Requiem (27 page)

“
It doesn’t make sense. Why
would they need Ryan? Donovan knows everything there is to know
about Hybrids from Isaac.”

“
Leverage,” Claire
said.

“
Are you alright?” Ryan
called, running down the steps to the sidewalk. He lifted my chin.
“What happened back there, Nigh?” He looked to the church, and then
back to me.

“
I’m sorry,” I said. “I
haven’t been to a funeral since Jack….”

“
Oh. Of course, I didn’t
realize,” Ryan said, hugging me for a brief moment. “Maybe some
food might make you feel better? Have you eaten?”

“
No, actually,” I said,
just realizing that fact for myself.

“
The wives are cooking for
the guys at the station…taking some over to the family, too. Let’s
stop by there before you two head home.”

“
Nina has some things to
do,” Claire said, slipping on her sunglasses.

Ryan’s eyes met mine. His expression told me
this was the moment of reparation.

“
I should eat,” I
said.

Even through her dark glasses, I could see
Claire’s big eyes zero in on mine, an indication of the retribution
I would receive once we were alone.

Ryan’s smile spanned from one side of his
face to the other. “Okay, then. You wanna ride with me?”

“
Yes,” I said without
pause. If I was lucky, I could postpone my punishment until Jared
was around. As much as I loved Claire, she was still
intimidating.

The ride to the North Providence police
station was full of tension, although Ryan babbled like a nervous
teenager on his first date. Few people had left the church by the
time we’d arrived, but within the half-hour, the small space
quickly overflowed.

Ryan, Claire, and I retreated to a smaller
room where the officers on duty were watching television and
playing cards, and two in the corner were arm wrestling.

“
Scotty Dog!” one of the
officers said. “Which one's the ex, and which one's your
date?”

“
Stow it, McCarty,” Ryan
said. “Claire, Nina…this is Matt, and that’s Pat.” He gestured to
the officer wrestling Matt’s hand to the table. Finally, Pat
succeeded.

“
I was distracted!” Matt
said.

Ryan laughed. “You’re such a baby, McCarty.
Take the loss like a man.”

Matt tapped the table. “Come on, then,
Scotty. Put your money where your mouth is.”

Ryan watched Matt pull out a fifty-dollar
bill, slamming it on the table. Claire’s body language was notably
different. She raised her hand to her mouth, subtly trying to cover
the slight grin that touched the corners of her mouth.

Ryan saw Claire's expression as well,
prompting him to sit, and then roll up his sleeves. “Let’s do
it.”

Their hands and arms shook as they pushed
against the other. Matt’s face was red, and a vein had popped out
on his forehead like a pulsating worm slithering under his
skin.

“
You gonna let the rookie
beat you, McCarty?” Pat said, smiling at the spectacle.

A few moments later, Ryan slammed Matt’s
hand to the table. “Yeah!” he grunted, standing up in
celebration.

“
Oh, brother,” Claire said,
rolling her eyes. “I thought you invited us to lunch, not a pissing
contest.”

“
You wanna stab at it?”
Ryan asked, returning to his seat.

Claire stiffened. She was competitive, and
being forced to lose to Ryan to protect her identity was not
something she would handle well.

“
Don’t do it,” I
whispered.

“
I won’t be easy on you
just because you’re a girl,” Ryan said.

Matt laughed. “I don’t know. She’s got some
eggs on her arms.”

By the look on his face, Ryan knew exactly
what he was doing. He had experienced her strength before, and he
was going to test his theory.

“
I don’t want to hurt you,”
she said, uninterested. “You’re still healing.”

Ryan shrugged. “Then I’ll use the other arm.
I’ll still beat you.”

Claire sat in the open chair.

“
Claire, no,” I
said.

Ryan held up his hand, and Claire took it.
She lowered her chin, glaring into Ryan’s eyes.

“
She’s feisty,” Matt said,
intrigued.

“
Shut up, McCarty,” Pat
said.

“
Say go, Nina,” Claire
said.

