Chapter Thirty Two

The next morning, I jogged off by myself to retrieve Blake. As promised, I answered his questions and told him what happened. He almost got as angry as Noah did. And just as I had to do with Noah, I had to convince him not to run off with any plans of vengeance. We walked back to his house through the main street.

Outside of the motel stood Rose, talking to a man and a woman. I was not going to stop, but Rose called me over. 

"Lily, there you are."

I groaned quietly.

"Duke!" Blake burst out.

He raced across the street and sure enough, Duke Donavan ran out from behind his father to greet his friend. They slapped hands a couple of times and bumped fists. I chuckled at the sight.

"Not in a hurry, today, are you?" Rose remarked as I made my way to her.

"I did not realize I should be." I stuck my hand out. "Deputy Chief."

He clutched my hand. "Call me Aaron. As of three months go, I am no longer going by that title." He turned and wrapped an arm around the woman. "This is my wife, Sarah."

She pulled in a breath. "Are you the one who..."

"Yes, that is her," Aaron replied.

Sarah moved away from her husband and her arms flew around me. I was frozen with my mouth agape.

"Thank you for saving our son," she said as she pulled away. "When we heard what happened to you, or rather what we thought happened, we started preparations to leave the city. We were overjoyed to hear you were alive and wanted to help however we could."

Rose slapped me on the shoulder, jolting me awake. "They are going to stay with Fran. Can you take Mrs. Donavan and the boys to the house?"

"Sarah, please," Sarah interjected.

"Sure."

"Then meet us in Dorothy's command center. Everyone is here now, so we can discuss what we are going to do next."

I nodded, at a loss for words.

Aaron marched over to the boys. Immediately, they straightened up. I could not make out what he said, but both boys said "Yessir," trotted to the bags next to Sarah, and hoisted them onto their backs. Sarah hummed the whole way.

I stopped outside, hoping no one saw me. Blake sensed that I hung back and came back out after he dropped the bag, shutting the door behind him.

"What's up?" I inquired.

"What is going to happen?"

"I'm not sure yet. That is what I am going to find out."

"Oh. Duke said his parents aren't going back. Are we going to stay here?"

"You need to talk to Fran. I wish I had an answer for you."

He stepped into me and squeezed. "We just got you back. I don't want to lose you again."

My heart was shredded like confetti. I leaned back. "Look at me."

He let go and pulled his gaze up. His eyes were turning red.

"We're family. We will always have each other." I swallowed hard. "I need to go. If I learn something new, I'll tell you. In the meantime, talk to Fran."

"Yeah, OK."

I wiped thumb across his cheek. "Why don't you sit out here for a minute so you don't go back in crying, tough guy."

He smirked and wiped his arm across his eyes. "I don't care about that anymore." He turned around and opened the door.

"I'll see you soon," I called out as he closed the door.

As I reached the end of the path, Sarah came running out to me with a small bag.

"I almost forgot." She breathed heavily and handed me the bag. "Some clothes for you. So you don't need to wear those rags."

I looked down at the ragged, over-sized shirt and pants I wore. A tingling swept up my neck and across my face. "Thank you."

She hugged me again and skipped back to the house.

On the trip back, I thought about what to do next. I wanted to stay with the kids, but I did not know what Fran planned on doing. I wondered what Rose was going to do. I still could not believe that she and Felix were an item and she did not tell me. I should not expect her to open up to me after everything that happened. And Ari. If I decided to go back out west, would he still want to come after how I talked to him? After all, his mother was in his life again. I couldn't blame him for wanting to stay with her, could I?

I stopped and changed my clothes. The jeans would have fit me better a few months before, but it felt good to be in real clothes. 

By the time I reached the command center, I had not figured out an answer to a single question. Tension filled the air as soon as I walked in. Aaron, Rose, Noah, Ari, and Dorothy sat around a round table with a large holo-display of the city in the center. No one talked. Periodically, Noah shot angry looks at Dorothy. Moments later, Tremont and Jefferson strolled in, followed by several others. I glanced at them briefly, then did a double take. Nate, the warehouse foreman, was the last to come into the room.

He rushed to me and pulled me to his chest with one arm. "Lily! Thank goodness you are still alive."

My mouth hung open. "Nate, I can't believe you're here."

He strutted over to Ari and slapped him on the shoulder. "This boy has been busy. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him."

Ari's chin dipped down as he fiddled with his shirt sleeves. "It was nothing."

Jefferson pointed at me. "What is she doing here? She is going to sabotage the whole operation. Probably can't wait until we are alone and take us out."

"No one in here is an enemy, Jefferson," Dorothy stated. "If you have a problem, you can leave."

He leaned on the opposite wall and glared at me.

Dorothy cleared her throat. "Well, let's begin. Some of you are not aware, but someone in the Peacekeepers has been working as a double agent. The plan to overthrow the outer cities leaders will commence at the end of the year. They have already started building new churches in the cities. Once the Charlestown leaders are in place, they will mandate Church attendance to force everyone under their control."

"How exactly are they going to overthrow the other city leaders?" Nate posed to the group.

"For the past two years seeds of dissent have been sown and carefully cultivated. Food is scarcer; rumors about bribes and conspiracy circulate the streets where fights break out nightly. The people are losing faith," Tremont expounded.

"Are you sure this is true? Maybe this is just what the Peacekeepers want us to think?" Jefferson wondered.

"Good point," I said. "You have received bad information before."

Jefferson gave me an incredulous stare.

Tremont scoffed, "I witnessed a brawl in Philadelphia. Soldiers are stationed in every city now, because of the threat of violence."

