Chapter Five
Quinn
Arson or Building Disrepair?
Who’s Responsible for the Harbor Line Fires?
The headline of the paper catches Quinn’s eye.
“Can I have this?” he asks the cashier, Cassie, at the smoothie shop.
“Sure,” she says, flashing him a flirty smile. He returns it, taking the kale and honey smoothie and the paper. “See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He comes to the shop every morning when he’s finished his six-mile run. It gives him a chance to cool off and fuel up. He brought one back to Astrid a few weeks ago and she poured it down the sink when she thought he wasn’t looking, and then shoved a doughnut in her mouth.
Dropping the paper on the nearest table, he’s about to sit when his phone rings. A glance at the screen shows a strange number but the image flashing is familiar.
Project 12.
“Hello,” he says, waving to Cassie as he ducks out the door. This call requires a little privacy.
“Charger! How’s the hottie behind the counter this morning?”
“Casper?”
“Duh, of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”
“You’re tracking me?”
“I’ve got my ways, bro. And seriously, Cassie is way into you. You should ask her out.”
Quinn dodges a car and crosses the street. The park is nearby, and he wants to get off the road so he can talk to Casper in relative quiet. “What’s going on man?” Quinn asks. “It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, I had some work to do getting this place set up, but now I’ve got the phone lines secured so we can talk.”
“You’re sure it’s secure?”
“Do you think I’d call otherwise?”
Not a chance. Paranoia seems to be Casper’s number two character trait, with the first being a computer and technology genius.
“As much as I love chatting like this, I’m sure there’s a reason you called,” Quinn says, moving to a bench overlooking the lake. It’s early enough there are only a few joggers out.
“Let’s talk about these fires. I saw the footage on TV and had access to your screen cameras. Shit looked intense.”
“It was. Scary as hell. We’ve trained for a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them.”
“The media is pushing these fires back on the building’s owner. Calling them unsafe and out of code.”
“What do you think?”
“Demetria and her company, WIND-E, owns them, so anything is possible.”
“Fuck. Seriously?” That woman’s claws are in everything. “What about all her talk about saving the Swamp and the less fortunate? Burning down their homes doesn’t fit with that narrative.”
“You’re smarter than you look, Charger,” Casper laughs. “I did a little more digging and found records of offers on all three buildings in the last three years. All rejected by WIND-E. Someone wants them and she won’t sell.”
Quinn leans over and stares out at the lake. “Who made the offers?”
“A company named Metamorphosis. They’re the ones behind ninety percent of the building on the Harbor Line.”
“Wow, okay. I’ll do a little ground work and see what I can find about this business.”
“Great, thanks.” Casper pauses. “Is Echo okay? Last night got a little rocky for her.”
“Yeah, no doubt she had a nasty experience last night. She avoids using her power so much that when she does, it knocks her on her ass. But we worked through it.” He curbs the smile on his face and shakes the smugness out of his voice. “I definitely think she’s better now.”
“Keep helping her,” Casper says. “Owen, too. I’ve been reading up on Atticus’s notes about her ability. It’s more emotionally complex than we can understand. Very taxing. She’s going to have to address it at some point, including a way to control it better.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“You learned how to manage your electrical input and output. I think she can, but it will take some work and training.” A chime rings in the background. “That’s my breakfast burrito. Gotta run, man. Keep up the good work and don’t forget: I’ll be watching.”
The line disconnects, and Quinn sighs and leans back into the bench, trying to figure out if Casper watching is a good thing or just a really weird pervy thing.
Probably both.