“No. He’s behaving himself.”
“That’s how he plays the game.”
She kissed him on the cheek and broke from the hug.
“He’s good at it, Trevor. He’s the best on my team. Spot-on reports. Thorough like you wouldn’t believe.”
“He’s bound to make a mistake. Thomas is arrogant. We just need to be diligent.”
Trevor’s suspicions took off when Murrill first claimed Trevor and the President were out to get him. Murrill showed Haas an anonymous message revealing the conspiracy. Trevor thought it sounded like the work of a master manipulator, someone who enjoyed instilling fear. Yet Trevor lacked evidence. He kept his feelings quiet and put his First Deputy’s actions under a microscope.
The sonofabitch never deviated from the straight and narrow, at least in regard to his LinkPass movements. When the Executive Board voted Trevor in as Murrill’s replacement, Thomas started dropping hints at the near-term vacancy in Haven Sec Admin.
“He wants my job,” Trevor told Shireena at the time. “He knows you’re not a threat. I’ll make you head of Shadow Gambit. He’ll claim he’s best suited to replace me.”
“Is he?”
“Not on my watch.”
“You have anyone in mind?”
“I like Ramesh. He’s a good man, steadfast, dependable. Has come a long way. What he doesn’t know, I can teach him.”
She did a double-take at the suggestion.
“If you promote a Second over Thomas, he’ll raise hell.”
“Probably. Might even quit. There are worse fates.” Trevor sighed at the prospect. “No. I need time. I want to know what Thomas has been up to. He’s played the dutiful deputy since he knocked on my door. There’s more to his story.”
Three days later, Trevor took a leap, bypassing the inconclusive data found in a quiet Shadow Gambit profile of Thomas.
He deepstreamed James and Teresa Quinlan.
They didn’t look well, but they put on brave faces. They were elated to see one of the boys they raised in the war’s aftermath. They spent the first ten minutes playing catchup, with most of their questions centered on Connor.
They never asked about Thomas. He saw the emptiness in their eyes when he mentioned their son’s name.
“When was the last time you spoke with him?” Trevor asked.
They had to think about it.
“Fifteen years,” James said.
“No,” Teresa corrected. “Seventeen. You remember, James? It was right after we left the city.”
“Ah, yes. He’d been discharged from the UNF. Bitter, bitter.”
Trevor saw James swipe a tear.
“What happened, if you don’t mind my prying?”
“The long and short of it? Our son disowned us.”
Shit.
“Why? You were amazing parents. Connor and I couldn’t have asked for better in our circumstance.”
They shaded their eyes. Trevor thought maybe he overstepped.
“He gave many reasons,” Teresa said at last. “Unfortunately, you and Connor were among them.”
“Chief among them,” James added. “He hated you with a passion. He accused us of favoring Chancellor boys over our own son. And the painful truth is, he was right.”
Teresa shook her head.
“Trevor, we knew Thomas was not kind to either of you. Even before the war. We tried to look the other way. It wasn’t just you and Connor. There was always something about Thomas that kept us up at night. We were relieved when he joined the UNF.”
“I’m amazed you’re working side by side,” James said. “You have a good heart, Trevor. Do you believe Thomas has outgrown the anger?”
He faced a choice: Tell them about the dependable First Deputy who aimed to please – even to the point of daily brown-nosing – or drag them along for Trevor’s paranoid suspicions.
They didn’t need the wound opened wider.
“We aren’t friends. We never will be, for obvious reasons. But he’s been professional at work. Beyond that, I can’t say. We don’t talk about the past.”
“Nor should you.” James turned his chin up. “You endured enough. Teresa and I are so proud of what you’ve accomplished. Imagine! Governor of Amity Station. And Connor serving at a time when we need good men. It feels like everything else is falling apart.”
“We do our best,” Trevor said. “Trust me: Connor and I know what you sacrificed for us. It will never be forgotten.”
