The Organization (29 page)

Erin reached for what was left of her tea, taking a sip, and then said, “When you first mentioned Naomi James to me, I thought you were implying, well, that you were using your position as an MP to make her feel compelled into recommending Charlie for release.”

Harriet took a sip of her own tea, but didn’t reply.

“But that’s not what happened, is it?  I mean, she didn’t seem angry, or like she was being leaned on, at Charlie’s hearing.  So I’m guessing you used a different form of persuasion.”

“I’ve done many things that I’d rather Charlie never learns of.”

“There wasn’t any other way?  Not that it must have been a burden for Naomi James to sleep with you, but…” she said, her voice trailing off as she seemed suddenly uncomfortable.  “Sorry.  Sometimes I’m too blunt.”

“I did what I knew would work,” Harriet replied.

“No, I understand,” Erin said.  She cleared her throat and added, “Anyway, I’m sorry I’ve gotten us so off-topic.  There was a reason I wanted to see you tonight, though.”

“I expected so,” Harriet replied, although she too had gotten sidetracked by the conversation.

“The parole board—”

“Yes?”

“—is asking for a resettlement plan.  They want it submitted right away.”

“What does this mean?” Harriet asked, unsure of whether she should be excited.

“Well, they wouldn’t be asking for a resettlement plan if they didn’t think Charlie had passed the test.  So, this is really good news.  It means they don’t believe she’s a risk to the public anymore.”

Harriet allowed her face to break into a genuine smile and she said, “You should have led with this.”

“It’s not all settled, though, Harriet.  They can still reject our application for release if they don’t think she has a suitable resettlement plan.  They want to know details – a real plan for reintegrating with society.  She can live here until she finds her own place – that’s no problem – but it would be a real help if we could discuss some employment prospects.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Harriet replied.

“Oh.  I didn’t mean – that is, that’s great if you can help with that.  I just wanted to let you know what we’re up against.  They want the plan submitted by the day after tomorrow.”

“So we don’t have a lot of time to get things sorted.”

“No, but this is promising.  Really promising,” Erin said.

Harriet leaned over and pulled Erin into an embrace.  Erin hugged her back for a long moment before Harriet released her.  “Thank you, Erin.”

“Anything for Charlie,” she said.

Harriet nodded in agreement.

Chapter Fifty-One

The next day at work, Harriet made a point of running into Nick, her Parliamentary colleague.  Anna had told Harriet that Nick took a break precisely at ten o’clock to buy a coffee from one of Westminster’s cafes – in fact, it was the same café where Harriet had gone with Naomi.  The rumor mill was that no matter how many times his assistants and interns would offer to fetch it for him, he insisted on going himself.

Nick approached the café and then she made sure she was four or five people behind him in line.  As he retrieved his coffee, he turned and saw Harriet in line.

“Harriet,” he said as a greeting, along with a wide smile.

“Morning, Nick,” she replied in friendly tone.

“Here, let me get this for you,” he said, handing his digicard back to the cashier before Harriet could object.

“Thank you.  You didn’t have to do that.”  Her coffee was ready almost instantaneously and so she took it from the counter.

“It’s my pleasure,” he replied as they started heading away from the crowd.  “I usually like to take a walk through the park on my coffee break.  Care to join me?”  He then glanced down at her high-heeled shoes and added, “Or we could just sit, if that’s better for you.”

Harriet smiled and said, “I’d love to take a walk.”

He seemed pleased with her response.  As they walked the scant quarter-mile to the edge of St. James’s Park, they chatted about the weather, the transportation committee, and finally about the park itself.  Nick tried to impress her with his knowledge of the history of the park, offering up facts that he thought she might not know.  Harriet let him believe he was right.

Enjoying the relatively cool evening and the canopy of the trees that would shield passersby in the daylight, Harriet looked up at the leaves and allowed herself a smile.  She knew the trees and grass were watered daily to keep them green, and that this use of the water – almost assuredly a waste of water – had been going on for years, but she enjoyed the verdant scenery nonetheless.

