Chapter 13
James lay beside Brigitte in the light of the bedside lamp, gently running one hand through her dark hair. She made soft, contented sounds and snuggled in closer to his chest, her dark eyes drowsy. “That’s nice,” she purred.
James smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead. “I keep thinking this is a dream,” he whispered. “You and I...”
She lifted her lips to his throat and he quivered as her warm breath danced across his skin. “You can be so dense, sometimes, Jim,” she murmured fondly. “I dropped so many hints that you completely missed... I was beginning to think you were gay.”
James chuckled. “I always thought you were teasing me, like when we were kids.”
She grinned. “Who said I was teasing, even then?”
He tilted his head, gazing at her. “What do you mean?”
Her soft, low laugh was almost self-deprecating. “Jim, I’ve been trying to get you to notice me as something other than your step-sister for as long as I can remember. Before that, I practically worshipped you.” James laughed, but she shoved him gently. “I’m serious.”
He shook his head. “Why the hell would you worship me, Brigitte? I was a kid, just like you.”
She shook her head. “No, Jim, you weren’t. I remember the first time I saw you, when your Dad led us into the cabin and said that it was you who had made him do it. You were standing by the stove... you’d made us soup. I hadn’t eaten anything other than part of a raw chicken and a couple of raw eggs for nearly two weeks. I remember your face, how you smiled at us. You were like an angel. Then, when those soldiers came...”
James closed his eyes. He still had nightmares about that day, nightmares where he hadn’t been fast enough, hadn’t acted. Sometimes he woke up, shaking, remembering the sound of the gun.
“...and you slept in my bed because I was too scared to sleep alone. I think that’s when it started. You made me feel safe, just by being there. I wanted you to stay in my bed forever.
“Later, after we moved to the city, you kept doing little things for me, like when you snuck out in the middle of the night to track down the doll I lost in the park... things you didn’t think I would notice. But I did.”
He smiled at the old, almost forgotten memory. The doll had been under a slide, but it had taken him until almost dawn to find it. He’d tucked it under her blanket while she slept and had acted totally surprised the next day when she announced she had found her doll.
Brigitte touched his cheek, and he looked down into her moist, dark eyes. “It made me feel loved,” she whispered. He glanced away, blinking back tears. She paused for a moment, and when she continued, her voice had grown softer. “Then Justin died, and you got so distant for so long. I thought I’d lost you. I didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t go searching for a lost doll to make everything alright again. So I teased you, tried to get you to react, but you were always so focused. You went to work, trying to keep us going, even though you were hurting so badly...”
He realized then that she was crying, crying for the pain he had felt, the pain she could do nothing to alleviate. With a trembling hand he wiped away the tears.
“Brigitte...” he began, but she shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest and weeping softly.
He continued to stroke her long, dark hair, gently kissing the top of her head, until her breathing slowed. In the silence, he stared at the ceiling, not bothering to wipe away the tears that ran down his cheeks.
*
The door burst open and he jerked awake. Brigitte gasped in surprise, pulling the blanket up to cover herself, and stared at her mother, standing in the doorway. Alyse stared at the two of them for an instant, conflicting emotions running across her features. At last she simply shook her head. “The Chinese have announced they are intending to take action against the American Occupation,” she told them in a frightened voice. “And the US has announced that it is readying its nuclear arsenal.”
James took a deep breath. “Relax, Alyse,” he said calmly. “They won’t attack, and the US won’t use their nukes. It’s political posturing, nothing more.”
Alyse stared at him, her eyes wide. He felt Brigitte’s arms tighten around him. “How can you be sure?” Alyse demanded.
James’ smile was sad. “Because Dad told us this would happen. He just didn’t know when.”
Alyse’s eyes grew wider, if that was possible. She opened her mouth to say something, and then shook her head. “I... remember,” she breathed.
“It’s a power play,” James continued. “Just like he predicted. Now the UN will get involved.”
“But even if war doesn’t come, there will be panic... like before the American War,” Alyse whispered. “Food, water...”
James grinned. “I started stocking up last week,” he told her. “We’ve got enough supplies in the storage room to last a month. This will be over by then, I promise you.”
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Alyse began to laugh softly. “You knew... I should have known that you would...” She took a deep breath and then her eyes grew sharper. “Since there seems nothing else to worry about,” she commented tartly, “perhaps I should ask what you two are doing?”
James frowned at her. “We were sleeping,” he replied, yawning.
“Together!” Alyse snapped.
“Obviously,” he retorted drily. He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Alyse... it’s not like you didn’t expect this.”
She glared at him for a moment, and then she laughed, a genuine, rich laugh of amusement and something more. “I had almost given up hope,” she told him. “You can be so dense for one so brilliant, James McLeod.”
Brigitte grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair. “That’s exactly what I told him.”
James glanced between mother and daughter. “If you two are done,” he muttered darkly, “I would like to get some sleep. Goodnight, Alyse. Please remember to knock in the future.”
Her laughter echoed in the small room as she gently closed the door.
Brigitte lay back and turned to face him, her dark eyes glimmering in the faint light that crept under the door. “You are entirely too clever for your own good, James. You’ve been storing up supplies since last week?”
James shrugged, the motion not visible in the darkness, but she could feel the motion. “I knew it was coming. The Chinese navy began manoeuvres in the Pacific last week. It was a good indicator that this was coming. I have to admit, I thought they would announce this on Friday.”
She laughed softly. “You were off by two whole days.”
“Two days could have been important if it had been two days earlier instead of later,” he observed. “Anyhow, we’ve got the supplies we need to see us through... though I blew the last of the money I had saved to do it. As of tomorrow,” he glanced at the clock. “Or this morning, I guess, prices are going to go through the roof for damn near everything. I’m walking you to work in the morning, Brigitte. I want you to stay at the house until I pick you up tonight, too. Things could get pretty ugly out there in the next few days.”
“I thought you said nothing was going to happen!” she protested.
