When The Scales Fall - Part 2 - Secret Santa 2018 for Eriah211
Title: When The Scales Fall - Part 2
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 3233
Characters: James Lester, Stephen Hart, mention of several others.
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: HAPPY BOXING DAY to everyone. Hope you are all having a great day.
A/N 2: Secret Santa for Eriah211 and her prompt: Lester/Stephen and 1) 'Are you shivering?', 2) A small black notebook found in a drawer., 3) 'I still regret it deeply.', Sorry but I couldn’t get 4) "At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice." (Quote by Gore Vidal) to fit. Hope you like it.
A/N 3: Thanks go to goldarrow for stepping in at the last minute for a speedy beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue
I accepted the glass of whiskey even Nick wouldn’t turn his nose up at, somewhat surprised that Lester was allowing it anywhere near his precious notebook. I took a sip and considered Lester for a moment as he read a newspaper with, I realised, a false sense of calm. I turned my attention back to the mysterious notebook, my fingers poised to open it and I wondered what I would do if it was just… I almost snorted at that just… a list of Lester’s lovers and contact details.
“Are you going to read it, Hart?” Lester enquired, sipping his own drink. “Otherwise I might have to start wondering if you actually enjoy my company.”
A smile tugged at my lips. In other circumstances, this had the makings of a pleasant evening, except Lester’s comment reminded me about the notebook. I still couldn’t believe he’d really allow me to read it. “I’m surprised you’re still letting me read this.”
Lester eyed his notebook before sighing. “Much as I’d prefer it if you didn’t, you won’t be satisfied with anything less.”
I just looked at Lester for a long moment before I turned my attention back to the book when he smirked at me. The first thing I noticed was the neat handwriting, although my eyebrow rose as I actually read what he’d written. The first pages were full of Lester’s thoughts on the beginning of the anomaly project and were rather disparaging about the whole rips-in-time and how it would cause havoc for the government. He mentioned several points to make to the minister at a meeting and I couldn’t help smiling at his rather scathing words afterwards when he’d found himself put in charge of the project. Still, Lester appeared to have taken to the project rather well, if his words were anything to go by. They clearly proved Lester was extremely well-read on a number of topics and possessed a keen and perceptive mind. “Maybe I should inform Nick that you know far more about the creatures than you admit.”
“Please don’t,” Lester said. “You’ll take all his enjoyment out of trying to baffle me.”
“And your enjoyment as Nick tries to.” Lester just shrugged and I suddenly realised I was having a civil conversation with him. I quickly turned my attention back to the book and I was soon lost in his words. If I ignored the fact that I didn’t trust Lester as far as, I believe he had once said, I could throw a Stegosaurus, his insights into the ARC, its operations and the people who worked there was fascinating. As was my own insight into Lester from his own observations. I turned the page and couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped at the words Lester had written about Nick. “You’ve got Nick to a T.” I paused in alarm and looked up to meet Lester’s amused eyes. “What have you written about me?”
“You could always give it back,” Lester offered.
I just smiled and continued to read one of the best descriptions of Nick I had ever read. I had learnt the hard way it was always Nick’s way or the highway, not that Nick often got his own way with Lester in charge. The comment that Nick was right often enough to believe he was always right might have influenced Helen’s decision to leave was rather insightful.
I turned the page, skipping my own entry - for now - and found myself reading Connor’s instead. I didn’t know the family situation Lester referred to, but the need to make someone proud of him made some of Connor’s actions so much more understandable. I turned over and read Abby’s entry, wincing when I realised why she’d been so cold towards me after I’d been poisoned by that overgrown centipede. Curiosity finally had me turning back to Lester’s words about me and I felt my eyes widen in shock as I read.
“And before you explode or deny it, Dr Hart,” Lester interrupted, proving both his observational skills and that he knew precisely where I had reached in the book. “Please consider that for the past nine years you’ve been torn between the Cutters, driven by your guilt at lying to the Professor and abandoning Helen in the past?”
