by Jill Cooper
“TV repairman,” Jake said, and Wendy almost slapped him for it. She couldn’t believe that lie every time she heard it. Jake couldn’t keep the twinkle out of his eye.
John laughed into his fist. “I was going to ask Larry here, but now you’ve saved me the trouble. Would the both of you like to come to dinner tomorrow? Lisa’s making steaks and wants to see you again.”
Oh, steaks. Wendy’s stomach grumbled. “We’d love to. I can bring something sweet for after.”
“Oh, just yourselves. You’re new in town and just getting on your feet, so just bring yourselves. Best get back to work. See ya, Claire.” John gave her a wave before heading into the back.
“Me too. See you tonight.” Jake kissed her cheek and headed out to the front.
Wendy couldn’t hide the bounce in her step. They were making friends, real friends, even if they were older. Things were beginning to feel real and stable. She just wished she could tell her dad.
Chapter Twenty Jenna
Outpost, Detainee Center
Time dragged.
Jenna bounced her heels on top of the metal desk, causing a metal thang to echo through the room each time she did it. It annoyed her, but she hoped it would annoy the people watching her even more. Why would someone want to frame her for Travis’s murder? Maybe Laurel really did think their van was tied to the crime. Maybe someone planned to pin it on her the entire time. Maybe she should have ordered fish instead of steak for dinner? Wondering like that always led her to trouble. She needed to get out and find answers.
She glanced at her watch and then coughed into her fist. “Time’s up,” she whispered, playing with her hair to disguise the fact she was talking. Jenna hoped no one realized they were still wearing their comms. It was a rookie mistake not to grab them and it just proved to her that whatever was going on was huge. Laurel had her men distracted onto something big.
“I used my cell phone to check the status updates,” Jameson said. Jenna wasn’t surprised that he somehow managed to keep one of his cell phones. Some of them were so small, they could be hidden inside a body cavity. She usually thought it was gross, but tonight was finding it to be a bit of a relief. “Something big—big—is going down. Half the Outpost poured out of here ten minutes ago.”
Jenna heard the sirens. The room was secure, but it wasn’t noise-proof.
They fell into silence again, not able to risk being caught. Ten minutes passed before Jameson spoke again. His voice was hushed but there was no mistaking the excitement in it as he rushed on, barely catching his breath. “Vids show Susan Monroe killed Lawrence Stark. Point blank. Police approached her at home. Susan went manic. Killed two guards before she was taken down. Dead.”
Jenna coughed into her hand. “Holy shit.” She heard Dirk whistling through her comm. Never in New Haven 56’s history had a glistening gone manic and actually taken guards out. This was huge, and if other glistenings knew what happened, containment and curfew would be the first protocol they needed to take before the news spread like wildfire.
“They moved the vids off of the usual server, but left a trail. I found those SOBs like they left me detailed instructions.” Jameson laughed.
“Tone it down.” Jenna turned her head, scratching the side of her face. “Can you play it through the comm?”
It must have taken all of Jameson’s willpower not to make an Xtreme ironing joke. Instead, the static of a vid came through her speakers. She heard the rustling of clothing, heavy breathing from the officer, and then, “I did what they asked! I want to see my son!”
Susan’s voice was high-pitched, squealing. The tension was so tight Jenna could practically see her going manic in front of them.
“Someone put her up to kill Stark?” Dirk asked. “Jenna, there’s no way—”
“I know.” There was no way anyone could have gotten to Susan, given her a gun or given or instructions, without the police knowing about it. They were police or had friends inside the department. Her skin crawled.
But not all the pieces fit. Jenna was beginning to think they were working on two distinctive puzzles, but none were straight edges. She couldn’t put all the pieces together. The muddled confusion of her mind made her want to stress-eat. One thing was sure, Susan Monroe was never going to see her son again. She was used and whoever put her up to it, knew it. It was—
“Crime of opportunity.” Dirk sighed, finishing her thoughts even though they were rooms away. “I guess Outpost got Stark out of the way without looking guilty. Didn’t rile up the glistenings. Just have to keep Susan being put down under wraps.”
