Anniversary Day (24 page)

Then he ruled that out. He had to track down Palmette.

And he had to do it soon.

Forty-one

She hadn’t expected Nyquist to say no.

DeRicci stood in the center of her office, her back to that gigantic screen. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her brain knew it wasn’t Nyquist’s fault. She was the one who had insisted he stay off the case; Romey was the one who hired him and put him on whatever it was he was pursuing.

He was acting in good faith, like the tremendous cop that he was. He had to finish whatever it was, because he and Romey were working the case on the street. Even with Soseki’s assassin dead, there was still another—the one who tried to get the governor-general. And there was probably someone else as well. These men didn’t get into Armstrong with all of that specialized equipment on their own.

They had help.

And Nyquist’s link put him at the Port.

When DeRicci realized that, she realized that Nyquist was probably right: whatever he was working on took priority. She was trying to organize a large investigation; he was already in the middle of one.

The problem was twofold: She needed an experienced investigator, someone who could find out information quickly and organize that information just as quickly.

She also needed someone she trusted.

She knew there were a lot more experienced investigators in Armstrong than there were people she trusted. By factors of a thousand.

She gripped the back of the chair tightly, her fingers digging into the soft material. She could contact Andrea Gumiela, the Chief of Detectives, and ask for someone to come to her office. But DeRicci and Gumiela hated each other. They had a truce—they had both realized how effective the other one was—but they didn’t trust each other. And even in an investigation this important, DeRicci couldn’t trust Gumiela to get the best person for the job that DeRicci needed.

Gumiela would send the best person for the job that Gumiela needed, whatever that was. If their needs met, then DeRicci would get a good assistant. If they didn’t meet, then DeRicci would end up with a mole from the Armstrong PD, and a lost afternoon.

Her other choice? She could bring Kilzahn back. He had been observing Romey all day long. He wouldn’t have to come up to speed on the investigation. He would know the entire Soseki part of it.

But Kilzahn wasn’t an investigator. He was a top notch security man, able to find holes in the tightest security system. He was detail-oriented, and he saw through people. That was why DeRicci sent him in the first place, because he
saw
things.

But that wasn’t enough.

She needed help. Real help. Someone whose skills were equal to hers. Someone whose intelligence was as quick as hers. Someone who understood how she worked, and could survive her quick temper.

There was only one person left to contact. She rubbed a hand over her mouth. If something went wrong, she would never live this down. But half a dozen things had already gone wrong today.

If she screwed this up—if she failed within the next twelve to twenty-four hours—there might not be any governments on the Moon at all. She couldn’t worry about future recriminations.

She had to think about surviving the day.

And to do that, she needed someone brilliant, someone she could trust to work without supervision.

She needed Miles Flint.

Forty-two

Fifty paid security personnel had just arrived at Aristotle Academy. They set up all along the gate leading into the Academy as well as on school grounds itself.

It felt like Flint was suddenly trapped inside an armed state. He was unnerved, even though he had known the security personnel were coming.

Selah Rutledge, the headmistress, was having Flint monitor the computer firewalls, looking for security breaches, not just inside the compound that was the Academy, but also in the computer networks themselves.

So far, Flint hadn’t found anything. He doubted he would. He had developed this system himself and kept it up to date with the latest technological changes that he found in his various cases. He had a vested interest in keeping this school safe, since Talia spent so much of her time here.

She still didn’t know he was on the grounds. He hadn’t gone near her classroom. The students didn’t know that the security team was here either, although they’d get a clue when they saw the weapons.

Selah was going to handle an announcement soon; she just wasn’t sure what to say. Both she and Flint tried to parse the information coming through the various news feeds. Nothing was clear, which Flint knew from his own experiences as an Armstrong Police Detective, meant that something was seriously wrong. He just wasn’t sure what.

He had checked the systems in the computer section, and then had come back to Selah’s office. He wanted to stay at the center of everything, just in case something went seriously awry. He had the network protocols set up so that he would get contacted the minute something went even the slightest bit off.

He had also set up a monitoring system on one of the empty desks in Selah’s office, just so that he had a home base here, so that he wouldn’t be running back and forth between sections.

Selah was monitoring all the news feeds. So far, they said the same thing (which was also suspicious): that Soseki was dead; that cause of death was undetermined, but was initially thought to be of natural causes; there had been two attacks made on Anniversary Day speeches in Gagarin Dome and in Tycho Crater; the governor-general could not be reached for comment at this time; Chief of Security for the United Domes of the Moon, Noelle DeRicci, said her office is monitoring the situation, but at this time, she had no idea if the attacks were something the population might have come to expect from disgruntled elements on Anniversary Day; the immigrant and alien communities were calm; some events had been canceled due to the targeting; and there was no comment so far from the Earth Alliance, not that anyone wanted them to say anything.

The security forces were the thing that made Flint the most nervous. Four different groups of private security had contacted Selah within fifteen minutes, just before the announcements of the Anniversary Day attacks. All four groups claimed their orders had come from different parents, all of whom were leaders in government.

