Dreams in the Tower Part 1 by Andrew Vrana Read Free Book Online Page A

had been the same way, once, but even after the dream had ended she at least had the feeling she was with the right cause. Now, she wasn’t so sure. She had to see that report, in any case; otherwise it would hound her incessantly and she would be forced to live in suspicion and uncertainty.
    “I’m getting back to work,” Sabrina said. “You should do the same.” She felt Erris’s reproachful gaze as she left the lounge.
    Back in her temporary office, Sabrina went immediately to her desk screen and accessed the Guardian Police Association database, letting the screen scan her thum bprint when prompted. After she entered and submitted a search for the Houston Warehouse report, she realized that her ID would now be logged accessing this file; if it contained something they didn’t want her to see, they would now know she saw it, regardless of whether she quit now or pressed on. She was locked in whether she wanted to be or not, tied to whatever consequences arose from it.
    Hesitantly, she tapped the link to the archived report her search returned.
    It would take her hours to read the veritable book the report contained. “Summary,” she said. The extrapolation tool instantly opened a window with a condensed version—this one only a few pages. Sabrina read slowly and began feeling uneasy almost immediately.
    Six years ago a CIA agent, referred to only as Agent Lyle in the report, was put in charge of an investigation assigned to the Guardian Police Association, then under the employ of the fe deral government. Agent Lyle brought the case over from the CIA, who had decided not to handle it themselves. The investigation looked into a series of accidental deaths at a Silte Corp venture in Houston, Texas called Bayou Clean Energy Research Center, more commonly referred to as the Houston Warehouse since it was located in an old shipping warehouse on the Buffalo Bayou. At the time of the report, the Warehouse seemed to be doing little more than taking up space.
    Over the span of five years prior to the investigation, at least sixteen Silte Corp executives, most from the central headquarters but a few from other branches and assets, were relocated to the Warehouse. Of the sixteen, ten were reported deceased within three months of arriving at the Warehouse. Their deaths were mostly workplace accidents, but there were three suicides and even an accidental shooting by an armed security guard. Of those who didn’t die, four had been indicted and sentenced on corporate embezzlement charges, and the other two disappeared for days at a time before washing up, bloated and rotting, on the local beaches.
    Guardian sent an investigation team from their South Texas office to the Warehouse with Agent Lyle. The Guardian team quickly determined no further investigation was necessary, but Lyle insisted that it needed further review. The team, including Lyle, ended up closing the i nvestigation after a majority consensus. That was all the summary said about it. But Sabrina was in no way satisfied; these summaries didn’t always give all the information you needed.
    “Search: Agent Lyle.”
    A much longer text came up with Lyle’s name highlighted wherever it appeared. She scrolled to the very end and skimmed through until she found a disturbing revelation.
    The night after the investigation was closed, Agent Lyle was shot outside his hotel and died on the way to the hospital. The Guardian team took responsibility for the investigation and determined that it was a robbery gone wrong, as Lyle’s gun was out and his wallet was missing. Afterward, the CIA had called for an investigation into the death of their agent. The report said nothing else.
    “Search: CIA investigation of Guardian Police Association.”
    A list of results popped up over the report. The first was an article with the headline “CIA calls for investigation into agent’s death” and a date of some six years ago. She clicked through and—
    Before she read so much as a