“Just because the Chinese aren’t going to attack doesn’t mean the people around us aren’t going to see this as an opportunity. The military will use this whole thing in order to crack down, and people are going to get hurt. They’ve been looking for a good excuse for a while. This is it.”
“Jim...” her voice was tentative. “Graeme and the others... was that you?”
“Go to sleep, Brigitte,” he said softly.
“Jim, I want to know.”
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “What do you think, Brigitte? Three men, two of them armed soldiers... do you really think I could walk in and beat them to death with my bare hands? Do you really think I could pull that off?”
She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest and listening to his steady heartbeat. “Yes,” she whispered. “God help me, I do.”
“Wouldn’t that make me some kind of monster?” he asked, his voice incredibly small.
“No,” she murmured. “Not to me.”
He lay there in the darkness, letting the silence overtake them.
*
Dan glowered at him as they lay another layer of brick down. “I suppose you think you’re mighty clever,” he observed. “Aren’t you going to say ‘I told you so’?”
James shrugged. “Don’t need to,” he replied.
Aaron chuckled as he slapped down more of the mortar. “Glad you mentioned that you were stocking up last week,” he murmured. “Have you seen the prices today?”
Dan shook his head. “It’s idiotic. Half my paycheck would barely buy me enough to eat for a few days, now.” He smirked slightly. “So, you ever gamble, McLeod?”
James grimaced and shook his head.
“That’s a shame. I was hoping you could tell me who would have the best hands at the poker game tonight."
James grinned at him as he placed the next brick down. “That’s easy. Not you.”
Shaking his head ruefully, Dan gave an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, tell me something I don’t know, smartass.”
“Uh-oh,” Aaron muttered, darkly, glancing up. “Henry’s coming, and he’s got some goons with him.”
James and Dan paused in laying the bricks as their foreman came to stand above them, two American Occupational soldiers beside him. “Himmel,” Chin snarled. “There are some men who would like to talk to you. You won’t get paid for the day.”
“What the hell, Henry!” Dan snapped. “It’s past noon. He should at least get half the day!”
“Shut up, Ingram, unless you want to get docked, too.” Staring at Aaron, Henry’s eyes seemed to gleam darkly. “Now get up here, Himmel.”
Aaron frowned, placing the trowel back into the mortar. “Look, I don’t know what this is all about...” The two soldiers stepped forward together and reached down to grab Aaron’s arms. He jerked back, throwing their hands off. “Hey, bugger off you...”
One of the soldiers took a step back and drew his handgun, and Aaron froze, his arms partially extended upward.
“Hey,” James commented softly, placing his shovel down carefully. “Easy, now. No need for this to get ugly...”
“Shut the fuck up,” the soldier with the gun snapped. “And you,” he glared at Aaron. “Get out of that trench now.”
Aaron stared at the gun, trembling.
“Hey!” a new voice called from a little distance away, one of the guys from another crew. “What the hell?”
The second soldier drew his own handgun and turned to face the new speaker, who was approaching with several others, each with shovels in their hands. “Back away!” the soldier snapped.
James closed his eyes. This was going to get really ugly, he realized. His gaze focused on the soldier facing Aaron, and he braced his legs against the dirt in the trench behind him. He would only have one chance at this, he knew.
“I said get back!” the second soldier barked, but his voice cracked as he spoke.
Aaron remained paralyzed with fear, his eyes wide, staring at the gun pointed at him. The soldier glanced back at his partner, who was backing up slightly. James chose that moment and launched himself across the space between where he had been and where Aaron stood, slamming into his friend’s chest and tackling him to the ground just as the soldier jerked back and squeezed the trigger. Mud splattered where the bullet hit, and the second soldier glanced away from the gathering crowd for a fraction of a moment.
A fraction of a moment too long.
The crowd reacted to the sound of the gun with anger instead of terror. The lead individuals surged forward, and the second soldier turned back, raising his gun a moment too late. One of the men slammed a shovel into his face, and he staggered backwards. The first soldier panicked, and raised his gun, but a shovel slammed into it at the last moment, and the gun fired in the wrong direction, the bullet hitting Henry Chin in the chest.
James remained on top of Aaron, pinning his friend to the ground. “Stay down, Aaron,” he whispered. He glanced over to where Dan crouched in the mud, arms covering his head. The two soldiers had both lost their guns, and the workers crashed into them in a wave of frustrated fury.
This was not the time, James realized. The repercussions, if two soldiers were killed now, would be catastrophic. As much as he wanted to let the workers beat the soldiers to death, he knew he had to do something... even though he knew it would set him up, in the eyes of those around him, as an American sympathizer.
“Damn, I hate seeing how this shit will play out,” he whispered to Aaron. He shook his head and rose to his feet. “Stop! Anthony! Tim! Eric!” When the three he named glanced up, snarling, he yelled, “They will kill your families! Don’t give them the excuse!” He climbed out of the trench and raced over to throw himself between the other attackers and the two soldiers lying on the ground. “Don’t do this! Back away!”
There was a moment of confused silence, and one of the workers glanced at him, sneering. “Coming to help your real friends, McLeod? Get lost, or you’ll be next!”
“Don’t be an idiot, Wayne,” James growled. “Do you think the Americans are going to tolerate this kind of shit? They can’t afford to look weak, to look like they can’t handle things... not with China sitting on the doorstep. They want an excuse to send a message that they have absolute control here, and you are giving them the perfect opportunity, you fucking moron!” He looked down at the two soldiers lying unconscious on the ground, and then he glanced around at the others. “And the rest of you... you have families! Do you really think this entire thing isn’t being watched? You know damn well there are security cameras trained on us right now! The smartest thing you can all do is go home, right now. Keep your faces down, hats and hoods on and get the fuck out of here before more of these goons show up.”
The men around him stared at him, and then one of them pulled his hood up. The others who had hoods followed suit, and the rest pulled their hard-hats down lower. “They can figure out who we are from the time sheets,” Wayne commented sullenly, not looking up.
