Dangerous by Default

23. How could you

Mina felt the pressure of Caine's eyes on her but she could not move. Her mouth curled into a snarl. She fought it back, refusing to let her emotions crack in public, to reveal anything but a calm, confident exterior. But Mina's eyes remained fixed on the grey shape that lay in the shadows behind the Spanish columns. Propped on the floor, its four shiny buttons caught the light, a neatly sewn row on its purple sash. The symbol of their most private pact now lay among the junk heap of his ego for all to see.

"Mina, there's something I need to tell you," she heard a raspy voice say through the din of the crowd. A shiver of hot tears lapped at her eyes.

"How could you," she shot back.

Her voice projected louder than she expected, and the pained sound of her voice froze everything around her to a sudden halt. All conversation in the gallery stopped, all eyes were darting between her, glancing at him, then back to her.

She imagined the phantom outline of a robotic dog leading the way through the crowd towards the exits, and she followed it. She could hear Caine pleading with her, calling her name, but his voice became a distant mumble in the tangle of her mind.

It was one thing for the investors to flee her. They were simple-minded, ever focused on the possibility of future profits. She knew she could win them back in a heartbeat when, no if, they finally saw what she and Ami had created.

Rupert, on the other hand, was a blow she hadn't expected. Her longest advisor, the first person to believe in her, had lost faith in her just when she needed him the most, and was preparing for the exits. She hadn't even had time to process this fresh wound.

And now Caine. Her mind raced back to the email from the adoption agency. Had he finally run out of use for her, too? Was this all she would amount to for him, a felt hat with four buttons?

She looked at him one last time, her head shaking in sadness, before rushing off to the elevators. Stepping into the elevator car, she could hear Caine's voice calling to her through the crowd. She shut her eyes, feeling the intense gaze of everyone in the museum watching her once again. But this time, it felt awful. She just wanted to disappear.

Just as the elevator doors started to close, the sound of a large silver tray clattered to the ground. She opened her eyes just in time to see the flash of a black-suited caterer racing towards her.

. . .

When the clang of a silver tray jolted through the room, Janus snapped to attention. Another fire drill? She thought. Her mind raced back to the list of caterers. One of the women on staff had sent up a red flag - she had a background of paranoid schizophrenia, and her daughter was in the hospital for imitating a Caine stunt. The mother of the moon-faced girl in the police station. But, there are plenty of high functioning individuals in society who have a history of neurological and emotional challenges. The police couldn't bar her from working just because she had a red flag in her background, and a possible motive.

"Where are you right now?" Ami asked her, her head tilted to the side and her face scrunched in a concerned expression. She could disappear into her thoughts all too easily. It was a constant source of tension between them during the ordeal of the Alpine Killer investigation. Even when you are with me, you are miles away she would say.

"Sorry babe, just taking a dip in the mental madness pool. I'm back," she said, faking a smile. She glanced around furtively. Where did that caterer go? Her eyes crossed the exits and the walkways in a single sweep. Then she saw it.

"Ami, I want you to go to the bathroom right away. Go into a stall and lock the door."

"What? What's happening?"

Janus reached into her coat and unbuttoned the holster. "Now," she said forcefully as she withdrew her weapon. She didn't have time to explain that the gun from the museum display was missing. The first shot rang out from the direction of the elevator bank.