by Payne, T. L.
A tall and slender woman Betley guessed to be in her early thirties rounded the desk and took a seat in the faux leather office chair.. “Agent James Betley, I’m Analyst Rachel Stephens,” she said,
Betley straightened, ran a hand through his dark brown hair, and wiped the drool from his mouth with his sleeve.
As Stephens gathered pen and paper, Betley looked her over. Her brown hair was kept in a tight bun. She was a strikingly attractive woman, even without makeup. Betley shot her his lady-killer smile, but from her body language, she was all business.
“I’ve been reviewing the material on the flash drive you claim to have received from your informant, Kim Yang,” Stephens continued.
Betley had conducted enough interrogations to recognize her technique. She was playing the skeptic, putting distance between their roles, and attempting to throw him off balance.
Betley tried his best to look relaxed but his neck and shoulders were stiff. He placed his palms on his thigh and inhaled and exhaled slowly. “And what did you find?” he asked. He expected her to tell him it was classified and refuse to give specifics. After all, he lacked the clearance for the level of information Kim claimed would be on the flash drive.
“Well, Ms. Yang did a very good job of documenting the theft of petroleum refining trade secrets,” Stephens said.
Betley raised an eyebrow. Why would Kim’s reports on corporate espionage be on the drive? That was unexpected. Perhaps she’d made a copy of the thumb drive she took from Hui Shi and Shan Huang. He stared at the backs of his bruised hands. The image of the member of the Chinese mafia who’d stabbed him in the leg flashed before him. The man had wanted that drive pretty badly to have followed them through a raging hurricane even after Kim had been killed.
“Why don’t you tell me why it is that you believe that Kim Yang had information pertaining to the attack we’ve experienced and a possible insurgency. That is what you told Lieutenant Sharp, is it not?”
“That is what Kim Yang told me,” Betley said. After he’d described what Kim had told him as far as he could recall, Stephens stood and walked to the door.
“Wait here. I’ll be back,” she said.
Betley waited and then waited some more. He had never been on this side of an interrogation and he didn’t like it. Not one bit. Maybe Stephens needed to be reminded that they were both on the same side.
Betley was weak from blood loss and weary from battling the Chinese mafia that had come after Kim. He needed food—real food—and a shower. After those things and some sleep, he’d be much more helpful to Stephens. The fact that she’d chosen to treat him like an adversary instead of a colleague had him concerned. Had Kim played him? Had she lied about what she’d found? But what about the blueprints and schematics of the power plant and pipelines leading to the Houston Ship Channel? Those were not part of Kim’s work at the refinery. And why would they send mafia goons if they didn’t believe she had something significant?
There was a knock on the door and then a soldier appeared. “Please come with me, Agent Betley.”
“Why? Where am I going?”
“I was instructed to escort you to the SCIF,” the soldier said.
Being allowed into the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility was a step forward. Perhaps they would now read him in on what else they’d found on Kim’s flash drive.
A man in a white button-down shirt, black slacks, and red tie greeted him at the door. “Agent Betley?”
Betley nodded.
“I’m Analyst Warren. If you’ll come in here, we just have a few more questions, and then we’ll let you go get some rest.”
The analyst led Betley down a short hall. At the end was a soldier standing guard in front of a single steel door. Analyst Warren showed the soldier his badge, and the soldier opened the door, closing it immediately after Betley and the analyst stepped into the vestibule. Steel mesh lined the walls from floor to ceiling. The analyst then opened a second interior door. The interior walls and ceiling were lined with acoustical panels. The padding provided soundproofing between the SCIF and the outside. The space was a lot smaller than Betley had imagined it would be. Stephens was hovering over a man seated in front of a computer screen. She glanced up, nodded toward a chair in the corner, and returned her attention to the screen.
“You’re sure?” Stephens asked the man.
“That is all that’s here,” he replied.
Stephens turned her attention to Betley as Warren spread a stack of papers out on a table in the middle of the room. “Tell me again how Kim came into possession of the blueprints for the power plant and the Houston Ship Channel pipelines?” she asked.
“She said she stole them from Huang’s safe. When she entered the room, Huang shoved a duffle under his desk and out of view. Before being suddenly called away, he placed the bag into his safe and hurried from the room.”
“And Kim knew the combination to Huang’s safe?” Warren asked.
“She’d watched him unlock it several times to retrieve cash he was paying her for stolen trade secrets,” Betley said.
“And Kim somehow managed to get the duffle out of his house, and that’s when she contacted you?” Stephens asked.
“She contacted me from her car moments before the EMP. She said she was being followed, so they knew she’d taken it,” Betley said.
“Here’s our problem, Betley. There’s nothing on that drive related to an insurgency or targets they plan to hit. Having the schematic in your possession lends validity to your claim, but we need the other memory device. We have sent our people back out to the storage facility to try to locate it. But they came back empty-handed. I need you to walk me through it again. Don’t leave anything out. I need to know Kim’s every move from the moment she called you until she was killed. Can you do that for me?”
Betley’s head ached by the time he’d recounted every moment he could account for. “Once the Chinese mafia showed up, things got crazy pretty fast. I can’t say where she went from the time she left my unit until she was shot.”
