Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 15 - Making Friends and Influencing People - IV

  "What took you so long?" Lani asked, leaning up in his bed.

  "I had to visit the library."

  "You went to the library?"

  Jeremy glowered at him. "I read books, thanks. When I feel like it."

  "I've never seen you with a single book."

  "Because I've got a fuckin' smartphone." Jeremy sat down in the chair next to Lani's bed. There were files scattered everywhere, and two laptops in reach with even more work. Lani wasn't letting his injury slow him down in the slightest, even if he did have to do a lot of it mostly one-armed.

  "So what was at the library?"

  "A cheap amateur magician with a really interesting story to tell." Jeremy glanced over the screens. "You go first though, before this mountain collapses and I gotta clean it up again."

  "Well, after we ran out out footage to re-check and did all the background checks and family checks again, I decided I might try alternative sources. New social media."

  "New like what?"

  "Livestreaming sites. Geo-tagged videos from anyone in the area on May 15th."

  "You really think we're that fuckin' lucky?"

  Lani grinned. "We are that lucky. I had to get the company to pull it off a deleted account. Nathan Hurst."

  "Dead in Rallsburg."

  "Yeah, that Nathan. But here's the thing: those videos were deleted on the 18th, and his account was deleted a few days ago. Both by his own request."

  "From a dead guy. Who we confirmed dead."

  "Right. So the data hadn't been overwritten on the drives yet. I picked it up on an archive check, called them up and waved my badge around. Figuratively."

  "What's on it?"

  "Well they just emailed it this morning, and I figured you'd want to see it too."

  "You waited for me?"

  "...Yeah."

  Jeremy shook his head. "Lani, you're a good friend and a good partner, but don't fuckin' wait for me when you're sittin' on new evidence. Follow that shit."

  "...Right."

  "Well, go on, play it."

  They watched the two videos together, watched the riot unfold in the forest. Gunshots and fireballs, bursts of water and men flying through the air from devastating punches. The finale, with the man who seemed to evaporate into the air, and the tall girl—Rachel DuValle, one of the missing whose family they'd never been able to contact—striding out of the forest behind a girl seated on the back of a wolf.

  "Jesus Christ..." Jeremy murmured.

  "Dated May 14th," Lani added in a subdued voice. "And the later one is the 15th. This is what happened."

  "Mostly," he pointed out. "The town looks pretty intact in that one. And we still have fuck all on who."

  "Or why."

  Jeremy shook his head. "I've got the why."

  "Is this why you went to the library?"

  "These kids have got magic, Lani. Real fuckin' magic. And someone else out there wants to kill 'em for it."

  Lani stared at him for a few seconds blankly. "Magic."

  "I know it sounds fuckin' crazy."

  "No, it sounds like something I'd say. Not you." Lani shrugged. "So if you're saying it, I believe you." He pulled one laptop tray closer to him. "Who have you told?"

  "Maddie."

  "Anyone else?"

  "No. You heard what they did to all the cops who testified about the golems?"

  Lani nodded. "Full psych eval and suspended with pay."

  "I ain't got time for that shit."

  "So what's our next move?"

  "Our?"

  "What, did you think I was going to go back to normal old desk work?" Lani shook his head. "I'm in this too. They shot me."

  Jeremy rolled back the second video to the brief clip where Hailey ran by. "That's Hailey Winscombe. I don't know the blue-haired girl, but the guy is Alden Bensen."

  "...So he lied."

  "What?"

  Lani scrolled through a few screens to a scanned-in form. "We checked with the train station, and there were four tickets sold to Rallsburg on May 11th on the last train. The train doesn't ask for ID, so we don't know who paid for the three in cash, but the fourth ticket was bought with a debit card. Name was Alden Bensen."

  "What's the connection?"

  Lani scrolled down the form to a brief scrawled statement from some agent Jeremy didn't know. "We called the Bensens, just a routine check-in. We were told he never got on the train, confirmed he was home and alive."

  "So what the hell's he doing in Rallsburg on the fifteenth..." Jeremy murmured. "And how did he get home?"

  "He's probably worth talking to, and now you've got leverage."

  Jeremy nodded. "Give me your badge."

  "Huh?"

  "Well I can't go investigating as me. I'm still chained to a desk."

  Lani shrugged and handed it over. "You don't exactly look like a 'Lani Makaio'," he pointed out.

  "They're middle-class white people in the suburbs. They ain't gonna know it's Hawaiian." Jeremy stood up to go. "You need anythin' before I head out?"

  "I'm good."

  "If you change your mind, text Maddie. She said she'd stop by later."

  "She's back in town?"

  He nodded. "Campaigning. She's busy as fuck, so don't be offended if she can't stay long, but she wanted to say hi."

  Lani looked embarrassed. "No, she doesn't have to—"

  Jeremy rolled his eyes. "There's no possible way on earth to stop her." He walked to the door, but paused. "Hey, Lani?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks."

  "For what?"

  "Oh, I don't fuckin' know. Being a good partner, givin' me the benefit of the doubt, betrayin' your oath to the country. The usual."

  Lani shrugged. "They told me to stick to you and follow your lead. I'm only doing as ordered."

  Jeremy grinned. "Shows the shit they know."