When Jin was out of hearing distance, I moved closer and kept my voice low. "I don't know your involvement here, but the others think you're a suspect. This looks bad." I'm not sure I could handle it if Logan and Rider were right about Vincent's role.
Vincent leaned so close that I could feel his breath. "And you?"
"Up until a few hours ago, I thought you wouldn't make me wait months to learn you were alive. You can't ask me to guess about this."
Vincent's eyes clouded over. "You didn't know?"
"No one knew, and now you're here." I gestured to the mass of people.
"That's not-" He looked around. "Even if I'm not the one doing this, it doesn't mean I'm not to blame. Go home and stay safe."
"You know I won't do that." Lost were being killed, there was no way I could leave.
"Even though that's who they sent you here with?" He gestured to Neil who was nervously hovering nearby.
"He's harmless."
"That's the problem."
Responding would probably only make things worse at this point. There was no way to tell him everything we were doing, or everything that I wanted to say.
Moments of silence slowly slid by before Vincent broke it. "I wish I could say I'd call."
"I'm not sure I would believe you if you did. We'll see each other, though. Soon." I emphasized the last word. In this case, we were moving towards the same spot. It would have been a comfort to know if he would be on my side when we reached that point.
Vincent took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
A white hot fire of energy bolted through me and Vincent. The small piece of my soul that he carried merged us together. The turmoil of emotion that his appearance brought felt magnified.
My heart raced. I grabbed the edge of the table and jerked myself away from Vincent. Every single spark of soul surged, clamoring, racing, and fighting to move to the forefront.
"What's wrong?" Vincent went to reach for me again, but I backed away.
The chaos inside became a struggle, and trying to grab hold of it was like trying to stop a tornado. My concentration needed to be inward, not with Vincent. Who knew what was inside me, ready to take over?
"Shit." Neil's scared voice came from next to me. "You're you, right? Man, you gotta be you."
"I'm me." The last thing I wanted was for Neil to think I couldn't keep myself together.
"Okay, so like, you got all upset right?" Neil tore through his pockets.
"Does it matter?" I snapped.
"Right." Neil opened a bottle of water and dumped a fine powder into the bottle. "So like, drink this. Fast."
I hesitated and tried to think this over, which caused my attention to waver. A large, dark, chunk of soul detached itself from the rest and tried to take over. A promise of ancient power and control came with it.
But I had power, and I was determined to gain my own control.
"It's all we can do here." Neil's voice was pleading as he put a water bottle in my hand.
"Sure," I mumbled and drank.
"What the hell, Cass?" Vincent's words were an acrid whisper.
"Shit, man, he looks ticked." Neil moved closer to me. "We gotta get out of here."
Before Neil could go anywhere, Vincent grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him up, nearly lifting him off the floor.
"What's wrong with her?" Vincent's voice was low.
I tugged on Neil's shirt. "Doesn't matter. Drop him, we have to go." When Vincent didn't move, I lowered my voice. "You are a distraction that I can't handle right now. Let. Him. Go." A twinge of guilt followed the harshness of my voice.
But it worked. Vincent let go and stepped back. Neil wasted no time dragging me out of the party.
My heart clinched when I reached the frigid night air outside. Once again, Vincent and I parted ways without saying goodbye.
Neil passed a ticket to the valet, my muscles relaxed and more importantly, the clamoring began to slow. My own soul fragments began to move forward while the intruders began to swirl before settling.
Contentment rolled over me like fog, and Pat's car drove up.
Finally able to pay attention to the world around me, I nestled into the seat. "Hmmm." The pleased sigh came with a smile that I don't think could be pried from my face.
"Is it working? It sounds like it's working. How do you feel?"
"Hmmm, I feel... good." Streetlights flickered past. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know what the hell happened in there, but I think it's time to take a step back."
"Take a step back?" My voice came out in a drunken slur.
"Those were some bad dudes. Whatever you needed, I hope you got it, because we can't go back."
Sweat began to pour off me. "Right, take a step back."
Vincent, I thought. He's here, he's alive.
Lights became brighter, or maybe there were more of them as we drove across the city. I watched the skyscraper-sized hospitals blur by us.
"Are we going to the office?" I asked.
"Dude, Taylor is going to kill me for tonight. Unless your partners get there first."
I laughed but covered my mouth to stifle the flow.
Neil gave me a worried look. "I'm not sure they'd be wrong after giving you those pills, but man, it was go with the flow right? I did what I had to do."
"Right." I tried to put on a serious face, and follow what Neil was saying, but the words weren't sinking in.
"It was necessary. They can't fault me for that, right?"
"Right," I repeated, sinking further into the soft leather.
Neil’s anxiety levels were ratcheting up, but it flowed over me.
"Yeah, but the party was intense, man. Besides, Taylor said your own partners had to tranq you in the past."
I nodded and closed my eyes.
"So we agree," he said. "Okay, we can do this. Stand united and all that shit."
"Uh huh." Some of Neil's words finally worked their way through my euphoria. "What are you talking about?"
"I had to chill things out." Neil's concentration on the road was intense. "So I thought some pams would to the trick."
I laughed again. "I have no idea what that is."
