"There you're married. Here you're alone."
She could feel the heat of his body, as he moved closer. She couldn't deny a certain longing. To be with someone. After so many years with Greg always there, she felt like a limb was missing.
"LIke me. Tomorrow's not promised, Kiera. Maybe it's best, to stop living for a future that might not even happen."
And he was right, they were in on a joke few others knew or could understand. He was the only one she could be herself with. And despite his past he had recanted that life and even helped her. She was sure he wasn't doing this so he could stab her in the back.
"Kiera."
The sound was the last thing she expected. But she found herself strangely comforted by it. The sound of the first friendly voice she had heard when she woke up in this waking nightmare of a joke. A sound that snapped her back to herself.
"Sorry Kellogg." She stepped back, out of his reach. "But you're wrong. I'm not alone."
"The cop. He doesn't know the truth. You can't be yourself around him."
"I can be enough. Thanks anyway."
She turned and left before he could say something that could stop her.
"Kiera." There was an almost desperate sound to it. He'd been crying, she was sure of it. Perhaps he still was. "Are you there?"
"Yeah, Alec, I'm here. What's wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep."
"That's no surprise, after everything today. Seeing your father, stepfather, killed in front of you. You're due for a little PSTD. It'll get better. I promise."
"It's not that."
She didn't have to scan him to doubt him. He'd made a point of correcting her that afternoon as if the 'proper' label made it hurt any less. Even with all his talk about how his stepfather didn't understand him, didn't like Alec's work, it still bothered him. She could hear it in his voice. But she knew if she called him out on his false bravado he'd only shut down on her.
"Okay. So what is it?"
"I just wanted to make sure YOU'RE okay. And Carlos."
"I'm fine. And Carlos is out of surgery. He's in the ICU, probably be there for a few days. But they aren't worried."
"Good."
There was something in his voice. Something lingering. He could track her vitals from her CMR feed, hack into her playback, he would have known how she was. And he wasn't just looking for information about Carlos, especially information he probably had ages ago. A hospital records system was child's play for Alec.
She waited.
"He tried to fix it. He panicked and he screwed up but he tried to fix it. He wasn't trying to kill anyone."
"I know. He probably meant to hit Carlos in the arm, or the leg but in the heat of the moment he didn't have time to really aim. I know that. Even Carlos knew that."
"He was willing to call for help."
"Yeah he was. He was the one that wanted to just get away. No more shooting, no more attacking."
"He was mad. Mad at those companies that took away his dad's farm. Mad at his dad for not doing anything."
"He felt powerless. He didn't like feeling that way. It made him an easy target. Liber8 likes people like him."
"Liber8? You think he's part of Liber8?"
"No, not yet. But they don't like to get their hands dirty. They coerce others into doing the real crimes for them. Let those people take the fall when things go wrong. Take the credit when they go right.
"They could have easily found out about your stepfather. That's probably why Kagame was targeting those companies, the same companies that bankrupted Roland and the other boy's fathers. He wanted to stir them up, make them angry. Roland was perfect. Everyone around knew he talked against the companies, he had the accounts to buy the fertilizer. Hoyt and the others might not have even Julian just how far things were going to go. He might have thought they were just going to make a little slap, a little something to make some noise. He might not have had any idea how far they were going to take it."
"You really believe that? You really believe Julian was a victim."
"Yeah, I do. I really do."
"You scanned him didn't you?"
"Yeah, but I didn't have to. It was all over his face. I could see the fear in his eyes."
"He came back to the house. After the propane blew up. He came back for his dad. Julian didn't want him going to jail. Roland kept saying he was sorry. Sorry about, I don't know. About the farm, About yelling at Julian, almost hitting him. Sorry about not fighting harder, about letting Julian down. I don't know exactly what.
"But Julian started crying. I can't get that image out of my head. He acted like such a jerk, like I told on him just to get him in trouble. I was trying to be family. That's what he wanted. What he said to me. They were the only family I had, I was stuck with them. I was trying to protect him from the insane crap he was going to get himself into. Just like Roland say. And he yelled at me and told me to stay away from him. I even pointed a gun at him when he walked back in and for a minute I really thought I could do it. I could shoot him.
"But then he started crying and he looked so lost and hurt. And I couldn't be mad at him. I can't mad at him. I know he screwed up and I know he has to pay for it. And I should be angry at him. But all I can think about his seeing him crying and then seeing him covered his father's blood."
"Alec, I'm so sorry about that. I should have tried to reach the cops. I should have told them that Roland wasn't the threat, that they had been conned. Or told them that we needed Roland alive, to try to get information about Liber8. Anything so they wouldn't have taken a kill shot, especially with a child standing so close. They could have hit Julian by accident."
"Do you think he knew?"
"Knew?"
"Roland. I told him and my mom that I called the police and told them that the shooters were gone. When Julian came back in, do you think he knew if the cops saw the gun in his hand they would shoot him and they might kill him."
"Yeah, he probably did. But he loved his son and wanted to protect him. When you're a parent you'll understand how strong that feeling is."
"He died to protect Julian and now what? Julian's out there all alone. He's cold and scared and probably thinks my mom and I blame him and hate him. And the cops are looking for him because he shoot Carlos."
"The cops are looking but not because of Carlos. I made it very clear that my superiors at Section 6 were not happy about Roland being shot and they wanted Julian brought in as an endangered child and a potential asset. The boys we arrested gave us enough that Dillon backed me up."
"You did that?"
"Yeah. I did." The image of Kellogg refusing to surrender until his sister had died filled her mind. "I can't make any promises. Liber8 might find him first. They might already have him. And it might be too late to convince him that he's not alone unless he joins them."
"But you're going to try?"
"Yeah, I'm going to try."