Anonymous (Anonymous Trilogy Book 1)

by Sweth Water

  Coal walked near the TV and flipped through some channels until his photo showed up at the right corner of the screen. He increased the volume.

  “Our resources said the man was targeted because of his wife’s involvement with the infamous Anonymous group. A cyber-attack can happen if the man is not put behind the bars and asked about the information his wife shared with him. He is a senior officer at the Headquarters.” The anchor was saying. They didn’t show any photo of Rose.

  He switched it off.

  “Coal?”

  “I am here.”

  “What are they talking about Rose? Is it true?”

  “No. Never. Some bugger gave them the fake story to show in the news to get the ratings.”

  “You were attacked for God’s sake, Coal! You should stay at your home. Should I come there?”

  “No need, Holl. I am okay here.” He saw outside the window. A man was near March’s house. His focus changed. “I will call you later, Holl. I need to go.”

  He stood behind the window and saw the man ringing the bell. Wind would be in the house, and March too. He had not seen the man before. He never snooped but knew all the friends that they had, and the man didn’t seem to be among them. The man turned his head towards his house, and he ran.

  Coal took the gun from the cupboard as quickly as he could. The door was opened with a strong force.

  The man was running behind March’s house.

  He checked the magazine and shouted, “Stop there!”

  Chapter

  14

  Her hands were near the fire. It was really cold today. March had been living in this city for more than a year. This time was very different. Rose was gone. They were so close to each other. She missed her evening talk with her. And after her death, things changed in her life too. She was responsible for whatever was happening in her life.

  Sun threw her doll and crawled towards her.

  “Mum,” Sun said and hugged her.

  She was her first child. Being a mother was a different feeling for her. Maybe it’s same for every woman. She was blessed to have Sun in her life. She kissed on her head.

  “You want something to eat, Sun?”

  “Mum,” she nodded.

  She took Sun in her arms.

  She had chopped some vegetables for lunch. She was famished. Breakfast was just on bread and omelette. Wind was still sleeping, so she didn’t make enough food. Lunch should be enjoyable though.

  She put the milk in the pot and boiled it. Sun liked oatmeal in the morning and noon and evening. She’d tried to give her something else too, as the doctor suggested. But this Sun didn’t want to have anything else. Oatmeal in milk three times a day, that’s it. It was a healthy food. Her mother had said that she used to like that too at a very young age. Of course, she is my daughter.

  March put Sun in her buggy and added oats in the milk, stirred it, and then let it cool for a couple of minutes.

  Wind was standing behind her when she turned back.

  She stood on her toes. “What! You scared me.”

  He didn’t say anything and took a bottle of milk from the refrigerator and went to the bedroom. It’d been days without any serious talk with him. Let it be in that way, she’d thought. Things were changed. Whose fault it was she didn’t know, but she was ready to take the responsibility of the distance that they had between them.

  She was in Coal’s house to tell the truth, but then she stopped. It would break him and he would do something very wrong. She was not ready to explain everything that had happened so far.

  She took a spoon from the shelf and looked outside the window.

  Coal was running near the wall, and he had a gun.

  What was going on? She never saw a gun in his hand even when she knew he worked at the Headquarters. Some hate was there in his eyes. For whom? She shook her head and forgot him for the moment. But why was he carrying a weapon in the open? Even the police officers were not allowed to have the guns in their hands in public unless the situation was very serious. That shouldn’t be the case here.

  Sun was raising her hands in the air to have something to eat. March had the bowl in her hand and gave the oatmeal with the spoon. In excitement, Sun used her hands and threw it away. It splashed on her dress. It’s not easy to feed a child.

  March took her out from the buggy and used the handkerchief to clean her face and dress. “You are being bad now, Sun.”

  Sun just giggled.

  When she just put the spoon in the bowl, she heard a gunshot.

  Her eyes wide, she had Sun in her arms and ran to the backyard. It was not understandable for her: gunshot she heard, and she was taking Sun with her? Was she stupid? Maybe it was her routine to take Sun with her wherever she would go. Never for an hour had she left Sun alone in the house.

  She burst the door open. Coal pointed his gun at March. His eyes were red as if he didn’t sleep last night too. It was not his fault. She let the moment pass, but Coal didn’t. His gun was still pointed at March.

  She hugged Sun tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. What was happening? Why was he pointing the gun at her? Was he drunk? She hoped he would point the gun down.

  Another door, which was opening at the backyard, opened and Wind came out. Now, Coal pointed the gun at him. Wind stood there, his hands in the air. Before she could say anything Coal moved towards Wind, shaking a little.

  “Coal?!” March said.

  And he fired.

  Chapter

  15

  “Are you fucking out of your mind?” Fog shouted at Coal.

  They were in his cabin. Jo was with them, in his black blazer and blue jeans. He had not seen Fog so furious in his life. They would be shouting and arguing in serious cases. But this was more serious than anything he’d seen in his life. Coal just sat on the chair and listened to whatever he was saying. Jo even tried to interfere but Fog just raised his hand, leave or don’t talk.

