The conversation lagged as they all tucked into their food. Lukas only had thirty minutes for lunch, so quick Chinese food had been the choice. Neither Lukas nor Leilani had seemed thrilled with any of the options but she kind of missed the egg rolls here, and it had been six weeks since her detail with the Senator brought her back to California, to Leilani. And of course Lukas’s new school.
She’d thought she’d kept a pretty good cop face when noticing the new tattoo Lukas had, and she sure wasn’t one to judge as she had half a dozen, but……but he was her brother and California law required parental consent. She didn’t care if Lukas got a hundred tattoos, but it really wasn’t like him to just do it without mentioning it to her but Lukas caught her staring and just waited…..serenely, but with a bit of a smirking smile as if he was daring her to ask.
Damn him. She’d promised she wouldn’t hover and she sure hadn’t since she was in DC most of the time. He’d certainly taken care of the credit card fraud alert she’d gotten about some massive charge in Russia of all places a few days ago. One of the reasons she’d decided to come back this time, but the charge had already been addressed. So…..she couldn’t fault his behavior….
“How’s D.C? Have time to see any of the Smithsonian? What about the monuments? Congress? Don’t say you didn’t have time, surely you don’t have every shift?”
She smiled at his attempts, he always wanted to defuse and make sure everyone had fun. “Congress, obviously.” He laughed, “I went to the National Museum of the American Indian last week,” and her smiled faded a bit. So did his in remembered sadness. Then his phone pinged and he glanced at it before swiping a thumb print and then his smile brightened and his focus sharpened.
“Waverly just posted a few pics from our trip to the beach this weekend.” He smiled even more brightly as he paused on a particular pic.
“Do we get to see Lukas?” Leilani’s soft voice cut through her enjoyment of his smile. She had hoped this would be the right decision but had been afraid to leave him lest he feel abandoned after the events of less than a year ago. After Dad abandoned him, she still couldn’t believe it. Her issues with Dad notwithstanding, he’d never shown any signs of….racism.
“Sure, why not…..” and he pulled his chair and big frame to the side of the table to show them.
“So, you going to tell us who they are?”
“The girl with the red hair is Waverly, she’s new, she’s only been here about ten days, but she’s cool. Used to be a cheerleader, like a national champion from West Virginia. That’s Zimbabhlet…..he’s from California, actually not too far from here. Really smart, played football too, wide receiver.” Swipe, “Oh, here’s Barbe, from somewhere in Louisiana, she’s got a thick accent, she’s tough and stubborn. Minus the accent she kind of reminds me of you, sis. The stubborn part,” a flashing smile and swipe. “Uhm,” and he turned beat red,” that’s me and Allison,” as he stared at the phone for a moment before swiping again. “Let’s see, that’s most of my core class, you know they have us split up into….cadres I guess.” He swiped again, “Oh, figures,” kind of muttered under his breath, “the last one is Felix. He’s from here in San Diego. I don’t remember those girls names, just whoever Felix was chasing and just met at the beach.” Couple more swipes and pointing out people. “That’s Chayton, Ethan and Cashmere. They aren’t in our cadre exactly but they’re pretty cool and we share some classes with them.”
“Why’d you say Felix was with you?” Lindsay thought that was an odd question from Leilani. If it was, Lukas didn’t seem to care.
“Oh, he’s a loner, never really wants to be with us, but…..we promised girls in bikinis so….he came instead of going off solo.”
“Isn’t he a little old?”
“Felix?” At that, a really strange look came over Lukas’s face as he looked at her fiancee. Almost a hurt, judging look? “No, I mean, I guess depends on what you mean. He’s only a couple months older than me. I think he’ll be seventeen soon. Why?”
“I guess he reminded me of someone, can’t be the same person though, obviously.”
With that, Lukas brightened again, before his phone dinged. “Shit, I’m going to be late for class, I gotta go.”
With that he stood up, before bending down and dragging his tall and muscled sister from her chair like she was a child and wrapping her in a bear hug. “Missed you sis.” Then he dropped her with a squawk before walking around the table, squatting down to the seated Leilani and muttering, “Next Tuesday morning, coffee as usual?” At her nod, he hugged her more calmly. “Miss you too, sis.”
