Trials in Walls of Ivy (Triskelion Trilogy Book 1) (14 page)

I shook my head in a daze. “This is all my fault. She left me a note asking me to join her. If I had gone, this wouldn’t have happened to her.”

Ash took my hand, stepping in front of Mark. “We got there in time, Roz. She was still in the bar, in full view.”

“But, they were all over her.” Bile rose with the memory.

Ash’s grip tightened. “They were, but they didn’t get that far. Not while they were in the bar.”

Mark inched closer. “You can take her home. Just make sure she drinks as many clean fluids as she can. Best way to get it out of her system. And, stay close to her. She should be watched until it’s completely out of her system.”

“I will. Thank you, Mark. And, thank you Doctor Levins,” I shouted, across the room. Levins had already picked up the work Mark had left.

“Nice to meet you again,” he shouted, without looking up.

The moment we got Bree through the house door and on the settee, I called Llamp. It rang for what felt like hours. A night official answered and told me to wait while they roused her. I held the phone to my ear, tapping it absentmindedly while I watched Bree. Her eyelashes had begun to flicker. Slowly, she was wakening. Ash sat beside her, stroking her hair and talking softly. He tried to give her sips from a cup, but she turned her head in refusal.

“What are you giving her?” I asked, with my hand over the receiver.

Ash put the cup on the table and stood to join me at the back of the room. “Hot lemon. It’s what my brother drinks when he’s had too much.”

“Isn’t that for colds?”

“I don’t know. I had to give her something,” He shouted. He put his hands over his face and took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

“I get it, Ash. You’re worried about her.” I knew that was an understatement. Seeing those guys pawing over his girlfriend like that must have been infuriating. I gulped at the thought of my two friends together, and then chided myself for my selfishness. They were my friends; I had no right to be jealous. They deserved happiness.

“I should have beaten the crap out of them,” He growled, returning to his seat beside Bree. She lifted her legs to rest them on him. “I let them go too easily. They should pay for what they tried to do.”

“Ash, you did the right thi…” The man on the phone returned, “hello?” I listened for a moment and put the phone down. “Llamp’s on her way.”

Bree tried to jump up, but Ash held her down. “Here? Llamp’s coming here?”

She pushed Ash away and began scooping up piles of paper from the coffee table. She stumbled as she crawled across the floor.

“Come on, this place is a shit tip.”

“It’s not that bad,” I said, looking around at the scattered magazines and books in the corner. The pile of pizza boxes from Owen and Jay’s last all-night computer session. I gulped and rushed forward to help.

We didn’t get much of the room cleared before there was a knock at the door. Ash looked behind to check we were finished before he opened it.

“Having a late night?” Llamp asked, as she walked into the living room. She stood and studied the room, like she was checking for traps. “I was told you had an emergency?”

Bree inched back, lowering her head. I knew she was humiliated, so I stepped forward.

“Sorry to bother you so late at night. But, somebody slipped Bree drugs tonight. It looks like they were going to rape her.”

Llamp folded her arms. “Bregus?”

“I don’t remember everything.” Bree’s voice was quiet and shaking.

Llamp smirked. “Tell me, all three of you, what do you think we are training you for?”

“Covert intelligence,” I replied.

“Very good, Rozlyn,” She smirked, tapping her finger on her arm. “You are expected to investigate and deduce the truth from evidence you acquire. Is this true?” She asked, looking directly at Bree.

Bree’s head rose, returning Llamp’s stare without flinching. “Yes.”

“And, do you believe that a simple case of drunken misconduct is out of your capabilities?”

I lurched forward, my hands balling into fists. “This was not drunken misconduct. This was attempted rape. Somebody drugged her. She was being molested when we got to her.”

Llamp held up her hand, silencing me. “I agree. But, if you are to be Consummate, an investigation on this scale should not be of any difficulty. You have witnesses, a time frame and direct involvement. Please, tell me in what area you are finding difficulty?”

I was about to protest when Bree held my arm. I looked to her to see her shake her head at me.

“There’s no problem. I’ll resolve this myself,” Bree said, her voice flat and emotionless.

“What? No. You can’t investigate this yourself,” I shouted.

Llamp stepped toward me, still smirking. “Why ever not? Are you suggesting Bregus does not have the ability to investigate this crime?”

“Of course I’m not,” I glared back, “but she’s the victim. Since when does the victim have to conduct their own investigation?”

“It’s alright, Roz,” Bree shouted, “I can do this.” She stepped forward, facing Llamp. “I’ll investigate on my own. I apologise for inconveniencing you tonight.”

Ash stood beside her. “No, we will solve it as a team.”

