by Jill Cooper
He paused in the middle of his lecture, leaning up against his desk. All eyes were on Jenna. “May I help you?” he asked.
“New Haven Police. I need you to step outside for a few words.” Jenna held the door open and wore her menacing you-don’t-have-a-choice scowl. She waited for Mr. Doubosh to follow. She searched the records and found his first name was Frank.
Frank’s complexion was practically green. “I’m not sure how I can—”
“I’ll be asking you a few questions. Try not to lie to me,” Jenna said. Dirk shifted with discomfort beside her, never a big fan of her interrogation manner.
“All,” he stuttered, “all right.”
“Wendy Reynolds. She was in your class yesterday. Had a little incident. Care to tell me about that?”
Frank was clearly confused. “Not much to tell. She wasn’t looking all that well, poor girl. I thought it might be spoiled milk. She threw up all over my shoes. I sent her to the nurse.”
“Embarrassing,” Dirk commented.
Frank gave a nod. “She was crying, but I think that started before she was ill. Yes, I think maybe she was crying right before Ms. Seers came to my door.”
Needless to say, Jenna’s interest was piqued. “Ms. Seers came to you? Why?”
“She wanted to speak to one of my students, which is too bad because he really could use the extra practice on his work. If he wants to be a television repairman, he really needs to attend to his studies more. It’s not an easy job,” Frank explained.
“Is he in your class now? Jake Monroe?” Jenna asked.
“He’s in my first period class, but he missed it.” Frank’s eyes clouded over. “He’s absent and—well, his father was in earlier. Very upset.”
“Is the boy all right?” Dirk asked.
“No one knows. He hasn’t been seen by his parents since last night.”
Jenna felt her blood pressure plummet. Her mind reeled as if she was given another important piece to the puzzle. Dizzier than she realized, Dirk grabbed her arm to stabilize her. “Easy, Jen.”
“May I…may I return to my class?” Frank asked quietly.
Jenna nodded. “Go.” She stared at the floor, her mind whirling, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. How were these two teenagers caught up in the middle of the chief’s murder?
“There’s no way a glistening can go missing,” Dirk said.
“But he still is, isn’t he? Somehow the alerts weren’t triggered.”
“More corruption? Are you all right? I’ve never seen you look so pale.” Dirk’s eyes were laced with concern.
“Just upset, I guess. Haven’t eaten.”
“We should stop and get something then.”
Jenna shook her head. “No time. We have to head to the Monroe residence. I want to learn more about this kid. Jameson,” she said into her communication link.
“I know what you want. But there’s something wrong. There’s no Jake Monroe in New Haven’s system. It’s like—it’s like he’s been erased, Jen.”
Jenna swore to herself. “Can you see who’s been accessing his family files? Maybe do a back trace and find some residue in the system? Backup systems maybe? Anything?” She knew she was grasping at straws, but Jameson would know what steps to take.
“Have I ever ironed while hanging upside down from a tree?”
The answer to that question was a resounding yes.
“We’d like to ask you a few questions,” Jenna asked Susan Monroe. Dirk joined her while Jameson stayed in the van so he could continue his analysis. It was nearly dinnertime, and Jenna was feeling crankier each minute that went by. If she didn’t get food soon, she might implode.
The Monroe home was quaint, like stepping into a Donna Reed re-run, but there was something about Susan that Jenna didn’t like. She paced the floor of her living room while gripping her hands. She knew something or was familiar with Jenna’s handiwork; it was always hard to tell which it was. “What kind of questions?” Susan asked. Her voice was even, flat, but nothing else about her was.
“About your son,” Dirk started. “There are a few things we need to know about him.”
“What time did he go missing last night?” Jenna asked abruptly which got a penetrating glower from Dirk.
In her ear there was a sigh from Jameson. “Took you only ninety seconds this time. Techno-color me impressed, Jen.”
Susan stammered. “My son? How did you—”
“Just answer the question. I don’t have a lot of patience.”
