Crow - The Awakening (43 page)

"Have a nice day, sir." The woman walked off before Steven could continue any more. He fought the temptation to follow her and regale her with more ideas of cooking with mushrooms. He was furious that his had been stolen like that and wanted some sort of payback.

Sighing, he decided not to push it. Steven looked around, a little lost. He saw the front doors and started walking toward them when he heard someone call his name. He was tempted to just keep walking but the voice sounded familiar. Looking around, he saw a tall young man in his early twenties and immediately recognized him. "Brandon?"

Laurence fidgeted as he sat at the long table across from his boss who was reviewing a tablet. He hated these reviews. It reminded him that he really wasn't the one in control. He wasn't unaccustomed to the debriefing, but he felt more on top of things when he was out in the field where he belonged.

"This kid is proving to be a bit of a nuisance," Jacob said as he reviewed the data on the tablet, not really expecting a response.

"Yes, sir," Laurence answered. "He's got help but we haven't ascertained who yet."

"Who is he hiding from?" Jacob Bradly asked himself as much as Laurence as he pondered over Laurence's reports.

"He was being chased by the non-terrestrials," Laurence answered. Jacob looked at him over his reading glasses, and Laurence corrected himself. "That is just a lead we are following. We really don't know yet."

"Nail that down. No assumptions. I want to know exactly what they want with him and who this boy is. Why is he so important?" Jacob responded curtly. Laurence nodded, remaining silent. Jacob continued reviewing the reports. "I see a breakdown in discipline at the stakeout."

"That has been rectified, sir." Laurence was extremely embarrassed at his team being played so easily and really loathed having to give his boss excuses as a result. He was not normally an excuses type of person. "I'm still waiting on results from the lab."

Jacob looked at him briefly then back at the tablet. "We'll relay any pertinent data if it applies to your situation," he said curtly.

"How can it not? We were compromised!" Laurence leaned forward, angry that Jacob would blow him off like that. He needed to know and didn't need someone else deciding what he needed to know, or not, with regards to his people and his mission. Jacob didn't respond and Laurence leaned back, fuming. Of course, Jacob was his boss, but he still hated being treated like some slack-jawed lackey.

"Are you done now?" Jacob sat there looking at Laurence. Laurence bit his cheek and looked away. Jacob took that as an affirmative. "We need to operate under the possibility that our moves are being observed," Jacob said calmly as he put the tablet down. Laurence looked to the side, hating the logic of it. But he had to admit, anyone could be part of the leak that led to their compromise. Even he couldn't be trusted until they knew for sure. The doubt infuriated him. It was something else that got in the way of his mission. "The boy is definitely not alone," Jacob continued. "He's hiding and he's being hidden, and whoever is hiding him knows exactly what we are doing, when, and where." He held up his hands as he looked back down at the tablet. "They knew our codes for recall? Really?"

"But how could it be a mole?" Laurence was incredulous. He had thought the same thing and pondered on the ramifications of that possibility. It just didn't make sense to him how one could have infiltrated their ranks. Their Order had not recruited for over six hundred years and was more a family operation than anything else. He was born into it like every other agent. The idea of a betrayal from within the ranks was preposterous to him. Everyone was fanatically dedicated and those that weren't were arbitrarily culled. There were no disgruntled employees in the ranks of the organization because they didn't live long enough to become a problem.

"We need to keep that option on the table. And the possibility that other means are being employed to monitor our activities." Jacob leaned forward, steepling his fingers on the table contemplatively. "It's no longer just a grab and bag job."

"We've been operating under that idea for some time already," Laurence explained. The presence of aliens had ratcheted things up immeasurably and expanded the parameters of the mission significantly. Laurence hoped to capture one of the aliens and bring it back as much as he wanted to collect Steven. Such a prize would have paramount value to the Order, as well as boost Laurence's own standing amongst his peers.

"Perhaps it's time for some fresh blood. I'm going to recommend that you be reassigned." Jacob stood up.

"Wait. Please, I need to see this through," Laurence pleaded. He felt he was too close to a resolution to have this mission pulled away from him.