“Glad we got that all settled,” Llamp laughed. She left the house, shutting the door behind her.

I stood in the centre of the room trembling with rage. My fists clenched so tight they hurt. How could Llamp be so blasé about this sort of assault? How could Bree be expected to deal with this and bring her assaulters to justice herself?

I turned as Bree slumped herself onto the settee. Ash and I followed, each taking her hand in ours. She was like stone. Her shaking had stopped; her frightened eyes were replaced by fierce determination.

We sat in silence as she watched the cold fireplace, eyes focused on nothing.

I woke when the front door slammed. I pulled the curtain aside to see Bree striding across the grass. She had a bag slugged over her back and held her hood over her head. It was pouring down. I sat on my bed a moment longer and watched the beads of water rebound off the stone path. I was still exhausted. It was already light when Ash left. Bree and I had gone to our rooms with only a few words. I didn’t want to push her. In truth, I didn’t know what to say to comfort her. As the hours passed it was like a new presence had taken her. Her laugh lines were smooth, her teeth clenched. Bree had taken hold of the night and was clinging to it.

I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and slumped my way down the stairs. Today, I didn’t want to face anything. I didn’t want to see any police reports, listen to any bombing theories or see Llamp. As soon as Bree returned, I would ask her to slob with me. Today was a day for coffee, chocolate and the TV.

I opened the living room door to see Jay. He was stood in the centre of multiple piles of boxes. With his hands on hips, he was beaming at me.

“Morning sunshine. Have a late night, did we?” He asked.

I walked past him, heading straight for the kettle. “How did you get in?” I grabbed my favourite mug from the cupboard and took another for Jay without asking.

He pulled open the fridge and handed me the milk. “Karissa let me in. Looked like she was just getting in herself.”

“Yeah, she’s not one for sleeping.”

Jay laughed. “You ready for this?”

I looked at him, surprised. “Ready for what?”

“Your training. Remember, you said you needed more training to get through the tasks? Well, here I am.” He held out his arms dramatically.

“Yeah, but Llamp said computing and physical.”

He reached over and picked up his mug. “Surveillance could come under computing. So, just think of me as your tutor for today.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to the living room. “It’s not that bad. Come on.”

He led me to a chair and began pulling contraption after contraption out of the boxes. We spent the next hour going over each kind of camera, listening device and tracking system. Jay had maps of different areas, showing the best placement for surveillance in each situation.

“You see, if the camera goes here, it can only see this area. But, if you put it here at this angle, it can see through the window of this building and catch a glimpse of the other side.” His voice rose in excitement with each piece. There was no doubt that surveillance was his true passion.

He had me completing a computer game where I had to set up cameras to cover the widest area. I watched the screen as little blue ripples showed the line of sight of my cameras. A buzzer made me jump as I failed the game for the second time. He reset it without word and I began moving the controller again, placing imaginary cameras on the digital map.

“I never thought training would involve computer games,” I said.

He sucked in a breath, feigning offence. “Computer game? This, I will have you know, is a highly technical intelligent program which specialises in surveillance proficiency. And look, you’ve only got sixty three percent.”

I looked to the corner of the screen where it reported how much of the area I had covered. “How high have you gotten it?”

“Ninety seven percent. You need to think about what level as well as where you’re placing them.”

“What? How did you get that high?”

He shut the laptop and reached over to a box. “Let’s try something new. You want to practice with the real thing?” He pulled out a container and opened it to reveal dozens of tiny black discs.

“What are those?”

I leaned over and picked one up. It was so small I balanced it on the tip of my finger. Its smooth black surface dipped in the centre toward a hole the size of a pin prick.

“Audio recorders.” He walked around the room placing them on the furniture. “These ones can pick up sound form a seven meter radius. Look at where they go. Do you get it?”

I watched him to see that he was placing them at every level in the room. One went on the floor in the corner beside the door, another on the fire place and another on the top of the book shelf.

“Different levels. So you can pick up sound from different angles?”

“Exactly. You’ve got to think of sound as a liquid.”

I laughed. “A liquid? How is sound a liquid?”

He placed the last recorder and picked up a square control from the box. “Think about it, sound travels through air waves. Air waves travel through the room in ripples, like on water.”

I nodded understanding.

“Sounds from further away have a higher chance in being recorded if you place the devices at different levels, to catch the waves.”

“So, you’re recording us now?” I asked, finally fascinated.

“Almost. I just need to link them all and turn them on.” He pushed a button on the control and a green light lit. “Okay, they’re linked.” He leaned over to show me how he had linked them.

I nodded again. “This seems easy. Put the little discs around a room and flick a switch.”

