Friend and Foe

Chapter Nine

Hazel and I ran into Officer Cosun when we went to the hospital two days later, at the start of what was to be our second consecutive day of visiting. He was with an elder officer, questioning Abb and her parents.

Officer Cosun's eyes locked on me as we came in.

The elder officer had a pen poised over a notepad as he asked, "And that's all you recall?"

"Yes. Wait," she sat up, "no." Everybody leaned closer to hear her next words. "Parker."

The only people in the room who didn't automatically turn to look at me at that moment was Hazel and the elder officer. Officer Cosun had a smug grin on his face.

"Parker wasn't there," Hazel stepped up to her with a gentle smile, "remember she didn't go on the trip with us."

Officer Cosun raised an eyebrow, "Why was that Miss Smith?"

"I was busy. I'm a Uni student. A future Politian."

"You know what that means?" He had a smart-arse grin on his face. "You're basically training to be the best liar in the country."

I matched his grin. "You know the joke too?"

"I'm not talking about the whole time," Abb said, stealing everybody's attention. "I'm talking about the night we were rescued. I woke up and saw her eyes."

"That was Whisper. She rescued us," Hazel said gently.

"Oh." She closed her eyes and leaned back into her pillows murmuring, "My bad."

My Companion vibrated then, a message coming in. Gwen had told me to be ready for more further communications, so I excused myself and stepped out into the hall. Footsteps followed me out of the room, but I didn't look back as I read the message on screen.

Extended verbal communication transmission at 0830 – G.O.

That was ten minutes away, so I typed back a reply and turned to face my follower. I was unsurprised to find Officer Cosun appraising me, lurking just far enough away to make it weird. I closed the space between us slowly, studying him in return.

"Am I a suspect?" I snapped at him, "Because this is bordering harassment."

"Are you Whisper?"

I leaned back against the wall with my arms folded over my chest, "Gee, Commissioner Gordon. Give it up. You're looking for Batman but you're just gonna find Robin."

"I won't tell anybody," he promised.

"There's nothing to tell but I hardly believe that. You find out about a superhero that goes in reports and the big guys read them and then it goes to the Politian's and then the media and boom, secret identities for all to see. And also, what's the point of you knowing if you're not going to tell anybody?"

"Well, because I'd like to know who I'm really asking out."

Rolling my eyes, I tipped my head to face the ceiling, wishing I didn't feel my cheeks warm. "How can a girl say 'no' after being asked like that?"

He sighed and I heard his feet start to recede. I pushed off the wall and looked at him.

"Wait," I said, suddenly reluctant to let him just walk away, "here's a deal..."

***

"Good morning, Ma'am," I said into my companion.

"G'morning Parker. I have good and bad news for you," she replied.

"Am I picking which one I want first?"

"No. Good news first. The Hub has been re-established. Your handler is sending you the address now. In more good news, we have identified the person responsible for the security breach."

I asked, "Who?"

"I can't disclose that to you right now. What I can tell you is his future location," she said.

"You want me to bring him in?"

"No." She stated coldly, matter-of-fact, "I want to bring him down."