by Kelly Goode
40
Carson accompanied Tom back to HQ, as both Blake and his jeep had disappeared from Malone’s house and she didn’t want to ride with Sheridan and Finch. She spent the entire journey thinking about the alien indicators on Blake’s top. She should’ve told Lydia who it belonged to, but an uneasy feeling had coiled inside her stomach when she thought about speaking up. Blake probably had a valid explanation for the contamination and she didn’t want to get him unnecessarily into trouble.
Tom had a reserved parking space in front of the building, so the two of them exited the car and headed towards the entrance whilst Sheridan and Finch drove to the car park at the back. The sun had set a while ago and a full moon now illuminated the night sky. Carson’s earlier feeling of unease grew to full blown discomfort.
‘It’s unlocked,’ she whispered, surprised when she pushed against the door and it yielded.
‘The security report confirmed this was where the breach occurred,’ Tom replied. ‘Keep your guard up.’
Carson nodded and pulled her gun from her holster. Tom did the same. It seemed strange to see him armed, as it had been a long time since he’d been a field operative, but the posture seemed natural to him. She approached the reception desk with trepidation. She could see Ted, the night security guard, lounging in his chair. His head was tipped towards the ceiling and his hat had fallen off, revealing a wiry comb over.
‘Wake up, Ted,’ she hissed, hoping Tom couldn’t hear her. She knew Sheridan’s grandfather often took a nap during the night as the job rarely required him to perform any real work as their HQ was like a fortress – until tonight.
The air smelt funny and Carson wrinkled her nose as she spotted a trail of liquid leading from the front door to the desk. It could be water or urine, and she heard Tom cursing as he walked behind her.
‘If the old man has lost his faculties, he’s out of here. I told Sheridan he could keep this job as long as he was fit for duty.’
Carson stepped over the offending puddle. She knew Ted was old and the only family Sheridan had left, but seeing the old man asleep like that, made her sad. He should be enjoying his retirement, not working through the night.
‘Ted, come on, wake up,’ she said. ‘There’s been a security breach. Did you open the door by mistake?’
The smell increased the closer Carson got to the reception desk. It was pungent and she prayed he hadn’t soiled himself too.
‘Carson, stop,’ Tom ordered, as he holstered his weapon.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, copying his action by stowing her gun too.
‘It’s that smell…’
His voice trailed off, as his nose wrinkled in repulsion.
‘Smells like piss and shit, I know. I’ll wake him up and Sheridan can take him down to the lab. They have showers down there. It’s his responsibility.’
‘Ted isn’t breathing,’ Tom said.
Carson inched closer when she realised the old man wasn’t snoring like he usually did. The underlying stench once you got past the bodily fluids was similar to what she’d endured in Malone’s basement.
The stench of death.
Carson spun the chair around. Ted’s shirt was soaked with blood. A deep slash across his stomach had torn through material and flesh. Carson’s hands automatically covered her nose and mouth, and Tom pulled out his gun again.
‘Step aside, Carson,’ he ordered and she complied. ‘Don’t touch anything.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Lydia and Adam were right behind us in the forensic van. They can process the scene while we check the security footage. Ted must’ve confronted his killer. He must’ve seen something.’
Carson’s stomached rolled and she sucked in a shallow breath through her teeth.
‘I’m pretty sure Ted didn’t see anything.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘Because they cut his eyes out.’
41
‘Let me through.’
Carson cringed at the sound of Sheridan’s voice booming behind her. There were sounds of scuffling feet and she turned to see Finch holding his partner by the shoulders in an attempt to stop him getting any closer to the reception desk.
Closer to Ted.
‘You don’t want to see him like this,’ Carson said, coming to stand beside Sheridan. His face was red with exertion and sweat glistened off his shaved head. His brown eyes were wet with tears, but also full of anger.
‘Don’t tell me what I want, Carson. You don’t know shit about what I want.’
‘I was the one who found him so trust me, it’ll be better if you stay away until after the scene has been processed. We all liked Ted.’
Sheridan extracted himself from Finch’s grip.
‘Don’t say his name. You don’t deserve to say his name. This is your fault.’
‘My fault?’
‘If you and Blake put as much effort into your job as you do to each other, Ted wouldn’t have been here alone last night. Blake fucked up and killed an alien, and we were all called to sort out the mess. That left HQ vulnerable. I’ve been saying for months that it was only a matter of time before the desquamaters attacked us on our own turf but no one listened.’
Carson held her hands up in protest. ‘Hold on a minute. Blake and I are fully committed to this team, and if you want to blame anyone, try Doctor Malone. He’s the one who was keeping the damn alien in his basement. Blake saved my life.’
Sheridan swiped his hand across his face, wiping away the sweat as best he could. He straightened his clothing and stared right at her.
‘And I’m sure you’ll find a way to repay him in kind.’
Carson clenched her hands into fists to keep her anger contained. Sheridan was clearly grieving for his Grandfather and lashing out was his only way of dealing with his pain.
