“You look like hell,” Winterfield said. He slid onto the bench across the table from me. He took one look at my face and motioned at the bar maid. When she looked over he pointed at my bottle, and held up two fingers.
I did a double take. He didn’t look so good himself. He had dark circles under his eyes and beard stubble on his chin. Winterfield was the alert and razor sharp type, always clean shaven and button-downed. Now he looked like a stockbroker who’d just lost his shirt.
“What happened?” I asked him.
“Investigating a murder.”
“Whose?”
He gave me a sour look. “Brandt, you should know I can’t tell you that. Let’s focus on your assignment.”
So sue me for being curious. Whatever.
The waitress brought the beers he had ordered. He took a swig of his. “Report.”
So, for the second time in the past few hours I had to go over the foul-up of a job and the aftermath. I didn’t editorialize; I just gave him the facts. He listened, didn’t raise an eyebrow or even ask questions.
I finished with the debriefing at the Atlas Motor’s building in Old Town.
Winterfield looked at me thoughtfully, long enough that I began to squirm on the bench seat.
He wrote an address in his notepad, tore off the paper and handed to me. “Your new place.”
“Why do I need a new place?”
“Really, Brandt? Isn’t it obvious?” He closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Your new friends know where the old one is. Which no longer makes it an effective place for Sanchez to visit you.”
I flushed. “I hadn’t planned on that.”
“Speaking of not planning, no more covert trips to the ER with a retired doctor.” He opened his eyes. “However, that was a good use of the resources you had on hand.”
“The whole thing was a disaster.”
He shook his head. “Not entirely. Your account ties in with what we’ve been investigating," he said slowly. “Especially your information about him using Hero Council jumpsuit uniforms. They would give admittance into certain locations. The suits have electronic signatures which identify them as official.”
“You mean he could get into the Decahedron in Colorado Springs?” The thought of Mutter and his secret associate walking into the North American Headquarters of the Hero Council and Joint UN-US command as sanctioned Empowered was chilling.
“Possibly.”
“But why?”
“It’s obvious,” he said.
I frowned. “Obvious? What was obvious about it?”
“Stay calm.” He took another swig of his beer. “I’m normally not a fan of beer, but this is pretty good.” He leaned forward, lowered his voice. “I’m wearing a device that will foil any listening in attempts by bugs or in-the-flesh spies, but keep your voice down.”
I glanced around. No one sat within ten feet of us, in fact there were less than a dozen people in the place all together counting the bar tender and bar maid.
“Safety first,” he said. “Precautions never hurt. This is too important not to have those precautions in place.”
“Okay, so we were played. Why?”
“Your leader wanted to cover his tracks.”
“I don’t get it. Cover his tracks from whom?”
“His bosses in the Scourge. You said he told you this was deemed a high value target by the Scourge.”
“Yes, but it was just records.”
“Records can be important. We don’t know how these might fit into the Scourge’s plans.”
“What were they?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
I snorted. “I bust my ass helping to break into that place, and you can’t tell me what we were there to steal.”
“Did you look at the index or the computer files?”
“Come on! I didn’t have time to look at either.”
“What did Mutter say about that. Did he ask you?”
“No.”
“Interesting, and it fits with what we think he was doing, namely, distracting the Scourge, and giving himself cover while he did something else.”
I rubbed my eyes. I could use more sleep. Sure, being Empowered meant I didn’t need as much as a normal, but I still needed some.
“You think this is connected to Van Cleeve’s murder, don’t you?" Had to be.
“He was murdered during or shortly after your ‘job’ at the Lansing Building.”
“I knew it was a diversion.” I banged my palm against the tabletop. The empties rattled and people looked over in our direction.
“Easy,” Winterfield ordered. “You need to calm down.”
“We were nearly captured.” And the fight with Keisha wouldn't have happened except for that fouled up job. “He went after Van Cleeve.”
Winterfield tapped his head. “Now you are thinking rather than just reacting. Yes.”
“Why? Why kill a rich dude? To steal his coin collection?”
“Not money. Something else. Information.”
"What kind of information could a tech guy give Mutter?" Something Mutter wanted to keep from the Scourge.
Winterfield smiled grimly. “That’s what you need to find out.”
Chapter 14
I forgot to check my phone until after I’d gotten to my new place, a little bungalow across town.
Three calls from Mutter’s number. I called him back, and went through the whole ring three times, hang up, ring again, wait for the pick up after the ring, but he didn’t pick up.
I took a shower. There were insta-meals in the freezer, a microwave, and clothes my size in the closet, the sort of jeans and shirts I’d wear. Support had everything figured out.
Except how to find out what Mutter’s real target was, other than just playing along until Mutter told me.
I was finishing my dinner when my phone vibrated on the Formica counter where I’d left it.
Mutter.
I tried not to snatch it up. Had to remain calm. I opened the phone, put the receiver up to my ear. “Brandt here.” I had to convince him I’d just been out of touch by accident.
His voice was silken. “I am pleased you’re available this time, Mathilda.”
“My phone’s battery ran down. I called you back as soon as I had recharged it and saw you had called.”
