Coana’s security team waits for me in the employee lounge so I can train them on the new system. The service elevator carries me swiftly to the first floor, where tablet in hand, I check each camera along my route, happy to find the images crisp and clean and perfectly in sync with mymovements.
Activating the next camera, I freeze. He’s got a hat pulled low over his blond crew cut, but I know that walk, and Al’s headed right for me at afastclip.
My hand spasms as I try to send an alert, and I miss the on-screen button. Al turns the corner, looks up, and stopsshort.
“Hey, Cam. I…” He shakes his head. “I won’t insult you. You’re too smart not to have figured it outbynow.”
“HuskyFan.”
With a sigh, he holds out his hand. “Give me thetablet.”
“Don’t do this.” I try to shift my grip so I can send out the alert one-handed, but he snatches thedeviceaway.
We’re alone in the hall, in an employee-only area, but if I screamed, surely someone in the lounge would hear me. His gaze holds such sadness, though, that I can only take a step back—putting enough distance between us that I can defend myself with my cane if Ihaveto.
“Why?”
“I didn’t know you were FlashPoint.” Regret softens his tone. “When we started talking, I’d just landed this job. Money was tight, and with losing my vacation pay, I panicked. A couple of my old army buddies knew about this crew out of Seward Park who needed my skills. Ten thousand dollars for what should have been a week’s worth of work. I couldn’t turnthatdown.”
“Is your wife really pregnant?” My fingers curl tighter around the handle ofmycane.
“Yes. Everything I said to you was true.” He meets my gaze, and if he’s lying, he’s the best actor I’ve ever seen. “You don’t understand what’s at stake here. They bring in over a hundred thousand dollars a month at each hotel. If I’d tried to leave Emerald City or quit working for them, they would have killed me. They still might. I only came here today so I could prove to them that I tried one more time to reinstall my code. When they find out Ifailed…”
“Go to the police. Please. Turn yourself in. They’ll protect you and your family.” I can’t help but feel sorry for the man in front of me. Faced with an impossible situation, would I have taken adifferentpath?
Al backs away slowly. “I don’t have a choice. By Friday, they’ll know I failed. Again.” He chokes on his words. At his side, his free hand shakes until he balls it into a fist. “I have to get my family somewhere safe before I take that chance. Keep my secret.Please.”
I gesture to the camera pointed directly at us. “I can’t. Oversightislive.”
Horror widens his eyes, and his entire body tenses. “How long doIhave?”
With no hard evidence, the police would only detain him long enough to ensure his employers know he failed. Al twists his wedding ring on his finger. All I can see is his pregnant wife holding their son andcrying.
“The cameras don’t record audio. By the time I reach a phone—my cell service is really spotty back here—you’d be out of the hotel. Then the police need to show up and take my statement. Forty-five minutes?” Easing myself closer to the wall, I meet his gaze. “You didn’t mean to knockmedown.”
“Forgive me.” He rushes towards me, and I hit the wall as he careens past me, managing to only brush my shoulder lightly with his own. Using what West taught me, I control my fall, though the impact still forces a soft yelp from my lips. By the time I’m upright again,he’sgone.
18
Cam
Jasmine,the sweet scent wafting up from my neighbor’s patio, reminds me of my grandmother’s perfume, and I’m tipsy enough after three glasses of champagne and a shot of vodka—courtesy of the company party in celebration of our success today—to linger in mymemories.
The sting of my father’s palm and the salty tang of my tears chase the jasmine away, yet I still find myself trolling my cousin’s Facebook page for photos of Mama and Papa. When I find the latest one, the tears I’ve refused to cry since I joined the army spill onto mycheeks.
Gray won the battle for my mother’s hair, and my papa’s in a wheelchair next to her. His smile is as bright as ever, but under the blanket spread across his lap, I spy a wasted body. Too many years between us, too many words we can’t take back. Yet, I havetotry.
Swiping at my damp cheeks, I send a message to mycousin.
Tell Mama and Papa that I love them. Nothing will ever erase the past, and I don’t expect forgiveness. I’m asking anyway. I made a stupid mistake—even though I had good intentions. I’m more than my choices at seventeen. Going to war, having to survive on my own…I’m a different person now. I have a good life—a job I love, friends, but I miss myfamily.
Love,Camilla
After another few minutes, I claw my way out of the pool of self-pity I fell into and launch Netflix. PerhapsDoctor Whocan banish my memories back where they belong. Halfway throughThe Eleventh Hour, my phone rings. The number’s blocked, but I answeranyway.
Al’s voice doesn’t carry his usual timbre. “I’m standing outside of SPD, trying to work up the courage to turn myself in. I told my wife everything, and she and my son are with an old army buddy who’ll protect them. Why did you letmego?”
I mulled that question over for hours tonight, and after seeing the photo of my parents, I might have an answer. “Do you remember the night I told you I’d made a huge mistake and don’t speak to my familyanymore?”
