End of Innocence
Chapter 15
Library Office, Manhattan, later, same day
His cellphone buzzed on his desk, and Finch lifted the case. He saw who it was, calling back.
"Yes, Miss Shaw."
"Finch, I got your message," and she left it at that for the moment.
Shaw looked out at the shed, and the woodpile stacked there. Snow had been falling all morning, and it'd covered the yard back there with a layer of light, fluffy snow. She'd stepped out on the deck to make her call to Finch.
"Are you well, Miss Shaw?"
"Well?"
"I hadn't heard from you, and I was beginning to be concerned."
"Oh – I'm good. Should be ready to come back in a few more days." She paused a moment and then wanted to cut off any more questions about where she was right now. "You mentioned something important you wanted to tell me."
"Yes."
She could hear the hesitation in his voice.
"I've learned about a situation that may come back to us, Miss Shaw. You'll remember that visit to that bank vault with Arthur?"
"Yeah. The back-ups for the computer system."
"Exactly. And when he destroyed them, we thought that would be the end of it."
"There's another copy someplace else?"
"Something like that," he said. "We were able to ascertain that the back-ups he destroyed were fakes. The real ones were stolen and brought to a new player. Ex-MI-6 agent, and now possibly working with the Chinese. We're still tracking things down."
"Why does he want the code, Finch?"
"We don't know yet, Miss Shaw. But if he intends to deploy the code – "
"It'll be competition for the Machine," she said.
"Yes. Competition, or perhaps a threat – to all of us. We have no idea what its intentions might be." He paused again for a moment. "We'll need to stay aware, Miss Shaw. It's possible that this code could be brought up in a test mode to demonstrate its capabilities. There are a number of governments who would pay handsomely for access to a system like this. We need to find this agent and determine his plans – as quickly as we can."
"I'll be in touch, Finch. Soon."
Shaw was sure that Finch had more to say, but this wasn't the time. He and the Machine had work to do back in New York. It'd buy her the time that she needed. She had work to do, here, with Reese.
Maybe a couple more days like they'd done so far. And once he'd been fever-free for a day, she'd switch him to oral meds. Then it was up to him to finish the course on his own.
The wound would be the tricky part. It'd still need to have the packing changed. She'd have to show him how to do it, himself.
He'd been through worse.
Shaw stared at the snow coming down. Building up pretty fast there on the mountain.
She turned back to the cabin and went inside. Reese was pouring another cup of coffee. He held the pot up and she nodded. He found her cup and filled it, then handed it off to her.
She felt his eyes on her. Nothing she wanted to talk about. What Finch had said should stay between the two of them.
Reese had to decide where he stood. She'd see it through with him for a few more days, but she'd make it clear he was on his own after that. She needed to get back to New York and Reese was gonna do what he needed to do.
He hadn't said anything.
Shaw looked up at him.
"I'm gonna need to get back. Couple more days, and I'll head out," she said.
He nodded, blue eyes scanning her face.
"So, here's what we need to do. You'll need the IV back in until you've gone 24 hours without a fever. Then it'll be safe to switch to oral meds. I'll show you how to change the dressing and the packing. Should have enough supplies to get you through."
Reese didn't say anything. His eyes were down, and he seemed to be thinking about something.
In a little while, he went over to the stove and threw a few logs in. Then he headed to the deck for more wood to stack by the stove.
His walking was steadier, but he tired fast. He went back to his spot on the couch to rest after that.
Later in the day, Chase came by. He said the road in was getting clogged with snow and the plows were out. The forecast was predicting a heavy snow coming in, and he'd brought in some fresh food, and the laundry he'd brought to town for them. Had a new bottle of Reese's favorite whiskey, too, and a six-pack of beer. Shaw had to tell them that Reese couldn't drink while he was on one of the antibiotics – it'd make him regret it if he did. Reese scowled.
Shaw disappeared into the bedroom for a while to let them talk. She had some thinking and planning to do, in private.
She wasn't used to thinking this way, and it took a lot of concentration for her to do it: one of the reasons she didn't like to be around people. They always needed things: and some of them were almost impossible for her to do.
She didn't usually get people – read them – the way Reese or Finch would do. So, when people expected her to react a certain way, she didn't. Her disorder.
Sometimes, like for a mission, she could fake it. But it took all of her concentration to pull it off. Not something she wanted to do for very long. Exhausting.
So, for her, better not to be around people who needed that from her.
This thing with Reese and Carter – she knew she needed to tread easy with him. She could make a mistake.
Finch had called it anguish – that sound Reese had made in his sleep after they'd brought him back to the Library Office. Seems like he wasn't over it yet. Seems like he'd be staying here in Colorado.
Didn't make sense to her.
And that's what she needed to figure out. What to say before she left.
If she said the wrong things, maybe she'd make things worse.
Had to concentrate and figure this out.