Read Nexus: Ziva Payvan Book 2 Online
Authors: EJ Fisch
Something had changed there in the RG headquarters since the news of Ziva Payvan’s death, almost as if a cloud of stagnant air had been lifted and everyone could finally breathe. It had been the topic of many a conversation over the past two hours. His men had returned, having witnessed the entire incident under the command of the Noro office’s Lieutenant Aroska Tarbic, and had already been debriefed. Nothing about their story seemed out of place – it was the smaller background details that were bothering Zona.
The fact that Payvan was even in town had been first brought to his attention when Captain Diago Dasaro had contacted him and informed him that Tarbic had spotted her just outside the Royal City. The first thing Zona had considered odd was the captain’s request for the hovercams. He understood Dasaro’s desire for proof of death, but there’d been plenty of other agents at the scene who could provide adequate testimonies. There had been something in his tone of voice, something obsessive, desperate, that Zona didn’t like. With a specialization in behavioral analysis, he wondered if the man had ulterior motives for wanting the bots, whether they were related to the case or not.
The second thing that struck him as odd was Dasaro’s order to have Payvan killed on sight. Yes she had murdered Officer Tachi and yes she had escaped HSP custody, but why not just escort her to the Haphor Facility until her hearing as originally planned? Perhaps Dasaro was just bitter about losing a high-priority prisoner and simply didn’t want to risk it happening again.
Out of curiosity Zona had brought up Lieutenant Tarbic’s file, puzzled as to Dasaro’s reasons for demanding that he lead the strike team. The man’s record was spotless, and it even appeared that he had been allied with Payvan two months earlier, with the exception of a vague altercation at the end of that stint. Why he’d been chosen to kill her, Zona could only guess.
Then there was Eason Fromm, the coroner who had filed the autopsy report on Agent Spence. The news of the fatal car collision had come trickling into the office amid the chaos of trying to assemble a team to accompany Tarbic to the relay station. At first it hadn’t even registered that it could have anything to do with Kade or the rest of the case, but once the dust stirred up by Dasaro had settled and Zona had gotten a chance to read over the reports, his imagination had begun to run wild. Certainly there were bots that malfunctioned all the time and people killed in vehicle crashes every day, but under the circumstances he felt entirely uncomfortable dismissing it as a mere coincidence. If by some miracle Shevin was right about the report being altered, it meant someone somewhere was hiding something. Only Fromm would have been able to confirm the real cause of death. Zona sighed; there was just something
off
about the whole thing, exactly as Shevin kept insisting.
In the event that Spence had been murdered,
why?
Had Payvan somehow done it upon realizing he’d survived the crash? It was unlikely, especially if she’d really saved his life like he claimed. If he was vouching for Payvan, then perhaps one of her enemies wanted to silence him. Dasaro was certainly her enemy, though the term was merely relative to the situation….
Zona knew it wasn’t his place to go about secretly investigating a superior officer, but Agent Shevin’s theory that something else was going on seemed more and more relevant as time went on. He felt sorry for the boy and had already considered inviting him back to work more than once. He’d refrained from doing so, however, wary of being accused of playing favorites. Regional Director Zinck probably wouldn’t be thrilled with it either, not after having heard the rumors about Shevin’s outbursts and ridiculous claims. The young man could use some time to recuperate anyway, Zona had decided, despite the fact that the whole mess with Payvan seemed to be over.
The problem with voicing his opinions was the same reason he had wanted Kade to keep quiet: HSP’s powers-that-be – now determined to be this Captain Dasaro – seemed bent on conducting the hunt and investigation without question. He imagined it wouldn’t hurt to do a little digging now that Payvan was dead, though if Dasaro really was up to something there was no telling what he might do in retaliation.
Torn between staying on task and uncovering the truth, Zona concluded that there was no harm in at least looking into Dasaro and Payvan’s collective past. If there was some reason he wanted her dead, some reason he’d seemed so obsessed with hunting her down – other than from a law enforcement standpoint, of course – maybe it would shed a little light on things and help put Zona’s mind at ease.
