The man known locally as Bryce Caldwell was a creature of habit. Give or take a minute or two, Caldwell arrived at the Dennis County Aquatic Center at eleven each morning. Thirty minutes of socializing and lackadaisical laps, twenty minutes steaming in the sauna, a quick shower and he was back out on Chester Street by noon.

Predictably then, at two minutes thirteen seconds past the hour, Bryce Caldwell came strutting out the dressing room door, nodding amiably here and there as he made his way toward the diving board at the far end of the pool.

Seven hundred and twenty one yards from the diving board, the shooter settled his chin onto his chest, and pushed the Kevlar and fiberglass stock tight against his shoulder. He made an adjustment to the BORS optical ranging system mounted on top of the scope and waited as the computer
’
s trio of sensors annexed the flight angle, the temperature and the barometric conditions and then calculated a ballistic solution. He readjusted the focus. The image was remarkable. The face on the crucifix Caldwell wore was turned aside in the classic manner, the crown of thorns, clear as day.

The shooter settled deeper into the snow, wiggling himself around until he was satisfied with the stability of his firing position. He snapped the lead onto the radar vital signs monitor.
Several seconds passed.
The screen blinked to life.
He adjusted the contrast and watched his respiration signature on the LCD and then closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.

Caldwell mounted the diving board, paused long enough to allow the local matrons to admire his leonine physique then walked forward, bouncing up and down several times as he readied himself for yet another display of aquatic agility.

Caldwell lifted his arms above his head, raised himself onto his toes and…and then did something he’d never done before, he lowered his arms and looked back over his shoulder, out through the massive glass front of the building, toward the frozen foothills beyond the edge of town, staring intently, as if some vestigial inner ear detected the whisper of fate.

Later perusals of police reports confirmed that the word most often used by those unfortunate enough to have borne witness to the moment was “exploded.” Or at least that’s how it seemed to the patrons of the Aquatic Center that morning, as major portions of Bryce Caldwell’s splintered spine and pureed internal organs formed a scarlet armada on the surface of the pool, a full second and a half before the sound of the shot arrived.

What followed was wild scramble for cover, accompanied by a calliope of screaming and gagging. Several tense minutes passed before anyone noticed the big spidery hole high up in the front window.

West Coast Operations Director Bobby Duggan levered himself from his chair, stretching and rolling his neck as he walked across his office and out into the hall. Bobby had stayed a ‘Bobby’ in the manner of southern men, allowed to retain his boyish moniker into middle age, an affectation, for some reason, denied his more northerly counterparts. He walked slowly, as if ambling down some country lane on the way to a favorite fishing hole.

He crossed the deeply carpeted corridor and used his key card on the door directly opposite the water cooler, stepped inside and closed the door behind himself. The air was silent and still. When the multimodal biometric scanners had finished their perusal of his person, the inner door automatically clicked open. He stepped inside.

Daniel Rosen doused his computer screen as the security door eased open. Rosen was new school, one of the recent breed of Secret Service Regional Supervisors who, contrary to long-standing tradition, had not risen through the ranks, but rather had been plucked straight from business school for his administrative capabilities.

Several years younger and a several inches shorter than Duggan, Rosen was forty years old, slightly under six feet, with a black scouring pad of hair, pale translucent skin and eyes so dark they seemed to disappear into his face.

“He’s on the way,” Duggan said without preamble. “Jumped on a dead-head flight from Brussels ten minutes ago.”

“Just as you predicted,” Rosen conceded.

Duggan shrugged. “Not exactly rocket science. In the past twenty-four hours, he’s made eleven attempts to contact Gilbert Fowles. Jackson Craig’s not the most patient man in the world.” Bobby made a rueful face. “He’s an old hand,” he said. “You’re only going to be able to put him off for so long before he figures it out.”

“But leaving his post without orders…”

“Turns out he finagled a leave of absence,” Bobby said.

“From whom?”

“His INTERPOL supervisor. Renee Latchman.”

Rosen scrunched his face into a knot. “He should have had the decency to resign way back when.”

“As long as the investigation has fallen to us…” Bobby began.

Rosen’s dark eyes flashed in anger. “I did everything possible to pass on it. The deal was consummated before they ever said a word to us.”

“Sooooo….” Bobby said. “As long as we’re stuck with this…”

“I can’t see how a one-handed man whose been off the dance floor for five years is the right man for a job like this.”

“If his medical evaluations can be believed, physically he’s pretty much back to where he was before he lost the hand. Maybe better. As you recall, he’s recently applied for reinstatement to regular duty status,” Bobby reminded.

Rosen scowled. “We told him that wasn’t going to be possible under current regulations. I assumed that was the end of it.”

