**
CJ and Clem went out again. The plan was to use the disrupter in the vicinity of Mitchell, the man in charge of The Lazarus group, and find out everything they could about Vitaly’s plans. There was no point in going to Yon Lougawou, since their leader, the person who would have had the most information, was dead.
But that left Hugo and Crysta with very little to do. At first that was perfectly ok, but every smile, every little contact, reminded him of what would happen if they screwed this up. And it was making him very nervous. He watched Crysta’s small, skilled hands as she turned the page of her medical journal. She shifted against him slightly and for a brief moment her lavender-scented hair obscured his vision of the article. Not that he minded, he’d stopped focusing on it quite a while ago. Mostly his suggestion to read over her shoulder was an excuse to be close to her. She was sitting between his legs, leaning against him, but all of a sudden she bent forward to get a look at him.
“What’s wrong,” she asked, frowning.
Hugo blinked, unable to fathom how she knew something was wrong turned away from him like that. He wanted to answer her question, but the words seemed like a tangled mess, “Just nervous I guess. For uh…Clem and CJ being out there, while we sit here and wait.”
Crysta scooted away from him so that she could face him. She took one of his hands in her own, “They will be fine. And yes, waiting is hard, believe me, I know,” Crysta’s voice dipped slightly and her eyes darkened, “but sometimes it’s what needs to be done. Just appreciate the rest while we have it.”
Hugo chewed on his free thumb, the contact of her hand further proof that he needed to be doing something to protect her. What had he overlooked? What else could they be doing on a Saturday the week before the explosion was going to happen? “I’m going to go talk to Maggie.”
Crysta looked startled at the sudden statement, dropping his hand, “About what?”
“I think we should see what the other groups are up to, which ones sided with Vitaly and which ones didn’t. Maggie should be able to find that out.”
“Oh, I see,” she almost sounded disappointed. “Would you like me to come with?”
“No, that’s fine. You relax, I’ll be right back.”
She looked a little skeptical at his definition of ‘right back’, but just smiled, claiming the rest of the blanket as he stood up, “See you in a bit then.”
He gave her a light kiss on the forehead and then stepped through the portal. He walked up to Maggie’s door and knocked, it opened slightly at his touch. Hugo froze, and then pushed the door all the way open. And then he was watching Maggie peer through the keyhole, unlock her door and then open it to reveal him standing in the door way.
“Sorry to just barge in, but I wanted to see you.” He smiled.
Maggie stared at him, perplexed. The shotgun lowered to the ground. And then Hugo took out a pistol and shot her in the chest. She stared in surprise at the hole for several seconds before crumpling to the floor. And then he gently shut the door and left.
Hugo stood there, blinking stupidly at the body on the floor, dark blood in a strange-shaped pool, shotgun forgotten to the side, eyes wide in surprise. Maggie was not dead. This was not possible with her alarms and infrared sensors and her large gun. This was not happening. She was not dead. But then why was there a body on the floor? Hugo knelt by it, careful to avoid the puddle of blood, and picked up a hand. It was still a little warm; so this had happened recently. He could see the gaping hole in her chest, the shirt stained red.
It started pouring outside. Maggie was dead. Now he was screaming and crying, that much was certain. He was holding her as if it would do something. But now the situation made a lot more sense. He should have warned Maggie about Patrick, but hadn’t really considered it. No one would go after Maggie with the armbands, she was useless as far as Vitaly was concerned. But apparently not useless enough.
It would be great if he would stop screaming, because then it would be easier to think. Maybe Vitaly had had Maggie killed because they had said no, or for the exact reason he had been going to see her. Wow. Vitaly had come up with the idea first; that was a little embarrassing. There was a lot of blood. And it would be nice if she was still alive. But he couldn’t exactly raise the dead or go back in time. Oh. Ok. Time to get up. Calm down. Ok, stop crying, we have a plan now.
Hugo opened the portal to Thoth’s place, quickly stepping through. The man was there, reading a book. He took his time looking up at Hugo, but when he did, he immediately stood up.
“You have to help me!” Hugo’s voice cracked.
“Did Maggie die?” Thoth asked, his voice a mixture of sadness and surprise.
“Y-yes! Wait, how did you know?” Hugo’s eyes narrowed.
Thoth let out a soft sigh, “It’s happened before.”
“You let it happen?” The screaming was probably unnecessary but seemed to be unavoidable.
“It always happens. I cannot change it,” Thoth was looking at the ground, his voice quiet. He’d tried before and he always failed.
“I-I know how to fix it.”
“You cannot change-”
This time, more screaming, “Fucking help me fix it, dammit!”
Thoth looked up at him sharply, blinking a few times, “What’s your plan?”
“I need an hour and Mr. Hansen.”
The Sound of Wind Page 108