Susan blinked. “He went out last night to football practice at eight. Except—”
“Except?” Jenna prodded.
Her shoulders rounded and she stared at the floor. “I talked to the coach and there wasn’t any practice, but I’m sure it was just a misunderstanding.”
Jenna blinked and her posture went rigid. She wanted nothing more than to take the woman “downtown.”
“A misunderstanding that has your son missing for twenty hours? Why haven’t you reported it to the police, Ms. Monroe?”
Susan glanced between Jenna and Dirk. “I thought with everything going on, I shouldn’t worry the police. I know,” her voice trailed off. Her eyes were haunted, tragic. “I know my son isn’t as important as the Chief.”
“You’ve got that right,” Jenna said snidely. “But the law is the law. All glistenings need to be in by curfew. He wasn’t. You knew. I’d drag him in for less and since I can’t, maybe I’ll drag in you.”
Susan’s eyelashes fluttered about. “Please, I don’t know anything. I just want my son to be all right. Please. Can’t you understand that?”
“Yeah, I can,” Dirk was kind, placing his hand on her shoulder, but it made the glistening flinch.
“None of that explains why you didn’t report him missing. That’s what any good mother would do, isn’t it? Any good law-abiding glistening. Just proves to me you have something to hide.”
Jenna’s glare provided too much for Susan. Her eyes fell to the floor; her shoulders hunched. “He’ll come home. I know he will.”
“Weren’t you surprised when the police didn’t show up here asking about your son? Aren’t you aware that the Outpost would be notified if he didn’t return home?” Dirk asked.
“Yes, yes I was. I thought with the Chief…well, you’re here now, so I guess that’s all that matters. I need to start a roast. Is it all right? Can you please go?” She was itching to get away, her feet inching toward the kitchen.
For a woman who was worried about her son she certainly didn’t want to spend a lot of time talking about him. Her blood pressure did appear to be in check, though, and Jenna had no other questions. They allowed Susan to get back to her duties and then saw themselves out. Dirk yanked the door closed behind them hard. “Well, that was a waste of time.”
“Depends on your point of view. I think we just proved that Susan Monroe knows her son is off-grid and is too afraid to tell us.”
“Why?” Dirk asked.
“Damned if I know, but we’re going to find out.”
****
Jameson’s coffee table was littered with half-empty containers of Chinese takeout and each team member nursed a cold bottle of beer. Sure, they were on duty, but it was a tough day, Jenna reflected. “Now that I’m a stuffed turkey, let’s go over everything we know.”
Dirk placed his chopsticks down on the table and slurped in one final strand of Lo Mein noodle. “We know George helped Rebecca Seers with something, and now he’s dead.”
Jameson picked up the thread. “We know George is the one who deleted records of Jake Monroe from Outpost’s database. Who knows if he’s done this before. Can’t ask him since he’s dead.”
Jenna gave him a look. “Have a little respect for a fellow officer.”
He gawked at her. “You are lecturing me about respect?”
“The nurse called Alice Reynolds about Wendy. We only have part of the clip since the rest were deleted, but she was concerned for her hea
lth.”
“Why would someone want to delete that?” Jenna asked. “Let’s not forget the compound that the New Haven Initiative is supposed to be keeping under lock and key. I think we all know what that means.”
Dirk glanced at her with his penetrating stare that usually meant he didn’t agree with her or wanted to sleep with her. Jenna was going with the former this time though. “You really think the HI would kill the chief?”
“That or someone stole it from them, but I’m guessing someone in the HI is dirty.”
“Hold the phone, guys,” Jameson said while he did exactly that. He glanced up with a look that was half little boy getting to ride the big boy’s roller coaster and finding it was out of order. “Wendy, Travis’s kid, bought a pregnancy test.”
Jenna and Dirk exchanged glances. “How is it everyone missed this?”
