Netminder

by Jeff Adams

  “Who’d have thought saving him from a bully would end up like this.” Eddie looked to me. “But still bizarre after all this time that….” Eddie trailed off a lot this morning. He kept saying nothing was wrong, but I knew his distracted habits and leaving incomplete thoughts was one of them. He chalked it up to being wiped out after everything, and I related to that. I wanted him to say what was on his mind, though.

  The door opened and the MP who guarded our hall stood aside to allow my parents in. Questions for Eddie would have to wait.

  It was just like a movie as I jumped from the table, ignoring any soreness, and ran for them. They both opened their arms, and I crashed in between them so we ended up in a three-way hug. There were “so good to see you” and “love yous” all around.

  Once I had hold of them, I couldn’t bring myself to let go and the longer we embraced, the more I quaked. I teetered on the edge of breaking down, yet I didn’t because with them here it meant the worst was over. No matter what happened next, we’d be in it together.

  John….

  I had to get used to the fact he wouldn’t be in any more reunions.

  Mom and Dad didn’t let me go. If anything, they held me tighter until I could finally step back. They looked tired but okay.

  “Snowbird, Defender, it’s good to see you,” Coach said from behind us. I hadn’t even heard him get up from the table.

  Dad started with a handshake but then pulled Coach into a hug. Mom did the same as soon as Dad stepped back. I looked to the table, but Eddie was gone.

  Weird.

  “Thanks for watching out for him.” Mom looked to me with still glassy eyes. “He’s good at what he does, but I’m glad he wasn’t alone all the time.”

  “It goes without saying,” Coach said, “you should be very proud. He was extraordinary.” He clapped me gently on the shoulders. “I’ll give you three some privacy. They’ve made up a room for you here as well. Some place to stay until there’s a decision on what to do next.”

  They nodded, and I suspected they already had a plan.

  “Where’d Eddie go?”

  “Back to his room?” Coach continued quietly. “He’s worried about what comes next. He’d actually thanked me earlier for not just shooting him. I don’t know why he’d think I’d do that without provocation.”

  Why hadn’t he told me he felt that way? I hope it was clear to TOS how much he’d helped.

  “We’ll talk about it. We’ve been discussing him, among other things, on the flight,” Mom said.

  Coach nodded. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.” He headed out without another word.

  Dad put his arm around me. “In case it wasn’t clear, we are very proud of you. You stopped something that would’ve been horrific. We’ve reviewed Split Screen’s debriefing. You made great decisions.”

  “Thanks. I hoped for the best, since I was making it all up.” I shrugged, uncomfortable.

  “Why don’t we sit?” Mom asked.

  A knock at the door interrupted us, and the guard came in with three bags of food. I smelled garlic!

  “We didn’t know you already had food so we had them order some when we arrived. We’re famished from the trip and figured you could eat too.”

  “I’m crazy hungry all the time so the more the better. Like my body is making up for those days.”

  Dad took the food to the table and unpacked it. I went to the fridge and got waters and Cokes for them and my Dr Pepper.

  “I see at least they found you some Dr Pepper,” Mom said, serving food onto the plastic plates. “That’s good.”

  “Yeah. D-Man made sure. I think he made it pretty clear that it would keep me happy. Even Blackbird had it, which was a little weird.”

  “Let’s sit on the couch,” Dad said. “I’ve had enough of uncomfortable chairs for a while.”

  I was good wherever because they were here. I’d sit on the floor if they wanted to. They took either end of the couch, and I dropped in between them. It was perfect.

  “There’s so much to discuss,” Dad said. “Where do you want to start? The official debrief won’t happen until the three of us get to HQ. We’ll fly before dawn tomorrow.”

  “What’s left? Blackbird made it sound like they’d decimated TOS.”

  They traded a brief look of worry—one I suspected I’d see a lot in the coming weeks. I knew they’d tell me what my clearance allowed.

  “HQ got hit hard,” he said. “A lot of people died there. Since they got the list, they were able to get to even remote embedded agents. Some avoided them, while others were captured, injured, or killed. Agents who were deployed, like me, didn’t get caught, most likely because we were harder to get to.”

  “You should know,” Mom said, sounding grave, “that Raptor was killed at HQ. Red Hat is temporary director. It’s not clear who’ll fill that role permanently.”

  The air felt like it got sucked out of my lungs. Could TOS survive without the leader at the helm?

  A knock at the door interrupted, and Dad called out, “Come in.”

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Coach said, entering with a package. “This is for Winger. It arrived by courier.”

  He handed over the package, and it made me tear up for a moment. The shape of the box told me that this was electronics, likely a laptop and phone. Doc usually sent them. Who sent this one?

  “Thanks,” I said quietly.

  “You’re welcome. Figured you’d want to get online. I’ll let you all get back to the catch-up.” He left and closed the door behind him.

  “Still nothing about Doc?” I asked.

  They both shook their head, and my mind flashed on the last moments I’d seen him.

  “And what’s this about Austin?”

  “Austin is the disaster recovery point. They’re moving people and tech to that facility. That’s where we’ll be going. I’m sure you’ve got emails about it.”