They were talking too much. Jameson jumped in. “Should have taken Stark out a long time ago. He was a dangerous liability. He didn’t know his place and he got exactly what he should have. Few months too late.”
“Time to shelf this debate for another time, boys.” Jenna said even though she didn’t necessarily disagree. It was frightening to her that reprogramming never worked on Lawrence Stark, but they couldn’t just make him disappear.
Other glistenings would care, and Rebecca Seers for sure would bring it up to Congress, or anyone else who’d listen. And tabloids sold more magazines talking about glistenings than celebrities. Most likely because the glistenings ate all the celebrities. They always said that Hollywood was a dog-eat-dog world.
The latch that kept her locked inside the room snapped. Laurel stepped inside and Jenna wasn’t surprised that she came, but was surprised she was alone.
The acting chief wore a smug smile and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Gotta say I’ve been dreaming of this day for a long time. The day where you sat down on that side of the table.” Laurel took a seat across from her, which Jenna thought was a mistake. If the roles were reversed, she never would have lowered her guard that much.
“Your jaw hurt much?” Jenna smiled at the bruise gracing the lower half of Laurel’s face. “If not, I can oblige you and do it again.”
Laurel’s eyebrows rose, but didn’t bait easily. “The Chief always protected you, even after you went off the ranch. Sad as his death is, finally you’re going to get what’s coming.”
Jenna fumed and looked away. No matter what she thought of Laurel, the truth was she was a good interrogator, and already the bitch was under her skin. Jenna tried to stay calm, but her blood pressure was changing and her stomach was growling with hunger. Never a good combination.
“Noting to say?” Laurel teased her, bouncing a bottle of pills on the table. “We ran tests on these, but haven’t been able to figure out what they are yet. No label.” Laurel studied the bottle before rolling them across the table. “Why don’t you tell me what they’re for?”
Still Jenna refused to look at her as she flipped the cap and stuck a red pill under her tongue. “Condition I’ve had since I was a kid. Fainting spells, seizures. Nothing to concern your little head about.” Already she could feel the medicine going to work. Which meant she could think clearer, try to formulate a plan.
“All right.” Laurel’s voice was terse. “I guess I should ask you about the Chief. What your motives are.”
Jenna took a deep breath. “I loved the Chief. If something points to me, it’s a lie. Someone is setting me and my team up. I know you hate me, and the feeling’s mutual, believe me, but you have to know my guys are good. If I was going around the bend, they wouldn’t follow.”
“Again.” Laurel corrected.
“Pardon me?” Jenna asked, agitated, barely able to sit still. She put her hands on her jittery knees to try to calm them.
“If you were going around the bend. Again. Because it happened once before and you could barely be stopped. But those were glistenings. Those didn’t have rights, exactly. So it was easy to sweep under the rug. Easy for the Chief to look the other way, but I’m not the Chief. He wasn’t a glistening. He’s going to get justice, even if I need to extract it from you myself.”
She was sure Laurel was playing her. The woman wasn’t the type to go seeking h
er own justice. But if Laurel was that angry, maybe Jenna could find a way to work it to her advantage.
“What I think is that someone paid you to do it. Everyone knows you’ve been for sale to the highest bidder. I just thought you’d put a bigger price tag on the chief.”
Jenna’s face wore confusion as Laurel handed her a small PDA. On it was Jenna’s bank account information. She recognized her number and her debit card transactions from the last job they were on, but what she didn’t recognize was the twenty-five-thousand dollar deposit into her account.
“This is a lie.” Jenna threw the PDA back at Laurel and stood. She slammed her hands down on the table.
“Sit down, Sergeant.” Laurel warned, standing up herself.
“Someone put this there to make me look guilty. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you railroad me.”
“I said sit down!” Laurel screamed and one of her hands went to her hip. So she was packing heat.
As much as it pained her, Jenna sat and crossed her arms. She pouted and made sure it was very strong.
“I’m not trying to railroad you.” Laurel spoke softly. “I’m just going where the evidence suggests and it makes a lot more sense than someone paying you just to get you out of the way.”