Jameson shook his head, his eyes going wide and a bit of spit appearing in the corner of his mouth. All were signs that he was on the verge of becoming overexcited. “Human purchases and activities are recorded, but they aren’t actively monitored because of the Human Privacy Act. It’s only there in case of a problem. Plus, she being the chief’s daughter, I’m betting most people looked the other way when she did things. She probably told the clerk it was for her mother.” Jameson giggled. “Yup, that’s exactly what she did. If you want, I can play the wav file for you.”
“It’s okay, we believe you.” Jenna smirked. “So Wendy, pregnant, is vomiting in class. Morning sickness, could be. She’s upset around the same time Rebecca Seers pulls Jake Monroe out of class. Now they’re both missing.”
“You look pale again,” Dirk said.
“Different reasons,” Jenna tried not to sound haunted, but wasn’t successful. “What if Wendy and Jake were a couple?”
Jameson fumbled his phone. “A human dating a glistening? The chief’s daughter?” His jaw went slack and his face turned three shades of green.
“And now she’s pregnant. With a glistening?” Dirk asked.
“Half glistening,” Jenna pointed out.
Jameson shook his head. “That’s disgusting. Might as well be pregnant with a pit bull, except those make good pets.”
Jenna scowled at him, her hands clenching into tight fists. “It’s an idea.”
“One that isn’t possible,” Dirk reminded her. “You know glistenings aren’t human. They can’t mate with us. Sure, they might look like we do, but they’re monsters. It was proved years ago. We’ve all seen the reports and autopsy vids.”
Jenna tucked her hair behind her ears and avoided his gaze. “It’s an idea and one that fits all the pieces.”
“Yuck,” Dirk’s tone was distracted. “Might as well get knocked up with a zombie.”
Jenna shot him a dirty look.
“Except why Travis was killed.” Jameson was thoughtful. “Unless he wanted Wendy to get rid of it and the glistenings struck back. They killed him before he could kill it.”
That didn’t much sound like the Chief to Jenna. He was gentle and kind for an officer. Certainly he loved Wendy more than anything and she couldn’t see him killing his own grandchild. Besides, Jenna could remember all those talks they had in private. He was the one that always made her feel better. He was the one who talked her down from killing glistenings. They weren’t just cockroaches to the chief. If Wendy wanted her baby, nothing would have convinced him otherwise and he would have loved the baby without a second thought.
“I think we’re getting sidetracked.”
Jameson scowled at her. “Since when have you become a glistening lover?”
“I’m not,” Jenna said heatedly, her cheeks turning red. “Don’t call me that again, Jameson. You know how I feel about them.”
“Do I?” He leaned forward with sinister eyes. “Every time I suggest we look at them, you steer the conversation away.”
“Because they don’t have the means or the supplies.”
“Guys,” Dirk started, “c’mon. We’re tired and upset. This is no time to start fighting.”
“Maybe it is,” Jameson said. “Maybe it’s time we get out into the open where Jenna was for those two years. She just comes back. We accept her. But maybe she’s not stable enough to run this crew. Maybe her judgment is still impaired from when she went loco.”
Jenna grabbed her gun off the table and lunged for Jameson. She throttled him, pushing him back into his recliner with the full force of her body. Before he could react, her forearm pinned his head back right against his Adam’s apple while her other hand released the safety and put the butt of her gun against his temple. “My judgment impaired? No, I’m as sane as ever. When I blow your head off it’ll because I meant to do it. Are we clear?”
“Jenna, you don’t want to hurt Jameson. Back. Off.” Dirk spoke with his soft dentist voice.
She relaxed, even though the muscles in her arms trembled slightly. Jenna lowered her gun and her arm, slowly backing off of him. “What I said stands.”
Jameson didn’t say anything, just stared at her. Jenna wasn’t sure what he really wanted to say. She knew what she’d want to say: Jenna went mental again. Jenna was unable to control her impulses. Never was able to. It was her birthright, so said her mother, but she just wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it. Instead, she picked up her empty beer bottle and took it into the kitchen.