"That's the problem. You've lost perspective and it's become personal." Jacob looked at him. "We can't afford for things to become personal, Laurence. Mistakes are made and things get very sloppy."

An assistant entered the room and whispered something to Jacob. Jacob looked at the assistant then down at the floor, pursing his lips. "We'll table the reassignment idea for now. It seems that Mr. Crow has gotten himself detained." Jacob looked at Laurence who stood up quickly. "What assets do you have in the area?"

"I have three collection teams ready to go." Laurence pulled out his phone and made a phone call. Then another. And a third. He stood there staring at his phone for a moment. "None are functional."

"Come again?" Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"One ha
s
suffered a catastrophic fire at the safe house, the other ha
s
had all the tires slashed on all their vehicles, and the third ha
s
been sent outside of Seattle and are over two hours away." Laurence looked up, dumbfounded. "Who is doing this?"

"I'm bringing in a team to investigate that. You get to Seattle now and get that kid." Jacob looked highly irritated as he walked out of the room. Laurence put his phone away and headed to the fleet garage feeling decidedly deflated. Things were spiraling out of control.

Brandon smiled widely as he ran up to Steven and gave him a big bear hug. "Dude, it's been forever!"

"I never thought I'd bump into you here, Brandon! I thought you were still in school!" Steven exclaimed. Steven was rather shocked that he had all but forgotten about Brandon and the mansion. He could have stayed there rather than sleeping in the tree.

"I am. I'm interning here while I finish my criminology degree," Brandon said, proudly waving back at the police station. He was still too young to get a position in the FBI where he was hoping to make a career, much to the chagrin of his very wealthy parents, but he was doing everything he could to immerse himself in the law enforcement and investigative environment as early as possible.

"Man, that is so cool." Steven was happy for his friend. Brandon had changed his career ideas a few times before settling on law enforcement. His parents would have preferred that he become a lawyer like them, or go into real estate or something less risky. Of course, they themselves had incurred their own risk by earning the ire of the numerous drug cartels through their work in the courts, so it's not an entirely passive profession. Still, Brandon was intent on getting a more hands on position in law than his parents were comfortable with.

"So, what are you doing here?" Brandon walked with Steven toward the door, smirking at Steven. He wondered when Steven's computer exploits would get him in trouble.

"Wrong place at the wrong time. I think they cleared me, though." Steven gave a lopsided grin, hoping that he was actually cleared. He was very uncomfortable being under the microscope and was eager to return to the anonymity of his life.

"You're not still hacking computers, are you?" Brandon looked at him sideways.

"It wasn't for that. I was trying to find ingredients for that tea I had been drinking and the seller didn't have a medical license or something and they just grabbed us all and brought us here, I guess," Steven explained. "I think they were fishing for more evidence to apply against that fella. He's just a herbalist. Can you believe that?"

"No comment, since they're my bosses. But everyone has an ax to grind at one time or another in this profession," Brandon said in a hushed tone. "It just goes with the territory."

"I just wish they'd use that ax on real bad people instead of people like me and Philip." Steven frowned.

Brandon shrugged as he stood with him outside. "Some things aren't as clear cut as that, Steven. But I guess every job is going to have its flaws. So, where you going?" Brandon pulled his keys out and jingled them, grinning.

"Oh, a ride would be so nice about now." Steven couldn't wait to get back home and end this horrible day. "I was going to have to sit at that trashed out bus stop." Steven pointed. It was definitely in need of repair and the bench was broken, apparently from a wreck there.

"Great. I need to go get something real quick and I'll bring the car around. You stay right here." Brandon jogged off around the building and entered through another door, leaving Steven by himself to wait near the entrance. Suddenly feeling self conscious, he nodded at people as they noticed him standing there, hoping they'd just walk on by.

Suddenly, a lady with pretty wavy brunette hair dropped a large folder of papers by the entrance and Steven instinctively knelt down to help her pick them up, almost tripping a man who was hurrying to get into the building. He skirted past Steven and walked in grumbling something, and Steven stood up while the lady thanked him effervescently and gave him a hug. She smiled prettily at him and winked, then quickly walked off to her waiting ride before Steven could respond. He waved at her, a little shocked, then saw Brandon pull up with his car and walked out to meet him.

