Tailspin, page 63
“What’s going on?” Malaki prodded him. She was trying to stop her hands from shaking by picking up her drink. It made her shaking look more obvious. I put my foot next to hers and focusing on me she settled slightly.
“I have eyes on Joel now. So far, nothing is out of the ordinary for his shift. He’s watching helos in and out, going about his business.”
“And tomorrow?” Justin asked.
The general shot him a glare, but his face softened fast. “You will take the helos up only if he does nothing tonight. I don’t believe he will, especially as the other engineers spotted something today and made a note. But if his friends are off again, the temptation will be great. We’re planning for his take down the next time he moves.”
“That makes tomorrow easier.” Justin let out a sigh.
“It does. I feel a lot better knowing you’re watching the area and what he’s doing.” I reached for some table water and poured myself a drink, gulping it down. The silences here were hard to navigate, but only because I wanted more answers than anyone was freely giving.
“Who is doing this?” I broached the subject. “You have your suspicions, right?”
“There’s always someone who wants to shift the balance in power. M-Corp has a very long list of enemies and so do I.”
It was more of an admission than I expected. Was he actually slurring? I noted Silao and Justin trade glances.
“So your daughter?”
“Has a pretty large target on her back. Always has. Usually we, meaning the corps, intercept anything before it ever gets to her. But they—well, they’re getting sneaky—and they’re pulling in people who have been loyal to the corps for many years.”
“Sneaky or desperate?” I asked.
“That too,” he admitted. “There’s no end of people who have been sharing your joint success.” It was the way he looked at me, the way he never looked away—he was clearly at war with what was inside his head. “It is not just my daughter at risk, Rusty. But if I didn’t keep an eye on this one”—he motioned to Malaki—”you’d be calling me a bad father.”
Silao’s face paled, but I laughed at him. “That I would, sir.”
Josef looked away to the stricken drone pilot. “Come now, son. While I have you both here, I want you and your pilot to tell me all the juicy details.”
“Details?” Justin asked, holding Malaki’s eyes with his.
Malaki’s face flushed, pink to red. “Father,” she started. “You—”
I noted the twinkle in Justin’s eye. And I chuckled on the inside. This was going to be good.
“Oh, those kinds of details,” Justin said. “That I can do, sir.”
Malaki kicked him under the table when he started telling stories. Our burgers came, and we ate, and we even laughed. The thoughts of sabotage and who was behind it remained at the backs of our minds, for now. Even Silao laughed with us as Justin did indeed expand on those details. Both of them had me and General Canlas on the edge of our seats over the stories of his daughter’s antics. When they got to that one day….it was hard to hear their recount of the accident where he and Malaki went down. Malaki put her foot on top of mine, and I reached for her hand over the table.
Josef noted our hands and took his daughter’s from me. “I needed to hear these,” he whispered to her, his eyes puffy. “It helps me to understand what drives you to keep doing this. To keep flying when you know you’re at risk. So are your friends.”
Malaki put her other hand on his and squeezed. “I love flying,” she admitted. “There’s really nothing like being out there, the speed, the freedom.”
Josef nodded. “We do need you out there, but I worry.”
“I know,” she said. Her eyes flickered to me, and she added, “I do have one thing to ask of you, though, and I know you won’t like it.”
He raised his eyebrows at her and then looked across at me. “I don’t have a clue.” I shrugged. “She’s never said anything.”
“I need to go back in for surgery, for tech.”
Even my jaw hit the metaphysical floor. “What?” we all said in unison.
“I’m not strong enough,” she admitted.
I saw her shoulders sink, and her whole demeanor changed in that second. “Mal?” I asked.
When she finally looked at me, I saw pain. “You’re all so much stronger than I am, and you’re going to only get stronger, faster, more capable. I’m letting you down.”
“No,” Justin said sharply. “Not at all. You’re the most skilled out of all of us.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged, and a slight sob escaped her lips.
Josef pulled her into his lap, and for the first time since I saw her inside that hospital under the oceans, I saw a man with his daughter, and my heart melted.
“Whatever you want,” Josef whispered to her. “You know that. Whatever you want, always. You come first.”
Justin was about to say something, but I put my hand on his arm, shook my head. “Let’s grab some time at the bar, hey?”
Silao moved first, though he couldn’t go too far. Josef nodded at me and lowered the shield so we could leave, and we did. I took the two of them over to the bar, noting on the way that it was emptying out.
Justin ordered some different drinks for us, and I ordered a soft drink to go with mine. The effect of the amount of alcohol I’d drunk already had made my mind fuzzy.
“She can’t want surgery,” Justin said. “She just can’t.”
I stared at him. He was distraught, but why? “You know about what happened?” I asked him, curious as to his reasoning.
“Her sister,” he said.
“She told you?” I knew damn well she wouldn’t have.
Justin shook his head.
“Then how do you know that?” I almost demanded.
“I did my homework.”
Anger bubbled from deep within. “No,” I said. “That’s not homework. That’s private information.”
“I don’t understand,” Silao said.
