Chapter 30
Evan regarded Keetha’s demeanor. He knew he was in trouble, but he couldn’t imagine why. That’s not true; he would assume he was in trouble for getting outside without permission, but there was no way they knew where he’d gone. Even if they had the best surveillance system he could imagine, there hadn’t been time for her to discover it and return to the safe house. So, he looked her calmly in her steely eyes and replied, “Where is everyone?”
“Are you trying to get us all killed?” Keetha would not be moved.
“I don’t know what you’re…” Evan began before Keetha’s rolled eyes stopped him.
“Sit,” she said, pointing to a nearby chair. Feeling much like a scolded schoolboy, Evan complied. “For clarification, I don’t need you to tell me where you’ve been. I know where you’ve been.”
Evan jumped in to justify himself, sensing he was missing some important information. “Listen, wait a moment, it’s not what you think. I saw Amnon’s plan, I heard how the whole trap is to be sprung. But I’ll level with you, something seemed off. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like sticking my head into a lion’s mouth unless I’m pretty confident I can get it back out again. So, I went down to the prison to check things out for myself. But don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I got in, and out, I might add, of that lion’s mouth unscathed. I mean there may be some loose threads to clean up, but…”
“Of all the arrogant…” Keetha’s frustration stopped her tongue. She regained her bearings and locked eyes with Evan. “This operation, this plan, hand on a knife’s edge. And then you, ignorant of almost everything Chieftan Dol has done, working only with what I assume your realm’s knowledge has given you, and you have the audacity to think it’s a good idea to stick your head in a lion’s mouth to begin with. Next time a thought like this crosses your mind, please tell that thought that Amnon is the Director of Prisons. Do you understand the Director. That means he knows the whole facility backward and forwards. He knows all the protocols, and he has the proper clearances to move freely in the facility and no one bats an eye. If he wants something, it gets done. He wants someone to keep their mouth shut, they do.”
Evan interrupted, “Things may work differently here, but where I’m from, there are some brass tacks info that bosses tend to be ignorant of, and frankly, having been down there, I have some concerns about this almighty plan. But put all that one one side for a moment. I made a pledge, a promise, to the Princess, and I aim to make good on that. She asked me to protect her and I failed. I came here to make things right.”
“Did it ever occur to you that protecting her might need to look differently than whatever fool concoction you’ve invented in your head? Did it ever occour to you how much you’re not needed to pull this thing off? We have the means and the will strong enough that I could ask Drex to cut off your hand and use the fetterseal that way. I don’t doubt that you’re a skilled detective in your realm, but things are different here. All of us want to see Lillian free. All of us want to see Dol go down. But all of us need to work as a team. If you want to go out on your own, we will gladly cut you off and let’s just see how long you really last in the wild.”
Evan sat silently for a moment. Several of her words hit true, but he wasn’t about to let her know that. “I got in and out and no one asked a single question.”
Keetha rolled her eyes again, pulled out her device and displayed her own roating image in the middle of the room. “Would you like to explain these?” she said before showing Evan a series of moving images of him walking down streets, entering the facility, wandering through the halls, the exchange with the guard. The gallery proved Keetha’s point, Evan only thought he was clever. He’d been made from the moment he exited the safehouse. All of his devices to stay out of the eye of his opponent didn’t work. He might has well had set himself on fire and attempt the same venture. Evan looked up at Keetha, his face empty of pride.
“You’re lucky you’ve hooked up with Evan and that I’m his assistant. Anyone else and you’d be on your way to a termination chamber and your dear wife would have no idea what had happened to you. And as for this,” Keetha highlighted the crumpled up uniform on the loading dock floor, “I was able to clean this up before anyone got suspicious.”
Evan looked at his shoes. “I’m guess I…” he began.
“I think what you need to say is ‘Thank you, Keetha for saving my neck and protecting me from my stupidity.”
Having had her say, Keetha sat in a chair across from Evan. “What I know of Lillian is she’s a good read of character. Is it true she can get into your thoughts?”
Evan nodded.
“I can’t imagine. If she’s been in there, she is aware of you. All of you. Your motives, your weaknesses, your abilities. She didn’t give you that seal for nothing. You’re clever and courageous. But my guess is you’ve been your own best counsel for so long you’ve lost, or maybe you never had, the ability to play on a team. Do you do this kind of thing with your wife?”
Evan looked up. The sentence caught him on the chin. What did Katherine have to do with saving Lillian?
“I thought as much,” Keetha said. “Listen, if marriages work the same way where you are, you have to bring the other person along. One thing my father told me about it was he had to learn to not outpace my mother, and she needed to do the same. We used to have this farm. It wasn’t much, but we had these beasts to turn over the ground before planting. He told me he and my mom were like that. If one of the beasts was faster or slower than its partner, it was a rough season. But if he could train them to keep pace with one another, he said, farming was one of the greatest pleasures in his life.
“Now, in this case, Amnon and you are linked. You and I are linked. And all of us, the five of us, are all linked together. Whatever amount of coordination two people need to move smoothly, imagine five. It’s okay if you have concerns or ideas, but we get nowhere if we don’t stick together.”
“Message received,” Evan muttered. He hadn’t been dressed down in such an efficient and surgical way since boot camp. Even so, this dressing down had been more thoughtful and kind. Still saw in his mind a cavalcade of images where he’d purposely left Katherine behind. What was that in him that wanted to do everything on his own, to get the credit, to be the White Knight? He knew he loved Katherine and was committed to her, but he’d plowed such a trench of playing the maverick, could he even learn how to be a real partner to her?
“You said you had concerns,” Keetha said, breaking the silence.
“Mmm,” he grunted. “They probably don’t matter now. To be honest, I was working on a way to break Lillian out on my own. I see now that that wouldn’t work on the best of days. But now I have a new concern. All those images you showed me, of me walking through town, who else can see those? I mean, let’s say we do Amnon’s plan to the letter, who’s going to be tipped off early that something isn’t right? How do we not get caught before we get off square one?
Keetha leaned back. “Yeah,” she sighed, “that’s a concern for sure. I suppose it depends on who decides to access what when.” Her eyes bounced over to Evan as she raised her eyebrows. “I mean I did cheat a little. My device gets an alert anytime someone enters or exits this place. So, I knew what was up before anyone. But it doesn’t mean that other’s couldn’t see something coming iff they chose to. This is where I choose to trust the team. I’ve worked a lot with Drex and he has ways of accessing all the data I just showed you and making it disappear. As if it never happened. And I’ve worked with Amnon long enough to know that he’s working out multiple plans in case things fall apart along the way. You and Katherine are the wild cards in my book, and you neither of you have won much trust from me yet. Still, I trust Amnon and I believe enough in our cause that I’m willing to take the risk. What I want you to do, is do the same for us.”
Keetha’s device chirped pulling her attention to it’s illuminated surface. “And just like that I need to put out a different problem.” She stood and gave Evan a empathetic smile. “I’ve got to run, but you need to stay here.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “If you start to get jumpy, remind yourself, your moment of action is coming. Just stay the course. Okay?”
“Aye, aye,” said Evan as he raked his fingers through his hair.