"With the information, we got from Francis Robidoux, we can obtain the recipe for the counter drug and then re-program the factory. The University does not change their root passwords, so the older staff does not forget them. The shipments go out on Friday night, and then the warehouses are empty until production starts again Monday," Dorothy explained.

"I'm a simpler man," Nate said. "I don't really understand all that. Why don't we just destroy the factory?"

"If we destroy the factory, we lose our evidence to prove what happened," Tremont said.

Noah crossed his arms over his chest. He had an unmistakable pensive scowl on his face. "If they plan to ship it to the other cities, wouldn't there be a cache somewhere?"

Tremont leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Not yet because the churches are not ready. Which is why we need to act now."

"We have contracted Rose's group to retrieve the counter drug recipe from the university systems," Dorothy said.

Jefferson stepped forward. "We don't need them. We can do it ourselves."

Ari shot a look in his direction. "Because the last time was so successful?"

I had to cover my mouth and turn away so no one would see me laugh.

"Screw you, man. I..." Jefferson said.

Tremont cut him off. "Stop. You are the only one causing problems in here."

"They possess the skills and abilities to get in and get out without attracting attention. We would be in the way," Dorothy said.

"Jefferson, since you are familiar with the factory systems, you are the best choice to reprogram it," I suggested.

A wide smile formed on Dorothy's face. "That is a great idea."

His overall visage appeared to glow after given such a responsibility.

Rose turned to me. "Lily, how should we approach it? You've been in the city more recently than anyone."

I snapped my head toward her and I cleared my throat. "The factory is in the northeast. Most of the surrounding neighborhoods are still abandoned, but people live here." I strolled over to the display controls and highlighted a group of apartment buildings. "The quickest route will be the Greenway. This map is out of date. The trail extends almost all the way now."

Aaron frowned. "But that is where the night beat hangs out."

I nodded in concurrence.

Rose leaned forward on the table and clasped her hands. "Then we need to send a team to the University."

"The smaller the team, the better," Dorothy insisted.

"No, we can't risk the alarm being sounded again. Noah is the fastest and even though Lily lost a significant amount of muscle, she is still the second fastest."

Dorothy tried to sink back her seat when the death gazes fixated on her.

"They will need some lookouts. Especially since it will be late at night," Rose continued.

Aaron stood up. "I volunteer."

"Me and my boys will go. We ain't scared of those night beat fuckers," Nate responded. A couple of the men who stood next to him murmured in agreement.

Frederick spoke up. "Me neither. In fact, I'd like to give them a piece for the hurt they've caused us."

"I will accompany Jefferson and Tremont to the factory and wait for you to arrive," Rose said.

I absentmindedly rubbed my arm. "You will need to watch out for the guard dogs on the property."

Tremont tensed up. "My contact didn't say anything about dogs."

My stomach churned as I pointed to the scars on my arm. Perhaps his contact wanted them to be attacked by the dogs. "I've been bitten by one of them. "

"She's right," Ari corroborated. "I witnessed it."

"Most people would not know about them, if they did not work there," I said.

Around the room, heads nodded in agreement. A deep breath calmed my anxiety.

Rose scratched her chin. "How can we be sure the drinks with the counter drug will actually be used?"

"My contact assured me it will happen, under the guise of quality control," Tremont clarified.

Who in the Peacekeepers could pull that off? I bit my tongue.

"We need to accomplish this in one night, Sunday night. There is only one security guard on the property after eight PM. Tremont's contact will take care of the guard. Any questions?" Dorothy concluded.

"What happens after that?" I did not want to ask, but the question had to be posed.

Dorothy shifted in her seat. "We inform the city about what that Church has been doing to them. I am working on a message to broadcast after the Sunday service. We will arrest Charles Payne, members of his family, and the Peacekeeper leaders who are involved. Then take over the council until elections are held."

Blood rushed to my face. She knew everyone who was involved in this, and she was going to blame the Church? Does she not realize she would devastate the faith of thousands of people? If anything, they would need it more than ever. I clenched my teeth together and decided I needed a different approach. Kevin had the right ideas.

"Did you think about asking the current city leaders for help? The Peacekeepers will be able to prevent violence. If they all leave, it will be much more difficult."

Dorothy crossed her legs and let out a noisy breath. "I understand the possible repercussions and I will consider your advice," she said, hardening her voice. Her gaze darted from Tremont to Rose and back to Tremont. "Any other questions or concerns?"

No one else said anything and we left. It burned me up that was Dorothy's plan all along. She blamed the Church for her sister's death. However, they were victims too.

Nate stopped me on the street. "Was that all you wanted to say? You look pretty upset."

"No, but I don't know what else I could say to get my point across, without blatantly saying they are stupid."

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I think you did. She doesn't quite understand us."

"The city will switch from one dictator to another."

Rose walked over to us. "If that is the path she chooses, we won't be there to help them out of it. They need to figure it out themselves. Noah is going to move his family after the operation is over."

"You're proposing we just leave after the factory is changed over?"

"Yes. We will leave. Fran does not want to go back, so I am arranging for her and the kids to move to my family's estate. We will decide what to do afterward."

I let out a sigh of relief. One less thing to worry about.

Nate slapped my shoulder and headed toward the group he arrived with. "Don't worry about us. We've made it this far. We can take whatever comes our way."

"I am inundated with requests for us to start up the trade business again. You want to come back?" Rose asked.

I grinned. "Do you have to ask? Yes, I do."

She squeezed my arm. "Good. If Ari wants to come, he can too. We'll figure out something for him to do. Talk to him."

I departed to my room, swinging my arms. Would he come? So much had happened since the previous year. He said he wanted to go with me. However, that was before I hurt his feelings. I needed to tell him how I felt. I wanted him to go with me. I didn't know how the best way to start the conversation.