“Looks like you did well,” Betty deemed as Zane slid the file folder across the kitchen table. Thinking about the danger of the errand, for such little reward, made Nole shake his head. “Any problems?” she asked the group, tucking the folder under her arm.
“None,” Valerie answered almost too quickly. Betty glanced at her curiously, but didn’t question her. Nole’s eyes shifted to Zane, who was giving him a dirty look. Speak now or forever hold your peace. To his surprise, and relief, no one mentioned his and Zane’s minor altercation. I guess he doesn’t want to look bad in front of Betty, Nole surmised.
“Alright then, looks like you guys are done for the day,” Betty announced, her glance falling on Nole. “You’re free to do as you please.” She exited the room, with Olivia following shortly thereafter.
Surprised that she kept her word, he couldn’t shake the feeling that their deal was running too smoothly. He got the sense that Betty knew about his run-in with the boy, and even that he knew that the boy was connected to them. Even if he was being used for information, no one had approached him about it yet. He hadn’t even thought about the boy because of his primary goal of finding Caden.
Making his brother the priority meant he had to use every resource possible, which included Betty’s information on Nova as well as her runners. If the errand had shown him anything, it was that Betty not only had precious knowledge of the city, but also had the resources to use that knowledge to her advantage. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he’d be able to find Caden with her help. But he didn’t want to push his luck. In order to get on Betty’s good side, he had to take his time in earning her trust. That meant doing his part and getting along with the other runners, which included Zane.
He was aware of the difficulty of the task. Betty hadn’t even clued him in on the mission, and the others weren’t very descriptive when outlining his part in it. He didn’t care about the folder they had retrieved, but the fact that he wasn’t briefed of its contents proved he was still on the outs. He needed them to trust him. He needed their help.
“I think Suri’s up,” Valerie mentioned. “You should go see her, Nole.”
“You go ahead. I’ll catch up,” he replied.
“A-alright.” She walked out, hesitant to leave Nole and Zane alone in the room.
Standing against the counter, Zane kept an eye on Nole. His slouched pose was as still as a statue, and his unmoving gray eyes further amplified the comparison. Although Zane had attacked him, Nole wanted to make amends in order to keep the possibility of his helping find Caden open. Knowing he needed Zane made him bitter, but having to fix an issue he hadn’t started made him frustrated.
“Listen, I don’t know what you have against me, but get over it. I know we didn’t exactly start off as friends, but we’re past the cellar.” Zane’s expression didn’t change, so he went on. “I never got the chance to thank you for saving Suri, so thank you.” To his surprise, Zane stood straighter and crossed his arms. A grim smirk spread across his hollowed face before he spoke.
“If you ever try something, I will stop you,” he challenged, the smirk disappearing. “Don’t think that you’ve earned anyone’s trust just because you’re living here.”
Before Nole could try and reason with him, Zane left the room. Shaking his head in frustration, Nole snatched the newspaper off the counter and left the room as well.
Betty had told them they were done for the day, so he would reconvene the search. After the recent developments involving the fountain, not to mention the backlash of their job, Nova was swarming with Enforcers. With that in mind, Nole thought it best to wait an hour or two before going out again.
The setback with the vendor had disappointed him, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. It was half passed eight, so he could set out at ten and have the entire rest of the day to get in a good day’s search. As eager as he was to find his brother, he had to be smart about his plan. Getting caught would get him nowhere.
When he made it to the correct floor, he wandered to their door and knocked with the rolled up paper. Almost immediately, the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps scampered on the other side of the door. The second the door opened, Burt bombarded Nole’s legs with scratches, as if he didn’t belong there. I wonder if this is Zane’s dog, he thought jokingly, still a little annoyed at Zane’s refusal to cooperate.
“Burt! No!” Suri scolded as she retrieved the terrier clawing at her brother. Knowing that Nole went out into the city, her eyes trailed behind Nole as he entered the room, expecting to see Caden there. After seeing her eyes downcast in disappointment, he felt the need to change the subject.
“What’s up with you and that dog?” Burt appropriately barked as if he knew he were the topic of discussion. Sitting back on her bed, she let the dog roam free about the room.
“He really likes me,” she replied proudly.
“That makes one of us.” He eyed the dog suspiciously, and could’ve sworn it was glowering at him. Sitting on his own bed, Nole smacked the end of the newspaper against his free palm to ward off the possibility of a second barrage of pawing.
“Is that today’s paper?” Suri inquired. “Val said there’s news about the fountain.”
“Uh, yeah.” He extended the paper to her. “It’s not good news though.” He watched the transformation of emotions cross her face from excitement to confusion to disappointment.
“Why would anyone do that?” she murmured dejectedly. “If they close off the fountain, how are the civilians going to get water after dark?” Shocked by her words, Nole realized she was right. He hadn’t even thought about how closing off the fountain would affect the rest of the citizens; citizens that relied on the fountain’s water each day.
It bothered Nole how detached he felt from Nova now that he was no longer on the edge of survival. In only a few days, he had reached a point of comforting stability, a state that had escaped him for nearly a decade of his life. Until that moment, he’d never realized just how fortunate their living situation had become.
Of all people, Suri, a sheltered eleven year old girl, was able to grasp the dire conditions of the city while Nole was out there witnessing it, unbothered, on the day-to-day basis. The fact that he was worrying about Suri’s reception of the news being drawn from a purely aesthetic end made him feel foolish. Instead of caring about the graffiti on the fountain, she was thinking of the people who would suffer as a result of its closing. “What are they going to do?”
