Web of the Weaver Chapter 24

The problem was that Brian didn’t sound old—and…

“How old are you?”

“Seventeen, why?”

“We need someone.” I wouldn’t be going out as The Investigator or Orb Weaver, and Brian, for whatever reason, was worried about the possible job consequences of Aisha’s actions. I had some toys with me, but they weren’t suited for anything more than surveillance, and if anyone saw me using them…

I needed…

I looked at my phone. Or maybe I could…

No. I didn’t have to. I almost put my phone away and then stopped.

There was one person who could help us. Likely make it easier to deal with any issues arising with the authorities.

Why was I so reluctant?

The answer was simple. We hardly ever talked. He’d sent me to Summer Camp, in lieu of…

Of what? I’d enjoyed summer camp.

Orb Weaverwouldn’t hesitate. Nor would The Investigator.

Why not? They both were masks. I could put them on and take them off at need. But right now? I was Taylor. And this wasn’ta mask.

And if Aisha got into trouble…

Was I just trying to help people when it was no skin off of my nose?

No.

“Brian. I’m assuming that we don’t want to risk someone bringing this to official attention.”

“No.”

“My father can help us. He’s old enough that well, they’d probably just default to letting him deal with it.”

Depending on what it was. But if Aisha was just wandering around and a guard decided to throw his weight around, we might not need—no, better to have and not need. And…

I’m trying to come up with reasons why I don’t need to do this.

If I was going to help the city, I couldn’t be weak…

Even if I really wanted to be.

I put Brian on hold and called Dad. Moments later, he answered the home phone.

“Taylor, is something wrong?”

“No.” I paused, as insects gyrated in the sewers. “But my study partner, Aisha?  You filled out the paperwork?”

“Um… yes, I did, was there something wrong with it?”

“No, but she decided to say she was working with me, instead of going to see a movie, and her brother and I are looking for her. I was thinking an adult might… eliminate any issues with the authorities.”

Dad wasn’t an idiot. He’d seen a picture of Aisha when the school had arranged for me to work with her. I wondered if it was to make certain there weren’t any… E88 issues with Dad.  Insulting on the one hand, wise on the other. They were, of course, wrong. But he knew that if anything happened, Aisha and Brian would be more likely to face problems if there wasn’t an adult, whiteface nearby.

“I’ll be down.”

“Thanks.”

I took a deep breath. Why the hell was that so hard?The memory of reading one of my books floated up. How people often avoided…

I wasn’t going to do this. Those books were to help me deal with my prey, not my father. Besides, right now, his… mindset helped me, gave me more freedom to work.

I ruthlessly crushed a sudden pang of guilt and called Brian back. “I’ll be down.”

*****

When I got down to the North Road, the boardwalk was busy—but not with as many kids as it had been.

The Bay didn’t have a curfew. What it had was an understanding that there were places teens and kids shouldn’t be after a certain time, at least not without adults. The Arcades and diners were full of college students, older people out for dinner, and some families, children close to their parents.

Further away, the city was dark, rising up in the hills, with the streetlights gleaming. You could track the good and bad neighborhoods by how many streetlights were still working. In the regions where the merchants had ruled, there was merely a scattering of dim sparks. A few islands of light blazed away—the community college for one. There was activity up there in those hills, but all but the best neighborhoods stayed in at night.  You never knew who you might meet. Something that hardly anyone had to be told, something that just… was.

A reminder that my mission would not end merely with the destruction of crime in the city. The Bay had to be brought back to life.

Which, evidently, right now, involved finding Aisha.

I had to confess this was a little irritating. I could have gone home, waited until Dad was asleep, and then gone out and dealt with criminals, instead of finding my study partner.

I looked around as I walked the North End, and soon located Brian. It was actually easy…

He wasn’t moving, but kept watching the crowd. He looked like Aisha’s brother, with a muscular build and lantern jaw. Other people were looking around casually, but he was… Intent.

I really was getting better at this.

“Brian?” I said as he turned and looked down at me. “Taylor Hebert. Dad’s going to be here fairly soon, so I suggest we find Aisha. Dad can drive you two home without any…”

“Issues.” He nodded. “I have a car, but I didn’t bring it. It’s… in the shop.”

The slight hesitation made me wonder if it was really in the shop. He doesn’t want to use it. New Car? Not his? His clothes were new and in good condition, but not super fashionable. Chosen for comfort rather than appearance.

“She’ll probably be watching that Earth Aleph thing. The movie about the girl with the magic hair. She was talking about it.”

