Confabulation (15 page)

CHAPTER
41

Susan stepped into the bedroom of the small apartment. Carolyn was resting on the couch in the living room. They’d only arrived at the apartment the prior night. It was a location she had scouted as a possible clean house for interrogation. It had been swept and secured, but wasn’t on the approved list yet. She hoped whoever was on the inside didn’t have the address.

She closed the door behind her, and flicked her phone to accept the call. “Hello?”

“Susan Harrison?”

She grimaced. Her line wasn’t well known. Only her direct chain of command, and a few high level people in the company had access to it. They’d know who they were calling. And, they’d get right to business. “Speaking.”

“My name is Jackson Gray.”

“Hello, Mr. Gray.” She recognized the name. Chief of evaluations for the region. Pretty high up. High enough to be in the inside agent. “What can I do for you?”

“I think we have a problem. A leak. But I don’t want to say anymore.”

She understood the comment. Lines could be secured. Code. Scrambled. But if the words were uttered, there were people, like her, who could find them. He wanted to implant the information. That would mean opening her mind to this man.

Not an option.

“Very well. We’ll meet in a secured location.”

“Ah. I see. Is there a place that would be safe enough.”

“There are. Compliance has locations. I’ll send you an address.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Ms. Harrison.”

Susan ended the call. She’d have to pick a place. It was hard enough making sure the apartment was safe. But, she wasn’t looking for a hiding place. She was hoping for a confrontation.

On her terms.

She opened the door. Saw Carolyn resting. She’d need Carolyn there. Serve as the distraction Susan needed to make sure she gained the upper hand. Besides, she couldn’t leave here there. Sniffers would find her eventually.

She stepped over to her. Tapped her shoulder to wake her.

“Carolyn, I need you to wake up.”

“What is it?”

“I have a plan.”

Carolyn sat up. Rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Yeah? What is it? What do we do now?” She took the glass of room temp water she’d poured a few hours ago and took a drink.

“We’re going to meet the person who did this.”

“We?”

“Yeah. I need you to go. I need you to be a distraction.”

She set the glass down. Stood up. “You mean bait.”

“Carolyn. It’s the only way.”

"You’ve got to be kidding. At least I hope you’re kidding, because if you’re not then I might as well just kill myself now."

"Carolyn, be reasonable. I wouldn’t take you into a trap. I haven’t gone through the trouble of finding safe places just so I could foolishly drag you and myself into a trap. Now, will you please listen to me?"

"No, I will not. The first place you took me was hardly safe, and now you want me to follow you into what could be a trap. I’m not stupid, Susan."

"I know you’re not stupid, and neither am I. This is the best move for us."

Carolyn turned away and walked to the kitchen. "Are you telling me that the two of us walking into a meeting planned by the agent in charge of the experiments on me is the best plan? You don’t think that he’ll have multiple agents there waiting for us? Ready to kill you, and me to get rid of the messy evidence."

"Carolyn. First, I can take care of these people. I didn’t get the job of policing our own because I was weaker than they are. Second, I have a plan. Trust me. I know what I’m doing."

"Sorry, I don’t trust you. For all I know, you’re part of this and are just trying to get me to a convenient place to be rid of me."

"Carolyn, be sensible. I could’ve killed you any number of times. I could kill you right now and walk out of here. I could render you unconscious and deliver you to the others, if I were working for them."

"There may be holes in that theory, but no more than in your plan. Why don’t you tell me what this secret plan is? How are you going to keep us safe?"

"I can’t tell you."

"Then I can’t possibly trust you."

"Carolyn, part of the plan requires that you not know what I plan. I need you to be surprised when it happens. That much is key."

"Susan, if you want me to go along with you, you’ll need to have a plan that I can agree with. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to gamble my life on a plan I have no knowledge of. If you can’t come up with a plan I like, I’ll leave now."

"You can’t leave."

"Why not? What are you going to do, kill me now instead of later?"

"Carolyn!" Susan grabbed Susan by the shoulder. "I have no intention of killing you, but if you leave I won’t be able to stop someone else from doing it. The fact that I have you is the only thing keeping you alive."

"What are you talking about?" Carolyn pushed past Susan and sat on the couch. She hung her head until Susan sat next to her.

“They have people, Carolyn. People who will find you. If you run, they’ll find the trail. Unless you can stop thinking, they’ll find where you’ve been. Track you down like hounds. There’s no way to stop them.”

“Then why try.”

“Sorry, I can stop them. I can clean the trail. But you can’t. Not without training.”

“Then train me.”

Susan smiled. “It would take years.”

Carolyn put her head in her hand. “Okay. But I need to know something. I just have to know how much danger I’ll be in.”

"Fine, I’ll tell you some of what I’m planning, but not all. I do really need you to be surprised when we meet him."

"Tell me, I’ll let you know if it’s enough for me to trust you."

“It’s like you said. You’ll be bait.”

”Great.”

“Listen. When he sees you, he’ll be distracted. It’s all I need to get the upper hand. He’ll be ready. Ready to defend himself. A distraction will give me an opening.”

“What if it doesn’t?”

“If he keeps his attention on me, then we’ll back out. Get to a safe place again and start over. He won’t be able to defend himself from me, and do anything to you.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure. It’s dangerous for me, Carolyn. I’m betting my life on being able to pull this off. So, yes. I’m sure.”

