Page 30 of A Simple Mistake
“Dancingisfun, Daniel.Don’t let your memories ruin it for you.Remember your bravery instead.”
“‘Bravery’?”
“Yes, bravery.You were relieved when Manville booted you from the dance class.You’d escaped, and you could have stayed away.But when I talked Fenton into letting you go back, you went.All four of you.”
“I never—I didn’t think about it like that.”Bravery was for other people.Daniel was never the one who stood up.He’d shaken out of his skin back in that hospital when the tracker had wanted to drag them back to Goran.It had been Nico who’d remembered what Jack had taught them, who’d remembered the knife and had used it.If Daniel had been alone—
“Daniel.”
Gareth’s voice dispelled the memory.Daniel blinked.Recalled where he was.“Sorry.”
“No need to apologise.You know that.I was just pointing out that you’ve convinced yourself Nico’s the brave, upstanding one and that you’re hiding behind him—which isn’t true.From where I’m standing, you take turns protecting each other.You just have different ways to show your spirit.”
“Do you really think that?”
Gareth rolled his eyes.“Would I lie about something so important?”
“No, but… You know I get scared.I have nightmares.”
“So do I and so has Jack.Everyone has something they’re afraid of, and if someone tells you they don’t, you can call them a liar and I’ll back you up all day long.Daniel, you protect people by looking after them and making them feel good.Nico protects people by speaking up when they can’t.He protected you by challenging Manville.You are protecting him by coming out with me to shop for clothes for a ball he doesn’t want to go to.You both returned to the dance class to help us collect intel.Different situations call for different strengths, different kinds of courage.”
Different kinds of courage.The phrase resonated, and Daniel knew someone had said it to him before.He just found it hard to believe it when he wasn’t a fighter.He didn’t even like to argue.Not like Jess did.
“Come on, finish that frappuccino,” Gareth said.“I can see you’re not hearing me yet.”
“You’re not angry?”
“Never.Good things take time, right?Besides, we’re here to buy suits, not discuss courage and cowardice.Tell me what Carol and Jess are wearing.”
He meant every word.Daniel could hear it.He wished he could switch tracks the way Gareth did.Put aside the fears and disturbing thoughts until he had time to process them.He could do it when he cooked.Or when he held on to Nico.
“Daniel?Should we do this another day?”
Daniel shook his head and fished out his phone.“No.It’s just… Nico’s upset, and…”
“I see.”Gareth slid his chair to the side and offered Daniel a shoulder to lean on.
Daniel leaned.It helped.“He asked Jack to teach him to hunt.”
“Yes.Jack told me.”
“Jack said Nico must step away when it becomes too much, and now Nico worries about that.”
“About it being too much for him?”
Daniel shook his head.“Not that.He worries he’s not strong enough and that he’ll disappoint Jack and you, after all you’ve done for us.”
Gareth growled under his breath.The sound was so unexpected, and fit so little with their surroundings, it startled Daniel into a giggle.“I’m not scared of you.”
“Good.”Gareth ran both hands through his hair, leaving it standing on end before he smoothed it down again.“Since you already know what I’m going to say to that nonsense, tell me something else.Are we getting suits for you and Nico, or are we going home to hash this out?”
“Suits,” Daniel said after a moment, and opened the gallery on his phone.“Here.This is Carol’s dress.”
The first crack of thunder brought up every head in the Corporate Security office.When raindrops splattered the windowpanes, a collective sigh rippled through the room.Gavin and Peter Ritz, who were the closest, hit the controls for the windows and then the first cool breeze in days drifted into the room.Air conditioning was all very well, but fresh air was so much better.Even Gareth, crossing from Julian’s office to his and back, didn’t have the heart to stop his people from gathering beside the open windows for a while.
Jack didn’t move from his desk, but he breathed the ozone-laden air and exhaled the muggy sluggishness of the year’s first heatwave.God knew what summer would be like when May was this hot already.Another roll of thunder rumbled overhead.Maybe now tempers would settle, and this damned headache would finally leave him alone.
Dissecting his own network code, not in search of active intruders but dormant exploits snuck inside to be used later, was an intricate job.Not least because he had to shift his thinking from defence to the sneakiest of offences, and allow for clueless, careless users besides.On the first pass through each section, Jack collected anomalies—untidy, bloated code, outdated routines, caches of data in places they shouldn’t be.Then he analysed each anomaly, purged the excess, and re-wrote the rest before documenting all his changes.The work demanded complete focus, and progress came in tiny increments.
