outburst never came. Instead, he listened and let them finish.
"So, what do you think?" Joanne asked.
“This is old news, or at least to me it is. That holding tank has been there since the place opened.”
“You knew about it?” Joanne said.
“I knew it was back there, after all, I work security. At least I did. We were always told it was a, uh, what was the word they used,” he frowned, searching his memory, “observation pool. All part of the next stage of the opening of the aquarium apparently. No big deal.”
“You don’t think it’s a little weird?”
“Are you kidding?” Tom said, managing a smile. “That entire place is weird. Even though I was on security, there are parts of the building that were always locked. Doors with keypads on them, which nobody seems to know the numbers to, plus all the people who come and go that aren’t part of the official staff list or have official job titles. Come on, babe, you work there, you must have seen it.”
“I only saw the gift shop and the staff room. It’s not something I ever knew about. How come you never said anything before?”
“I don’t really know,” he said with a shrug. “I never really linked it to anything sinister. All I was concerned with was keeping my job, which actually makes what happened this morning seem a little bit easier to understand.”
"What do you mean?" Joanne asked.
"This morning, the new security teams were due on site in response to the break in. My job was to coordinate them, set them up, and show them the ropes. Usually, my patrol route only allows me on the walkway above that lagoon, and only at certain times of day, it’s always been that way. Anyway, old Harry had been on his patrol during the night shift and had lost his radio somewhere on his patrol. It's an instant dismissal, and because the two of us were already in the shit for our slow response to the break in, I offered to go look for it for him to make sure the new guys didn’t have anything to report to Mr Andrews. Harry thought he might have left it in one of the labs near where I caught you all trying to break in. Apparently, he'd stopped for a breather and to give his legs a rest. Anyway, I went up there to look for it and there it was, just sitting on the table. If I'd just turned back then and gone back to my station, I might still have a job. Instead, my curiosity got the better of me."
"What did you see?" Fernando asked.
"Well, usually, the lagoon is in darkness when I patrol. They have lights aimed at the windows up there so you can never really see down below because of the glare. This time though, there were no lights. Probably because I wasn’t supposed to be in there as it was outside of the designated patrol times. Anyways, there are all these people rigging all this equipment up around the edge of the water."
"Like what?" Joanne asked.
"Cranes. Lifting equipment. Heavy duty stuff too. Seems to me your little adventure has the people in charge spooked. Looks like they're planning to move this whale of yours."
"Move it? Where? How?" Joanne asked.
"Hell, I don’t know. They saw me and gestured for me to move on. Ten minutes later, I'm pulled into the supervisor’s office and told I was being let go because of this whole key card thing. Bastards."
"Seems to me like you saw more than you were supposed to," Clayton muttered.
"Either way, it’s best left alone. Whatever they're up to, it’s obviously way bigger than us.”
"Could they be returning it to the wild?" Marie said, giving another of those flirtatious glances towards Clayton.
"Doubt it," Tom replied. "They spent a small fortune on keeping that area secure for a reason. I can’t see them just throwing away whatever is in there just because my dumb shit of a brother decided it would be fun to break in," he said, winking at his sibling who replied with a half-smile.
"Why don’t we do it for them?"
It was the first thing Jim had said since Tom had come
"So, what do you think?" Joanne asked.
“This is old news, or at least to me it is. That holding tank has been there since the place opened.”
“You knew about it?” Joanne said.
“I knew it was back there, after all, I work security. At least I did. We were always told it was a, uh, what was the word they used,” he frowned, searching his memory, “observation pool. All part of the next stage of the opening of the aquarium apparently. No big deal.”
“You don’t think it’s a little weird?”
“Are you kidding?” Tom said, managing a smile. “That entire place is weird. Even though I was on security, there are parts of the building that were always locked. Doors with keypads on them, which nobody seems to know the numbers to, plus all the people who come and go that aren’t part of the official staff list or have official job titles. Come on, babe, you work there, you must have seen it.”
“I only saw the gift shop and the staff room. It’s not something I ever knew about. How come you never said anything before?”
“I don’t really know,” he said with a shrug. “I never really linked it to anything sinister. All I was concerned with was keeping my job, which actually makes what happened this morning seem a little bit easier to understand.”
"What do you mean?" Joanne asked.
"This morning, the new security teams were due on site in response to the break in. My job was to coordinate them, set them up, and show them the ropes. Usually, my patrol route only allows me on the walkway above that lagoon, and only at certain times of day, it’s always been that way. Anyway, old Harry had been on his patrol during the night shift and had lost his radio somewhere on his patrol. It's an instant dismissal, and because the two of us were already in the shit for our slow response to the break in, I offered to go look for it for him to make sure the new guys didn’t have anything to report to Mr Andrews. Harry thought he might have left it in one of the labs near where I caught you all trying to break in. Apparently, he'd stopped for a breather and to give his legs a rest. Anyway, I went up there to look for it and there it was, just sitting on the table. If I'd just turned back then and gone back to my station, I might still have a job. Instead, my curiosity got the better of me."
"What did you see?" Fernando asked.
"Well, usually, the lagoon is in darkness when I patrol. They have lights aimed at the windows up there so you can never really see down below because of the glare. This time though, there were no lights. Probably because I wasn’t supposed to be in there as it was outside of the designated patrol times. Anyways, there are all these people rigging all this equipment up around the edge of the water."
"Like what?" Joanne asked.
"Cranes. Lifting equipment. Heavy duty stuff too. Seems to me your little adventure has the people in charge spooked. Looks like they're planning to move this whale of yours."
"Move it? Where? How?" Joanne asked.
"Hell, I don’t know. They saw me and gestured for me to move on. Ten minutes later, I'm pulled into the supervisor’s office and told I was being let go because of this whole key card thing. Bastards."
"Seems to me like you saw more than you were supposed to," Clayton muttered.
"Either way, it’s best left alone. Whatever they're up to, it’s obviously way bigger than us.”
"Could they be returning it to the wild?" Marie said, giving another of those flirtatious glances towards Clayton.
"Doubt it," Tom replied. "They spent a small fortune on keeping that area secure for a reason. I can’t see them just throwing away whatever is in there just because my dumb shit of a brother decided it would be fun to break in," he said, winking at his sibling who replied with a half-smile.
"Why don’t we do it for them?"
It was the first thing Jim had said since Tom had come
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