With a sigh, he pried himself away from his observation point and began to wander back toward his office, immediately feeling as though his brain had just been unplugged from an energy source. After a couple of hours of solitude and quiet maybe he’d be able to come up with something, and maybe, just maybe, he would ask young Shevin to come back to work tomorrow.
His secretary looked up from her workstation outside his door as he neared. He acknowledged her with a dip of his head as he opened the office. “Lora, please hold my calls and see to it that I am not disturbed until further notice.”
“Sure,” she said. “By the way, Director Zinck had all the information from the car crash sent over, as well as everything the field office has on the faulty bot. I had all of it transferred into your system.”
“Thank you, Lora, I appreciate it.” Zona continued into the office and took a moment to adjust to the silence after having spent a good chunk of time listening to the hustle and bustle of the squad floor. His comm system’s message indicator blinked red, but he ignored it as he made himself comfortable in his chair. Right now, he had some research to do.
-51-
Kade glanced up for the umpteenth time when another customer entered the little bar he was holed up in. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if someone hostile actually came in, or how he’d tell if they
were
hostile for that matter. He allowed his gaze to shift back down to his computer screen, though he continued to steal occasional glances over the top of it. The bar was small but the layout was such that he’d successfully positioned himself so he could see anyone coming through the front door but not be immediately seen by them. It was comfortable and quiet for the most part, a good place to get some work done.
The problem was that he wasn’t getting any work done. With such limited access to the HSP databases while he was away from the office, he was unable to turn up any useful results as he searched for information on the most recent developments. By this time the whole planet was aware that Ziva Payvan had been killed – the viewscreen there in the bar had been streaming live news reports for the past hour or so. Still, the information was vague, and without the ability to use all of HSP’s resources at will, he was left to watch the news like all the civilians around him.
Kade sighed and powered the computer down, deciding to give his eyes a rest. He wanted to avoid breaking the rules – his career was on the line as it was – but he recognized that if he wanted answers he would have to resort to more desperate measures. The information he needed could no doubt be found in the RG records, but without full access he wasn’t sure how much good checking there would do. There was always the option of hacking someone else’s system, and he was confident in his abilities to do so. Out of everyone in the office, Zona would have the most access….
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kade muttered to himself, drawing the attention of a nearby customer. People already thought he was crazy enough – talking to himself wasn’t going to help. He reactivated the holographic computer screen, at least pretending to be busy.
Several minutes passed as he tried to convince himself that there was no way in hell he was going to hack Zona’s computer. The harder he tried however, the more appealing the idea seemed. Never in his life had he imagined himself doing such a thing, but here he was now practically chomping at the bit. It would take a little time – Zona’s access level was equivalent to that of a special ops agent from the mother agency – but Kade’s job had required him to hack into high-security systems on several occasions in recent months so he felt up to the task.
The job could be done remotely from right there at the bar, but the thought of accessing Zona’s computer from anywhere but headquarters worried Kade. An access of that clearance level would immediately raise suspicion and Zona would be able to verify that it hadn’t been him. Assuming Kade’s access key hadn’t been deactivated, it would be possible to do his work from within the RG headquarters itself, though he would have to wait a few more hours before the office was vacant. Zona would still be able to confirm that he hadn’t been there, but people were less likely to even start questioning a login if it had been from his own office.
Brimming with more resolve than he’d had in a long time, Kade shut down the computer for good and stuffed it into his satchel. He found his credentials and access key and, making sure they were both accessible, got up and moved toward the door. There were plenty of little places near headquarters where he could hide out, and then it would just be a matter of waiting.
By the time Aroska exited the elevator and stepped out onto the squad floor, the sun was already beginning to drop down toward the hills. The trip back from Haphor had gone smoothly enough, and after leaving Ziva at his house to make departure plans he had rushed back to HSP in hopes that the debriefing wouldn’t take long. He had to remind himself that he was still acting at this point; it was easy enough to remember that he had supposedly shot and killed Ziva, but the fact that he was still on Dasaro’s side was what needed to be put into practice.