“
This is stupid….” I said,
attempting a last chance to avoid the only two products of their
ridiculous stand-off—neither of them good.

“
Go!” Matt
yelled.

Their arms turned rigid, and then their
hands began to tremble. I knew the shaking was on Ryan’s part;
Claire looked bored. After fifteen seconds, the officers around the
table began harass Ryan.

“
I thought you said you
wouldn’t go easy on her, Scotty Dog?” McCarty smirked.

“
Come on, Scotty. Quit
foolin’ around,” Pat said.

Ryan’s face turned several shades of red,
and then beads of sweat formed on his brow.

Claire raised an eyebrow, and then pushed a
bit, leaning Ryan’s hand closer to the table.

McCarty laughed out loud. “She’s gonna beat
him! Scotty’s gonna get beat by a girl!”

Ryan took a deep breath, and then pressed
his lips together, holding his breath and straining so hard, I
thought he might pass out.

Claire looked at Matt, and then back at
Ryan. She rolled her eyes, and the slight tension in her arm gave
way. Ryan slammed her hand to the table.

The officers all cheered, and Ryan stood,
rubbing his arm.

“
You’re not serious,” Matt
said, doubtful.

Claire patted the empty table space in front
of her and smiled. “Have a seat, Sweet Pea.”

“
This is bad, bad idea,” I
said. “Claire, it’s time for us to go.”

Matt put up his hand, and Claire took
it.

I turned to Ryan. “Don’t let her do this.
It’s going to draw attention.”

“
To what?” he asked,
focused on my eyes.

I recoiled from his stare. “Nothing.”

“
Go!” Pat said.

Matt’s arm stiffened against Claire’s.
Before long, his face was as red as Ryan’s had been just moments
before.

“
Holy, God, you’re strong!”
Matt grunted.

“
Claire, please,” I said.
“We have to go!”

“
Okay,” she said, slamming
his hand to the table, immediately bringing it back to the start
position. “Officers…,” she nodded.

It was hard not to sprint to the car.
Jared’s reaction was at the forefront of my mind. “Stupid! That was
so….!” I wheeled around, stopping Claire in her tracks.
“Stupid!”

Claire kissed my nose. “No, it was fun.
Let’s go.”

Chapter Fifteen

The Truth in Sixty
Seconds

Jared shut the curtains, allowing me to
relax a bit. The morning sun hurt my eyes, and the ache in my head
throbbed every time my heart beat. I turned another page of my
textbook, trying to catch up to classmates that hadn’t missed the
last two days.

I pressed my fingers against the skin
between my eyebrows. “The computer guy didn’t know what he was
talking about,” I said. “I said simple. This laptop is
impossible.”

Jared rubbed my back. “Not impossible. You
just have to adapt to change.”

I slammed my book shut. “That’s all I do,
Jared: Adapt to change. The only thing that is constant is the fact
that everything keeps changing.”

Jared smiled, kissing my shoulder. “I’ll
leave you alone to finish your paper, and then we’re going to get
out of the house for a while.”

“
Thanks,” I grumbled,
opening my book again.

My eyes passed over the words, but nothing
sunk in. Wedding plans, Kit Anderson's children, Ryan being in
danger, dead birds and the whereabouts of the book danced around in
my mind. Each thought lingered only for a few seconds and then I
flipped to the next one like the channels of late-night television.
When I caught myself wandering from the topic of my paper, I would
force my focus back to reality. Each time that happened, I grew
more frustrated.

Two hours and six pages later, I pulled on
my boots and met Jared outside. The crisp air surrounded me as I
walked down the drive, and I buttoned my coat to ward off the
cold.

The Escalade was left running so I wouldn't
have to shiver while the cab warmed to a tolerable temperature.
Jared helped me inside with a smile, kissing my red nose before
shutting the door, and then we made a new set of tracks down the
street. The sky had dropped another six inches of snow on the
ground, but only after a few hours of sleet had laid down a solid
bed for the snow to stick to.

Jared had no trouble navigating through the
ice and powder, but red and blue lights lit the inside of the cab,
and the Escalade came to a stop next to a nine foot snow drift.

