Serah awoke to find herself lying on her bed. Light stung her eyes, and an unfamiliar, pungent odor hung in the air. She sniffed, trying to place it, then forced her eyes open. A low voice came from the kitchen area, the words too low to make out. Sudden pain in her ribcage sent a flood of memories into her consciousness.
There was a struggle. She had been knocked unconscious or had possibly fainted. She suddenly remembered the gun pointed at her and sat up with a half-scream that she quickly stifled, fearing her attacker was still there, waiting for her to wake up. The pain, delayed by panic and adrenaline, suddenly arrived at her temple where the butt of the plaser had struck her, then to her chest a few seconds later. She’d broken ribs before in an aircar accident. This pain, while intense, was not nearly as debilitating. Just bruised, she decided. Without proper medical attention, she would likely be sore for a week or two, but unless she was hemorrhaging internally, she should still be able to fight and escape her captor. There would only be this one chance.
She forced herself out of bed, balancing herself against the wall to avoid falling over. Her legs were weak, and the throbbing in her head got worse. This was not going to be easy. She looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. Though not convenient, the only portable object that held any weight was the lamp on her nightstand. She quietly picked it up in both hands and held it in a ready position like a club. Still disoriented and unable to steady herself, she leaned against the wall and stepped into the living room from the sleeping area.
“Woah!” Sergeant David Parrino yelped in surprise, nearly dropping the cup he carried. He reached out with his free hand, slowly pressed down on the lamp to get Serah to lower it, then grabbed her under the arm and walked her to the couch.
Serah stumbled backward and dropped the lamp to the floor. “What are you doing here?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you say something when you heard me scream?”
“Experience,” Parrino said as if the answer were obvious. “When you’re an unexpected visitor in a woman’s apartment, there are many ways to announce your presence. By sight and from a distance are usually the best ones that won’t get you shot … or … lamped.” He handed her the cup and saucer and moved her towards the sofa. “It has a pain suppressant mixed into it,” he explained.
She took the saucer, trying to keep her shaking hands from spilling the cup to the floor. Something caught the corner of her eye. She looked and saw her assailant lying face down on the floor. She shrieked again, then rolled her eyes in frustration at how helpless she must appear to Parrino. She struggled for a moment, trying to process what must have happened while she was unconscious.
“Is he…”
“Oh, yes,” Parrino said without emotion.
“Why haven’t you called the police?” Serah asked.
“I am the police.” Parrino shrugged.
Serah rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I’ll call it in. Right after I talk to you one-on-one. It’s still calm, and there aren’t a half-dozen forensic specialists hovering around your apartment. It’s nicer this way.” He moved his head to ensure there was eye contact between them. “Are you okay with all this so far?”
She nodded, grabbing the cup from the table and taking a sip. She winced as she swallowed.
“Did he do that bad a number on you?” Parrino asked, concerned.
“I wasn’t expecting tea. I still can’t decide if I like it or not.” She set the cup down quickly, spilling most of its contents on the table.
“I’ll get you something else,” Parrino offered and stood up.
A panicked thought hit Serah. She spotted her bag on the table and remembered the weapon she had stashed before heading towards Spitalfields. Summoning all her strength, she leaped up, reached into it, and retrieved the strange gun. She aimed it directly at Parrino’s head, her hands shaking as she fell back against the wall. She winced as the pain from the sudden motion registered in her brain a few seconds later.
“Whoa! Hang on. You don’t want to do this, Serah.”
“Why are you here? How did you know where to find me? And the tea? Why did you bring me that tea?”
“I’m sorry,” Parrino said in a soothing tone, obviously trying to calm Serah. “I just chose the most recently accessed selection on your dispenser menu. I wasn’t expecting it to upset you like this.
Serah considered this for a moment. Had tea been the last item she got from the dispenser? She steadied the gun and eyed Parrino suspiciously.
“As for how I found you, well, that’s what I do for a living, Ms. Wyles,” he said accusingly. “And the reason I came here is because I knew you were in trouble, and I thought we could help each other out.”
“What!?” Serah exclaimed incredulously.
“Do you know who he was?” Parrino asked, indicating the body on the floor.
“No, he just barged in here claiming I was working with Halferne. He …” She went back, trying to remember the exact words her attacker used. “He said he was going to put an end to this. I had no idea what he was talking about. I don’t know what ‘this’ is. He was acting insane.”
“Okay, that fits,” Parrino said. “His name was Bernard Ducard. He was a special agent with Division 4’s European Office. He was working on the Halferne case but wasn’t supposed to be. His partner said he went rogue. He was obsessed with you and was trying to locate you.”
“Yes, I saw him in Nine Stones right before I met you. He kept staring at me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
Parrino nodded his understanding of the situation and held up a hand. “You want to tell me about that gun?”