  “There could have been injuries, or casualties, Coal. Reporters are behind you for many reasons, and you gave them one more. You are lucky that they have not come to your house. It should stay in this way.” He shook his head. “What were you fucking thinking? Tell me now.” His voice was loud.

  “There was a man, Fog.” he said politely.

  “So, there was a man and you fired at Wind? Thank God he’s all right. The bullet hit the wall. He could have died. Were you drinking at night?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “Tell me. Damn it!”

  “No.”

  “Why the fuck you fired the shot then?”

  “There was a man, Fog.” He cleared the thoughts in his head. He knew what he saw at the door. It was the same man he saw on that day when the assailant died. He was so sure of this man to be the same. And his running was enough to prove the point. He might have seen Coal behind the window. “He was the same man who I saw the other day. He ran away. Maybe he realized I was looking at him.”

  “What is this new story now?” Fog just shook his head. “Wind and March didn’t see anyone there. There is no-one who can prove that you are telling the truth. And most importantly you fired at Wind. Even if you think there was a suspect, you don’t kill him. You bring him here at the Headquarters to talk!”

  “There ... there was some confusion.”

  “Confusion? Are you fucking insane? You don’t know the difference between Wind and a suspect?”

  “I didn’t mean to pull the trigger, Fog. You know me.”

  “I don’t know you at all. I am rolling you off from the case. Effective immediately.”

  “Fog, please—”

  “No. Submit your gun and get out. NOW!” Fog shouted.

  Jo nodded. It was not the right time to talk to him.

  He got down by the stairs. He didn’t remember going down at all. His mind was filled with so many things, and not for a second he understood what he did back at March’s house. He was chasing a person for sure. HE WAS THERE! It couldn’t be anoth
er fucking dream like his dead wife calling.

  Why didn’t Wind and March see the man? Maybe they were in the house. That could be the case. Nobody would know who was running if they were inside the house. That was justifiable. But firing at Wind!? Why? He cursed himself. He was more than a brother to Coal. What insanity took over him at that moment was not comprehensible.

  He swiped his card at the door of the store. He didn’t care to look at the person standing behind the desk. He just gave the gun to him and walked out after signing the papers. A bad day for him.

  He’d made his mind to go to March’s house for lunch. Everything changed. A perfect lunch changed into a disastrous event. What would March be thinking of him? He’d pointed the gun at her too. That part was just a precaution not to let someone attack from the back. Firing at Wind then?

  Outside the building, he was going to give the badge to the officer but stopped. There was proof that could convince Fog that there was a man. If not the firing at Wind, then at least he would make him see the person he was running behind. Yes, it was possible.

  There were street cameras.

  He smiled at the officer. “One minute, Officer. I need to talk with Fog.”

  He went back inside and took the lift this time. Fog was alone in his cabin, going through the documents on the table. Probably finding a lead on the case. He knocked at the door.

  “What now, Coal?” Fog still had the furious voice.

  “There was a man and I can prove that.”

  He leaned against the chair and put the pen on the table. “How?”

  “There are street cameras. You can see the man at March’s door and then me running behind him.”

  “And that proves?”

  “That proves he’d a motive to harm someone in the house or me. I don’t know whom.”

  “Can you justify firing the shot at Wind?”

  Coal looked at the floor. “I can’t. I know, Fog, there are not many reasons you have to keep me here. You can see the recording. You want to roll me off from the case. Okay. But, please, I request you to come with me. You can have a lead on the case. Gin is gone too. We don’t have anything now.”

  “It should better be a good thing.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jo was in the tech department. Four more officers were with him. Jo’s bald head was like a hard stone. He turned his head and nodded.

  “I need the recording of the cameras near my home. In the morning after 11 a.m. The man at March’s door would be there.”

  “Give me a minute.” Jo pushed his chair near a big screen and punched the keys.

  “This is the guy who could tell you where Gin is, and who attacked me, if he was not the main guy.” Coal was telling Fog. “As soon as you get the information from him, please call me. You don’t want me here, I am fine with that. But I need to know the person who put my wife’s name there. These idiots are not going to talk.”

  Coal had seen the people arrested by the police a few days back. He used the tact he’d under the supervision of Fog, not with his whole mind. They didn’t utter something useful to them. They were very stubborn.

  And coming here after the firing, it was Coal’s idea. He had called Jo and told him everything about what happened. Now here he was, listening to Fog.

  “Okay, here we have the street where your house is,” Jo showed them on the screen, “you said 11 a.m. Let me check that. I am fast forwarding.”

  The camera was on the left side of the street. The door of March’s house was visible to them. On the right side of the screen was the timestamp. Exact time he was not sure of. The man would show up any time.

  He had seen the man before. Just one gaze on his face and he would remember. The man was not a criminal for sure. All the criminals that he encountered in his life were either dead or in prison. It was more than that. Perhaps a friend. He shook his head. Not once he heard friends betraying friends. It might prove him wrong.

