Page 113 of The Tomorrows After You
Ihadbeenright about the federal agents. They didn’thaveany interest in a small-town manslaughter charge.
But theydidhave interest in the person whose IP address had been identified as a national security threat after it hacked into a federal UAS airfield and hijacked a drone. They took him in after that same IP address popped on their radar when he emailed the audio file to the police. They knew the IP address was linked toRiot’s property but they weren’t sure which of its three residents it belonged to.
After they took us all in for questioning, it was abundantly clear it was Brennan. They spent the next few weeks vetting him to make sure he wasn’t already part of some terrorist organization. When they were satisfied that he was just a brilliant nerd with no social skills from podunk West Virginia, they offered him a job.
“It’s incredible!” I’d never seen Brennan so animated and I had to work to hide my amusement. “It’s a new program with twelve people in my class and they’re alljustlike me! Can you imagine it? A room with twelve ofme?” He grinned expectantly but I just pressed my lips together with a smile.
Ilookedat my watch.“I’msorry to break up the reunion but, Riot, we really need to get to thehearingon time.”
Brennan didn’t come with us. Wethoughtone Asher brother would be enough for the town to handle.
As I sat in the room while Riot made his case, I studied the parole board. They didn’t seem convinced one way or the other and in reality, they appeared bored. That irritated me. When he was done, the head of the committee turned her focus toward the back of the room.
“Does local law enforcement have anything they’d like to add?”
I spun around to find Jeremy glowering in the back and I saw Riot’s chest deflate. I grabbed his hand encouragingly and squeezed it twice.
Jeremy took a few steps forward, narrowing his eyes, drinking in the attention. My stomach turned. How was Riot ever expected to have a life when his future was in the hands of the guy I had rejected for him?
Jeremy’s gazefellto me and Iwithheldmy instincts to scowl at him. Instead, Ilookedat him with hopeful, pleading eyes.
“Riot Asher has had some pretty serious run-ins with the law.” The balloon in my chest popped. “But his intentions have always been good. There are people in this very room,importantpeople, who wouldn’t behere today if Riot Asher hadn’t gone to heroic attempts to save their lives.”
The air left Riot’s body, absorbing the shock of Jeremy’s endorsement. Once again the sting of joy warmed my eyes.
“Furthermore, more evidencehascome to the department’s attention that suggests Riot neverreceiveda fair investigation. And while thereisnothing we can do in retrospect to rectify that, I think it’s only fair to advocate for his complete and total clearance of all future parole and probation sentences.”
My jaw dropped. I eagerly watched the woman who held Riot’s life in her hands listen to Jeremy intently. When he was done talking, I held my breath.
“While I don’t particularly like the suggestion that aclosedcase’s sentence couldhavebeenmishandled,”sheshota disapproving glare at Jeremy,“wearerelatively blind in these areas and rely on the recommendation of the community and its law enforcement to advisewhat’sbest for its future.”
She scanned the room before looking Riot in the eye.
“Congratulations, Mr. Asher.Grantedyou stay out of trouble, you face no more parole restrictions. Next case, please.”
Riot stood there, stunned. I grabbed his arm, but he was frozen solid, his eyes fixed on some distant thought.
He whispered to no one in particular, “JeremyfuckingBlackwell.”
I wrapped my arms around him and heard the smile crack his lips. He embraced me, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around. I winced in pain but didn’t care because now our future was infinite.
44
Riot
When Brennan went back to the Cyber Intelligence program, he couldn’t tell us where it was. But the smile on his face was all I needed for reassurance. Before he left, he winked at Nicolette and told her not to worry, he’d be back in no time so she could kick his ass again in Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.
I had laughed but Nicolette looked perplexed. Later that night, my beautiful little bloodhound sat straight up, scaring the bejesus out of me. She didn’t even put her shoes on before running to Brennan’s house and slamming open the door.
I followed her groggily and found her tearing apart his house, room by room. She overturned pillows and shelves until she found the robot game stashed under his bed with all the other action figures he’d saved.
“Aha!” she exclaimed, flipping over the game to reveal a USB drive taped to the bottom.
“What is it?” I cleared my throat. She ignored me and started running back toward the house.
I made it back in time to find her parked at the breakfast bar, opening her laptop.
“Brennankickedmyass in Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots last time.”
