Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 31 - Across the Pond - II

  In fact, it was the very first question asked of Hailey when she finally sat down in the interrogation room at the London Metro Police station, opposite a gravelly-voiced rough older woman who appeared to be the chief of police.

  "I'm looking for something," Hailey replied, with a pointed glance at the recording box seated on the carved wooden table. Everything about the room was much nicer than the American equivalents she'd been in, even the one in the FBI offices a few weeks prior. It was all so pleasant, which just made her feel even more frustrated. She shouldn't be stuck in a police station; she had real work to be doing, work the police should be helping her with.

  The chief and her second—a tall bald man who looked like he'd been puttering around the place since World War II—glanced at each other, before the chief spoke again. "And it's got something to do with Mr. Malton, does it?"

  Hailey shrugged.

  "Come off it. You banged into the man's office," said the tall man. Lieutenant? Hailey wondered. She had no idea what ranks the police used, on either side of the ocean. She hated not knowing things, even the little details like that. "Let's not play the fool now."

  "Aren't I supposed to get a lawyer or something?" Hailey asked, glancing around. "I thought that was still a thing over here."

  "Would you like us to summon legal counsel?" asked the chief, and she too glanced at the recording device. Hailey decided to take the hint, hoping she was right.

  "...I'd like to waive whatever right I have to this being recorded, and getting a lawyer and all that. I just want to talk off the record, if that's okay."

  The chief breathed a sigh of relief as she reached forward. "This interview with Hailey Winscombe was concluded at twelve fifty-five in the afternoon on November the twenty-third, two thousand eighteen." She switched off the recording device.

  Immediately, Hailey leaned forward again, and the intensity returned to her voice. "Okay. Now some real answers. I need to find Malton."

  "Hold the phone," said the lieutenant. He scratched his head as he spoke. "You're still here illegally, you know. We need you to answer for that."

  "Why do you want to find Mr. Malton?" asked the chief, putting a hand on her lieutenant's arm to forestall him.

  Hailey hesitated. How much do I tell them...? It's not like I can prove anything. "Did you see the videos of Lakewood? Of what happened there?"

  "Miss Winscombe, I don't believe there's a soul in Her Majesty's realm that hasn't seen it."

  Good. So everybody knows what he's capable of. "Malton caused that. It was his men that started everything."

  "Oh, honestly," cried the lieutenant, standing up. "Are you really suggesting that Mr. Malton has some secret force of... what's the word again?"

  "Awakened," supplied the chief, still watching Hailey skeptically.

  "A secret force of awakened that he sent out to America to do... what, exactly?"

  "Kill a whole lot of innocent people," Hailey growled.

  Both of them winced at her tone. The chief looked about to say something, but Hailey was fed up. I don't have time for this. I need to get out there. He already knows I'm in town. I have to find him, and I have to make him answer for this.

  She stood up.

  "What are you—"

  "I'm leaving now," Hailey announced. "I've got things to do. Are you going to try and stop me?"

  "I can't just let you leave," said the chief, also rising to her feet.

  "You really don't want to get in my way right now." Hailey wasn't trying to sound so harsh, but it came across that way. The lieutenant recoiled at her gaze, but the chief stood resolute. "I'm not a citizen of the U.K., right? So just let me go. I'll be out of the country as soon as I'm done."

  "That... You can't just—" spluttered the lieutenant.

  His boss raised her hand again to shut him up. "You flew here all on your own, didn't you?" she asked.

  Hailey nodded. "I can do a lot more than that."

  "I've no doubt. As I said, we've seen the video." The chief frowned. "I'm also quite aware you aren't so invincible as you wish to project. I distinctly recall watching you struggle out of a collapsing structure several times over."

  "That was..." Hailey trailed off. It was true... If she hadn't seen that cross-beam in time, she could've been a goner. It fell within inches of her head. But if they think I'm weak, they'll actually try to hold me down. I don't want to hurt them. "Look. Do you see this?" She held up a little ball of flame again.

  "That's not impressing anyone anymore," sniffed the lieutenant in a haughty tone.

  "Not impressed?" Hailey snapped. She flung her hand out toward the door, unlocking the handle she'd seen coming in. With a snap of her fingers, the door slammed open like a crack of lightning. "You don't know anything."

  "...Uhh, marm?" came a quivering voice from the door. An officer stood just behind the suddenly quite-open door to the interrogation room, hand up as if to knock. Her knees buckled together as she froze in place, barely managing to string together a sentence. "Marm, Miss Winscombe's legal counsel has arrived."

  Jefferson? Hailey raised her eyebrows, before realizing it was ridiculous. There's no way he could get here that fast. Maybe somebody from his firm, or a recommendation... but I didn't call anyone. What's going on?

  "Also, you've a call from the foreign secretary's office."

  "Thank you," said the chief, giving the hapless officer a curt nod. The young woman fled the room, passing a sharply-dressed man with a briefcase.

  "Good to see you again, chief," he greeted warmly. The chief offered him the same curt nod she'd just given her own officer, and he smiled all the wider. "Miss Winscombe. A pleasure."

  Hailey just nodded, trying to play along, though she had no clue who the man was.

  "You can't expect us to believe you're her lawyer," said the lieutenant hotly.

  "All guests of the esteemed Met are entitled to legal counsel, as I'm sure you'd agree," he replied, cheerful as ever.

  "It seems you have some powerful friends," said the chief, glancing at Hailey.

  "May we have the room, please?"

  The chief turned to Hailey in full, narrowing her eyes. "Is this your legal counsel, Miss Winscombe?"

  Hailey nodded, though she still had no clue where the man might have come from. No matter who he was, she wasn't about to turn down the mysterious assist. She had enough friends in high places, as the chief said, that he could have come from anyone. I must be on the right track.

  As soon as they were alone, the lawyer sat down across from her. He didn't bother to open his briefcase, merely pulled out a business card and handed it over.

  Hailey scanned it and immediately did a double take. Her mouth fell open.

  "Sir Thomas Laushire is eager to make your acquaintance," added the lawyer. "If it is amenable to you, we'd like to arrange a meeting at your earliest convenience. Say, perhaps, in ten minutes?"