Sketches

by Teyla Branton

  The four exchanged uneasy glances, and then Hammer swiped across the screen, taking them from the site. “I’ve recorded the pathway to the site, in case we need to get to it again, and I’m deleting the blind spots and all record of our using this Teev today. Which is useless if, as you suggest, there is a super program monitoring this Teev that was alerted by our use of a blind spot. But I see no evidence like the kind the TAD leaves behind. It’s powerful, but not delicate. I wish I knew more about this type of thing. I’m a crime scene investigator, not a programmer.”

  Jaxon snorted. “Well, you missed your calling, buddy.” The minute the words escaped, he wanted to call them back, because Hammer was no longer his buddy, and he still didn’t trust him. Not the way he had. Or Captain Brogan, though knowing the captain was worried about the colonies and the deaths made Jaxon’s own concern more legitimate. He still told himself that it was only one faction of the CORE that they planned to cut out. They weren’t conducting treason. Not yet.

  “Okay, let’s get out of here,” Reese said.

  They left the room but were met by Mrs. Richey, the missing man’s very pregnant wife, and her cousin, the gallery manager. Mrs. Richey’s brown hair was pulled back tightly, and her eyes looked huge in her narrow face. Everything about her was small, except for the mound of baby that made her back arch, as if she were afraid of toppling forward. “My cousin told me you were here, so I came right over.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Richey,” Jaxon said.

  “Does this have to do with Bart? Did you find a lead?”

  “Not yet,” he had to tell her. “But the investigation is still open. We’re working it every day. We’re trying to bring him home.”

  “It’s just the baby’s coming soon, and we were supposed to be together.”

  Something in the words sparked Jaxon’s attention. He glanced at the others to see if they had picked up on it, and clearly Reese had, or she was experiencing another sketch. Her forehead wrinkled as if the vision was painful.

  “Have you heard from your husband?” Jaxon asked.

  “No, of course not,” Mrs. Richey said.

  “But you knew he was leaving.” Reese had taken her sketchbook from her bag. “Didn’t you? Did he pack a bag? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mrs. Richey showed no signs of deception as her expression turned pleading. “You’ve got to find him. I don’t care if I need to go to him, either. I just want to be with him.”

  Go to him. Definitely Mrs. Richey knew more than she’d told Jaxon during their previous interviews. How had he missed it?

  Before he could question her further, the door to the gallery opened to reveal Garrett, who had arrived looking out of breath. “Sorry I took so long,” he said. “What did we find?”

  Under Mrs. Richey’s anxious eyes, Jaxon hurried to meet his partner, drawing him into a corner of the store. In low tones, he outlined what they’d found. Past Garrett, Jaxon could see Reese talking to Mrs. Richey and her cousin. Probably better to let her handle it. She’d have her sketches to guide her.

  “So, twenty-four hours?” Garrett said. “Not a lot of time. Where do the coordinates take us?”

  “Someplace north of here. We haven’t looked them up yet for an exact location.”

  Reese and the others were moving toward the door, motioning to them. Jaxon waited until they were on the street to ask, “Well?”

  Reese sighed. “She saw her husband packing a bag. But he told her it was for a business trip that might not happen. He wasn’t sure. She got upset because she doesn’t like being alone, and he promised her he would be there for the baby and not to worry. Even if he had to take her with him, which she thought was weird because sometimes he travels to Estlantic, and she doesn’t want to have the baby there. Anyway, when he disappeared, he didn’t take the suitcase.”

  “That stupid woman,” Garrett said. “She didn’t think that her husband packing a suitcase was something we’d like to know about?”

  “I think . . .” Reese trailed off. “From what I saw, she thought he was breaking up with her. Maybe she felt we wouldn’t look for him as hard if we knew that.”

  Jaxon nodded. “Maybe she’d have been right.”

  “Let’s get back to the Underground,” Hammer said. “We need to check out these coordinates where we’re sure we can’t be tracked.”

