Muted Trilogy: Mute Part 19

"Alright, you keep yourself safe. I'll forward this to the police. They'll contact you if they have questions. Is your personnel file up to date?"

She nodded once more. Thank you, she typed.

"Don't mention it." He set his phone down and turned back to his screens, and Jemma left, walking briskly back to her car and driving away before she'd chosen a destination.

Jemma drove aimlessly around town, the heavy traffic preventing any relaxing effect she sometimes found in the activity. She considered stopping at a beach, but the beaches were crowded on an unseasonably warm weekend. Finally, she found herself pulling into Jack's driveway. She walked over to Don's house, raising her hand to ring the bell, then letting her arm fall back to her side without making contact.

She was pretty sure Jack wouldn't mind her showing up unannounced, but what if he wasn't at his father's, after all?

"Jack?" she sent. "Are you at your dad's?"

"Yeah," Jack sent back without delay. "He's sleeping. Everything okay? Can you Talk now?"

"I can. Can you come outside?"

She felt mild surprise, and the door opened inward several seconds later, Jack scanning her face before stepping forward to wrap her in a hug. Jemma tensed for a moment, then relaxed, steadying herself when she breathed out. He pulled away and nodded toward his father's house.

"Come inside?"

"All right." She followed him in, glad he hadn't tried to hug her longer. She wasn't very used to hugs, to other people being in her personal s.p.a.ce. It had felt nice once she'd gotten past the surprise, but Jack was definitely more comfortable with contact than she was. In the living room, he let her sit on the couch, then sat beside her, his leg against hers. "Will you be able to hear your dad if he needs something?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jack sent. "Out of range to Talk from his room, but he's got his cell, and there's a bell he can ring if his hands are hurting too much." He paused, watching her. "Tell me what's wrong? Beyond the obvious."

She ran a hand through her hair, then quickly went through what she'd seen in the video and what the security guard had told her.

"It's just," she sent, "it feels like n.o.body can really help unless something bad actually happens, and there's nothing I can do to keep it from happening in the first place."

"Other than what we're already doing." His mental tone was gentle, laced with confidence and support.

"Have you made any progress in finding any connections between us, any other patrons who might be able to Talk this way?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nothing yet. I've gone through some of the more obvious things. We already figured out we didn't really shop at the same stores or go to the same places to blow off steam, except the library. Finding out anything about the other patrons gets tricky since I don't think you really want me hacking into your system to get ahold of their information." Jemma raised her eyebrows at Jack, who gave her a lopsided grin in return. "I'm not gonna do anything to risk your job, and I won't do anything that's likely to land me in jail," he clarified.

"How are you figuring out about the patrons, then?"

"I know some of them, sort of. Used to chit-chat a good bit before that got tricky. Started there. Haven't gotten much further yet."

"How are we going to find out whether anyone else there can Talk if they're hiding it like we are?" She frowned, looking down at the couch, then blinked and looked back up at Jack. "How did you find out you could Talk to me? I mean... Why did you tell me good night if you didn't know I was there?"

"Ah." Jack's cheeks colored. "Well, that's kind of... Okay, so I'm not quite saying I believe in ghosts, right? But I'm also not saying I don't believe in them, or maybe in people who are there even though we can't see them. Like maybe there really are aliens and plane s.h.i.+fters, and maybe other planes come close enough to ours that we can sense each other. Anyway, those first nights, I just felt like someone was there, like someone could hear me, you know? And, I mean, if someone's in your room when you're going to sleep, you say good night, right?" He shrugged one shoulder, cheeks still lightly pink.

"Logical reaction to some less-than-likely reasoning," responded Jemma, lips pulling up to one side. When he saw she was smiling but not laughing, Jack relaxed, a smile crossing his face. "I think you were probably feeling our connection but didn't know what it was."

He nodded. "That's what I think, too. You're better at feeling it now than I am, though."

"Maybe. I've tried feeling for other connections, but there's nothing, so I don't think we'll find any others that way. What were you thinking of trying next?"

"I'm not sure whether you want to know. It's not something entirely legal."

Jemma watched him, his brown eyes focused on hers. "It's not going to hurt anybody?"

"No." His tone was emphatic, reinforced up by a surge of determination. "I wouldn't do anything that could hurt someone."

"If the people who are supposed to protect us are too busy to do it, and as long as we could get hurt by being open with strangers, then I'm okay with it," she sent. "Just go light on the details about how you're doing it, all right?"

He nodded. "I'm going to get us a copy of that surveillance video and then make it so we can watch the feed from anywhere. I should have done that to begin with."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:.

Soundless The library was quiet that Monday afternoon, just a few patrons present. Upstairs, Jack was working. Jemma stood at the circulation desk working through her thoughts.

