Tribes of Man: The Beginning [Tribes of Man] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

“I was in the stacks helping a student when I heard a scream and a popping sound from the main reference area of the library. It didn’t sound like a gunshot, so I was headed that way to check it out. When the second shot rang out, I recognized the sound. I ducked into the stack near me. I didn’t run because I was afraid I would trip.” Raina paused for a moment, her voice began to hitch. “There was a girl in the stack in front of me. I heard them kill her. She was so scared.”

“What happened next?” the detective asked.

“I think they went into the bathroom to see if anyone was in there. When I heard them come out, I went in there to hide. I figured they wouldn’t check it again.”

Why are you lying?
Gideon asked suddenly.

The guy who was in my room showed up. He held me so that I would be invisible. Do you really think I should admit that to the cop?

“What?” Gideon shouted without thinking.

“Excuse me?” Detective Wijinicki asked.

“Uh, I mean I’m glad you kept your head together. It couldn’t have been easy.” Gideon responded.

Good cover,
she said to Gideon privately. “It was weird,” she continued out loud, “but as I was hiding, I could hear shots and they sounded louder but not closer. I don’t get why that would be. The tone of the sound was the same.” Raina found it easier to deal with details one at a time rather than to think about what happened overall.

Shit,
Gideon said in her head. He echoed the word out loud.

“Yeah,” Wijinicki confirmed. “Are you sure, Miss Kallan?”

“Raina,” she corrected automatically. “Yes, I’m sure. When you can’t see, your other senses get stronger. The fact that the shooting was louder was strange enough to remember it. What is it?”

“Nothing,” Wijinicki said.

It means they used silencers. Silencers lose their effectiveness the more they’re used. My guess is that even the shot in the next aisle was not as loud as it would have been without a silencer,
Gideon informed her.

Not in the next aisle. The guy was standing in me when he shot her.
Raina shuddered again.

“Did they say anything to each other? Did you hear the sound of their voices?” Wijinicki didn’t explain about the silencer, and Raina didn’t expect him to.

“I heard two of them talk to each other and to someone else on a walkie-talkie,” Raina told him.

“Did you hear what they said? Did they call each other by name?”

Don’t tell him any more details,
Gideon ordered sharply.

Raina obeyed without question. She could feel the urgency in the request and knew something was going on that he didn’t want his old friend from the police force to know about. “No, I couldn’t really hear what they said. They didn’t sound upset or agitated though. I would have picked up nerves in their voices. Also, I didn’t get the impression that they were kids.”

Wijinicki was walking her through the entire thing again when Raina suddenly stiffened. “Where’s Betsy? Is another officer talking to her?”

“Betsy?” Wijinicki asked, looking at the list someone had handed him. “We don’t have Betsy on the list.”

“Her name is Elizabeth Miesner.”

“I’m sorry,” Wijinicki said softly. “She didn’t make it out.”

Raina began to cry. She couldn’t help it. When the sobs began to overtake her, one of the MTs came back.

Raina heard Gideon ask the detective, “Can I take her home now? I know you have a lot of questions for her, and I can bring her down to the station in the morning, but right now, I think she’s been through enough.”

“You know we have to question her, Gid. Something strange is going on here,” Wijinicki answered.

“It certainly doesn’t sound like a standard school shooting,” Gideon conceded.

Raina
knew
it was way more than that. Gideon’s thoughts were coming through clearly. He didn’t want to put her in more danger. If these people were in the government, she could be an easy target. He was worried about what she was going to tell the police. At the same time, part of him was horrified that he told her to lie to them. Raina could feel his internal conflict about lying, his overwhelming urge to protect her, and the comfort he was trying to send her. She figured that he could feel grief pumping off her, but she was unable to control it. This was all her fault.

The MT interrupted them, “Want that we should give her a sedative? She’s getting really upset.”

Wijinicki hesitated.