“Oh, let’s not worry about trivialities. We have more important matters to discuss.”
Something in his voice started me sweating.
“Like what?”
“Oh, this needs to be discussed in person, Mathilda.” He sounded very pleased with himself. Pause, then the other shoe dropped, the nasty one.
“I want you to meet me at your grandmother’s apartment.”
My heart stopped. Ruth’s apartment? God, no. No!
“Why?” My voice cracked.
“Like I said, we have certain things to discuss. In fact, I am visiting here as we speak.”
“You are?” My hands were suddenly clammy and my stomach twisted in knots. You have such an interesting family, Mathilda. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to get to know them.
“Please join us.”
I raced to Ruth’s in the Dasher. Slammed the car door and charged up the stairs to her apartment, praying he hadn’t hurt them. If he had... I couldn’t breathe from the panic filling me. If he had, I swear I’d kill him, no matter what.
I flung open the door.
Ava was on the couch, hair loose, eyes wide while Mutter perched in Ruth’s chair his arm around Ella’s waist as she stood beside the chair, her eyes wide as well. His fingers tapped at her hip.
Ava sobbed silently.
Mutter smiled as I barged in. “Ah, Mathilda, so glad you could join us.” He withdrew his arm, patted Ella in the small of her back. “Go join your sister,” he said to her.
She scurried over to the couch and sat. The twins huddled together, arms around each other.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out like an idi
ot.
He tilted his head. “Well, for one I wanted to meet your family, since they mean so much to you.”
My hands seemed to have a life of their own, fingers curling and twisting.
His expression went cold. “I also wanted to ask if there’s anything you would like to tell me.” His eyes narrowed. “Anything you would like to admit to.”
Shit. Did Mutter suspect I was an agent for Support? I had tried to cover my tracks. Had kept my mouth shut.
It hit me.
God, Gus had seen Alex at the house. What if he’d blabbed that to Mutter, and that’s why Mutter was asking?
Ella began crying.
He cupped his hands, whispered in that low wordless way he had when he used his power. A tissue box on an end table bobbled up into the air and wobbled across the room, landing on the coffee table beside Ella.
“There you are, my dear. Happy to help you dry your eyes. There’s no reason to fear me.”
Mutter leaned forward, like a python eyeing a rabbit. The twins shuddered.
“Leave them alone,” I said. “They aren’t part of this.”
His half smile was all sharp edges. “That depends on you”
“Who are you?” Ava asked in a tremulous voice.
“I’m an Empowered, like your sister.”
“Let’s go outside,” I told him. I had to get him out of here. Now.
“I’ve only just arrived.” He cocked his head to one side. “Don’t tell me you hide things from these sweet sisters of yours.” He made a tsk-tsk sound. “Secrets can destroy relationships.”
I looked him in the face. “You can count on me to do what you ask. To follow…your instructions.”
He pursed his lips. “I want more than that. I want your loyalty. To me and me alone.”
“You got it. Promise.” I couldn’t read him. Did he suspect I was an agent, or did he just want to be sure I wouldn’t play him for my own advantage? Mutter loved being the cat and the rest of us were mice to play with.
Ruth came into the kitchen from her bedroom, housecoat thrown over her floor-length blue nightgown. She walked steadily, chin up, looked Mutter right in the eye.
“Who are you?” She crossed her arms. “And why are you here?” I wanted to tell her be quiet, but it wouldn’t have made any difference.
Mutter inclined his head in mock respect. “As I told your granddaughters, Mrs. Brandt, it is Mrs. Brandt isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is, sir.” She didn’t flinch.
“I wanted to meet Mathilda’s family, since she and I work together.”
“You mean you’re a criminal.”
His eyes glittered dangerously. “Well if I am, you should be careful. Very careful.”
Ruth lifted her chin. “This is my home. Leave. Now.” Ruth was fearless. She might feel like crap from the Thalik’s, but she didn’t show it. She stood there, back straight and faced Mutter without flinching.
Mutter twiddled his fingers. The silence stretched out. The twins held each other close, frightened gazes darting back and forth from Mutter to Ruth.
I was frozen in place. A muscle between my shoulder blades tensed. The air rustled and then grew still again.
Finally Mutter chuckled and gave Ruth a little mock bow. “Of course, madam. I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome.” He smiled, strolled past me and went outside, the door closing with a soft snick behind him.
The knot between my shoulders loosened and I let out my breath.
“Ruth, I’m sorry,” I began.
She raised a hand. “I don’t want to hear it.” There was steel in her voice.
“I didn't tell him to come here.”
She turned away. “It doesn’t matter. He’s here because he knows you. I told you I wanted nothing to do with your criminal associates. I can’t keep you from being on the wrong side of the law, but I will not allow him or any other dangerous people in my own home.” She squared her shoulders, still looking away. “That includes you, Mathilda. Please leave. Now.”
My legs felt like lead. I staggered to the door and slipped outside. As far as Ruth was concerned, I was as bad as Mutter.
Mutter waited for me at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up at me with a wicked smile and motioned for me to join him.