  “I hate this,” Garrett muttered not quite under his breath as they made their way to their separate shuttles. He cast a black look behind them at Hammer, who walked with Eagle. “Working in secret like this. It feels wrong.”

  To Jaxon it felt like the first right thing he’d done in a very long time. As an enforcer, he’d been blindly obedient, but not any longer. The CORE was broken. What remained to be seen was if it could be fixed at all.

  Chapter 27

  LYRA FELT STUNNED as the plans for the meeting with the owners of the strange Teev feed rounded to their conclusion. “No, let me do it.”

  Brogan frowned at her. “You have a child.”

  “I want to make this a better world for her.” Lyra glanced at Lyssa, who shook her head slightly.

  Lyssa’s refusal to protest made anger course through Lyra. How could her sister dream of walking into this danger? They both knew when the captain said they needed enforcer training that their jobs would become more dangerous, but this was too soon. They weren’t ready.

  “I would prefer that neither of you go,” Brogan said. “We all would. But we need to know what’s going on, and if that means using your abilities, that’s what we’ll do. There’s no coverage, so iTeevs won’t work in that area. Lyssa will go to the rendezvous with Reese and Jaxon, and we’ll be nearby to offer backup.”

  Jaxon gave them a worried smile. “I’m still not sure any of us should go in. I don’t understand what I saw, but one of the scenes . . .” He stopped talking. As far as Lyra knew, he hadn’t told anyone except Brogan what he’d seen, claiming that he didn’t understand it himself. What he saw might be why, even after two hours of debate, Brogan had come back around to the same plan he’d recommended in the first five minutes of this meeting.

  But if Jaxon had seen something truly horrifying, didn’t they all deserve to know?

  Brogan turned to Reese. “Make sure you pick up as many sketches from them as possible. This meeting has to lead us to the scientists, or at least to someone who knows something about them.”

  “I’ll get what I can,” Reese said. “It’s not like I can turn it on and off when I want. Or not exactly, though proximity has something to do with when I see sketches.”

  Lyssa tapped her finger on the desk. “Maybe you can control it—or will eventually. I haven’t traveled without wanting to for a couple years now, except sometimes in my sleep.” Lyssa darted a glance at Lyra, who already knew this, but for some reason today it felt like she was making a confession.

  “I still think I should go with my partners.” This from Garrett, who had argued that his seniority meant he was the best choice to deal with the unknown.

  “We’ve been through this,” Brogan said. “Their abilities will get us more information, and you’ll be better providing backup with rest of us, if needed.”

  “So I guess now is the time to discuss what to do if it’s a trap.” Eagle finally spoke the words they’d all been avoiding since the discussion began.

  “They’re having us meet two miles outside of the North Desolation Zone. Besides several empty zones full of ruins, it’s mostly flat out there—at least we’ll see what’s coming.” Brogan’s words weren’t dismissive, but the matter-of-fact tone made Lyra’s stomach tense. She wondered how long it would take before she became comfortable with going on missions.

  What would she tell Kansas? Probably nothing. He wouldn’t like either her or Lyssa being swept up in anything dangerous. He might not understand that because of their birthright they had no choice. It was either fix what was wrong with the CORE or look over their shoulders the r
est of their lives.

  “I hope they believe two of you are siblings,” Lyra said. “Because none of you look blood related.”

  “It only has to look good from a distance,” Jaxon said. “Once we connect, I don’t think we need to tell these people any more than is necessary to find out what we can about them and the scientists.”

  Lyra stood, wanting this to be over. She needed time to plan when to trade places with Lyssa tomorrow before they left town. “I’d better get home to my family. We’re already late to pick up Tamsin.”

  Lyssa arose more slowly. “I’ll get a gun, won’t I?” she asked Brogan. “A real one?” She sounded excited at the prospect.

  Brogan studied her. “Yes. Have Eagle take you to the shooting range in the morning. After all, he is the official weapons expert, and I hear he’s even more accurate than Garrett.”

  Garrett snorted at that, but he didn’t look offended. “By all means, let him teach you. I don’t have a lot of patience for greenies.” This was common knowledge around division, and on dispatch calls, Lyra had heard Jaxon calming Garrett on more than one occasion.

