Victim's, Inc. Read online

  building to load the bodies up after the shooters had been taken down and after the forensics team had started their investigation. This was the angle she hadn’t been able to see.

  She watched it again, guessing from the angle that the person who took the video was out in the

  field of knee-high corn. They must have zoomed in over the distance to catch it on film.

  She brought the timestamp back to the start and hit play, then pause, play, pause, over and over

  throughout the ten second video to see if frame by frame there was something she was missing.

  Who had been out there that day? Why had they sent this to her?

  Kate downloaded the attachment and saved it to her iCloud account so she would be able to

  access it from anywhere. Then she remembered the flash drive from the station. Dug through her

  coat pockets and inserted it into the USB port. She saved it to her computer as well, and after uploaded it too to the iCloud account.

  She returned the drive to her coat pocket and poured another glass of wine. What was the

  significance of the video?

  It was six in the morning when she got back from her run, blood throbbing through extremities

  and she feels vital and energized.

  Two older women are standing next to her mailbox talking as she opens it with her key.

  “I thought it was really odd. He was just standing there staring up at our building.”

  “Maybe he was waiting for someone.”

  “I don’t know, he looked creepy. I thought he was up to no good.”

  Maybe, Kate thought, you should keep your opinions to yourself. It seemed that they were always talking in the lobby about someone. Sometimes they would fall silent as she passed them, she had a good idea that they had been talking about her. So judgmental. Is that what life becomes after a certain age?

  She skipped the elevator and jogged up the stairs to the fifth floor. In the apartment, she peeled

  out of the sweaty clothes and hopped in the shower. Ten minutes later she felt better, ready to

  face the day.

  She checked her phone for missed calls, hoping she’d be called in to cover another breaking story, but so far nothing.

  Its boring, being stuck at home. Maybe she should go hang at Abby’s, or visit with mom. She

  hadn’t seen her mom since the dinner at the Japanese restaurant.

  Instead, she picks up the laptop and carries it over to the couch, plops down and pulls the throw

  blanket over her legs.

  The inbox has a new email from someone she doesn’t recognize. No subject, it said, “Want to

  talk?”

  She wrote back, “Who is this?”

  Seconds later, they respond. “I sent you the video.”

  Kate makes a noise, some might consider a squeal of delight, and wrote back, “Yes, I want to

  talk. Can we meet?”

  Five minutes tick slowly by before she gets an answer. “Meet me at the little diner on Chatham

  Dr. and Bridge St.. 5pm.”

  She pulls the cross-streets up on the GPS on her cell phone and discovers that it is in Alkin, a six

  hour drive, one way. She checks her watch. Traffic from the morning commute will die down in

  an hour, so she can leave at eight and expect to arrive at four which will allow for any delays.

  She grabs lunch at a Starbucks drive-thru and eats on the road, following I-81 south bound. She

  blasts the radio with the windows down, shouting out the lyrics. There are a few tolls along the

  way and she has to dig in the change purse for a few more quarters. She’d have to find a place to make change before heading back home.

  Traffic started up early, the rush hour for a Friday beginning at three. By the time she hit the Hwy 268, and turns off, she was anxious. Already four-thirty p.m., she needed to take a potty break. She finds a Wilco gas station to refuel, and uses the ladies room. With fifteen minutes to spare, she takes the Hwy 21, turns off, heading into the outskirts of Alkin.

  Kate signals, slows and turns right into the Speedy Chef parking lot. The place looks dead for a

  Friday evening dinner crowd. She parks out front, locks up, and heads inside.

  “Hi, is anyone waiting on someone to join them?” Kate asked the waitress who greeted her.

  “Um,” the waitress glances around. There are only two patrons, one seated near the window in

  the back, and the other at the counter. “I don’t think so. Those two are regulars and they normally

  eat and run.”

  “I’m a little early,” Kate said, “may I get a table for two?”

  “Sure. Booth or table?”

  “Table is great.”

  “Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?”

  “Please. I’d love a hot tea.”

  Kate positioned herself so she could keep an eye on the door.

  After twenty minutes, and a shift change of the staff, she starts to worry that maybe she shouldn’t

  have come. What if they were setting her up?

  She gives it another twenty minutes, then pays for the tea and departs.

  She finds a Starbucks, using their wi-fi she logs into her email and checks to see if maybe they

  had changed their mind. She had never set up the email account on her phone after Jack gave it to her. She'd need to do that soon because waiting for wi-fi was annoying. Nothing in the inbox but spam.

