Shards

chapter 16

Chapter 16:

 Rys projected images from his computer onto a small plasma TV. The first video was surveillance camera footage. At first there was nothing out of the ordinary; cars passing on the street, pedestrians. Then I saw it. A girl stumbled around the corner. Her hand trailed along the bricks, as she attempted to steady herself. Her right leg almost dragged, as she advanced with small shuddering hops.

“Is that?”

It wasn't really a necessary question. I could tell from the short black dress and leather boots, that this girl was indeed me.

Rys nodded. “This is the first video we have of you. Camera coverage is spotty, but we've got fairly regular sightings after this. Before... nothing. It's like you appeared out of thin air. Officers have been investigating things in the vicinity, but they've come up blank.”

He clicked another button, and the screen changed. This time it was a news caster, commenting on the video she showed behind her.

“Several eye witness accounts have proven the legitimacy of this video.”

It showed a grainy shot of the mountains. Blocked from view by a foothill, something emitted a trail of black smoke.

“The entire area is off limits to the public, and police are refusing to comment on what exactly happened that night.”

I looked at Rys, an eyebrow raised.

“That's because we don't know!” Rys defended himself. “The FBI had the scene locked down before our officers even got there. All I know was that it was some type of private party. I think there were some government bigwigs there or something. That's probably why they got jurisdiction.”

A voice from behind us, took me by surprise. “If you ask me, the entire thing screams off the books meetings.”

Erica leaned around the wall of the cubicle. She was back!

“I'm not saying you're wrong, but I wouldn't be saying it so loudly.”

I turned away, focusing back in on shot of the mountain. I'd been wearing a formal dress, and wherever I went, destruction seemed to follow. It only made sense that I'd had something to do with the mysterious smoke.

“You think Jane had something to do with this?” James asked.

Rys shrugged. “We can't rule anything out.”

“Sounds plausible,” I said, keeping my attention fixed on the screen.

“We've really got nothing else. There's a whole lot of security camera footage to go through, and there's an agent out looking for material evidence. If you have any questions...”

I shook my head. “No, it's fine. There's a couple of leads that I want to follow up with James. If that's okay?”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Rys lead us back out of the cubicle. “Leon's supposed to help you with that.”

James nodded. “Yeah.”

In Leon's office, he asked me what it was, exactly, that I wanted to investigate.

“Well um...” I paused. Something had just occurred to me. I couldn't ask Leon to help me search something, if I didn't tell him about the flashbacks. Why hadn't I thought of this ahead of time?

“Yes?”

There had been one other thing I'd wanted to know. If only I could remember it.

“Oh yeah!” I exclaimed. “Remember when I was talking to Rachel on the phone? She said that Naithen was talking about a general, who got shot. I know it may have been big news, but it's not like I remember.”