“Not everyone has the money to use the best hackers in the world for information,” I said, pure venom in my voice. I took a step closer to him.
Silao stepped in, putting a hand on my chest. “Hey, we’re all friends here,” he urged. “We’re all on the same side here.”
“Friends don’t do things like that.”
“Friends might not,” Justin stressed. “But people that care do.”
I turned away from the both of them, put my hands on the bar to stop myself from doing something I’d regret. “You don’t care about anyone else but yourself.”
All I heard were footsteps; when I looked up, Justin had gone. Silao shook his head at me. “You have no clue what you just did.”
I didn’t and I didn’t care. I was confused and upset.
Silao stepped in closer to me, put a hand on my arm. “This wasn’t my story to tell, but you might need to hear it.”
“What?” I asked. “What’s so important to him that he’d push everyone away, and do everything possible for the dirt?”
“You never checked on his past?”
“Only when we were first assigned to you as a team. It was background more than anything, skills. You know I don’t have funds for that kind of depth.”
“So nothing showed up then, at all?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, no.”
“Because they buried it, like he’s buried his life. Justin’s his real name, but Bridger isn’t.”
“What?” I asked, suddenly flummoxed.
“Search for Justin Craig Lowe, and he’s twenty-four.”
I swallowed and asked, Apex? What the fuck?
Searching now. It didn’t take him long at all. His whole personal file is fake.
“It’s all fake?” Shit, shit… “Does Malaki know?”
“It’s protected,” Silao said. “That’s all, but yes, she knows. They spent a lot of time together with you in the hospital. Remember.”
“I should—I should go apologize.”
“He’s a good man,” Silao said, but nodded his head towards the door Justin had vanished out of. “I’ll go talk to a man about a dog.”
“They have dogs here?”
He laughed and walked away waving me in the opposite direction. “He’ll be out by the waterfront. He likes water.”
I hesitated a minute, picking up the alcoholic drink he’d ordered for me, and downing it. I winced, that was strong, and I followed the signs out to the back of the bar to the waterfront. Of course it was cold out, and my jacket was back with Malaki and her father, so I shivered instantly.
The long figure at the end of the walkway was easy to spot, and I made my way over. It wasn’t really that cold I decided, just windy. The shield was good at protecting us from other elements, just not that particular one.
“I’m sorry,” I said as I approached so he’d hear me.
“Leave me alone.” He never even looked my way.
“I can’t,” I replied, and moved in beside him to lean on the railings. “As much as I’d love to keep walking, you’re on my squad and the general out there has the utmost respect for you.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Look,” I said. “Believe me when I say this. You wouldn’t be taking his daughter up ever again in a helo without it.”
Justin turned and stared at me. I could make out the shine to his eyes, the worry on his face. “I don’t want to,” he said. “Well, I do, but not with that pressure on me, on us.”
“I know. I could clearly see that in the car on the way here. You think it was any fun for me hearing the general say how much people want her, us, dead?”He shook his head at me and looked away. “But you know something…”
“What?”
“You have Malaki’s respect too, and that takes a fuck load more to earn than her father’s.”
Justin turned back to the ocean. “I wasn’t kidding telling that story for its details,” he said. “If I’d hurt her in any way.”
“It wasn’t you,” I reassured him and myself. It really wasn’t him.
“It felt like it was me. When I couldn’t even find the both of you after the investigations, I freaked out.’
“Silao said you were both looking for us.”
“I was stonewalled and blocked everywhere. It left me feeling even more helpless. I learned that money can’t buy everything. Money can’t always save everything.”
“It can’t,” I admitted. “Though it helps.”
“It feels like everything I do isn’t good enough.” He lowered his head, staring at the water.
How the ever-loving fuck could he feel like that…
For the corp or Malaki? Apex asked, echoing my thoughts. Justin was clearly talking about a lot more than M-Corp here.
I can’t for the life of me stop what’s coming, I said to Apex. But I can do the best I can for all of us.
You can try, he replied.
We still never had that talk.
Apex went quiet, and I turned my attention to Justin again. “Talk to me.”
“I can’t,” he said simply.
I nodded to the ocean and kept silent. I wanted him to talk to me, but for my reasons, and they weren’t the right reasons. I was judging him for already not knowing his story, by not knowing who he was. I felt lied to, wronged.
“It’s not you,” he said in the end. “It’s me. It’s all me.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I get it.”
“It’s not okay, and you don’t. I see it in your face. I have extreme trust issues.”
“You trust Silao, though?”
“With my life,” he said. “And more.”
“You trust Malaki?”
“He told you, didn’t he?”
“He gave me a name.”
“Fuck.” Justin lowered his head to his hands, leaning over the barrier.
“I won’t look you up,” I said, my voice low. “I want you to talk to me when you want to, when you trust me enough with your past.”
He looked up at me, his eyes watery. “You only won’t because you don’t have enough money.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Well, maybe a little. The thing is…I trust Malaki and I trust Silao too. We have this—this rift between us and I won’t make it wider.” I held my hand out to him. “I don’t need to know everything about you to know you’d never intentionally hurt my best friend. She means a lot to you, more than a lot.”