“It’s up to you, but I don’t think she’s much good to you now for questioning,” Gideon addressed Wijinicki.

“I can give you a few hours, but I need to see her tonight. There was only one other survivor to interview. The rest that tried to run got tagged as they headed out of the building. It was like they didn’t want anyone escaping.”

Raina heard that through her tears and started sobbing uncontrollably.
They all died because of me. They all died because of me.
She kept chanting it.

Gideon tried to reassure her.
No, it wasn’t your fault.
When she just kept crying, he said, “Give it to her.”

“OK, Raina,” the MT said, speaking soothingly. “I’m just going to give you a little something to relax, OK?”

“I don’t ne-ne-ne-need anything,” Raina answered. All she could do was to hold onto Gideon and cry out her grief.

“Give it to her,” Gideon reiterated.

“I can’t without her permission,” the MT answered. “She’s still coherent enough to say she doesn’t want it.”

Gideon grabbed her arms. “Take it, for God’s sake, Raina.” Then he continued in his head,
Please take it, baby. You’re killing me.

Raina just nodded. There was a pinch in her arm then she began to feel sleepy.

“We’d like to take her to the hospital for observation,” the MT said.

“No!” Raina was adamant and started struggling through her languor. “No hospital.” Her words were slurred, and her struggles were weak, but she was clearly getting hysterical again at the thought of it.

“I’ll stay with her. I was a cop. I know what signs to look for if she becomes agitated. I’ll keep an eye on her tonight.” Gideon’s answer calmed Raina’s struggles immediately.

The MT sighed. “OK, but she’s going to have to sign a release form.”

Raina was crying more softly. She heard what was said and nodded her head. A few minutes later the MT came back. She handed the form to Gideon for him to read it before having Raina sign it.

Wijinicki said to Gideon softly, “We’re going to have a patrol take passes by the house. I don’t think she was the target, but something about this seems off and I’m just not sure.”

“I’m not sure if she’s the target,” Gideon lied smoothly, “but I know we’ll both feel better having a uniform drive around the house.”

“Has she always been blind?” Wijinicki asked.

“No,” Gideon replied, knowing he’d find out quickly once back at the station. “She was attacked in her house a few months ago. Her roommate was tortured and killed.”

Wijinicki looked at Gideon sharply. “That’s a bit too much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”

Gideon said, “Yeah, I think so, too.” He knew he’d draw too much suspicion if he just accepted everything at face value. Wijinicki knew him too well. “I actually met her through my brother. He wanted me to look into what happened to her to see if she was still in danger. Unfortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion that she definitely is in danger. I’ll be glued to her side until we figure it out.”

Wijinicki must have understood and approved of what Gideon said, because all he said to it was, “You know to keep us in the loop.”

“You betcha.” Gideon gathered Raina into his arms. He was aware of the fact that she heard the entire exchange with the detective. “I’m taking her home now.” He gave Wijinicki her address and phone number and his own cell number.

“I’ll tell you what. Bring her in tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. If I need her sooner I’ll call and let you know, OK?”

Gideon was relieved by the reprieve, if for no other reason than because it showed that Wijinicki trusted him.

“Will do. Thanks, man.”

“Miss Kallan,” Wijinicki said loudly and slowly. “You can go on home now, OK? We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Raina answered. Her tears had nearly run their course, and all she had left was a few hitching breaths, a stuffy nose, and weak knees. The sedative had been a low initial dose. All it managed to do was to relax her.

Gideon began walking her toward his car. When they got to the edge of the crowd by the parking lot, camera flashes started going off in their faces. He was grateful that Raina couldn’t see them. He’d had cameras in his face before, but he guessed that she hadn’t.

They worked their way through the throng of reporters who were throwing questions at them. Raina didn’t say anything. She just huddled into Gideon’s arm.

After they reached his car, he unlocked the door and helped her slide into her seat. As soon as he got into his own, his cell phone rang.