“
Can’t he just
call
?” Jared said,
gripping the steering wheel.

Ryan knocked on the window, and Jared
lowered it. Ryan began to speak, but Jared let his finger off the
button, stopping the window half-way. Ryan waited patiently, and
then Jared lowered the window again. When it was at chin level,
Ryan addressed me, but Jared, once again, let his finger off the
button.

“
Funny,” Ryan said.
“Where’s Claire? I haven’t heard from her today.”

“
It’s possible she’s not
going to pick up the phone every time you call, Ryan,” Jared said,
amused.

Ryan's eyes focused on me. “Have you seen
her?”

“
Not today. If she’s not
answering, then she must be busy.”

Jared sighed. “If you pull me over every
time you can’t get Claire on the phone, we’re going to be seeing a
lot of each other.”

“
I just…,” he shook his
head, “I just came across some information I wanted to share with
her. About the investigation.”

“
Like what?” Jared asked,
annoyed, but curious.

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Walter Grahm was
the man that tried to rob Nina outside the pub. Ronnie Studebaker,
whose friends called him ‘Stu’, was the man that stabbed me. Robert
Benson was with them. They were never caught, or charged.”

“
Yeah. So?” Jared said,
impatient.

“
They were all detectives
of the Providence Police Department. Now they’re dead. Grahm was
killed while answering a robbery call, Benson stopped breathing in
his sleep, and Stu went missing. His body has never been found. I
can’t account for the fourth man involved in the
attack.”

“
Do you have a point,
Ryan?” Jared said.

“
Commissioner Johnson and
six members of state government, in addition to seven police
officers have come to untimely deaths in the last eighteen months,
including Kit Anderson. Grahm was killed the same night
twenty-three deaths were reported in Rhode Island and
Massachusetts. All GSW’s.”

Jared laughed once. “You’re not telling me
anything I don’t know, Ryan.”

“
Exactly. How do you know
this information unless you are responsible for forty-one
deaths?”

“
Whoa! You are way off,
Ryan,” I said, shocked at his conclusion.

Ryan leaned into the window. “You know what
I think? I think the cops were dirty, and that they and those dead
officials are part of some sort of crime ring, and Nina got mixed
up in it somehow. There’s no way you could have killed twenty-three
people at the same time in two different states, so I think they
lied about what happened. You with me so far?”

Jared grinned, amused with Ryan’s story.
“I’m with you. You’re full of crap, but I’m with you.”

“
I think everyone that’s
dead is a threat to you somehow because they know too much about
whatever it is that you do. The question is, how much is too much?
And how much more can Claire tell me before you take me
out?”

Jared laughed out loud. “You should ease up
on the cop shows, Ryan. Now, if you don’t mind, my fiancé and I
have wedding shopping to do.”

“
Wait,” Ryan said. “You’re
not married, yet?” He looked to me, genuine surprise on his
face.

“
We’ve been busy,” I said,
embarrassed.

Jared’s jaw tensed. “The date has been set.
June first. We’ll be sure to send you an invitation…that is if I
haven’t taken you out, yet.”

The wheels spun against the wet snow, but
the Escalade didn’t move. “Damn,” Jared said.

He pushed open the door, forcing Ryan to
jerk back, and disappeared behind the vehicle. The snow drift kept
me from getting out on my side, so I climbed over the console, and
Ryan helped me to the ground.

“
What are you doing?” I
asked Jared.

“
Digging the truck out.
It’ll be just a minute, Sweetheart,” he assured me.

“
Do you want help?” Ryan
asked.

“
No,” Jared said
quickly.

I turned to Ryan, crossing my arms. “You
don’t really think Jared is responsible for your partner’s death,
do you?”

“
If he is, Kit’s not the
first cop he’s killed. There is a single connection tying every
single one of those deaths together. Maybe you could talk your boy
into keeping his gun in his holster until I figure it out. Or maybe
you could just tell me.”

“
I don’t know anything,” I
said, feigning offense.