Corrector (33 page)

“Jake, you look horrible,” Karin said.  “What happened to your head?”

“Cheryl’s mom cold conked me with a flower vase,” Jake explained.  “She didn’t understand what was going on.  After she hit me, she called the police.  I was still out when they arrived.”

“Why didn’t you . . .”

Jake quickly shook his head cutting her off.  He didn’t want any mention of his back-tracking in here.  It was potentially his one ace in the hole, assuming the ability returned.  Even if he were ready to reveal the ability, it would be silly to bring it up now when there was no way to demonstrate what he could do.  They’d consider him a fruit-loop.

“Bad headaches from being hit,” he said.  “I can barely concentrate, let alone anything else.  I’m unable to do what I’d like.”

Karin’s eyes widened, and Jake was sure that she understood what he was implying.

“Jake, what are you going to do?  They are saying you murdered Cheryl’s stepfather.  Her mom is a witness.”

“They have it wrong.  It was self defense,” he said trying out the story he’d decide to pursue.  He couldn’t very well claim he didn’t actually fire the gun.  There was an eye witness and other evidence to the contrary.  “When he saw me he started to shoot me.  I had no choice but to shoot first.  I had hoped to wound him, but the shot killed him instead.”

This was total bull.  No one with any experience ever tried to wound or shoot to disarm an individual demonstrating the intent to use a weapon on you.  You shot for the center of mass to disable.  Usually that meant kill, as it had in this case.  Jake had made the shot on instinct, doing what he’d been taught in several courses on the matter.  He’d actually screwed up, since he’d fired a single shot.  He’d been taught to shoot twice at a lone assailant.  It wouldn’t however, help his case to say as much here.

“Do you think you can convince them of that?” she asked doubtfully.

“That’ll be my lawyer’s job.  Can you explain to Cheryl what happened?”

Jake knew that sooner or later they would learn that Jake was a close friend of Cheryl.  That would confuse matters more.  It was important that Karin explain to Cheryl what had caused the current set of events to transpire, including the fact her stepfather had initially killed her mother.  There would be nothing they could do with the information, but Jake wanted Cheryl to understand.

Karin nodded, and Jake could tell by the look she gave him that she fully understood his intent.  “They’ll be back from Australia tomorrow,” she said.  “I’m supposed to meet them at the airport.  I’ll make sure she understands.  I’d guess they will fly down here.”

“There’s more,” Jake said.  “The FBI had me moved up here.  Apparently they think I’m also some character named Mathews.  He’s being investigated for something else.  Hopefully that will work itself out soon enough and I’ll be sent back down to Laguna Beach.”

Once again he could see that Karin understood.  At least the significance of the Mathews name.  He wasn’t sure she’d caught onto the importance of his being located so far from the beach city.

“What can I do?” she asked.  He could tell she was struggling to hold it together.

“Go home.  There is nothing you can do here.  I’ll talk with you on the phone.  They allow a single monitored call each week.  There’s no point of sitting in a hotel room day after day.”

Jake made a point of emphasizing the word monitored.

They were able to talk only a few more minutes before their lawyer indicated the allotted time was up.  Jake watched helplessly as Karin stood, gave him a sad wry smile, and walked to the door at the other end of the room.  Moments later she was gone.

Jake looked at the lawyer waiting for him to say something.

“We’ll talk later,” the man said.  “Not here.  This area is monitored.  We will talk in the area set aside for private attorney-client discussions.”

Jake nodded, then turned when he heard the door behind him opening.  The guard motioned for him to come, so Jake stood and followed the guard out the door.  They walked down the hall where he was directed into an interrogation room as he’d been expecting initially.

“Over there,” the guard said.  “Your lawyer will be here in a minute as will the special agents who want to speak with you.”

Jake sat where he’d been directed, facing the door of the room.  Moments later his lawyer came in and sat next to him, placing a thin, expensive, leather briefcase on the table to his right.  Before they could speak, the door opened again and a man and a woman stepped into the room, closing the door behind them.

Jake had never seen either of them.  The man was dressed as Jake would expect an FBI agent to appear, and he had a feeling that this was Special Agent Carlson that he’d heard about when he’d been detained in Reno.  The woman was older, perhaps ten years or so, and not unattractive.  She had short brown hair and wore a conservative woman’s suit with a dark skirt.  Jake guessed that she was one of their lawyers.  They pulled back chairs on the opposite side of the table and sat.

“We finally meet,” the woman said.  “I’m Special Agent Carlson and this is my partner on this case, Special Agent Laney.  We have been looking for you for a long time.”

Jake was immediately confused.  Agent Carlson was a woman?  He didn’t know why, but he’d never considered the possibility. 

Jake’s lawyer had no trouble looking confused, thinking the current situation was all there was to the matter.

“Come now,” Carlson said.  “There is no doubt that in addition to being Jake Waters, you often use the identity of Stan Mathews, not to mention several others.  Given your picture and what we have found in Sparks, there is no doubt about it.  I am surprised, however, that this is the way we finally meet.  The circumstances surrounding this case are very different than the usual cases we have attributed to you.”

Jake had started to speak but his lawyer quickly silenced him.

“I am unaware of what you are referring to,” the lawyer said.  “There is only one crime that my client has been charged with.”

“That’ll change,” Carlson said.  “This is a preliminary interview.  Formal charges will be filed later today and then we can discuss the cases in detail.  I was just wondering if Mr. Waters has anything to say before then.”

Jake didn’t want to talk with the FBI agents, and because his lawyer refused to allow him to be interrogated, the meeting was brief.  The lawyer explained that they would be submitting a self defense plea, and was shocked when Agent Carlson waived it off.

