Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 3 - Chasing Ghosts - I

  Lani frowned. "You're the one that wanted to sprint down there at a moment's notice to check it out."

  He shrugged. "And I was wrong. It's not like it's the first time."

  Lani sighed and went back to his desk. "At least we got out of the office for a while. It's been so nice out this week."

  "Didn't you live on Maui 'til you were twenty one?" Jeremy loaded up the next video on his list and leaned back in his chair, settling into his practiced surveillance stupor. "It's just been 'less cloudy than usual'."

  "I've been up here five years now, I can still appreciate the change."

  With just one earbud, Jeremy queued up his playlist where he'd left off. He wished he could listen to his music properly, but Aderholt would tear him a new asshole if he missed a call. He flicked the switch to mono sound and grated at the flattened sound. He was just starting to find a groove when Lani interrupted.

  "What are you doing now?"

  "Workin'."

  Lani frowned. "I get that you're happy out here, but I've got a career too. They partnered us so I'd learn the ropes from you. Everyone says you're actually really good at this, but it's been six months now."

  "So why'd they put me in the least important station of the NSB?" he murmured, not taking his eyes off the screen.

  "That was your handiwork, wasn't it?"

  Jeremy paused the video, glancing up. "Hmm?"

  "I dug up your old files. You requested this station."

  "Huh, so I did." Jeremy's hand hovered over the play button, but he didn't click it quite yet. He was curious to see where Lani was going with this.

  "No one at this level just gets the station they want like that, no questions asked. Either you're really good at what you do or you've got something on the higher ups."

  "Both good guesses."

  "So which is it?"

  "You forgot the normal answer. Maybe I just pissed off the wrong director, but he didn't have the clout or the balls to fire me so he threw me to the ass-end of nowhere, at 'my request'." He added air quotes around the last two words with his fingers.

  Lani winced. "...Okay, that's definitely possible."

  Jeremy cracked a smile. "You want to get somewhere in this business? Treat your boss like the fuckin' king, and make sure you find all the dirt on him you possibly can." He resumed the video, leaving Lani to stew over his words for a bit.

  Lani, of course, wouldn't give up that easily. Right as Jeremy was getting into the music again, he stood up and walked over to his desk. "The traffic camera videos?"

  "Yes."

  "We had two full teams go over every inch of those. What are you supposed to find that they didn't?"

  "I'll know it when I see it."

  Lani sighed. "This isn't just another way to kill time, is it?"

  No, it really isn't. "Everything's a way to kill time."

  "Do you mind if I work on the Chancer case then? I've got calls to make."

  "Go for it, won't bother me."

  Lani made his phone calls and did his paperwork, while Jeremy just sat and watched footage. In truth, he thought he was probably wasting time just like Lani said. He wasn't about to find anything in the endless clips of highway and intersection recordings from the nights around May 16th. Nothing related happened anywhere, according to the neatly collated reports from the tech team. There were two collisions they'd spotted from civilian cameras, plus a burglary in progress and one assault captured on corporate security footage, but they weren't allowed to disclose any of that. Their jurisdiction was strictly the potential of a terrorist attack or other foreign operation on the small town of Rallsburg. Any crimes outside that window would go unreported, since the files were only handed over under that specific court order.