The Insurrectionist (28 page)

            Deni stood frozen, wanting to chase her. He wanted to yell out to her that he loved her too, but he couldn’t; he simply couldn’t drag her into his madness. He slumped on his bed and lowered his head into his hands.
It’s all over now
, he thought.

 

            Deni rocked back in his seat and placed his hands on his lap. It was the very moment love walked out of his life that he knew nothing would ever be the same again. The one he trusted most, the one who stood so strongly behind him, left. There was no one to blame. Heather needed to move on; she deserved better and he couldn’t drag her down into the despair of his life. He glanced up at Marsha and lied, “What makes you think I ever had a heart?”

            Marsha grinned at him like she could see straight through him. It unnerved him. “Let me explain something to you. You sit alone in solitary believing this whole world revolves around you and your ideology. What you don’t realize is there is an entire investigation going on outside these walls. The forensic labs are doing all the testing to corroborate your story and the story of eye witnesses. It is not just you sweetheart; there will be a long line of witnesses on both sides of the aisle.” She leaned and looked directly into his eyes. “You need to make sure you’re telling me the truth, because there are other witnesses. There will be other testimonials.”

            “Yeah so,” said Deni but her statement struck a nerve.
What were other people saying and who were these people?

            “Are you sure you’re telling me everything; you’ve not forgetting something?” she asked again.

            “I have no idea what you are suggesting,” he said.

            Marsha rose from the table and leaned over toward him. “Think about what you did and didn’t do and be prepared to answer for it.”

            She left without another word. Shortly after, the guard came in and lifted Deni from his chair. Marsha’s statements confused him. He had absolutely no idea what she was referring to, but then that night and everything after was a complete blur.

               Marsha took a seat alongside Deni at the interview table as the prosecutor and his assistant sat on the opposite side. Deni was a little more than nervous after Marsha’s warning yesterday. He wondered what more they had on him?
Does it have to do with Hector?

            There were no pleasantries to start the meeting. The prosecutor began immediately. “Walk us through what happened.”

            Deni looked at Marsha, feeling unsure. Walking through the entire event would be an admission of guilt. Marsha nodded at him to continue, so he did. “It was around seven o’clock when we, my brother and I, each marked a spot on the grass near the front of the crowds where the fireworks display would take place. My brother spread out a blanket and then set down a wicker picnic basket. I set down a plastic cooler and set the blanket on top.”

 

            It was a warm, humid evening with a slight breeze in the air. The Reading Fairgrounds was alive with energy. The ferris wheel and other rides lit up the evening. Games were played and large stuffed animals were won. Faces were smudged with ketchup, mustard and the powdered sugar of funnel cakes. No one had any inclination of the terror that would arise in a couple of hours.

            Before the crowds gathered for the fireworks show, Deni and Mikail walked through the open fields and set down picnic coolers and blankets. Mikail spread his out as if to be an actual picnic, while Deni placed his cooler on the ground and the blanket on top. He made no care for ceremony.

            Later, fireworks’ spectators filled the large open grass field, surrounding Mikail and Deni’s picnic blankets. Lovers lounged on blankets, parents sat on lawn chairs as children ran around excitedly waiting for the show. Deni retraced his steps back to where he set down the cooler to make sure his space was still saved¼it was. Across the field he spied Mikail who gave him the thumbs up. Deni reached in his pocket for his cell phone; it would be moments before he texted the number to detonate.

 

            The prosecutor dumped two cell phones on the table before Deni. With a pen, he pushed them toward him. “These are you and your brother’s prepaid cell phones. Do you want to tell me the difference between the two?”

            “One is black and one is blue?” questioned Deni.

            “No. One has two texts about two minutes apart, the exact time the bombs detonated; the other has none,” stated the prosecutor. “Do you want to tell me why?”

            Deni sat back in his chair and bit his lip. He glanced at Marsha, who encouraged him to answer. “I fucked up.”

            “How exactly did you fuck up? Did the phone not work? Did it not detonate the bomb or did you flake and forget the number?” questioned the prosecutor.

            Deni glanced around the table nervously. He didn’t want to respond.

 

            Deni tried to keep his head low and not notice anyone; he didn’t want to see his victims. He walked back through the crowds, staring only at his feet to make sure he didn’t trip over anyone and then he heard laughter. He looked up startled. “Heather!”

