before he said or did something that not even his father could save him from. It took all my weight before he loosened his grip, but even then I would have failed if his senses had not returned to him.
The guard stood, squaring up to Rake as the room went quiet, all eyes turning our way. "Why don't you finish that sentence?" he said, a tired smile conquering his fear.
"Detectives Nidess and Rake, I presume?"
I turned to see two men covered head to toe in black, averting my eyes from the hooded faces of the special police. Both men wore mist goggles, covering their eyes with dark circles despite being inside. The saber-tooth silhouette above the heart and black gloves that molded perfectly over their hands like liquid plastic made them look like something out of one of my comic books, but these shadows were real and could kill with impunity.
"Would you come with us?"
We followed the two men in silence back out into the gardens, the odor of sweat and fear evaporating like a bad dream as we walked back around Kenrey's room into the church at the center of the compound. Two towers at each end of a long arched roof, it had the same uniqueness as all places of worship, and none of the repulsive gargoyles that decorated the outer gates.
Like Kenrey's room, it was unexpectedly humble. There were no gold statues or huge paintings. The dais was made of white stone instead of marble, and the rows of seats were old plastic covered in scratches. They led us down the aisle like a couple of monks silently worshiping a malevolent deity, and ushered us into a room at one side. Both men removed their hoods, though it made little difference to me as my stature allowed me to see them clearly already. The taller man had dark hair and a thick layer of stubble on the cusp of beard length, while the other man was clean shaved, blond and tidy looking.
"I'm agent Reens, this is agent Sina," said the dark haired man, "take a seat."
We sat down on old benches positioned at right angles, leaning against the far walls. "What did the guard tell you?" asked Reens.
Rake answered through gritted teeth, before I could claim ignorance. "He said Kenrey likes little girls, and there was one with him when he died."
Sina nodded. "We were just discussing whether you needed to know, but I suppose that is irrelevant now."
Reens looked at his partner. "We had decided they didn't."
"If we are going to be any use at all," I said, "there is not a single thing we don't need to know."
Sina nodded again, as if humoring a child. "Would you like to talk to the girl?"
"At some point, but if you could fill us in on anything else we might have trouble extracting from the guards, that would be useful."
Sina was about to reply when Reens interrupted, "Your presence here is merely a jurisdictional formality. This case will be solved by the SP, not the Las Hek PD, but as that idiot has already told you about the girls, you'll have to sign an official secrets document. Once you have done that you might as well see the security footage. Other than Kenrey's bedroom and the little passage leading to the guard station, this whole place is under constant surveillance. The answer is probably in there somewhere."
The idea of official documents protecting pedophiles was not a happy one, but neither was it surprising. To me, the revelation was equivalent to someone turning on a desk lamp in a solarium, but Rake was a different matter. He didn't have a short man's practice at internalizing his emotions and was on the edge of a second outburst.
"We'll sign whatever you want," I said, "and we must see the recordings, but first we should speak to the girl."
Reens tapped his tablet until both mine and Rake's bleeped. "Sign these," he said. "And if you tell anyone about the girls you'll suffer the same fate as the one who told you."
I ran my thumb print over the box in the document and sent it back to Reens, wishing that I hadn't pushed the guard into telling me. Protesting would
The guard stood, squaring up to Rake as the room went quiet, all eyes turning our way. "Why don't you finish that sentence?" he said, a tired smile conquering his fear.
"Detectives Nidess and Rake, I presume?"
I turned to see two men covered head to toe in black, averting my eyes from the hooded faces of the special police. Both men wore mist goggles, covering their eyes with dark circles despite being inside. The saber-tooth silhouette above the heart and black gloves that molded perfectly over their hands like liquid plastic made them look like something out of one of my comic books, but these shadows were real and could kill with impunity.
"Would you come with us?"
We followed the two men in silence back out into the gardens, the odor of sweat and fear evaporating like a bad dream as we walked back around Kenrey's room into the church at the center of the compound. Two towers at each end of a long arched roof, it had the same uniqueness as all places of worship, and none of the repulsive gargoyles that decorated the outer gates.
Like Kenrey's room, it was unexpectedly humble. There were no gold statues or huge paintings. The dais was made of white stone instead of marble, and the rows of seats were old plastic covered in scratches. They led us down the aisle like a couple of monks silently worshiping a malevolent deity, and ushered us into a room at one side. Both men removed their hoods, though it made little difference to me as my stature allowed me to see them clearly already. The taller man had dark hair and a thick layer of stubble on the cusp of beard length, while the other man was clean shaved, blond and tidy looking.
"I'm agent Reens, this is agent Sina," said the dark haired man, "take a seat."
We sat down on old benches positioned at right angles, leaning against the far walls. "What did the guard tell you?" asked Reens.
Rake answered through gritted teeth, before I could claim ignorance. "He said Kenrey likes little girls, and there was one with him when he died."
Sina nodded. "We were just discussing whether you needed to know, but I suppose that is irrelevant now."
Reens looked at his partner. "We had decided they didn't."
"If we are going to be any use at all," I said, "there is not a single thing we don't need to know."
Sina nodded again, as if humoring a child. "Would you like to talk to the girl?"
"At some point, but if you could fill us in on anything else we might have trouble extracting from the guards, that would be useful."
Sina was about to reply when Reens interrupted, "Your presence here is merely a jurisdictional formality. This case will be solved by the SP, not the Las Hek PD, but as that idiot has already told you about the girls, you'll have to sign an official secrets document. Once you have done that you might as well see the security footage. Other than Kenrey's bedroom and the little passage leading to the guard station, this whole place is under constant surveillance. The answer is probably in there somewhere."
The idea of official documents protecting pedophiles was not a happy one, but neither was it surprising. To me, the revelation was equivalent to someone turning on a desk lamp in a solarium, but Rake was a different matter. He didn't have a short man's practice at internalizing his emotions and was on the edge of a second outburst.
"We'll sign whatever you want," I said, "and we must see the recordings, but first we should speak to the girl."
Reens tapped his tablet until both mine and Rake's bleeped. "Sign these," he said. "And if you tell anyone about the girls you'll suffer the same fate as the one who told you."
I ran my thumb print over the box in the document and sent it back to Reens, wishing that I hadn't pushed the guard into telling me. Protesting would
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