Carson made it back to the office incident free. No one asked him why the long face, no one was surprised he didn't smile at them, and no one else was in the mood for smiles, either. As a Catcher, everyone knew it was hard to deal with murderers, which was part of the reason why everyone had such a morbid sense of humor. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BtQOBaTMH
None of them would have guessed Carson had become one of them. And keeping it a secret wasn't the hard part. Keeping the smile off his face was. He couldn't help feeling the exhilaration of time, so much time. Carson was thirty, so he hadn't been exactly "old," but having three hundred years stretched out in front of him felt so amazing. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCOCNEyKCH
But in the Time Killer Catcher department, genuine smiles attracted attention, and attention was the last thing Carson needed. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRudFhzLCm
As soon as Carson made it to his cubicle, he filed the Goldie Rose case a "missing." He claimed that he got to the house and found nothing, an abandoned house. Cases often ended that way, and after submitting his report, Carson was beginning to feel better about all of this. Well, despite the fact that he was a real murderer, now. That probably wasn't going to get better.copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLYGCMhMF4
In the middle of Carson's dilemma, his boss walked up to his cubicle.copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡthHiTuXsez
"David, something's up," Allison, his boss, said sternly. Carson nearly jumped out of his chair.copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SrE67VGSy
"What do you mean?" Carson asked, measuring his voice. Did his report sound suspicious? Or did he have that look now, the Time look? copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25j0MVN4Is
She looked at the scrawl of bad handwriting on Carson's mobile-pad. He'd been nervously making notes of Time Killer habits, trying to avoid them, but most were just his mother's nervous ticks. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cKPuEjs6y
"Cavil's child's been murdered. That's the sixth in as many months. Catcher children are being targeted," Allison pointed out.copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gquVwBRcu
"You know how I feel about speculation," Carson said, relaxing a notch. "Tex, we've caught every single one of those Time Killers as soon as they struck," he said, using her nickname for good measure. "They're not related. It's just gotten harder to contain."copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfzIglE3pm
"What makes you say that?" Allison asked. "There's no evidence of any kind of large leak of information. And didn't you just say you hated speculation?" copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxzfm4TGw0
Carson started and then stopped. He almost told her what he meant. It wasn't information that was leaking. It was the Killer population. It was himself.copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡezhE3cbE4o
"I just had a hunch," Carson said finally. "It's probably nothing. Don’t worry about it." copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tDIbU4QXt
"Good," Allison said. "Oh, and I'm going on break for next week, Armistice Day and all. If you're going on break, be sure to tell Stan." copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡdt1MIoRC5n
Carson nodded. "Have a nice time." copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjXUY07aEb
"You too." She started walking away. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNFcwQ6AG4
"Bye," Carson called after her. She stopped. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Tx6GguxSA
"Don't say goodbye," she said. "Remember?" copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwTSrSSy2x
Carson sighed. His boss had this notion about goodbyes. "Sorry, Tex. Forgot you hate goodbyes." copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBlpNRgUsX
"Don't sweat it." Allison disappeared into the sprawl of cubicles. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwRvCyL75E
New case closed, Carson thought. New Time Killer in custody. He had a plan because Carson knew he needed help if he was going to get anywhere without ending up in a padded cell. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5lvZR22nC
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Carson picked up his handheld and called Cavil, the coworker who most recently lost his daughter to Time Killing. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡkV7GlUyBO0
"Carson?" Cavil said, picking up his end. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNxri9Z3h4
"Hey, you know where they put Harrison?" Carson asked. "I’m sorry to bother you, but…"copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡHY6SzZt3MD
"No problem," Cavil responded, though he sounded like it was hard for him. "He's holed up in cell 29. Why?" 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYUFE4ylIu
copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7yHNTClvr
"Research…" Carson said, leaving it at that. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5eTww3vAk
"Kay, no problem. Bye, kiddo," Cavil said before hanging up. copyright protection246ＰＥＮＡＮＡAijGaSGDWt
Carson sighed. Cavil was one of the best Time Killer Catchers. He was one of the few who was stationed in one of the surviving above ground cities. Carson had always wanted to be like Cavil, but he knew he could not be further from him in his current state. 250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZ1pPeNz4w
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