Alli kept an eye on Ian during the short ride back to Spirit Cop Headquarters. He seemed despondent and sullen. She understood why: it wasn’t everyday you learned you might be a killer.
But Alli also knew she would need him focused if they were going to unravel the secrets of his past and the organization that wanted him. That meant she would have to try to find a way to get him refocused. Comforting wasn’t her strong suit. Growing up with ghosts didn’t do much to help her understand human emotion.
“We will figure this out,” she said. “It’s going to be all right.”
He didn’t say anything at all for the rest of the trip back. Alli was worried about him. He didn’t seem to take this as if someone found him out. He took it like a death sentence. She worried he would do something drastic, something life threatening to himself or others.
This is why she hated people. Ghosts never acted suicidal. They always had a reason, something easy to decipher. Humans had too much range, too many complications.
They made her head hurt. As she parked the Spirit-Mobile, she almost sighed in relief. Maybe Peach had some information or some way to at least get Ian out of his shell.
Ian followed her inside through the front door and in to the large open area that made up the main reception and client area. Peach sat at her computer in front of the room. She looked up as they entered and offered them both a smile.
Ian turned away from her as soon as she did. He made to walk out the door, but Alli stopped him. “Where are you going?”
“I need to leave. I need to be away from this. From everything.”
“I can’t let you do that, Ian.”
Ian stared at her. Alli stared back. She kept her arms crossed, her eyes locked on him. She fought the urge to send her hand down for her Sticky Gun. She didn’t want to scare him, even though he frightened her already.
He’s a killer, she thought. Don’t forget that.
“You can’t stop me,” Ian said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just—” He shook his head. “I think it’s better if I just disappear. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”
“I won’t let you hurt anyone else. But you have to let us help. We have to figure this out. You can’t do that alone. And we can’t do that if you run away. That helps no one, including you.”
“I’m a killer. I—”
“Don’t you think I realize that? I know the truth when I hear it. And Rosa’s words…those are the truth. You scare the shit out of me, Ian. And if you ever hurt Marilyn, ever thought about hurting Marilyn, I wouldn’t hesitate to end you where you stood. I honestly don’t know if I should trust you at all. But I know Marilyn does. I know she’s worried about you.”
She stepped towards him, rested her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe it’s not much. Maybe Marilyn is too trusting. But I know she cares what happens to you. And I care about her, what she wants, what she thinks, maybe more than anything else in this world. So you’re stuck with me and you’re stuck with her.”
“I—you’re right. I’m being selfish. I just feel the urge to run, to escape at every turn. Like it’s my natural instinct. It’s not time for that now. It’s time for answers, but I’m still scared. So, so scared.”
“It’s alright to be scared.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not fear of my future or whatever. It’s fear of myself. It’s me. I’m terrified of myself.”
“Ian, I—” Alli fell silent.
How can I comfort him when he scares me too?
“When I touched Doppelganger, when I killed him, it scared me. But more than that it invigorated me. I felt power like I never felt before. It was intoxicating. It was wondrous. It felt like the best drug in the world.”
“What are you saying, Ian?”
“I’m not scared of the power. I’m scared that I won’t be able to stop myself from using it again and again and again.”
Alli didn’t know what to say. She only knew she was more terrified of him before. He sounded like a serial killer. She took a deep breath, collected her thoughts and forced the words out.
“We—you can’t tell the others this, Ian. Everyone’s already on edge. I can’t be sure they wouldn’t try to stop you. To kill you.”
“Maybe that would be best,” Ian said. “Maybe if I’m dead, no one else will have to die.”
“Never. Think about it. You used this power against Doppelganger by instinct alone. What do you think you would do against four metahumans on the attack? How do you know you wouldn’t hurt them.”
“Oh god,” Ian said. “Oh god.”
“Is this a conversation for anyone or are you two turning into old hens, clucking all day long?” Peach walked towards them both, her grin breaking the solemn expressions of Alli and Ian. It seemed clear she hadn’t heard any of their conversation as she continued. “I got your text, boss lady, but it didn’t say whether you found that Rosa girl and—is everything all right?”