  It was a lot to take in and it only scratched the surface of my questions. How could they be so calm?

  If they’d been through anything like this, they’d never told me about it. I wish they could share more of their mission experiences to help me understand how I should react to everything.

  “What’s gonna happen with Eddie?”

  That stumbled out of my mouth before I could catch it. Of everything that needed to be discussed that probably ranked pretty low for them, but it mattered a lot to me.

  Mom sighed. Had she meant to sound so exasperated? “I don’t know. We haven’t focused on that. It’s been more about getting TOS back up in a secure fashion as quickly as possible.”

  “Maybe we should spend a little more time there,” Dad said, looking past me toward Mom. “There are considerations beyond any mission where he’s concerned.”

  “He helped while I was on site.” I cringed at how overeager that sounded not to mention that I repeated what they already knew.

  “We’ve read his initial debrief.” Dad ran his hand through his hair and Mom looked flustered. “We don’t have answers… from either an agency point of view or as your parents. He came after you personally and professionally. Even if the agency decides to clear him, I don’t know if I can.”

  “We don’t have to figure it all out right now,” Mom said. “It’s going to be a while before we get back any sort of normalcy.”

  They clearly knew things I didn’t. I wasn’t surprised. After all, I’d been cut off for nearly a week. That statement about normal, though; she tried to make it sound like it was nothing.

  “We’re not going back home, are we? Not ever.” No reason to not let them know I’d already thought of that.

  “No,” Dad said. He didn’t like talking about it either. “Too much has been breached. They gave us the option after New York, but I can’t imagine they will this time.”

  I stood up quick. The sudden movement made my muscles scream.

  I desperately wanted a window to look out. I settled for going back to the food and picked up a
breadstick to nibble on. I didn’t need to turn around to know they watched me closely.

  “We’re going to be split up?” I asked.

  I kept my distance, but I turned to face them.

  “We’re not sure what the agency will want and how much input they’ll take from us,” Mom said.

  “I don’t want you guys to be separated.” I took a big bite out of the breadstick to keep me from having to talk again because emotions rose fast. I would hate myself if something I’d done forced them apart. Despite what they’ve always said, I had little doubt that the blame was mine for the breach in our cover.

  “We’ll see. There’s a lot that goes into dealing with this kind of thing.”

  The breadstick shook in my hand, and I clamped down on a chair back trying to force myself to calm down. I’d hoped they’d know what would come next. They didn’t, and that left me unsure and a little bit scared.

  “All we can do is tell you that it will all get worked out.” Mom got up and came toward me.

  “Tomorrow,” Dad added as he followed, “we’ll all go to Austin and start to figure out the future.”

  “Does Eddie come with us?”

  Dad looked annoyed, but he swallowed that fairly quickly before he spoke. “Yes. The rest of his debrief will be there. D-Man goes back to Boston. He’ll be there through the end of the school year as a way to keep an eye on Mitch. His exposure is fairly limited, but once the season’s done, he’ll leave and be reassigned.”

  I leaned against Dad’s shoulder and reached out and took Mom’s hand.

  At least we’d face whatever came next together.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  I SPENT a quiet evening with my parents, which included burgers from a local place that the people on base swore by. Eddie kept his distance. Coach let us have space too.

  We flew out at the way too early time of 4:30 and arrived in Austin four hours later. I tried to sleep on the flight, but it came in fits and starts thanks to the dreams.

  I tried to get in touch with Shields because if ever there was a time to talk to my counselor this was it. All those calls went to voicemail, and Mom and Dad didn’t know her status. They offered to talk about whatever I wanted, but there were things I couldn’t bring myself to talk to them about. I needed to come to terms with the emotions, the fear, the nightmares, and everything else.

  We landed in Austin at a private airstrip and took a black SUV with tinted windows to a building on the outskirts of the city. It was part of an office park. The signage outside read Credit Dauphine. The windows were all heavily tinted, no doubt allowing people to look out but none to look in. We drove into a loading dock and didn’t get out of the car until the door was down.

  I couldn’t get out fast enough. Lorenzo came up behind Red Hat, a.k.a. Joanna, to greet us. Another man stood with them, but I didn’t recognize him.

  All decorum went out the window as I sprinted to him. I stopped short, though, as I saw a cane in his left hand, the angry bright purple bruise across his face, and patch over his left eye.

  “Winger, my God, it’s good to see you. Bring it in.” He held out his arms, lifting the cane off the ground. I couldn’t resist stepping into the hug, but I kept my hold light… at least until he wrapped his arms around me tight. I carefully squeezed more. Thank God for another reunion.

  I stayed in the hug until he let me go. He wobbled a little, and I steadied him until he got the cane set. What the hell had they done to him? Despite his appearance, he smiled, and his one eye sparkled with happiness.

  “Doc, Jesus.”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t going down without a major fight. I’m sorry I couldn’t get in touch with you sooner. I only got here about ninety minutes ago and—”

  “It’s my fault,” Red Hat said. “We kept his arrival under wraps.”