“You know Henry doesn’t fill those out until the end of the shift, Wayne. Right now, every one of you is a no-show unless you get caught standing around here.” He glanced down at the still form of his former foreman. “It’s not like Henry is going to tell them anything, and these two,” he gestured to the fallen soldiers, “don’t know your names. The only ones that can’t go anywhere are Aaron and me. Me because you fucking made me stand up here and make a spectacle of myself, and Aaron because these two came here specifically for him. Now go home! Don’t make me take the fall for nothing.”
There was a moment of silence, and then the men around him began to sidle away, keeping their eyes on the ground to avoid being identified by the security cameras. James shook his head and glanced over at Aaron, who was still standing in the trench beside Dan. “Aaron, you should stay. If you run, they’ll chase you down. Dan, you don’t have to...”
“Fuck that,” Dan growled. “I saw it all. I’ll stay. Besides, these two can probably ID me, and if anyone bothers to look at past time sheets, we’ve been working together for four years. They’ll know who to look for.”
Aaron swallowed hard, and then glanced at the three forms lying in the dirt. “They okay?”
James knelt down beside the first soldier and checked his pulse. “Henry took a bullet to the chest,” he said, rising and moving to the other soldier. “But these two should be fine.” He glanced up as the sound of sirens, still quite distant, reached his ears. “Dan, can you pass me my water bottle?”
Dan tossed it to him, and James knelt down beside the first soldier. He splashed a little water on the man’s face and tried to wipe away some of the blood. The soldier’s eyes twitched open, and James whispered, “They’ve gone. You’re going to be okay, but try not to move just yet. You’ve been beaten pretty badly, and I don’t want you to accidently hurt yourself further. Are you thirsty?”
The soldier blinked and murmured, “Yes.”
James carefully splashed a little water into the man’s mouth. “Dan, can you come here and hold his head? I don’t think he’s hurt his neck, but I don’t want to risk it.”
Dan walked over to stand beside him and stared down at the solider. He grimaced, but knelt down and gently placed his arms on either side of the man’s head. “Got him,” he said.
Rising, James went over and knelt down beside the other soldier and repeated the process. By the time he had checked the man’s injuries, the sirens were almost upon them. He glanced down at the soldier he was supporting. “Help is coming,” he told him.
“Thanks,” the man whispered. “I think... I... you stopped them... from killing us, didn’t you?”
James smiled slightly. “Something like that,” he agreed.
The sound of tires on the gravel approach to the worksite reached him, and he glanced up. “They’re going to want me to let you go,” he said. “If I do, and if you’ve hurt your neck, it could be dangerous for you. Without moving, can you let them know you’re doing okay, but that I can’t let go until medical help arrives?”
The soldier smiled weakly. “Oh, I’ll let them know.”
Doors slammed behind him, and he heard feet charging forward. “You three! Put your hands in the air!”
“I’m supporting this man’s neck,” James called back. “And my friend is doing the same for the other one. I don’t know how severe their injuries are, and I don’t want to release them until medical assistance arrives.”
“Corporal Jensen, Corporal Saunders... are you alright?” the voice called.
“I’m okay,” the soldier James was supporting called as loudly as he could. His companion called out as well.
Footsteps behind him told him that someone was approaching. “What happened?” the voice demanded.
“A bit of a misunderstanding,” James replied blandly, not looking up. “Have you radioed an ambulance?”
“Yes. Who’s the dead guy?”
James shook his head. “The foreman,” he replied. “Henry Chin.”
After a moment the footsteps retreated. “Corporal,” the soldier behind him said to another person. “Go find out where those security cameras feed to. I want this whole scene, from every angle.”
“Yes, sergeant,” another man replied.
The sergeant returned and stood opposite James. For the first time, James glanced up. The man glared down at him, and his face was mildly familiar. James struggled for a moment, finally placing it. He had been one of the soldiers who had discovered their cabin, over a decade before. He cast his mind back, searching for a name. At last his lips quirked. “Hernandez,” he murmured.
The sergeant glanced down at him, his brown eyes sharp. “Do I know you?”
James laughed softly. “I’d have been a kid. My family hid out the war at our cabin. Your squad came checking doors. I think you were a private, back then.”
The man stared at James, frowning. Then he shrugged. “Could be,” he agreed. “You want to tell me what happened here?”
“Told you. There was a slight misunderstanding,” James answered.
Hernandez grunted. “Of course. And these boys got hurt slipping in the mud, right?”
James laughed softly. “And I’ve got this awesome piece of ocean-front property...”
There was a long pause, and then Hernandez chuckled. “You realize you’re all going to have to come in for questioning, right?”
James sighed. “Yes, sergeant.”
He studied James for a few moments. Finally he frowned. “Most people would have run, hoped they weren’t recognized... why’d you stay?”
“Because I’m not stupid enough to imagine for a minute that you couldn’t track me down whenever you wanted,” James responded. “And I’m hoping I can convince your superiors not to be dumb enough to track down the rest of the idiots that were out here. I was hoping that a show of good faith, helping your men, might give me five minutes to convince them that this isn’t the excuse they’ve been looking for to slap down the population.”
Shaking his head, Hernandez turned away. “You’re going to have to be one hell of a smooth talker, boy. They aren’t interested in ocean-front property.”
*
The walls were a shade of off-white, and the paint was peeling in the corners. A flickering, fluorescent bulb hummed above him, and a single fly buzzed determinedly against it. James sat in the chair, arms bound behind him, and stared at the ceiling. He’d put his feet up on the table and made every effort to ignore the large mirror that took up most of the wall across from him. So far he’d been in this room for close to two hours, he figured. No one had come in to interrogate him. They were probably going over the video footage, he assumed. He’d noticed five different cameras near the construction site, all of which would have caught the events to some extent. In all likelihood, they were going over names, trying to identify the perpetrators. They would keep him here until they had all of the names, and then they would probably release him. It would look to the other workers like he had caved and given up their names. He sighed and crossed his feet on the table.
