Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 14 - Finding Family - II

  "How does zombies lead to all the buildings exploding or collapsing?"

  "...So it's aliens or something."

  "Right."

  "I'm just saying, there's something weird about it. It all looks like a coverup."

  "I don't disagree with you there."

  "So if it's a coverup, but we know there were two survivors..."

  "The guys up in Canada."

  "Right. Why is it so implausible that Hailey Winscombe could be alive too?"

  "You just want her to be alive because you think she's hot." Hailey, not immune to a bit of vanity, rolled her eyes in a self-satisfying way towards the reflection of the guy who looked a little embarrassed at the accusation.

  "I don't think he's totally crazy."

  "You think?"

  "Look at how many times they've dragged her mom back into the conversation. They gotta know something we don't."

  They did what to Mom? Hailey wondered. She hadn't been watching or reading the news as much lately, a little worried about what she might find. She trusted Cinza or someone else would let her know if anything really important showed up.

  "But the FBI said it was fake."

  "You believed 'em?"

  "I mean, they work for us, don't they?"

  "Sure they do."

  With that, the conversation devolved from a discussion of Rallsburg into an argument about the state of the government. Hailey had gotten enough out of it and picked her phone back up, scrolling through the news quickly. With tense fingers, she typed in her name into a search.

  She'd been avoiding her long enough.

  She was still as avid on social media as Hailey had ever been, and had just checked in at a restaurant only three blocks down the street. Hailey stared at the tiny message on her phone for several minutes, debating, but she couldn't resist the temptation. She stood up suddenly, and Jessica quickly moved to follow. They finished off their drinks and headed outside into the sunset.

  The city was bustling and packed as ever on a Monday evening. Jessica clung to Hailey's arm as they weaved through the sidewalk traffic. Hailey navigated it with ease, slipping through the gaps in the slower walkers even with Jessica at her side. They made swift progress without anyone batting an eye. After all, Hailey didn't look anything like her photos online, or even like the brief and blurry snippet of video from the night of the fire. No one was going to recognize her.

  The restaurant was part of a larger mall complex, which meant Hailey found an easy spot to spy from. They headed up for the second floor, taking an empty table with a perfect view of the restaurant and the street beyond through the huge glass windows. Jessica was awed by the fountains and glass elevators in the center of the place, paying no mind to the restaurant. Dozens of white tables were scattered around a black carpeted dining area, which gave the whole place a vague aesthetic like a chessboard.

  There she was.

  Stephanie Winscombe sat at a far table near the windows with a man Hailey assumed was a work colleague. With a quick murmur, their voices were carried across the wide expanse to her ears.

  "...will bounce back. You really think Thomas Laushire is going to take this lying down?"

  Hailey had a brief thrill of shock hearing the name out of her mother's mouth, but she reminded herself that the Laushires were a huge name in business. It had nothing to do with Kendra, or Rallsburg.

  "I think he's overstepped. He accused Malton of corporate espionage."

  "'Corporate espionage'," her mom mocked. "Laushire got taken for a fool, he knows it, and he's fanning the flames a bit for cover. He just needs to blow the story up enough to flip the tables."

  "So all that about Laushire's overseas dealings..."

  She shook her head dismissively. "It means nothing."

  "You really think so?"

  "Honey, we're in a post-scandal world." Honey? Hailey wondered. Was that endearing or sarcastic? She couldn't tell. "There's not a whole lot of corporate crime you can't get away with anymore, now that the world's gone to hell. Worst case in the short run, Laushire can deflect a lot by claiming grief over his daughter. Fill up the news cycle until they find some other bone to chew on."

  "But he didn't even like her."

  Stephanie nodded. "Not at all. I heard he exiled her from the company."

  "That's just cold. Why, though?"

  "I'm supposed to know that?"

  "I've decided to assume you know everything now, ma'am."

  "I told you to stop calling me that."

  "Yes, ma'am, but your boss doesn't like it when I do. Please don't make me break the habit."

  She sighed. "As far as I know, Laushire booted his daughter over a family matter. That's all I heard."

  "Not for incompetence?"

  Stephanie snorted, nearly spitting out a sip of her coffee. "Hell no. Half of the best deals they made during that period were hers. She was a killer at the table. You should have seen her talk her way around a boardroom, it was brilliant. She could out-talk the lawyers."

  "Overshadowing her dad, then?"

  "Maybe." She shrugged.

  "Miss Winscombe!" A man called out, and Hailey realized with a start that he was actually directly beneath her, not in the restaurant. He was loud enough she'd assumed he was standing right next to her mother. A cameraman from a local station was just a few steps behind him. He practically leapt over the low ornamental fence surrounding the restaurant area, making his way over to their table.

  "Goddammit..." Stephanie murmured as they approached. She turned in her seat to face him, looking distinctly annoyed. Her assistant looked just as bothered. "No," she called back.

  Several other patrons of the restaurant were now looking up with interest. The noise had cut through the usual buzz of the mall and the sounds of the kitchen behind the restaurant wall. The reporter and his cameraman got right up in her mom's face at the table.

  "Is-it-true-that-your-daughter-was-sighted-in-Tacoma?" he said breathlessly.

  Was I? Hailey wondered. She doubted it. Cinza would have told her.

  "I don't know."

  "Have you heard from her?"

  "No."

  "Do you think she's still alive?"

  "That'd be nice." She said it so dryly that Hailey was torn between laughing and crying.

  "Can you tell us anything about what happened in Rallsburg?"

  Stephanie frowned. "Look, is this live?" she asked, pointing at the man's camera.

  He hesitated, then shook his head.

  "Good." She stood up, glass in hand, and chucked it at the camera lens. It shattered. Liquid sprayed all over the shocked cameraman's face. Hailey did a little fist-pump of satisfaction from her perch above the restaurant.

  "What the fu—"

  "Coming, Daniel?" Stephanie asked, striding from the restaurant at a brisk pace. Her assistant, dumbstruck, rushed to follow her out.