“I’m not...” I trailed off at Lester’s raised eyebrow, for as much as I wanted to argue, I knew Lester was right, the bloody infuriating man. “Fine, maybe.”
“Finally, progress,” Lester muttered.
I smiled despite myself and returned to reading, I might as well find out what else Lester had written about me. Apart from thinking I was an idiot when it came to the Cutters, it was, on the whole, positive.
I hesitated when I came to Connor’s entry once more, before deciding to just skim the other entries, as much as I was interested, I was an invasion of their privacy… I paused for a moment, torn between giving the book back to Lester or continuing to invade his privacy, except I still hadn’t found anything that proved he whether he was guilty or not. I still didn’t continue, my thoughts whirling around - if this book contained that evidence, why would Lester allow me to read it? Maybe he was hoping I’d give it back now rather than carry on to those plans? Maybe… I didn’t know but I knew I had to keep reading, and not only to see if he was the traitor.
I flicked through the book, skimming the words before I paused at one section and shot Lester a quick look he affected to ignore. I felt ashamed I’d never thought about Diane Johnson after Lester had allowed her arrest for murdering her lifeguard boyfriend, but Lester apparently hadn’t, considering he’d written about the need to contact a top-level and security vetted psychologist for her. I carried on reading and came to a note about finding her a job in local government. I wondered how many other times we had all missed Lester’s behind the scene acts of kindness and I looked out for them as I continued to read through the book. I smiled when I realised that Lester, despite all his disparaging remarks, had ensured that Duncan was looked after. How he had fought to keep Ryan on the ARC payroll, even if he was never fighting fit again. How he had acted in over a hundred ways, minor and major, to make life better for those affected by the anomalies, team and civilians alike. It seemed no one had ever realised…. Except maybe Ms Wickes. I wondered how many of her interventions had happened with Lester’s full knowledge and backing?
I frowned as I recalled his complaint about me taking time off with a cold when he’d almost pushed me into the bathroom to warm up and I realised it had been a lie. Expertly delivered and using his persona as a hard-nosed, straight-laced bureaucrat to disguise his real concern for my health.
That thought lead to another. Maybe that was why he wrote it all down in this book, to allow himself to separate and deal with his emotions away from the ARC? I glanced up at Lester, noticing the man was looking somewhat tense at my actions. “It is an interesting read. Almost as enlightening about you as it is about what you’ve written about.” I tapped the notebook and said, unable to quite keep the surprise from my voice. “You like us.”
Lester frowned, something I now recognised as a defensive mechanism, and scoffed. “Repeat that bit of slander again and you’ll be hearing from my lawyers.”
“That you value and worry about us? That you care about us?” I considered Lester for a moment before deciding to voice my thoughts. “You know, you could try unbending a little. We won’t respect you less because you’re human.” I turned back to the book when Lester levelled a frosty glare at me.
Ouch. Lester really hadn’t liked Leek, disliking the way he was always toadying and trying to brown-nose his way into Lester’s good graces, buying suits to imitate Lester rather than letting his work speak for him. I considered Lester’s words and had to agree, Leek had always tried too hard to be something he wasn’t.
I continued to read before chuckling several moments later. “I bet the minister wouldn’t be happy to know your opinion of him.”
“Only if you want to get me replaced...”
I looked up sharply, meeting his eyes and only then realising the power I held in my hands with that book. I could get rid of Lester but… he actually seemed quite human now we had sat down and talked. “No.”
Lester gave a wry smile. “Better the devil you know?”
“Something like that,” I replied before I returned to my reading. I glanced up when Lester rose and held my glass out for a top-up when he refilled his own.
***
“Hart? Are you OK?”
I started, only then realising I had been staring unseeing at the book for, I assumed, long enough for Lester to grow concerned. “It wasn’t your fault,” I managed to say.
“Oh good. What am I not responsible for now, Dr Hart?” Lester said and I noticed the flash of concern in his eyes, and found myself wondering how many other times I had missed it. How many time we had all missed his concern, convinced he didn’t care about us, only in keeping the anomalies secret and on a shoe-string budget at that.
