Them

Boris was growing impatient with each moment he waited for Janelle Stone to be brought into the building so he could spill the beans on her and inform her that she was under arrest—and why. Any second now, he told himself, realizing she should be arriving on the rooftop right about then. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he showed her the video of her punching his friend, knocking him out, and then walking away without a care in the world or a single glance behind her. He would keep to himself the part about her watching her own friend being killed in the cult compound a form of karma. Not that he didn’t feel bad for the friend and anyone else who was harmed or killed during the siege. No one deserved to die who wasn’t trying to kill someone else. No one should get away with murder either, even if it wasn’t intentional. Boris knew she would go down for the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, but go down she would. Another few minutes went by, which seemed like an eternity to him, when the door to the interrogation room finally opened. But instead of officers bringing Stone in to face him and her evil deeds, a single officer stepped in with some very bad and shocking news. “What’s up?” asked Boris, not liking the look on his face. “Bad news, I’m afraid.” “Oh, great. What now?” “Well, apparently… Stone is gone.” Boris’ face fell. He could literally feel it and the smile sliding right off his face and dropping like a rock while his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “What the hell is going on?” “She landed on the roof, and the officers fumbled for a minute or two trying to get the hatch open. Before they could, the damn thing flew away.” Boris blinked. “What the hell do you mean it flew away? Drones don’t just up and fly off on their own.” “I know, man, and I wish I could tell you what the hell happened, but we’re working on it.” “Well, where the hell did the damn thing go?” “Don’t know yet. Somewhere south.” “Somewhere south?” Boris asked incredulously. The officer nodded. “They could see the general direction it headed, but not the exact drop-off.” “Fuck! Just fuck this shit.” “Hang on, I’ve got more information coming in,” one of the officers said as his phone buzzed. A moment later, he relayed the update to Boris. “They found the drone. It landed on a residential street. Only one witness, but they didn’t get much from them. Just a white van pulling up after Stone landed. She looked confused, the witness said, and then the van stopped, cutting off his view.” “A white van, huh?” The officer nodded. “Unfortunately, the witness couldn’t get a description, and there was no writing that he remembered seeing on the van. The guy exited the van on the side opposite the witness's window where he was looking out when he heard the drone landing. Couldn’t get a plate either.” “So what the hell happened?” Boris said after several seconds, trying to digest the latest shocker. “We’re not sure yet. But it looks like someone jammed the signal and intercepted it somehow.” “Who the hell would do that?” Boris asked. Again, the officer shook his head. “We don’t have a clue. Our best guess is that it was an inside job but not on law enforcement. More likely hospital staff. Someone working there had the know-how or at least knew someone who did.” “Why the fuck would they free a madwoman?” “Your guess is as good as mine. But Boris… I’m afraid it gets worse.” “Oh, no. What do you mean, it gets worse?” “She’s gone.” “Gone? Gone where?!” “We don’t know. We’re looking high and low, but apparently she was transferred into the van and driven off somewhere.” Boris thought for a moment and then said, “It’s got to be an inside job, man, just like you said.” “Yeah, we agree, and we’re thinking it’s more than one person. Someone had to be the getaway driver while someone else was operating the system. Somehow, they were able to keep the hatch locked, preventing the officers from opening it, and then redirecting the drone altogether.” “They sure had to have perfect timing, too.” “Yeah, how else would they know when to lock and redirect the damn thing?” “This means they were aware of everything going on as it was happening.” Boris had never been more furious in his life. Not only had Stone killed his friend and committed countless other crimes, but she was about to get away with it, too. So would whoever redirected the drone, even if she had had to have been released immediately afterward due to the bullshit technicalities he would also learn about. Inevitable release or not, it infuriated the hell out of him that he couldn’t make her face him and have his say. But then he realized something. Something very important. Just because the law excused her didn’t mean he had to.