James was alone when he woke up to the same irritating alarm clock song he always did. He sat up and looked around the room for any sign of his grumpy roommate. The other bed was empty, the pillows piled up on top of it. Shower wasn’t running, wallet wasn’t on the table where he’d left it. Bradley seemed to be completely gone.

Did the Foundation kick him out? No, if they were going to kick Bradley out, they’d had a decade of reasonable excuses to do so before now. But maybe they got wind of what James and Jessamyn had talked about in that tiny bathroom stall and decided that this had gone far enough. They’d gotten to Bradley and were coming for James as soon as they had him shipped off somewhere where he couldn’t interfere.

Or maybe James had just dreamed it all, and he was on his way to a normal training session. He’d spend two hours on insurance and an hour on a monster that lived somewhere in western Maine and might or might not stroll down to Leominster at some point. And he’d lost his mind after finally cracking under the Foundation’s bullshit and imagined the whole conspiracy, as well as asking Bradley to join him. Because why would he have asked Bradley instead of Amelia? Neither of them would ever survive a night sharing one hotel room.

Oh, maybe that was it. Maybe Bradley said fuck it and left because James was snoring or just existing. And now James was solo for the day and down the extra person who would have helped him, Rosa, and Jessamyn figure out what was happening.

Or maybe he was walking back in right now with two cups of coffee in his hands.

“Coffee’s weak as hell,” Bradley muttered as he awkwardly pushed the door open further with his foot, then let it slam shut behind him. “But it’s free, and I wasn’t taking your car. So here.”

He set the coffees down on the desk, then reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of creamers and three different types of sugar and sugar substitutes. He dropped the pile down beside the coffees. James knew he should offer to help, but he seemed locked in place as he tried to settle back in from the wild directions his imagination had taken him in the thirty seconds he’d been conscious.

“What’s your problem?” Bradley asked as he took one of the coffees and sat down in the office chair.

“What? Nothing. Just waking up.”

Bradley didn’t look like he cared enough to keep pushing. So James got up and went over to the small coffee shop that Bradley had brought back with him. “Thanks,” he said.

Bradley shrugged. “This shit’s awful.”

James stirred a singular cream and sugar into his own coffee and took a sip. It was fine. Nothing great, but not the thick sludge that Bradley brewed at Headquarters every day. 

“I talked to Amelia last night,” James said as he glanced at the time on his phone. Six-thirty AM, plenty of time. “She agrees that it’s weird.”

“Obviously, because it is,” Bradley said. “This is exactly something they would do. Are any of the other captains beyond Jessamyn and Rosa concerned?”

“Sure,” James said. “I haven’t talked to them, but I could see a bunch of pissed off people in the conference room when we wrapped up yesterday.”

Bradley looked like he was about to say something else along those lines, then paused. “That Hillsborough shitbird isn’t there, is he?”

“No,” James said quickly. “No, I think they got a pass for this one because they’re understaffed.”

“Christ sake,” Bradley said.

“Whatever, at least we don’t have to deal with them.”

“I’ll stab him next time, I don’t fucking care.”

And that was why he’d asked Bradley to join. If he managed not to get thrown out of the training in the first twenty minutes, that was the attitude they needed today.

***

That morning’s session started in the same large conference room as yesterday. This time the crowd was nearly twice the size, almost everybody taking the Foundation up on their offer to bring in a second person. The room was quieter despite the size of the group, and James had a feeling that a lot more people were concerned about what was happening than had let on. Again, he didn’t see any representatives from Hillsborough County there, which was a relief. He hadn’t expected Patrick to come for Day Two, but even if Saskia or the other woman they’d worked with were there, having them in the same room as him and Bradley was a terrible idea.

They arrived and went straight up to the table at the front of the room, where the line to check in was shrinking. McGovern barely managed to hold in a sigh as they went to the check in sheet.

“Captain,” he said, nodding at James. Then he looked at Bradley. “Bradley.”