As he stood, he smirked, “Have fun ladies.” And then he was off.
“Earth to Leilani,” she finally half yelled as they neared their apartment four blocks away.
“What the hell, Lindsay?”
“You’ve ignored everything I said since we left the Center. What the fuck is going on?”
“I,” she paused, looking around, and then grabbing Lindsay’s hand walked over to the bench on this side of the park they were crossing through.
“Lindsay……I don’t know what to do. I’ve only been at the clinic for six months. I’m just a resident. And this is the fucking Paragon Medical Center, and everything that goes along with it, but I could lose my license if I don’t report suspected child abuse, at least to the administrators, if not he police.”
Bewildered, and with a tiny bit of fear, “You think Lukas is being abused? I mean, I was questioning the tattoo but……”
This time Leilani looked shocked, “Lukas?” She shook her head, “No, no, no, Felix.”
Momentarily relieved, she took a breath, before asking, “Start at the beginning.”
When she was done, Lindsay had a scowl on her face. “This is a legal and political nightmare. Shit, fuck, shit. God damn it.” She thought for a couple minutes. “Do you think any of them know his real age?”
“No, but that doesn’t matter, not legally, and sure as fuck doesn’t matter ethically, or even worse if it gets out.”
“Alright, I have an idea. Well, more of an idea as to where to dump this anyway. I doubt its legal but…….it should get you off the hook ethically. Maybe.”
“Who?”
“We gotta go back to the center. So much for some alone time.” But that was said with a smile and she leaned forward to kiss Leilani, and as the doctor melted into her arms, for a few moments the cares of the world slipped away.
As they entered the elevator, Leilani asked, where they were going. “Well, technically the center itself is the responsibility of Captain Lincoln, since Chief Smith formed the protective services group too, and that’s where I report, directly to him even though he’s formed other chains of command for the rest of the Paragon Security Services, but he still personally handles anything related to the Foster family, and obviously the Senator…..well,” and the ding of the elevator interrupted her, and Leilani seemed quite pale after the mention of the infamous security chief. Everybody knew he was a hard-ass.
They both took nearly simultaneous calming breaths as they exited the door hand in hand and walked down the hallway to the Captain’s office.
As they entered the outer admin area of the offices, they could hear the Captain laughing loudly from behind a door, and they relaxed. “Good morning Giovanna,” she said, smiling at the communications officer on duty, “I can hear the Captain. Does she have time to see us right quick?”
“Lindsay,” and the other officer smiled, then nodded at Leilani, “Dr. Havika. I’m sure she does, let me check,” and she rose, before walking to the office door straight behind her, the slightly odd gait the only visible sign of her prosthetic leg, a replacement for the one lost in the line of duty during a car chase ten years earlier in Brazil.
She knocked and then opened the door, “Captain, Officer Whitaker and Dr. Havika are here to see you.”
They couldn’t hear what else was said, but the Captain roared in laughter again, and Giovanna giggled.
Officer Santos headed back to her desk and the Captain appeared in the door way, “Hey Lindsay, Doctor. Let’s go over to my office,” and she started to walk out of the door she was in before Lindsay said, “Actually, Captain, if the Chief is in, he probably needs to hear this too.”
By midafternoon they were walking back home, hand in hand. “When do you have to leave again?”
“The Senator’s taking the Foster jet back early, early Monday morning. So…..three days basically. The Chief said he’d handle the senator’s security along with Dr. Foster all weekend.”
“Really? I mean…..we actually have a whole weekend where neither of us is on duty?”
“Well, I guess technically I am on call, but I’ve never been called when the Chief promises something like this.”
“I’m not even on call. Not sure how that happened.”
“What should we do?”
Leilani hesitated, “I want you to make me forget the way his eyes looked,” and in a somewhat impressive imitation of the quite voice, “I’ll handle it.”
It matched in everything but the shivers generated back in her boss’s office. She’d been around him quite a bit, and she’d seen him be quietly professional, kind even, no matter how frustrating the situation, and a few times when she’d been on duty but he’d been around socially, and especially with his partner and daughter, she’d even seen him laugh.
