The Pale: Volume One by Jacob Long (red novels TXT) 📖

tried to rouse him. To Lamont, it felt like he was coming up from under water. Intense light hit his face. He caught his breath, and it almost felt like he was being pulled back down into the dark. His head felt murky, like when a person sleeps too long and only awakens more tired. His energy was drained. The other officers kept him calm and then tried to get the story out of him, and Lamont had to explain how someone he never saw had choked him out from behind. He was just driving by when he saw the door to the house open. Armed men were moving about inside. Fearing someone was in danger, he took action, but when he tried to disarm the men, a shootout occurred. Someone got the drop on him, and he was blacking out before too long. Lamont seemed healthy enough, and his eyes responded normally to the light, so the emergency medical responders allowed him to be driven to the police station. He fell asleep again in the back seat on the way there, but soon he was shaken awake one more time.

Lamont dreaded having to see the captain again, but there was no escaping it. He told the other officers he would be okay, and they graciously allowed him to walk into the precinct on his own. He made it inside without suffering a narcoleptic episode and started muddying his way through the bullpen. Not much caught his attention about the room until a young woman with burgundy hair came out of an interview room. Lamont stood straighter when he saw her from the other side of the office. She was smiling with surprising joviality and speaking casually with the crisis counselor. Even having been saved by her friend, the ease at which she brushed off her ordeal was staggering. The two women seemed to be getting along famously.

“Téa Vardo,” came Captain Michalis’ voice from Lamont’s periphery. The gruff middle-aged policeman was looking downright clichéd in his pinstripe shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lamont said. “I heard it was her house that those men were in.”

“Right. It seems that young Ms. Vardo somehow ran afoul of Joshua Truong and his boys. The man arrested with you was one of his. He’s not talking.”

Lamont had heard of him. Truong was a Vietnamese immigrant who’d taken to becoming an upstart crime lord. He trafficked in drugs and stolen goods mostly. “Has Truong been brought in yet?” Lamont asked coyly.

“Yeah,” Michalis said. “The Vardo girl called 911 on them from a hard rock club downtown. I don’t know why they were holding her there, but when our men arrived, they found Truong, and his gang tied to a bannister with their own fancy coats. The knots were so tight we had to cut them off. Meanwhile, there was Téa Vardo having a drink at the bar without a care in the world.”

“So they’re all alive— and —and they’re not talking, I take it?”

Michalis side-eyed Lamont. “Yeah, they’re alive, and they’re not talking about anything besides lawyers. According to the Vardo girl, they were all knocked unconscious by a masked vigilante with superpowers. Whether they would corroborate or deny that claim, it would be admitting that they had the girl hostage. And they can’t lie because they never had a chance to get their story straight, so they’re just keeping their mouths shut. But here’s what interests me about this story . . .”

Lamont turned to look at the captain.

“Right before all of this happened, you were at Téa Vardo’s residence, where some other officers claimed they saw a man fly out of there like a bat outta hell. Did some impossible things, like jump clear on top of a roof from the ground, cleared the street, and flew away before anyone could give chase.”

Lamont snickered pathetically. “That’s weird. I didn’t see anything like that.”

“Yeah,” Michalis mused. “What were you doing in that neighborhood . . . with your personal weapon?”

Lamont was nearly caught off guard but smiled affably and shrugged. “I felt naked without my piece. What can I say? And um . . . I needed a drive. I’m not used to all this free time, and then with the baby at home, don’t even get me started.”

“You and May all right?” Captain Michalis asked.

“Oh, yeah. We’ll be just fine. We’ve been through worse than a little girl . . . I think.”

Captain Michalis cracked all the smile he was capable of and clapped Lamont of the shoulder. “Good. I’m glad you two are doing well, but are you telling me that you weren’t following leads on your . . . unusual perp?”

Lamont looked at the captain again. “Yeah. It was nothing like that.” Lamont smiled. “I’m not trying to follow up on that business on my own. You know me. I’m not some kind of renegade cop. Come on, Cap, me?”

Michalis nodded in begrudging agreement. “Yeah. I suppose so. That’s good.”

Téa had finished her chat with the counselor and was on her way out the door to get a ride back home. The two men paused their conversation and watched her pass by. She offered them a shy smile and passed without a word.

“So does it look like we’ll at least have a case against Truong?” Lamont asked after Téa was gone.

“Yeah,” Michalis grunted. “Téa Vardo agreed to be a witness to the kidnapping and other operations the Truongs had going on, and I think we can flip a couple of these other guys for plea deals.” He scratched his stubble. “It doesn’t exactly take care of the problem of security, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, most of Joshua Truong’s MO was intimidation, and he will have a network on the outside even while behind bars, and that’s assuming the judge doesn’t let him go on bail while he awaits trial. In the meantime, Vardo and all our witnesses will be in danger. We offered her police protection, but she refused it. She thinks she’ll be safe living all alone in that house for some damned reason. All I can do is maybe have a squad car pass by every once in a while.”

After what Truong’s goon said about crooked cops on the police force, Lamont wondered if Téa would even really be safe with protection. “I could do it,” he said.

“You?”

“Yeah. I think I could convince her to let me watch after her. It’ll be just me. I think she’ll go for that. I’m on suspension anyway, right? I could talk to her.”

Michalis folded his hairy arms across his chest. “That might just work. You’d have to be taken off suspension, though.”

Lamont waited.

