coaches.

  “I’m glad you’re staying.” Lorenzo sounded relieved. “I figured you’d want to, but this could’ve easily been the end too. We’re gonna do everything we can to bring the Cochranes in and stop Blackbird.”

  “I know and I’ll help where you want me to.” Lorenzo nodded as I talked. “If you discover I compromised us please tell me.”

  “We will. It’s important we figure it out and understand what we all missed. Security is reviewing all the protocols around identifying threats.”

  Lorenzo’s video chat rang and he looked to his screen. “I need to take this.” His demeanor shifted as he pointed at the screen.

  “Cool. I’ll be back to work tomorrow.”

  He nodded. “Talk to you then. Later, man.”

  “See you.”

  I closed the door behind me as I left his office. At least the TOS side of life seemed sorted out.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ONE OF the advantages to being on the high school hockey team was the ability to occasionally pick up free ice time and that’s exactly what Mitch had pulled off for my first morning back.

  We arrived just after six and played a version of one-on-one keep-away on a portion of the ice—blue line to goal line.

  It was fast, intense, and a lot of fun. Since I’d been cleared for the ice again last spring, Mitch and I’d gone back to playing one-on-one a few times a month. We both enjoyed the challenge. I wished we could’ve played longer, but the summer youth camps had the ice next, so our time was up.

  I dreaded the next part—breakfast. Despite the fact we always went to eat after one-on-one, this would be different. Mitch hadn’t specifically said there’d be a talk, but we weren’t going sit across from each other and not end up on the subject of Eddie. Before I left New York, we’d talked because I had to apologize for hanging up on him. I told him Eddie and I had broken up but that it was too new to talk about. He said all the right things a best friend would and let me be.

  My parents had let me decide what the cover story would be. I ran it by them, of course. But they wanted me to be comfortable with it since I’d repeat it often.

  Mitch, of course, was the best person to test it out on. We’d had each other’s backs for forever, and he wouldn’t push for more than I wanted to give.

  We landed in our diner booth, which had been our go-to spot since back in our peewee divisions days when we’d come in, along with one parent or another, after Saturday morning games. The menu was huge, as were the portions.

  This was more of a late-night place for us these days, usually with Iris and Eddie after whatever we did on weekends. Luckily there were plenty of memories here that predated Eddie by several years, so coming here didn’t make me sad.

  Once we ordered enough food to feed an army of hockey players, Mitch started with the simplest of questions.

  “How are you?”

  I shrugged and leaned back against the cushion, fiddling with the water glass in front of me. “I don’t know. I mean I’m not dying or anything, but it’s also like I’ve been pummeled. I didn’t see it coming at all. I thought we’d talked about everything. We had plans. Hell, we’d fought last fall because he thought I was changing things when I went to that Denver tournament.”

  “Man, I thought he was better than that. Obviously, you knew him better, but we met him at the same time. I watched you two get all cutesy, as Iris once put it, but I never… I mean I don’t know if you two were gonna be forever but… I never imagined he’d just cut ties because his parents moved to Vancouver.”

  I hadn’t realized Mitch had thought so much about this. Although, possibly he was channeling Iris. I’m sure she had a lot of opinions. She told us once that she felt like we’d at least get through college together and believed we had a real shot to go on because we clicked so well.

  She felt the same way about her and Mitch. Certainly among the people who have relationships at school, theirs was the one that always seems solid and the most drama free. Fights—and they didn’t have many—settled quickly, and they never got bitchy with each other—at all. Eddie and I were the same—until we weren’t.

  “I can’t figure out why he didn’t think we’d be able to do long distance our senior year,” I said. “We could’ve been back together for college. Parents sometimes move. But it doesn’t mean you have to totally cut off the people around you.”

  “Did he…?” Mitch opted for a drink of water instead of finishing.

  The server bought him more time by bringing drinks—coffee for Mitch and my Dr Pepper. Once we were alone again, Mitch seemed unsure and he folded the corner of the paper placemat.

  “It’s okay. Ask whatever.”

  Mitch was the only friend I’d give that permission to, but there was no reason for him to hold back. His sad expression was awful. It was opposite of Mitch’s normal laid-back demeanor. Usually, the only exception was his laser-focused intensity for playing. The last time I remember him sad was right after one of his grandparents died when we were freshmen.

  “D
id he at least talk to you before he cut you out?”

  “Yeah, broke up over dinner. He said he hated what he was doing, but thought it was best if he just walked away instead of trying long distance.”

  I kept it simple, and as close to the truth as I could.

  “So that’s it? We just don’t see him or talk to him ever again? I’m still talking to some people that I went to grade school with, even though they’ve moved. I never expected him to be such a dick.” He seemed like he was gonna say more but again stopped. “Sorry, it doesn’t help if I badmouth him.”

  That coaxed a smile out of me. “It does a little bit. Believe me I’ve said lots of bad stuff about him in my head the past few days.”

  “Fair enough. Well, Iris wanted me to tell you that she’s here for you just like I am. You probably already know that, but she wanted me to make sure. I’d told her she could come to breakfast, but she insisted this should just be us.”

  Iris was awesome. I would’ve been fine if she’d come, but I loved that she recognized the bond Mitch and I had. She’d get a big hug from me later.

  Our food arrived, and it was slightly embarrassing that it took two servers to bring it all out.

  “I know.” I arranged plates in front of me. “You go to hockey camp in a couple of weeks, right?”

  Mitch already had a mouthful of pancake, so he simply nodded and grunted an affirmative.

  “You want some company?”

  His face lit up like I’d given him a Christmas present. He chewed faster to clear his mouth, something Iris finally got him to do about a year ago after repeatedly punching him in the arm when he talked with food in his mouth.

  “Hell yeah. It’d kick ass if you could come. I thought you had work?”

  “I’m wrapping up a project and then I’ve got the rest of the summer off.”

  “That’s awesome!” He said it way too loud causing other people to turn and look. He didn’t seem to care and neither did I. “I’ll send you the info so you can sign up. Last I heard there was still space, but they were filling up fast.”