Justice Keepers Saga--Books 10-12, page 65
Her mind, on the other hand…
The undercurrent of fear was strong. She noticed the flickers that radiated from people, half-formed images that coalesced for half a second and then dissipated. Most were focused on the protestors, the crowds. Of course, there were other stray thoughts, some that she would have preferred not to have seen.
One man couldn’t stop ruminating on his recent fight with his wife. Keli was by no means an expert in these things, but she gave them about six months before they signed divorce papers. She passed a woman who wouldn’t stop thinking about a dress that she was designing. It was a beautiful garment that Keli would love to have in her collection, but at the moment, such fantasies were distracting. She could have tuned all of that out, of course, shut out the noise, but she was supposed to be scanning for Arin. And that meant leaving herself open to everything.
Then there was Jack.
The thoughts that radiated from him were like wisps of smoke rising from a fire. Sometimes, they almost seemed to take on a coherent image, but they dissipated before she could puzzle out their meaning. Only…She saw one pattern again and again.
Closing her eyes, Keli drew in a shuddering breath. “Cassi,” she said, her voice tight. “You plan to set her free.”
He gave her a sidelong glance, unsure of how to respond. “I thought my Nassai protected me from telepathic intrusion.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Jack stopped dead with his hands in his coat pockets, his head hanging. “Yes,” he rasped. “I am planning to set her free. Or at least brainstorming. You don’t know what Slade did to her. She doesn’t deserve to be punished when it wasn’t her fault.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Keli hissed. “Slade was the one who put me in that cell on Ganymede. I am well acquainted with his capacity for cruelty.”
“Keli, I need you to keep this to yourself.”
She took a few steps forward, then rounded on him, smiling ruefully. “Astounding,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “Even when I ask you to include me in your plans, you still think I might betray you.”
She could tell that he was sizing her up, trying to decide just how far he could trust her. “Okay,” he said at last. “You’re in.”
“Excellent.”
Waves crashed over the sandy beach. From his spot on the high hill, Jack watched them lapping at the shore. The air was warm and muggy under a starry sky, and Laras – the purple moon – was glowing bright. Summer felt wistful whenever he looked upon her home.
He and Anna sat at a round table on the patio of a beach-side restaurant. Colourful lanterns hung up on strings provided a festive atmosphere, but there were only half a dozen people out tonight. One of the serving bots brought a tray of sizzling food.
Anna looked up at him, her face lit by the flame of a candle in a glass jar, and she smiled. “No luck?” she asked. “Finding Arin, I mean.”
“‘Fraid not,” Jack muttered. “But he’s still out there.”
“How do you know?”
“Is it okay if we don’t talk about work?”
Leaning back, Anna lifted her glass of iced tea and took a sip. “Sure,” she said. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
A flush set his face on fire, and he closed his eyes. “That’s an impossible task,” he said. “I’m pretty sure you know everything there is to know about me.”
A robot approached their table with short, blocky steps and bent to set a plate down in front of him. He had ordered venalis, a dish that included cauliflower in a sweet-and-sour sauce. The scent of it made his tummy rumble.
When the bot departed, Anna prodded her salad with a fork, moving leaves of lettuce aside to see what was underneath. She found the tiny orange slices that the menu had promised, then stabbed one and popped it in her mouth.
He tried his own dish and found it quite delicious. The mix of flavours was…Well, if he were a food critic, he would probably use words like delectable and enticing. He was content to call it pretty damn good.
Anna regarded him with candlelight reflected in her blue eyes. “Come on,” she said. “There’s gotta be something.”
Grinning into his lap, Jack shut his eyes. Maybe it was finally time for him to reveal his terrible secret. “I slept with a teddy bear until I was seventeen.”
“Aww!”
“My mom still has him.” He scooped up a forkful of cauliflower and popped it in his mouth. That tangy sauce was really something else. But now his curiosity was piqued. “Your turn.”
“When I was a little girl,” Anna said. “I had this habit where I would pick flowers and put them in my hair.”
“Now, that’s adorable.”
“Okay. You go.”
He sat there for a moment, chewing on his lower lip. “The restaurant,” he said, nodding. “The place where I was working when you met me. Two of the waiters challenged me to a game of seven card stud. Thought they could hustle the new guy.”
Anna was hunched over, skewering a cucumber with her fork and dragging it through the raspberry dressing. “Oh, no,” she mumbled through a fit of laughter. “Why do I suddenly feel sorry for these guys?”
“I gave myself a fake tell,” Jack said. “Every time I had the cards, I’d look down at my chips before placing a bet. When I was bluffing, I wouldn’t do it. Two hours later, I was thirty bucks in the hole, but the pot was at least a hundred. I had jacks full of fours…So, I didn’t look at my chips, and I bet like crazy. Won the whole damn pot. Your turn.”
Anna paused with a forkful of lettuce raised halfway to her mouth, and her face lit up with a wicked grin. “That first night,” she said. “When you offered to let me stay in your apartment. You took the couch, and I took the bed.”
“Yeah?”
She shoved the fork into her mouth and chewed thoroughly before finishing the story. “I kind of wished that you would snuggle up with me,” she said. “And hold me.”