“This is the easy part. Just follow the recordings on here and you’ve got yourself a surveillance system.” He pointed to a window on his laptop screen. “Watch here when I turn it on.”

He pressed a button and we both jumped as a high pitched ringing screamed through the speakers. He pushed the button again and it stopped.

“What the hell was that?” I shouted, my ears still ringing.

He didn’t reply. He threw the laptop to the chair and began searching the room. Books fell to the floor as he pulled them from the shelves.

“Jay, what are you doing?”

He pulled the TV forward and stepped behind it, examining the wires.

“Jay?”

The colour had drained from his face. I watched him as he fumbled from corner to corner of the room. He was climbing over the settee when he suddenly stopped and looked up. Without word he pulled out the coffee table and stood on it. He reached up toward the lampshade and prised it off the hanging ceiling light.

His finger over his mouth, he motioned me to follow as he headed through the front door. We walked toward the back of the house, a place I hadn’t ventured too much yet. With the weather constantly so cold and damp, I had never felt the urge to sit out here. He rummaged through the rubbish bin until he retrieved an empty cooking sauce jar. I stepped forward about to speak when he held up his hand again, silencing me. I watched patiently as he gently paced something tiny and black into the jar. He carried the jar at arm’s length to the far end of the garden and placed it on the floor. With a sigh of relief, he pulled my arm and we went back in to the house.

He wouldn’t let me speak until he had switched his recording devices on again. Finally, he smiled and nodded as he saw a line vibrate on his screen.

“Can I talk now?” I asked, quietly.

“You can talk now,” he replied. “But we have a problem.”

“What was that? What’s the problem?”

“That,” he pointed to the lampshade, “was a recording device. That was what caused the feedback when I switched our recorders on.”

“A recording device? How long’s it been there?”

“No idea. And, I can’t tell whose it is. Can you think of why someone would want to bug this house?” He asked.

I wrapped my arms around myself. I felt violated, itchy. “No idea. Five of us live here. Who do you think it was there to listen to?”

“No way of knowing. Unless,” he stood and clambered around the room. He retrieved a recorder from the bookcase. “We try each room.” He nodded up the stairs.

“We could try. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

I lead the way up the steps, reaching Bree’s room first. I knew she wasn’t in.

“Do you think she’ll mind if we just open her door a crack?” Jay asked. “It just needs to be in the doorway, we don’t need to go in.”

I shrugged and opened the door. Given we were being bugged, I was sure she wouldn’t mind us checking. I pushed her door open a few inches, just enough for me to hold the recorder inside. Holding my trespassing hand still, I watched as Jay pressed the control on his laptop. No sound of feedback, Bree’s room was clean. We repeated the process in Fern, Karissa and Owen’s rooms. None of them seemed to have any sign of a recording device. I approached Warwick’s door and gulped. I had hardly said two words to Warwick since that morning after catching him on the settee. I hadn’t purposely avoided him. He was hardly ever in.

I held my breath as I knocked on his door.

He opened it and stood topless in the doorway. “Yes?” His hair was sticking up in all directions. My eyes drifted down to his low hanging jeans, which were gaping open.

Jay elbowed me out of the way. “We’re just checking something. I need to hold this in your room for five seconds.” Jay walked into the room without being invited. I took a step forward but hesitated as Warwick grinned at me.

“Like what you see?” He asked. He ran a hand down the front of his chest, his fingers bumping over his defined abs.

“I’ll wait in my room,” I mumbled, running back across the hall.

A moment later Jay came into my room, shaking his head. “Nothing. Looks like it was just the living room.”

I sat back on my bed and let my head crash into the pillow. “Do you think all the houses are bugged? You think it’s the uni bugging us?”

“It’s a bug the uni use, but that doesn’t prove anything.” He placed the recorder on my desk and sat beside me. “If I can get hold of them for training, anyone could have their hands on them.” He pressed a switch and we both jumped as the feedback screech ripped through the room. He switched it off and looked at me, his face pale.

Without a word, we both leaped from the bed and began searching the room. I pulled my clothes from my wardrobe, Jay tipped every book. Eventually, he pointed toward the mirror on my wall. I followed his eyes to a small bump on the top corner. I pulled up a chair to stand on and leaned over the top of the mirror. There, lying almost flat against the wooden frame, was a recording device identical to the one downstairs. I gently plucked it free and handed it to Jay. He left the room with it in his outstretched hands.

I sat on the edge of my desk, looking over the piles of books and clothes on my floor. Someone had bugged my room. Only my room. Who would want to hear what goes on in here? Nothing interesting goes on in here. Nothing but late night chats with Owen and Bree, chats about our ongoing investigation. My stomach churned with the familiar sting of bile.