Chapter Ten
Auralia
Stick around for a sniper?
Maybe. That calculus depended on the situation.
Doli was filming and obviously had no intention of moving.
Sometimes, Auralia wondered if there was a part of Doli’s survival brain that was underdeveloped.
The weapons of war never intimidated Doli.
Drone, RPG, bullet strafe, they were nothing to her.
She’d stand out in the middle of a hailstorm of falling debris and incoming shrapnel without the slightest flinch, not a soupcon of inquietude.
It was eerie.
People might watch Doli and call her a fool. But, honestly, in the places where they were reporting, it was always luck of the draw who survived and who didn’t.
Doli said she walked through the rain the same way she did rifle strafe. She sensed the movement and made sure she flowed in the open spaces.
Auralia had her talents. Walking through live fire wasn’t one of them.
With that in mind, Auralia had to keep checking in with her own gut to make sure that Doli’s poorly developed survival muscles weren’t influencing Auralia’s personal choices.
After the sniper’s bullet rang out, they filmed the scene.
Doli pointed at the running politicians.
It would be stupid to run after them. They were the target, and it didn’t look like the gunman was a sure shot.
The politicians would jump into their cars and roar off to regroup in private.
It was better to stay and film the crowd.
That was the plan up until the point when Doli swiveled toward the horizon. She leaned down to grab up her camera bag, yelling, “Now!” and took off at a sprint.
Auralia was tight on her heels.
They were moving as fast as they could. Their movement spurred others to their feet.
In crouched postures, parents wrapped their bodies around their children or snatched the poor kids off their feet as they hustled off the field; they all seemed to get the message that if the war reporters were racing for the parking lot, they’d better be hustling there, too.
The first drips of rain tapped Auralia’s forehead and nose. “Do you feel that?”
“Run between the drops,” Doli called out. “I’ve told you this.”
“I’m not made of sugar. A few drips of rain aren’t going to make me melt.”
“But it will turn this parking lot into a slip and slide. We need to be in our car first.”
They were clear of the crowd, and their feet were moving fast. Working where they did, Doli and Auralia took their fitness seriously. They needed to be able to outrun anything deadly heading their way. This race to the car was second nature.
The shouts were growing louder, and without turning around, Auralia could feel the heave of bones and flesh.
In her mind, she played a game that she used to spur herself along on a lonely, boring run and pretended they were zombies.
If they caught her, she’d be a goner. It was enough to kick her adrenaline into power mode.
“Go. Go. Go.” She put her hands on Doli’s shoulders and spun her toward the car.
Right now, as she and Doli raced after the three suits and the two women they dragged with them, Auralia sensed that the shooter had accomplished his goals by shutting Morrison up.
And that was unfortunate.
The two families thing—wow. That was surprising.
It certainly hadn’t shown up in any of her interviews or research dives. Had he used an alias with vital stats? Apart from hacking, in the computer age, how was an altered birth certificate possible?
But in this moment, the bigger question was: Who would try to interrupt?
The second wife? She might have someone up in a hunting blind taking a shot. Her brothers? Was there a life insurance policy that would make whatever the court awarded seem like a pittance?
It could be someone having a vigilante outburst, getting Morrison for his scam.
It could be a disaffected young white male who fell down an algorithmic rabbit hole and became a nihilist looking for chaos.
Hell, Morrison himself could have had someone up there taking a shot to garner sympathy in the court of public opinion before the judge heard his case.
If it bleeds, it leads.
In Auralia’s mind, the shooter was trying to get everyone’s attention, maybe make Morrison pee down his leg. If that was an assassin’s shot, the guy was either drunk or high. It was either a terrible damned shot, or someone was making a point by blowing up that sound system.
Until someone—thank god—shut it down, the high, shrill resonance coming from the speakers had echoed around the dell and set the fillings in Auralia’s teeth into a sour vibration that she’d never experienced before.
“Whelp. We can always count on Gator to send a girl the right kind of gift.” Doli knocked on her bullet-resistant vest.
“He’s married.” Auralia fobbed her car locks open as they came within sight. “You need to find someone else.”
“I know this will surprise you,” Doli said, rounding to the passenger side of the car. “Finding a psychic hero demi-god like Creed or your brother is not an easy task.”
Auralia ducked into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “Doli, were you using your wide lens?”