He looked up to see her staring at him, tears streaming down her face.
“Hey,” he walked over to her bed and put his arm around her trembling shoulders. “You shouldn’t be burdening yourself with those thoughts. I’m sure the Chief will lift the order once they apprehend the Paras. Everyone will be fine.” He knew making statements like that was irresponsible, but he wanted to make everything better. He didn’t want to her to carry any more sadness then what she was already.
“Nole,” she began after a few minutes of silence.
“Yeah?”
“Why are they looking for you?”
His eyes whipped down at the paper, where he saw the lower fold of the front page face up, and the uncanny sketch staring at them. “Why does it say you murdered someone? Is that… Murphy?”
“Suri, I-”
“Did you?” she interrupted, removing his arm hastily. As she stared him down from the corner of the bed, he saw another emotion transform her features – fear.
“Of course not,” he answered calmly. “They’re wrong.”
“But you took us there. You told us to go ahead. And then you stayed behind so-“
“I didn’t!” he snapped, interrupting her reasoning. Her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide, she looked like she was in the presence of a monster.
“I wish Caden was here,” she muttered sullenly, looking away from him. Her words stung him instantly. Regretful of his reaction, he rose to apologize when Burt growled at his feet. Shooing the dog away, he didn’t notice Suri run out of the room until Burt was scampering after her.
Jumping to his feet, he ran to the doorway only to see her sprinting down the hallway passed an approaching Valerie.
“What’s all that about?” she asked, reaching Nole.
“Just me being an idiot,” he sighed, ambling back to his bedside. He slumped on the mattress, resting both hands on his face.
“Well, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Valerie comforted from entrance. She stayed by the doorway silently.
“Did you want to tell me something?” he asked, removing his hands to look at her. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously upon hearing the question.
“Yeah,” she began, “about what happened at the alley after the job…” Nole grunted at the thought of Zane jumping him. “Please don’t tell Betty about it.”
Dumbstruck, he stared at her. Of course he was angry about what happened, but not to the extent that he would actually involve Betty; besides that, he wanted to get on Zane’s good side, not make matters worse. “Zane is kind of rough around the edges. He’s just being overly cautious.”
“Cautious?” The choice of words made him scoff. “I’m not going to tell on Zane,” he added jokingly. The whole conversation sounded like one two six year olds would have. “Why are you defending him anyway? It was clear you didn’t agree with what he did, so what’s making you so worried.” The question appeared to have caught her off guard, because she instantly avoided eye contact.
“He’s,” she paused, “on thin ice with Betty right now.” Nole was surprised to hear her admit something like that to him. It seemed as though he wasn’t as much on the outside as he thought he was.
“Why?” He didn’t want to push his luck, but he needed to learn more. If he was going to get along with Zane, he needed to get as much information as possible.
“Long story,” she answered curtly. “And didn’t I tell you I don’t like discussing other people?” It took him a moment to recall their conversation a few days ago, when they first met in the lobby. The rhetorical question seemed to end the conversation until she spoke up again. “Besides that, I need to do a post check on you. Your breathing was a little irregular on the way back.” He knew she was trying to avoid directly mentioning the alley incident again.
“Check away,” he surrendered, gesturing for her to join him. Entering the room, he finally noticed the first aid kit she carried.
Fumbling within the kit, Nole watched her out of the corner of his eye. Déjà vu. She uncovered a stethoscope inside and instructed him to sit up straight as she lifted the back of his shift. The chill of the cold metal chest piece against his skin made him flinch minutely. She moved the tool methodically while directing him how to breathe while her delicate fingers prodded his spine. Growing used to her presses, he allowed himself to relax, his straight posture turning into a slouch.
“Sounds good,” she deemed. He pulled down his shirt while she replaced the stethoscope within the bag. “That scar on your waist,” she inquired in a low tone. The mention of the gunshot wound took him by surprise. He hadn’t even realized that she would see it during the examination. Although he had trusted her more than the others, he didn’t want to tell her the story when he hadn’t even divulged it to his siblings.
“Long story.” He threw her a smile after getting the chance to use her exact words from moments before. “Do me a favor though. I’m going to go out for a while, so could you look after Suri?”
“Sure,” she agreed with a smile. “Are you going to tell her you’re going out?”
“I don’t think she wants to hear from me right now,” he replied, rising from the bed. Valerie nodded, standing beside him. She strode to the door and turned back to him.
“I hope you find your brother.”
Before he could thank her, she turned the corner of the doorway. On his way out, he shut the door, leaving it unlocked for Suri. I’ll bring him back, Suri. I’m going to find him today.
Determined, he trotted down the five flights of stairs leading to the ground floor. I’ll find you even if I have to look into every alley or search every building. Entering the hallway, he marched quickly toward the main entrance. Enforcers will arrest me before I give up, Caden.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Betty’s voice stopped him dead in his tracks. The sickly thin body was standing at the front desk before the entrance. He hadn’t even seen her.
"To find my brother,” he replied firmly, staring her down.
“No need to get all riled up,” she sneered, turning to her right.
“You said we were done for the day,” Nole argued impatiently.
“There isn’t another errand,” Betty smirked. “You’ve just got yourself the first volunteer for the search party.”
From behind the desk, Olivia stood and swung a knapsack onto her shoulder.