“Okay,” Michalis said. “You’re off suspension, and you’ll probably need to be on plain-clothes duty until the trial, but this is only if she agrees to you as her protection.”

“All right!” Lamont said. “No worries, boss. I’ll get her to come around. Thanks.”

“Hey, I’m only allowing this because I think it will be good for you. You obviously can’t manage to be lazy for even a minute of suspension.”

Lamont winked at the captain before heading out the door. His life had suddenly become so complicated. All at once, he was lying to his wife and to his boss, and for what? Who is Adam Rodriguez? What is he? That was still the question. That’s what drove him onward, deeper into this fine caper the young duo had found themselves in: an unexpressed longing to know.

“Ms. Vardo! Please, wait!”

Téa and her attending officer both stopped on their way to the squad car. They waited expectantly for the meaning of the intrusion.

Lamont jogged over and trotted to a halt in front of the young witness. “Hi!” he said breathlessly. “I’m Sgt. Lamont Fisher. I’m with the Farol Verde Police Department. I’m just a little out of uniform right now.”

The sergeant extended his hand to shake Téa’s. She took to it gracefully and beamed an amused smile. “Hi!”

“I was just assigned to your protection detail, so I was hoping to get a ride back to my car with you guys.”

Téa kept up an impressive facade of amiability in the face of someone insisting on hovering around the home where she was hiding an interdimensional demon. She waved the officer off casually. “Oh, no. I don’t need any protection, I don’t think. I’ll spend all of my time with friends and family. No one will be able to get close. I thought me and the police captain had already come to an understanding about this. I don’t really want any protection.”

Lamont folded his arms and fidgeted as he spoke. “I know, but we figured we’d try again. We thought maybe you would agree to it if it was just me and I kept myself scarce, you know. Also . . .” Lamont lowered his voice out of the other officer’s earshot. “I figured your uh . . . houseguest . . . could vouch for me.”

Téa could hardly contain her shock. The expression on her face became calculated. “I don’t have a houseguest,” Téa grumbled. “I live alone.”

“Adam and I have already spoken, Téa,” Lamont rebutted. Téa’s eyes darted about. “Don’t worry,” Lamont continued, “I haven’t told anybody, but I need to go with you. I think the three of us need to have a talk.”

Téa was still glancing about the environment. She looked left and right, over Lamont’s shoulder and then briefly back at the rookie cop standing a respectable distance behind her. Téa looked like a woman trying to figure out how many witnesses there would be to Sergeant Fisher’s murder. Finally, she cultivated a begrudging smile between her rosy cheeks. She turned around to speak to the female officer. “Okay. I guess if it’s just one guy, what the hell. I shouldn’t gamble with my life.”

The female officer smiled and nodded.

The group piled into the squad car and were on their way in no time. Lamont and the other officer sat in the front. Téa languished in the back with her sweat and pounding heart. She could only guess at this strange policeman’s motivations, if a policeman he truly was. The other officer seemed to recognize him. Throughout the trip, the two conversed of simple things. They would attempt to include Téa in the conversation, but Téa had withdrawn, only managing a shrug or a nod when prompted.

Téa learned the male officer had a family: a wife and infant daughter. He smiled when he spoke of them, even the hard times. There was an easy relatability to his character, no matter how hard Téa fought it. He seemed too sincere to be harboring dark intentions. At any rate, the group arrived at Téa’s house and bid farewell to the rookie officer assigned to drive Téa home. The woman drove away with a long farewell wave out the window, and Téa was left alone with the strange sergeant.

Téa led the way up to the door, all the while searching her brain for any means to rid herself of the cop. She didn’t know if he was on their side or not, but she didn’t want to leave it to chance. He’d seemingly already pierced her biggest secret. And she wanted her medication. She hadn’t had any in days.

Adam was doing little more than brooding when Téa stuck her key in the lock and opened the front door. He smiled as he went to her. “Hey! Good to see you in one piece. How’d it go?”

“Okay, I guess.” Téa looked over her shoulder at Lamont sidling into the house after her.

“Oh, I see you’ve already met, uh . . .” Adam paused. After a moment, he smiled. “I never got your name. That’s embarrassing.”

Téa answered. “He’s Sgt. Lamont Fisher. He’s with the Farol Verde Police Department. He’s just a little out of uniform right now.” Téa quickly abandoned the scene by walking into her room and turning the corner to mess with something on her dresser.

Adam shrugged. “She can be weird.”

“I hear nothing but good things.”

“Yeah, she’s a good kid.” Adam offered his hand to Lamont. “I’m glad to see you back here.”

“Oh, is that so?” Lamont paced over to Adam but didn’t take his hand.

“Yes.” Adam dropped his hand. “I just think that you and . . .” Adam leaned over slightly to peer behind the officer. Téa had reappeared from her room and was standing behind him in her doorway. A dark expression painted her face. “I could be friends.”

“I came here for an explanation, Adam. I want to—”

Lamont turned to see what Adam was staring at. Téa quickly affected a more pleasant facial expression. Lamont gave her a nod and went back to Adam. “I want to know what I’m dealing with. I lied to people close to me in my life to protect you, and I don’t even really know why. I know that you’re something different and incredible, and . . . I just have to know more.”

While Lamont talked, Téa revealed that she was holding an old nail file in her hand. She brandished it behind the officer’s back and tilted her head at the man questioningly. Adam furrowed his eyebrows