[Contributor 02] - Infiltrator (2013) (16 page)

“How have you been?” Taking her mother’s hands, Dara sat on the small couch, drawing Leona down with her.

“Good. I have bad days sometimes, but I’ve made a lot of improvement.” There was no small amount of pride in Leona’s voice, and Dara squeezed her mother’s hands.

“You have, you really have. I’m so happy to see it.”

“Raj said you liked my cookies.”

“I did, Mom.” Her voice caught on a sob. “Are you happy here? Is everyone treating you well?”

“Oh, yes, they’re very nice. And I like being around people like me. They…” Leona’s brow furrowed. “You and your father…”

“We tried to help you, but we couldn’t really understand what you were going through,” Dara said softly.

“Yes.”

Pain lanced her, but she understood where her mother was coming from, had experienced her own version of it. It had been painful to be around Jonathan, who couldn’t understand what was going on in Dara’s head, who couldn’t sympathize with her problems. She tried to imagine how much more amplified the feeling must have been for Leona. Maybe someday her mother would want to return to them, but the facility was the right place for her, Dara was convinced. She caught her mother casting anxious glances at the door.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Would you like to go back to your therapy? I could just watch,” Dara said.

Leona’s face brightened as she smiled. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Giving her mother’s hands a final squeeze, Dara got up and followed Leona back into the therapy room.

Her partner was working with someone else, but they made room for Leona to join them, helping one another measure, pour, and handle pans hot from the oven.

“The facility runs a step up program,” Raj said, joining Dara. “Over time, each patient gains more independence. Those who can live on their own are given small apartments, where they can cook their meals, manage their own daily lives. Those who need additional assistance live in monitored rooms under the care of nurses, doctors, and therapists. Patients make their way through the treatment at their own pace, taking steps back if necessary. Everything the facility does is patient-centered and patient-guided.”

“It’s fantastic,” she said, and the sincerity in her voice seemed to set him at ease. His stance loosened, and the line between his brows faded. “I can see why you like working here. It must feel good to help people regain what they thought they’d lost.”

“It does.” She could sense him studying her, but she kept her attention fixed on her mother, watching as Leona put the finishing touches on the dishes she and her partners were preparing.

They followed Leona through her afternoon routine, Raj explaining the various therapies to Dara. Though Leona was focused on her tasks, she looked up every so often and smiled at her daughter. Leona’s face was warm with pride at the chance to show her daughter that she could take care of herself. Dara was glad too. She’d trusted Raj to place her mother somewhere she’d be well cared for, but it still soothed Dara to see it for herself, to know the extent to which the Free Thinkers helped people like Leona. Had anyone other than Raj brought her to the facility, she might have suspected it was done as a means of convincing her of the benevolent nature of the Free Thinkers, but he would never take part in such a charade. This facility was the real deal, a glimmer of what life might be like under a Free Thinker-led society.

As sad as she was to leave, Dara was less reluctant than she might have thought. The separation hurt, but she had seen that Leona was in good hands. It eased the burden of the worry that had haunted her ever since her mother’s extraction.

“I hope I’ll see you again soon,” Leona said when she hugged and kissed her daughter good-bye.

“Me too. Take care of yourself, Mom.”

“I will. Take care of Joshua for me.”

“I promise.”

“How do you feel?” Raj asked, his voice gentle, as they made their way back through the security checkpoints.

“Sad. It’s hard to be apart from her, especially because I can’t shake my guilt over not being able to take a more active role in her recovery. Happy to see her doing so well. Mostly, though, I feel relieved. Now that I know what would have happened had she… Even if you hadn’t told me what you did, I suspected she wouldn’t get much care in a Magnum facility. Here, she’s getting better. This place is giving her the chance to get her life back.”

“I’m happy I could help your family, Dara, I truly am.”

“I know.” They’d reached the security door and she stopped, making him stop as well. “Thank you, Raj. Thank you so much, for everything. You’re doing so much good.” Meeting his eyes, she took his hand and squeezed it.

“I hope so.”

“I know so.”

