Outlier: One mistake can destroy everything. (14 page)

Sean was unsure whether Chi had called 911. He pulled into Carmel Street, which was adjacent to the street that led to the main driveway into the school parking lot. He quickly hopped the fence and ran alongside building number three. Up at the corner, he stopped and peered around the edge.
Good girl,
he thought to himself. She couldn’t be more than 90 pounds, and she was showing more courage than most trained cops.

Fifty feet ahead on the left was a mostly empty bike rack. The bikes had been tossed haphazardly to the right and were lying in a heap. Jay had his back to Sean and was facing the three girls. They had spread out as if they were playing a zone defense. They were slowly closing in on Jay, now about 25 feet from him. Jay was looking from girl to girl, not sure how to handle them.

They were doing precisely as Sean had recommended. He needed to cover the distance before Jay turned around, and he had to neutralize Jay without causing any collateral damage. He’d have to rely on the girls to not call attention to him, something he wasn’t sure they were capable of in their current state.

He slowly crept closer, staring at Jay’s back while holding his finger to his lips. His other hand was holding his backup weapon outstretched, away from his body so they could see. Safety off, finger on the trigger. As he slowly advanced, he crouched down slightly and slowly brought the gun to bear. He could hear their taunts.

“You fucking loser! You never had a girlfriend; you never will!”

“Hey Jay, you missed a spot!”

“Jay, how often to you jack off, you fucking creep?”

They were relentless. Rapid-fire insults, one by one, made it impossible for him to concentrate. Twenty feet and closing.

“Janitor jerk-off Jay!”

“Hey, Jay, do you fuck your mom every night?”

“Stop staring at my tits, you fucking loser!”

Sean crept within five feet. Three feet. One foot. Jay hadn’t noticed. Sean quickly fired off three rounds, dead center mass. Each fragmenting bullet was doing more damage than the previous. Jay’s heart was obliterated. His spine had shattered. His lungs ripped to shreds, all before he hit the ground.

The girls flinched and instinctively covered at the sound of the shots. Then they ran to each other and held each other. They ran back into the parking lot, telling everybody it was safe.

Sean instinctively kept his weapon aimed at Jay for a few moments longer. Only then did he hear the approaching sirens.

“OK, Sean, everybody’s gone; it’s only you and me. Nothing will leave this room. I assure you there are no hidden cameras or NSA-type bullshit,” the mayor said, doing her best to sound authoritative. Sean chuckled. He was sitting in the same recliner he’d been in before. He suspected all the mayor’s guests got the non-leather recliner.

“I went to the suspect’s house to see if I could find any evidence. Somebody jumped me and took my gun and my badge. I suspect he was employed by the same folks who employed Mr. Goldberg,” Sean recited.

“The same Mr. Goldberg who says that Mr. Hutchins is no longer a client, correct?” Winnie asked.

“Correct.”

“I see.” She paused. “And then?”

“Then I left as soon as I was able to remove the restraints. I went to the school to prevent any further injury. I saw the suspect attempting to harm three kids. I stopped him. He is no longer a threat.”

They sat in silence.

“You’re sure the children will corroborate?” she asked.

“They’re kids. They were terrified. I doubt they even remember what happened,” he replied.

“So the only person who really knows what happened is you. Correct?” she asked hopefully.

“Correct,” Sean replied, stone-faced.

“We’ve contacted the mother,” he continued. “She’s been in Houston doing some emergency bookkeeping work. She is paid under the table. She seems unwilling to get involved. She said she’ll sign a release as soon as she returns. I told her there’s no rush. I suspect Westlake will see this as closed,” he finished. Westlake was the city attorney.

“I agree,” Winnie said, relieved. “Well, Sean, it seems all previous gossip is now eclipsed by your heroics. Most of the school seems to think you’ve saved them from the devil himself. If the election were today, my job would be yours,” she said, laughing.

Sean shook his head. “Look, Winnie, I don’t know Chi other than the few conversations we’ve had. But she showed something the other day that most people simply would not be able to do. Keep an eye on her. She’s only fifteen, but Jesus.”

Winnie smiled. It was nice to think that some youth had potential, despite what most people thought.

“What about you, Sean? About our arrangement? I think that under the circumstances, you could do very well in this town.”

Sean paused.

“I don’t know, Winnie. I just don’t know. Lemme think about it for a while. I’ll get back to you.”

Winnie nodded and smiled. Sean stood and left.

They’d spent the last 30 minutes reviewing the tapes about the school locker, the apples in the grocery store, and the bicycles being tossed about.
 

“Very impressive,” Ms. Weismann noted. “Cranial integrity?” she asked.

“Still intact,” Bancroft said through the speakerphone.

“Location?” Weismann asked.

“Morgue in San Antonio. I’ll have it secured within 24 hours. Diamond should have it on-site thereafter.”

“Thank you. That will be all.” She ended the call and turned to the general.

“So, walk me through this again. Step by step,” the general said.

“BioGyn, a subsidiary of ours,” she said, motioning to James Diamond, seated directly across from her, “developed an over-the-counter drug to be marketed as a general stress-relieving drug. It’s also a very powerful hypnotic that induces a state of extremely heightened compliance. Extensive studies have shown that parallel advertising strategies, with trigger-word setups and trigger-word activations, can induce up to a 200% increase in consumer activity. However, one wholly unexpected side effect in one outlier was a strong case of telekinetic ability. Within one month of the clinical trials, he was able to perform what you just saw. To date, we are unaware of any biological reasons for this particular individual’s ability,” she said, looking at the general passively.