“Hey, Gid. I was trying to catch up to you, but the crowd was too thick. Is Raina all right?” Bryce’s anxious voice came over the line.

Gideon answered, “She’s as good as can be expected. We’re going to her house. Meet us there.”

No,
Raina said.
He’s not part of this. Kristano won’t come if Bryce is at the house.

“Raina’s going to be a little bit out of it,” Gideon said to Bryce. “They gave her a sedative and said she’d be out all night. I’m going to stay in the guest room tonight. After what’s been happening, I think we need someone with a weapon guarding her.”

“I can stay, too,” Bryce said, almost antagonistically.

“Sure,” Gideon said. “I just wanted to let you know that you didn’t have to. Like I said, she’s going to be sleeping.”

Bryce just grunted, said, “I’ll see you there,” and hung up.

“You need to tell me everything. Who is Kristano? What do you mean the guy was standing
in
you? What the hell really happened?” Gideon’s voice was rough with concern.

I told you, Kristano’s the guy from my room.
Raina was too tired to talk out loud.
He saved my life. He protected me just like he said he would.

“Don’t romanticize this guy,” Gideon said harshly, feeling the pangs of jealously.

Raina shuddered,
I’m not. I’m safe with him, but he let that girl die without even trying to help.

Gideon responded to her sadness with the intimacy of his mind.
Do you think he could have saved her, too?

No, but he didn’t even try.

Gideon was quiet for a minute.
Would he have put you in danger if he tried to save her?

Yes,
Raina answered.
He said he couldn’t keep me hidden if he helped her
.

Then he did the right thing.

Raina started to cry again.
My life isn’t worth more than that girl’s life. He shouldn’t have sacrificed her for me.

“Yes, he should have.” Gideon’s voice was implacable. “He did the right thing, and I feel better that the person protecting you is capable of making the hard choices.”

My life isn’t more valuable than hers,
Raina repeated.

It is to me.

Raina briefly noticed that they were able to hear each other even though they weren’t touching.

* * * *

Gideon pulled directly into Raina’s driveway when he arrived at the house. He got out of the car and went around to her side to help her up the steep driveway. About halfway up, Gideon had to pause. His muscles were cramping from the climb. He cursed his weakness.

“Are you all right, Gideon?” Raina asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He forced himself to start walking again. He braced his free hand on his knee and pushed with every step to help leverage himself up. The pain in his damaged muscles was enormous. He was also trying to block her so that she couldn’t see it.

Gideon felt his vision sharpen and knew she reestablished the connection.

He felt one particularly sharp pain shooting through his thigh and he gritted his teeth. He knew that his refusal to stop and shake out the muscle was going to make him sore all night. He just couldn’t deal with her pity.

“Gideon, stop.”

Thinking something was wrong, he stopped abruptly and pulled her into his body. He was about to go for his clutch piece when he felt her hand on his thigh right where the pain was.

She started to massage the muscle.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I can’t stand to feel your pain.

He was mortified that she could feel his weakness.

Your embarrassment is even worse
.

“I’m fine,” he said gruff, and the small break and massage made that statement true.

She must have known he was telling the truth, because she removed her hand and began walking toward the door again. In a few minutes they were in the house.

After taking off their coats, Gideon led Raina to the stairway. “Come on, baby. You need to get some rest.”

“I just want to take a shower,” Raina said, shuddering.

Gideon started to walk upstairs with Raina, supporting her exhausted body. When his leg began to cramp again, he was ready to curse. She paused immediately and rubbed his leg again. This time, as the pain in his leg eased, a new ache grew in his groin. When her hand moved to the top of his thigh, the back of her hand brushed his erection, making them both groan.

“Gideon,” she breathed.

“Come on, let’s get up the stairs,” he said, resuming the climb. At the top, he led her down the hall and into her room.

“Why don’t you lie down and take a nap,” Gideon said, trying to ignore what happened on the stairs. When he let go of her, Raina swayed.