“Sir.”

Was it a mocking “sir?” James couldn’t tell and he could see that McGovern wasn’t too sure either. But Bradley didn’t say anything else and McGovern turned to the next people coming in. James scribbled down both their names, then quickly got out of the way.

“James!”

Rosa waved him and Bradley over to where she and a tall man were sitting. “No Amelia?” Rosa asked.

Then she seemed to realize how that sounded because she quickly turned to Bradley. “I didn’t mean like… it’s just I know she’s the second in command over there so I assumed James was going to call her.”

“We needed her at home,” James said simply. 

Rosa nodded, then gestured to the man beside her. “You’ve met Tim, right?”

He vaguely remembered Tim from a quick conversation during an online meeting last fall. But that was better than nothing, so he smiled and shook Tim’s hand. Minus the smile, Bradley did the same.

“We’ve got multiple cases going right now that she’s taking the lead on,” James said, as though more explanation was actually necessary. “So Bradley kindly agreed to join me today.”

Bradley raised an eyebrow, but didn’t take the bait. Up front, the Foundation representatives were still talking among themselves, but some were detaching from the group and slipping out of the room. It was almost time to start what James desperately hoped would be the last day of this so-called training.

Jessamyn arrived a few minutes later with a tall, thin woman beside her. The two of them came over to the table, where she introduced her companion as Rita. Rita smiled at all of them, then sat down and silently drank the ice coffee she’d brought while the Foundation’s leadership whispered up front.

Finally, Harding, the same man from the day before, stood up and went over to the podium. “Welcome back,” he said. “I see the crowd is bigger this morning. So good morning.”

He waited a beat, then everyone seemed to realize he was looking for a response. Some mumbled “good mornings” floated up among the group.

“We can do better than that,” Harding said. “Good morning!”

The second response was louder, but not quite filled with the enthusiasm he seemed to expect. James barely mouthed the words as he looked around. A few smiling faces were visible, but most of them seemed tired at best. There was no sign of Connie Evers anywhere in the room. 

He wanted to be back home with his own team. 

“Day Two,” Harding said. “Today is a continuation of our scavenger hunt practical training. You’ll return to your chosen stations and carry on your investigations from there. Don’t be afraid to really ride the rails and see where these energy markers lead you. Captains, I see many of you have invited a team member here today. It’s always your responsibility to look out for the health and safety of your team and this is no different. We don’t want any injuries today.”

James swallowed hard, resisting the impulse to get up and leave. He glanced over at Bradley, who looked at him, then back up at Harding. “The beauty of working in teams is the way you can share this diversity of viewpoints,” Harding continued, smoothing one of his bushy eyebrows under a thumb. “We all see the world in such beautifully different ways, which means that we can come together to find solutions we’d never come to on our own. Use today to sharpen your detective skills and be the captain that your teammate here and everyone back home needs you to be.”

This time he absolutely refused to look at Bradley. Instead, he stared resolutely ahead and forced himself not to smile, not even a little. Despite everything, this was still a professional environment. No matter how much of a farce the rest of it was, he was a captain. He needed to act like it.

“Remember what we discussed yesterday,” Harding said. “As captain, you’re the one who has to make the serious decisions. You’re a source of strength and wisdom for your team. Leave everything else at the door and give this job your complete focus when you’re on the clock. Then you’ll be successful.” 

He looked around the room, smiling. “Once again, be back by seven o’clock,” he said. “We’ll do closing remarks and have you all out of here by eight! And don’t forget that we’ve got reservations at Little John’s Pub once today’s exercises are through. You’re all invited to hang out with your fellow Foundation members in a more relaxed environment to celebrate the end of this training.”

James would rather eat glass. He had the hotel room for one more night if he needed it, but he’d take a quick fast food burger in the car on his way back to Leominster over partying it up with the Foundation leadership any night.

“And we’re off!” Harding announced cheerfully. “See you all back here!”

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 11