“Yeah, me too,” he said. “But I’m glad I didn’t.”
“Oh?”
Jack felt his eyebrows rising, then shook his head with a burst of soft laughter. “It would have been wrong,” he explained. “You were alone on a strange planet. You didn’t know who you could trust. The last thing you needed was some guy hitting on you.”
The way she looked at him as if seeing him for the first time…He knew in that moment that she adored him. “That,” Anna said, “is why I love you.”
He reached across the table, and she took his hand. For a little while, they just sat like that while Anna smiled at him. It was a lovely meal with lovely company. Almost enough to make him forget everything else that was going on. But then one stray thought was enough to bring that crashing down on him.
He realized that he had to tell Anna about his conversation with Keli. So far, he had kept all that to himself because he didn’t really have a plan, only a vague feeling that he had to do something. But now that Keli knew…
They shared a leisurely walk home; Anna linked arms with him and told him about her sister’s vacation at Eleron Falls. Alia seemed to think it was gorgeous, and he could sense that Anna wanted to see it for herself. Maybe when things calmed down…
Ten minutes later, they were home and standing in their bedroom doorway, holding each other close. Anna squeezed him tight. “Hey,” she said.
“Yeah?”
She looked up at him with those gorgeous eyes. “Would you mind if we just cuddled tonight?” she asked. “I want you to hold me.”
“I would love that.”
Five minutes after that, they were snuggled under the covers. He loved the warmth of her back against him, the softness of her tummy under his fingers. He didn’t think he could fall asleep for another couple hours, but he was content to spend that time holding Anna.
With a soft sigh, Jack nuzzled the back of her neck. “You know,” he whispered. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah?”
“I need to tell you something.”
Anna twisted, looking over her shoulder, blinking at him. “What’s up?” she asked with obvious concern in her voice.
Jack shut his eyes, exhaling roughly, and pressed his cheek into the pillow. “For a few days now, I’ve been brainstorming ways to free Cassi,” he murmured. “I didn’t say anything because it was just idle speculation, but Keli figured it out.”
Rolling over, Anna faced him and laid a hand on his cheek. “Thank you.” She brushed his lips with hers. “For telling me.”
“You’re not mad?”
She snuggled closer, wrapping an arm around him, and touched her nose to his. “Not even a little bit,” she whispered. “So, what’s the plan?”
“That’s just it,” he said. “I don’t have one. It’s just brainstorming.”
She held him for a long while, running fingers up and down his back. “I love you,” she said. “And I know why you want to help Cass. Believe me, I do. But I still think we can do more for the world as Justice Keepers.”
Pulling away from her, Jack rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His mouth was tight with anxiety. “So, what?” he asked. “We leave Cassi to rot? And those people in the detention centres? Do we abandon them too?”
Anna sat up with the blankets held to her chest, frowning at the wall. “We find a way to help them that doesn’t involve breaking the law.”
“What if there isn’t one?”
“Jack…There’s nothing we can do as fugitives.”
The anger was hot within him. Anna’s solution was more of the same! More petitioning courts that did not listen, more appealing to superior officers who did not care. What made her think that this attempt would go any better than the last one? He kept those thoughts to himself, but there was one he couldn’t silence. “A few days ago, you said you would have backed me if I came to you before I did my stand-up act,” he snapped. “What changed?”
“A few days ago, we were talking about embarrassing your superior officers into doing the right thing,” she said. “Now, we’re talking about treason.”
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll scrap the idea.”
She was watching him with her lips compressed into a frown, and he could see the skepticism in her eyes. “You sure?”
Jack answered that with a small smile. “Yeah.” He spread his arms, and she accepted the invitation, cuddling up with her head on his chest. “We’re a team, remember? You had faith in me. So, I’m gonna have faith in you. We’ll find a way to help the detainees – and Cassi too – without breaking the law.”
Anna nuzzled his chin, then pressed her lips to his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “And, sweetie, I want your input on my plans too.”
“Can we talk about it in the morning?”
“Of course!”
Jack squeezed her, and she sighed with contentment, returning his embrace. “Right now, I just wanna cuddle,” he said. “And be warm and safe.”
“Me too.”
They talked for maybe two hours before either of them was ready to go to sleep. Just idle chitchat about their families, places they would like to visit. At one point, Jack told her a story about how when he was fifteen, he used to look up at the night sky and imagine that his soulmate was out there somewhere. He meant somewhere on Earth, of course – back then, he hadn’t even known that life existed beyond his sleepy, little planet – but Anna liked to believe that some part of him knew where to find her.
For once, Jack fell asleep before her, which was just fine with her. She got to drift off with her head on his chest, listening to the soft sound of his breathing. His skin was soft and warm. She wanted to fall asleep just like this every night for the rest of her life.
Her happiness kept the nagging fear at bay, but it was still there in the back of her mind. What if Jack was right? What if the only way to protect those people was to just set them free? She wasn’t ready to admit defeat yet, but it did bother her.