She wasn't really comfortable with some of the technicalities involved with Jack's hacking into the library's video feed, something he'd done quickly, followed by muttering about the lack of security in the city's online systems. Aside from occasionally speeding if the conditions were safe, she'd never really done anything illegal. The few times she'd accidentally carried something out of a store without paying for it-usually a chocolate bar that had wedged itself behind her purse-she'd returned promptly to pay.

She was less comfortable, though, with the idea that she could disappear at any time, that maybe the police and city security couldn't do anything to keep her safe until it was too late. If the law was there to protect people, Jack's actions might be violating the letter of the law, but they didn't seem to be compromising the spirit of the law.

Jemma s.h.i.+fted her focus before she could talk herself out of being okay with what did seem to be the most logical course of action. She looked around the library. A mother and child sat reading in the children's corner, and a young man, probably seventeen or eighteen, browsed the young adult section, glancing toward the door as if worried someone might catch him looking at books about werewolves and vampires.

"Is there anyone else up there?" Jemma sent to Jack.

He sent back a wordless affirmative. "One person. It looks like she's doing homework. College student. Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah. Seems like it's just a slower Monday than usual. Cecily said it was slow this morning, too," Jemma sent.

"How'd she take the news you might be getting watched?"

Jemma closed her eyes and let out a breath. "I've never seen her type so quickly. She actually had typos! She started going on about how the city should protect its workers and that they should instate some sort of draft if they can't even manage that much. She's going to make sure she has a family member with her when she comes and goes, just in case, and she said she'll ask for my job back so she can fire me if I try to come in alone." She opened her eyes, and her mouth twitched. "I think she was serious, too."

"She cares about you," sent Jack.

"I know. She acts almost cold sometimes, but she reminds me of my mom in some ways." Jemma rubbed her shoulder. "My mom. I can't imagine how she would react if she knew everything."

Jack sent a wave of rea.s.surance and agreement. "I don't think it would be a good reaction, no, but we're not telling them until we know it's safe."

"Right." Jemma watched the mother and child leave without taking any books, and she walked over to the children's corner to tidy the area.

"All right, I've gotta get back to work. I've got the video feed up in a corner of my screen, and I'll let you know if I see anything."

"Thanks." Jemma felt the connection dampen, as it did when one or the other of them stopped paying attention. She finished re-shelving the books that had been placed in the bin set aside for that purpose, and she returned to the circulation desk just in time to hear the front door open. She moved the mouse on her computer to make sure it was awake in case the patron entering needed help finding something she didn't know off the top of her head.

When she looked up again, a woman was making her way past the bookshelf at the entryway, looking around as if unsure of where she was going. Her dark hair was longer than Jemma's own, and as the woman jumped and looked behind her before continuing forward, her hair spun away from her light-blue jacket. Jemma lifted a hand in greeting when the woman finally made eye contact, pausing as what looked like recognition flashed across the stranger's face. Jemma maintained her smile as she sent a wave of uncertainty toward Jack. She felt acknowledgment in return.

"Want me to come down or just keep an eye on things from up here?" he asked.

"Up there is fine," sent Jemma. "I'm probably overreacting."

"I'm right here on the balcony," he sent. "I'll stay where I can see you until you tell me to back off."

"Thanks," she sent. She reached for the tablet, typing a cheery, How can I help you today? and orienting it back toward the patron, who stopped right in front of the desk. The woman glanced at the tablet, then bit her lip and looked up at Jack and then back to Jemma.

Are you Jemma? the woman typed.

Jemma reflexively reached for where her name tag was usually attached to her blouse, finding nothing but cloth. She must have forgotten to put it on that morning.

"She knows my name," she sent Jack. "She was looking for me."

"I'm on my way down, just in case."

Jemma sent back acceptance, then reached for the tablet to apologize for the lack of identification. Before she could flip the screen back in the other direction, the woman grabbed her wrist.

"They're watching you," echoed a strange voice in her head, the woman's brown eyes fixed on Jemma.

"Who?" Jemma sent back, and the woman shook her head.

"It's safer if you don't know. They're watching both of you. I have to get out of here before they find out I'm here. I think they know about me. I messed up. You're still on their maybe list."

The woman looked at Jack, who'd reached the bottom of the stairs, then let go of Jemma and jogged toward the door.

"Wait," sent Jemma, not sure whether the woman could hear her without contact. "How do you know? What should we do?"

Jemma ran out from behind the circulation desk and chased after the stranger, who picked up speed. Jemma heard footsteps behind her and took a moment to make sure it was Jack before she turned her focus back to the woman, who was pus.h.i.+ng through the doors. Jemma reached the doors as they stopped moving, shoving them out of the way to join the woman in the parking lot.

The stranger was racing over to her car, and Jemma's attention wavered as she heard tires squealing. The woman looked toward the side of the building, then tried to open her car door. As she did, a black sedan pulled up beside her from the back parking lot, stopping in between her and Jemma, blocking much of Jemma's view.

