Schism

Chapter 30 part 1

Chapter 30

He'd been stupid not to grab a coat.  The temperature had dropped to the low forties overnight and Bryan had been out in it, alone and on foot, with only his jacket and the thermos he couldn't drink out of.  The sun had come up half an hour ago, and had done nothing so far to chase the chill from the air. 

Bryan turned another corner and thought again about giving up.  It was pointless, searching for William like this.  If he wanted to be found, William would just show up.  Bryan cursed himself and tried to warm his hands. 

If he'd been thinking, he would have just parked his car on a side street and sat in it all night long, waiting for William.  Instead, he'd picked the stupid plan and wandered the city in the dark, freezing his ass with every step.

But, he knew that wandering in the cold probably wasn't the dumbest idea he'd had last night.  Just trying the thermos was probably a far worse idea, one that could get him killed.

As he rubbed his hands together, the thermos lurched under his arm.  He clamped a hand on it before it fell and lost the bag of donuts cradled in his other elbow.  It hit the concrete, but the folded over mouth of the paper sack stayed closed.  He bent over to pick it up.  Cold joints protested as he reached down.

"You really like fried food."

Bryan jolted at the voice, faltered a step forward and spun.  William stood there, hoodie pulled up, hands in his pockets.  He picked up the sack and held it out for Bryan.

"You first," Bryan said.  "Take your pick."

William opened the bag and looked around inside.  He pulled out a cake donut with chocolate frosting.  "Thanks."

The street they were on was still quiet.  The local businesses that hadn't closed their doors permanently wouldn't open their doors for a few hours.  Bryan creaked his way to the sidewalk in front of a gated window and opened the thermos.

William settled down beside him, set the donut bag between them, took a bite and closed his eyes.  Bryan watched his head clunk back against the metal bars.  "Rough night?" he asked.

William shrugged.  "Never slept under a bridge before.  Turns out it's pretty noisy.  Warmer than a rooftop, though.  A bit."  He sounded exhausted, even more so than he looked.

Bryan thought maybe he was helping this way.  It didn't look like William could care for himself much longer.  He poured tea into the first cup, nudged William with it.

William opened his eyes, looked down at the cup.  Bryan watched the man's face to see if he looked anywhere else, to see if he looked at the voices.  He had no way of knowing what the voices knew or not.  What would William do if they told him about the drugs in it?

William took the cup.

Trying not to let his relief show, Bryan poured the second cup and held it in his hands.  "Still warm, thank god."

"Rough night for you too?" William asked.  He brought the cup to his lips and blew steam away.

"Probably a worse day coming up.  Depends on what those two detectives tell my Lieutenant."  Bryan saw the cup come back down.  William had another bite of the donut.

"Sorry about that.  They both okay?"

Bryan nodded.  "Cray's had a bad back for years.  He got some painkillers.  Rios is just pissed and embarrassed."

"I didn't want to hurt them.  I knew they were cops," William said.  He brought the cup up again, but turned to Bryan.  "Why did you bring them?"

Bryan looked away.  He didn't really know why and was ashamed that he had done it without fully understanding his motivations.  He was ashamed that he was tricking William this way. 

"To protect her, from me?" William asked.

"Not from you, directly.  From the trouble you're attracting," Bryan said. 

The cup didn’t move, cradled there in William's hands.  "The trouble I'm attracting.  The people I'm attracting.  Bad types."

"Yeah," Bryan said.  He waited, tried to keep his thoughts away from the cup and the sedatives in it.

"I can see that.  I'm attracting all kinds."  William chuckled.  "I saw her last night."

Bryan nodded back.  "I heard."

He waited as William studied his donut.  "Have you noticed anything when you're with Jess?  Anything different about how you feel?  Last night, when I talked to her, I felt...almost like I used to feel, before the pills and the hospital.  I had no reason to feel good or strong, but I did.  Have you noticed anything like that?"

"Maybe you're still in love with her."  It was a cover answer.  William's question had hit a vulnerable spot.  Ever since he'd met her, Bryan had felt different.  But he wouldn't admit that to William, especially not now.

"The voices won't talk about it, but I think there's something else going on, something to do with Jess, something more than the fires," William said.

Bryan nodded again.  "I've been thinking that too.  That they're using you, for something they aren't telling you."

"News flash," William said.  He raised his cup.  "Drink up.  Before it gets cold."

Bryan looked down at his cup.

"They tell me a few things, though.  They told me to help you last night, not to say too much in front of the other detectives.  They told me about two traps this morning, said I shouldn't go to either one.  They said meeting you here wouldn't help you at all.  But, at least I got some breakfast out of it."  As William pulled out another donut, he jerked his other arm forward.  The contents of the cup rained down into the street.  "Nothing to drink though."

Bryan didn't move.  He wouldn't be able to stop William, no matter what he did.  There was no way he could protect himself.

"I don't even know what to call you.  I'd say traitor, but that would have required some trust to begin with, right?"  William stared at him, reached over, took the cup and threw Bryan's tea into the street as well.  "I don't think I really expected anything here, from you, but part of me hoped.  That was stupid."

Beside him, William stood, the second donut still in his hand.  "You son of a bitch.  You don't even know what's going on and you work with that doctor to drug me.  Do you know she planned to inject me with more as soon as you called her.  Enough to stop my heart."

Bryan couldn't look up.  William wasn't going to attack him.  This was worse.

William went on.  "She wants me dead.  So I won't talk about what she does to some of her patients.  So she doesn't have to think about why she does it, why she's sick.”

"What do you mean?"  Bryan looked up at William, saw the disgusted look on his face.

"God.  Go do your damn job," William said.  He stared down at Bryan.  "You actually think you could protect Jess from the fire starter without me?"

 "Smith?" 

"No," William said, looking more frustrated than Bryan had ever seen him.  "The real one.  The one that torched your car."

The guilt made a little room for that information to start processing.  William was talking about the one that started the big fires.  There actually was a connection.

William held up the donut.  "Thanks for the food, don't look for me again."  He turned and walked away from Bryan.

*