“Nick and me,” I said, noticing Lester dropped my gaze. “We didn’t talk.” I paused and thought for a moment. “We never have, not really. Nick decides how to do something and...”
“You do what he says?” Lester inquired. “Even if another way would be better?”
“Nick’s...”
“Stubborn?” Lester said before sighing. “I should have done something, Dr Hart. You, both of you, are my responsibility. I should have...”
“Done what?” I demanded. “Nick wouldn’t listen to you and I didn’t trust you.” I paused, realising the truth in those words and knowing I would have to think about them later. “We wouldn’t have paid any attention to anything you said.” I continued when Lester shook his head. “You couldn’t have stopped our relationship failing, Lester. You did your best to keep the ARC running despite us.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I don’t blame you for what happened,” I told him firmly.
“I should have intervened before the situation deteriorated. I should have done my bloody job and not let the situation get so out of hand.”
And from what I’d read, I now knew Lester would have normally intervened. “So, why didn’t you?”
“I was distracted by interdepartmental disagreements on how the ARC should be run.” Lester shook his head. “But there is no excuse for taking my eye off the ball. I failed to do my job.” He looked down and I had to strain to hear his next words, ones I wasn’t sure I was supposed to hear. “Maybe Christine would be a better director.”
I hadn’t known Lester had been fighting to keep control of the ARC, but I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised the man had kept it to himself. Still, I had to say something. “I wasn’t exactly a team player, Lester. Nick isn’t either. We wouldn’t have appreciated your involvement. It might have made things worse.”
“Worse?” Lester asked.
I nodded before another reason occurred to me and I considered Lester. “You also knew I was in contact with Helen.”
Lester shifted minutely before nodding. “And that is the other reason I didn’t interfere. We needed the information Helen had, and...”
“And I was a convenient way to get to Helen, damn my relationship with Nick?”
“It was necessary,” Lester stated before adding, “But I still regret it deeply.”
After that admission, I could sense Lester retreat behind his walls and I didn’t know what to say either so I turned back to the book, reading it without any of my previous pre-conceptions about the writer.
***
Some time later, when Lester had finished reading his newspaper for the fourth time, I frowned and leafed through the notebook once more. The man should be there, considering Lester had notes, comments and observations about everyone at the ARC, from Ms Lewis to the paperboy, and I hadn’t even known we had papers delivered. “Where is he?”
“You’ll have to be more precise, Dr Hart,” Lester drawled.
“Your man from the Silurian.”
“My what?” Lester asked, his paper forgotten.
“The soldier we ran into when Nick and I rescued Taylor.”
“And what makes you think he was my man?” Lester demanded.
“Connor saw him around the ARC.” I paused before adding, “He was also the cleaner at the shopping centre with the raptors.”
“And that didn’t strike you as something strange? Dear God, and not one of you thought to tell me?” He cursed softly before adding, “No, of course not, you thought I was a traitor.”
I almost winced at his tone before asking, “So he’s not one of your men?”
“Obviously,” Lester snapped. “What else haven’t you told me?” Lester sighed and slumped back in his armchair as he pinched his nose. “Bloody hell, Hart. Why would I be the traitor? I bloody run the ARC. I can do anything I want, I don’t need all this cloak-and-dagger routine you seem to think I have.” He sighed again. “Helen.”
“Lester?” I asked, confused as to why he was suddenly mentioning Helen.
“Helen’s got you wound around her finger, hasn’t she?” Lester took a healthy swallow before rising and refilling his glass once more. He glanced at me but I shook my head. I needed to be sober for this conversation. “I always thought scientists were supposed to examine evidence before coming to a conclusion?”
“We are,” I admitted, knowing Lester already knew that but, well, I hadn’t expected to have my world-view so shifted by a simple - or maybe not so simple - conversation. “So, who do you think is behind it?”
Lester frowned, looking somewhat surprised. “You’ve decided I’m innocent?”
