A week passed and next thing I knew, I was in the interrogation room and as she walked in, Clair seemed glad to see me.
She looked at me, nodded in recognition and nodded at the chair to tell me to sit down.
I sat down on the chair and faced her.
Clair: So... you listened.
I nodded.
Clair: Those bastards though did not. They sent four people, and your girlfriend to-
Harlan: SHE IS NOT MY GIRL-
Clair: Still... she seems nice.
I looked at Clair.
Harlan: She is.
I smiled at Clair and she smiled back.
After a while, I started thinking, and stopped smiling. Clair noticed this obviously.
Clair: You have a question.
I nodded.
Clair: What is it?
Yes, I did have a question, and I was really meaning to ask her. I looked at Clair and asked.
Harlan: Your parents... how did they die?
Clair looked at me. She twisted her lips and sat back.
Clair: Honestly, you're so boooooring.
Harlan: What do you mean-
Clair: Oh, use your head Harlan! You think I talk to you to tell me all my secrets?
Clair laughed. She then stopped, and thought for a while.
Clair: Tell me about you.
I looked at Clair, confused.
Harlan: I'm sorry?
Clair: You said you had a brother and your parents are dead.
Harlan: No, this isn't how it works.
Clair: I thought we were taking turns.
Harlan: How did your parents die?
Clair: How did YOURS?
I looked at Clair, and she read it.
Clair: Oh. I was wrong wasn't I?
I nodded. Clair sat back, and thought.
Clair: Damn. Alright, fine.
I sat up.
Clair: I only heard how my parents died... from my sister. She told me the cops told her they were on their way to a job when it happe-
Harlan: Yes, you told me-
Clair held up her finger to shush me.
Clair: Their car broke down, exploded.
Clair smiled, sarcastically.
I looked at Clair. At the front of me, a criminal. One of the most dangerous terrorists in the world right across me. No sane person would even talk to her.
And yet, I did.
Harlan: My parents were murdered.
Clair looked at me, surprised.
Harlan: It was Christmas, 1982, people broke in and killed everyone. I managed to escape with Jackson who was a newborn at the time, everyone else died.
I put my hands on the table.
Clair: What happened?
Harlan: Some thugs broke in and killed my parents. I escaped before they blew up the house. The thugs died in the explosion.
I looked at her, then down to my hands.
Harlan: Me and Jackson lived on the streets for a few years. We didn't have money. I learned to steal, to lie. Then one day... they found me.
I smiled weakly as I pulled out my T.H.E.P.A. badge.
Harlan: T.H.E.P.A., well one of their agents, found me. Us. They raised us and when the time came, they let us decide. Go and have a normal life, or...
I gestured "this" to the badge. Clair smiled and I handed her the badge and she held it with both hands to inspect it.
I looked at Clair, possibly the most dangerous person T.H.E.P.A. ever caught. But as I looked at her smile while she looked at my badge, I didn't see that.
Clair: And that's where you met her? Your friend?
Clair was smiling. I was too. I was enjoying this. I liked talking to her.
Harlan: I met her in the academy, we...
I paused. I didn't feel like going on. I wanted to open up to her, tell her something I never told anyone. Not May, not even Jackson.
But... there are just things that are better left unturned.
Harlan: We all have a May in our lives.
I smiled gently at her, and she smiled back. Clair sat up, and gently held my hand. She stroked it softly and it made me feel better.
A bit better but still, better.
Clair: I'm sorry.
Clair looked at me, and I looked at her. I looked at her brown eyes and her kind bittersweet smile.
Clair: You're hiding something. Something... big.
I looked at Clair, she knew.
Clair: Tell me about it.
_.-
May gave me the files on Clair's family a few days ago and I left it in my locker. After interrogating Clair, me and May were supposed to go out and grab some dinner. Instead though, I made my way to my locker and got the files.
I walked to the cafeteria and read the files. I knew I had to report to May but I didn't feel like it. I went over the stories Clair told me about her family, hoping to find more clues, but there didn't seem to be any. I wanted to go to Clair in her cell and talk to her. Ask her more questions.
The hours flew by and I spent them reading the files May gave me, but they were incomplete. I decided against asking her and decided to look for them myself.
I went to the storage room to look for the missing files and saw the newbie, the one I saw the other day. The one with the light blond hair. I checked the storage and sure enough, nothing. I silently cursed so the blonde won't hear me, and I walked out.
I spent hours reviewing the files. I reread the files on Paul and Taylor Delvey and true enough, Clair was telling the truth.
High School in 1950? Yes.
Same college? Yes.
Marriage in 1959, birth to daughter on May 22, 1972, it all checked out.
But not Chase.
I went over those files and no mention of Chase in any of them. I wondered if this was May paying back at me, she can get pissy at times, but I didn't think so.
I was starting to get tired. My eyelids were getting heavy. I tried not to blink for too long and keep myself awake. But in a blink of an eye, May suddenly appeared and, slapping me awake.