“Not if I’m that big of a threat.”
Laurel laughed. “Your narcissism is classic.”
“Well…screw you!” Jenna heard Dirk sigh in her head. He had been quiet for so long she wasn’t sure if he was keeping score.
“You’re pathetic.”
Jenna couldn’t exactly argue with that. Her ear chirped. “Wait a second, Jenna.” Jameson sounded worried. It stressed Jenna out to hear it. “The quarantine’s been lifted. The van—the van that looked just like ours is at the checkpoint now. It’s being processed to leave. The killers are getting away and I bet I know where they’re headed.”
They needed to get out of there fast if they were going to save the life of two helpless teenagers and clear their own names in the process. No time to play nice anymore. For better or worse, they needed to escape now. But if she did, it was possible Jenna would never be welcome back into the Outpost. Or her team.
For Chief Travis, though, Jenna would do just about anything. Including saving the life of his knocked-up daughter who was in way over her head.
“I want to see Internal Affairs.”
“Excuse me?” Laurel asked and from the look on her face she was aghast.
“Excuse me?” Dirk and Jameson echoed in her ear.
“You heard me. I have a right to see my representative. I think I’m being railroaded. Do you think I just got off the bus yesterday?” Jenna paused. “What am I, your Aunt Maple?”
Dirk and Jameson groaned. “Not the Aunt Maple.”
“We’re going to jail for sure.” Dirk muttered. “I was banking on my pension one day, Jenna.”
“We were headed there anyway.” Jameson said. “Guess now we’re getting the electric chair.”
“I have a right to see him.” Jenna pushed. “If not I’ll push to be released and to get you removed from the investigation.” She pressed her lips together in victory as she watched Laurel turn three shades of green right before her eyes. It was a good look for her.
“I’ll…go page him. So help me God, this better not be a trick, Jenna.” Laurel smoothed her jacket and pulled it down firmly. Something else was on her mind, but she didn’t voice it as she turned and marched out of the room. The door slammed and echoed through the room.
Jenna felt sickened to her stomach. How she was going to pull this off—get past whoever was in the hall, get together with her team, and get to their van—without killing anyone? “Goddamn it,” she muttered under her breath, reaching into her boot. She felt at the stitching along the inside panel and pulled on it with her fingernails.
It pulled easily, and she cursed the idea of ruining her favorite boots, but they were her favorites for a reason. She always hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
“Well?” Jenna asked as her fingers ran along the sharp edges of the hidden knife in her boot. Six inches of sharp and deadly steel.
Jameson sighed. “Lock hacks in place.”
“Good.” Jenna pushed the knife up the sleeve of her jacket while bent over the table. She shivered as the cold metal pressed up against her flesh, and wrapped her fingers around the handle. “Dirk?” She whispered. “You good?”
“Good, yeah. Ready.”
Jenna stood, stretching her legs, and peered at the two-way wall mirror. If anyone was watching, she wasn’t sure. “Do it.”
Jameson worked fast and this time was no disappointment. Jenna stared at the door handle and waited for it to snap open. She wasted no time in grabbing it and slipping out into the hall.
Officer Tim Hornes did a double take, a manifest order in his hand. “Hey,” he said, but was cut off when Jenna’s fist crunched against his jaw. She pushed him down and kicked his crotch. He groaned, grabbing at the family jewels.
“Sorry for all this.” Jenna grabbed the pistol at his waist, and jumped over his body.
Time to find her team. By the time she sprinted to the end of the corridor, red lights were flashing and horns were blaring.
Someone was watching after all.
****
Jenna ducked behind a wall and felt a bullet fly past her red curls. She grunted in frustration; she was close to the impound where the van was being kept, but kept getting cut off at the last minute. The reflective mirror at the corner of the ceiling revealed two officers advancing on her position.
She did not want to kill anyone and so far had managed to pull that off. She wanted to clear her name, after all.