            Seated on a blanket among girlfriends, Heather glanced up at Deni. Her smile was genuine; she was so happy to see him. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Come, sit down, and join us.”

            “No! No!” he said trying to calm himself down. “I need you to come with me.”

            “Now! The fireworks are about to start,” she said.

            Deni reached out his hand to her. “I need to talk to you.” When Heather put her hand in his, he helped her to her feet and pulled her quickly through the crowd.

            Once they reached the edge of the spectators, Heather asked, “What is this all about?”

            “I missed you. I wanted to apologize for being a dick,” he said.

            She kissed him on the chin. “I too wanted to apologize. I know things have been real stressful with school and what happened with Hector. I should have been more sensitive.”

            Suddenly fireworks burst across the sky in vivid red and yellow sparks. Heather smiled. “Remember last year, when we watched the fireworks from your car on Mount Penn?”

            He chuckled. “Would have been hard to watch with your back toward them.”

            “Yeah, I guess you’re right. More fireworks were happening in your car than in the sky,” she said with a smile.

            Another splash of vivid colors of green, blue, and red painted the sky with a repeating sound like gunfire.  Suddenly there was a loud boom and a flash of bright white light, followed by a large plume of white smoke. People screamed and shrieked as scraps of metal and flesh scattered in the air.

            Heather leaped into Deni’s arms and grabbed his shoulders. Witnessing the destruction, her instinct was to run toward the incident. “What the hell! What’s going on?”

            Deni held onto her with both hands. “No. You can’t go there. Stay back! Stay back!”

            Then the other bomb blasted. There was more blood and darkness everywhere. People wailed in pain and mourning. Within minutes, sirens blared, and ambulances and the police arrived on the scene. It was utter chaos.

            Heather was paralyzed and unable to move. With his arm around her, Deni guided her toward the parking lot where many people were escaping. “This can’t be happening? This can’t be happening?” she muttered and then looked at Deni for answers. “What do you think happened? Do you think it was faulty fireworks?”

            “Probably,” lied Deni.

 

            “I’m going to ask you again Mr. Daudov,” said the prosecutor, “How exactly did you fuck up?”

            Deni gazed downward. “I don’t remember.”

            “Does the name Heather Atkins ring a bell?” the prosecutor asked.

            Deni glanced up at the prosecutor, but said nothing.

            “Heather Atkins claims it is impossible you are responsible for the bombing because you were with her. She will testify to your whereabouts at the scene. Is she lying to protect you?”

            Deni did not reply.

            “She is your girlfriend, isn’t she?” pressed the prosecutor.

            “Answer the question,” Marsha said strongly.

            “She’s not lying,” responded Deni softly.

            “So you did not detonate the bomb?” questioned the prosecutor.

            “No,” Deni replied strongly. “I did not.” He laughed. “Why bother asking if you have the facts to prove I didn’t?”

            The prosecutor didn’t respond to Deni’s question. He just sat back and stared at Deni. “When the media released the photos and home videos, and you were identified as a suspect, was there any contact between you and Miss Atkins?”

            Deni glared at the prosecutor. “No.”

            “No?” questioned the prosecutor. “Funny thing about cell phones, phone companies keep logs of all calls. Upon confiscating Miss Atkins’ cell phone, we found text messages between the two of you. Would you like to change your answer?”

            “You tell me,” said Deni and then he slid back in his seat.

            “Yes, there was communication.” He pulled out a piece of paper and read out loud, “I need to see you. You said, no way and then she begged by typing please. Afterwards, there was a thirty second phone conversation. Can I ask what the conversation was about?”

            “I called to say goodbye. That is it,” Deni replied.

            “Curiously, after the conversation she withdrew fifteen hundred dollars from her savings account. Was that just a strange coincidence?”

            Deni turned away from the prosecutors and didn’t answer.

 

            Mikail paced around his living room shouting at Deni. “What the fuck is the matter with you? Can’t you do anything right? I asked for one simple favor and you blew it!”

            Deni circled to get past Mikail. “What’s the bother? Both bombs went off, you succeeded. Does it really matter who set them off?”

            “Yeah, without any help from you. You’re a waste of space,” spat Mikail.

            To escape Mikail’s wrath, Deni stepped outside to the backyard of Mikail’s Reading row home and paced around. He glanced upward at the old oak tree. The branches scraped against a bedroom window and extended far over into the alleyway.
Amazing how things could grow with such obstructions
, he thought.