She was a homecon with superhuman strength and speed, and she’d never ever seen the Chief display any abilities. He had to be, almost everyone at the center was in some way, or had family, close friends who were. Terror ran thru her at the thought that such dead eyes would ever be directed in her direction. She shivered. That wasn’t helping distract Leilani.
Looking up at the sun…..bright overhead on this fall day, but warm. She turned, gathering the shorter woman into her arms, looking down into her lovely brown eyes. “I have some ideas.”
Paragon Center / Paragon Academy – Three Hours Later
He wanted to slam the fucking phone down into its cradle but the last time he’d done that the plastic piece of shit had shattered. Not that there weren’t plenty of the old tech lying around but there were good reasons to continue to use it as internal communications within the system and facility, which is why he designed it that way.
He walked over to the bar and grabbed a bottle, and two glasses. Then he hit the extra ventilation switches, walked back to his desk, sat down, poured two glasses, and yes, Amelia didn’t want him drinking but a little wouldn’t hurt, and then he lit the fucking cigar, and propped his feet on his desk, waiting for his brother.
It wasn’t long before he heard the very quite footsteps, and then his brother Mick’s persona chatting with Giovanna, and then the door opened and he walked in, shutting the door, glancing at the glasses, the cigar, the feet, before just shaking his head slightly and sitting down.
“Cheers….” and he held his drink out, very obviously waiting until his brother finally picked up the glass and clinked it before taking a sip. Brett took a much larger gulp.
“So, technically this is my problem, but I guess technically you’re his guardia’. Or maybe no’. I had Apex analyze the video.” The Australian accent was heavy here, unlike the neutral American accent he used with everyone else around here in his role as Chief Smith. “The problem is widespread, but….without goin’ an’ doing the actual investigation, I can’t be sure if he lied about his age, didn’t talk about it, or what. But it doesn’t matter, because legally, California doesn’t give a fuckin’ roo’s half eate’ asshole abou’ whether the adult knew the minor’s age, an’ the age of consent is eighteen. Needless ta say the whole fuckin’ ratgbag would be just what the twats everywhere would love ta use ta kill this place.”
“Its not a consent issue.”
“I know, an’ back home, it wouldn’t matter.” He swallowed the rest of the drink. “But its still a possible shitstorm. I’m no PR expert, but even I know what this looks like in this fucked up country.” He looked at the time on the old fashioned clock on the wall. “Look, I’m meetin’ with Amelia an’ Livy in a couple hours so I’d rather this be done quick but I have the barest idea. Which is somehow we need to make everyone aware of his age without makin’ it look like we are tellin’ everybody his age. You know, like a yearbook or some shit, an’ then hope nobody makes a public mess about it. Brilliant ideas?”
“Actually, I think I do.”
“I wait with all the undyin’ patience of the world ta be bestowed knowledge from the all-knowin’ Academy founder. Spit it the fuck out.”
“The Paragon Center newsletter. Comes out weekly doesn’t it?”
“Fuck, I don’t know, I never read it,” he hit the intercom. “Giovanna, how often is the Center newsletter.”
The response was quick. “Every two weeks, Jefe,” a pause, “next one is due out Monday. Why, you want something in it? Deadline for submissions is today in a couple hours.”
His brother nodded, “I don’t, but seems like the Academy wants to celebrate something.”
“I can type it up for you if you want Mr. Jones, or give you the details on who to send it to in marketing.”
“Thanks Giovanna,” and he terminated the call.
“We done here?”
“Finish your drink, Brant.”
They sat silently for a few moments, before, “You know, if Bryce were here, he’d say. . . “
“GO. FUCK. A. ROO. DEAR. BROTHER.”
Monday, Paragon Center Newsletter
The newly named Paragon Academy Ambassadors welcomed a new student to the Academy two weeks ago. Waverly Banks, a high school cheerleader from West Virginia joined the academy after recruiting efforts by the Ambassadors, pictured below. From left to right, the new ambassador group consists of several of the original Academy students, Felix Reyes (16), Barbe Bossier, (17), Lukas Whitaker (16) and Allison Hensley (17) ……..
Last Dreams 