The metal door in front of her thudded with the force of several officers behind it. Jenna managed to fry the lock, but knew they would soon find a way to hack through it. And then she’d be back in handcuffs, thrown in solitary confinement, and she’d never see dear old Mom again.
Her gun was empty, but no one needed to know that. Not yet. Jenna put the gun under her chin, pushing so hard it hurt, and stepped out. “Get back, boys, or I’ll blow my own brains out.”
The officers, Jenna didn't know their first names but knew them from around the base, glanced at each other.
“We doubt you’ll do that.”
“Really? You want to chance that? If you’re wrong you’ll never—” Jenna took a deep breath. “—You’ll never know what happened to the chief or why. Do you really want that kind of knowledge dying with me? It’d be on your hands.”
“Dammit, Jenna,” Dirk whispered in her ear. “I’m almost there. Couldn’t you just hold off for one more second?”
“I’m out of time.” Jenna gritted her teeth. Louder she said, “Both of you back up and let me pass, or what happened to the chief dies right now. And you’ll never know who’s next.”
Their jobs would be on the line if what she said were true. They slowly backed up toward the chain link fence that led into the impound yard. The closer they got, the more Jenna could feel the crisp air and her nose stung from the smell of gasoline.
“Back up against the fence.” Jenna trained her gun on them.
It clinked as their bodies wedged up against it. Dirk, in position, handcuffed them through the links.
“How could you, Jenna? The chief stuck his ass on the line for you a dozen times.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze. For all the trouble and gossip she caused, this was the worst and Jenna didn’t have the stomach for it.
Dirk opened the gate. They walked in time, their boots crunching on gravel. Dirk took her hand, but said nothing. Jenna thought about pulling it away, but didn’t have the strength. She squeezed it and left everything unsaid as the spotlights overhead shone on them. Marking them for death.
Dirk groaned, jerked backwards as he let go of Jenna’s hand. She never heard the bullet whiz by, but saw his shirt was torn, saw him clutch at his stomach. Screams and her heartbeat echoed in her ear as Jenna knelt down bes
ide him, grabbing at his arm. “Dirk?”
Bullets pounded on metal in all directions as Jameson’s van came to a screeching halt in front of them, giving Jenna and Dirk the cover they needed.
“Get in, for the love of pumpkin-chunkin’, get in!” Jameson hissed out his window and over the comm. Jenna was able to put Dirk into the van and slide beside him in one fell swoop.
The tires spun, grating against the gravel as Jameson punched it hard toward the Outpost gate. Lights from the checkpoint filled the van, making Jenna shield her eyes as her hand clutched Dirk’s chest.
“Hold on!” Jameson screamed as the van rocketed forward toward the locked gate. Officers scattered for cover. The van, never slowing, crashed through the gate, bending it until the chains broke. Jenna heard the wail of sirens and tires peeling out against slick pavement.
The open road always made her feel better, but not his time.
Dirk gave Jenna a goofy grin. She figured it was the loss of blood, but then realized there wasn’t any. Her hand should have been covered in the stuff by now, but it wasn’t.
“You’re wearing a bulletproof vest, aren’t you?”
He gave her a wink. “Nice to know you still care, though.”
“Asshole.” Jenna nearly spat at him. She punched him in the gut and took a seat beside Jameson.
Dirk groaned. “C’mon, it was funny!”
“Can you lose these jerks?” Jenna asked Jameson, ignoring the movement from the rear of the van.
“Doing my best, but it’s like trying to be stealthy in a sperm whale.”
Jenna nodded. “Do your best while I work on a secure line. We’re going to need to warn Rebecca Seers about what’s coming for her and for those kids. We may not be able to catch up with the guys framing us, but I bet we sure as hell we know where they’re headed.”
“To kill the kids. Never thought that we’d be on the same side as her.” Jameson raised his eyebrows like they just made a deal with the devil.
“That’s still debatable. Until we blow the lid off this thing, we’re going to need some allies. Let’s try not to burn any more bridges.” Jenna said more to herself than to anyone. “This van is marked for death. We need to ditch it and get something else. Up for the challenge? Rhetorically speaking.”