  Red Hat looked beyond haggard. I’d seen her on and off during missions, and she usually looked calm and put together. Instead of the smart suit she usually wore, she was dressed down in jeans and a sweater. Yes, TOS maintained a casual dress code, but I’d never seen her looking anything other than CEO impeccable. I wondered what she’d gone through.

  “Snowbird, Defender, good to have you here.” They all shook hands and even embraced briefly. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  I looked for Eddie because I wanted to introduce him to Lorenzo, but he stood by the car.

  “Sidewinder,” Joanna said to the previously unknown person, “please show Mr. Cochrane to his room and make sure he’s comfortable but kept under guard.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I watched as he approached Eddie and directed him to walk ahead.

  “Theo?” Eddie stopped next to me and looked more scared than I’d ever seen.

  “I’ll come see you later. You’re safe. I promise.” Hopefully I wasn’t making a promise I couldn’t see through.

  He nodded and started walking again with Sidewinder next to him, hand on his forearm.

  “Snowbird, Defender if we could meet now, I’d appreciate it. Winger, you’ll start with Doc, and we’ll meet later.”

  “Understood,” I said.

  “The damage reports are being collated so we can prioritize what needs to be done,” Lorenzo said. “I can review with you what we already know.”

  Joanna gestured to my parents, and they went off together.

  “How are you doing, Winger?” Lorenzo asked when we were alone.

  It was weird to be called by codename at headquarters. That hadn’t been typical before.

  “Overall, I guess good. At least as good as could be expected.”

  He turned and started to walk, and I fell in next to him. He was slow, and I adjusted to keep us even.

  “What about you? You look….” Why did I say that? He knew how bad he looked. What kind of friend was I?

  “You can say it,” he said, looking my direction with a smirk. “I look like I lost a round or two to an MMA fighter.”

  “Yeah, that works.” A small chuckle escaped me, and he laughed too.

  “It’s good to laugh about it. I hurt all over.” He stopped for a second, and his expression clouded over. “They beat me pretty bad and messed up my leg. Potentially permanent nerve damage.” He stopped, but I knew we needed to finish.

  “And the….”

  “They took it. They got tired of trying to hold my eyelids open enough to get the scan to work. Of course once it was out, it didn’t work anyway.”

  I couldn’t hold in a gasp. As bad as it’d been for me, Lorenzo got hit much worse.

  “I’m lucky all of it went down in headquarters. Once some of our people returned, they found me and…. Well… I don’t like to think about how it might have gone if they hadn’t shown up when they did.”

  I gently put my hand on his shoulder and gave the faintest of squeezes.

  “Why aren’t you recovering somewhere?”

  “There’s a lot to do. And we lost a lot of the IT folks at HQ. Believe it or not, I’m lucky.”

  My God. If he was lucky….

  “I need to ask you something that you can say no to. But you’re my first choice. I know you turned this down before, but we… I… really need you, even if it’s for a short time.” What had him nervous? Lorenzo didn’t usually stumble over his words. “Can you be my number two? You’re one of the only people who has an extensive knowledge of our systems and can start work immediately.”

  Given what I already knew from my parents, it wasn’t like I would go back to school or a regular life anytime soon, so it was easy to say yes this time.

  The rest of the day was split up between debriefings and working with Lorenzo and the tech team who were onsite. The number of team members grew throughout the day as people came in from remote locations.

  Despite the damage to IT, it felt good getting in with a team I trusted to figure out how to quickly reassemble the infrastructure while also making plans to make it more resilient than ever.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

 
I STOOD in front of the mirror, dread spreading through my chest. I’d only put on the black pants so far and couldn’t push myself to finish.

  With everything going on, I don’t know who found the time to get me a suit. It seemed unimportant. Yet I was glad to have it. John wouldn’t have cared if I’d shown up in jeans and a sweatshirt, but he deserved more than that.

  There’d been memorials for the past few days. Joanna didn’t allow John’s to be scheduled until Mom, Dad, and I were here.

  John’s actual funeral was today too. His parents still lived in Boise, where he’d grown up, so it would take place there. None of us could go, although we wanted to.

  Technically I was still missing, and my parents were working to get information on me. Mom did talk to John’s parents, though, and sent condolences. We knew his mom and dad. They’d visited him a couple of times in Boston, and we’d see them when they were in town. Like Mom, John had FBI credentials, so it helped their cover had them as colleagues.

  TOS also made sure, behind-the-scenes, that all the funeral expenses were covered.

  I needed to finish.

  The first time I’d worn a suit I was eight. To that point I lived in jeans or shorts and T-shirts—not too much different from today. We’d been invited to a baptism, and Mom explained that I had to look nice—and that didn’t mean wearing my new Red Wings tee.

  John explained that dressing up was something we did sometimes to honor a special moment. I went along with it. If Mom and John thought it was important, it must be.

  Mitch went to that baptism too and we griped to ourselves every minute of that afternoon even as our parents fawned over how grown-up we looked.

  I slipped on the shirt—also black—and slowly buttoned it. My hands shook, making it difficult at times to get the buttons through the holes.

  I had to get through this. John deserved my best.

  I’d been told repeatedly that I’d done all I could. Done what was important by following his order.