“Never,” I informed him, smiling to take the bit out of my words. “But I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“For now,” Lester clarified.
I nodded and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t understand why you hide it.”
“The book?”
I shook my head. “No, the book I understand.” And I did, the thought of all that information getting into the wrong hands, those of the traitor for one, was terrifying. The amount of detail in this book would give anyone wanting to take over the ARC all the information they could possibly need and more.
“Then what?” Lester asked, eyeing me rather suspiciously.
I watched Lester closely when I answered. “That you like us.”
Lester just looked at me for a long moment, long enough for me to think he wasn’t going to answer. “Because I send you, all of you, off into danger, Dr Hart.”
It was the answer I had expected after reading the book and considering what I now knew about Lester, without the blinkers I had worn from the first moment I had met the infuriating man. I knew I had a lot of thinking to do before I decided who I should trust, which reminded me, “Now what?”
“Now, you tell me what else people have… forgotten to inform me about my own project.”
“And then?” I asked, knowing Lester was leading to something.
“And then, Dr Hart, we decide what we do next.”
“We?” I was somewhat surprised he wanted my advice. I had thought he’d make a plan and expect me to follow it, as Nick would have…
“That is, assuming you’ve decided that I’m not a traitor and to actually trust me, rather than a woman who happily allowed you to think she was dead for eight years.”
I shifted, when Lester put it like that, it made all my doubts seem so very real.
“A woman who abused you for her own gratification and threw you away merely to hurt her husband.”
“OK,” I almost snapped. “You’ve made your point.”
“Have I?” Lester mused. “Or should I add that for a supposedly observant man, you missed the fact her clothing is remarkable well preserved for over eight years of wear?”
I sighed and rubbed my face. “I was so...” I paused, unsure of what word to use.
“Mesmerized?” Lester said.
I nodded. It would do. “I suppose so. I so wanted to believe she had come back to me. That...” I shook my head at my stupidity. “She was just using me, wasn’t she?” Lester didn’t answer immediately and I smiled. “You can be your normal brutally honest self.”
“Oh, do I need permission now?” Lester asked.
“I doubt it,” I replied, glancing down at the notebook for a moment before standing and handing it back to him.
“Are you satisfied I’m not the traitor?” Lester asked as he almost hugged the notebook to his chest.
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I have a lot to think about.”
Lester nodded, which surprised me, something he obviously noticed. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t, Dr Hart. Assumptions are what got you into this mess in the first place.”
“I...” I paused, uncertain what to say now, I couldn’t very well thank him for everything when I’d bloody broken in here in the first place.
Lester seemed to have read my mind when he smiled. “Just say ‘thank you’, Dr Hart.
“Thank you,” I repeated dutifully. I glanced down at the clothing I was wearing. “Er...”
“Do what you want with them,” Lester answered my unspoken question, proving once again how perceptive he was. I had to strain to hear his next words, “I should have got rid of them long ago,” and they left me wondering who their previous owner had been to Lester.
I nodded and turned to go, stopping and half-turning back when Lester called out my name. “Oh, and Hart.”
“Lester?”
“I believe you still have Captain Ryan’s number. Do call him if you need anything.”
“Not you?” I asked, curious as to why Lester made that suggestion.
“I believe you were close to the good captain,” Lester remarked and I couldn’t help wonder if the man was fishing for information. “And we both know you don’t trust me.”
“I was… I am friends with Tom,” I said, noticing the annoyed look flash through Lester’s eyes and filing it for later consideration. “And as for not trusting you...”
“Yes?”
“As I said, I have a lot to think about.” Between Helen and Nick and what I had now learnt about Lester, I knew I would be awake long into the night trying to decide who to believe.
“Excellent,” Lester replied.
I nodded and turned to leave again, only to stop when Lester continued, “Oh, and Hart, the past might have a habit of coming back now, but don’t let it define you.”
As I walked down the stairs, his parting words echoing in my ears, and I knew he was correct. I had lived trapped in the past for far too many years, maybe it was time to stop and look to the future instead.
Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue
Author: knitekat
Word Count: 3233
Characters: James Lester, Stephen Hart, mention of several others.
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: HAPPY BOXING DAY to everyone. Hope you are all having a great day.
A/N 2: Secret Santa for Eriah211 and her prompt: Lester/Stephen and 1) 'Are you shivering?', 2) A small black notebook found in a drawer., 3) 'I still regret it deeply.', Sorry but I couldn’t get 4) "At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice." (Quote by Gore Vidal) to fit. Hope you like it.
A/N 3: Thanks go to goldarrow for stepping in at the last minute for a speedy beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue
I accepted the glass of whiskey even Nick wouldn’t turn his nose up at, somewhat surprised that Lester was allowing it anywhere near his precious notebook. I took a sip and considered Lester for a moment as he read a newspaper with, I realised, a false sense of calm. I turned my attention back to the mysterious notebook, my fingers poised to open it and I wondered what I would do if it was just… I almost snorted at that just… a list of Lester’s lovers and contact details.
“Are you going to read it, Hart?” Lester enquired, sipping his own drink. “Otherwise I might have to start wondering if you actually enjoy my company.”
A smile tugged at my lips. In other circumstances, this had the makings of a pleasant evening, except Lester’s comment reminded me about the notebook. I still couldn’t believe he’d really allow me to read it. “I’m surprised you’re still letting me read this.”
Lester eyed his notebook before sighing. “Much as I’d prefer it if you didn’t, you won’t be satisfied with anything less.”
I just looked at Lester for a long moment before I turned my attention back to the book when he smirked at me. The first thing I noticed was the neat handwriting, although my eyebrow rose as I actually read what he’d written. The first pages were full of Lester’s thoughts on the beginning of the anomaly project and were rather disparaging about the whole rips-in-time and how it would cause havoc for the government. He mentioned several points to make to the minister at a meeting and I couldn’t help smiling at his rather scathing words afterwards when he’d found himself put in charge of the project. Still, Lester appeared to have taken to the project rather well, if his words were anything to go by. They clearly proved Lester was extremely well-read on a number of topics and possessed a keen and perceptive mind. “Maybe I should inform Nick that you know far more about the creatures than you admit.”
“Please don’t,” Lester said. “You’ll take all his enjoyment out of trying to baffle me.”
“And your enjoyment as Nick tries to.” Lester just shrugged and I suddenly realised I was having a civil conversation with him. I quickly turned my attention back to the book and I was soon lost in his words. If I ignored the fact that I didn’t trust Lester as far as, I believe he had once said, I could throw a Stegosaurus, his insights into the ARC, its operations and the people who worked there was fascinating. As was my own insight into Lester from his own observations. I turned the page and couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped at the words Lester had written about Nick. “You’ve got Nick to a T.” I paused in alarm and looked up to meet Lester’s amused eyes. “What have you written about me?”
“You could always give it back,” Lester offered.
I just smiled and continued to read one of the best descriptions of Nick I had ever read. I had learnt the hard way it was always Nick’s way or the highway, not that Nick often got his own way with Lester in charge. The comment that Nick was right often enough to believe he was always right might have influenced Helen’s decision to leave was rather insightful.
I turned the page, skipping my own entry - for now - and found myself reading Connor’s instead. I didn’t know the family situation Lester referred to, but the need to make someone proud of him made some of Connor’s actions so much more understandable. I turned over and read Abby’s entry, wincing when I realised why she’d been so cold towards me after I’d been poisoned by that overgrown centipede. Curiosity finally had me turning back to Lester’s words about me and I felt my eyes widen in shock as I read.
“And before you explode or deny it, Dr Hart,” Lester interrupted, proving both his observational skills and that he knew precisely where I had reached in the book. “Please consider that for the past nine years you’ve been torn between the Cutters, driven by your guilt at lying to the Professor and abandoning Helen in the past?”
“I’m not...” I trailed off at Lester’s raised eyebrow, for as much as I wanted to argue, I knew Lester was right, the bloody infuriating man. “Fine, maybe.”