She looked back and forth between them, her eyes meeting their own grim visages. Alli focused her attention on her secretary. She forced the most sincere smile she could fake on to her face.
“Everything is fine. We’ve just had a hard time with the fight. I think all our nerves are a bit on edge. The other went to get some rest.”
“Even Marilyn?”
“Even Marilyn.”
Peach pointed back to her desk on the far end of the room. “I’ve got something and you won’t believe it.”
Alli followed Peach in to the rear office, past the secretary’s desk. She paused and turned for just a moment to make sure Ian was right behind her. He followed around, silent and even more sullen than before.
“The name you texted me, El Sanguijuelo, is a weird masculine version of a Spanish word. It means—”
“Leech,” Alli and Ian said simultaneously.
“Yeah, that’s right. But more interestingly it was the encryption key I needed. Whoever those blokes in armor were, they know about this El Sanguijuelo.”
“You’ve opened the files,” Ian said. “What do they say? Is there anything about me? Who am I? Where I’m from?”
“I-I’m not sure. It unlocked a series of bios of several men from the last hundred years. One was named Ian Page but this guy died in the war.”
“Iraq,” Alli said.
“World War II.”
“World War II? That can’t be right. Or it can’t be our Ian.”
Peach shrugged and pushed her glasses back from the tip of her nose. “I don’t know. I’m just the computer nerd. I’m not trying to decipher what anything means, only to find out what is in the files. What files I have at least.”
She was annoyed with Alli. Alli knew she was pushing Peach too hard on this. Before Peach was her secretary, she was Alli’s friend. Peach put a lot of work in to Spirit Cop. Dozens of hours past what she was paid. Alli knew she sometimes took for granted too much of what Peach did for her.
“I’m grateful for everything you’re doing, P. I just feel like we’re all missing something here.”
Ian pointed out of the office, towards the other computer. “Mind if I take a crack at it?”
“Sure,” Alli said. She wasn’t really sure how else to respond. She hadn’t known Ian even knew how to use a computer, let alone had skills with it.
He walked out of the office and to the other computer. It was already booted and ready. It took him only seconds to log in to the company network and access the files. Alli peered over his shoulder as he went to work.
He opened the folder of his namesake. Inside he started to peruse a series of PDF files, all clippings and old government files. Alli read them over Ian’s shoulder.
The first was simply a short newspaper snippet about the Valhalla World’s Fair. Only a mention of Ian Page, as the manager of a girl’s revue.
The next clipping was of similar ilk, a mention of Ian Page as a manager of a big band visiting Chicago.
The third file was a badly faded copy of an arrest report dated 1947. Ian Page was arrested for solicitation alongside four young women.
The final file was an FBI report on Ian. Much of it was blacked out. But between the classified information, it was very clear who this Ian Page was. He worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or at least served them as an asset. He worked for the government.
“I don’t understand this,” Alli said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a key,” Ian said.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just like El Sanguijuelo was for the first layer. It’s another key, but I have no idea to what or how to use it. I’m good but this might take a cryptographer to decode without a password or an explanation of the key.”
Peach walked in to the room. “I have a few ideas. Maybe Ian and I can work together on this.”
Ian looked up from the computer at the secretary. “I—I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”
He can’t use his powers against her, Alli thought. And I should check in with Marilyn. I don’t trust that Cyrus guy anymore than I do Ian.
“I’m not sure if I would be good company right now,” Ian said. “I don’t think my head is in the right place.”
“Don’t be silly,” Peach said. “I could use the company. I’ve been staring at that screen by myself for hours. Any company would be great right now. A cute unattached guy is just icing on the cake.”
“Peach…” Alli gave her aide a look that both knew well. Peach had too much of a history of bedding their clients.
“Hey, we’re not working for him. Right, Ian?”
The scrawny blond boy’s face was beet red as they both looked towards him.
“I guess it is okay for us to work together,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment