Crossed Paths: Sentinel Security, #3

By Jane Glatt

When Corporate assigns a Dimensional Investigator to find out what happened to one of their own, afraid for her life, Dani Norris tells her boss a secret. A secret about Dani's sister Marie.

Now the clock is ticking and Dani and Marie must help Ro Parks hide something in the only place where the Investigator can't find it: Yeddoun.

Because she can't trust Ro, instead of putting something in the other dimension, Dani takes something from it: Ulik, the Sentinel Ro Parks pushed into Yeddoun. And he's become one of the monsters they are all working to keep out of earth.

Now that she knows how dimmers are created, Ro tries to force Marie to work with her in order to save other Sentinels

But Marie is not willing to give up her dream of being a doctor and she lures Ro into a trap.

Now it's up to Dani to convince Marie that they need Ro Parks to keep them safe from Corporate.

Can Dani actually save Ro? And should she?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jane Glatt
• Release date: Mar 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780995806436

Book preview

1  Dani: she wouldn’t hesitate

Dani stared out at the frozen Toronto harbour, the coffee in the mug she held cooling.

Marie had left for work an hour ago and Dani had no idea how her sister was functioning after last night.

A night when they’d almost let dimmers loose in Sentenne. A night when a Sentinel had been pushed into Yeddoun to die.

She wasn’t mourning Ulik: he got what he deserved. He shouldn’t even have been in the city and then he’d tracked her down and threatened her and Marie. Sure she’d broken his hand off, but it was Ro who’d shoved him into the breach.

Although Ro only did that after Marie opened up a breach to Sentenne right beside the one to Yeddoun. Marie had created that whole dangerous situation in the first place. Ro had been trying to get Ulik out of the way so that Dani could close both breaches before they merged into a direct pathway between Yeddoun and Sentenne.

She sipped her tepid coffee and wandered around the condo, checking the surveillance equipment. No lights were blinking, no alarms were sounding. The condo was safe from any eavesdropping.

She sighed and sat down on the couch. With Ulik gone they might not even need all this anti-spying equipment any more. It wasn’t like Ro was going to spy on them. Not when her boss had as much to lose as she and Marie did if their secrets were uncovered.

At least she assumed Ro had as much to lose. But did she? She knew Sentinels had rules they were supposed to follow but Ulik had been in Toronto despite it being a breach of those rules. Maybe there weren’t any real consequences to disobeying rules and orders.

She didn’t think Corporate would be impressed if they learned that Ro had caused Ulik’s death but would they do anything? Hey hadn’t seemed bothered by the other Sentinel’s demise or the fact that Ro had asked him to cover it up.

But Ro had coached them on what to say if they were questioned. That was proof that she didn’t want Corporate to know what she’d done to Ulik, wasn’t it?

Dani took a shaky breath. At least she knew that she could cause harm to Sentinels. She’d slapped at Ulik’s arm and his hand had fallen off.

She tried to remember if she’d ever actually touched Ro or Hey or Lisa. Not in a way that had caused parts of them to drop off. She for sure would remember that. But there might be something specific about how she’d touched Ulik. She had been angry and scared and had hit him hard. Perhaps it was that specific combination that had made it work. She should try to figure it out. Just in case she needed to, you know, do something about a Sentinel one day.

And what had happened to the hand? Had been sucked into Yeddoun? Or Ro had retrieved it after sending her and Marie away? She should call Marie and ask her to look for it. It would not be good if someone else found it and gave it to the police.

Dani shook her head. She and Marie had to stay out of this. If the hand was discovered it would be Ro’s problem, not hers.

What would she even ask Marie to do with the hand even if she found it? Put in her purse and bring it home to the condo? That would be too gross. Besides, she did not want any part of Ulik in her life.

She’d let Ro handle it, just as she was letting Ro handle deleting any security footage that might have recorded what had happened in the hospital tunnel.

She had enough to worry about just dealing with the secret she’d shared.

She’d told Ro Parks that Marie could hear voices from Sentenne through thinnings and rifts. What would Ro do about that? Would she keep her sister a secret from Corporate?

Ro would want to test Marie to find out what else she could do. Dani didn’t think she could stop Ro from doing that, not unless Marie ran away. So she had to make sure that Ro never found out that Marie could actually open rifts: that her sister was a genuine threat to Sentenne.

Dani blew out a big breath. Because if Ro decided that Marie was as dangerous as Dani thought she was, she would probably decide to get rid of her by killing her. And she’d probably want Dani dead too.

She and Marie could make Ro disappear. Marie could open a breach to Yeddoun and Dani could push Ro in, just like she’d done to Ulik. They might have to make Hey and Lisa disappear too. It wouldn’t be hard, but would it be wise?

Because Corporate knew she existed.

If everyone in the Toronto Sentinel Security office went missing except her it would look suspicious. She had to assume they would question her and she couldn’t take the chance that Corporate would try to root around in her mind. It would be bad if they were able to compel her to tell them about everything, but it would also be bad if they discovered that she was immune to their mind meddling.

The other option was to run away and hide, maybe for the rest of her life. Since her sister was living in the Corporate owned condo with her Marie might have to flee as well. Would Corporate then track down her mother and brother? Would they, too need to live in hiding for the rest of their lives?

She took her empty coffee cup to the kitchen and put it in the sink.

Such a drastic move would be a last resort. A decision she’d only make if she knew for certain that Ro wanted either her or Marie dead.

Tomorrow she’d go in to work as if nothing unusual had happened. But she’d keep a very close watch on Ro Parks. If she thought the Sentinel was preparing to harm her or her sister, she wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever she had to in order to keep her family safe.

2  Ro: a sense of impending doom

Ro stared at the monitors without anything actually registering with her. She flinched when the door buzzed open. A moment later Hey was standing in the doorway to her office.

You all right? he asked.

Sure. Ro nodded and Hey sat down across from her. Everything looks quiet out there. Why wouldn’t she be all right? What had made Hey ask that question? Was she displaying human emotions?

All quiet, Hey agreed.

The crowds of shoppers at the Eaton Centre had mostly gone for the day and with the office workers in this part of the PATH off for the holidays the corridors were almost empty.

Has Corporate contacted you? Hey asked.

No, Ro replied. You?

No, Hey said.  What are you going to do about Dani and her sister?

The same thing I plan on doing about Ulik, she said. Nothing. Having two humans who can sense thinnings doesn’t make things that much worse. Depending on what she can do we might even be able to use Marie. If we trained her she could keep an eye on the hospital tunnels for us. She waved at her computer screen. The guy in charge of security wants to know why my employees keep showing up and I’m running out of valid reasons. Carruthers hadn’t asked about the missing surveillance footage, but then there was no reason for him to think she had anything to do with that.

I could alter my appearance a few days a week, Hey said. And get a job there. Dani can cover the PATH almost as well as I can.

That’s a good idea, Ro said. But let’s wait. It will only take me a couple of days to get some employment records and an ID created and give you a great recommendation. For now I need you here.

You don’t trust Dani, Hey said and Ro realized that he was right.

I guess I don’t, she said. She nodded to herself. She didn’t trust Dani or her sister. I have no idea if she’s lied about anything besides her sister.

I’m going to Timmie’s if you want a coffee, Hey said.

Sure, that would be great. The caffeine and sugar hit should help her. But help her do what? Ro barely noticed when Hey left.

She stared blankly at the screens again. What was wrong with her? Ever since she’d pushed Ulik into Yeddoun she’d been filled with a sense of impending doom. A feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

Fear.

A human emotion. And like rage, it was all encompassing. But unlike rage, this emotion went on and on and on when all she wanted was to make it stop.

3  Dani: Marie had to learn control

Dani listlessly scrolled through the Netflix menu. Nothing appealed to her so after half an hour she gave up and turned the TV off.

Marie would be home soon and then they could talk. And figure out what, if anything, they should do. She wasn’t looking forward to telling her sister that her life might be in jeopardy. And that one of the few solutions she had come up with involved their whole family being on the run from Sentinels for the rest of their lives.

As she stared out the window dusk fell and lights went on across the city. She heard a key in the lock and blew out a breath when she heard Marie call out.

You’re home, Dani said. She got off the couch and stood at the end of the hallway, watching as Marie pulled off her boots and hung up her coat.

Am I ever glad this day is over, Marie said.

Dani returned to the living room and her sister followed her.

You’re lucky you don’t have to work today. Marie dropped onto the couch. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened.

Me neither, Dani sat down beside her sister. I’m not sure what we should do.

I am, Mari said. You need to help me control my abilities and then we need to destroy Sentenne. And every single Sentinel on earth.

Dani met Marie’s eyes. That sounds very dangerous.

So is doing nothing, Marie replied. So is trusting Ro and Hey. Which I don’t. We need to act before they do.

I’m not sure destroying all Sentinels is what we should do, Dani said. She was surprised at her sister’s decision.