Protecting Dallas

Dietz rubbed at his overgrown crewcut. He’d been tough the whole time he’d been here, but this part was difficult. I could tell he was grieving.

“Connor came back with an idea,” he said. “We’d keep going, and he’d keep feeding me data from the lab. He had the same clearance I did. He could get the same things I could, so he got himself transferred to New Orleans.”

Kane shook his head gravely. “No way you’re gonna convince me Connor gave up secrets.”

“He didn’t,” said Dietz. “He mocked up the data. Took what was there and screwed with it enough that it was useless.” He smiled a little at the recollection. “Shit, it was genius. They never knew. Even now, they still don’t know.”

“But they’re going to find out,” said Austin. It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes. Fairly soon, too.”

“Which is why you’re looking to get out.”

Dietz dropped his head into his hands. “I’ve been looking to get out the whole time,” he said. “Don’t you realize that? Once Wesp was gone I was fucked. Connor and I tried to blow it all open, but with Woodward failing to come through and then… and then they got to Connor…”

“Hey.”

The voice somehow didn’t seem my own. Dietz looked down, and realized I’d laid my hand over his. The physical contact seemed to relax him, even if just a tiny bit.

“Who killed my brother?”

The man looked up at me, his eyes laden with sorrow.

“Tall guy. White hair. Almost albino, I think.”

My eyes closed. A chill ran through my body.

“Guy by the name of Alacard.”

Fifty-Eight

DALLAS

It turned out to be the strangest day.

I spent most of it up on the roof, watching over the neighborhood with Austin. Talking about the things on my brother’s memory chip — a whole digital array of secrets that got him killed. I wasn’t sure which was more ironic: that I had the answer to my brother’s death the whole time, or that I’d somehow worn it unknowingly around my neck.

“You sure you’re okay?”

I nodded for the fifth and final time. “Trust me,” I said, pulling the blanket around my shoulders. “After the shit I’ve been through, it’s nice to finally have answers.”

It was cold up on the roof. I was tired. Aching. Even hungry. Plus, to top it all off, my ass was falling asleep.

“When do you think the others will be back?”

Austin shifted the rifle that rested in his lap, just long enough for a quick glance down at the phone’s screen. Then he went back to being vigilant.

“Maddox and Dietz are almost back already,” he said. “Kane… I don’t know.”

I turned and put my back against his. Stared out over the remains of the once-nice homes of our once-busy block.

“What’s going to happen when all this is through?”

Time passed. The wind whipped my hair back against my face. Austin remained silent, until finally:

“Dunno.”

It was a question he wasn’t expecting. Or maybe he was just thinking of a thoughtful answer. Either way, it was all coming to a head. Their surveillance of me had turned into protection, which had turned into a full-blown investigation that had led us here, to this moment. And now…