Tent City (34 page)

A thought comes to me. Maybe I could just check out the sheriff’s office first. At least see if they are in there. If they are, I will know it’s the right decision to turn myself in.

If they are not in the holding cells, maybe I can check around with some friends in town to see where they are. I have a little time yet—time to make this dumb plan a little less dumb.

I release Desperado just outside of town. I take the saddle off and rid him of his bit. He seems reluctant to leave me, but I give him a shout and a slap on the behind and then he seems to understand. He looks back one more time, whinnies, and then trots off. Maybe he’s getting his freedom while I lose mine. I smile at the small justice of it.

Being home is surreal. When I left, I thought I would be back in a matter of weeks, until this thing with the safety camps blew over.

I thought that, like a bad dream, I would wake up and Mom and Dad would tell me it was time to come home. I even had the idea that they would come out to the Black Hills to bring Brody and me back home.

The way the sheriff’s office is set up, it’s by the courthouse, and the jail. They are all in a big cluster. It offers me some cover, as I make my way around the building to get a peek into what would be the jail cells.

It’s oddly quiet around here. It’s as if the whole town has up and disappeared. Fear clutches at me as I wonder if this is really where they even are. If I have it wrong and they are somewhere else, I will not have enough time to reach them. I’m silently cursing myself for letting Desperado go so carelessly. This has to work. It’s all I have left.

There’s a ladder on the side of the sheriff’s office and I scale up that, hoping the sunroof still exists that is above the holding cells.

It does and I breathe a sigh of relief. I creep up on it, careful to make as little noise with my footsteps as possible. Only the sunroof isn’t over the top of the jail cells like I thought. It’s over the sheriff’s office. What am I going to do if I get caught up here? I’m a sitting duck. I obey my curiosity to see what’s in there now that I’ve made it to the top.

The window is dirty. I imagine that it’s been years since it’s been cleaned. I slowly wipe it with the sleeve of my jacket, wincing when the button catches it and makes a loud scratching sound. I’ve made a hole about the size of a quarter and I peer into it.

The man sitting at the desk isn’t the sheriff. Our sheriff is in his 50s and balding, and this man looks to be about 40ish, and definitely not balding. He has a short crew cut and something about him seems familiar.

He looks like he is staring intently at the person sitting across from him, but I can’t see who it is. The hole isn’t big enough to see further. I try to decide whether I should wipe it more to see who it is when it hits me.

I knew it wasn’t the sheriff, but I don’t think my mind has the ability to process what I’m seeing. I can’t be sure because I’ve only seen him on TV, but it looks like General Burke himself. It’s taking everything I’ve got not to scrub more dirt off.

Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. Ever since I found out about my parents, Burke has been stained into my mind. It must be that.

But who else could it be? Maybe someone who works for him? Maybe they’ve taken over our town too and sent in The Council. Surely this must be it since they are arresting all the nonconformists.

I lean back slowly trying to process everything. I can’t get his face out of my mind. So familiar.

I’m looking up at the sky getting caught up in the shapes of the clouds when I hear shouting coming from inside.

I quickly lean back over the window taking the opportunity for noise to mask wiping away more dirt. I lose my balance a little and reach out to catch myself but the window doesn’t hold.

Before I can stop myself, I crash through and land on the desk. Pain shoots through my elbows as they take the full blow of hitting the massive oak desk. I vaguely register that something in my shoulder has torn.

“What’s going on here?” the Burke look-a-like shouts, as he rushes to help me up.

I’m seeing stars, but I know I’m not hurt too bad. I kind of laugh to myself. That’s one way to get in. I should be scared out of my boots, (well, if I was wearing boots) but I’m not. This is it. We have finally come to an end here.

No more hiding in the shadows. I’m here and I’m exposed. What happens to me will happen. There’s nothing I can do about it now.

He’s busy studying me to see if I’m hurt and strangely he’s not arresting me. What’s going on here? Why hasn’t he apprehended me yet? Maybe I’m hurt more than I think and he knows I couldn’t get away anyway.

One of my eyes isn’t opening correctly, as it must have connected with the desk on the way down, but with the other I see what I can now put to rest. It is Burke. But why is he here?

“Dani? Are you okay?”

The question isn’t what stuns me. It’s who it’s coming from. It’s Jack’s voice and I find myself wondering if he’s in my head. I spin around and sure enough, it’s Jack behind me. I put one hand over my injured eye in order to focus a little better.

“What are
you
doing here?”

Either I hit my head really hard on the way down, or I’m going crazy. There is no way Jack could be here, and what is he doing with Burke?

“Is this a friend of yours?” Burke chuckles. “She has made quite an entrance.” He’s standing at full attention and holds his hands up to some guards and tells them to leave.

“It’s okay guys. We got this handled. Maybe just call in for maintenance and maybe a doctor,” he calls out to them.

“Is this the one?” Burke asks Jack, and places his hand on Jack’s shoulder in an intimate gesture, one that would seem has happened a thousand times before. Jack winces slightly, but tolerates it. 

