She seemed to think that he needed a break, and told him as much when they parted. Raina believed that perhaps some time off from work would actually do Mason a lot of good. She was always looking for the proverbial blessing in disguise. He admired the way she could always find a silver lining to just about anything that happened, but for this one Mason couldn’t be convinced that any good would come of it.
He may have dropped the ball, but he wasn’t out of the game yet, and he wasn’t ready to give up on finding the terrorists responsible for conducting biological warfare upon innocent American citizens. Raina thought that he needed a break—but a break to do what? Sit on the couch and mope?
He’d been in his house all but five minutes and he already couldn’t stand it. Being alone with his own negative thoughts could sometimes be hell on Earth. He needed something to take his mind off of the troubling sensations of emotion that seemed to reverberate through his skull.
Picking up his phone and scrolling through his contacts he immediately went to Clara. It was a little late to call her—almost midnight, but he hoped that she would pick up.
And sure enough, after a few rings, he heard her voice asking, “Dad?”
Mason greeted her, “Hey kid!”
Clara who had just been roused from sleep, groggily replied, “Was sleeping…”
Mason feeling bad for disturbing her rest, offered, “Oh you were asleep? Sorry Clara, I’ll call you in the morning.”
Clara rejected this idea however, “No—no. It’s fine. I’m already awake now. We can talk.”
Mason replied, “Oh—oh okay.”
Mason was glad she was up for a bit of conversation. He could definitely use a distraction from his own dark thoughts. Initially however, Clara only brought him right back to them as she mentioned, “Hey dad—I just saw a news report about an Ebola outbreak in NYC. Did Onyx have anything to do with that?
Mason was hesitant to answer for a few reasons—first of all, such missions would be classified, and he usually tried to limit his daughter’s knowledge of them. He did so for her own protection more than anything else. If God forbid one of his enemies ever held her hostage, the first thing they would do would be attempt to pump her for information. In this sense, the less she knew of his work the better.
He also didn’t want to worry her with the risks of his profession, she had enough to worry about with her own life without having to constantly fear for her father’s safety. And even if he did tell her some of the details, he most certainly wouldn’t tell her over the course of a phone call which could be easily listened into.
So it was that Mason attempted to play it cool, not exactly denying, but not confirming either. When questioned by Clara about whether Onyx played a role he simply remarked, “Huh? What makes you say that?”
Clara continued, “Well on the news they said that some sort of “military personnel” were seen deactivating the device.”
Mason still playing dumb, questioned, “Really?”
Clara nodded, “Yeah—they said that they really saved the day.
Mason not quite expecting to hear this muttered, “They did?”
Clara confirmed, “Yes they did. The director of the hospital where the Ebola patients were sent said that it could have been a lot worse if the terrorist plot hadn’t been foiled. I just wondered if maybe…”
Mason was greatly encouraged to hear this more positive take on the actions of Onyx, but still not wanting to get into it on the phone, dismissed the idea, “I don’t know about all that…”
Before decisively changing topics, “Anyway… how are you holding up?”
Whenever Mason was down in the dumps, and dwelling too much on his own problems and inadequacies he was always able to get some relief by transferring his concern from himself and onto his daughter. She gave him someone else to be worried about besides himself.
And now that he was talking to her he was in full parent mode, and soon he was delivering a full barrage of questions, “Have you been doing alright? Getting enough to eat? Enough to sleep? And minding your p’s and q’s like you ought to?”
Clara laughed, “Okay… What are p’s and q’s? And what’s with the sudden onslaught of questions?”
Mason chuckled, “Just trying to be a dad that’s all. You know I worry about you out there all by yourself.”
Clara felt like telling him there was nothing to worry about, but after her run-in with an abusive boyfriend and a sex trafficking ring last semester, she could no longer say such a thing with a straight face. She knew full well that there were indeed hidden dangers lurking in the shadows out there and that she needed to be cautious.
In the end all she could really say to such a remark was, “Thanks dad… I appreciate your concern but I’ll be alright.”
Although expressing her gratitude, Clara was growing weary of that very concern, and so decided to change the subject the best way she knew how, by inquiring with him about his girlfriend.
She asked, “So how’s Raina?”
Mason not wanting to speak much about that aspect of his life at the moment, gave a sullen, “Oh Raina… Raina… She’s fine.”
Clara laughed, “She’s fine? That’s all?”
Mason suddenly becoming defensive, agitatedly muttered, “She’s doing alright. I don’t know what else you want me to say about it, Clara.”
Clara persisted, “Okay—let me rephrase that. How are you and Raina doing?”
Mason was still not forthcoming, as he muttered, “I don’t know.”
Clara was now starting to get annoyed. She was always open with her father so she naturally expected him to be the same way.
She protested, “Dad! Why is it when it comes to my life you lay it on me like the Spanish inquisition but when it comes to me wanting to
