White Space Season 2

leaving the room and closing the door behind him, sealing Don with a knot in his throat and a deep pit in his soul.
    Is it possible he’s telling the truth?
    Are Lucinda and the boys in Seattle?
    Could they possibly be alive?
    Don was filled with both hope and dread. Hope that they might be alive, but dread that Kaiser was telling the truth, and that they were afraid of him, like he was some sort of monster.
    If that was the truth, it threatened every other truth Don had come to accept through his last three, long years.
    What if I am crazy?

    * * * *

CHAPTER 5 — Warren Conway

    Warren sat in the living room, staring at the TV screen as it broadcast news coverage, both local and online already, about the dead girl found near the pier.
    Melinda sat beside him. “Oh, my, do you think it’s her?”
    “I don’t know,” Warren said, feeling like an asshole for what he’d said earlier to Jon when he called and told them Emma was missing. He said, “Again? Really, Jon, you need to keep better track of your kids if you’re going to be a father.”
    Jon, instead of rising to the bait, asked for some phone numbers of Paladin officers he could enlist in the search. Warren gave him the numbers, and even felt bad about his unnecessary comments, but couldn’t bring himself to apologize. Now, as he watched the news, and felt an overwhelming dread settle on his shoulders, he felt horrible.
    No, he didn’t care for the girl’s family, but Emma had, in a way, reminded him of his own daughter and their relationship — which mirrored his recent and especially icy relationship with Melinda.
    Warren stood. “I’m gonna go check on some stuff. I’ll be in my office. Let me know if you hear anything definitive.”
    “OK,” Melinda said, her eyes still glued to the screen, and voice somewhat softened.
    Inside his office, Warren pulled out his phone and dialed Jon. He wanted to set things straight, in case Emma was dead, and hadn’t just run away for some white trash drama as Warren initially thought.
    Jon didn’t answer.
    Damn it.
    Warren sat at his desk and was about to put his phone away, when instead, he decided to make another call.
    He dialed and waited.
    “Hello?” Anastasia said. She sounded groggy, as if still in bed. Her video screen was off, and he tried not to think that maybe she wasn’t alone. He knew she’d had a few relationships, but still, she was his little girl. He didn’t want to think of her as sleeping with some asshole.
    “Hey, Honey.”
    “Daddy?”
    “Yeah, I just wanted to say, um … hi, and see how you are?”
    “Is everything all right?” she asked.
    “Yeah, yeah,” Warren said. Are my phone calls so rare that the first thing she thinks is that something’s wrong? Jesus. “I just wanted to hear your voice.”
    “Um … hi,” she said and laughed. “How’s it going on the island?”
    Well, let’s see, I’m trapped in a loveless marriage, I’m sleeping with a man, I’m plotting to kill Grandpa, and Jon came back after Sarah died, but now it seems like Sarah’s daughter, and Jon’s, too, by the by, Emma, is dead as well. But other than that …
    “It’s more or less the same,” he lied. “I … ” he wasn’t sure what to say. He paused, gathering thoughts. What does one say when their life is off the tracks? How does one make up for years of being an absent father? What words could undo his actions, and more importantly, his inactions?
    “Dad?” Ana said. “You there?”
    “Yeah,” he said, feeling stupid.
    “Can I call you later?” she asked. “I was up late studying and have a test in a few hours. I’d love to catch a few more z’s.”
    “Yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to you later, Honey. And … um, good luck on the test.”
    “Thanks, Dad. I love you,” she said.
    “I love you, too,” he responded as Ana ended the call. He held the phone in his hand, staring at the screen, feeling like both the World’s Worst Father, and World’s Worst Son.
    Warren thought of his argument with Blake, and tried to imagine himself in Father’s impossible-to-fill shoes. He wondered what he would have done if he were Blake, facing the same pressures the elder Conway was always facing, having the same people to answer to, and attempting the impossible that despite all odds the old man was slowly turning into reality — enhancing humans to their greater potential.
    Would Warren would have made the same call to pull the plug on Project Raven, too?
    Warren knew little