Carolyn nodded.

Susan patted her shoulder. Walked away.

She knew they both needed time to get themselves ready.

CHAPTER
42

The scene played through Simon’s head repeatedly. Each time there were subtle changes, but the key results were always the same. No matter how many people were there, or how well the discussions went, the end was always the same.

"Simon."

He woke from his trance. Took a moment to focus on Jackson. "Yeah."

"Were you listening to me?"

"Sorry. I guess I just never really thought I would have a chance to end this nightmare." He smiled and rubbed his hands.

Jackson nodded and grinned. "Well, you will. But we have to plan. This is going to be dangerous. They’re not going to want to let you go you know."

"I know, but if this is what we need to do, I’m ready." Simon felt a little guilty about deceiving Jackson, making him believe that he would go along with the plan. He had no intention of waiting for the negotiations to conclude, but he needed Jackson to get where he needed to be.

"Glad to hear it."

Jackson continued to describe what they would be doing. Simon had heard the plan enough times to be able to recite it, but Jackson seemed to be comforted by repeating it. He knew they would arrive at the arranged location and meet the perpetrators of the torture. He knew Jackson would explain that they were prepared to go to the press with the proof they had if Simon and the others were not left alone. He knew, but he didn’t care.

Simon didn’t believe the plan would work. He was certain that they would be ambushed soon after arriving, and that they would both be either dead or subjected to tests that were even more invasive. He was as certain of that result as he was of his own hatred for those who had destroyed his life. He was ready for failure, and ready to jump into the arena.

"Simon, I hope you understand that this is the only way."

"Of course, Jackson. I don’t think you’d do this unless you thought it gave us the best chance of winning. I know you have your reasons for wanting this to stop, and I trust you."

Another lie, but a useful one. Simon never understood why Jackson helped him, but it didn’t matter now. He was on his way to executing his own plan, and he needed Jackson to accomplish his goal.

"Thanks, Simon. I have some matters to take care of in order to make this work. I’ll be back later."

"Of course." Simon started playing the events of the upcoming meeting in his head again. He didn’t notice when Jackson left. He only saw the people who could be waiting for them when they finally arrived wherever they had to go. He played out scenarios of various locations, various people, and various events, but the result was the same. In the end, he always drew the blood of his tormentors, and he always smiled.

CHAPTER
43

Jackson sat behind the desk, waiting for Danton to arrive. He’d chosen a safe location, one that had been retired, but was still shielded. He didn’t want ears picking up on the conversation. Danton had wanted to meet at a spot of his choosing, but Jackson didn’t even do things Danton’s way.

He wondered at times if that was wise, but it was his way.

Despite the nature of the impending conversation, Jackson reclined an old, but nice leather chair, and waited for the borderline psychopath to arrive.

There was a knock at the door.

Jackson checked the camera on the screen in front of him. Saw the sweaty, scowling man standing outside the office. He looked around, tapping his feet as he waited.

Jackson clicked to release the lock.

Danton stepped into the office.

Jackson motioned to a plastic chair on the other side of the desk. "Please, have a seat."

Danton ignored the request and slammed his fists down onto Jackson’s desk. "What are you planning to do about this?"

Jackson remained reclined and crossed his arms across his chest. "I assume you’re referring to your missing agents."

"You know damned well what I’m talking about, Gray. People under your watch, people that I personally trained and brought into this, are gone. And for what? The subjects are gone, too. You’re sniffers? Where are they?”

“Missing.”

“Great. Everyone’s missing and you just sit there like nothing’s happening.”

"I most certainly am not acting as if nothing happened. In fact, I would judge these circumstances to be catastrophic to the program. I’m doing everything I can to locate those involved." Jackson sat forward. "And, Danton, I don’t think I have to remind you that things started going bad when your people screwed up."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The plan, the program, was working. Progressing on schedule. Some people didn’t want to wait. Acted on their own. I wonder where they got the idea for that."

"You little shit. We’re not just facing the loss of time and people. I heard we also have compliance running up our asses on this."

Jackson focused again on his desk. Shuffled some papers that had nothing important on them. He looked up again when agent Danton crumpled the top few pages in his fists.

Jackson sighed. "As I said, I’m aware of both the details and urgency of the situation. However, I have personally taken charge of the situation and will tie up all loose ends. I don’t like unresolved problem. There won’t be any.”

Jackson stood. “There also will not be any interference. Your men did not help. They caused this problem. I will clean it. Then, we will start again. I will pick the people.”

Danton stepped back from the desk. "I don’t like you, Gray. I didn’t want you in charge of this, and I think your lax manner of running this program led to this. I’ll be watching how this goes. I’ve got friends, you know. You came to me for resources, so you don’t have any. We’ll do this whole thing my way if you screw up.”

Jackson didn’t like the image of a runner apocalypse. Rogue talents running around the world, stirring chaos and death. He knew Danton well enough to know he wasn’t bluffing. But, Jackson also knew Danton didn’t want all his resources killed.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Danton shook his head and stepped toward the door. As he grabbed the knob, he turned his head back to Jackson. "My men will turn up, Gray. When they do, I’ll get more answers."

"Oh, I’m sure of that. Dead or alive, they’ll be found."