‘I know this is difficult for you, but we need to pull together, not apart. We’ll find the monster that did this to Ted and-’
‘I know who did this,’ he snapped. ‘Finch already accessed the system log and there was only one person in the building at the time the alarm was tripped.’
‘Who?’
‘Let’s cut the bullshit, Carson,’ Finch said, taking a step closer to Sheridan, maybe in an attempt to show his support for his partner. ‘You know it was your passcode that accessed HQ so now seems like a good time to tell the truth before Chief Melman comes back and I show him the log.’
Carson angled her chin and looked up at the older agent.
‘I’ve always respected you, Finch. You’re normally the level-headed one in the team, the one who assesses all the facts, but you’re forgetting one key thing here. You and Sheridan both saw me at Malone’s place when the security breach occurred.’
Sheridan’s face twisted with fury and Carson felt his anger like a shield of heat.
‘I don’t know how you did it, but you’re to blame for this,’ he said. ‘You or Blake.’
‘Blake had nothing to do with this either,’ she replied, feeling the need to defend her absent partner. ‘There must’ve been a system glitch. Maybe someone hacked in and set me up. That’s possible, isn’t it?’
Finch shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s possible, but unlikely. Someone manually keyed in your code from this building. The log wasn’t tampered with remotely.’
Carson felt her frustration building. ‘Why won’t you two believe me?’
‘Because we don’t trust you,’ Sheridan replied. ‘And without trust, we can’t believe a damn word you say.’
He turned on his heels and strode towards the exit.
‘I didn’t do this,’ Carson said to Finch, but he just shrugged his shoulders again.
‘Ted is dead and Sheridan needs someone to blame. Tell Chief Melman I’ve taken him home so he can calm down. I’ll analyse the data from the security log online and report back in a few hours.’
Finch took off after his partner, not slowing down to allow Adam through the door, and the two men bumped s
houlders.
‘Don’t mind me,’ Adam called after him, as he shook his head in annoyance. ‘Not like I’m six foot something and carrying a crime scene bag.’
His scowl became a reluctant smile when he noticed Carson staring at him.
‘Sorry about that, how’s your stomach?’
Carson patted the dressing beneath her top. ‘Better, thanks.’
‘I’ve been told I have a magic touch,’ he replied, before his tone turned serious. ‘I heard about the security guard. I’m sorry.’
‘The chief said you and Lydia would process the scene.’
‘That’s right.’
‘What about Ted’s body?’
Adam shook his head. ‘We only deal with alien autopsies. Ted’s body will be processed by a trusted pathologist. Once we get the all clear to start, I’ll process the desk and surrounding area. Until then, I’m heading down to the laboratory to process the samples from Malone’s basement. Want to help?’
Carson’s communicator beeped on her wrist and she frowned as she saw it was a message from Tom.
‘Some other time,’ Adam answered for her, and she nodded.
‘Yeah, sorry, the chief wants to see me in his office but I am interested in those results. Let me know what trace evidence you find.’
Especially on Blake’s T-shirt, she wanted to say but refrained.
‘Sure,’ Adam replied. ‘You already owe me a coffee, so throw in a sandwich and I’ll swap it for a copy of the results.’
42
Anarchy – That was the first word that sprung to Tom’s mind as he stood inside his office, but crowded came a close second. His eyes were drawn to the corpse on the floor beneath the open window. The hideous half-human form lay stiff as a board but there was no blood trail in or out of the room. Lydia was crouched beside the body, methodically taking photos and samples, and the contents of her kitbag were neatly arranged in a semi-circle around her.
‘Is this the alien that escaped from the warehouse?’ Tom asked, causing Carson to startle. She was positioned on the other side of the room, beside the door, and her attention was as fixated on the corpse as his had been.
‘No, sir,’ she replied quietly. ‘Do you think he killed Ted?’
‘I don’t know. Lydia?’
Lydia looked up and shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. There are no traces of blood anywhere inside this room. If he’d killed the security guard, I would have expected to see some sort of transference, but he’s clean.’
Tom tugged on the ends of his moustache.
‘Are you telling me that this monster mysteriously gained entry to my office and then decided to lie down and die?’
Lydia shook her head again. ‘He didn’t die of natural causes. From my initial examination his spinal cord was damaged.’
‘And that’s the cause of death?’
‘We won’t know for sure until we complete the autopsy, but it’s the most likely outcome.’
Tom turned to Carson. ‘Have you ever encountered an alien like this before?’
‘No, sir,’ she repeated, ‘but I don’t think he’s an alien as such.’
‘Why not?’
‘Just something that Blake told me about the jaktten species. He said their bite contains an infection that changes a human’s molecular structure. Looking at this half-mutated kid, I don’t think he survived his first transformation.’
Tom slammed his fist against his desk. ‘I have a dead security guard, a mysterious security breach, and a usually peaceful alien species now creating mutated-humans. Any suggestions?’
‘I’m nil for three, but I didn’t use my key code to get in here. No matter what Sheridan and Finch might say.’