Bobby made a rude noise with his lips. “He signed himself up for the physical competency course we run trainees through. Finished eighteenth out of eighty three. Most of them twenty years his junior, all of them with two hands. Citing his disability just ain’t gonna float here, Dan. The Equal Opportunity hounds are gonna be all over us like ugly on an ape.”

Rosen looked away. “I’m not interested in making new policy,” he snapped.

Bobby carried on as if he hadn’t heard. “Last thing we want to do is get into a pissin’ contest with a hero.”

“A one-handed hero,” Rosen amended.

An uneasy silence settled over the office.

“We’ll need to monitor him very closely,” Rosen said finally.

“I believe we might be able to dovetail our other disciplinary matter into this thing. Perhaps kill more than one bird with a single stone,” he grimaced. “If you’ll forgive me the unfortunate figure of speech.”

When Emelda’s hand touched his shoulder, Gilbert flinched hard enough to bang his head on the car’s upraised hood. He stood rubbing the sore spot, waiting for his heart to stop the drum solo. Gilbert expelled a great whoosh of air and covered her hand with his own. She smiled, wan and worried, but a smile nonetheless.

“I think you’re going to have to go get Becky,” Emelda said.

That his wife had been able to cross the breezeway from the house to the garage without Gilbert noticing spoke volumes about how distracted he was. At least that’s what Gilbert told himself. The alternatives included the unpleasant possibility that the years living as a civilian had eroded his skills to the point where he was more of a liability than an asset at moments such as this.

“She remembers the last time,” Emelda said, sensing Gilbert’s uncertainty.

“I know,” Gilbert said, closing the hood of the car.

She looked over her shoulder. The rhythmic slap of the basketball on pavement drew her eyes toward Michael, who, at nearly five years old, was more or less oblivious to the situation. As far as he was concerned, their last name had always been Browning, they had always lived in Western Pennsylvania and they were simply taking an unexpected vacation, like when they went to meet his grandparents. She watched as Michael used every ounce of his being to launch the basketball upward, where it hung on the rim and then fell through the net.

Becky was another matter. She’d been eight the last time they been forced to decamp. She remembered being Rebecca Fowles, remembered the palm trees, the sand between her toes and the warm breeze from the ocean. The adjustment had been difficult for her. In the past year or so, her wardrobe had faded to black while her grades had merely faded.

“Are you sure we can’t call?” Emelda tried. Righteous indignation flashed in her dark eyes. “They’re supposed to take care of things like this,” she hissed.

Gilbert shrugged. “They’ve been breached,” he said.

“How can you be sure?” she demanded.

“There’s no other way,” he said. “That’s why I set up my own cut-outs. Just in case.” His lips were tight. “Somebody’s got a leak.”

“But…”

“Requests for the kids’ birth certificates. Our credit information. Somebody’s sniffing around our lives.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. I…” His voice had begun to rise. He composed himself. “I tried to send an emergency message to the service.” He raised his hands in frustration. “It bounced. The protocols have changed.” He stepped over and took her in his arms. He whispered in her ear. “Right now, I’m not sure who to trust, so I’m not going to trust anybody until I get you guys someplace safe,” he said.

“Maybe it’s some kind of computer glitch. Maybe we can come back here,” she tried. “You know, take up our lives again.”

“Maybe,” he said without conviction. He shook the fear from himself, took a half step back and looked her in the eye. “We’ll figure it out,” he said. “In the meantime, it’s best we err of the side of caution.” The terror in his gut screamed like a chainsaw. He turned and walked quickly toward the house.

“Beckster,” he called. “Let’s get it girl. Times a wastin’.”

He didn’t expect an answer. These days, Becky was far too sullen for shouting. Gilbert kept walking, all the way through the house and out onto what had once been a service porch, a space his daughter had converted into her own private cavern.

Gilbert knocked. No answer. No surprise.

He pushed the door open and stepped into the room. What had once been a shrine to Hanna Montana and the Jonas Brothers, had, in recent months, taken on a considerably darker tone. Day-Glo red NO TRESPASSING sign tacked diagonally across a Third Eye Blind poster. Gilbert walked to the alcove at the back left of the room. The inner sanctum of the inner sanctum.

Other books

Marry Me by Stivali, Karen

The Singer by Elizabeth Hunter

A Song in the Daylight by Paullina Simons

Eclipse of the Soul: The Interdimensional Saga, Book 2 by J.L. Hendricks

Ron Goulart - John Easy 03 - The Same Lie Twice by Ron Goulart

Fallen for Her by Armstrong, Ava

Take Three, Please by Anwen Stiles

The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis

If I Should Die: A Kimber S. Dawn MC Novel by Kimber S. Dawn

The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens