Chapter Ten
Nadia marched out of her parent's home and into the night air feeling like a new woman. She had gone inside unsure of her plans and of herself, but she had come out with a new sense of purpose. Thomas was standing on the front walk, quietly watching the small fountains in her parents' garden with a pensive look on his face. She walked up beside him, but said nothing, taking a moment to appreciate the way the arcs of water sparkled in the light provided them by the full moon. Turning to her partner, she brought him back to Earth by tugging on his sleeve. Startled out of his thoughts, he turned toward her and she flashed him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about making you wait out here. Everything's fine. Better than fine, actually. I sort of need to talk to you though."
Thomas smirked faintly, though she wasn't sure what was funny. "I need to speak to you, too, but you go first."
She nodded, more than willing to kick things off. "My parents asked me to give up the investigation. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready to do exactly that when we got here, but... I don't know. It was like having someone else tell me to quit got me to dig in my heels."
Thomas chuckled softly. "That does sound like something you would do."
Nadia flushed slightly at his amusement but continued without commenting on it. "I told them I wasn't going to give it up and that I intended to see it through to the end. So... I need to know if you're willing to go the distance with me. You've been hurt already, so I won't blame you at all if you feel like now is a good time to back out."
He smiled. "I think I'll be staying on, actually. Someone has to keep an eye on you or you'd never get any sleep, working as hard as you do."
She felt a smile crawl over her face and couldn't deny that she was pleased. "You're sure? Really sure?"
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yes, I'm sure. And before you ask, yes I am also really, really sure."
She giggled a little, realizing she was actually relieved she would not have to go it alone. "Well... good. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
Thomas' expression became serious. "Black was just here."
Nadia felt her jaw start to slacken and gave herself a slight shake, leaning against the side of her car for support. "He was here? As in 'in front of my parent's house' here?"
He nodded, his expression leaving no room for jokes. "I'm afraid so."
She took a deep breath, then another for good measure. "Did he say anything about involving them in this? My parents, I mean?"
"Oddly enough, no. He seemed to be here just to deliver a message to you, through me."
"To us, you mean.” She paused, not sure she was ready for the other proverbial shoe to drop. “Well, all right, what did he have to say?"
"He said that he wants us to put Burgess away."
Nadia had to take another deep breath. "He wants us to deal with Burgess? Is he crazy?"
Thomas smirked at this, remembering Black's peculiar mannerisms. "He may well be. He claimed we could do it without having to confront Burgess directly, though."
"How the hell are we supposed to..." She trailed off, actually thinking about the problems they would face in attempting the task. "I guess if we had something on him we could handle it that way, but... it seems awfully risky. I mean, what we've done so far hasn't exactly been safe, but taking Burgess on in earnest is something else altogether."
Thomas smiled, seeing those journalistic instincts of hers kicking in. "You're close. It isn't Burgess he wants us to get dirt on. He wants us to dig something up on some of Burgess' friends in high places, who are helping to keep him out of prison after the hotel incident last week."
"Friends in high places... He probably means Burgess' employer." She found herself growing interested in the ramifications of the idea. "Odds are Burgess' crime-related work is strictly off the books, so they could disavow any knowledge of it while providing him an alibi... So all we need to do is find the records of his activities and hand them to the proper authorities."
Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Is it going to be that easy? Do you really think Burgess keeps files on everything he does?"
Nadia shrugged. "Maybe not everything, no, but I'm willing to bet any shady deal that involved money was noted down somewhere. Even crooks like Burgess need to keep their books in order."
He had to admit she had a point there. "All right, so where would we find those?"
She let her fingers idly drum against the side of her car as she thought it over. "Well, the files we need will have to implicate Burgess' friends, too, so probably in their headquarters, wherever that is. Locked away in some hidden drawer or safe, likely as not."
He sighed, massaging his temples. "Great. Here I thought this might actually be possible. Why would Black ask us to pull off something we couldn't do?"