The door opened and a middle-aged man walked into the room. He crossed over to the other side of the table and sat down, tossing a folder down in front of James’ feet. James pulled his feet down and leaned forward.
The man was dressed in regulation fatigues, with the traditional army camouflage pattern. He wore a crisp brimmed hat, with an eagle clutching a sheaf of arrows in its talons pinned to it. The “Double A” patch of the Airborne sat below the US flag on his right arm, and his name was emblazoned on his right breast: Palliser.
“James Ian McLeod,” the colonel said softly. “No priors. No known associations.” He stared across at James, his grey eyes searching. “And from what I’ve seen, I have you to thank that one civilian and two of my soldiers aren’t dead. Sergeant Hernandez seems to think that I should speak with you. Why is that, exactly?”
“Sir,” James began cautiously. “With all due respect, I’m hoping I can save more people today.”
Palliser leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that, James McLeod?”
“By convincing you that retribution isn’t the best course of action, sir.” When the colonel didn’t answer, James leaned back slightly. “Sir, you and I both know that you have video footage of everything that happened at the Detention Center today. I know of at least five cameras, and there were probably others that I haven’t noticed. In all likelihood, you have spent the last two hours tracking down the names, addresses, and every other pertinent piece of information you can on every last man that was out there today. I would lay bets that right now there are orders awaiting your approval to go and detain all of them.”
The colonel tilted his head slightly to the side, watching James carefully. “And?”
“Sir,” James considered his words very carefully. “One man is dead. Now you and I both know it was an accident, but if your soldiers go out and arrest the witnesses to his death, you’ll be putting them in a potentially dangerous and extremely volatile situation.” James leaned forward as far as his bound hands would permit. “Personally, I don’t give a damn about Henry Chin. The man was a prick. But by arresting civilians and not taking action against the soldiers who killed him, you’ll be making Chin into a martyr. While he may have been an American sympathizer, he was still a Canadian citizen. That sort of thing makes people think about retaliating, and that will mean blood in the streets... American blood as well as Canadian blood. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to crush any kind of uprising quickly, but with China rattling its sabre, I doubt that your senior officers want any kind of attention drawn to American military activities in Canada right now. They need to appear as strong and in control as they can if they want to maintain a decent bargaining stance when the UN suggests negotiation.”
The colonel’s eyes widened slightly. “Who said anything about the UN or negotiation?”
He restrained himself from rolling his eyes, but only barely. “Colonel, I’m not an idiot. Negotiation is the only avenue left. Your government won’t resort to nuclear war. It just isn’t in the cards. They’ll negotiate, and they’ll want to appear to be in total control when they do. A little civil uprising in one of the centers they claim to have under total control will undermine their position.”
Palliser placed his elbows on the table and leaned toward James. “So you suggest I just let the men who attacked two of my soldiers walk away?”
“Yes,” James replied calmly. “You saw the video footage. Your men panicked. Those workers wouldn’t have done anything, normally. They’re too cowed. But your soldiers showed fear, and that is a fatal weakness when you’ve got a mob in front of you. It’s the same thing in the city right now, only now the citizens in this city smell blood. If you arrest those men, it will look like you are afraid.” James shook his head. “You’ll be making the same mistake as your men did, only on a more public scale. I don’t know how many of your soldiers you want to sacrifice over this, but that’s what it will come down to.”
“I can’t just do nothing,” Palliser snapped. “That’s even worse than showing fear: it’s showing weakness.”
“Then send each of them a letter of clemency,” James suggested. “They’ll know you know who they are, but that you have chosen to be lenient. Offer a public apology for the death of Henry Chin, announce that the soldiers responsible for his death are being reassigned, and suddenly you appear as fair-minded instead of tyrannical, gathering you positive public opinion. No bloodshed, and the people who were responsible for beating your soldiers walk away knowing that you could have destroyed them, but for some reason you didn’t.”
The colonel leaned back in his chair and stared at James. “How long did it take you to come up with this?” he demanded.
“Between the time that your soldier fired the shot that killed Henry Chin, and when Sergeant Hernandez arrived,” James answered honestly.
Shaking his head, Palliser rose to his feet. “I probably already know the answer to this, but if you want a job...”
James smiled bitterly. “What, and miss out on walling in the Detention Center? Thanks, Colonel, but I have to pass.” As the colonel turned to leave, James said, “Sir, if I may... why were those soldiers there in the first place?”
The colonel paused and turned back to face him, his face stark. “To arrest Aaron Himmel on suspicion of killing my son.”
James shook his head. “He didn’t do it.”
“Oh?” the colonel’s eyes were narrow with suppressed fury. “And why do you say that?”
“Because no one who has just killed a man would talk about him the way Aaron did, especially not when someone like Henry Chin could hear. You’ve got bad information, Colonel. Himmel isn’t your guy.”
The colonel frowned, turned smartly on his heel, and stalked to the door. It opened and he jerked his thumb at James. “Release him.”
It was dark by the time James got to the house where Brigitte worked. She met him at the step with a grin that faded when she saw his face. “What happened?” she asked.
As they walked back along the dark streets, he told her about the day. When he finished, she stared at him in stunned silence. “But... Jim, I thought you would want an uprising. I mean, the way you talk about needing change...”
James shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips. “There’s a difference between a planned uprising and a spontaneous mob, Brigitte. If this had gone down... the people aren’t ready. The military would crush an uprising now without even trying. It wouldn’t be a revolution; it would be a slaughter.”
They climbed the stairs in silence. As usual, Alyse was reclining in her chair, staring at the television. James glanced at the screen to see Palliser staring back at him. “We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the family of Mr. Chin. Accidents like this remind us how fragile life is. Further, we would like to assure the public that an inquiry is being made into this tragedy, and that the soldiers who were involved have been reassigned...”
With a faint smile, James walked into the kitchen to open a can of soup. It had been a long day.