“Finally, progress,” Lester muttered.
I smiled despite myself and returned to reading, I might as well find out what else Lester had written about me. Apart from thinking I was an idiot when it came to the Cutters, it was, on the whole, positive.
I hesitated when I came to Connor’s entry once more, before deciding to just skim the other entries, as much as I was interested, I was an invasion of their privacy… I paused for a moment, torn between giving the book back to Lester or continuing to invade his privacy, except I still hadn’t found anything that proved he whether he was guilty or not. I still didn’t continue, my thoughts whirling around - if this book contained that evidence, why would Lester allow me to read it? Maybe he was hoping I’d give it back now rather than carry on to those plans? Maybe… I didn’t know but I knew I had to keep reading, and not only to see if he was the traitor.
I flicked through the book, skimming the words before I paused at one section and shot Lester a quick look he affected to ignore. I felt ashamed I’d never thought about Diane Johnson after Lester had allowed her arrest for murdering her lifeguard boyfriend, but Lester apparently hadn’t, considering he’d written about the need to contact a top-level and security vetted psychologist for her. I carried on reading and came to a note about finding her a job in local government. I wondered how many other times we had all missed Lester’s behind the scene acts of kindness and I looked out for them as I continued to read through the book. I smiled when I realised that Lester, despite all his disparaging remarks, had ensured that Duncan was looked after. How he had fought to keep Ryan on the ARC payroll, even if he was never fighting fit again. How he had acted in over a hundred ways, minor and major, to make life better for those affected by the anomalies, team and civilians alike. It seemed no one had ever realised…. Except maybe Ms Wickes. I wondered how many of her interventions had happened with Lester’s full knowledge and backing?
I frowned as I recalled his complaint about me taking time off with a cold when he’d almost pushed me into the bathroom to warm up and I realised it had been a lie. Expertly delivered and using his persona as a hard-nosed, straight-laced bureaucrat to disguise his real concern for my health.
That thought lead to another. Maybe that was why he wrote it all down in this book, to allow himself to separate and deal with his emotions away from the ARC? I glanced up at Lester, noticing the man was looking somewhat tense at my actions. “It is an interesting read. Almost as enlightening about you as it is about what you’ve written about.” I tapped the notebook and said, unable to quite keep the surprise from my voice. “You like us.”
Lester frowned, something I now recognised as a defensive mechanism, and scoffed. “Repeat that bit of slander again and you’ll be hearing from my lawyers.”
“That you value and worry about us? That you care about us?” I considered Lester for a moment before deciding to voice my thoughts. “You know, you could try unbending a little. We won’t respect you less because you’re human.” I turned back to the book when Lester levelled a frosty glare at me.
Ouch. Lester really hadn’t liked Leek, disliking the way he was always toadying and trying to brown-nose his way into Lester’s good graces, buying suits to imitate Lester rather than letting his work speak for him. I considered Lester’s words and had to agree, Leek had always tried too hard to be something he wasn’t.
I continued to read before chuckling several moments later. “I bet the minister wouldn’t be happy to know your opinion of him.”
“Only if you want to get me replaced...”
I looked up sharply, meeting his eyes and only then realising the power I held in my hands with that book. I could get rid of Lester but… he actually seemed quite human now we had sat down and talked. “No.”
Lester gave a wry smile. “Better the devil you know?”
“Something like that,” I replied before I returned to my reading. I glanced up when Lester rose and held my glass out for a top-up when he refilled his own.
***
“Hart? Are you OK?”
I started, only then realising I had been staring unseeing at the book for, I assumed, long enough for Lester to grow concerned. “It wasn’t your fault,” I managed to say.
“Oh good. What am I not responsible for now, Dr Hart?” Lester said and I noticed the flash of concern in his eyes, and found myself wondering how many other times I had missed it. How many time we had all missed his concern, convinced he didn’t care about us, only in keeping the anomalies secret and on a shoe-string budget at that.
“Nick and me,” I said, noticing Lester dropped my gaze. “We didn’t talk.” I paused and thought for a moment. “We never have, not really. Nick decides how to do something and...”
“You do what he says?” Lester inquired. “Even if another way would be better?”
“Nick’s...”
“Stubborn?” Lester said before sighing. “I should have done something, Dr Hart. You, both of you, are my responsibility. I should have...”
“Done what?” I demanded. “Nick wouldn’t listen to you and I didn’t trust you.” I paused, realising the truth in those words and knowing I would have to think about them later. “We wouldn’t have paid any attention to anything you said.” I continued when Lester shook his head. “You couldn’t have stopped our relationship failing, Lester. You did your best to keep the ARC running despite us.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I don’t blame you for what happened,” I told him firmly.
“I should have intervened before the situation deteriorated. I should have done my bloody job and not let the situation get so out of hand.”
And from what I’d read, I now knew Lester would have normally intervened. “So, why didn’t you?”
“I was distracted by interdepartmental disagreements on how the ARC should be run.” Lester shook his head. “But there is no excuse for taking my eye off the ball. I failed to do my job.” He looked down and I had to strain to hear his next words, ones I wasn’t sure I was supposed to hear. “Maybe Christine would be a better director.”
I hadn’t known Lester had been fighting to keep control of the ARC, but I supposed I shouldn’t have been surprised the man had kept it to himself. Still, I had to say something. “I wasn’t exactly a team player, Lester. Nick isn’t either. We wouldn’t have appreciated your involvement. It might have made things worse.”
“Worse?” Lester asked.
I nodded before another reason occurred to me and I considered Lester. “You also knew I was in contact with Helen.”
Lester shifted minutely before nodding. “And that is the other reason I didn’t interfere. We needed the information Helen had, and...”
“And I was a convenient way to get to Helen, damn my relationship with Nick?”
“It was necessary,” Lester stated before adding, “But I still regret it deeply.”
After that admission, I could sense Lester retreat behind his walls and I didn’t know what to say either so I turned back to the book, reading it without any of my previous pre-conceptions about the writer.
***
Some time later, when Lester had finished reading his newspaper for the fourth time, I frowned and leafed through the notebook once more. The man should be there, considering Lester had notes, comments and observations about everyone at the ARC, from Ms Lewis to the paperboy, and I hadn’t even known we had papers delivered. “Where is he?”
“You’ll have to be more precise, Dr Hart,” Lester drawled.
“Your man from the Silurian.”
“My what?” Lester asked, his paper forgotten.
“The soldier we ran into when Nick and I rescued Taylor.”
“And what makes you think he was my man?” Lester demanded.
“Connor saw him around the ARC.” I paused before adding, “He was also the cleaner at the shopping centre with the raptors.”
“And that didn’t strike you as something strange? Dear God, and not one of you thought to tell me?” He cursed softly before adding, “No, of course not, you thought I was a traitor.”
I almost winced at his tone before asking, “So he’s not one of your men?”
“Obviously,” Lester snapped. “What else haven’t you told me?” Lester sighed and slumped back in his armchair as he pinched his nose. “Bloody hell, Hart. Why would I be the traitor? I bloody run the ARC. I can do anything I want, I don’t need all this cloak-and-dagger routine you seem to think I have.” He sighed again. “Helen.”
“Lester?” I asked, confused as to why he was suddenly mentioning Helen.
“Helen’s got you wound around her finger, hasn’t she?” Lester took a healthy swallow before rising and refilling his glass once more. He glanced at me but I shook my head. I needed to be sober for this conversation. “I always thought scientists were supposed to examine evidence before coming to a conclusion?”
“We are,” I admitted, knowing Lester already knew that but, well, I hadn’t expected to have my world-view so shifted by a simple - or maybe not so simple - conversation. “So, who do you think is behind it?”
Lester frowned, looking somewhat surprised. “You’ve decided I’m innocent?”
“Never,” I informed him, smiling to take the bit out of my words. “But I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“For now,” Lester clarified.
