The Things We Bury - Part 2: No Big Apocalypse [Completed]

Chapter 4: Into the Great Wide Open (Part 3 of 7)

Next to the plastic basket with her name, marked with a piece of tape, was a void where Blass's bin usually sat. The Agency had probably tagged it as evidence and whisked away to some other facility. Barbara retrieved her purse and sat it down in the empty space to dig out her phone.

When the screen flickered on, two pieces of information greeted her: it was ten past twelve and she had one missed call from Sunshine Dry Cleaners. The call looked innocent enough, but that was the point. To anyone else, it was a call about a lost or damaged piece of clothing. But Barbara knew it was more important than that, and considering the events of the morning, it was vital she call back.

"Once again, I sorry for the inconvenience, ma'am."

Major Brennan stepped up behind her and at the first sound of his voice, she switched the screen off and let the phone fall back into her handbag before wheeling around on him.

"First you people imprison me underground for three hours and then you question me like some kind of criminal for the rest of the morning. And you're sorry for the inconvenience?" To be fair it had been some Agency men in suits that had interrogated her, not this tall, uniformed man with his bald head bowed meekly. But when had fairness ever associate itself with her life? Fuck fairness.

Brennan lowered his head a little more as though absorbed in his polished belt buckle or his hands that fidgeted just above it-the right one counting off the burly knuckles on the left. "It's just procedures-getting a full picture of what occurred. All I can say is sorry that-"

"Yes, it seems all you can say is sorry. They must have been awfully desperate when they put you in this job. You keep me locked up while the real culprit walks out the door under your nose. Is this a government operation or a circus act? Don't answer that. Obviously there isn't any difference."

Barbara pushed past the security chief and marched out.

Bastard. Not half the man Carlos was.

The parking lot was a chaos of military vehicles and black SUVs. A few wove through the obstacle course in fits and starts trying to get closer to the building. But most were parked haphazardly and their occupants either inside Aira or patrolling the grounds. Above, the sky was the same flawless blue, empty of clouds and weather that greeted her almost every day, but somewhere under the great canopy, Amy was roaming free.

Walt was going to go ballistic.

Barbara had no doubt he already knew. The Norwegian was like a slimy, giant squid with tentacles everywhere. The one thing she didn't know was what his next step would be. That uncertainty made the phone and its missed call weigh heavy in the purse on her arm.

"Barbara. Barbara." Emily came running to her. "What the hell is going on? I've been waiting to get in for half-an-hour while they run my clearance. No one is telling me anything."

"Go home. Trust me, you don't want in there. You'll just end up spending the afternoon answering the same questions over and over again."

"What happened?"

"Blass went nuts and let wolf-girl out."

Emily's face dropped and her jaw sagged. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Down there? No. Out here? I haven't checked the news. You hear anything about a savage, hairy animal laying waste to a shopping mall?"

"You mean she's out out?"

The emotional complexity of Emily's first reaction had been impossible for Barbara to dissect. It was likely a murky soup of concern for her coworkers trapped with the beast, empathy with their fear and pain, and worry for the sweet, blonde haired girl, who Emily must believe was as much a victim as the people she tore apart. But with the realization that the prom queen could be roaming the hills in search of her next meal, her emotions shifted to a very clear and edgy panic.