She continued holding him, trying to sound as reassuring as she could. “He wasn’t going to shoot you, Eddie.”
“Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” His eyes remained fixated on the gun.
Skylar glared at Butler. “Would you holster your weapon, please?” The way she said “please” made it sound more like you goddamn idiot.
Butler wasn’t ready to put away his weapon just yet. He’d heard glass breaking. And someone screaming. The voice was not Eddie’s. He was sure of it. Someone else was there.
Butler quickly surveyed the windows around the room to see which ones had been broken. Strangely, all the panes remained intact. The room was just as he had left it. There was no sign of damage anywhere. So what the hell was going on?
Skylar continued holding Eddie until his breathing finally slowed. His arms went limp. Nurse Gloria would have nodded with approval. Skylar released her grip gently and looked directly into his eyes. “We heard screaming. Detective McHenry and I were worried.”
Eddie’s voice was weak. “I’m tired.”
Skylar spoke gently. “Who was screaming, Eddie?”
“I don’t like it here.”
Her voice remained soothing. “I know you don’t. But we need to know who was screaming.”
“I’m—” Eddie cut himself off. He took several long, deep breaths, and gradually regained his composure. He turned to Butler. “Detective, did you recognize the voices?”
“No.”
Eddie looked puzzled. “Are you sure?”
Talking to Eddie required a patience the detective was fresh out of. He responded tersely. “Why, should I have?”
“Yes, you should have.” Eddie waited, still expecting the detective to realize the obvious. “One of the voices was you.”
The detective froze. He slowly turned to Skylar, who was now focused on the laptop, which was connected to the echo box. The eight one-inch satellite microphones slowly stopped moving. Their work was done. The laptop screen showed a three-dimensional rendering of the kitchen. The progress counter read: 100 percent. The timeline went back thirty years.
Through the laptop came HISSING and all kinds of DISTORTION, but a man could be heard YELLING: “Who the . . . think . . . talking to, boy?”
McHenry’s face dropped. Particularly when he heard the next voice.
LITTLE BOY: I swear . . . I’ll kill you . . . hit her again!
MAN: You threatening . . . ?
LITTLE BOY: . . . goddamn right!
The sound of a fist hitting a face was clear. The thud was sickening. So was the sound of a body falling to the floor. A small body.
McHenry stared at the exact spot on the floor where he had collapsed as a young boy. He hadn’t thought about the many times his stepfather had hit him—particularly this incident—in a very long while. Pain flashed across his face. The hurt he’d felt when it happened was all too clear in his mind. Sense memories often are. “Turn it off.” Eddie did.
The detective sat down at the kitchen table, staring at the eight satellite microphones extended from the echo box. Skylar sat down across from him, appreciating how he must be feeling. She thought of the moments from her childhood that would be most painful for her to hear. She studied the detective. “That was you?”
He nodded, speaking slowly. “Bastard used to hit my mom. I couldn’t stop him.” He paused, unconsciously scratching his head where he still bore the scar. “Thirty-seven stitches.”
Skylar saw his pain clearly. He hurt like he did as a boy, not as a man remembering it. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was soothing. Genuine. Affecting.
Butler now understood how she could reach Eddie the way she did. There was just something about her. She made him feel better. At least a little. “He’s why I became a cop. First thing I planned on doing out of the Academy was putting the son of a bitch away, but he died before I got the chance.”
Eddie glanced at the detective. “Are you angry with me, Detective?”
Butler shook his head. “No, Eddie. But I think I get it now.”
“Get what now?”
“The importance of your box.”
“I’m going to hear my mother sing.” Eddie smiled innocently.
“I hope you do.”
“Detective, would you like to hear more?”
He shook his head. “That’s all right. I’m good.”
“You don’t look good, Detective. I can tell because you are not smiling.”
“I’m okay. But you know what?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You’re not as bad at reading people’s expressions as you think.” Butler turned to Skylar. He paused to make sure the weight of what he was about to say was clear. He motioned to the echo box. “This thing is going to change the world. You get that, right?”
She looked him squarely in the eyes. “Yes, I get that.”
“I mean like the car. The phone. The plane. It’s going to change everything.” The possibilities were blowing his mind.
She nodded with understanding. “Kind of overwhelming, isn’t it?”
He nodded slowly. But she was relieved that the man she had turned to for help now genuinely appreciated the importance of Eddie and his echo box.
Skylar had an ally, and that was a start.
CHAPTER 45
Williamsburg Bridge, New York City, May 27, 2:47 p.m.
Butler’s cell phone rang as he drove across the bridge toward Manhattan. It was his boss, Lieutenant Victoria Daniels. “What the hell is going on?” She sounded more tense than usual. Butler would soon learn that it was because the highest-ranking officer of the Sixth Precinct, Deputy Inspector Anthony Nataro, was beside her.
“Good afternoon to you, too, Detective Lieutenant.” He glanced over to Skylar, sitting next to him. She was keeping an eye on Eddie in the rearview mirror. He had tissue paper sticking out of his ears, but otherwise seemed to be doing okay. He clutched the echo box, which was now contained in a weathered old backpack Skylar correctly guessed was Butler’s from his school days. Eddie held the backpack tightly, like a security blanket, as he looked out the windows. He slowly rotated his head back and forth, trying to make himself feel comfortable.
Daniels wasn’t amused. “You’re on speakerphone with Deputy Inspector Nataro. We would both like to know why a federal warrant has been issued for your arrest.”
Butler realized he should have anticipated this. “I can explain.”
“I’m listening.”
“I have the first solid lead on the subway gas attack, with evidence to back it up.”
“How did you come by this evidence?” The detective lieutenant sounded surprised. Clearly, this was the last thing she expected to hear.
“It walked in the door of my favorite sports bar.”
Nataro and Daniels could be heard whispering. “You’re telling me it just walked in the door?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m telling you. I have a dozen witnesses who will confirm it.”
Anthony Nataro chimed in. “Detective, this is Deputy Inspector Nataro. What kind of evidence?”
Butler was glad he asked. “It’s something I’d like you both to hear.”
“A recording?”
“Something like that.”
“Bring it to the station.”
“I’m on my way to you now. I’m crossing the Williamsburg as we speak.”
Again, Nataro and Daniels whispered to each other before he asked, “Are Skylar Drummond and Edward Parks with you?”
“They are. Would you like to speak with them?”
Eddie shook his head as he continued looking out the windows. “She is a stranger. I don’t talk to strangers.”
The lieutenant could hear him. “Was that Edward Parks?”
“He prefers to be called Eddie.”
“Were you aware he and Dr. Drummond are in possession of stolen classified technology?”
“I was not aware that it was considered stolen.”
Eddie made his BUZZER sound. The statement wasn’t true.
Lieutenant Daniels was not amused. “What the hell was that?”
“That was Eddie, who can shut up now.”
“Detective, why are you helping these people?”
“It’s not like that. I’m working the subway attack.”
“I’m not following.”
“You will when you hear what I have to play for you.”
Daniels hesitated. “I’m not sure that’s going to be possible.”