I nodded and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t understand why you hide it.”
“The book?”
I shook my head. “No, the book I understand.” And I did, the thought of all that information getting into the wrong hands, those of the traitor for one, was terrifying. The amount of detail in this book would give anyone wanting to take over the ARC all the information they could possibly need and more.
“Then what?” Lester asked, eyeing me rather suspiciously.
I watched Lester closely when I answered. “That you like us.”
Lester just looked at me for a long moment, long enough for me to think he wasn’t going to answer. “Because I send you, all of you, off into danger, Dr Hart.”
It was the answer I had expected after reading the book and considering what I now knew about Lester, without the blinkers I had worn from the first moment I had met the infuriating man. I knew I had a lot of thinking to do before I decided who I should trust, which reminded me, “Now what?”
“Now, you tell me what else people have… forgotten to inform me about my own project.”
“And then?” I asked, knowing Lester was leading to something.
“And then, Dr Hart, we decide what we do next.”
“We?” I was somewhat surprised he wanted my advice. I had thought he’d make a plan and expect me to follow it, as Nick would have…
“That is, assuming you’ve decided that I’m not a traitor and to actually trust me, rather than a woman who happily allowed you to think she was dead for eight years.”
I shifted, when Lester put it like that, it made all my doubts seem so very real.
“A woman who abused you for her own gratification and threw you away merely to hurt her husband.”
“OK,” I almost snapped. “You’ve made your point.”
“Have I?” Lester mused. “Or should I add that for a supposedly observant man, you missed the fact her clothing is remarkable well preserved for over eight years of wear?”
I sighed and rubbed my face. “I was so...” I paused, unsure of what word to use.
“Mesmerized?” Lester said.
I nodded. It would do. “I suppose so. I so wanted to believe she had come back to me. That...” I shook my head at my stupidity. “She was just using me, wasn’t she?” Lester didn’t answer immediately and I smiled. “You can be your normal brutally honest self.”
“Oh, do I need permission now?” Lester asked.
“I doubt it,” I replied, glancing down at the notebook for a moment before standing and handing it back to him.
“Are you satisfied I’m not the traitor?” Lester asked as he almost hugged the notebook to his chest.
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I have a lot to think about.”
Lester nodded, which surprised me, something he obviously noticed. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t, Dr Hart. Assumptions are what got you into this mess in the first place.”
“I...” I paused, uncertain what to say now, I couldn’t very well thank him for everything when I’d bloody broken in here in the first place.
Lester seemed to have read my mind when he smiled. “Just say ‘thank you’, Dr Hart.
“Thank you,” I repeated dutifully. I glanced down at the clothing I was wearing. “Er...”
“Do what you want with them,” Lester answered my unspoken question, proving once again how perceptive he was. I had to strain to hear his next words, “I should have got rid of them long ago,” and they left me wondering who their previous owner had been to Lester.
I nodded and turned to go, stopping and half-turning back when Lester called out my name. “Oh, and Hart.”
“Lester?”
“I believe you still have Captain Ryan’s number. Do call him if you need anything.”
“Not you?” I asked, curious as to why Lester made that suggestion.
“I believe you were close to the good captain,” Lester remarked and I couldn’t help wonder if the man was fishing for information. “And we both know you don’t trust me.”
“I was… I am friends with Tom,” I said, noticing the annoyed look flash through Lester’s eyes and filing it for later consideration. “And as for not trusting you...”
“Yes?”
“As I said, I have a lot to think about.” Between Helen and Nick and what I had now learnt about Lester, I knew I would be awake long into the night trying to decide who to believe.
“Excellent,” Lester replied.
I nodded and turned to leave again, only to stop when Lester continued, “Oh, and Hart, the past might have a habit of coming back now, but don’t let it define you.”
As I walked down the stairs, his parting words echoing in my ears, and I knew he was correct. I had lived trapped in the past for far too many years, maybe it was time to stop and look to the future instead.
Part 1 Part 2 Epilogue