David nodded absently. He’d assumed the man would talk to the director about what was going on, but Chief Nelson must’ve also shared the details with David’s mother. It turned everything upside down.
Her face softened. “I’d hoped you’d be showing more caution, considering what almost happened to you last night.”
David gestured at the closed door. “I just came to say hi. No one will think it strange that I’m visiting my mother.”
“Not if you leave now. And let me get back to my work.” But she said it with a slight smile and a twinkle in her eye.
David found himself nodding again. He opened the door and called back to her, “So I’ll go ahead and eat dinner without you. Again.” He walked out with a wave, trying to act normal.
David avoided meeting anyone’s eye as he left, because he didn’t feel normal. He waited until he’d tramped down the stairs and out of the building and across the road before he relaxed his pretense. He wanted to stop. To just stand there while he tried to absorb the ramifications of the talk he’d just had with his mom. But that would look odd indeed.
It might take him a while to process anyway, so he just kept walking. He could go home now, where Crystal the unknown quantity might or might not be making supper. Dusk was gathering, and he’d nothing else to do.
David supposed he could head to the Guard HQ and talk to Lt. Henson, and perhaps the man would stand him dinner at the mess again. The lieutenant had been quite a help, and now knew even less than David did. Still, there was that repeated warning to not share this information with anyone, and David had already pushed his luck on that.
He felt like he owed Henson, though. He might at least let the man know there was no need to concern himself about Sgt. Rossiter anymore. Unsure what to do, he strode down the sidewalk, thinking.
There remained the problem of trust. Until he knew who he could, he’d better not do anything. He considered his suspect list again. He felt confident he could cross his mother off, and that left three on. Ken, Lt. Henson, and Crystal.
David felt almost as reluctant to suspect Ken as he had his own mother, and where he’d found seemingly incriminating evidence against his mother, his basis for doubting his boss was thin indeed. He had talked with Ken about his suspicions and what he’d found, or tried to, and Ken hadn’t wanted to listen.
He hadn’t been able to ask his mom why she’d thought Crystal might be a spy. He had nothing to suggest she was, but no reason to trust her, either. Neither had he any evidence against Lt. Henson, but at least he had some basis for believing the man.
David shook his head and continued toward the main gate. He could always turn around. And walking helped him think things through. He had gone over everything as he headed up to his mom’s office, and it had helped.
Wait. He’d only considered the who, not the second part of Chief Nelson’s question, the why now.
If Rossiter had tried to kill him because of something he knew, it would’ve been to prevent him from revealing it. It had to be recently discovered, otherwise David might’ve already disclosed it. Then it’d be too late to silence him. And there was only one new thing David had found out that could qualify.
His boss, Ken, had no way of knowing. Crystal might’ve seen, but she couldn’t know what had been found. David himself, though, had told Lt. Henson all about what he’d discovered on his mom’s workpad. Then David realized something he should have seen right away. It was the timeline.
After his talk with the lieutenant, the man must have talked with Sgt. Rossiter, in order to relieve the sergeant of duty. Henson had said he’d take care of Rossiter right away. That was also his public explanation for what had happened, and it was all entirely consistent.
Indeed, David had expected the lieutenant to do just such a thing after his unburdening. But Henson was the only one of the three suspects who could’ve known at that point what David had just discovered. And then the lieutenant had talked to the man who would shortly thereafter attempt murder.
He’d even suggested a solution that should have prevented David from sharing his story with anyone else—a path that appealed to David’s desire to protect his mother. While Henson dealt with Gray and Rossiter. Except it had been David himself who had almost been dealt with—out of the game entirely.
He felt stupid for not seeing it earlier.
What now? David was convinced, but he had no proof. It was still just a theory, nothing more than speculation, and that hadn’t served him too well this far. He needed to test the theory.
David tried to imagine what Lt. Henson might be thinking. The problem was that he didn’t know what instructions the man had given Rossiter, or if Henson even knew David was still alive. Depending on what the sergeant was meant to do after the murder, the lieutenant might not miss him, if Rossiter were supposed to be lying low, for instance.
If Henson knew David lived, though, he should be worried and wondering what went wrong. Could he really not know I’m alive? If he hadn’t found out yet, then discovering David among the living could shock the man into revealing himself. David felt his heart racing as he considered this stratagem.
He breathed deep and tried to calm down. He hesitated to act on his own again, but Chief Nelson was a busy man, working hard on this very problem, who’d be irritated with David for continuing his own line of investigation. And he didn’t wish to distract the man with what could be just silly notions.
The same reasoning applied to his mother. Besides, David wanted someone who could take more direct action. He pulled out his FURCS pad and hit the directory key.
Officer Miles was Internal Security and a liaison officer with the Guards. She knew everything about David’s discoveries and had been sympathetic, and she’d likely know all about how the chief’s investigation was proceeding. She’d know if he was barking up the wrong tree, and what to do if he wasn’t.
And David owed her since she’d saved his life. He selected her entry, only to see she was currently offline. He checked the time on the FURCS pad and saw it was just a quarter past five.