James smiled and kissed her gently on the forehead. “I keep thinking this is a dream,” he whispered. “You and I...”
She lifted her lips to his throat and he quivered as her warm breath danced across his skin. “You can be so dense, sometimes, Jim,” she murmured fondly. “I dropped so many hints that you completely missed... I was beginning to think you were gay.”
James chuckled. “I always thought you were teasing me, like when we were kids.”
She grinned. “Who said I was teasing, even then?”
He tilted his head, gazing at her. “What do you mean?”
Her soft, low laugh was almost self-deprecating. “Jim, I’ve been trying to get you to notice me as something other than your step-sister for as long as I can remember. Before that, I practically worshipped you.” James laughed, but she shoved him gently. “I’m serious.”
He shook his head. “Why the hell would you worship me, Brigitte? I was a kid, just like you.”
She shook her head. “No, Jim, you weren’t. I remember the first time I saw you, when your Dad led us into the cabin and said that it was you who had made him do it. You were standing by the stove... you’d made us soup. I hadn’t eaten anything other than part of a raw chicken and a couple of raw eggs for nearly two weeks. I remember your face, how you smiled at us. You were like an angel. Then, when those soldiers came...”
James closed his eyes. He still had nightmares about that day, nightmares where he hadn’t been fast enough, hadn’t acted. Sometimes he woke up, shaking, remembering the sound of the gun.
“...and you slept in my bed because I was too scared to sleep alone. I think that’s when it started. You made me feel safe, just by being there. I wanted you to stay in my bed forever.
“Later, after we moved to the city, you kept doing little things for me, like when you snuck out in the middle of the night to track down the doll I lost in the park... things you didn’t think I would notice. But I did.”
He smiled at the old, almost forgotten memory. The doll had been under a slide, but it had taken him until almost dawn to find it. He’d tucked it under her blanket while she slept and had acted totally surprised the next day when she announced she had found her doll.
Brigitte touched his cheek, and he looked down into her moist, dark eyes. “It made me feel loved,” she whispered. He glanced away, blinking back tears. She paused for a moment, and when she continued, her voice had grown softer. “Then Justin died, and you got so distant for so long. I thought I’d lost you. I didn’t know what to say, and I couldn’t go searching for a lost doll to make everything alright again. So I teased you, tried to get you to react, but you were always so focused. You went to work, trying to keep us going, even though you were hurting so badly...”
He realized then that she was crying, crying for the pain he had felt, the pain she could do nothing to alleviate. With a trembling hand he wiped away the tears.
“Brigitte...” he began, but she shook her head and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest and weeping softly.
He continued to stroke her long, dark hair, gently kissing the top of her head, until her breathing slowed. In the silence, he stared at the ceiling, not bothering to wipe away the tears that ran down his cheeks.
*
The door burst open and he jerked awake. Brigitte gasped in surprise, pulling the blanket up to cover herself, and stared at her mother, standing in the doorway. Alyse stared at the two of them for an instant, conflicting emotions running across her features. At last she simply shook her head. “The Chinese have announced they are intending to take action against the American Occupation,” she told them in a frightened voice. “And the US has announced that it is readying its nuclear arsenal.”
James took a deep breath. “Relax, Alyse,” he said calmly. “They won’t attack, and the US won’t use their nukes. It’s political posturing, nothing more.”
Alyse stared at him, her eyes wide. He felt Brigitte’s arms tighten around him. “How can you be sure?” Alyse demanded.
James’ smile was sad. “Because Dad told us this would happen. He just didn’t know when.”
Alyse’s eyes grew wider, if that was possible. She opened her mouth to say something, and then shook her head. “I... remember,” she breathed.
“It’s a power play,” James continued. “Just like he predicted. Now the UN will get involved.”
“But even if war doesn’t come, there will be panic... like before the American War,” Alyse whispered. “Food, water...”
James grinned. “I started stocking up last week,” he told her. “We’ve got enough supplies in the storage room to last a month. This will be over by then, I promise you.”
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Alyse began to laugh softly. “You knew... I should have known that you would...” She took a deep breath and then her eyes grew sharper. “Since there seems nothing else to worry about,” she commented tartly, “perhaps I should ask what you two are doing?”
James frowned at her. “We were sleeping,” he replied, yawning.
“Together!” Alyse snapped.
“Obviously,” he retorted drily. He rolled his eyes. “Come on, Alyse... it’s not like you didn’t expect this.”
She glared at him for a moment, and then she laughed, a genuine, rich laugh of amusement and something more. “I had almost given up hope,” she told him. “You can be so dense for one so brilliant, James McLeod.”
Brigitte grinned and reached out to ruffle his hair. “That’s exactly what I told him.”
James glanced between mother and daughter. “If you two are done,” he muttered darkly, “I would like to get some sleep. Goodnight, Alyse. Please remember to knock in the future.”
Her laughter echoed in the small room as she gently closed the door.
Brigitte lay back and turned to face him, her dark eyes glimmering in the faint light that crept under the door. “You are entirely too clever for your own good, James. You’ve been storing up supplies since last week?”
James shrugged, the motion not visible in the darkness, but she could feel the motion. “I knew it was coming. The Chinese navy began manoeuvres in the Pacific last week. It was a good indicator that this was coming. I have to admit, I thought they would announce this on Friday.”
She laughed softly. “You were off by two whole days.”
“Two days could have been important if it had been two days earlier instead of later,” he observed. “Anyhow, we’ve got the supplies we need to see us through... though I blew the last of the money I had saved to do it. As of tomorrow,” he glanced at the clock. “Or this morning, I guess, prices are going to go through the roof for damn near everything. I’m walking you to work in the morning, Brigitte. I want you to stay at the house until I pick you up tonight, too. Things could get pretty ugly out there in the next few days.”
“I thought you said nothing was going to happen!” she protested.