"Anti-anxiety. Doctors prescribe it. It's all good."
I went back to staring at the lights.
"And the, uh, amount of heroin in the pills was minuscule. And it worked. I mean we left the party, you're all chill, and no more trouble."
"Heroin?" I repeated.
"I've seen trouble with Indian Dude," Neil continued. "Trouble rolls off him like oil, only to land on everyone around him, and you looked ready to lose your shit. We had to get out of there."
"So, I'm on heroin?" It sounded really bad, but with the drug coursing through me, I couldn't make myself get worked up over it.
"So we're good right? Stay united?"
The intensity of my feel good mood began to gradually fall. "Sure."
When Neil parked the car, I opened the door and let my legs swing outside, but I had no interest in getting up. The cool air soaked into my skin and I became enamored with the sharp clouds that my breath made in the air.
Neil came around and leaned on the car door. "Maybe we should have driven around more. You look like you're flying way too high."
Somewhere in the dark, I heard a car door slam shut. My legs bounced and I looked around, expecting to find that Vincent had followed us. It wasn't until I saw Logan that I remembered we'd been nearby all night.
"Did you see him?" I asked Logan.
Rider appeared and wrinkled his nose. "What is that?"
"What's what?" Neil asked running his hand through his hair.
"That smell. All the smells." Rider covered his nose.
"Always the gentleman," I said. "Did you see him?"
"Let's get inside," Logan said.
"But it's so comfortable here," I argued.
Neil stepped back. "Maybe I should get back. Take Pat's car to her and make sure everything is good
at the party."
"No." My voice was sharper than I intended. "I know you saw him. You're coming with us." My mind tried to twist that around. I'm pretty sure I wanted to stay outside, but we needed to talk. In the end, the need to talk outweighed everything.
Taylor met us in the hall and looked Neil and me over. "What did you take?"
When I didn't say anything, Taylor turned to Neil.
Neil tried to be noncommittal. "Nothing much."
"Time to sober up," Taylor said.
"Past time," Neil agreed.
Taylor looked taken aback.
Standing was taking way more effort than it was worth, so I meandered down the hall, knowing that the chairs in the conference room wouldn't be too far away.
Taylor sighed. "Grab some water for both of you, and then I need the names. Everything. Cassie, let's go to the infirmary for a while."
"No way, we have to go over stuff." I looked up and down the halls trying to find a familiar door. "Besides, I feel great. Conference room?"
It looked like he was going to argue, but decided against us. Instead, he led the way.
This time, I didn't mind taking the seat closest to the door. I fell into the chair and let it swing back and forth, then, leaning far back, I stared at the ceiling while everyone settled in. As soon as Neil sat the water bottle in front of me, I snatched it up, thanked him, and drank half the bottle.
"What did you all take?" Taylor asked again.
"Look, man, she was drawing attention to us. It was like... intense. It was intense enough for Indian Dude to come over."
"Jin," I corrected.
"I shouldn't know his name." Neil leaned in, put his elbows on the table, and rubbed his temples. "I should walk around unnoticed. Once dealers notice you, bad shit happens."
"We're in the dark," Logan said.
"So we split up at the party, but I kept an eye on her. I watched her to make sure she was okay, but then, all of a sudden, she wasn't okay. She wandered into someone doing X. She reacted like a champ, but it was the other scary dude that saved the day. I'm pretty sure he killed the dude on X."
I rolled my eyes. "He didn't kill him, only knocked him out."
"Are you okay?" Rider asked.
I waved my hand towards Neil to change Rider's focus.
"Where were you?" Logan asked Neil.
"I was on my way over there. Nothing would have happened, I swear. The scary dude beat me to it. At that point, I thought that we needed to check out of this place and bounce. I stuck to her for a while, but then she started eying the dealers. Not just any dealers, though, Indian Dude—"
"Jin," I corrected again.
"Whatever," Neil said. "Point is, I stepped away for a minute to pull myself together, and when I came back, she was fighting with the scary dude who saved her. He looked ticked off, too. I thought things might get rough. Everyone was noticing, but they kept arguing. And that dude runs with Indian Dude."
“Jin,” I corrected again.
"Jin, the dealer?" Logan asked.
"Yeah," Neil said.
I was able to concentrate enough to gather my question together. "How long has he been around here, working with Jin?"
"I noticed him about three months ago. He worked his way up fast," Neil said.
"Three months." My cloud of tranquility disappeared, and I fell back into the real world.
The real world sucked.
"Anyway," Neil said, "dude looks ticked and then Indian Dude comes over. That was harsh, man. How do you explain to a dealer why you're arguing with his man? Only thing is, the guy introduces her to Indian Dude. Called her Heather and everything. Like they'd known each other. I practically crapped myself at that point. So Indian Dude walks off, and the other guy starts to follow, but she stopped him."
"It's not as bad as you think," I said, staring up at the ceiling, “and it’s Jin. Can you please call him by his name?”
"You asked him point blank if he did it! Straight to his face and all. He leaned in real close and said something. I didn't know what it was, man, but it shook her up. Shit turned worse and I thought she was, you know, losing herself. So I doped her up and got her the hell out of there." Neil stopped. He breathed as if he'd been running.