“And the three civilians that were with you on the bridge; they were present when Kim Yang was shot?”
“Yes,” Betley said.
“Sharp said the girl gave you her address.”
“She did,” Betley said.
“Why would she do that?” Warren asked.
Betley glance from Stephens to Warren, then back to Stephens. “Because I’m a handsome son-of-a-bitch.”
Three
Will
Day Five
Gus led the group across the courtyard and up the stairs to the apartments which he was sure weren’t occupied. As Will stepped into the deeper water, his pants legs became soaked. He lifted his leg above water and cursed under his breath. Pieces of debris had poked holes in the bags. What he would give for a good pair of waders.
Will waited at the bottom of the stairs as Gus and his girlfriend went up to confirm that no one was home. Isabella pulled her thin jacket tight against her as a light rain began to fall. Her boyfriend just looked bored or stoned. Maybe both.
“Jaz, hold that flashlight while I open the curtains,” Gus said, disappearing inside an apartment. A moment later, Gus reappeared in the doorway. “All clear,” he called.
Before Will even stepped inside, he knew no one was home. There’d be no way anyone could have stood the smell that emanated from the place. With the electricity out, the items in the refrigerator had spoiled, and the odor was unbearable. Almost as bad as the smell of Isabella’s bathroom.
Will headed for the laundry closet in the hall where the hot water heater was located. He pulled his T-shirt up over his nose, and after filling the two milk jugs for him and Cayden, he filled the two-liter soda bottles and then the sixteen-ounce water bottles.
“If there are any containers that we can carry water in, I need those,” Will called into the kitchen.
Kevin appeared with a couple of empty orange juice jugs.
“Are they find
ing much food?” Will asked.
“Yeah, but I doubt we’ll ever see any of it,” Kevin said.
“That’s not nice,” Isabella whispered as she walked up behind him.
“Whatever. You’ll see,” Kevin said.
Kevin disappeared into the bathroom across the hall. Will heard cabinets opening and closing.
“There’s nothing wrong with Gus and Jaz. They’ll share whatever they find. Kevin just doesn’t like them for some reason,” Isabella said.
“Maybe we should split up, just in case,” Will said. He had no way of knowing if Kevin was right or not, but he hadn’t come outside and taken the risk just to go away empty-handed.
“I don’t know. If you want to, that’s fine, I guess,” Isabella said.
Will handed her two jugs of water and headed for the door. “I’m going to check out the one across the hall.”
“That’s Mr. Hernandez. I don’t know if he’s home or not. I didn’t get an answer when I knocked before the storm, but he’s hard of hearing,” Gus said.
“He doesn’t have a car or any way to evacuate. How would he leave?” Jaz pointed out. “I thought I saw a light in his window last night.”
“We should check on him, then, right?” Isabella suggested. She banged on the door. If the man were in there and alive, he’d have to be totally deaf not to have heard her. She stood back and waited. He didn’t answer. “I think we should go in and make sure that if he’s in there, he’s all right.”
Gus jingled keys, finally located the one he was looking for, and inserted it into the lock. Before Gus could even turn the knob, the door opened. A face appeared in the crack. Not Mr. Hernandez.
“Who are you?” Gus asked. His tone was not friendly. Will stepped to the side and placed his hand on his holstered pistol.
“Who the hell are you?” the pretty young woman asked.
“I’m the apartment manager. Where’s Mr. Hernandez?” Gus asked.
She looked back over her shoulder into the room. “He’s sleeping.”
“Wake him up,” Gus demanded.
Will didn’t like where this was headed. Gus’s reaction seemed a bit extreme. But he knew the old man. Will didn’t.
A man’s head appeared above the woman’s. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you need to leave,” he said, slamming the door in Gus’s face.
“I think we should go, Gus,” Jaz said, tugging on her boyfriend’s arm.
“Something ain’t right in there, Jaz. You know it, and I know it. Hernandez doesn’t have family nearby. Those folks are up to something,” Gus said.
“She’s right,” Kevin said. “Let’s mind our own business and get back to finding food.”
Gus wheeled around and got in Kevin’s face. “Listen here. You do what you like, but I’m getting inside that apartment and finding out what the hell is going on in there.”
Will was torn. His gut told him something wasn’t right with the couple but on the other hand, they weren’t cops, and there wouldn’t be any backup coming if they got into something with them. As much as he would like to help, Will just couldn’t risk not making it back to his son.
Will stepped around Gus, Jaz, and Isabella and walked next door. “What about this one? Are they home?”
Jaz shook her head. “Give them the keys, Gus.”
Gus ignored her and shoved the key back into Mr. Hernandez’s door and pushed it open. “Holy hell. What the—”
Jaz stepped through the door and screamed.
Isabella pulled her pistol from its holster and moved to the side of the door. “What is it?” she called.
Will rushed over and flanked the opposite side of the door frame. He didn’t like it. The couple could shoot through the thin walls, no problem.
“What did you do to him?” Gus asked.
“He’s old. He died in his sleep,” the man said.