  It was 11:15 a.m. on the screen now. The speed of the frame was not much. He was constantly looking at the screen. Now the man would come and knock at the door. If he arrived from the left side, he would have the back to the camera. He turned his head. That moment could solve somewhat of the mystery. The important question that he had was why he knocked at March’s door. It should have been him. Or the man knew March or Wind. Did they know about the attack before it happened? They planned it!

  It was ridiculous. Even thinking of it was ridiculous. He never harmed them in any way. And Rose and Coal welcomed them first when they came in the city. It was not making sense.

  “It’s 12:01 p.m., sir.” Jo said.

  He was running to March’s house. Ahead of him was nobody. His gun was raised till shoulder to fire the shot. Where was the man?

  “Coal?” Fog said, his eyes showing the abomination.

  “He was there. He ... he rang the bell. I saw with my own eyes.”

  “Well, the camera didn’t capture anything. If you were chasing ghosts, I want to believe there was nobody.”

  “Fog—”

  “Enough. Give your badge and stay at your home. You are on administrative leave for ten days. Better until we have the people who are responsible for the breach in custody. Go now.”

  He gave the badge at the gate and drove the car.

  He needed to see a shrink. Seeing the people and listening to the voices, it never occurred to anyone in his family. He was the first insane person in the family. Wind and March would think of him as a crazy person. Maybe he was a crazy person. In bereavement, he’d lost the ability to think straight to find the truth. It was far from him.

  While taking the case, it was only for Rose. Just to get to the truth of what Jo and Fog and Baldwin talked about. His innocent wife was dragged into this dirty mess by the people he never met. He lost the courage to find anything. He was spent. Spent by chasing the ghosts of his wife’s secrets, if there were any.

  He drove the car for almost five hours, going to different streets and stopping near the shopping malls. Just to kill time. He filled the tank at the gas station when the car stopped near the armour shop. The gas station was not far. Some luck was working at least.

  At night he was back in the pub. The same monster-like man gave him the drink that he never asked. It’d been only a few days when he didn’t come. But who would forget the people like him who just sat there and got drunk for hours? On the same barstool he sat on and drank. Drank. Drank. Drank.

  Same old days were back. Nothing mattered but alcohol. He missed these gloomy days of his life. Now it was as if these days wanted him to be there for them. He took another mug and gulped it down.

  A young woman next to him talked to him. He didn’t care, looked at the bartender to fill it again. She left after few minutes. Her face wore so much makeup that it was hard to see the real face. Rose was lucky in that; she rarely had the makeup, even if she did it was light. I miss you so much, Rose. Words can’t describe the pain I have been enduring.

  His vision was blurring now. The place was circling. He’d had more than he ever had before. The bartender said something and he ignored that. He waved his hand to him and pulled all the money from the wallet and threw at him.

  He reached the car and engine roared.

  His phone rang.

  “Hello?” he said, not recognizing his own voice.

  “Coal.”

  “Rose?”

  His wife? Again? Was it alcohol or real? He shook his head several times; it was a hallucination. He counted one to ten. The phone was still in his hand. This time he didn’t speak until he was sure it was someone calling him and it was not an alarm. If Rose was calling him, he could have the number because his phone memory was not full.

  And all those people who might be laughing at him would realize that he was right. His wife was alive. He was not so drunk that he would imagine it. It was the perfect moment to shut their mouths. There was an ecstasy that he felt for few moments. It was real happiness. His eyes blinked and
he looked at the screen of the cell phone, someone was still there. His wife.

  He had a smile on his face.

  “Rose, you there?” he asked.

  “March here, Coal. Please help me.”

  “Hello?” Nobody spoke. “Hello?” He was drooling; he wiped his mouth with his hand. And there was a beep. His head was bobbing and he was in no condition to contemplate about it.

  He unlocked the screen of his phone and checked the list of received calls. The number was there. Someone called him. March? He was sure he added her number in the cell, why the name was not there when it rang? Blackness covered the surrounding and his eyes were heavy and the headache was so severe that he could fall any time.

  He threw the phone on the back seat and punched the gas.

  It was March. He could tell that it was the same voice he heard on that day in the motel. It’d been March the whole time. He was foolish to believe that his wife was alive after he buried her with his own hands. Why didn’t March tell him that she called him that day?

  He was worried now. She never called on his cell phone. He wished Wind would be okay. He didn’t have the guts to ask her over the call, and he might fall asleep any time the situation he was in. It wouldn’t take much time to reach the house.

  After few minutes he was at the house, knocking the door.

  “March.” he shouted.

  Wind opened the door, blocking the way to enter. “Yes, Coal?” His tone filled with disgust. For who? His teeth gritted while speaking, “So late. Need anything?”

  “Hey! March called me. I thought there was some trouble.”

  “Everything is okay.” He smiled, his brown stubble had some blood. “She cut her finger while making dinner. She is fine.”

  “Can I talk to her?”

  “No. She is sleeping.” And he banged the door in his face.

  He stood there for minutes, babbling. After few moments he realized that the door was shut and he was talking to himself. He had not seen Wind so furious in his life, and the way he said the words it was like Coal did something very wrong. The expression he wore was so dark as if he had died.