Tom sighed. ‘The breach I can handle. It was clearly either a glitch with the system or a clever ploy to cast suspicion onto you. The security footage was compromised, so we’ve hit a dead end with that too. I’ll vouch for your presence at Malone’s house during the break-in. I know you didn’t do this.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Carson replied and Tom sensed she would have liked to have said more, but her eyes kept darting to Lydia who was listening intently.
‘I need a rush on these results, Lydia,’ he said, walking towards the door so he could have some privacy. ‘Carson, follow me.’
Tom took the stairs to the top floor and Carson followed. When they were safely inside the boardroom, he pulled her into an embrace. She resisted at first, but eventually she sagged against him and he tightened his hold.
‘We’re going to sort this mess out, I promise. I wanted better for you than this.’
‘I know.’
He revelled in the small comfort of holding her, something he hadn’t done in years. She was as much his daughter as the man who fathered her, and he loved her. He’d never wanted children and yet becoming her guardian had felt natural. He wasn’t always good at it, but he would protect her with his life if necessary.
‘I wish there was a way to get you away from this death and destruction,’ he said. ‘Your mother never wanted you involved with the fight against the aliens. She made that very clear.’
Carson pulled away and looked into his eyes. ‘My mother knew about the aliens.’
‘She sure did.’
‘You loved her, didn’t you?’
Tom sighed. ‘With all my heart and soul.’
‘Did she love you too?’
He paused and allowed himself the briefest moment to remember Karen, to recall her smile and passion for life, before the pain grew too much and he shut down his emotions again.
‘She loved your father,’ he replied. ‘She loved you.’
‘That doesn’t answer my question.’
‘Maybe because I don’t know the answer. She was taken before I could ask her, but I wanted her to love me. I wanted to build a life with her. I told her I’d take care of you, treat you like my own. I wanted to raise a family with her.’
Carson pushed her hands through her short, black hair and winced. She gripped her stomach and Tom frowned.
‘Are you hurt? Doctors Peters agreed to give our department one last chance and will assist the pathologist with the post-mortem. We’re telling her the perpetrator was high on drugs when he killed Ted, nothing about the aliens. She can give you the once-over too if you like.’
Carson shook her head. ‘It’s just some cuts and bruises. Doctor Peters has more important things to do then tend to my injuries. Ted deserves justice.’
‘Yes, he does.’
‘Finch told me to tell you that he took Sheridan home.’
‘Probably wise under the circumstance.’
‘He said he was going to analyse the security log online and let you know the outcome.’
‘Who else knows your pass code?’
Carson inclined her head. ‘No one.’
‘Not even Blake?’
‘What makes you ask that?’
Tom slipped his hands into his pockets. ‘Because Blake is the only agent who hasn’t responded to the security call. Why isn’t he here?’
‘He probably just needed some extra time to get his head straight. He was really upset about what happened in Malone’s basement. He wouldn’t betray me - not like this.’
‘I hope that’s true, because he’s a good agent, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been keeping an eye on him. If he steps out of line, he’ll have me to answer to.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Carson’s stomach rumbled loud enough for him to hear and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
‘When was the last time you ate?’ he asked.
‘I grabbed something earlier.’
‘Liar, you’ve been working all day.’
She sighed. ‘Fine, I didn’t eat, but I’m not hungry.’
‘Your stomach tells me otherwise, so you’re coming with me. No arguments.’
43
Carson’s phone beeped while she was waiting for the local fast food outlet to provide her requested hamburger. She
studied the caller display, but didn’t recognise the number.
‘Answer it,’ Tom said. ‘I’ll collect the order and meet you back at HQ.’
‘Ok, thanks,’ she replied, as she stepped outside and connected the call. ‘Hello?’
‘Is this Carson Towers?’
‘Yes.’
‘Hello, it’s David Raider.’
‘DI Raider, hi, how are you?’
He chuckled. ‘I’m fine, but you sound surprised to hear from me. Why is that?’
‘Not many men keep their promises.’
‘Ouch.’
‘Sorry, ignore me,’ she said, kicking out at a discarded can. ‘I’m just having a bad day.’
‘Anything I can help with?’
‘Telling me you’ve identified the victims would go some way to making it better. That was why you called, right?’
Carson heard him draw in a breath and it crackled against her ear so she switched the phone to the other one.
‘Well I was going to ask whether you’d like to meet for dinner,’ he said, ‘but I get the sense you’re more interested in my bones than me.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Not as sorry as I am, but my ego will recover. The little girl was called Sage McKenzie. Nine years old. We’re going with the assumption that the male was her father, Colin McKenzie, but as we have no tissue sample, we need to extract the DNA from the bones and that’ll take a little while longer.’
‘How sure are you that it’s Sage?’
‘Anna McKenzie reported her husband and daughter missing. They went for a walk during the evening and never returned. A DNA sample from the mother matched with the child, so we’re sure.’
Carson joined the swell of people heading from the High Street towards the train station.
‘Thanks for calling me, Raider,’ she said. ‘I appreciate it.’
‘I’m glad you said that, as I was hoping the information sharing would go both ways,’ he replied. ‘How sure are you that the perpetrator was an animal?’