The girl was crying hysterically.
Will stepped through the door. An elderly man was lying on a sofa in his pajamas. Except for the odor, Will would have thought he was sleeping. He covered his mouth and nose with his arm and backed out the door. He waited for the others on the steps where the air was somewhat better.
“They’re going to come back with us. They can’t stay here with that body,” Isabella said.
“What?” Will asked. It was her apartment. It wasn’t up to him, but he had no clue where she thought she would put two more people. They could barely move in there as it was. Ten people in a tiny two-bedroom apartment would be bad with electricity. Without it, it’d be unbearable.
“They’re going to stay in the apartment across from Gus and Jaz. I think he wants to be able to keep an eye on them,” Isabella said.
“Okay. What about the food? Are we still searching the rest of the vacant apartments or what?”
“Will,” Gus said, tossing him a set of keys. “They’re for that building there.” Gus pointed to the building to their right. “No one should be home in those units.”
“What are you guys doing?” Will asked.
“We’re taking these two back to our unit, and then we’ll catch up with you,” Jaz said.
The young woman glanced back over her shoulder and smiled as Gus and Jaz led them across the courtyard. Will didn’t return the gesture. She was young and attractive. There was nothing about her that should set off alarms, but she had. He couldn’t pinpoint it. He didn’t trust her or her boyfriend. He wondered if he should say something to Gus and Jaz. But what? The only thing he had to go on was that his intuition told him that something was off with them. Will had the sudden urge to give up on searching the rest of the buildings and get back to Cayden.
“Are you ready?” Kevin asked, pointing to the apartment unit across the way.
“Yeah,” Will said, telling himself that he was being paranoid. He needed the supplies so he and Cayden could leave. The sooner they got on the road, the better he’d feel.
“Right behind you,” he added.
Upon returning from getting the young couple set up in an unoccupied apartment, Gus and Jaz rejoined the search for food and supplies. Isabella and Kevin took one apartment while Jaz and Gus took another. Will went on his own to the apartment at the end of the walkway. After scavenging through three apartments, Will had enough cans of green beans to last him through the apocalypse. It was apparent they were the residents’ least favorite food. He couldn’t fathom why people bought that many if they didn’t like them.
He’d save the peanut butter and one-pound bag of rice for his trip. Everything else was too heavy. He’d located a few non-food items that would be useful, like a roll of duct tape, yards of nylon cord, and a nice little stainless-steel pot with a lid to boil water and cook the rice. He was checking off the list of items he’d need for himself and Cayden to survive outdoors for the several-day trip. Soon, they’d be ready to go if the damn water would just dry up.
Gus and Jaz emerged from the apartment next door. “Did you find much?” Jaz asked.
Will held out his canvas tote filled with green beans. “Just these.”
Jaz scrunched up her face. “They’re something at least.”
“What about you guys?” Will asked.
“We found some dried soup mixes. We could put the green beans in it and stretch it to feed quite a few of us.”
She’d said us. There went Kevin’s assertion that they’d hog it all to themselves.
“Yeah. I guess that’s true,” Will said.
He felt bad for not telling her about the rice and peanut butter but they might not understand that he and Cayden needed food to get away from the city. He also felt bad that he was taking food that they’d need to survive, which would force them to have to venture farther from the apartment complex in search of more.
“What’s next?” Isabella asked, rising from where she’d taken a seat on the steps.
“I’m beat. I’m ready to head home myself,” Kevin said.
“I’m going to step back in here f
or a moment.” Will pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
“Need some help?” Isabella asked. She didn’t wait for a reply before joining Will in the living room.
Will was pulling books off a bookcase near the window.
“Nope,” Will said, throwing a book onto the nearby chair.
Isabella picked it up. “This is a good one. What? Are you not into romance?”
“I’m into romance. Just not romance novels and not for my son,” Will said.
“Oh, you’re looking for something for Cayden.” Isabella pulled a Harry Potter novel down and handed it to Will.
“He read that with his mom when he was like ten years old. I think he’d like something a little more mature.”
Will grabbed Ready Player One. “How about this one?”
“I think he’ll love it.”
Will took it, dropped it into his bag, and turned to go.
“Here’s one you might like,” Isabella said, a grin spreading across her face.
Will took it and turned it over to reveal the cover of Fifty Shades of Grey. Whoever said not to judge a book by its cover was wrong. A flush began to grow behind his cheeks and he shoved it back into her hand.
Isabella threw her head back and laughed.
“Who reads that stuff?” Will asked.
“What? Too steamy?”
“Too pornographic to have around my kid,” Will said.
Isabella dropped the book onto the chair and followed Will to the door. Before stepping through, she punched him on the arm. “Hey, I was just kidding.”
“I know,” Will said.
“Kidding about what?” Kevin said as they stepped outside.
“Oh, nothing. Will was looking for books for Cayden,” Isabella said.
The scowl on Kevin’s face told Will he thought it was more than that.
“Are we ready to go back now?” Kevin whined.
Gus turned and scanned the courtyard between the apartment buildings. “We’ve pretty much cleaned all these units out. At least the ones without a foot of water in them.”