Darker Things (The Lockman Chronicles Book 1) by Rob Cornell

Author:Rob Cornell [Cornell, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Paradox Publications
Published: 2011-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

THEY SAT ON CREED’S back porch, the wind chimes a soothing background noise in an otherwise massive silence Lockman hadn’t experienced since camping in the California desert. Creed had even brought out a pitcher of lemonade which sat nearby on a wicker end table between matching chairs. Jessie rocked gently on the porch swing attached to the overhang by a pair of chains. All three of them stared out at the open land before them as if looking for a sign on the horizon.

When Lockman finally dared oppose the silence, his voice felt craggy in his throat. “You’re going to have to make a damn good case, Victor.”

The old man nodded, his gaze still fixated on the distance. “What other explanation is there?”

“I already gave you one scenario.”

“I thought we’d cleared the air on that.”

“How can I trust you? After all that’s happened?”

“You’d rather suspect me, even if the pieces to fit, than your best friend. I understand that.”

“The pieces don’t fit for Tanner, either. What possible reason would he have for siccing Dolan on me? The man saved my life.”

Creed shook his glass, clinking the ice cubes together. He sipped some lemonade while still not turning to face Lockman. “Toward the end, when we realized the Agency was losing support to more conventional anti-terrorist operations, Tanner grew bitter. Something had changed in him. Though it probably started earlier, after his sister committed suicide.”

“Wait. He had a sister?”

Creed lifted his glass to eye level and squinted at the contents as if reading something there. “You surprised he didn’t tell you?”

“A little.”

“You never told him about Kate.”

Lockman picked up where Creed was headed. “Because we weren’t supposed to share personal information.”

“Now you know why.”

“Only he knew more about me than I did about him because you had him spying on the team.”

Creed set his glass aside and finally looked at Lockman. “Our operation was privy to the world’s darkest of secrets. Part of my job was making sure my people could be trusted with that kind of intel.”

“So you had Tanner watching us. But who was watching Tanner?”

“I was. At least, I thought I was. Obviously, not close enough.”

Lockman looked past Creed to Jessie on the swing. She held her lemonade in her lap, pushing at the porch with her feet to keep the swing going. She stared off as if not even aware there was anyone else on the porch with her. But Lockman had a feeling she was taking in every word.

He pulled his attention back to Creed. “His sister’s suicide doesn’t make Tanner a traitor.”

“Do you remember Dolan’s mission, Craig?”

“The use of supernatural elements to terrorize Americans.”

“But why? Every terrorist group has an ideology. What was Dolan’s?”

“He wanted to expose the world to the supernatural. It was like a mission of truth for him.”

“There was another angle. He saw himself as a savior. This country has fallen on hard times lately. I think Dolan has had something in the works for a while, something that we managed to disrupt while we were operational.

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