His smile was pained, but she could see her words were a balm to him. He squeezed her hand back. “Thank you for telling me that.”

“I’m your friend. Just like you’ve been looking out for me all this time, I want to look out for you.”

“I suppose I could live with that.” A genuine smile lit his face, making his eyes crinkle at the corners, and she smiled in return.

“Good. You don’t have a choice anyway.” They both laughed.

“I understand you did quite a bit of reading this weekend,” Andersen said, making Dara start. Engrossed in the report she was preparing for him, she hadn’t heard him come up behind her.

“Yes, I did,” she said, chilled by his nonchalant mention of his surveillance. He wanted her to be aware that he was keeping tabs on her.

“I’ve read several of those texts myself.” False casualness laced his tone, and he leaned against her desk, uncomfortably close. “I’m interested to hear your thoughts.”

A test. It made her heart race and her palms sweat. She had trouble keeping her voice even as she recited a report that would have earned her high marks with her Instructors.

“Interesting,” was all he said. Pushing off her desk, he headed back toward his office, but then paused as if he had just remembered something. “I will be tied up in several important meetings this afternoon, but I have something to discuss with you. Would you be so good as to join me at my apartment at eight this evening?”

As if it was a request and not an order. “Of course, sir,” she said, putting on her helpful assistant face.

“Very good. Don’t be late.”

“Oh, no. Certainly not.”

Her concentration was blown for the rest of the day. It wasn’t all that unusual for someone to meet with their superior outside of headquarters; after all, she and Letizia had done so several times the previous year. But she could think of only a handful of times when her parents had met with their superiors outside of their shifts.

Andersen was going to make an off-the-record request of her, she was sure of it. He must have spent the last months studying her every move, searching for proof that she could be trusted. She didn’t know whether she should be pleased or dismayed that he had decided he could trust her to carry out his dirty work.

When her shift ended, she hurried through engineering, searching for Letizia. She was relieved to find her former master near her desk, and one glance was all the prompting Letizia needed.

“Dara, would you walk with me? I’d like to provide you with an update on our progress, so that you can report it back to Head of Engineering Andersen,” Letizia said, for the benefit of anyone who might be listening.

“Yes, of course. I had hoped you might have an update for me.”

“Give me a moment to finish my report and send it to you. We can discuss it as we walk.”

They were probably being overcautious. Engineering was noisy with people gathering up their things and leaving as the second shift filtered in, greeting friends and family members on the first shift. Letizia was the picture of industriousness as she tapped away at her terminal, buying some time. Once the exiting first shift had trickled to a thin stream, she signed off her terminal and stood.

“There. I’ve sent you an updated version. If you look at section six, you’ll see I made detailed notes about the stress test performed on the redesigned part number 203.” Letizia kept up a steady prattle as they made their way out of headquarters, Dara nodding and pretending to take notes on her tablet.

Safe in the park, Letizia dropped all pretense, giving Dara her full attention. “What’s going on?”

“Andersen asked me to come to his apartment tonight.”

“I wondered when he would ask.” She spoke in low, urgent tones, staring at Dara in concern. “Be careful. Whatever he asks you to do, you have to control how you react. He expects some protest from you, maybe a question or two, but you have to make sure you sound like you’re confused and not challenging him. You have to give him the impression that he’s convinced you of the rightness of whatever it is he wants you to do.”

“Okay, I know, but that’s not why I wanted to see you, not really. Keep an eye on my dad, Letizia. Promise me.”

“I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to him. I’ll get a message to Mal to let him know about your meeting, that way he’ll be on high alert as well.”

“Thank you.” Dara sagged with relief, a weight lifted off her shoulders.

“Don’t worry about that. Focus on your performance with Andersen. It’s going to be hard, but you have to pull it off.”

None of this was anything Dara didn’t already know. She didn’t bother asking whether Letizia would request that Mal prepare to extract her. She would be in Andersen’s clutches, and he would report her if she didn’t convince him of her unfailing loyalty, she had no illusions about that. He could not risk exposure at her hands. Useful as she might be to him, he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice her. Losing her would be an acceptable casualty in his quest to achieve his larger vision.