“That would seem pretty obvious, wouldn’t it?” Jack answers back.

“Well, a deal’s a deal son. I’m good for my word. You know that. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. It will all work itself out, you’ll see.” Jack shakes the hand from his shoulder.

“Son?” I whisper quietly to myself. Of course. More lies. I hear the words play out in my head.

“Kind of high up” he’d said. Yeah, I’ll say your dad’s high up, Jack. Why wouldn’t he just tell me? Didn’t he promise me the truth?

“Dad, can I just have a minute with her?” He looks to him and Burke nods.

“Make it quick. We will be leaving soon. We have to get back,” Burke says, as he walks out the door.

The full weight of the truth is crushing me like a wave in the ocean. You wade out because it looks so enticing. First it’s up to your knees and you trust it because it feels good. Then you get brave and let it come to your waist. It’s enticing, but dangerous and you can’t help but be pulled in. Before you know it, you’re in over your head and the thing smashes you right in the face and you can’t breathe. It’s a little like that.

“Are you okay?” he asks, tracing his thumb along my eyebrow where it’s starting to swell.

“You said your dad was a preacher.” I step back so he can’t touch me.

“He is.”

“General Burke?”

“He’s not really a general. They just call him that.”

He’s shifting his feet, looking ashamed. If I wasn’t so mad, I might feel bad for him. Clearly, he’s uncomfortable. But I’m not finished with him yet.

How could I not know this? Wouldn’t that be something that might come into conversation? Like maybe, oh, you know the madman that runs the country, General Burke? Well, he’s not actually a general, but a religious freak who’s going to destroy the world. And by the way, he just happens to be my dad.

“How could you?” was all I could squeak out.

My fury has betrayed me. I want to kick and punch him, not just for the lies, but for being his son.

My dad’s words are in my head about Burke being responsible for Drake’s death and the venom in my skin is boiling. For I’m sure it’s venom. Nothing else could burn like this.

“Listen, I don’t have much time. I don’t want it to end like this. I just want you to know that I have nothing to do with this. If I could stop him, I would. But I have to be careful. For this to work, I need you to cooperate. If you want to hate me for the rest of your life, I guess that’s the way it has to be, but you just have to stay cool for a little bit. It will all work out, I promise.”

“Where’s Brody?” I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to think of him, but if Jack’s here, clearly Brody must be near.

“Shhhh….” he whispers, “don’t talk about him. He’s safe for now. He’s with the same people he was with and I’m sure they will find you soon.”

“Jack, I don’t understand what’s going on. Why can’t you just tell me what’s happening?”

He glances at the door, which is still cracked open and gives me the “not now” look.

We get about ten minutes to say good-bye. We do it in hushed whispers in each other’s ears, careful not to be overheard. I already miss the smell of him and the gentle cadence of his voice. I want to be angry at him for being Burke’s son, but deep down I know how pure Jack is.

Jack, eyes glistening, and voice thick with emotion says, “Bentley will take good care of you. You can trust him.”

“I can take care of myself.”

He smiles now. “I know, but he’ll look after you.”

“Will I ever see you again?” I ask.

“Is that what you want?”

“No…What I want is for you not to go.”

“I have to.”

“Why?”

Just then Burke pops in and says it’s time to go. On cue, I hear a helicopter outside the sheriff’s office. If aliens had landed, it wouldn’t have surprised me as much as the chopper landing in the grass. Everything is happening so fast. Jack looks at me one more time, much the same way I looked at Brody two days ago.

He hesitates and then leans in, hovering centimeters from my lips, as if wondering if I’m going to back away and since it could be the last time I see him, I don’t. He spends just a fraction of a second with only my face in his hands. He stares at me, as if memorizing my face. When he leans in further, I feel the electricity even before our lips meet. It feels like the shape of his lips was designed for mine. I suddenly realize I want more when he pulls away.

“Keep Brody safe,” he whispers into my ear. It was the last thing he said to me.

He leaves the room and I’m left feeling alone and confused. I run over to the window to see him step inside the chopper and like that, he’s gone.

So this is what Burke wanted. It all hits me at the same time. It wasn’t all the missing children he was looking for. It was
his
missing children he was looking for. I suppose he figured if he had the adults arrested, maybe Jack and Bentley would surrender.

I wonder if Bentley and Jack knew this too. Jack obviously knew. I just realized he sacrificed himself for me. He’s now going to the last place he would ever want to be. Into the hands of the man who he thinks murdered his mother. And I’ve sent him there.

Guards now escort me to the holding cells where my parents are. They are the only ones in there and guilt reintroduces itself. The room is crowded with the absence of Kit’s parents. I’m still not sure what’s going to happen until I see the guard unlocking their cell.  

The exquisite sight of them sitting in their cell, safe and alive, is about my undoing. They both hop to their feet when they see me. Mom takes me in her arms through the bars, not patient enough to wait for the door to click open. She is holding so tight I can barely breathe, but we’re still cautious, as we are unsure what’s happening. No one is saying anything.