“Just because the Chinese aren’t going to attack doesn’t mean the people around us aren’t going to see this as an opportunity. The military will use this whole thing in order to crack down, and people are going to get hurt. They’ve been looking for a good excuse for a while. This is it.”
“Jim...” her voice was tentative. “Graeme and the others... was that you?”
“Go to sleep, Brigitte,” he said softly.
“Jim, I want to know.”
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “What do you think, Brigitte? Three men, two of them armed soldiers... do you really think I could walk in and beat them to death with my bare hands? Do you really think I could pull that off?”
She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest and listening to his steady heartbeat. “Yes,” she whispered. “God help me, I do.”
“Wouldn’t that make me some kind of monster?” he asked, his voice incredibly small.
“No,” she murmured. “Not to me.”
He lay there in the darkness, letting the silence overtake them.
*
Dan glowered at him as they lay another layer of brick down. “I suppose you think you’re mighty clever,” he observed. “Aren’t you going to say ‘I told you so’?”
James shrugged. “Don’t need to,” he replied.
Aaron chuckled as he slapped down more of the mortar. “Glad you mentioned that you were stocking up last week,” he murmured. “Have you seen the prices today?”
Dan shook his head. “It’s idiotic. Half my paycheck would barely buy me enough to eat for a few days, now.” He smirked slightly. “So, you ever gamble, McLeod?”
James grimaced and shook his head.
“That’s a shame. I was hoping you could tell me who would have the best hands at the poker game tonight."
James grinned at him as he placed the next brick down. “That’s easy. Not you.”
Shaking his head ruefully, Dan gave an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, tell me something I don’t know, smartass.”
“Uh-oh,” Aaron muttered, darkly, glancing up. “Henry’s coming, and he’s got some goons with him.”
James and Dan paused in laying the bricks as their foreman came to stand above them, two American Occupational soldiers beside him. “Himmel,” Chin snarled. “There are some men who would like to talk to you. You won’t get paid for the day.”
“What the hell, Henry!” Dan snapped. “It’s past noon. He should at least get half the day!”
“Shut up, Ingram, unless you want to get docked, too.” Staring at Aaron, Henry’s eyes seemed to gleam darkly. “Now get up here, Himmel.”
Aaron frowned, placing the trowel back into the mortar. “Look, I don’t know what this is all about...” The two soldiers stepped forward together and reached down to grab Aaron’s arms. He jerked back, throwing their hands off. “Hey, bugger off you...”
One of the soldiers took a step back and drew his handgun, and Aaron froze, his arms partially extended upward.
“Hey,” James commented softly, placing his shovel down carefully. “Easy, now. No need for this to get ugly...”
“Shut the fuck up,” the soldier with the gun snapped. “And you,” he glared at Aaron. “Get out of that trench now.”
Aaron stared at the gun, trembling.
“Hey!” a new voice called from a little distance away, one of the guys from another crew. “What the hell?”
The second soldier drew his own handgun and turned to face the new speaker, who was approaching with several others, each with shovels in their hands. “Back away!” the soldier snapped.
James closed his eyes. This was going to get really ugly, he realized. His gaze focused on the soldier facing Aaron, and he braced his legs against the dirt in the trench behind him. He would only have one chance at this, he knew.
“I said get back!” the second soldier barked, but his voice cracked as he spoke.
Aaron remained paralyzed with fear, his eyes wide, staring at the gun pointed at him. The soldier glanced back at his partner, who was backing up slightly. James chose that moment and launched himself across the space between where he had been and where Aaron stood, slamming into his friend’s chest and tackling him to the ground just as the soldier jerked back and squeezed the trigger. Mud splattered where the bullet hit, and the second soldier glanced away from the gathering crowd for a fraction of a moment.
A fraction of a moment too long.
The crowd reacted to the sound of the gun with anger instead of terror. The lead individuals surged forward, and the second soldier turned back, raising his gun a moment too late. One of the men slammed a shovel into his face, and he staggered backwards. The first soldier panicked, and raised his gun, but a shovel slammed into it at the last moment, and the gun fired in the wrong direction, the bullet hitting Henry Chin in the chest.
James remained on top of Aaron, pinning his friend to the ground. “Stay down, Aaron,” he whispered. He glanced over to where Dan crouched in the mud, arms covering his head. The two soldiers had both lost their guns, and the workers crashed into them in a wave of frustrated fury.
This was not the time, James realized. The repercussions, if two soldiers were killed now, would be catastrophic. As much as he wanted to let the workers beat the soldiers to death, he knew he had to do something... even though he knew it would set him up, in the eyes of those around him, as an American sympathizer.
“Damn, I hate seeing how this shit will play out,” he whispered to Aaron. He shook his head and rose to his feet. “Stop! Anthony! Tim! Eric!” When the three he named glanced up, snarling, he yelled, “They will kill your families! Don’t give them the excuse!” He climbed out of the trench and raced over to throw himself between the other attackers and the two soldiers lying on the ground. “Don’t do this! Back away!”
There was a moment of confused silence, and one of the workers glanced at him, sneering. “Coming to help your real friends, McLeod? Get lost, or you’ll be next!”
“Don’t be an idiot, Wayne,” James growled. “Do you think the Americans are going to tolerate this kind of shit? They can’t afford to look weak, to look like they can’t handle things... not with China sitting on the doorstep. They want an excuse to send a message that they have absolute control here, and you are giving them the perfect opportunity, you fucking moron!” He looked down at the two soldiers lying unconscious on the ground, and then he glanced around at the others. “And the rest of you... you have families! Do you really think this entire thing isn’t being watched? You know damn well there are security cameras trained on us right now! The smartest thing you can all do is go home, right now. Keep your faces down, hats and hoods on and get the fuck out of here before more of these goons show up.”
The men around him stared at him, and then one of them pulled his hood up. The others who had hoods followed suit, and the rest pulled their hard-hats down lower. “They can figure out who we are from the time sheets,” Wayne commented sullenly, not looking up.