“I don’t know. I found it in my bag. I think it’s the gun that killed Halferne.”
“It’s a flechette pistol.” Parrino nodded. “The same kind that killed Halferne and a billy named Galloway.”
“I know.” Serah’s voice was thin and shaky. “I know what this looks like, but I didn’t kill them. At least, I don’t think I did.”
“I don’t think you did either,” Parrino said, slowly reaching for the gun.
“Stay back!” Serah cried, but Parrino kept moving towards her. In a panic, she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened. She felt Parrino gently pry her fingers from the gun’s handle and slowly guide her back to the sofa. “It’s obvious you don’t know the first thing about handling a gun,” he explained.
Serah gasped. “I could have—”
“You don’t even know how to arm this one.” He smiled.
Serah remembered what Erik said about it essentially being a collection of parts and chemicals until it was activated. She laughed nervously and sat back down on the couch.
“I’m working on a theory that Ducard killed Halferne, then went after you. The next day, he killed Galloway, mistakenly assuming he was working with you and Halferne. With the bodies piling up, he planned this in your bag at Nine Stones, hoping we’d pick you up for the murders. Then he could have you transferred to his custody and eliminate you quietly. No loose ends; no further investigations.
Serah thought it through. “Why did you pick me out? Why did he think I was working with Galloway? I barely knew him. And, I’d never even heard Halferne’s name before.”
“Is that entirely true?” Parrino looked disappointed, “My partner and I both had the feeling you knew who Halferne was when you saw the body. We also know you’re not a beat reporter. You’re an international correspondent. You had no reason to be anywhere near that part of town, much less wandering a quarter mile into a construction site to a crime scene.”
“I’m not involved in any of this if that’s what you’re insinuating. At least … I don’t think I am?”
“I believe you,” Parrino assured her. “At least, I believe you don’t know how you fit in, but you are mixed up in this somehow. You were spotted at Nine Stones for the first time in five years the day after Halferne was killed, and you wandered right into the exact spot where he was murdered just minutes after we got there. This puts you right at the scene of two murders. Now, maybe I have a theory that works for some of this, but the analyzers, and any sensible cop that doesn’t know you, isn’t going to see it that way. So, you’ll have to trust me and come clean with what you’re not telling me.”
Parrino spoke so quickly that Serah had to briefly digest the words. She still wasn’t sure she trusted him and couldn’t tell if he genuinely trusted her, but she decided she didn’t care anymore. She just wanted the whole affair to be over with. “Do you believe in precognition?”
Parrino sat down next to her, apparently confused by the unexpected question. “That’s your story? You’re some kind of psychic?”
Serah slowly and meticulously recounted the events of the past three days for the Sergeant. She began with the malfunctioning dreamspinner, the missing gaps in her memory where she went to Nine Stones, and the dream that led her to the murder site. By the time she came to the shade and the warnings from Flo about massive amounts of data being dumped in her head, contrary to all known neuroscience, Parrino was enthralled.
“I thought my hunch would be hard to sell to the analyzers, but yours is completely out there. I don’t buy mind control, and certainly not by dumping information into someone’s brain through a skullcap.”
“But I’m telling you the absolute truth,” Serah pleaded. “You have to believe me.”
Parrino studied her for a moment, exhaled slowly, and nodded. “Okay, let’s say I do believe you. What am I supposed to do now?”
“There has to be a reason for all of this. The most logical explanation seems to be that Halferne is behind it. He’s trying to send me a message or wants me to do something.”
Parrino thought for a moment. “Ducard didn’t give you anything to go on?”
“Nothing that made sense. He knew who I was and was convinced that I was working for Halferne, but other than that, he was completely raving.”
“We’re going to need something more useful than that.” Parrino laughed slightly.
Serah thought momentarily, trying to remember what else the man had said. “He seemed convinced I was Halferne’s only ally in London, but he said he was going to go back and get the others after he eliminated me.”
Parrino’s comm unit chirped. He raised his wrist and studied the readout. “It’s Mak,” he said. “I’ll get a team over here to take care of this. Just relax until then.” He stood up and walked into the kitchen.
Serah thought for a moment, trying to come up with any sort of connection she might have to Halferne, hoping it might lead to his other allies, but as far as Erik or anyone else seemed to know, he died two Q-gates and 50 light-years away when she was an infant. She thought about calling Erik again and asking him to try to dig up more, but even Erik’s best work showed the man had been completely off any network for decades. He couldn’t even find a record of how long he’d been on Earth, much less who he had spoken to since arriving. She sipped at the tea again, finding she was beginning to like the flavor despite the strong, pungent aroma.
Parrino returned to the room looking determined. “Never mind relaxing. We’ve got work to do. I need you to come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because this case just got weirder. You know more about what’s happening than I do, and you’re safer with me.”
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