Redemption

Chapter Five

                Barton fell silent, and let Feyler think about that one. “That is something to consider,” he finally admitted. “However, I still don’t believe he’s done absolutely nothing wrong. He looked at Niki when he said that last part.

                “Ms. Sokolof,” Barton said, also turning his attention to her. “I’d like to know how you felt about Mr. Laporte last night. At any point, did you feel you were in danger?”

                “Only for a second,” she admitted. “But when he didn’t shoot me right away, I knew he wasn’t going to. And there had to be someone else there. Because we heard gunfire when he was talking to me.”

                “Speaking of that, what did you talk about?” Feyler asked. “Our audio surveillance conveniently went out just after the lights went on.”

                Niki looked down quickly, hearing the suspicion in his voice. She had indeed interfered with the recording device in the room. She didn’t know what Darius might say, but in case he said something sensitive, she thought it would be best if it were kept between the two of them. And Barton, who she planned on telling the entire truth to.

                “Not much. He was surprised to see me. I said I missed him. Then I tried to talk him into staying. He said he couldn’t and that’s pretty much it.”

                “Pretty much?”

                “The conversation isn’t important,” Barton said before Niki had a chance to think of something to say. “What is important is the fact that Mr. Laporte had no intention of hurting her. This makes her extremely valuable. Ms. Sokolof could talk to him. Perhaps get the information we need. If worse comes to worst and he does need to be eliminated, we’ll have the perfect weapon to use against him.”

                “Don’t argue,” Barton told her. “Later.”

                “You’re dismissed, Sokolof,” Feyler said after considering Barton’s words.

                “Yes, sir,” Niki said. She turned around and headed out the door, going slow enough to hear Barton’s words.

                “I’ll find you this evening to discuss our next action. For now, you should get some rest.”

                Niki knew he was right – she had hardly slept at all while flying back from the middle of nowhere Wyoming to Seattle last night, and since getting back, she hadn’t had to sleep. But she just didn’t feel ready to sleep yet, even if she felt tired. Instead, she decided to go for a walk. She didn’t plan on going far or even outside the building, but just going up and down the stairs seemed like a good idea.

                The Anitreh were living and working in a good size office building. They used to have a much nicer place in Winnipeg, but ever since Anitreh killings had started, they’d hidden all personnel in secret locations. The place in Winnipeg had been much like a college campus with everything spread out with plenty of open spaces. Now, they had put as many people into a single building as possible, and it led to feelings of claustrophobia. Fortunately, Niki could go outside and walk around the city. The higher ranking Anitreh couldn’t. They couldn’t take the risk of being recognized and the secret of the building being let out. Perhaps that was why Feyler seemed eternally grumpy.

                As she neared the bottom of the stairs, Niki realized she was hungry, having not eaten since the day before. There was a café on the second floor that she liked and she headed there to get a sandwich. Because they wanted to appear like a normal building, regular people were allowed inside, and could visit the different businesses on the first two floors, including the café, a convenience store, and a pizza parlor. They were all run by the Anitreh, mostly younger ones who had not yet completed their training.