Page 110 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“Why don’t people know that?” I asked in shock.

“There’s not really an easy way to spread the word when there’s no power. Cell phones aren’t working right, there’s no TV. Hell, there aren’t even any newspapers right now.”

“And this power outage is special, why?”

He glanced over at me, his face pinched. “It was a domestic terror attack. Someone set off a graphite bomb over an electrical substation.”

I was baffled by that. I didn’t really know anything about politics or security, so I didn’t understand how they could automatically call it a terrorist attack. “But if you don’t know who’s behind it, how can you be sure it’s a terrorist attack?”

“A bomb being deployed over an electrical substation brought down the entire west coast, causing massive power failure, chaos, and the domino effect will just keep going if we can’t plug the holes. It caused terror and hysteria, therefore, a terror attack.”

“And you think Hayes was somehow involved in this.”

“I can’t be positive about anything, but this is the kind of shit I do. When the power went out, all these backup generators kicked in. The entire block his building is on didn’t.”

“What does that prove?”

“Nothing, but it was a clue. Add in that he increased his security and was acting strangely when I approached him…not to mention the strange men that were in his facility…”

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to say you’re wrong, but it seems like you’re grasping at straws. So what if the backup power didn’t come on? And he could have increased security because of a project he was working on.”

“And he sent men to grab you because of what?” he asked, glancing over at me.

I sighed in frustration. “I honestly don’t know. Because men broke in and they were planning to steal something. He thinks I could know something.”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly, what? I still don’t get how you piece together that he’s part of the threat from those few details.”

“It’s what I do. I know that sounds like bullshit, but when you’ve been around this shit for as long as I have, you see the puzzle before the pieces are all put together. You learn to spot the clues and read into what they could be instead of what it looks like.”

“So, you’re like a code breaker?”

He laughed at that. “I wouldn’t exactly say that. Let’s say I’m paranoid and I tend to see the bad before the good, which is why I assumed you were part of the threat when I saw you walk out with those men.”

“But you don’t think Hayes is behind the threat, right?”

“I can’t be sure, but I think he plays a major role in it, whether he knows it or not. When I met with him, he was pissed and jumpy as hell. I think those men stole something, and I think he knows exactly what could happen if it falls in the wrong hands.”

“Don’t they keep records of projects?”

“Of course, but if they’re doing something they shouldn’t, or creating something they don’t want anyone to know about, they’re not going to exactly detail what they’re doing. If you created a nuclear weapon, would you label the projectNuclear Weapon?”

“Iwould,” I retorted. “But then again, I may not be the best person to ask about this stuff.”

“That’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s best to be the person that doesn’t understand how evil everyone can be.”

“I’ve already had my fair share of that,” I muttered. Sighing heavily, I stared out the window. “I’m so nervous to see my aunt.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Years ago,” I admitted. “She took me in after everything with my step-dad. And after I graduated high school, I was taking classes at a community college for a while.”

“Did you finish?”

“No, I was stupid. Some of my friends wanted to move out to California, and I thought it was a great idea. I followed them out there and went home for holidays. I just wanted to feel alive. Going to school almost felt too normal. I guess I was in a rebellious phase or something.” I huffed out a laugh. “My life would have been so different if I had stayed home with her and finished school.”

“I think we could all say that about ourselves. Hell, I would be a lot different if I never joined the military.”

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