“You know Henry doesn’t fill those out until the end of the shift, Wayne. Right now, every one of you is a no-show unless you get caught standing around here.” He glanced down at the still form of his former foreman. “It’s not like Henry is going to tell them anything, and these two,” he gestured to the fallen soldiers, “don’t know your names. The only ones that can’t go anywhere are Aaron and me. Me because you fucking made me stand up here and make a spectacle of myself, and Aaron because these two came here specifically for him. Now go home! Don’t make me take the fall for nothing.”
There was a moment of silence, and then the men around him began to sidle away, keeping their eyes on the ground to avoid being identified by the security cameras. James shook his head and glanced over at Aaron, who was still standing in the trench beside Dan. “Aaron, you should stay. If you run, they’ll chase you down. Dan, you don’t have to...”
“Fuck that,” Dan growled. “I saw it all. I’ll stay. Besides, these two can probably ID me, and if anyone bothers to look at past time sheets, we’ve been working together for four years. They’ll know who to look for.”
Aaron swallowed hard, and then glanced at the three forms lying in the dirt. “They okay?”
James knelt down beside the first soldier and checked his pulse. “Henry took a bullet to the chest,” he said, rising and moving to the other soldier. “But these two should be fine.” He glanced up as the sound of sirens, still quite distant, reached his ears. “Dan, can you pass me my water bottle?”
Dan tossed it to him, and James knelt down beside the first soldier. He splashed a little water on the man’s face and tried to wipe away some of the blood. The soldier’s eyes twitched open, and James whispered, “They’ve gone. You’re going to be okay, but try not to move just yet. You’ve been beaten pretty badly, and I don’t want you to accidently hurt yourself further. Are you thirsty?”
The soldier blinked and murmured, “Yes.”
James carefully splashed a little water into the man’s mouth. “Dan, can you come here and hold his head? I don’t think he’s hurt his neck, but I don’t want to risk it.”
Dan walked over to stand beside him and stared down at the solider. He grimaced, but knelt down and gently placed his arms on either side of the man’s head. “Got him,” he said.
Rising, James went over and knelt down beside the other soldier and repeated the process. By the time he had checked the man’s injuries, the sirens were almost upon them. He glanced down at the soldier he was supporting. “Help is coming,” he told him.
“Thanks,” the man whispered. “I think... I... you stopped them... from killing us, didn’t you?”
James smiled slightly. “Something like that,” he agreed.
The sound of tires on the gravel approach to the worksite reached him, and he glanced up. “They’re going to want me to let you go,” he said. “If I do, and if you’ve hurt your neck, it could be dangerous for you. Without moving, can you let them know you’re doing okay, but that I can’t let go until medical help arrives?”
The soldier smiled weakly. “Oh, I’ll let them know.”
Doors slammed behind him, and he heard feet charging forward. “You three! Put your hands in the air!”
“I’m supporting this man’s neck,” James called back. “And my friend is doing the same for the other one. I don’t know how severe their injuries are, and I don’t want to release them until medical assistance arrives.”
“Corporal Jensen, Corporal Saunders... are you alright?” the voice called.
“I’m okay,” the soldier James was supporting called as loudly as he could. His companion called out as well.
Footsteps behind him told him that someone was approaching. “What happened?” the voice demanded.
“A bit of a misunderstanding,” James replied blandly, not looking up. “Have you radioed an ambulance?”
“Yes. Who’s the dead guy?”
James shook his head. “The foreman,” he replied. “Henry Chin.”
After a moment the footsteps retreated. “Corporal,” the soldier behind him said to another person. “Go find out where those security cameras feed to. I want this whole scene, from every angle.”
“Yes, sergeant,” another man replied.
The sergeant returned and stood opposite James. For the first time, James glanced up. The man glared down at him, and his face was mildly familiar. James struggled for a moment, finally placing it. He had been one of the soldiers who had discovered their cabin, over a decade before. He cast his mind back, searching for a name. At last his lips quirked. “Hernandez,” he murmured.
The sergeant glanced down at him, his brown eyes sharp. “Do I know you?”
James laughed softly. “I’d have been a kid. My family hid out the war at our cabin. Your squad came checking doors. I think you were a private, back then.”
The man stared at James, frowning. Then he shrugged. “Could be,” he agreed. “You want to tell me what happened here?”
“Told you. There was a slight misunderstanding,” James answered.
Hernandez grunted. “Of course. And these boys got hurt slipping in the mud, right?”
James laughed softly. “And I’ve got this awesome piece of ocean-front property...”
There was a long pause, and then Hernandez chuckled. “You realize you’re all going to have to come in for questioning, right?”
James sighed. “Yes, sergeant.”
He studied James for a few moments. Finally he frowned. “Most people would have run, hoped they weren’t recognized... why’d you stay?”
“Because I’m not stupid enough to imagine for a minute that you couldn’t track me down whenever you wanted,” James responded. “And I’m hoping I can convince your superiors not to be dumb enough to track down the rest of the idiots that were out here. I was hoping that a show of good faith, helping your men, might give me five minutes to convince them that this isn’t the excuse they’ve been looking for to slap down the population.”
Shaking his head, Hernandez turned away. “You’re going to have to be one hell of a smooth talker, boy. They aren’t interested in ocean-front property.”
*
The walls were a shade of off-white, and the paint was peeling in the corners. A flickering, fluorescent bulb hummed above him, and a single fly buzzed determinedly against it. James sat in the chair, arms bound behind him, and stared at the ceiling. He’d put his feet up on the table and made every effort to ignore the large mirror that took up most of the wall across from him. So far he’d been in this room for close to two hours, he figured. No one had come in to interrogate him. They were probably going over the video footage, he assumed. He’d noticed five different cameras near the construction site, all of which would have caught the events to some extent. In all likelihood, they were going over names, trying to identify the perpetrators. They would keep him here until they had all of the names, and then they would probably release him. It would look to the other workers like he had caved and given up their names. He sighed and crossed his feet on the table.
