David Kent - The Triangle Conspiracy

Sean waited a long time before answering. He finished the can of Michelob and set it carefully on the railing of the deck. He saw Britt watching him, standing in Daryn’s shadow.

“I think the ideas are solid,” Sean said. “I don’t know about the rest. The banks, I mean. Change is a hard thing to bring about.”

Daryn smiled at him. “You’re right. But it can be done. If people can reinvent themselves, why can’t societies, countries?”

Sean looked at her long and hard. If people can reinvent themselves. What was she saying to him?

“We all want to change who we are sometimes,” Daryn went on. “We want to throw off the things that shackled us to our past and just become something new.”

“But not many people actually get to do that,” Sean said. “They stay shackled, to use your word. Whether it’s to a job they hate, or a spouse they don’t love anymore, or a city they don’t like living in. Most people don’t have the luxury of going out and just becoming someone new.”

Daryn cocked her head. “Luxury? That’s an interesting way to put it. But you’re right again. If we reshape the way American society looks at people-those very people you’re talking about, people who feel they don’t have any choices-then there will be more freedom. Freedom to choose how they can live their lives, without fear of some moral or financial controls put in place by some out-of-touch rulers.”

Sean managed a smile of his own. “I love your passion. It…it sort of defines you, makes you who you are.”

“Oh, is that what makes me who I am?”

They let that hang in the air for a few seconds, then Sean said, “Do you trust me, Kat?”

“Yes. You saved my life.”

Sean nodded. “But you still haven’t trusted me with much about yourself.”

Daryn lowered her head, then glanced toward Britt, who was still watching Sean intently. Daryn finally looked back to Sean. “What is it you want to know?”

“I don’t know. Anecdotes. Stories. That sort of thing.”

Sean watched her, saw her dark eyes flicker.

Daryn sighed. “My father is a wealthy, powerful man. He’s part of the ruling class. I grew up as part of it before I realized what was going on. My father’s values disgust me. He pushed my mother aside when I was a little girl and paraded a group of whores in and out as trophy wives. Don’t worry, the word whore doesn’t bother me. Since I am one, of course.”

Britt looked at the floor. Daryn took her hand. “Oh, don’t be embarrassed, sweetie. We know what we are. We know who we are. It’s the rest of society that can’t handle it.” She looked back up at Sean. “When I was seventeen, my father had been away, out of the country for some meetings. And like any self-respecting rich, spoiled teenager, I threw a party while he was gone. You name it, it went on. Booze, dope, sex. All of us were stupidly wealthy, so none of us cared about anything. Our fathers could buy our way out of any trouble we got into. It was late, two or three in the morning, and most of the others had gone home. I was in my room, in bed with two of my good friends, Bryan and Jennifer. We were all so busy screwing each other’s brains out that we didn’t notice my father had come into the room.”

Britt drew in a sharp breath. Sean was silent, watching.

“I have no idea how long he stood there watching us have sex with each other. He didn’t say a word, didn’t make a sound. When we were finished, Bryan happened to look up and saw him. My father only said one word. ‘Go.’ Bryan and Jen grabbed their clothes and left me naked in the bed. I was waiting for the storm to hit, but it didn’t. My father never spoke. He simply took off his clothes, came to the bed, and climbed on top of me. It took maybe three minutes, then he got up, got dressed, and left the room. Neither of us ever spoke about it. I never told a soul.” Daryn looked up at Sean. “Until now. There’s your anecdote. There’s your story.”

“Kat, I-” Sean said.

“I’d like to go inside now,” Daryn said. “I need to talk to Franklin for a minute, then I’m going up to our room. Britt, honey, I’d like you and Michael to get to know each other better. I want my two friends to know each other well.”

“Whatever you want,” Britt said.

“Good girl.” Daryn leaned up and kissed Britt lightly on the lips, then turned and went in the house. “I’ll be waiting upstairs.”

She turned, and a moment later the kitchen door closed behind her. Sean leaned on the deck railing. A warm breeze came up the slope from below and tousled his hair. He felt Britt’s presence behind him.

“Does anyone else here know?” Sean asked without turning around. “Who she really is, I mean.”

“I don’t think so,” Britt said.

“Interesting.”

“What does all this mean? I don’t get it. I just want to be with Dar…Kat.”

“I’m not sure,” Sean said.

Britt nodded. “She gets those awful migraines. Her forehead scrunches up when she has one. I wish I could take her pain away.”

Devotion bordering on obsession? Sean wondered. “I know. Did you know about…what she just said?”

Britt cleared her throat. “No. She said she never told a soul. I believe her. She wouldn’t lie.” The girl shuffled her feet. “She wants me to be with you.”

Sean turned to look at her childlike face. “You don’t have to. I’m not a customer.”

“No, it’s not like that. If she wants me to, it’s not like that. She knows what’s best.” She put out a hand and touched his chest.

“No, Britt. I don’t think so.”

She dropped her hand. A sly look came over her face. “You like a good drink, don’t you? One of the other guys has some hard stuff. She told me where to find it.”

Sean’s mouth felt dry. He opened his mouth to say something, then his cell phone rang.

Britt frowned.

Sean pulled the phone off the clip he wore on his belt. He saw Faith’s number on the caller ID.

“Do you need to get that?” Britt asked.

“No,” Sean said after a long moment. When it stopped ringing, he turned off the phone.

Britt looked triumphant. “You know, even if you don’t want to be with me now, you will later.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Isn’t it every guy’s fantasy to be with two girls who are into each other, too?”

Sean gaped at her.

“We’re sleeping together in the same room. In the same bed. You’re like me, you know. You can’t resist her either.”

A shudder crawled up Sean’s spine. Britt smiled crookedly at him, then turned around and started toward the house. In a moment he followed her.

FAITH SLEPT POORLY AND WOKE UP UNRESTED.Even her morning run didn’t help her feel better. Moving by rote, letting the inertia of routine drive her, she got dressed and drove downtown to her office. By seven thirty she was staring at the catfish, Styrofoam coffee cup in her hand.

Her brother was an alcoholic. Too many of the signs were there. It had ruined his career, and she suspected it was the underlying cause his brief marriage hadn’t worked. And now, when she’d tried to help him, it had shredded their relationship as well.

“Dammit,” she said aloud, then repeated it, louder.

She logged onto her computer. Still nothing from Director Yorkton on the final decision about Leon Bankston. She was sure Bankston would be green-lighted, but sometimes it took a while for the attorney general to sign off on the cases. In the meantime Bankston would sit in the safe house in identity limbo, driving Hal Simon crazy. The thought of Bankston haranguing Simon over the house’s décor made Faith smile a little.