  She hits reply to the last message the mysterious sender had sent. “Where are you? I waited forty-five mins.”

  She heads inside the business and orders a latte, feeling guilty for having used the wi-fi without making a purchase.

  She refreshed the email page and when enough time had passed, Kate decided to go take a drive

  by the hospital. Maybe she could determine where the video had been taken.

  She only made it a mile down the road before her phone rang.

  “Kate.”

  “Hey,” Jack said, “I got a breaking story in California. I scheduled you for the next flight out of

  Baltimore. It leaves in two hours, make sure you’re on it.”

  “Uh, um. I’m not in Baltimore right now.”

  “Where are you?” Jack sounded annoyed.

  “Alkin.”

  “What? Why?”

  “It’s a long story, but I received an email from a source who asked to meet. But they didn’t show

  up.”

  Jack let out a pent up breath, “I thought I told you that story was done. I told you not to pursue

  it.”

  “I wasn’t pursuing it, Jack. They contacted me.”

  “And was it worth it?”

  “Not really.”

  “No. Because if you keep this up, you are going to lose your job. You’re on thin ice, Kate. I’ll

  have Kylie fix the flight. Get to the Greensboro airport pronto. Got it?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “I mean it, don’t waste anymore time on Alkin.”

  “Okay.”

  But Kate wasn’t sure she could let it go. Something was odd about Alkin and it wasn't going away.

  Chapter 13

  Los Angeles, California - April 16th

  After cat-napping on the flight out to the west coast, Kate was exhausted. Nothing could have

  prepared her for the amount of damage a domino effect could have on an interstate during rush

  hour.

  She landed in Los Angeles well after midnight. She caught an Uber ride to the site, and made her

  way through the media circus to her van. Waylon looked surprised and happy to see her. He

  hugged her hard.

  “Its so good to have you back! I missed you.”

  Kate laughed, hugging him back, “I missed your face too. I even missed Ann. Is she around?”

  “She’s in the van, she has everything you need.”

  “Won
derful.”

  “What happened?” Waylon said, Kate turned back, on her way to Ann. “Why weren’t you

  with us in Kansas and Florida?”

  “Jack gave me time off.”

  “Uh oh.”

  “Yeah, I got in trouble for that Bend, Oregon interview gone wrong. Then he thought I was hungover the next day and said I needed a break.”

  “Be glad that’s all he did. I’ve seen him fire correspondents during a broadcast.”

  “Really?”

  “You’re fine, he’s just trying to shape your career, make you have a thick versatile skin.”

  Kate gave Waylon a quick side hug, “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

  “I got your back girl.”

  Ann looked happy to see her. She had notes on a clipboard and handed them over.

  “Seventy-car pileup. It started during rush-hour last night when a semi lost control in the rain.

  A car flipped over the median into oncoming traffic. The semi jack-knifed, causing a pileup one

  direction, the car that flipped caused one the other direction. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “That’s insane. Any fatalities?” Kate asked, flipping through Ann’s notes.

  “Fifteen are dead, sixty injured. Thirteen of those sixty are in critical condition.”

  “What should I focus on?” Kate said.

  Ann beamed at her, “You’re learning to ask questions. I’d see if any of the non-injured motorists

  want to talk. Then I’d look for friends and family to interview- get them to talk about their

  concerns for their loved ones. Find an eyewitness. That last one is going to be the one we lead with, so it's really important.”

  “Okay, got it. Thanks.”

  “Good luck.”

  Kate smiled, “I appreciate it.”

  “Its good to have you back.”

  “It’s good to be back.”

  Kate set out with Waylon at her heels. The crash site was too big to monitor well and she easily

  ducked under the yellow tape, heading into the fray. Floodlights had been set up, salvage crews

  and paramedics were at work trying to clear the roads. They had done well, but there were still

  vehicles fused together, some smoldering.

  Kate tuned into the strength of the carnage. Like a radio station coming in clear, the carnage was screaming in vibrant color. Windshields where people had busted through or been flung against were splattered with blood. Jagged shards of glass, a random shoe that had come off a foot at high speed. The rend of metal pressed so tightly that it buckled in the wave length of the vibration that traveled through it, where it hit a force strong enough to bring it to a full-stop. Shell-shocked victims crying.