He hesitated after only a few strides, unnerved by the sudden silence his presence seemed to have incited. All eyes were on him as he shuffled forward, almost sick to his stomach with guilt. He kept his head down and his focus forward, but as he walked a peculiar sound reached his ears: applause. Yes, several people around the room had risen to their feet and were beginning to clap, looking on with approving gazes. Those who weren’t clapping seemed to be ignoring him at all costs – they either didn’t approve of what he’d done or they didn’t care.
Aroska felt his face flush and picked up his pace, eager to get out. He stole quick glances out into the clusters of workstations, hoping Skeet and Zinni weren’t watching but knowing they were. Upon hearing the commotion, Dasaro emerged from his office and began to applaud in sync with everyone else. Embarrassed and angry, Aroska rushed forward and didn’t stop until he was safely inside the captain’s office.
“What I did doesn’t make me a hero,” he growled, shutting the door after Dasaro entered.
“Don’t be silly, Tarbic,” the captain said. “You have achieved an incredible feat today. The fact that you were able to kill Payvan when no one else could just goes to show you how many mistakes she made when she allowed you to get close to her before.”
Aroska shook his head. “Still, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make such a big deal about it. I just killed a fellow agent, one who has saved my life before.” He sighed. “But it’s over now.”
“Yes it is,” Dasaro said, face deadpan. “Keep up the good work and you’ll be working full-time spec ops in no time.”
“Maybe.”
Dasaro turned to his desk and picked up a data pad, glancing over it before handing it over to Aroska. “Very well, Lieutenant. Here is the verification for your payment, as promised. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve seen enough.” He gestured toward the viewscreen on the wall where the recording from the hovercam was playing on a loop. “You’ve done well – let’s forget about the debriefing for today, shall we?”
“Sounds good to me,” Aroska replied, not quite knowing what to make of it. He didn’t mind getting away early, but the captain’s manner seemed rushed and excited and it made him feel uneasy. “So am I done here?”
“You’re dismissed Lieutenant. There’s one last little mess to clean up but we’ll take care of that here.”
“Thank you sir,” Aroska said. He dipped his head and turned to leave, narrowly avoiding a collision with Nejdra as she stormed into the office. He skirted around her and began to walk away, but he stopped short when he heard the two captains start to converse.
“There’s still no sign of him,” the woman was saying. “The more time the search takes, the more time he has to find something and start talking about it.”
“You’re a special ops captain, Nejdra,” Dasaro said. “He’s a rookie RG agent. Do the math.”
Immensely curious, Aroska fished his communicator out and held it to his ear, giving the impression to any onlookers that he was simply making a call. He kept his back to the door and his ears open, both confused and worried by what he was hearing.
“I know Diago, but he knows what went down at the med center – don’t ask me how. Ever since then, he’s been looking into the evidence, almost like he’s playing the role of Payvan’s grace period sponsor. She may be dead but it won’t do us any good if someone
else
starts digging too deep.”
“Calm yourself, Nejdra. He’s a smart young man, but just like Payvan he can’t hide forever. Look for a traceable means of communication and send a team out to pick him up. You’ll find him. You’d
better
find him.”
Aroska lowered his communicator and continued moving, fearful that one or both of them would suddenly come out and find him lingering there. He had no idea who they were talking about, but he had a feeling this young agent was in grave danger. Everyone on the squad floor seemed to have lost interest in him, so he picked the communicator back up and entered the code Ziva had used to contact him the day before.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said when they had connected. He ducked into the elevator and waited for the door to shut before relaying to her what he’d just heard. “I don’t know who this guy is, but it sounds like we should do something about it. Besides, he may have information that could benefit us.”
“I think I know who it is,” Ziva said, “and if I’m right, I’ll find him in Haphor. I’ll have to get back there before that team does.”
“My neighbors are gone, but they have an old car in their garage. It’s not fast, but it’ll get you there.”
He could hear Ziva mobilizing even as they spoke. “Got it. I’ll keep you posted.”