  “What about dispatch?” Lyssa asked.

  “I’ll have someone take your shift tomorrow.” Brogan’s eyes moved to Lyra, and she felt herself growing uncomfortable under his stare. The way he took control reminded her of Kansas in the old days, before they grew apart. “And your shift, too, of course. And you might as well go with Lyssa for the shooting lesson. The sooner you both learn, the better.”

  Lyra listened as her sister and Eagle made plans. Though she didn’t have much interest in learning to shoot a gun, she wasn’t unhappy to be away from dispatch. Seeing the chaos in the week following the quarterly birth order application responses was never fun—she understood only too well the frustration people experienced. Now she and Kansas, like all the others denied last week, would have a six-month waiting period before they could apply again, and then another three months until they found out if they were approved. That meant an ironic nine months between approval attempts. Kansas had looked hesitant when she’d mentioned reapplying, and she wondered if he’d given up. Or maybe with the space between them, he didn’t want a baby with her anymore. Maybe Tamsin was enough for him.

  The meeting broke up, and it wasn’t until Hammer led them back through the maze of tunnels and she and Lyssa were in their shuttle heading home that Lyra finally said, “I’ll go with Jaxon and Reese, of course.”

  “No.” Lyssa shook her head. “I can’t ask that of you. It could be a trap.”

  “And if it is, Tamsin might end up without a mother.”

  Lyssa pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing for a moment. Then she sighed and said, “You’re like a mother to her too. I . . . sometimes I think I should have disappeared. Let you and Kansas raise her without me.”

  The idea was utterly absurd. Lyra knew how much her sister adored Tamsin and how much Tamsin needed her mother. “Don’t ever say that. You are Tamsin’s mother. You. No one can take your place, not even me.”

  “But without me, we wouldn’t have this weird setup at home, and you and Kansas . . . it would be better between you two if you didn’t have to pretend you weren’t married. I’m not even sure why we started that.”

  “So Tamsin couldn’t give us away. It was the only thing we could do.” Lyra knew the situation wasn’t the only reason she and Kansas were having trouble. Sometimes she wondered if she should be the one to leave, so Lyssa could become her permanently, even if that meant she ended up in Kansas’s bed. Lyra knew her sister well enough to know she loved him. Maybe she loved him more than Lyra did. Her heart ached at the idea.

  “I’m going tomorrow,” Lyra added firmly. She normally bowed to Lyssa’s greater will, but not in this. Because Tamsin did need Lyssa more than she needed Lyra, even if Lyra loved her every bit as much as a real mother.

  Lyssa let half a block pass before she said, “Okay. But I don’t like it. The only reason I’ll let you is—”

  “For Tamsin.” The same reason they’d done everything this past decade. One look at their child’s innocent face and her captivating smile, and it was all worth it.

  As they arrived at the sitter’s apartment to pick up Tamsin, neither of them opened the shuttle door. “What?” Lyssa asked, reaching for her hand. “I can tell you want to say something.”

  Lyra held onto her sister. “If we help Brogan change things for the colonies . . . you think that would make a difference with birth orders?”

  “It has to. Or we’ll find another way. I’ll fake marrying Eagle and put in for a birth order that you can use. I’ll pretend to be you like you did for me.”

  Lyra shook her head. It had been hard assuming Lyssa’s life, and she didn’t wish that for her sister. “Maybe Brogan knows a doctor who would remove my implant.” There, she’d said it. The thing that had been running through her mind for the past year, the thing she hadn’t dared say even to her husband. Rebelling against the CORE was permanent and meant going underground or being sent to a colony. Was she ready for something like that?

  Lyssa tilted her head, the dim light from the street lamps illuminating her face. “Maybe there’s another question we should ask. Like what right does the CORE have to limit the population at all? I’ve never questioned it, not even when I had Tamsin, but Brogan’s right when he says the CORE is broken. I just don’t know how so few of us can change anything.”