From what he’d gathered last night, she might still be at the Guard HQ, or she could be eating her supper. Either way she should be back online soon. He could send her a message.
She apparently didn’t go out and patrol around the compound until after dark, and it wasn’t night yet, so she should still be close enough to come help him. If this wasn’t all a wild goose chase. He went ahead and sent the message and marked it urgent. He felt better right away.
Now he could go and hopefully surprise Lt. Henson, and find out if there was any substance behind his theory.
David let himself continue to stroll, relaxed and carefree. It took him another ten minutes to get to the Guard Headquarters that way, and it was getting pretty dark by that time. Officer Miles must’ve received his message by now.
It was getting dark enough the streetlamps had started their dim glow, and the floodlight at the gate had been turned on, glaring out into the night. No rain. For which David was thankful, as he’d had all the downpour he could stomach last night.
The night was so clear he could see the stars. He looked up at the heavens and took a final, deep and peaceful breath. Then he marched into the lobby.
David didn’t know the name of the guard posted there, but he looked familiar. More importantly, he himself was known to the man, and so he got waved into the building without question. He knew where the lieutenant’s office was, and he found the door open and the man sitting at his desk, and he strode right in without knocking or saying a word. After he’d made sure his FURCS pad was recording.
Henson glanced up, his head jerking as he saw David. The man’s nostrils flared and he took a few breaths before he acknowledged David’s presence with a curt nod.
David nodded in return and looked around the room. He noticed the lieutenant’s gun was in a holster hanging from a coat rack next to the side wall. Not that it would do David any good.
Lt. Henson
smiled and rose from his chair, coming partway around the desk and half-sitting on its corner. “You’re looking good.”
“I understand Sgt. Rossiter has disappeared.”
Henson grinned. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“I’d assumed you sent the man packing. To get him out of the way for a while.”
The lieutenant kept grinning. “I did imagine it’d be best for Rossiter to keep out of sight.”
David needed an admission. “Worried he’d be questioned? Because he was supposed to kill me?”
Henson grinned wider and scratched his nose. “Well—”
The next thing David knew, the side of his head was exploding in pain. He was flying backward and crashing into the wall. He slid down to the floor in a heap. His eyelids fluttered as he tried to think what was happening.
He gritted his teeth against the agony, looking up for the lieutenant, but he couldn’t see properly. He forced himself to blink several times. His vision remained blurry, but he could make out Lt. Henson standing in the middle of the room, and he could see the gun the man was holding.
Henson held the weapon off to the side. “I bet you learned this much about gun safety. You don’t point a gun at someone unless you intend shooting them. And I don’t want to kill you.”
“Thanks.”
The lieutenant stared David in the eye, moving the barrel of the weapon to aim at him. “But I will if I have to. It would distress your mother, but while she can still be helpful, she’s no longer vital.”
David tried to work saliva back into his now dry mouth. He wasn’t going to disillusion the man. “It wasn’t Chief Gray after all? You’re the traitor?”
“Who am I betraying? I work for the governor. As far as I can tell, your director isn’t answerable to anyone.”
David struggled to remember how long ago he’d sent that message to Officer Miles. Surely she was on her way by now.
Lt. Henson chuckled. “And Gray is with us. But I’m the one in charge. ‘The Colonel’ made quite the stalking horse, but the man wasn’t bright enough to be allowed to run things.”
David managed to turn his head enough to see the office door. Henson must have seen, because he walked over and glanced out. He wasn’t bothering with keeping his weapon trained on David anymore, and he waved his arm out at the empty space.
The lieutenant laughed. “See, no one out there. No one to listen to us, or have heard our little fight. There are still a few people in the building, so don’t cry out, or I will have to shoot you.”
David nodded. He didn’t particularly feel like getting shot. He watched Henson reach down and grab the FURCS pad from David’s shirt pocket with the hand that wasn’t holding the gun. And the lieutenant did aim his weapon while he did that. Then he tossed the pad in the trash.
Lt. Henson then pulled out his own FURCS pad and made a call while David listened. “Mathers, get Robinson and get ready.”
The lieutenant kept his gun leveled at David as he contacted someone else. “Sgt. Carruthers. I’m afraid a couple of those kids from today’s work crew are missing. The Belue boy just told me they didn’t come through the gate this afternoon with the rest. They’re not at the dorm, and they left their FURCS pads in their rooms, so we can’t ping them to see, but they could still be out in the buffer zone. Grab a couple of guards and start searching for them.”
With a dawning sense of horror, David realized the compound was about to be invaded, and he had inadvertently assisted their plan. He tried to sit up straighter and let slip an involuntary moan.
Henson frowned, but lowered his gun. “It’s alright. It’s all over now, and you’ve been so helpful.”
David sighed. “What about Stan and Jake?”
“Concerned? Don’t be. They’re just doing their part, taking care of the security fence. The forces waiting on the outside only need Carruthers to open the gate in the perimeter wall and they can roll right in and down the street. I doubt there’ll even be any violence, because it will all be over with before anyone knows it’s begun.”
“Will it?”