“What?” His face altered in the light. “What do you mean?”
“Even Silao sees it.”
“Sees what?” Malaki came in behind us and slunk an arm over us both.
Neither of us said another word. I put my arm around her and knocked Justin’s HUD with my mind. “I am here because she is.”
“Same,” came his instant reply, and over the top of her head, I nodded at him.
“I love you guys,” Malaki slurred.
That got a very odd look at me from Justin. “She means you.”
“You’re drunk,” I said to her and when I meant to move, she hung on tight.
“Ma—ayybe,” she said and wobbled. “But that’s the truth. Fuck. I am drunk. I need to leave. Sleep.”
“You’re very drunk,” Justin added with a grin at her and a shrug at me.
“I need to see her father.” I glanced back to the door. “I’ll get someone to take her home.”
“I can do that,” he offered.
“You would take her home?” Would I really consider that? I was, this was it…I was putting my very, very drunk best friend in his hands.
Justin stared at me, while Malaki just kept glancing to and from us both, eyes all glazed.
“You heard what she said in the car, right?”
“She trusts you with her life,” I replied.
“Will you?”
He was right, she had ultimate trust in him. As much as we’d all been a little reserved, we’d grown so much together.
“I trust her, so yes, I’m trusting you. If you…”
Justin knocked for me, and I accepted. “I respect her too much to touch her like this; nothing will happen. Even if she tried it. Nothing. Understood.”
“Understood,” I said.
“Antidote.” Justin pulled a vial out of his pocket and gave it to Malaki.
“Ugh,” she moaned, but took it and drank.
“I’ll make sure she’s home safe,” he reassured me aloud. “Message me when you leave here. I still want to talk.”
“Copy,” I replied, leaning in to see Malaki’s eyes still swimming. “Justin will look after you, okay?”
“Okay,” she said and moved across from the both of us to just him.
“You’ll feel better soon,” I said and bopped her nose with a finger. “Will see you tomorrow.” I gave Justin one last glance before I turned and walked back into the bar.
Silao was standing with Anders at the bar. He smiled my way, but I motioned to the general, and he nodded.
General Canlas still sat in the booth, staring into space. I approached with caution. Almost about to start with, sir. Instead, I said, “Josef?”
He looked up at me. “I thought you’d gone?”
“No,” I said, and slipped in when he lowered the barrier. “Are you okay?”
“He’s made a move,” Josef said and brought up a 3D view of the inside hangar with our helos.
“Shit,” I said and watched the screen.
“He committed to murdering my daughter and your second pilot.” His lip turned into a sneer, anger I could well imagine building inside him.
I didn’t have any anger left in me, just sudden sadness and a growing headache.
“Here.” He passed me a pill. “I got you to drink a lot more than you might usually.”
“Thanks,” I said and took it, popping it in my mouth. I swallowed, almost gagging on it.
“What are you going to do with him?”
“First, we’re waiting for him to finish tinkering, and then we’ll make a move, go in and arrest him. We want more information. We need more information. Knowing I have enemies and knowing who they are specifically are very different things. I need him to talk. After that, he will be put on full charges and trialed.”
“Meaning?”
“In the end, death,” he said. “There’s no room for prisoners. Letting people like him go, who sell their souls for credits, doesn’t fit in our society.”
“I understand.”
We watched as the engineer came out from under our helo with a sick grin on his face. I didn’t need to see what parts he’d damaged. Only needed to know that he had. I could have killed him myself.
When several men burst into the room, there was nothing but screaming. Engineer Joel brought out a gun. How he got that up there was also a mystery. There was a bright flash of weapons fire, and then the splatter of blood. The soldiers were so precise; they never hesitated, not one, landing four quickfire bullets into his chest.
I couldn’t watch anymore, and General Canlas turned it off. “I’ll make sure the helos are put back into tiptop shape for you all in the morning.”
“Sir,” I said.
The general waved to Anders, and I noted the entire bar was empty. “I’ll settle up,” he called. “We’re done here.”
We’re done here. It was so final.
It was the truth.
Anders dipped his head our way and Silao sheepishly edged his way over. “Ready for home?”
“Josef?”
“Get some rest, son,” he ordered. “I’ll get myself home.”
“I have no doubt you can get yourself home.” I laughed at that. “But?”
“I have a lot to do in the next few days. We will not let this go. Everyone will be re-screened on OOF,” he said and he did at least give me a smile. “I’ll be in touch, I promise.”
“Thank you,” I replied, and turned to walk away, all the alcohol threatening to resurface.
“Hold it,” Silao said and linked my arm in his.
I wobbled. “Sorry,” I said.
“We all had a lot to drink. I took my antidote before I came in.”
“Oh, that was a good idea. Wish I’d known.”
“I’ve seen the general drink before.”
“Could have warned us,” I chided.
“Not as fun.” He giggled, and I could only laugh with him. At least that laughter chased the memory of that engineer’s death away. For now.
