Page 18 of Anarchy Missing

CHAPTER SEVEN - CASE

“Hmmm,” Sheila says. She woke me up about fifteen minutes ago. Thomas and Molly are here now and we’re all sitting in the main lab squinting at the wall-sized screen as my results flash by.

“What?” I ask. “Did you find something?” I decide I really do want her to find something. God, I had the worst nightmare while I was sleeping too. I dreamt the Blue Boar came back to life. Like all the blood tissue and bone splinters of his head went in rewind and put his skull back together. And he turned Molly against me and she killed me with that lariat chain thing he made into a weapon. Maybe she did kill me? Maybe I’m some kind of ghost left over?

“That’s the weird part,” Sheila says. “I cannot find a single thing out of order. Your bloodwork is textbook, your heart rate, your brain waves. You’re better than ever, Case.”

Yeah. I sigh to myself. That’s kinda how I feel about it too. Better than ever. I’m just not Case anymore.

Molly comes up to squeeze my shoulder. “That’s great, Case. You know I feel so bad about what I did—”

“You didn’t do anything,” Lincoln interrupts. “Stop apologizing to him. It wasn’t you who did that, it was the Blue Boar.”

Molly looks sadder than ever and I catch Lincoln scowling at me from across the room. “He’s right, Molls,” I say, taking Linc’s hint to make her feel better. “It wasn’t you. It was him. He turned you into something else.”

Maybe he turned me into something else as well?

“Can we fucking eat already?” Lincoln says, standing up. “I’m done with work tonight.”

“We’re not done,” Thomas says.

I sigh.

Sheila says, “Let’s go upstairs, Molly. Let these boys have their team time.”

We wait in silence as they disappear into the staircase and then we hear the deep clink of the thick panel door closing us back up.

“Make it quick,” Lincoln says to Thomas. “I really am just hungry. You know I need to eat a lot these days to keep my body chemistry normal.”

“We have time to be hungry later,” Thomas says. “There was a note.”

“What note?” Linc and I ask at the same time.

“Molly heard something while she was at work. She told me in the car on the way here. She thinks whoever robbed that bank left a note.”

“What’s it say?” I ask.

“They’re hiding shit at the department, she said. Keeping things from her. Like they don’t want her on the case.”

“Why would they do that?” Lincoln asks.

“Molly thinks they figure you’re involved, Lincoln,” Thomas replies.

“Hey.” Linc laughs, holding up his hands. “I’ve got nothing to do with this one, Thomas. I swear. Was not me.”

“I know it wasn’t you,” Thomas says. “I monitor your computers now.”

“You dick,” Linc says. But he says it halfheartedly, like he doesn’t give two shits what Thomas does. Even if Thomas found out Lincoln was doing something nefarious down here, there’s no way to stop him. Neither Thomas nor I have the computer skills Linc does. We’re kinda at his mercy in that department.

“It didn’t come from here. Or my house.” But Thomas looks at me. “I don’t monitor you, but maybe I should?”

I shrug. “I don’t know how to do that hacking shit. I make toys, asshole.”

“You’re acting strange,” Thomas says.

“Strange how?” I ask, really interested. Because I know I’m acting strange and I’d like another opinion on it. “Sheila says I’m clean.”

“I know. But I think she’s just not looking hard enough. We’ve talked about it actually.”