  “We have to. And that’s why I’m going tomorrow instead of you. To do my part. And if anything happens, I want you to know that everything I have is yours. Everything.” Would Lyssa understand that she also meant Kansas?

  Lyssa met her eyes for an endless second. “No. Not everything. You already gave me everything I needed when you figured out how I could keep Tamsin. I can never, ever repay you enough. You or Kansas. And some things will always be yours.”

  Lyra could only hope her sister was right.

  THE PLAN WAS to meet at Reese’s apartment Thursday morning at ten instead of going into division. The drive to their rendezvous would take ninety minutes, which left them plenty of time to scout the area before their meeting that was supposed to happen at eleven minutes past one that afternoon. Jaxon, Lyssa, and Reese would take the all-terrain armored shuttle Brogan had assigned them. Brogan and the others would leave twenty minutes later and set up some distance south of the actual meeting place, using the natural bluff there to mask their approach.

  Jaxon arrived at Reese’s at nine instead. She opened the door to him, noting at once his taut body and grim face that still sported deep bruises from the fighting at the factory. His eyes were bloodshot and haunted. “I need to make sure you’re ready for today,” he said without waiting for her greeting.

  She wanted to go to him, to put her arms around him and ask what had happened, but since her confession, the space between them seemed unbreachable. She stepped aside and let him through the door.

  He walked past her to the leather couch. “I didn’t tell you what I saw yesterday, but I want you to know before we go. Give you a chance to back out without the others around.”

  “Why? What did you see?” She stood by the couch, keeping her distance.

  “Come sit here by me. Maybe I can show you.”

  “I told you, the sketches don’t come on demand.” But something teased at the corner of her brain, something dark and ugly, flitting away again before she could examine what it might mean. She didn’t move in his direction.

  “Well, maybe that can change. My gift is certainly doing something weird. It used to be primarily hunches, and now it’s mostly scenes—and more of them than ever. All night I kept remembering what Brogan said about learning to use our abilities, and I think . . . I might be changing.” He paused. “Or this is the first stages of the madness that made Summers and his people murder those who left Colony 6 in the first place.”

  His words drew her own uncertainties to the surface. “Before I came here, I could often push a sketch away before i
t came into my mind strongly enough that I had to record it on paper.”

  “Not now?”

  “Not since I arrived in Amarillo City.”

  His smile transformed the intensity of his face and softened the ache in her heart. “Could be emotional. All of us together again. Our visit to the Coop. In fact, it probably is.”

  She wasn’t convinced. “I could say the same for you. So what did you see yesterday?”

  “Two premonitions. One with you, me, and Lyssa—or it could have been Lyra. We were waiting at what I assume is the rendezvous point, and a strange shuttle was approaching. It didn’t quite touch the ground.”

  “That’s why Brogan chose us?”

  “Maybe in part. But also because it was logical. You and I can get more information and Lyssa can transmit it without detection. It’s perfect.”

  “And the other premonition?”

  “I was in the same place with Garrett, but everyone else died.”

  Her mind screamed for her to run away, but she forced herself to take a step toward him.

  “What I don’t know,” he added, “is if it’s all the same premonition. It didn’t seem like it, but I’ve never seen two contrasting ones about the same event, and they always, always come true. Or they have so far. But I haven’t been able to trigger a repeat of the premonition, so I can’t check any details.”

  That’s where she came in, and as much as she didn’t want to sketch his premonition, it was her job.

  She sat next to him, their thighs nearly touching. Bitter sweetness spread through her. “I’ll see what I can pick up.” She closed her eyes . . . and nothing. “Are you thinking about it?”

  “Trying.” His voice was strangled. “I couldn’t sleep for thinking about it, but now I can’t seem to picture it.”

  Still nothing. She sighed, swinging her head back and forth. “Sorry. I’m not getting anything.”

  She opened her eyes to find his face close to hers, an unguarded desire in his eyes that immediately echoed through her own body. No wonder he hadn’t been able to think about his premonition. She couldn’t think of anything but him when he was staring at her this way.