She patted her friend on the shoulder. "Don't give up so easily, Thomas. First things first, I need to look under some rocks and find where Mr. Burgess works when he's out in the daylight. We can worry about the how after that."
He nodded slowly. "Agreed. One step at a time."
Nadia smiled. "Exactly." Her expression faltered slightly. "But... well, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. Have for a while now, really."
He blinked, not quite following her. "Oh?"
"It's not a big deal, I guess, except I sort of would like to know. But if it's hard to talk about, or you can't, that's okay too. Though I don't know why you wouldn't be able to unless-"
Thomas cut her off with a raised hand and a patient smile. "You're rambling, Nadia."
She blushed fiercely. "Oh, yes, I am, aren't I? Sorry. Um... what I'm trying to say is; I don't know anything about you, Thomas. Not your hometown, not what you do for a living, not even where your family is. I don't mean to interrogate you, especially not after my father came at you like he did, but... as far as I know right now, you dropped out of the sky just before you saved me from that thug."
He chuckled softly. "But then my name would be Gabriel, wouldn't it?"
She let herself giggle a little, letting his levity decrease the tension but waiting for him to go on.
He cleared his throat, looking at the moon for a moment before turning his attention back to her. "Well, I can't blame you for asking. I hadn't realized I had been so mysterious, but I also can't say as you're wrong about my not mentioning before. If it helps, I wasn't keeping the information a secret on purpose. I'm from Ottawa, but more toward the west end. From the area around the Bayshore Shopping Centre, if that rings any bells?"
She nodded in response. It was a fair distance from her apartment by bus, but she had been out to the mall in question before.
"I don't really do much of anything for a living just yet. I was looking for a job when I bumped into you downtown, so I could build myself some funds to go to college. I've never exactly known what I wanted to do with my life, but I figure it's better to have the money first anyway. As for family, well... I don't really have one. I've been taking care of myself for... well, a long time now. It's a big part of why I'm a little late to the college scene."
Nadia took her friend's hand sympathetically. "What happened to them?"
Thomas smiled at the gesture, but it was a sad expression nevertheless. "There was an accident. It almost feels like ancient history, now. All the family I had in the world, just... gone."
She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject."
He returned the squeeze. "You didn't know. And that was my doing, not yours. I don't want you worrying about it, all right?"
She frowned. "I still feel sort of bad about it..."
He chuckled lightly. "Worrying is my job, remember? You just focus on finding out which impenetrable corporate headquarters we have to infiltrate at the behest of a potentially bonkers mercenary."
She laughed as well. "All right Mr. Carmichael, I'll do that."
Stepping away from the car, she opened the door and slid into the driver's seat while Thoma
s took the passenger side as usual. "Oh and that reminds me; I asked my father to look into Orion as well. He might have better luck than we did; he seemed to have something on his mind when I mentioned it to him."
Thomas nodded. "Good thinking. Even if we manage to get Burgess put away, it will be good to know we can deal with Black, too. He's... well, more than a little nerve-wracking."
Nadia paused in the midst of buckling her seat-belt. "Oh? He seemed all right to me. Kind of... I don't know, mouthy is as good a word for it as any. But not hostile."
He laughed wryly. "Mouthy works. But trust me, when I called him on his cavalier attitude it was like night and day. All of his wit and jauntiness went right out the window and I swear I felt the temperature drop."
She frowned. "Scary when he's angry, huh? I'll keep that in mind. Have to agree with you, then, the sooner Daddy finds something on him, or his boss, the better. Burgess is bad enough with his brass knuckles; I don't want to replace him with someone who prefers using a gun."
"No kidding," Thomas agreed. He found himself imagining Black, his most frigid expression firmly in place, sighting them down the end of some sinister-looking weapon and felt a shiver run down his spine. Not a pretty picture; nor one he had any desire to see become a reality.
In Icarus' Shadow Page 18