She knew that if she just had enough time, she could come up with something. But how long would that take? And was it right to make those people wait for justice? On the other hand, if they tried it Jack’s way, they would almost certainly be captured themselves, and all of those people would end up back in their cells.
Starting a revolution sounded romantic, but the logistics were a nightmare. Where would they sleep? What would they eat? The world’s most wanted criminals couldn’t simply walk into a supply depot and pick up some groceries. And that was exactly what they would be if they went along with Jack’s plan.
No, there had to be another way.
She just had to find it.
20
Harry checked the cards in his hand: two twos, a jack, a seven and a nine. He took a moment to study the expressionless face of the robot who sat on the other side of his kitchen table. Two glowing eyes were fixed on him. “Got any twos?” Harry asked.
“Go fish.”
He took a card from the pile in the middle of the table. A four. Bloody hell. Just once, he would like to win! Michael didn’t have to check the cards in his hand. One glance and he had them memorized. “Got any sevens?”
With a heavy sigh, Harry tossed the card across the table. It landed in front of Michael, who promptly picked it up and added it to his pile. “Got any threes?”
“Go fish.”
Yawning noisily, Melissa covered her mouth as she walked through the door. She had been out past midnight last night, but he chose not to comment on that. “Playing cards with Michael again?” she asked. “Geez, Dad. You must be bored.”
“Insanely bored,” he muttered.
Melissa went to the cupboard and retrieved a glass. With a quick turn on her heel, she paced across the kitchen to the fridge and poured herself some orange juice. “Didn’t Sora say she had a free day today?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Why don’t you go see her?”
Harry tossed his cards down on the table. “She’s having a party today,” he said. “A little gathering at her home. I’m not invited.”
Melissa sat next to him with a bright smile on her face. “You sound like a teenage girl,” she said, kicking him under the table. “Why can’t you go see her?”
“Because we’re sneaking around.”
“How old are you again?”
“Just go about your business.”
Sighing softly, Melissa took a sip of her juice. “Well, I won’t be joining you for dinner tonight,” she said. “Novol and I are doing the Crystal Skies Tour. It’s touristy, but he’s new to this world, and really so am I.”
Once again, Harry’s paternal instincts kicked in. He wanted to point out that Melissa was spending a great deal of time with this young man, but no. She was a grown woman now. She could choose her own company. “Just be careful,” he said.
“Always am.”
The two-dimensional hologram that floated in the middle of Jack’s office showed a time-lapse of people leaving by SlipGate at the Denabrian hub. With the playback sped up, they moved like frenzied ants, scurrying to one of the three Gates that stood side by side. Bubbles enclosed each group of travelers and then vanished. “Facial recognition scans complete,” the computer said. “No matches.”
Jack was reclining in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk, frowning at the ceiling. “So, either Arin didn’t take a SlipGate,” he muttered. “Or he wore that cloaking suit the whole time.”
The computer didn’t answer.
“Were there any anomalous EM readings?”
“Negative.”
Scratching his chin, Jack narrowed his eyes as he considered his next move. “Interface with the Gate authority,” he ordered. “Were there any SlipGate departures from anywhere else in the city during the specified timeframe?”
“Two from Justice Keeper HQ, one from the Hall of Council.”
It was highly unlikely that any of those were Arin. He wouldn’t go to the two most heavily fortified buildings in the city just to make his escape.
Jack took his feet off the desk and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt. He turned around to face the window. “What about trains?” Sometimes people liked to travel the old-fashioned way. “Any scheduled departures in the specified timeframe?”
“Two for Pelor.”
Bracing his forearm against the window, Jack leaned forward until his nose was almost pressed to the glass. “Okay,” he muttered. “Working on the assumption that he’s still here, it’s been three days. Using Arin’s last known location as a starting point, where is the closest place he could get food anonymously?”
“The fabrication centre on Munrosa Street.”
That made sense. Fabrication and repair centres usually had a food court that people could use while they were waiting for orders that took time to complete. Public dispensers would offer food to anyone. There was no need to present an ID.
He would have been elated if that wasn’t the first thing he had checked three days ago. Arin didn’t show up on any security camera footage, and there were no visual distortions that might indicate the use of a cloak.
“Computer,” Jack said. “Interface with Denabria PD. Access any reports filed in the last three days referencing restaurants.”
“Working,” the computer replied in its monotone voice. “Samra’s Place reported a break-in two nights ago.”
Jack whirled around, leaning over his desk with his hands on its smooth surface. “A break-in,” he said. “What was stolen?”
“Missing items include carrots, red peppers, broccoli, apples, two loaves of bread.”
“Enough,” Jack said. He would have liked to have seen the face of the officer who had taken that report. No one stole food on Leyria. You could get it from practically any dispenser. Unless, of course, you were a fugitive who couldn’t risk being spotted by a security camera. “Where is Samra’s Place?”
“132 Ecklin Street.”
Almost ten kilometres south of the place where Anna had fought Arin. Not very far from Harry’s neighbourhood. It seemed Arin was on the move. Did he know where Harry lived? Jack couldn’t see how – addresses were private information – but there was no telling what kind of intelligence Telixa Ethran had at her disposal.