Knee-high thorny weeds grew in the dirt next to the stairs. If I pushed into the weeds with my power, made them thrash and grow, perhaps I could impale him with elongated, spike-like thorns.
Urge the leaves and the stalks to grow faster, and the thorny leaves would coil around his throat, choking him.
But it wouldn’t be fast or sharp enough.
I’d be dead, or worse, he’d bring me to my knees, then go back into Ruth’s apartment. I would only hurt them.
“You have a charming family,” Mutter said as I came down the stairs. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Bastard.
I stepped off the last step and onto the pavement next to him.
He twiddled his finger and a dust devil formed nearby, rustling shrubs. “You are mine, and mine alone. If I discover you are working with others, no matter who they are, anyone outside my cell, I will pay this sweet family of yours another visit.” The dust devil whirled closer, whipping up my hair and bits of dirt into my eyes, forcing me to squeeze my eyelids shut.
“Do you understand?” Those words thundered in my ears and I put my hands over my ears.
“I do,” I said. “My family doesn’t need to be involved.”
“That is up to you. As long as you follow my instructions, do not make trouble, and do exactly as I request, nothing will happen to them.”
Right then I would have promised to do anything he asked. Anything at all if it meant keeping them safe.
“I will,” I said.
He walked over to the silver Pontiac parked in the fire lane, waiting for him. His hand on the back door, he stopped.
“Remember. It’s entirely up to you.”
I nodded, numb.
He slipped inside the car, closed the door. I watched it drive off and disappear around the corner.
I wanted to shoot the son of a bitch. Stab him. Strangle him with blackberry vines. Drop a tree on him. He had threatened Ruth and the twins. I should tell Winterfield. Would he pull me? I didn’t know. I sat in the Dasher and desperately tried to think how I could protect my family. If I left the cell, the mission failed. And he might kill Ruth and the girls just to punish me. I had to prove that Mutter was up to something that was not in the Scourge’s interests, expose him to the Inner Circle.
Forget Special Corrections.
My family’s lives were all on the line.
I kept running all this through my head all the way back to the bungalow, right up to the point where I found Alex sitting on the couch, reading a book and obviously waiting for me.
“Doesn’t matter where I live, you are going to feel free to break in and wait for me, aren’t you?” I was ready to take off someone’s head, and Alex was the lucky winner.
He grinned in the face of my boiling anger. “All part of the deal.”
I flung myself into an old barcalounger, hard enough for the chair to tilt back and extend the leg rest. I stared at the ceiling fan. Cobwebs stretched from the blades to the plaster ceiling, it was hard to tell where the cobwebs ended and where the shadows began.
“I’m just a mushroom,” I said under my breath. I thought I’d said it too low for Alex to hear, but he heard it.
“We’re all mushrooms,” he replied. “It’s the way things work in this business. Those in the know call the shots.”
I rubbed my eyes. “Like Winterfield and Mutter.”
“Among others.”
I yanked on the chair’s handle and sat up, the seat back bouncing. “I’d like to be in the know. I’m sick and tired of being a mushroom.”
“Something’s got you upset,” he said.
No shit. But there was no way I could tell him the truth. “I hate not knowing what’s going on.”
>
“Is that all?”
“Isn’t that enough?” I wasn’t going to tell him about Mutter’s threat. This was my problem.
“No, it’s not enough.” He got up from the couch and knelt beside the barcalounger. You aren’t just angry about not knowing what’s going on.”
Screw it. “Mutter threatened Ruth and the twins.”
Alex didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he just listened and nodded as I went on about what Mutter had said.
“You knew he might do this,” I said.
“It fits his personality profile.”
“Wait, what personality profile? I thought Mutter was an unknown until I joined the cell. No picture, no information beyond him being dangerous. Isn’t that what you said?” Or was it Winterfield? God, I couldn’t keep who knew what straight. I felt like such a fool. Of course Support had known.
“We have other sources of information.”
I went into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. Gulped it down. Alex watched me from the doorway.
Of course they had other sources of information. God, I hated this. Just another sucker to be used. I was just a pawn to be sacrificed. That’s what Ruth would say if she knew.
“The less you know about the other sources, the better.”
“You mean so I won’t let it slip to Mutter that I found out stuff I shouldn’t know?”
“Yes.”
“Damn it!” I yelled, getting right up in Alex’s face. He didn’t flinch. “Why didn’t Support get a safe house for my family?”
He didn’t look away. “Winterfield wouldn’t allow it.”
“Oh, so you tried, did you?”
He shook his head. “Yeah, I tried, Mat. But he didn’t want to compromise your cover, and moving your family would be suspicious.”
“Come on, how? So they move.”
“It isn’t that simple. A safe house would mean protection, and isolation, with your sisters taken out of school.”
Damn it, he was right.
Fuck this. I wanted to get drunk, really drunk, but there wasn’t anything remotely alcoholic in this dump. “I need a drink.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
I got in his face. Nose to nose. “Then what the hell do you suggest I do? Just drop down on the floor, get into lotus position and chant?”
Empowered: Agent (The Empowered Series Book 1) Page 17