Laurence rushed into the police station after nearly tripping over someone at the entrance and went up to the front desk, flashing a badge. "I'm here to question one of your detainees."

"Name please?" The clerk went to the computer and logged in.

"Steven Crow." Laurence looked around the reception area, hoping he hadn't missed Steven.

"He's been cleared and released already." The officer looked up.

"What? How long ago?" Laurence asked, frowning and craning his neck to look at the display.

"He was cleared about fifteen minutes ago and released shortly after that. Would you like to talk to the officer in charge of that investigation?"

"Hold that thought." Laurence ran to the door and looked outside. He went and looked out in the parking lot. There were a few people but none of them stood out as Steven. He pulled out his phone and turned, walking back in just as Brandon's car pulled away and exited the parking lot.

"So, do you hear from anyone back home?" Steven asked as he held onto the door while Brandon swerved through traffic. He winced a couple of times when Brandon pulled up too fast on a car at a stoplight, then sped around them as the light changed.

"Not much nowadays," Brandon said. "I've been staying here trying to finish up school. It's brutal, man." Brandon swerved around another car that had the audacity to follow the speed limit and Steven grimaced as he cut back across to avoid yet another car.

"Summer classes are the worst. They cram in so much into just an itty bitty bit of time," Brandon complained, then stopped, looking at Steven, who had doubled up his classes both during the regular semesters and summer classes. "Well, they're tough for me, that is."

"Hey, they weren't exactly easy for me either. I just have a thing for pain," Steven grinned, flinching as Brandon zoomed very close to another car. He wondered how his friend had made it this long on these streets and felt sorry for the other drivers who no doubt would be cussing all the way to their homes.

"Don't be modest, Steven. You're a freaking genius and you know it." Brandon looked askance at Steven.

"Well, you know. What can I say?" Steven made a face and smiled. Brandon shook his head, laughing as he gave yet another driver had a reason to curse at him and Steven flinched yet again.

Steven sobered and looked at Brandon. "James is dead," he informed his friend. "Heart attack."

"Yeah. I heard about that. And Dmitri. Bad mojo, man. Both on the same night." Brandon glanced over at Steven, noticing the shocked look on his face. "Uh, you didn't know about Dmitri, did you?"

Steven shook his head, having trouble thinking straight. "How?"

"Heart attack. Both of them. How coincidental is that?" He looked back at the road and honked as someone tried to pull out in front of him, as if he was the only one allowed to cut people off. "It's really weird, man."

Steven was stunned. Dmitri was his mentor for much of his life. And they didn't part on the best of terms. Steven never had a chance to go and try to mend things and now he regretted making his friend so mad.

"Hey, I'm sorry man. I thought you knew." Brandon looked over at Steven who had slumped into his seat and no longer flinched at Brandon's driving.

Steven looked out the window at the passing buildings, seeing his life pass by, too. "He was really a good friend." Bad news seemed to keep coming to try to drag Steven down.

"He was cool. A little eccentric, but cool," Brandon said as he pulled up to the apartment. "This is it, right? You go in through the front or the back?" Steven pointed at the front door. Brandon looked around for a place to park and scooted into a tight parking spot and looked at Steven.

"Have you seen Sally or Jonah?" Steven was suddenly afraid to ask after them now, sweating and hoping against hope not to get similar news. Everyone back home that he cared about seemed to be dying and it was breaking his heart.

"Naw. But they weren't at their booth either last time I was there. I heard they left town." Brandon looked at him, surprised that Steven asked him about his parents. "Are you having problems with them?"

"You could say that." Steven looked down. He was relieved that the news wasn't worse, but he was worried about them nonetheless. Where would they have gone? And why? They were so happy at their homestead that it seemed ridiculous that they would just pull up roots and leave on the turn of a dime. Steven remembered that they were very afraid, however, and wondered if they had gone deeper into hiding.