Angry with herself, she stashed it on the counter with the others. She’d find a way to make it up to Jameson. Maybe buy him tickets to a show or something. He loved shows. Right, Jenna thought to herself, like a few tickets is enough to forget your boss held a gun to your head for no reason. No good reason anyway.
She wasn’t alone long. Jenna turned at the sound of the kitchen door swinging shut right into the disapproving eyes of Dirk, but they were more than that. They were sad, worried,afraid. “What the hell was that all about?”
Jenna sighed. “I don’t need this from you right now.” She rubbed her neck.
“You’re wound so tight you nearly killed Jameson. I think this is exactly what you need.”
“I wouldn’t have,” Jenna said softly, not really sure.
“Right. Just like you didn’t exterminate all those glistenings.”
“When am I going to be able to stop paying for that?” Jenna asked bitterly. “When?”
Dirk shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll always pay for it.”
“Maybe one day everyone will see I was right.”
“Then why get so upset at Jameson? If you think they’re really monsters too, why’d you pull that stunt?”
“This is a crime. It’s not justice to blame the glistenings if they didn’t do a damn thing. If they didn’t kill the chief, then I don’t want a lynch mob. Innocence is innocence.”
Dirk smiled. “Guess underneath that tough exterior you’re really still a cop.”
“Try to be. Some days are easier than others.”
Dirk rubbed her arms and it made her arms tingle. Part of her wanted to pull away, but she didn’t. She closed her eyes and when Dirk’s lips brushed up against hers, she pulled away. “As much as I don’t want to, I think we should all take the rest of the night off. Get some sleep. We’re going to need to recharge if we’re going to follow this thing through.”
Jenna moved away from his dumbfounded expression and stopped in the living room. “Good work today, Jameson. Find Wendy’s friends. We’ll interview them in the morning. For now, let’s call it a night.”
Jameson’s eyes shone with accusations and spite, but he only nodded and went back to his work. Jenna climbed the stairs to the guest room. When she stepped inside, she locked the door.
Chapter Sixteen Alistar Humphrey
New Haven Initiative
New York City
Things were easier when the glistenings were nothing but monsters.
Humans were on the run. They hid in buildings, stayed together in great numbers, and never went out at night when the ever watchful glistenings would swoop out of tr
ees or down from bridges in the hunt for their next meal.
Then it was simple. Black and white. The humans were good and the glistenings were evil and needed to be stopped. Together, with the acting military, they finally corralled enough of them to bring order to the country. Just like that, the glistenings began to change. Now Alstair Humpreys wished he kept that bit of news to himself. Still wet behind the ears, he brought this news to his superiors who brought it toward Congress. He should have kept his mouth shut; he should have let them all be exterminated.
The world would change again if that baby was born. If Alistar, head of the New Haven Initiative, didn’t find a way to stop it.
Another shot of whiskey was followed by another glance at the photo on his mahogany desk, finely crafted and meant for an important man. Not one that went around killing his friends, those who served him all their lives. Travis and his family deserved respect, honor and accommodations. Instead his daughter, the girl in the photo, fell in love with the wrong boy and, as often was the case, created life before she was ready. The world wasn’t ready.
Alistar wasn’t ready.
But she wasn’t dead. She and her baby still lived and where they were, Alistar didn’t know. He did know that Travis, a good man from what he read, was dead, that he deserved better than what he got. Though Alistar thought they all deserved better than this.
A knock came from the far side of the room at his office door. Alistar glanced up. The room was dark and furnished in marble and leather, with only a faint glow along the walls. The light was just enough to illuminate portraits of beautiful women he never got to meet, posed on animal-skin rugs from way back in the 1950s when glamour was everything. Before glamour became such an obsession that it doomed the human race.
Outside, a horn honked, followed by the screech of tires. New York, the city that never slept. It reminded Alistar of why he issued the orders he did and why he had to sacrifice one family for the greater good. He just didn’t like it very much.