Rain Saga Read Free Page B

 
    “Does she know you’re evaluating her?”
    “No, sir. She’s under the impression that we’re on a date.”
    Landers chuckled and threw back another shot of scotch. “Poor girl. I hope she doesn’t get too attached to you on this “date.”
    “I doubt that will be the case,” Tagawa replied. “Nonetheless, I’ll take every precaution at my disposal to keep her from getting too attached —as you put it, sir.”
    “Good. Now is there anything else you wanted to tell me?” Landers asked, realizing that the conversation wasn’t nearly as urgent as he’d first assumed.
    “No, sir.”
    “Excellent. Now that business is over, are you sure you won’t join me for a drink? It’s no fun when there’s no one else around.”
    Keith raised an eyebrow. “With all due respect, sir. How many of those have you had?"
    “Plenty, son. Plenty. Now will you help me drain another bottle, or won’t you?”
    “Sir!” Keith exclaimed in genuine surprise. “What if someone outside the office heard about this? It could ruin your reputation! I must insist that you stop this immediately, for your own good!”
    “Relax, Tagawa. It’s no big deal. This day only comes around once a year. So don’t ruin it for me. It’s my day to remember … and try to forget. Besides we’re the only people here. And I’m sure you won’t repeat this to anyone. Will you?” Landers said, cocking an eyebrow at the young Agent standing before him.  
    “No, sir … I won’t tell anyone,” Keith replied hesitantly, watching his chief opening another bottle of scotch. “Sir—if you don’t mind my asking— you said that this day only comes around once a year. With respect, sir, what happened on this day that would make you want to get wasted?”
    He sure is intuitive, Landers thought, grinning slightly. The young Agent reminded him of himself, not so long ago.
    “You seem like a good man, Tagawa. Sit down and I’ll tell you.”  
    Keith did as he was told and seated himself in front of Lander’s desk.
    “It was twenty years ago, back when I was a twenty-four-year-old recruit working for Jack Anderson.” Landers said, returning to his high-backed chair. “He was the one who first got me into the security department here at Unitech. It was my job—and the job of all the other Agents—to protect him and his family, along with his research and development facilities.  
    He was a great boss and a good man. So, as you can imagine, it came as quite a shock to all of us when we discovered him murdered in his office. Someone had shot him. Shot him right through the heart with a forty-five automatic. And that bullet was all the evidence we ever turned up.”
    “Weren’t there any security recordings?” Keith asked.
    Landers shook his head. “Nope. Nothing. For some reason the boss’ office didn’t have any security cameras. He probably didn’t want anyone spying on his designs for the Cathedral reactor or one of his other inventions. But, even if there were cameras in the office, it wouldn’t have helped us any. All the other tapes were as clean as could be. Nothing was out of place whatsoever. No one went into the office except for Mr. Anderson, and he never came out.
    My chief had us all go to work trying to hunt down the murderer. But even after twenty years, nothing has ever come up. I’ve been working this case for nearly half my life, Tagawa. And every year that rolls by reminds me of my own incompetence. That’s why I’m getting wasted today. Because I was the guard on duty that night—it was my fault,” he whispered, tapping his finger against the shot glass. “ I let him get killed.”
    Landers drained the last of his scotch and set the glass down on the desk while Tagawa sat in silence.
    “Jack had a wife, too. Did I tell you that?”
    Keith nodded, “You mentioned protecting a family. What happened to her after Mr. Anderson’s death?”
    Landers shrugged, “She moved. Went to live with family in one of the