Before David could even register the sound of her voice, Officer Miles had blown in like a whirlwind.
Chapter 14
A Light Night
5:50 p.m. Tuesday, December 17th
KAT drove straight in even as she spoke. Henson wasn’t fool enough to try shooting as she closed. He just brought the gun he’d been holding low and to the side, swinging around to smash into her kidney. She was turning in and driving her elbow into his sternum and crashing the back of her knuckles across his descending nose at the same time, which saved her from the full impact.
She gasped and Henson stumbled. She raked her left hand down his arm and sent his gun flying. She brought her knee up to slam her shin into him, but he shifted closer, pushing her off balance and at the same time grabbing her arm and twisting.
Kat circled her arm under his, breaking his grip, while her free hand reached for a handful of papers off the desk. She dropped low, flinging those sheets up and into Henson’s face as she did. While he was distracted she sprang forward, launching her shoulder through the side of his knee—and she heard the mighty whack as he slammed into the ground.
She rose through the blizzard of falling paper as her eyes flew to the form sprawled on the floor, out cold and bleeding all over the place. Then she saw the kid sitting up against the wall with a great gash on the side of his head.
Kat was having a difficult time breathing, and she had to press her hand against her hip to stand upright now. The pain in her side made her want to scream. And the boy was gaping at her like a fish.
“Officer Miles, you’re hurt.”
At least the kid was in good enough shape to see the obvious. “Well.” She paused to breathe. “Henson was SAS.”
“He’s dead?”
Kat closely scrutinized the unmoving body that lay at her feet, the former lieutenant. She blew out a long breath and shook her head. “Don’t—think—so. Not—quite.”
“Save your breath.” The kid tried to stand, but slipped and didn’t quite make it. “But someone’s got to be told. Some guards and some student workers doing something at the gate. I heard him say Robinson and Mathers. They’re letting the enemy in.” He glanced over at Henson. “More of them, anyway.”
“Under—stood.” Kat nodded. “I’m not—alone. Don’t—worry.” She took a deep breath and winced from the pain. “Gray?”
“Him, too, probably.”
Kat searched her pocket for a zip-tie and tossed it to the kid. She inclined her head toward Henson. “Think—you—can—manage?”
“I can figure out how to use this thing, yes.” He smiled at her. “It may take me a few minutes to get it done, though.”
Kat looked again at Henson. “No—rush.”
The boy sighed and started crawling toward the lieutenant’s fallen form. Kat clutched her side and hobbled out of the room as fast as she could force herself to move.
She was trying to jog down a corridor when she met Tony at the intersection. She stood up straight when she saw him. And winced from the pain.
Tony noticed, of course. “You’re hurt.”
Men. Kat forced a grin. “You should see Henson.”
Tony didn’t grin back, he frowned. “You need to get to the clinic.”
“That can wait. I survived.” Barely. Kat had to stop and catch her breath, but she could talk better now. “Henson has been dealt with. The Belue kid’s wrapping him up.” She jerked her head in the direction of the lieutenant’s office. “Talk to the boy.”
Tony remained, frowning and watching her labored breathing. She cut in ahead of him before he could say anything else about getting medical attention. “Go get the details. Guards and others up to something at the gate. I’m headed there now.”
Tony nodded with obvious reluctance. “Okay. But don’t try to handle this by yourself. Find some of the other guards, ones you can trust, to take with
you. That’s an order.” He glared at her. “And don’t get in any more fights.”
Kat grinned. “I’ll try.”
Tony ignored that. “I’ll find out what I can from David and make sure help gets where it’s needed.” Tony started toward Henson’s office, but turned to look back at Kat. “Then I’ll come and find you.”
She watched him go for a long moment. Then she started limping as fast as she could for the back entrance, which was the quickest way to get to the barracks—the best place to find some men to back her up. After all, Tony had made it an order.
She was just glad he hadn’t made the part about not getting into fights a direct command.
She still had a bit of a cold, not that she even noticed now. She offered a silent thanks to Caroline, who’d forced her to get a good night’s rest and then some, since Kat hadn’t awakened until afternoon. It had helped, too. She’d been full of energy taking on Lt. Henson, though she no longer felt up to playing the hero.
She remembered her late and rather considerable lunch, after which she’d been inclined to follow her mother’s instructions to spend the entire day in bed. Then Tony had called to fulfill his promise.
Now Kat was here, doing her part, now that she understood the full picture. A lot of it anyway. She spotted a familiar figure down a side corridor as he was coming out of the mess hall. Maybe she should have headed there instead.
“MacTierney.” She blurted out his name loud as she could, but she couldn’t have yelled for anything. She was thankful it wasn’t necessary.
The sergeant heard and hustled over to her side. “Officer Miles?” He looked at her with concern.
Kat didn’t want his solicitude. “Betrayal. At the gate.” She really was breathing easier. “Are there more guards in the mess?”
MacTierney shook his head. “I’m the last. I was just cleaning up.”
“The barracks then. I need more men. Come.” She glared at him for a moment, then started hobbling toward the exit. The sergeant ran around her to the door and held it open for her, which earned him another glare.
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