“Tangled?” I’d wanted to see that, but I had other jobs right now. “I see. Two theaters are getting out right now, with another one in thirty minutes.” After that, there would be two more, but I doubted Aisha was going to them. She wasn’t stupid—quite the opposite, and “I’m studying with Taylor” wouldn’t hold up if she was out until after midnight.

“Yeah.”

“We can stay out front,” I said. “The back exits feed out into the main Boardwalk.”

“Right,” he said. “Christ this is…” he clenched his fist.

“It appears to be more than her being out late,” I finally said. “Aisha dislikes her mother.”

“Then why is she giving her ammunition?” Brian took a deep breath. “Look, my boss doesn’t want to deal with Mom, who does, but they can’t just get rid of her. And even though Aisha hardly stayed in with Mom, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t “demonstrate control,” I won’t get custody, and my boss can’t do anything about that.”

How bad is her mom? I shook my head. Bad enough that someone only a few years older than me is in the running for custody. But why would his boss have any power over a legal question of custody?

“Aisha is intelligent,” I told him as we walked down. I heard conversations, saw people, keeping track of a dozen different things. Most of them were ordinary talks. A few were more serious, bad relationships, things like that.

It was good practice.

“She has issues with concentration, but…” I glanced around for effect. After all, I knew nobody was near enough to talk to. “Sometimes I think she listened to her mother… a little too much. She makes jokes of it, but talking about how you’re the druggie kid, isn’t always a joke.”

“Yeah. Mom was fucked up and never lost a chance to blame someone else for it.  Her and her boyfriends. That was when I got—decided I needed to take care of Aisha.”

I believe The Investigator  should make an appearance. Figure out some way to encounter Aisha and then… find out secrets to keep her mom from interfering with her. I had a sense that Brian was far better for his sister than his mother was.

“I—“ then I saw someone. “Dad’s here.”  Dad wouldn’t use a cell phone. I had to admit, I’d prefer not to use them, but well, I needed to. I waved and he walked over. I couldn’t escape the thought of how…washed out he looked. Not physically, but… The streams of people walking around him were almost like living people surrounding a ghost.

I shook my head. There would be time to think about that later. Right now, I was dealing with Aisha.

“Dad, this is Brian Laborn,” I told him. “Aisha’s brother. Brian, this is Danny Hebert.”

“Mr. Hebert?” Dad nodded.

“Taylor told me that you might need someone to run cover.”

“Well…” Brian paused.

He doesn’t like this, I don’t think. I could see why. Depending on others…

“Just in case we run into some issues.” He made a quick gesture at himself.

Dad nodded. “Saw that problem before.”

“We’d better move,” I said. The theaters were getting ready to let out.

The problem was that this was normally a safe place, but Aisha…

I could see why Brian was worried. She wasn’t exactly one to avoid an argument. Let the wrong person say something…

But even so, it’s unlikely.  He was acting calm but… He’s very worried about her mother. Or maybe something else. But he’s tense for… I shook my head. Brian had shown Dad an image of Aisha. I was looking around, straining my senses.

My ears weren’t superhuman. I couldn’t make unintelligible noise intelligible. But I could keep track of more things than I ever could, and I didn’t have to understand Aisha’s…

There. Mixed by other conversations, but I could pick it out. She was talking to someone.

I almost called Brian and Dad. Then I stopped myself. The place was packed and me suddenly picking Aisha out from…  No. I tagged her with a fly and moved to where she’d…

Wait a minute.

What the hell? Aisha and her companions were heading for Brian. Unerringly. Dad was getting ready to head to his position, but how had Aisha seen them?

I moved, as quickly as I could, avoiding chattering families and keeping a look out for any security. Right now there wasn’t much danger, the place was packed, but this was the last “general family” showing before the night owls showed up.

Which says something. Brian must be very worried because the probability of this blowing up is pretty low or…

Or he thinks he’s under supervision? I started tagging people around me, keeping track of the patterns.  Surveillance would leave signs in how individuals moved.

Just in case.

I saw them at the same time Brian did, and his reaction…

Even Dad noticed it as Brian stiffened, clenched his fists and looked like he wanted to murderthe blond girl escorting Aisha. She was about my age, wearing good clothes.

“Hey, Bro,” Aisha said. “You never said your friends liked good movies.”

“Brian’s just quiet like that,” the other girl said. “Brian, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you, but we keep missing each other…” she glanced around. “And you have new friends!”

She’s a little surprised at our presence, but…

She knew Brian, if she knew him she probably knew that he might come out to find Aisha, and if he hadn’t been answering her calls…

Who the hell is this? An ex-girlfriend?  What have I just walked into…