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DETECTIVE CASEY AND Special Agent Johnson and some sheriff’s deputy each found me in turn to say, “Glad you’re alive. This was stupid. Don’t go anywhere until we talk again.” They talked among themselves awhile, and everyone seemed to decide it was a Bureau job.
Hauser was booked and hauled off. The police detective told me, laughing, that Derrick had tried to slip into the admin building along with the strike force. They spotted him right away.
Special Agent Johnson came back for my full report. He was with the state bureau of investigation and, as it happened, a congregant at my dad’s church. He’s the one Dad had called first.
I pointed out the gun where it had fallen against the floorboard and told him its significance. He went to get a tech to bag it (or whatever), but he stopped in the doorway and jabbed a finger at me. “Don’t you go anywhere. I have a lot more questions for you.”
I shrugged back at him. “I’ve got nowhere else to be.”
Detective Casey came by, then. He was with the local police, and he looked angrier than all the others. He loomed over me a long time. I knew I’d had it.
Eventually, I asked, “Yeah?”
“Where’s your mask, kid? You can’t just be wandering around without a mask. This is a crime scene.”
“I’m...a victim? This isn’t my place. I don’t have one.”
“There’s a pandemic, kid. You’re putting everybody at risk.”
I ducked my head. “I’m sorry, officer. I’ll do better next time.”
He frowned at me some more, then ripped the door open and left, shouting, “Somebody get the boy a mask!”
That left me alone to wait for Johnson. I was too tired and sore still to be bored. And I had always known there would be a lot of this work to do. It’s like naming all the assets or filling in the documentation—you always have to do the tedious work to get something made.
I also didn’t have much plan for what to do next. Hauser and Derrick were both caught. The gun was in the cops’ hands. They had testimony from me and from Trina. And Trina was free. She was safe. Her nightmare was over.
I’d saved her.
She had spoken with Johnson while I was busy with the detective. Now she was finishing up with a paramedic. He took back the blood pressure cuff from her arm, and she turned her head to catch me watching her.
Her eyes widened and she looked away shyly. But she smiled, too. I saw it.
She wrapped up with the paramedic, gathered herself up, and came over to me. She stood at arm’s length and considered me.
She said, “Umm...I guess I get to go home now.”
I laughed, sarcastic. “Not me.”
She sighed and looked away. I didn’t know what to say next.
I considered her awhile. Then I asked, “Trina, right?
“Right. Dave.” It wasn’t a question.
“But you’re not Cass’s sister?”
She shook her head. A teasing smile tugged at her lips. “You don’t recognize me?”
“You look so familiar, but...” I sighed and shook my head. “No. I’m sorry. Do I know you?”
She only looked a little disappointed. She covered it with a smile. “I attend your dad’s church. We were in a study of Mark together last summer.”
“The one Paul led?” Then I shook my head. “How... what? How are you involved in this then? You’re a detective?”
She blushed and looked down. “I’m not. I want to be. I always wanted to be. And I’m studying it now. Because of the Pandemic, you know? But it’s like Hauser said....”
I’d touched a nerve. She felt like an imposter using that label. I knew exactly how bad that felt. “I know what it’s like,” I said. “I always wanted to make games.”
“I always wanted to help people. So I started taking classes. I joined CLEET and got some certifications—”
“That’s awesome!” I said, encouraging her.
But she was still finishing her story. “So I was about three weeks into that—last February—when Cass came by our last potluck fellowship.”
“Cass attends Dad’s church?!”
Trina rolled her eyes. “No. But she stopped by the Sunday fellowship for a free meal. And she sat down to eat it next to me. And we talked. And I started telling her what I do.”
“And she asked you for help,” I guessed.
“Not really,” Trina said. “But she seemed scared. She seemed like someone who needed help. And she dropped some hints about herself.”
She had me fascinated. I only wanted to know how we’d all come here, and everything she said made it stranger. I leaned forward. “What did you do?”
“I found out the name of the apartment complex Trina was staying in. Researched it a little. Found out they use a local accounting firm, and I went to meet with their accountant to see what I could figure out.”
“Wow!” I said. “You really are a real detective.”
That caught her by surprise. “What? No, I just did a little digging.”
“And then what? Wait! Is that the banker?”
“Accountant,” she said, patiently. And then sadly, “Yes. His name was Luke.”
“What happened?!’
“I asked him a few questions. Subtle, because I thought he might be involved. But that set him off. He started doing his own digging and found a lot of red flags.”
“I’ll bet!”
“He let me know about it. Said he planned to confront Hauser and get everything cleared up.”
“Wow,” I said. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. He invited me to come. I had no idea what was going to happen.”
“What did happen?” I was breathless to know.
“He started asking Hauser a lot of questions about Cass. Her work role and responsibilities in the company. Hauser asked what was up. Luke said it was suspicious and he needed answers. So Hauser called Derrick—”
“Oh, no,” I said, thinking ahead.
“Yeah. He told Derrick to bring Cass right to the office. Cass—”
“Was in the shower?” I guessed.
She frowned and nodded. “Derrick didn’t know what was going on. Cass didn’t either. Derrick showed up dragging in Cass in just a towel, and Luke lost it.”
“The accountant lost it?”
“Big time. He thought he had to be a hero. He brought a gun, and when he saw Cass, he whipped it out and started giving a bunch of orders. He—”
She choked up. She went from dispassionate testimony to helpless, breathless gasping. The memory was real for her. And it was horrible.
I put a hand on her shoulder. I had some of these details, anyway. “Derrick took the gun? He shot the accountant with it. Then Cass took the gun and ran.”
She nodded, relieved, and wiped a tear from her eyes.
I shook my head. “And you’ve been trapped here ever since?”
She nodded again. But her big eyes snapped up to meet mine. “And Cass ran straight to you. Why you?”
“I was the farthest she could get from Derrick and Hauser,” I said. “That’s it. I was somewhere safe. And she dragged me into her trouble.”
“To save me.”
“No, she did it because....”
I trailed off. Trina waited.
Cass had....
“It wasn’t exactly that,” I said. Cass had been worried about the gun being used as evidence against her. Right? That’s why she reached out to me.
Trina was still waiting. She asked, “Why, then?”
“Why what?”
“I’ve been wondering ever since you showed up at that window. Why did you come for me?”
“I guess... I guess the same reason you tried to save Cass. The same reason Luke got killed. I cared.”
“About me,” she finished my sentence. She was very matter-of-fact. She wanted it on the record.
“About you,” I said. “Once I met you, of course I cared about you. Then Cass said you were her sister.”
“I recognized you right away,” she said. “I didn’t understand it, but I knew it was you. And even when it all fell apart... even after I ruined everything, you came back for me.”
“I ruined everything,” I said. “But I couldn’t leave it like that. I had to come up with a better plan. For you.”
She smiled up at me. She beamed. “Kinda feels like a scene from a movie, doesn’t it?”
I chuckled. “Yeah. It does.”
She took a breath. “Kinda feels like you should kiss me then. Right?”
“Oh! I—”
I hadn’t thought about it. I really hadn’t. Everything hurt too much to feel romantic. But when she asked, with her hair all a mess and eyes wide, staring up at me, it felt exactly right.
So I did. I kissed her good and proper.
When I was done, she lay a hand on my chest and caught her breath and said in a long, happy sigh, “My hero.”