            Feeling his phone vibrate, Deni removed it from his pocket and noticed that Heather had texted him. She wanted to see him. No way, he wrote, but she insisted. Glancing back in the house to see if Mikail was watching, Deni called Heather.

            “I need to see you. I need to talk to you,” she said immediately. “Meet me at our spot on Mount Penn in a half an hour.”

            Deni hung up the phone and sighed. “Shit.”

            He walked back in the house and passed Mikail without a word.

            “Where the hell are you going?” asked Mikail

            “Out,” said Deni.

            “What if someone sees you? Are you that fucking stupid?”

            Deni ignored his brother and walked down the street where his car was parked. He drove through the quiet streets of Reading. He had never seen it so dark and silent. Everyone was hiding in their houses from him. It was weird.

            He wound through the hillside road and up to the top, and stopped about a half a mile from where he and Heather often parked to make out. He walked in the darkness until he saw her car. Carefully, so as not to frighten her, he tapped lightly on her passenger side window. She immediately opened the door for him.

            Deni climbed inside and said nothing.

            Heather clenched the steering wheel. Her expression was strange. She showed no sign of crying, but she was definitely in pain. “I’ve been trying to understand.”

            “Don’t,” he said, “I don’t even understand.”

            “I know this is not you. The Deni I know would never do this. I know it’s not you, because you saved me. I know you had to be manipulated somehow,” she said.

            “It doesn’t really matter,” he replied.

            “Has it been that bad? Have we treated you that bad?” she asked and didn’t wait for a response. “God, I wished you would have talked to me instead of keeping this all bottled up. If there was something I could have done differently. Would it have made a difference if I converted?”

            “Heather, this is not your fault,” he said.

            “The hell it’s not. You needed someone. You needed me and I was not there.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a roll of cash. “We can be in Canada by morning.”

            Deni laughed. “Heather.”

            “What about we get on one of those cruise ships and sail down the Caribbean? We can island hop and no one will find us,” she suggested.

            That did sound appealing to Deni, but he couldn’t make Heather a fugitive for his sake. “That’s not going to work. I can’t expect you to give up your life for me.”

            “You are my life,” she said and then started to cry. She tossed the money at him. “Here, take this then and disappear.”

            “Honey, I’m not taking your money,” he said and then tossed it back at her.

            “Fine, but what now? What am I going to do now? How can I go on? I can’t let you go. I feel so ashamed for feeling this way when people were killed and so many wounded. There is so much suffering and all I can do is worry for you. There must be something wrong with me, but all I can do is think of how we used to be. I can’t see you as a killer; I just can’t.” She turned to him. “Were you fooling me all along?”

            “Heather, I was the fool.” Deni wiped the tears from her eyes. “I can’t explain it. The world just imploded and I got sucked inside.” He kissed her face. “I love you. I always have, but I have to go.”

            Just as Deni opened the passenger side door, Heather grabbed his arm. “Promise me you’ll stay safe. Please don’t get yourself killed. That is something I couldn’t handle.”

            Deni grinned. “I promise.”

            He leaned over and gave her one more kiss. Heather grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. She didn’t want to let him go, but she had to. Finally, when she did, she wiped her tears. “I love you.”

 

            “Mr. Daudov, you do realize aiding a fugitive is a felony,” said the prosecutor.

            Deni glanced at the prosecutor. “What?”

            “Did Heather Atkins offer to help you escape?” the prosecutor asked.

            “No,” he lied quickly.

            “If she didn’t offer you money, then why are your fingerprints on this roll of cash?” asked the prosecutor as he tossed Heather’s money on the table.

            “What the fuck is all this about?” asked Deni.

            “Did Heather Atkins offer to help you escape?” repeated the prosecutor.

            “You leave her the fuck alone! She had nothing to do with this!” Deni yelled.

            “Answer the question Mr. Daudov!” yelled the prosecutor.

            Deni extended his arms before the prosecutor. “You go ahead and stick a fucking needle in my arm, but you better as hell leave her alone!” His face turned beet red and tears streamed down his cheeks. “You leave her alone!”

            “Marsha, control your client,” said the prosecutor.

            Marsha stood alongside Deni and said to the prosecutor. “I think we’re done here.”

            The prosecution packed their briefcases and without another word, they were gone.