  Even after all of the hours that had passed, there were still people huddled in groups on the side

  of the road in the grass, on the gravel. She spoke with a few, managed to interview one, and

  continued on.

  She directed Waylon to film the cars they passed and he chatted as he did it.

  “Great job with that strike by the way.”

  “You saw it?”

  “Ann was watching it yesterday in the van. She was impressed at how it was packaged. She’d

  seen other networks report on it and nothing looked nearly as exciting as yours.”

  “Yeah, well, I was working with a camera man that doesn’t even compare to you,” Kate said,

  scanning the next group of people.

  “That’s right! He could have done a better angle. I would have gone from the right so you could

  get the full idea of how many people were there.”

  “Want to know what I did to get that scene?”

  “Yes.”

  “I bribed them with pizza.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. Get that car, it looks bad. Maybe frame those people over there.”

  “Got it.”

  “So, then I interviewed a couple of them and had the rest line up behind. I directed them to do

  their chant for one full minute. Shortly after the verdict of their negotiations came through and

  people were so happy I got the one interview of the guy saying he was going to go home and

  celebrate with his wife.”

  “Clever. Are you sure you’re Kate and not a Sienna clone?”

  Kate laughed and flipped him off.

  “Point proven.”

  “I know. Sorry. I was just making a joke.”

  “What about her? Over there?”

  Kate saw a woman sitting against the guard rail, her chin on her knees, hugging herself. She

  looked like a movie star.

  She introduced herself and the girl gave her account of what had happened to her. Her dog was

  missing, she had searched for him for a long time before finally sitting down, hoping he’d come back.

  “Do you have a picture of him with you? I could show it on air and have anyone who has seen him call the station.”

  “Really? That would be great. I’m so beside myself, I didn’t know what to do.”

  The girl started to cry as she texted the photo to Kate. Kate saved her number and gave her the

  local station phone number, the girl gave her a great interview.

  Sienna caught up with her as dawn spread across the valley.

  “Hey, Kate.”

  “Oh, hey! I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Everybody who is somebody is here. It’s a big story. I didn’t see you at the last two, were you

  on vacation?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Can’t blink, or you’ll miss all of the good stuff. You never know when your next big break will

  come along.”

  “True,” Kate said, watching Robert Owens from National News Now prepare to go live.

  “Like mine,” Sienna said.

  “You caught a break?” Kate said, distracted, watching Robert's crew work around him.

  The woman who had been setting up the wires for the camera man and the microphone Robert was holding suddenly pulled on a wig and a pair of sunglasses. She stepped in front of the camera. Robert interviewed her, pushing the mic in her face. Kate edged closer to hear what was taking place.

  The woman acted like an eyewitness, talking about how she’d seen it start and all of the loud

  rending squeals of metal as each car crashed into the next. Her eyes were wide behind the

  glasses, her hands animated.

  “Do you see that?” Kate said.

  “It happens a lot. Gotta play dirty when you can’t find someone to talk to. Did you hear what I

  said?”

  “Huh?”

  “I’m getting the anchor position in New York.”

  “Oh! That’s wonderful, Sienna!”

  “I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself.”

  “When do you start?”

  “One month from yesterday.”

  “Well, we have to celebrate!”

  “We’ll celebrate on my last day as a correspondent. I’m so excited to be stuck in one place for the rest of my career. It means I can settle down and start a family. My mom will be happy.”

  “I can’t imagine wanting to be in one place for long.”

  “You will. One day you’ll get tired of it all and you’ll want to rest.”

  “Ann’s waving to me, I have to go. We’ll talk again soon!”

  “Here, call me some time,” Sienna said, handing Kate her card.

  Waylon finished filming the sunrise through the broken glass of a truck and joined Kate. “What’d I miss?”

  “Your favorite person is getting an anchor job.”

  “You? Already!”

  “No,” Kate laughed and pointed at Sienna’s retreating figure.

  “Oh, good riddance!”

  “Hey, I like her.”

  “Yeah well, don’t let her be too much of a role model to
you. That woman is the Devil.”

  “Lucifer, Sienna... doesn’t jive.”

  Later in the day, Ann sent her out to find one last interviewee to close the broadcast with.

  Kate wandered through the quickly diminishing mess of cars. A woman she recognized but

  couldn’t remember why, was talking to a police officer. Kate waited until their conversation was