“That’s a local matter.  I’m not particularly concerned with the shooting in Laguna Beach.”

As Jake was led back to his cell he felt a bit of hope.  If he could get his ability back, then satisfy Carlson, perhaps they would ship him back to Laguna Beach to face the charges there.  Then he might have a chance.

The next few days fell into a routine.  He talked with Karin briefly one evening.  The call was restricted to five minutes.  He told her to tell Zack and Cheryl not to visit.  It would only complicate matters.  Each day he and his lawyer met with the FBI agents.  Carlson laid out the cases they had tied him to.  Jake was surprised as much by how well they had done as by the cases they had overlooked.  He said nothing.  It became apparent early on that Agent Carlson was most interested in how Jake had known about the men he had killed.  The agent was very much aware the men had been planning something horrendous when Jake had killed them.  How did he do it and could that method somehow be tapped by the FBI?  Jake might have told her the truth or made up a story despite his lawyer’s admonishment to remain silent had his ability returned.  After five days, he still had no indications he was getting better and was starting to lose hope.

On the sixth day he met with his lawyer and Agent Laney.  Carlson had returned to Washington they were told.  She would probably return later.  She hadn’t decided.  A lot would depend on Jake and whether he would decide to talk with them.  Agent Laney explained he wouldn’t be meeting with them again either.  He also planned to leave town.  Jake hoped he might be returned to Laguna Beach in the meantime, but he was returned to his cell.

On the morning of the seventh day Jake was able to detect the faintest glimmer of something he’d thought lost forever.  The ghostly awareness was weak, and only extended backwards a couple of days.  That might offer him a chance to go back to earlier days here at the Los Angeles facility.  Even had he been in Laguna Beach, he wouldn’t as yet have been able to access his self before the incident happened.  The next day he could sense himself all the way back.  Now, if he could somehow get close to where he’d been, he would be able to escape this horrible reality.  He made a short test back-track just to verify he had regained the capability. 

Jake was excited with the return of his ability, even if he was trapped here in Los Angeles.  Somewhere, somehow, along the way he would figure out a way to get away.  His life wouldn’t be the same, but now at least, he had a chance.  He would convey to Karin what had happened during one of their brief calls.  Despite his happiness at his return to normal, the days passed with a boring sameness with him still confined.  He wasn’t in solitary confinement, but he might as well have been.  He made no effort to mingle with the other prisoners here, and avoided discussions with the guards as well.

Twelve days after it happened, Jake learned of the attack during his phone call with Karin.  They had missed the previous week’s call because she had a closing that she had to attend. Jake had encouraged her to go.  Their calls were short and she shouldn’t risk her job for one.  He’d told her he could survive the week, but it had made it seem longer.  Had they had television, he might have learned earlier, but only selected movies were shown, not the news.  Over a quarter of a million dead, and a great many more likely to die from radiation poisoning.  A low yield, very dirty nuclear device had been triggered in Atlanta that day almost two weeks ago.  No one knew who was responsible, or how the device had been put in place.  They only had a rough idea of the area it had been in when it triggered.

Jake knew what he had to do.  He told the guard who escorted him back to his cell that he needed to talk with Carlson or Laney immediately.  Jake considered telling someone else, but only Carlson or Laney were likely to be receptive and them only because of the oddity of his case.  He told the guards to tell them he was ready to talk.  It was urgent. 

Despite his insistence and constant calls for someone to speak with, more days passed before anyone would listen to him.  He was otherwise left alone in his cell.  When he was finally escorted into the interrogation room that morning far too long after the event for it to matter, he had counted twenty-three days since he’d been arrested, and fifteen since the attack on Atlanta.  Agent Carlson was waiting, looking tired and worn.  Jake was aware it was too late.  Time and distance were against him.  It had actually been too late when he’d first learned of the event.  Still, he’d decided he needed to take some action.  Maybe if he’d revealed his ability in the beginning he would have been in a position to help.  Maybe there would be more attacks and he wanted to be in a position to correct the situation.

Jake’s lawyer was present once again looking annoyed by the whole matter, but Jake told Carlson he wanted him excluded.  That resulted in more turmoil and objections, but Jake finally got his way after signing documents to the effect that his lawyer, who then decided to withdraw from his case entirely, was to be kept from the room.  Jake wasn’t concerned.  If this didn’t go as he hoped, he would back-track to earlier this morning and do the whole thing differently.

“This had better be worthwhile,” Carlson said, the annoyance clear in her voice.  “Other matters have made your particular situation considerably less important.  At least in the near term.  You aren’t going anywhere.  If I hadn’t been here in town, I wouldn’t be meeting with you.  As it is, I have only a short time.”

“You waited too damn long,” Jake objected.  “Now I probably can’t help.”

“Help what?” Carlson said tiredly.

“Atlanta,” Jake said softly.

That got Carlson’s attention.  “What do you know about Atlanta?”

“Only what’s on the news,” Jake admitted.  “That’s not the point.”

“So, how’s that supposed to help me?”

“If you’d come when I asked, we might have been able to prevent it,” Jake shouted.  “Now, I don’t know.”

Carlson looked at him strangely.  “They’re right. You’ve lost it.”  She stood as if to leave.

“You’re right about the killings.  I was the one.”

Carlson waved her hand.  “I already know that.  You’re admitting to it under these conditions doesn’t change anything.  It’s just hearsay.”

“You also missed about half of the cases,” Jake added.  “There are many more you didn’t stumble onto.”

That got Carlson’s attention.  No cop can pass up the chance to clear up bad cases that have gone unsolved.  She also might not get another chance.  Who knew of the suspect would be willing to talk in the future.  She sat back down.

“Why are you telling me this now?  And what does any of your situation have to do with the bomb in Atlanta?”