Page 25 of Lau Ahi
“The fact that we’re this close to the National Mall and the center of the government. I know it’s hard to wipe your ass in this town without hitting something; stranger things have happened.” He waved his hand around the area pointing out the landmarks he’d mentioned. They couldn’t completely be seen through the trees and buildings but you could tell they were there.
“I doubt anybody on that side of the aisle finally took their heads out of their own asses to actually do their jobs instead of manipulating shit so their portfolios grow. If it was something that was going to be a rebuttal to the bullshit we’ve already seen I doubt it would be this.”
“Foreign agents?”
My brain went directly to some of the operatives I’d met and ended in my life and I knew that was always something that was possible. Plenty of people didn’t want the mad dash to conservatism that the country was heading in because they knew it would eventually trickle down and affect them. And quickly based on the stupid moves that were already being made.
“Could be. But if this is the opening volley what is the end goal? Hell, we weathered an insurrection and it’s clear that keeping the masses too fixated on holding on to crumbs to see what’s really going on is working. The public at large isn’t much of a threat to anyone and they know it.”
Working in government only gave me a greater disdain for people in power and the idiots who continued to elect them into office. The woman in red ran across my mind again and the ease in which she divested a man of his money before he knew her name only proved my point. People were playing games with lives without truly giving a shit about the consequences so long as they made money. And the money didn’t even make them happy since they didn’t have to do much to earn it. Which led them to seeking more depraved ways of getting their fix.
Shit, this case is going to be much more involved than I want.
We both stood silently for a moment, watching them collect evidence and do what they could to provide Natalie with a semblance of dignity as they placed her body in a bag for transport.
“Can’t lie, I feel like we’re missing something and I don’t know what it is. Like we’ve come in on the middle of a plot and the piece of shit who did this is already four steps ahead of us.”
I silently agreed with his assessment watching how the people with us interacted with the scene.
“They’ve already interviewed some of the people she knew but hopefully we can get access to her computer and her phone. Last known location is one thing but I want to check and see what areas she frequented. No matter how we see conspiracies in everything it could be as simple as she met up with the wrong person at the wrong time. No shortage of men just killing women for no reason. You act like the manosphere red pill bullshit isn’t prolific.”
He looked around again his frustration with more than this case mirroring mine. “Forgive me for forgetting that some shit as lame as blaming women, who have been artificially held back for hundreds of years, for all the issues in the world that white men created. That shit is incomprehensible and just a reminder that white supremacy fucks everything up.”
“Facts. But thankfully, it seems like the time is coming for it to implode.”
“But at what cost?”
His words halted my thoughts, the look we shared was one that felt foreboding. We both had seen the terrible shit that could happen in the world and although I’d seen more combat than Alec he’d been in the middle of shit because of this country as well. When bodies were needed to protect the empire, they didn’t care about you as a person or what your desires were. You were just the next available meat shield to be used for fodder. Sad as it was I had to take his words to heart.
I nodded toward the car, and we moved in tandem to leave. When we were a few feet away I finally spoke again. “Yet another reason why I’m ready to be done with this shit.”
“Tired of playing Captain America?”
I laughed in return because I didn’t give a fuck about preserving this place as it was. “More like Captain Save a Ho. America don’t wanna be saved. She somehow feels as though she can move on without paying the blood debt of her founding. Ain’t gone happen.”
“You can’t tell these people that, though.”
“OC, Nakoa, y’all heading out?”
Vega rolled his eyes hard as fuck hearing someone call out to us. “This muthafucker here.”
We both turned damn near in unison to look at the muthafucker in question. Anderson was the typical agent who had a problem with what we were doing and the fact that the two of us got results he couldn’t fathom. His family having been elected to multiple branches of government over the last hundred years made him feel as though it gave him an advantage over us. We knew it made his ass entitled, lazy and his only desire was to move through his position gaining popularity and favors so they could be used down the line. Anderson didn’t givea fuck about how well he performed at his job or if he actually helped people. He was fine with being at the bottom of the pack because his name would ensure that he failed up the same way he did in order to land this position despite less than mediocre test scores and a dismal military record. Anderson was the family failure and seeing as how his folks had been part of the Confederacy that was saying a lot.
He had that expectant look of a supervisor trying to understand why his subordinates were having too much fun on the clock. His suit was too expensive to be worn out in the field; his coat the same. Everyone else had come to the scene dressed casually but Anderson took the adage of dress for the job you want too far.
Fucking prick.
“Why?”
Anderson’s eyes were on me his disdain at my question shadowing his cold-reddened face.
“Why what?”
“Why are you trying to clock where the fuck we’re going?”
His face turned bright red further disgusting me at his presence. Anderson couldn’t prevent his weakness from showing when he was around his colleagues so I knew suspects could sniff out his weakness just as easily.
“I was just trying to see what y’all had going on. Don’t want to end up working the same leads and shit when we could be spreading out and covering more ground. The new administration wants to ensure we get this right.” He was posturing attempting to place a weight of importance on his position that Vega and I both knew he didn’t have.