“You seem… different, Harriet.  If I may say so.”

“Well, you said so anyway,” Harriet replied and then smiled at Nick.

“You seem happier,” he said, clarifying his previous declaration.

Harriet gave a little shrug and said, “Maybe I am.”

“Are you going to let me in on your secret?” he asked with a flirtatious tone in his voice.

“No,” Harriet replied with a short laugh.  She watched for his reaction as she said, “But… I do have a favor to ask of you.”

“Oh really?” he asked.

“You’re on the board of a certain biomedical company, is that right?”

“I am,” he said, clearly trying to figure out where Harriet was going with this.

“I know someone – a very talented biochemist – who might be looking for a job.”

“If he’s so talented, why would he be looking for a job?  Why doesn’t he have one already?”

“Well,
she
has been in prison,” she said.  “Actually, she’s still in prison but likely to be released on license soon.”

“Harriet…” he started to say, hesitation heavy in his voice.

“Look, all I’m asking is for someone at your company to take a look at her vitae.  That’s it.  I just don’t want it sent automatically to the bin.”

“All right, if that’s all you’re really asking.  Why is she in prison anyway?  And how do you know a prisoner?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Harriet said with a crooked smile.  “I knew her when I worked at the EBC.”  He pulled a face that seemed to say,
You worked at the EBC?
  “It was ten, twelve years ago.”

“So what’d she do?”

“Nothing, really.  She was caught up in an… organization.”  Harriet watched his face for his response but saw that he remained emotionless.  “There were some charges, probably trumped up, that made her seem like a threat to the public.  But if they’re letting her out, that means our government no longer thinks that’s true.”

He nodded and said, “It can’t be easy to find employment with something like that on your record.  I’ll make sure she gets a fair shake.  If she gets out – you said it’s still an ‘if’ right? – have her send me her vitae.”

Harriet squeezed his arm with her free hand and said, “I appreciate it.”

#

“So she’s probably getting out,” Thomas said, sitting across the dining room table from Harriet but not seeming very interested in his meal.

“Being released on license, yes.  But it’s not a certainty,” Harriet replied, drinking her wine and also ignoring her meal.

“I’ll save you some time and just ask you directly.  Are you planning to start seeing her again?  Romantically?”

Harriet knew better than to ask if that would be an issue.  She answered, “I really don’t have any hopes of getting back together with Charlie, if she’s even let out.  I don’t see how it’s possible that she would even be interested, after all this time and all that happened.”

“But you unmistakably still have feelings for her.  Even I can see that,” he said darkly.

“Thomas –”

“I really thought you wanted us to work out.  Maybe that’s just what I had been telling myself.”

“I know that’s what you’ve wanted,” Harriet said quietly.  “But I don’t think things between us, between you and me…. Even if Charlie weren’t in the picture, even if she had no chance of ever being released, that wouldn’t make things magically work between you and me.”

“But she does have a chance of getting out, and she
is
in the picture, so don’t try to tell me that this has nothing to do with her.”

Harriet took a long drink of wine to cover how she didn’t know how to respond. Setting down her glass, she took a long look at him.  Finally she said as gently as she could manage, “I wish I felt for you what you feel for me.  But I don’t.  And you can’t pretend like this is news to you.  We’ve worked – to the extent that you and I have worked as a couple – because we don’t ask each other the tough questions.  At least, you never used to ask those questions.”

“I don’t think most couples have the need to ask each other the tough questions, whatever they’re supposed to be,” Thomas said.

“And you think we’re like most couples?” Harriet asked incredulously.  “Thomas, we married because of the organization, because of our commitment to it and our cause and because of the cover that being married provided, but not because of our commitment to each other.”

“I know perfectly well why we married.”

“But even fake marriages sometimes end in divorce,” Harriet said, cringing when the words came out with a greater sting than she intended.

“That’s the difference there, Harriet.  I thought at some point, it had stopped being fake.”

She broke eye contact as she replied, “I know, Thomas.  And maybe I thought so too, for a while.”