“Given his abilities after a month, I suspect one could develop more strength and more control; would that be correct?” the general asked.

“Yes; absolutely. After a biopsy of the subject’s biologicals, we’ll have a much better idea of how to sort for more suitable candidates for this particular effect. Ideally members of the Armed Forces,” she said, carefully measuring his response.

“Agreed. Let me know when you find out; this looks to be very promising. I can already think of several applications. Good day.” The General stood and left without waiting for a response.

“As far as LoZiet, proceed as planned, correct?” Diamond asked her.

“I don’t see why not. If there are any outliers like the current subject in San Antonio, that will simply give us more data until they are terminated—either by us or by the authorities, as in this case,” she said, looking down at the file before her.

“Any legal blowback?” Diamond asked.

“I don’t think so. Nobody seems willing to pursue this. This appears to have worked out much better than we’d anticipated; wouldn’t you agree?” she asked.

“Absolutely. We’re already looking at an increase in sales in all consumer divisions of at least 50% over each of the next two fiscal years. Our stock should show a similar appreciation in price,” Diamond said, waiting for a response. There was none. “Will there be anything else?” he asked.

“No, that will be all.”

Only after Diamond left did Ms. Weismann allow herself to smile.

Sean followed Alan down the nondescript hallway, looking at all the identical doors. No numbers. No identification. They stopped, and Alan opened the door.

“After you,” he said.

“How do you know which one?”

“You just do. There’s nothing but empty offices behind the wrong ones.”

After scanning his eye and fingerprint, they entered the office. They passed by the technicians busily working at their computers scanning maps, news reports, and various biometric data. Sean seemed impressed at the sophisticated equipment. Each cubicle was three yards by three yards and had no less than six 16:9 touch-screen monitors of at least 20 inches.

“Just what are these guys looking for?” Sean asked as they waited outside the senior agent’s office.

“You’ll see,” Alan said, smiling.

Sean sat directly in front of the senior agent, whose desk was spotless. Sean immediately realized that despite his age, which Sean put at late fifties, he would not want to meet this guy in any kind of hand-to-hand combat. He had a certain look he’d rarely seen in people, a focus that meant certain death to any of his enemies. He had grayish hair, a white shirt rolled up to the elbows, and a blue necktie, loosened. As they walked in, he simply stared at Sean as if measuring him. Alan had sat on a small sofa directly behind him.

“Detective Lovac, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he said, neither rising nor extending his hand. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions. They may seem odd. I’d prefer you not ask for clarification. Simply answer them the best you can. I assure you there will be no—zero—negative ramifications. This is strictly off the record. Your answers stay in this office—an office few people know exist.”

Sean nodded.

“When you shot Mr. Hutchins in the back, he was unarmed, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Yet you didn’t try to subdue him using non-lethal methods?”

“Correct.”

“Why not?”

“I’d decided that he was too dangerous to stay alive.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

“I saw what he was capable of, and what I surmised he might become capable of. He showed no remorse, and he seemed to have support from an organization that, I would say, is not operating within the bounds of common law.”

“So you surmised that he could not be dealt with within the system, so he had to be dealt with outside the system.”

“Correct.”

“And you killed an unarmed man in cold blood.”

“Incorrect.”

“Explain.”

“He was not armed in the traditional sense. But he did present a real danger to those present.”

“I see. You had no second thoughts?”

“None.”

“How do you feel, in general, about those who operate outside the law?”

“I feel that everybody should be held accountable for their actions if they intend to harm others.”

“And if the justice system is incapable of holding them accountable?”

“They still need to be held accountable. The fact that the justice system is incapable of doing that does not remove that responsibility.”

“And if the justice system is incapable, do you feel confident in making that judgment?”
 

“Yes, I do.”

“How do you know? If there are no written laws?”

“I know.”

“Between right and wrong?”

“Correct.”

“Agent Long?” the senior agent asked.

“I concur,” Alan responded immediately.

Finally, the senior agent stood, extending his hand. “Welcome aboard, Agent Lovac. Agent Long will handle your training and orientation. In fact, you’ll rarely see me. He will be your direct report.”

As they walked out, Sean couldn’t help but notice the grin on Alan’s face. Sean was silent until they were alone back in the hallway.

“This is what you’ve been trying to recruit me for? What the fuck did I just join?” Sean asked, taking a much better look around the nondescript hallway.

Alan stopped in the center of the hallway and turned to Sean, his face serious.

“It’s a different world, Agent Lovac. The rules aren’t made by the good guys anymore. The rules are made by people paid for by people with power. People with money. And more often than not, the rules are made to help the rich and powerful stay rich and powerful.

“Sometimes that’s good for everybody; sometimes it’s not. When things slip through the cracks and innocent people get in the way, our job is to do what we can, however we can. You report to me. You don’t need to know who I report to. We stay off the radar. We find the bad guys and hold them responsible one way or another. You got a problem with that?”

Sean paused. “No, sir,” was all he could come up with.

Stunned. Amazed. Excited. He followed Agent Long down the rest of the hallway, wondering what exactly was in store for him.