From his point of view, it probably wasn't that far off.
"Cassie, is that what happened?" Taylor asked.
"Pretty much." I drew myself up into a passable sitting position and looked at Logan and Rider.
"Why would you fight with a stranger?" Rider asked.
"Because, it wasn't a stranger." I rubbed my temples thinking how bad this looked for Vincent. "Sorry Neil. I should have told you I knew him. He's been missing for almost six months." I watched as Logan's eyes narrowed. "He used to be one of our partners."
Chapter 22
Without reading the Path, I could feel anger boil up. It filled the room and rolled my stomach.
"You are telling us that Vincent was there tonight?" Rider asked.
"I was hoping that one of you saw him coming or going into the party," I admitted.
"We didn't," Logan said.
"So the guy you were fighting with, he's your partner?" Neil's voice was wounded.
"He was my partner. Our partner really," I corrected. "We haven't seen him in almost six months, though."
"You think he's here undercover?" Taylor asked.
Logan said the words I was dreading to hear. "I think he's behind this."
Neil sagged back in his seat. "So, we're looking at an AIR agent, or possibly an ex AIR agent."
"What makes you think he's behind this?" Taylor asked.
I tried to avoid getting frustrated with the turn in the conversation. "I know you all think he's guilty—"
"He's a Walker," Logan said. "He's one of the few people we know of who could be capable of tearing a soul into pieces."
"I didn't know Walkers could do that." Neil leaned forward. "Walkers were on my list because they take souls."
"Vincent shredded Cassie's last fall," Rider said.
Taylor looked at me. “He shredded…but-”
I frowned. "Because he's able to, doesn't mean he's doing this."
"What did he say at the party, when you asked him?" Rider asked.
"He said that even if he didn't do it, it doesn't mean he's not to blame." I'm not sure if Vincent was helping himself or hurting himself with what he said.
"He could be lying," Logan said.
"If it were you or me, I would agree," Rider said. "But he said this to Cassie."
"Not everyone thinks of a friend in the same way you do," Logan said.
"I think he meant what he said. Look, we know Vincent. If he thinks he's to blame, he'll try to fix it. No matter what the costs." My stomach flip-flopped, and I looked at Logan, pleading for him to understand. "I don't think he did this."
"I don't know Vincent," Taylor said, "but from what you all have said, I don't think you can trust one thing over the other. You need more."
Logan looked down at his hands. "Maybe Taylor's right. We should gather more details. Find out what he's been doing for the last six months."
Reluctantly, I agreed. It was the smart thing to do. Get the whole story and make an informed decision. It wasn't my choice, but it was the right choice.
"Let's talk about the dealer, Jin," I said, changing the focus away from Vincent. "What can you tell us about him, Neil?"
"Dude’s super lucky. I've never seen anything like it," Neil said.
"What do you notice?" Taylor asked.
Neil leaned back in his seat and looked at the ceiling, and then he closed his eyes and launched into an explanation. "All dealers deal with risk. You have narcs, rival dealers, and others in their organization that want more money, more status, or who plain want to take over. Then there’s the drugs themselves. Addicts die all the time, but too many dead druggies isn't good business."
"That doesn't make Jin anything special," I said.
"Yeah, but about a year ago, J
in was like the other dealers," Neil said. "Anxious, careful, and paranoid. He got busted, but they let him go. Not long after that, he became untouchable."
"What do you mean untouchable?" Logan asked.
"Stuff rolls off him. For a while, everyone thought he went narc, but no one else got busted, so things went back to normal, only Jin's risks went away." Neil looked like he was turning the thought over in his mind. "Actually, it's more like they went around him. Bad shit that should have rained down on Jin dropped on people around him. Other dealers don't mess with him anymore. I've seen people that wanted to hurt Jin in a bad way, only to have badness bounce back. Not like Jin does them in, but weird accidents happen to them after something should have happened to Jin."
"What makes you think he isn't a narc?" Logan asked.
"The facts don't add up," Neil said.
"How is it you notice all this and no one else does?" I asked.
Neil shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked up at Taylor. Taylor nodded.
"This doesn't go in any report," Neil said. I could feel his anxiety whip around the room. "It doesn't leave this room."
He looked each one of us in the eye as we agreed.
He shifted in his seat again. "It's what I do. I see everything, add up the facts, and get the answer."
"That sounds simple," Rider said.
Neil let out a noise of frustration and tossed himself back in the chair.
"His IQ is off the charts," Taylor said. "By that, I mean he can't be tested. We've tried, but he sees things, even in the tests that no one else does. He got his first Ph.D. before he could vote. But got kicked out of his first three colleges."
Neil crossed his arms. "Professors don't like to be told they're wrong."
"They don't like to be told they're wrong by a kid with an attitude problem. Anyway," Taylor continued, "he sees what other people miss. He makes connections even when he can't explain why the facts add up the way they do."
Neil rolled his eyes. "I know why they add up that way. I just don't know how to explain it to someone who isn't me. And no one is me. It is what it is. The facts are there, and they fit together. In this case, Indian Dude is untouchable."
Broken Paths (AIR Book 2) Page 18