“I tried to catch where the guy was shooting from.” They dragged their safety belts across their chests and clicked them into place.
“It was farther away than we would normally guess from the crack of gunfire. Given the wind blowing the sound in from the west, I think that’s why it sounded so close because the dell amplified it. ”
“Bingo. My thoughts exactly,” Auralia pressed the engine button but waited to pull out as two black SUVs raced toward the road. Auralia had shifted to drive and was ready to spin tires. The hordes had revved their engines. Get out now or get stuck in the mass confusion.
“Kamar’s gonna be pissed.”
“His decision. Also,” Auralia flicked on her windshield wipers.
“I don’t think we were wrong about the clay and the mud bog.
And I think as people start gunning their engines and churning the clay and water, that it’s going to be a damned mess in the next twenty minutes or so.
” She turned her wheel and smoothly pulled out behind the second SUV. “Did you see that?” Auralia asked.
“Got it on tape. Mom in front, driving. Daughter in the passenger seat, and a coward lying down in the back seat. He must think that he was the target. Both the Mayor and Rep Braxton were sitting tall.”
“He’s using the women to keep him safe?” Auralia asked.
“When I heard the shot, I thought it came from the building back over there outside of the security ring Iniquus is monitoring,” Doli said as she watched her footage.
“Who told you about their security ring?”
“Blaze was walking by while you and Creed were talking to your brother, and I asked him.”
“Because you had a hunch?” Auralia asked.
“I’m wearing a goddammed bulletproof vest sent over by one swamp Gator with a third eye. I think it’s reasonable for me to know the edges of the damned parameters.”
“Yup.”
“Also, he’s single,” Doli added.
“He’s in a long-term relationship with Faith.”
“Long, long, long term, and he hasn’t put a ring on it is all I’m saying. Hey, this is kind of weird.”
“What’s that?” Auralia didn’t look over because the rain was falling in fat drops, but the sun was still shining, making prisms that were hard to focus through.
“The reaction from the stage. Morrison was damned calm. For that matter, so were Sheelah and—what’s her name?” Doli turned to Auralia.
“The daughter? Brandy. To be fair, if they were hearing about family number two for the first time, they might have been in shock.”
“True. Where’s Strike Force in this picture?” Doli asks. “Shouldn’t they be moving the mayor to safety?”
“The sheriff’s department was supposed to watch the mayor and the rep. No one was assigned to the Morrison family. Iniquus was here to lend a hand and make sure that damage to the venue is limited and there’s no bad publicity from things happening, like reporters getting beaten up.”
“Oh, okay. That went well,” Doli deadpanned. “Did they have someone watching us in particular? I mean, Iniquus is known for its fidelity to family. And I assume I’m family by proximity.”
“Deep was back a bit so he could cover all three of the news teams that stayed. He went forward to help KDRF because their team didn’t stand up. He was checking to make sure they weren’t shot when we ran for the tree.”
“You sure?” Doli asked.
“I’ve helped them out on some training evolutions, and that’s what it looked like to me. But it’s a guess, not a given.”
“How far are we going to follow?”
“I’m not so interested in the mayor and Rep Braxton. I’m planning on following the Morrisons until they park and get out. I have questions. But we’ll do this slow and smooth, so they don’t think that we’re the shooter on the hunt.”
“Yeah,” Doli said, “how about you hang back just a tad so if the shooter is still gunning for someone or has someone out ahead that we aren’t confused for being part of that posse.”
“Yeah, I don’t mind that suggestion,” Auralia said.
“There’s nowhere to turn off until after the bridge.
I’d like to know if they stay together. This whole thing is pretty curious, don’t you think?
” Auralia bit at her lower lip. “Gator gave us bullet-resistant vests. It can’t be because a rifle was going to take out a speaker system.
” She flicked a glance toward Doli. “Grab my phone out of my right leg cargo pocket and text Gator and Creed for me. Just tell them what we did and what we’re doing. ”
“Did you see the text from Creed?” Doli asked.
“No, what did he say?”
“We should go before everyone races out. Good counsel.” The car was silent except for the faint tap of Doli’s thumbs on Auralia’s phone.
Auralia had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
There was a good story just waiting to be told. She needed to find it and report on it.
Danger shivered in the air.
Yup, something sinister had Auralia by the craw and wouldn’t let go.