He let out a long sigh and his anger seemed to melt away.  He seemed almost sad as he finally said, “I suppose I just wish we had kept it strictly as a cover then.  No foolish emotional entanglements.”

“That probably would have been wiser,” Harriet agreed.  She added quietly, “You’re still one of very few people I trust in this world.”

“And you’re one of very few people to whom I will always be committed,” he replied, and she knew he was referring to their roles within the organization.  “I’ll start looking for a new place to live.”

Harriet nodded and said, “I think that’s for the best.”  She reached for her glass of wine.

Chapter Fifty-Two

For the next couple of days, Harriet simply went through the motions of what she needed to do.  She made and then cancelled another date with Naomi, knowing that she was pushing her luck with the cancellation but unable to make herself go through with seeing her again.  At the office, the only real work she accomplished was choosing a new intern to begin in another week – some recent university graduate by the name of Dillon who was keen on politics and especially transportation issues.

Anna seemed to sense that Harriet needed some space, or at least knew to put off any particularly demanding meetings.  She had made one gentle inquiry, bringing in her tea that morning, and asking, “Everything all right, Ms. Spencer?  You’ve seemed a bit preoccupied.”

Harriet gave her a small smile and replied, “Fine, thanks, Anna.  I’ve just got a lot on my mind.  But I appreciate your concern.”

Her mind seemed to dart between worries and snippets of conversations before it would settle on one particular matter for a while – the things she had revealed in her conversation with Erin, the conversation she had had with Thomas, and, most frequently, on whether Charlotte would actually be released.

By the late afternoon, Harriet had resigned herself to not completing any difficult work that day.  She decided she could catch up on committee reports instead, allowing her eyes to skim through the lines of text without absorbing much of the information.  She was pretending to read one such report when Anna’s voice sounded over her intercom, announcing, “Ms. Spencer, Erin Reese is here to see you.”

Harriet switched off the text display over her desk with a flick of her finger and quickly went to the door, opening it to see Erin waiting a few feet away from Anna’s desk.

“Please come in,” Harriet told Erin with a guarded smile.  She was excited to see Erin, but also worried that she could be bringing bad news.

As Erin entered the office and Harriet closed the door behind them, Erin turned to her with a wide smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

“They’re letting her out,” Harriet said.

Erin nodded and Harriet pulled her into a quick but firm hug.  “I just found out,” Erin said once they let go of one another.

“This is wonderful news.”  Harriet sat back on the edge of her desk, and looked at Erin.  “When is she being released?  What did they say?”

“They’ll process her release tomorrow morning,” Erin replied.

“So soon,” Harriet said, stunned.

“She’ll live with me… as you heard at the hearing. At least until she finds a place of her own.  And she’ll be tagged.”

“Tagged?” Harriet asked.

Erin’s cheeks flushed as she explained, “Tagged.  Chipped.  They’ll insert a small microchip before she leaves tomorrow. Quite small, really.  It’s to track her in case she ever fails to report in to her supervising officer.”

“That’s inhumane.  Worse than inhumane – it’s barbaric,” Harriet said in disbelief.  The thought of someone ‘chipping’ Charlotte as though she were an animal made her stomach feel knotted up.

Erin touched her arm, and replied, “It’s how it has to be.  These are the conditions of her license.”  She added, “Try to focus on what’s important – that she’s getting out.”

Harriet squeezed her eyes closed for a long moment, making herself take a deep breath to relax.  When she opened her eyes, she gave Erin a fatigued smile and said, “Believe me, I am so completely focused on how Charlie is getting out.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

Out of everything in the entire house, Thomas’s belongings fit neatly into three pieces of luggage, which he set down in the foyer by the front door.  They made a heavy thud of a sound as he let go of them, letting gravity take them the last couple of inches to the floor, but his tall and muscular frame showed no sign of strain.  “I’m off, then,” he said.

Harriet crossed her arms in front of herself and replied, “All right.  Where are you going?  To Rhys’s?”

He nodded, saying, “For now.  Just until I find a suitable place of my own.”  There was an awkward silence before Thomas asked, “Have you heard from her yet?”