Claire was holding on tight, her knuckles white as the car sped along the freeway. Owen could see it too, the fear in her eyes, how pale she was. He shook his head, his grasp on the wheel extremely tight now. He was angry. Very angry, as he would feel his anger rising. They had switched driving once they had reached the road, and even though they had been in safety, they had still worked to go as fast as possible. "Shit…Shit!" He yelled, as he hit the wheel in frustration.
They were going down the freeway now. A good six or seven miles since they had started out, and they were still going. Claire was on the phone now, she had been talking with Masrani for the past half hour it seemed. Her voice was escalating between periods of calmness and barely contained panic. Owen knew what she must be feeling. He had seen it for himself out in the Navy. It was the first time out in the field, shell shock, that was one word for it. He would not blame her at all, as he knew that he could not just keep on driving.
She would hang up after a bit, as Owen would turn and see an exit sign. He turned for the exit, There he could see a few signs saying that there were restaurants at the rest station somewhere down there. He did not care which one, he just needed somewhere to stop. Anywhere would do really, he thought as he would make a few more turns, before ending up parked on the lot of a Marie Callenders. Setting the gear to park, he stopped, resting as he looked at her, shaking his head. "What did he say? We're in some trouble aren't we?" Of course they were, he knew it before he even opened his mouth.
She nodded, leaning back against her car headrest as she sighed. "Yes. He said the footage is already out there. Someone got it out to the news." She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, breathing deeply.
"Fucking hell," Grady replied as he would turn to her, tapping his fingers against the side of the wheel. There was everything he thought that would matter. In the next few days, weeks…it would all come soon. He was almost afraid to check his own phone, the buzzing in his pocket seemed light it had already been going nonstop anyways, so he could just imagine.
"That woman- the cameraman. They Just-they just-" Claire was still shaken he could see. At least she was not hyperventilating like she had been when they first had come out. She had seen death firsthand… And Owen was not going to sugarcoat it, as he undid his belt buckle.
"That happened. But we have to think rationally about this," He shook his head again. Knowing that it was going to be a long while before any of this made sense. "The area was cleared. I know that because I had gone through it the week before. Anything that big…" he would really not understand what had gone wrong. There was something in the back of his head that was nagging at him. Like he was misunderstanding fundamentally what was off about the situation.
Claire blinked, she looked confused, her normally perfect hair was very frazzled as she was taking a shaking sip of water. "Drink it slow, Claire. First hour or so is always going to be the hardest. But you're going to want to keep your mind clear for when they start asking you questions." She looked at him seemingly blankly. Of course, she had spent most of her life as a civilian.
"It was an accident, they'll see it was an accident," she said as she would unbuckle her own seat belt.
"Sure. You know it was an accident. And I know it was an accident. But think of how it looks like since they got it on camera." He would be feeling himself working to control what he was feeling. "Let's go inside."
He took out the keys, as he would hear Claire come out with him as well. Together they would go into the building as they were greeted by the server. They got a corner booth, as Owen sat down, and got coffees for the both of them.
"Masrani said to just sit tight. That they wanted to talk to both of us," She was gripping the coffee cup, her hand still trembling. He would imagine she was. This was not going to be that easy, as he would see just how far they were going to have to go.
"I bet he does. I bet he does." Grady took a sip of the coffee as he took a look up at the tv playing above them. It was already showing footage of the incident, although thankfully no one was paying attention to what was going on. He knew it would not be long before there was some sort of press conference. Then anyone could easily guess what was going to have most of the blame laid.
He just needed time to think. Problem was that he did not have that much experience handling these sorts of situations. Normally it was Claire who should be able to. But this was a real world crisis situation now, a rapidly evolving situation. As he was thinking, he felt his phone buzzing again. Well, it could certainly be worse timing, he thought, as he would take out the phone, and look. Unknown caller.
A text message as well. I was right and you were wrong. Son of a bitch, he thought as he picked up the phone. Claire looked over at him, still confused, but he was going to fill her in a bit. After all, he knew that she had every right to listen.
"This is Richard Levine. We met back at the press conference. Before you hang up, I want you to know that what just happened is proof of what we were trying to say about things not adding up." Owen put it on speaking, looking over at Claire.
Claire mouthed "What the hell does he want?" as she would look intently down over at the cell phone. It was a puzzle allright, as Grady cleared his throat.
"Is there a reason you're calling, Mr. Levine?" He asked, as he already felt he knew. Maybe it was a gut feeling in the back of his stomach. He looked down at the coffee wondering if he was going to need another after this night was done. Most likely, he thought.
"The animal on the tape. You had that area cleared didn't you? There's a good reason for that. I know you know it already." Owen's eyebrow lifted, as he was unsure what the other man was getting at. Claire however, she seemed to get it. Her eyes were getting a bit wider, as she would seem to be tapping the table in something resembling a rhythm.
"We did. I'm watching the news right now too. I think they got my bad side though," Owen quipped. But still, he had no idea where this was leading. He was in no mood to get fucked over, or have a lecture at this point. But he felt this was just the beginning, something was happening that they couldn't stop. That was …something that was going to happen.
"For what it's worth. I truly am sorry. Keep watching the news," the man said as he watched Masrani come on the screen. Grady leaned across the table, nudging Claire's hand so that she would pay attention. At first hesitant, she craned her neck, as her own eyes were suddenly locked on the screen.
"What? But Masrani said that he would wait for me?" Grady felt his grip on the phone tighten a bit, as he was swallowing hard. Masrani was surrounded by reporters, and he was getting ready to say something. But…why now, why so fast? This was wrong. This was very wrong. He couldn't understand.
Or maybe he understood but just did not want to think about it, he looked back at Claire, watching the way her hand was trembling. The television continued on however, as Masrani cleared his throat, speaking to the assembled. "As many of you are aware. There was a situation today. My heartfelt condolences go out to the affected victims, and I assure you that we will do everything in our power to begin an investigation right away." Grady noticed the brunette woman standing to the side of Masrani, she was his PR woman but he had not had much in the way of interaction with her yet.
Maybe Claire did, because she was trembling as she brought the coffee cup to her lips. "A sad, senseless tragedy. Right now, I understand that the two others on that tape, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing survived, and we at Masrani Global are very grateful for that. However, the animal remains at large." Owen swallowed, as he listened to this. Listened to it just go on. It felt like he was somewhere else, somewhere…far away.
For someone who usually did not have this much experience in these matters, it seemed to all drive to the surface now, and he also realized that it was making him, hell both of them extremely uncomfortable. Masrani was turning to the woman now, as her name flashed on screen, and he recalled it now. 'Jessica King'.
"Thank you Masrani…I am sure that you all have a few questions at this time, so I will do my best to see where I can answer…" Owen turned away from the screen as he felt his heart race, the phone seemed almost super glued onto his hand now, as he heard the voice on the end.
"I had a feeling this would happen. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. But if you would like to know what's been going on, go to this address-" Grady gestured for a pen that had been left for the check, and would start writing it down on the napkin. "If Masrani calls, tell him you are on your way. But not before you at least here us out." Grady heard the click on the phone as he stared up at Claire.
"You can call Masrani back if you like…but I'm going to get some answers to what the hell is going on. I'll drive you back if you want but…." He stood up, the money already on the table as he heard Jessica talk. Something about that seemed to ignite something in Claire's eyes as she stood up too, there was a sense of purpose in her eyes now.
"No. That won't be necessary. Because I'm coming with you."