The door opened and a middle-aged man walked into the room. He crossed over to the other side of the table and sat down, tossing a folder down in front of James’ feet. James pulled his feet down and leaned forward.
The man was dressed in regulation fatigues, with the traditional army camouflage pattern. He wore a crisp brimmed hat, with an eagle clutching a sheaf of arrows in its talons pinned to it. The “Double A” patch of the Airborne sat below the US flag on his right arm, and his name was emblazoned on his right breast: Palliser.
“James Ian McLeod,” the colonel said softly. “No priors. No known associations.” He stared across at James, his grey eyes searching. “And from what I’ve seen, I have you to thank that one civilian and two of my soldiers aren’t dead. Sergeant Hernandez seems to think that I should speak with you. Why is that, exactly?”
“Sir,” James began cautiously. “With all due respect, I’m hoping I can save more people today.”
Palliser leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. “And how, exactly, do you plan on doing that, James McLeod?”
“By convincing you that retribution isn’t the best course of action, sir.” When the colonel didn’t answer, James leaned back slightly. “Sir, you and I both know that you have video footage of everything that happened at the Detention Center today. I know of at least five cameras, and there were probably others that I haven’t noticed. In all likelihood, you have spent the last two hours tracking down the names, addresses, and every other pertinent piece of information you can on every last man that was out there today. I would lay bets that right now there are orders awaiting your approval to go and detain all of them.”
The colonel tilted his head slightly to the side, watching James carefully. “And?”
“Sir,” James considered his words very carefully. “One man is dead. Now you and I both know it was an accident, but if your soldiers go out and arrest the witnesses to his death, you’ll be putting them in a potentially dangerous and extremely volatile situation.” James leaned forward as far as his bound hands would permit. “Personally, I don’t give a damn about Henry Chin. The man was a prick. But by arresting civilians and not taking action against the soldiers who killed him, you’ll be making Chin into a martyr. While he may have been an American sympathizer, he was still a Canadian citizen. That sort of thing makes people think about retaliating, and that will mean blood in the streets... American blood as well as Canadian blood. I have no doubt that you’ll be able to crush any kind of uprising quickly, but with China rattling its sabre, I doubt that your senior officers want any kind of attention drawn to American military activities in Canada right now. They need to appear as strong and in control as they can if they want to maintain a decent bargaining stance when the UN suggests negotiation.”
The colonel’s eyes widened slightly. “Who said anything about the UN or negotiation?”
He restrained himself from rolling his eyes, but only barely. “Colonel, I’m not an idiot. Negotiation is the only avenue left. Your government won’t resort to nuclear war. It just isn’t in the cards. They’ll negotiate, and they’ll want to appear to be in total control when they do. A little civil uprising in one of the centers they claim to have under total control will undermine their position.”
Palliser placed his elbows on the table and leaned toward James. “So you suggest I just let the men who attacked two of my soldiers walk away?”
“Yes,” James replied calmly. “You saw the video footage. Your men panicked. Those workers wouldn’t have done anything, normally. They’re too cowed. But your soldiers showed fear, and that is a fatal weakness when you’ve got a mob in front of you. It’s the same thing in the city right now, only now the citizens in this city smell blood. If you arrest those men, it will look like you are afraid.” James shook his head. “You’ll be making the same mistake as your men did, only on a more public scale. I don’t know how many of your soldiers you want to sacrifice over this, but that’s what it will come down to.”
“I can’t just do nothing,” Palliser snapped. “That’s even worse than showing fear: it’s showing weakness.”
“Then send each of them a letter of clemency,” James suggested. “They’ll know you know who they are, but that you have chosen to be lenient. Offer a public apology for the death of Henry Chin, announce that the soldiers responsible for his death are being reassigned, and suddenly you appear as fair-minded instead of tyrannical, gathering you positive public opinion. No bloodshed, and the people who were responsible for beating your soldiers walk away knowing that you could have destroyed them, but for some reason you didn’t.”
The colonel leaned back in his chair and stared at James. “How long did it take you to come up with this?” he demanded.
“Between the time that your soldier fired the shot that killed Henry Chin, and when Sergeant Hernandez arrived,” James answered honestly.
Shaking his head, Palliser rose to his feet. “I probably already know the answer to this, but if you want a job...”
James smiled bitterly. “What, and miss out on walling in the Detention Center? Thanks, Colonel, but I have to pass.” As the colonel turned to leave, James said, “Sir, if I may... why were those soldiers there in the first place?”
The colonel paused and turned back to face him, his face stark. “To arrest Aaron Himmel on suspicion of killing my son.”
James shook his head. “He didn’t do it.”
“Oh?” the colonel’s eyes were narrow with suppressed fury. “And why do you say that?”
“Because no one who has just killed a man would talk about him the way Aaron did, especially not when someone like Henry Chin could hear. You’ve got bad information, Colonel. Himmel isn’t your guy.”
The colonel frowned, turned smartly on his heel, and stalked to the door. It opened and he jerked his thumb at James. “Release him.”
It was dark by the time James got to the house where Brigitte worked. She met him at the step with a grin that faded when she saw his face. “What happened?” she asked.
As they walked back along the dark streets, he told her about the day. When he finished, she stared at him in stunned silence. “But... Jim, I thought you would want an uprising. I mean, the way you talk about needing change...”
James shook his head, a bitter smile on his lips. “There’s a difference between a planned uprising and a spontaneous mob, Brigitte. If this had gone down... the people aren’t ready. The military would crush an uprising now without even trying. It wouldn’t be a revolution; it would be a slaughter.”
They climbed the stairs in silence. As usual, Alyse was reclining in her chair, staring at the television. James glanced at the screen to see Palliser staring back at him. “We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the family of Mr. Chin. Accidents like this remind us how fragile life is. Further, we would like to assure the public that an inquiry is being made into this tragedy, and that the soldiers who were involved have been reassigned...”
With a faint smile, James walked into the kitchen to open a can of soup. It had been a long day.