Page 75 of The Last Call Home
Lilah:I wish I could drive there and give you a hug.
Cass:Tempting.But if someone sees your car here at four in the morning when you don’t have to be, the town gossip mill would combust.I’ve been thinking of moving to the cabin.It’d make it easier to spend time with you and Mal without having to worry about the townies.
Lilah:Why don’t you?
Cass:It’s Malerick’s place.But also, I’ve got equipment here that helps me keep tabs on things—surveillance nodes, encrypted feeds, stuff the average nosy neighbor wouldn’t recognize.If something shady goes down in Birchwood Springs, I’ll know.
Lilah:Your job sounds cool.
Cass:It’s interesting.Sometimes it even feels a little Robin Hood-y.
Lilah:You steal from the rich?
Cass:(Laughs.) Not anymore.These days, I just expose the ones who think they’re untouchable.But, yeah, when I was younger ...I did what I had to.There were times when we couldn’t afford food, and I figured out how to lift snacks from the corner store without getting caught.Learned which houses had cameras, which ones didn’t.I could spot a distracted tourist a block away.While in foster care I did it so I could get something to eat or wear.The places where I stayed didn’t provide much—if any.
Lilah:That sounds ...
Cass:I’m not proud of it.But it taught me how to read people.How to sense tension in a room before a word’s spoken.How to slip in and out without leaving a trace.Turns out those skills transfer surprisingly well to surveillance and infiltration.
Lilah:So you went from picking pockets to protecting towns?
Cass:Something like that.I figured if I survived the worst parts of my childhood, I could at least use what I learned to help people now.Balance the scale a little.
Lilah:You surprise me, Cassian Harlan.
Cass:There’s nothing surprising about me.
Lilah:You’re being modest, go to sleep.I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?
Cass: You’ll see me later today.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Mal:How much do you know about Atlas’s wife?
Cass:You asking me and not your brother?
Mal: Wanna hear my theory?
Cass:This should be good.Go on.
Mal:My brother has ...skills that no normal person does.His aim is good and he knows how to use a knife like no other.He lived in Seattle during college.You know what’s in Seattle?
Cass:The Space Needle?
Mal:Don’t be an asshole.I’m serious here.
Cass:I’m not being a dick, I’m keeping you from spiraling.If you’ve got conspiracy theories about Atlas and aliens, you need to take that shit to him, not me.Do I know what’s happening with his wife?She’s pregnant.
Mal:I just got a bulletin.Missing persons.Her husband is looking for her—she’s flagged as mentally ill.Dangerous to herself and others.
Cass:Okay, that’s ...that’s not nothing.But it’s also not mine to fix.You need to talk to Atlas.I mean really talk to him—not just throw theories at me, hoping I’ll validate them.
Mal:That’s all you’re going to say?
Cass:That’s all I have for you right now, Sheriff.
Mal:We’re in a relationship, Cass.You can’t just wall off information.
