27 Detroit 9.24.2038

Clara

I get a call from Tony two days after Dannie and I were abducted by Benjamin's men. I've been busy working on a follow-up story, heart pumping with the thrill of deadlines. I'm typing up the last sentence in my article when my phone buzzes. I swipe to answer and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, Tony. What's going on?" I'm still focused on the article, fingers tapping out on my laptop. His tone makes me freeze, fingers poised to type words that will never be written.

"Clara."

"What happened?" Something has to have happened for him to use that tone. He has something he needs to tell me but doesn't want to. I can picture him running his hand through his thick hair, eyes crinkled around the corners.

"Dannie's dead."

I feel the breath leave my lungs like someone just punched me in the chest. I stare at the phone, not quite processing his words.

"What?"

"She was getting on the bus, leaving town. Lazarus Benjamin's men got to her. She was shot, execution style. I'm sorry, Clara."

I lean back in the chair, picturing Dannie's wide eyes half-hidden behind thick-rimmed glasses. "This is my fault."

"No, Clara. It isn't. Don't put that blame on yourself." I can tell Tony knew this would be my response, but how could I feel any differently?

"I got her into this. Her death is on my hands." I shouldn't have gone to Cyber Control. I was in over my head, and now an innocent girl has paid the price.

"Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise," I tell him. Were they coming for me next?

"I'm arranging to have the police send someone to watch your place. But I think you should stay with someone."

"No," I say at once. "I'm not putting anyone else in danger." That's all I'd been doing lately. Putting one life after another in danger. Benjamin could come for my family, he could try to have Connor shot down, he could kill my coworkers, he could kill me.

"Clara…"

"How many of his men are still out there? How deeply are they dug into Cyber Control?"

"I don't know. The police have seized control of any and all files and documents at Cyber Control since it came out Benjamin was one of the owners."

"Then they have no reason to kill me. Dannie was where my information came from. She betrayed the company, and so they killed her." I don't mention that she and I had been kidnapped two days before by Lazarus's men and that they had meant to kill both of us then. Someone could be coming for me. The thought doesn't scare me as much as I expect. I'm numb, still in denial about Dannie's death. This one's on me no matter what anyone tries to tell me. I've been off playing detective without really respecting the fact that these are real people, real lives, and real deaths.

"I can't do this anymore," I say aloud, not really talking to Tony anymore.

"Can't do what?" he asks, voice half panicked like I'm talking about living.

"Put people in danger with my stories." If I had never gone to Cyber Control, if I had never asked Dannie to contact me, if if if.

"I'm not going to let the same thing happen to you," Tony tells me forcefully over the phone. "You're getting a police guard tonight whether you want it or not. And don't you fucking leave your house. You need to go somewhere, you call me, you hear me?"

"I hear you." The words come out emotionless, robotic. "I'm going to hang up now," I tell him. I don't have the energy to talk anymore.

"You call me if you need anything, okay?"

The word 'okay' bubbles up in my throat, but if I let it out, a sob will accompany it. I nod instead even though Tony can't see it, and hang up.

I spend the next few hours huddled on my couch under a blanket. The binds and curtains are shut tight. I hear a car pull up twenty minutes after my call with Tony, and I peek out the blinds to see a police car. He wasn't kidding about the guard, and I wonder how long it will take until I'm murdered or Benjamin's men lose interest.

I have several missed calls from Horowitz, which I ignore. The article is still up on my computer screen, but it went into sleep mode hours ago and I haven't bothered to wake it up. No more stories for me. Not if they're going to get people hurt. Here I thought I could make a difference with my words, but it turns out the snipers were mightier than the pen this time.

I fall asleep at some point, waking up some time past 3 am to drag myself into bed. I lock my bedroom door and double-check the locks on the windows. The cop car is still outside, but I see a different officer watching the house.

I call Horowitz first thing in the morning to tell him I'm quitting. His reaction is predictable: anger, disbelief. In the end, denial. He tells me my desk will be waiting until I'm ready to set my ass back down in it. I tell him not to hold his breath. I've slumped so low from the high of my successful career, but I can't imagine going back to work with Dannie's blood on my hands.