37: Traitor

I feel like I can believe it but can't believe it at the same time."

"That makes no sense." Camille chuckled at Charlotte before popping another dorito into her mouth.

It felt natural to tell Charlotte everything after Jag's confession if only because she knew Charlotte wouldn't hold back on her opinions on the whole thing and Camille still needed some assurance that she wasn't making mistake by trusting three males who had until recently lied to her about their attraction to her and what it was doing to her.

Jag had stuck around for another ten minutes before their private moment was interrupted by a nurse bustling into the room. Needless to say, the nurse got a bit of an eyeful and her facial expression was priceless. Jag promised he would be by the following day to escort Camille to his place even though she knew how to find it and protested at his insistence. Jag refused to take any risks that could hinder Camille's recovery and had refused to take no for an answer.

"I mean, it makes sense because it's obvious they are all hot like Mexico for you," Charlotte explained herself as she clutched a chip between her index finger and thumb, waving it around as she spoke. "But at the same time it's so crazy because you hear about one visitor and human together but three visitors and one human? That's just wild."

"Yeah," Camille nodded thoughtfully. "Jag said he would explain but I don't know. I think I've had enough surprises for one year. I could do with getting over the ones I've had."

"Not exactly how it works." Charlotte laughed and popped the dorito into her mouth. "But you certainly have had a lot to deal with. You're gonna have a lot more to deal with still if you know what I mean!"

"Char!" Camille let out an indignant gasp, cheeks turning bright red at her best friend's insinuation.

"Hey! Don't try to act all innocent! You're the one who's going to have three new and very large toys to play with."

Camille didn't think her face could get any redder and yet it seemed that it was as her mind conjured a few lewd images. So far she had only really done anything sexual with Kal and even then he had remained pretty much clothed. Was she ready for three of them? The idea certainly didn't scare her as much as it probably should and she rather liked the idea of the three males devouring her as if she were their last meal.

But perhaps not straight away.

"I'm going to miss living with you." Camille decided to change the subject, ignoring her friend's sly grin.

"I'm going to miss living with you too." Charlotte replied. "It was like when we were kids. But don't think that means you've got rid of me. I'm going to be around so much, you'll think I secretly moved in."

Camille couldn't help but laugh at that. "I will hold you to that. Besides, once the lockdown is over, your bartender can stay over…"

"Oh now who's insinuating things?" Charlotte giggled before letting out a resigned sigh. "Well I'm not sure about the bartender. She is a lot of fun but we like different things and I'm not looking for anything serious."

"So no more late night dates?" Camille asked as a memory stirred up like dead leaves in the wind.

"For now, no." The other woman shook her head. "Why?"

Camille didn't answer right away as her mind toiled over what Tina had told her when she came to visit. Charlotte had a right to know what she was being accused of but Camille didn't want to cause drama. Camille knew Charlotte better than anyone and being involved in something that could hurt people and could have killed them would have been completely out of character for Charlotte. She was convinced without any doubts that Tina was wrong. But then it begged the question why Tina thought of it in the first place. Nothing about Charlotte's behaviour was different. She wasn't being secretive or suspicious. The only thing that didn't make sense was that she had been skipping work.

But that didn't make her a terrorist.

"So Tina came to see me as well." Camille started, shifting nervously. "And something she said was really weird."

"What did she say?" Charlotte asked, picking up on Camille's worried expression.

"She was trying to accuse you of being involved in what happened at the apartment blocks." Camille replied. "I talked her down but she was pretty adamant."

"Well, fuck!" Charlotte dropped the dorito in her hand into the bed, her eyes wide with shock for a few moments before they hardened into anger. "Why the hell would she accuse me of something so disgusting?"

"She said that she thought it was pretty convenient that you were not at the apartments when the explosion happened."

"Pfft!" Charlotte scoffed, cheeks flushed with emotion. "Like she can talk."

"What do you mean?" Camille frowned.

"I mean that she wasn't home that night either." Charlotte replied, her upper lip lifting in a snarl. "I saw her heading to the subway as I was waiting outside of the drinking hole."

"Are you certain?" Camille asked. "She had a pretty nasty bump on her head."

"Just a bump?" Charlotte was raging, not that Camille could blame her. "Mills, you nearly died! People lost limbs! Not a single person who was in the buildings when they came down walked away with just some scratches."

"I don't understand…why would Tina lie about being in her apartment?" Camille stammered, her heart sinking into her stomach.

"I don't know." Charlotte admitted. "But something about this doesn't feel right."

Camille didn't respond immediately, her blues glazing over as her racing mind tried to put her jumbled thoughts into some sort of order that was sensible. But everything came back to the same question. Why had Tina not only tried to throw suspicion on Charlotte but lied about where she had been? Camille hadn't believed Tina's accusations anyway but what had once appeared to be nothing but paranoid thoughts now seemed much more sinister. It seemed utterly far-fetched but had Tina been behind the bombings?

"Do you think Tina had something to do with this?" Camille finally asked, her eyes turning to meet Charlotte's silver gaze.

"Maybe. I can't think of any other reason as to why she lied." Charlotte replied. "Fuck! And to think we befriended her!"

"Char, if she is involved then we need to tell someone before others get hurt." Camille cut in before Charlotte could get too far into her head.

"We have no proof." Charlotte countered. "But we will get some. We just need to wait. Sooner or later Tina will slip up and when she does, we will be right there to witness it."

—

"People of New York. By now you're probably aware that the explosions near the military base in Brooklyn was a deliberate attack. We take full responsibility for it however it is the alien scum and our government you should blame. They could have prevented this but deemed the lives of innocent humans unworthy of protection. If they did care then why did they allow it to be so easy for their enemies to infiltrate the apartments?

"Our message is clear. We will not stop until the scum have left and our traitorous government is held accountable for letting these monsters breed with our women, take our jobs and invade our homes. They silently threaten us with their guns in our atmosphere and blackmail us with their use of medicine and technology. Well, I am here to tell you that the so-called alliance's days are numbered and nothing will stand in the way of us giving earth back to those it belongs to; humans!"

Jag tapped the button on his consol to freeze the video that has been playing on the large screen. Around him, the other officers participating in the emergency meeting waited patiently for Jag to say something but Jag wasn't sure there was anything to be said that wasn't stating the obvious.

It hadn't come as a surprise that a video like this one popped not long after it had been determined the explosions at the contractors accommodation were deliberate. It didn't even come as a surprise that EFHA were taking credit. It had them written all over it. This was a declaration of war and innocent people were going to be caught in the middle.

"What's the progress report?" Jag finally asked in a low voice.

"Tech are still trying to pinpoint where the video is being streamed from." Kal replied. "But as usual they are covering their tracks really well."

"Patrols have been increased across the city and NYPD are providing additional support at checkpoints." Someone else added. "The admiral will also be meeting with The Chief of Police to discuss a new joint task force."

"I want Sid heading up our side if it goes ahead." Jag replied, orange eyes still stuck on the frozen image of the human male who had been giving his speech moments before.

Nathan Reeves.

"Has there been any progress in locating Nathan Reeves?"

"No, sir." A nervous looking lieutenant spoke up. "He's gone to ground."

"If he hasn't turned up in New York then obviously Nathan Reeves wasn't directly involved in planting the bombs." Jag carried on. "Which means he had help. I want records pulled for everyone who could have accessed the areas of the apartments where the explosives were found."

"That could take time." Kal reasoned with his friend. "And we will need to give the contractors a reason to release their employee records."

"Then tell them the truth." Jag replied. "We have a traitor in our building."