The pa.s.senger door opened, and Jemma saw the back of a man's head before the woman was pulled down and shoved into the back seat of the sedan. Doors closed, and both vehicles pulled away while Jemma watched, Jack frozen next to her. As the cars left the parking lot, she saw the woman sit up in the back seat and press a hand to the window.

"Help me, please!" the woman sent as the cars pa.s.sed behind a building that completely blocked Jemma's view. "Tell Ken-"

The connection was abruptly severed, leaving an empty, ringing noise in place of a connection that Jemma hadn't even consciously registered until it was gone.

Jemma turned toward Jack, who had his phone in hand, texting.

"She was like us," Jemma sent. "Did you hear her?"

Jack paused, then pressed send on the text and shoved his phone into his pocket.

"I didn't, but I could see it on your face," he sent. "I texted the police emergency number and told them we just saw someone kidnapped. They should be here soon for something like this."

"Is that a good thing?" Jemma felt the anxiety that was lacing her tone as she stared up at Jack. "She said they're watching us. What if having the police here gives us away? What if-"

Jack placed a careful hand on her shoulder and sent a strong wave of rea.s.surance and certainty.

"If we didn't know we had any connection to her, we'd still call the cops, right?" he sent.

Jemma took a deep breath and nodded, and Jack squeezed her shoulder before letting go.

"Come on," he sent. "Let's go wait inside."

"The police only stayed for five minutes!" sent Jemma. She collapsed onto her couch, putting her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, and she felt the couch dip as Jack sat next to her. "I know they got called away, but a woman was kidnapped. Right in front of us, in broad daylight, in a public place. It can't be okay that there's n.o.body who can protect us. We can't even tell them everything, but they won't care anyway because there aren't enough of them to do anything about it and I just..."

"They asked you to close the library for just today," sent Jack, "so I think they're gonna do their best to investigate before tomorrow. They're taking it seriously. In the meantime, I think the woman's car was where the camera could catch it, but I haven't gotten a chance to check my recording."

He stopped and put his hand on her back, rubbing in a way that was comforting until Jemma started feeling a bit like a child. She sat up straight, and Jack moved his hand before it could be trapped between her back and the couch.

"I'm fine," she sent. "It was just... This isn't something I ever thought I'd have to deal with, you know? Watching someone get kidnapped and being afraid that I might be next. That we might be next."

"Can't say this was on my 'things most likely to happen to me' list, either," sent Jack, his mental tone carrying amus.e.m.e.nt. Jemma looked over at him, and he was watching her, concern in his eyes. "I'm sorry about..." His brow furrowed. "I'm not sure exactly what emotion you sent when I was rubbing your back, but I know it wasn't happy. I know you're not as hands-on as me, and I can try harder to avoid that sort of thing."

Jemma shook her head and wrapped her hand around where his had come to rest on the couch between them.

"It wasn't the touch exactly," she sent, trying to sort her thoughts before sending them. "It made me feel like a kid, like maybe you were patronizing me. My dad used to rub my back like that. I mean, not patronizing, but that's what he did when I was upset, and I guess it put me back there or something."

Jack's forehead smoothed and a hint of a smile pulled at his lips. "And you didn't like me reminding you of your dad?"

"I guess not," sent Jemma, blinking. She shrugged. "Not sure how much sense that makes."

"Hey, if you don't want to be touched a certain way, I'm not gonna argue with that, just for the record," he sent. "Doesn't matter whether it makes sense."

Jemma nodded, and silence fell for a few seconds, comfortable despite their frustration with the situation, before she sent, "Speaking of making sense, we should probably go ahead and see whether the camera caught anything."

"Yes ma'am," he sent, pulling his hand away to grab his laptop from the bag he'd set next to him. He opened the computer on his lap, fingers flying across the keys as he logged into his profile and pulled up the camera.

The video showed solid black.

"It isn't dark out yet." Jemma glanced at the window, then back at the computer screen. "The camera has night vision, though, so that wouldn't even make a difference."

Jack's fingers raced across the keys again, opening and closing various windows with different strings of numbers and letters, some readable, some not. Minutes pa.s.sed with the only sounds those that were coming from his computer. Finally, he shook his head.

"I've lost the connection to the video stream. Somebody's blocked me out."

"Does that mean they knew you were watching?" Jemma sent.

"Yes and no. They know that somebody was watching, but it doesn't look like they were able to ID my computer. I've got pretty good defenses up against that sort of thing, and it helps that I wasn't connected to the internet when they blocked the feed."

"Was it someone from the city who blocked it? The police? Or was it someone else?" Jemma sent.

"I can't tell. I can't get into the city's computer system at all anymore, so maybe they just increased their electronic security." He ran a hand through his hair before returning his fingers to the keys. "It'd be a heck of a coincidence, but it would make sense, especially if they want to protect things better with fewer people."

"So I should still be able to check the video in person, at the security office?"