Pinky Promise

Chapter 6

On his last visit, Becker delivered the boxes from the flat that had been kept at the ARC as they all hoped that the owners would one day return to claim them. Each one marked with a name while two initials were scrawled on the boxes packed full of things that could have belonged to either of them.

Becker had emptied their bedrooms himself, not feeling too comfortable thinking about people rifling through their most personal belongings. Abby, surprisingly, had printed out photos of the team over time and kept them in albums neatly piled next to one of her drawers but he couldn't bring himself to look through the faces that stared back at him. Connor on the other hand had actually packed his most prized possessions for him, probably to keep them away from Jack.

Connor had asked them to stay as he rifled through the boxes, tasked with distracting Fern from trying to climb cardboard and trampling all over the beautiful mess of memories on the floor. It was nice for Jess to be able to put a face to the names she had heard so much about. Fern collected a pile of photos she wanted to keep for her room while Becker could see Connor's jaw clench as he swallowed back tears that would have been easily shared.

Fern had ended up falling asleep on Becker's lap as they read through some of Connor's comics, the soldier not really understanding the stories but enjoyed the art as they flicked through the pages. Jess folded pieces of clothes into neat piles as they were pulled out of the boxes, Becker recognising almost every item and remembered the incursions they had been worn to.

Now Becker was on his way to Connor's again and the gate was open so he parked as close to the caravan as the gravel path would let him.

"All right." Connor opened the door for Becker.

"All right."

The room was messy, piles of dishes scattered across the counters, blankets and duvets covered the sofa and the floor wasn't much better. He caught a glimpse of a baby monitor tossed amongst some papers on the table. Connor was rushing around, trying his best to tidy but wasn't sure what to tackle first.

"Sorry about the mess, been, uh, busy."

"That's okay. What are you working on then?" Becker asked.

"Nothing, why?" Connor opted for folding the collection of blankets on the sofa, giving them a place to sit down if they'd wanted.

"If the state of this place isn't a sign that Connor Temple has found something to work on then I don't know what is." The man didn't answer but had moved towards collecting the sheets of drawings from the table. "And why would you need a baby monitor when the walls are paper-thin?"

Connor stopped at that but smiled.

"Where is she then? Fi?" Becker asked, knowing he could interrogate his friend later on.

"Oh, she's in her room. We bought a magazine at the shop and now she's decorating..."

"Now this I've got to see!"

Fern was sat on the floor, her room much tidier than the living area but that wasn't much of a challenge. Her walls were covered with drawings, newly torn out posters and the pictures she'd gathered from his last visit. It was a glance inside a child's imagination as she displayed her most prized possessions.

"What's going on in here then?" Becker crouched to meet at the floor as she concentrated on more potential decoration.

"Decorating."

"Hmm, I can see that." He smiled, scanning her walls again. There were even pictures of Jess now, something that she hadn't stolen from her mother's memories but she'd made sure her very best friends were included in her collage. "I like it."

"Thank you."

"I'm going to go and see your dad, I'll come back when you're all done."

She didn't reply, too focused on the task ahead of her as she applied blu tac to even more pages that she'd torn out of her magazine.

Connor was filling the sink now but still rushed between bits as he tried to catch up with the days of clutter around him.

"Where is it then?" Becker asked, looking around to try and find a hiding place for Connor's project which would have usually been given its own room at the ARC so he could devote his worktime to fusing metal together.

"It's nothing important." Connor dismissed but was drying his hands as if he was planning on going somewhere.

"I can be the judge of that."

"You're not going to give up, are you?"

"Nope." Becker smiled.

"Come on, then." He thought he heard Connor sigh, but followed him out of the caravan and towards the deepest part of the overgrowth under the canopy of trees.

They reached a wooden shed that had seen better days as ivy grew between panels and a skirt of bramble had been trimmed to allow the door that dragged along the floor to open. It was small but big enough to store secrets or things he couldn't quite face just yet.

There was light coming through the branches above and enough holes in the wood for Becker to make out a pile of boxes against the back wall and a heap of scrap next to the door. Connor grabbed something from the shelving to his right and handed it to Becker, the metal cold against his palm.

"What is it?" He asked, flipping the square between his finger and thumb.

"Tracking device."

"Does it work?"

"I hope so." Connor held his hand out flat and Becker returned the device.

"What's it for?"

*

Connor had first noticed the jeep a few days after Fern had started school, but assumed it belonged to someone on the street or Becker was keeping an eye on him following the incidents at the ARC. That had been until the same vehicle had driven past as they emptied the boxes from the back of Becker's pickup a few days ago. Connor hadn't seen it again since but knew something wasn't quite right.

The soldier hadn't really said anything, lips pursed as Connor explained what it was for maybe even dismissing his paranoia as part of his adjustment to the real world. It didn't matter, not really, he knew what he saw and he was just glad no questions were asked.

He'd made a note of the registration number and wrapped it around the device. The ARC's black boxes were effective, as long as they were switched on but completely futile once they were turned off. Jess had agreed.

Connor snuck the tracker into the glovebox of Becker's jeep as he said his goodbyes to Fern, hoping Jess would find it before the soldier did or at least managed to without him knowing.

"Oh, and Temple?" Becker said as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Yeah?"

"Stay out of trouble."

*