Letizia left shortly afterward, Dara urging her to go so she could send her message to Mal. Walking around the park in circles, Dara forced herself to calm down and get her head where it needed to be. By the time she headed for Andersen’s apartment she was as prepared as she thought possible.

Ushering her inside, he didn’t bother with the courtesy of offering her something to drink. His face was a mask, his muscles tensed. She sensed that he was putting on a show for her, so she tried to react appropriately.

“Sir? Is something wrong?” Fixing a perplexed gaze on him, she adopted her best guileless expression, which seemed to work. He met her gaze, his deep frown etching lines in his forehead.

“Do you remember when we spoke weeks ago, when I expressed my concerns over this project? I’ve since received information confirming my fears that Jasmine Shah has been in frequent contact with Fosset Technical Solutions, and I’ve begun to suspect that she’s attempting to sabotage the project.”

Gasping, hoping she wasn’t laying it on too thick, Dara said, “Oh no! Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I hesitate to get you involved in this, and I would not ask unless a great deal was at stake.”

“What is it?” She injected some alarm into her voice.

“Shah has worked hard to conceal her activities from Magnum, and I need you to help me expose her.”

“Do you need me to go to the Authorities with you? I’ll tell them everything you—”

“No, I’m afraid we can’t do that. I don’t have the evidence I need, and there isn’t time to gather it. Someone hacked into my restricted files and stole additional schematics. They may be in Fosset’s hands as we speak. We must stop this. We must bring Shah’s involvement to light immediately.”

Dara’s heart began to pound. Getting to Mal to tell him about Andersen’s plan would be impossible. Even if Letizia’s message did reach him in time, Dara had no way of knowing if the Free Thinkers would be able to get an extraction team in place quickly enough to help Shah. She couldn’t be responsible for having set everything in motion, couldn’t be responsible for Shah’s being taken.

“I’ll help you, sir, and Magnum. In any way I can.”

“It’s a relief to know I can count on you. I won’t forget your loyalty.” Tugging on a pair of gloves, he slid a memory stick and an access chip from his pocket. “Put these on.” He handed her a pair of gloves, and her hands shook as she pulled them on. Pressing the stick and the chip into her palm, he closed her fingers around them. “I need you to go to Shah’s apartment, number 3846. The access chip will override the lock. Hide the memory stick somewhere inside, but choose a spot that isn’t too obvious. You must do it now. I’ll contact the Authorities and tell them of my suspicions, prompt them to conduct a search.”

“Sir, I—” Hesitating for effect, she fought to hold in the shudder that threatened to shake her apart. She glanced up at him, and he fixed an imploring gaze on her. Her mouth wanted to twist, and she hoped her eyes didn’t betray the revulsion she felt. “Right away, sir.”

“Thank you, Dara.” Relief suffused his face, and she was certain at least some of it must have been genuine.

Sick to her stomach as she fled his apartment, her mind raced, frantic to find a solution to her predicament. She couldn’t afford to stall too long or she would be caught planting the evidence against Shah, and she knew Andersen wouldn’t lift a finger to help her. Denying that the thought of being caught terrified her was pointless, but, as afraid as she was for herself, she was even more frightened for her dad, and for everything toward which she had been working all these months. She had no other choice than to plant the evidence, but she wasn’t about to let Shah be caught if there was something she could do to stop it.

Beads of sweat gathered along her hairline as she headed for the corridor leading to Shah’s apartment. She felt a paranoid conviction that she was clearly projecting her guilt, and the few people she passed would notice and figure out what she was about to do. Wishful thinking led her to hope she might run into Shah or Javier, but she knew her chances were slim, so she tried to come up with an alternative. Tracking Shah down would take far too long, but maybe she could get to Shah through Javier. She had a vague recollection of where he lived, but would Andersen find out if she stopped there?

Her steps stuttering to a halt, Dara stood frozen for several seconds as her fear overwhelmed her. She wanted to be sick, wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. It was like being trapped in the middle of a nightmare, but this time she wouldn’t wake up and find herself safe in bed.