When Luc Deshin contacted Selah, that’s when she decided to bring in her own security team. Luc Deshin was the closest thing Armstrong had to a master criminal. He was impossible to catch—or so Flint was told—because he had set himself up as a “legitimate” businessman. Whatever he was, he loved his strange little son Paavo, and wanted the boy protected.

Deshin was going to send in his own security team, which Selah decidedly did not want. So she told him that security was on the way, and called the firm that handled all of Aristotle Academy’s security. She ordered a maximum number of trained marksmen on site within fifteen minutes.

The security team arrived in ten. From that moment on, she had been dealing with concerned parents and employees of concerned-but-couldn’t-be-bothered-with-details parents, letting them know that the security system was well in hand.

All of this told Flint that the Anniversary Day attacks were related, Soseki was more than likely assassinated, the governor-general was either targeted, hurt, or dead, and something had gone very, very wrong.

When Selah mentioned that she might close the school for the day, Flint argued against it. If indeed something had gone wrong around Anniversary Day, then dispersing the students of the rich and powerful around Armstrong was the worst thing she could do. The best thing was to make sure they would be protected—and he promised to help.

He wasn’t sure that was the best idea either because the school made one gigantic, tempting target, but he had a hunch it would be easier to defend than dozens and dozens of high-end houses throughout the city.

Why he felt that such a defense was necessary, he didn’t quite know. But he had learned to go with his gut a long time ago.

He was checking the security system for the tenth time when Noelle DeRicci suddenly appeared in the vision of his left eye. She looked exhausted, her clothing rumpled as if she had been tugging on it, her curly hair even messier than usual. The area around her lips was chapped. She’d been rubbing her hands over her mouth again, one of her more serious nervous habits.

His pulse rose at the sight of her. DeRicci had been his partner years ago. She was hard-nosed and efficient, compassionate as well, and the kind of woman who strong-armed her way through any situation. He would never have chosen her for a job that required political finesse, but she had done tremendously well. She turned out to be suited for the work. She thought fast, she took action even when no one told her to (especially when no one told her to), and she had great instincts.

The fact that she looked exhausted and alarmed at the same time meant that something was seriously wrong.

You alone?
She sent.

He didn’t move, nor did he look around. He continued to stare at the screen so that no one would realize he was on his links.
No.

I need to talk to you. Can you get somewhere now?

Yes.
He stood.

Selah was making notes for the speech she was going to give the students in a few minutes while she kept watching the various news feeds hoping to learn something new.

“I’m going to double-check something,” he said to her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

“Just a small bobble. Probably a burp in the system. Not anything to worry about.”

Yet she looked worried. Sometimes lack of information was more frightening than the information itself.

“I’ll let you know if something is wrong,” he said and let himself out of the office.

He went a few meters down the hall to a blind spot in the security coverage, a blind spot he’d been meaning to fix.

What’s up, Noelle?
he sent. He wasn’t going to talk through this just in case someone came by.

Where are you?
she sent back. Unlike most people, Flint had disabled all of the tracking software inside his links. No one could find him unless he wanted them to.

Aristotle Academy
.

I need you here,
DeRicci sent.
Can you get down here immediately?

He took a breath. He didn’t want to leave Talia. He was getting more and more uneasy.

What exactly do you need, Noelle?
he sent back.
I’d like to stay with Talia if I can
.

I need an investigator, Miles. Someone I can trust. Someone who will work his ass off.

What about Nyquist?

Already on a different part of this investigation
.

I’m going to get you in trouble, Noelle
.

If I don’t bring someone good in, there’ll be no one left to get in trouble with,
she sent back.

A surge of fear ran through him. DeRicci didn’t make statements like that—at least not to outsiders. And whatever their history was, that didn’t change the fact that Flint was now an outsider.

Can I work here?
he sent.

No,
she sent back.
I need someone on site. Bring Talia. She’s as good with information systems as you are. Maybe better. And she’ll be safer here than anywhere else in the city
.

Safe from what, Noelle?
he sent.

If I knew the answer to that, Miles, I wouldn’t need you
. Her mouth formed a thin line. It looked like she wanted to say something out loud, but she didn’t. Not after that first contact.
I’ll send someone for you.

No
, he sent.
I’ll get there quicker on my own. You just make sure the building allows both of us to come to your office
.

You got it,
DeRicci sent.
I appreciate this
.

Wait until the work is done before you send any thanks, Noelle
, he sent. But she had already signed off.

He was alone in the corridor, with nothing flowing along his links except the usual chatter. DeRicci had called on Flint before in a few instances, but generally with things that had to happen off the books. The fact that she was bringing him into the office itself meant that something had gone seriously wrong. And worse than that, she didn’t expect any repercussions from bringing in a Retrieval Artist, a man who sometimes worked on the wrong side of the law.

She figured she wouldn’t get in trouble for it. Or that she could defend it.