Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “Fine!” said Xavi. “I’ll get the trucks first.”

  “But?” asked Vik as he turned around.

  “If I don’t deliver the belts, I’m a dead man,” said Xavi. “Am I dying, Vik?”

  “Come on, Xavi! You know I’m good for it,” said Vik.

  “Okay,” said Xavi. “5 days.”

  “Done,” said Vik. “Bring a spare truck.”

  “For what?” asked Xavi.

  “For the belts?” said Vik.

  “I’ll have to bring a couple of them. The men have to go back too,” said Xavi. “Where am I delivering? Past Fedric?”

  “Yeah, that’ll do. Inside New Frontier,” said Vik. “State taxes are a pain in the ass.”

  Xavi chuckled.

  “Quick question – Do you know who setup Atlantis?” asked Vik.

  “Atlantis?” asked Xavi. “Thought it was a ghost town.”

  Vik looked at his face and smiled. Xavi pretended to play dumb, but Vik didn’t budge. After thirty seconds of a staring match, Xavi finally relented.

  “Yeah,” said Xavi. “He scored a couple of other deals too.”

  “Where?” asked Vik.

  “I don’t know,” said Xavi.

  “I’ll throw 10 belts for you as a token of appreciation,” said Vik.

  “20?” asked Xavi.

  “Fine,” said Vik.

  “Zeke. I don’t know for sure, but one of Zeke’s suppliers got too drunk and told me that they had been regularly delivering stuff near TS – 51,” said Xavi.

  “What kind of stuff?” asked Vik.

  “Stuff that I could only dream to get my hands on,” said Xavi. “Heavy machinery. Electronic chips. Concrete. Helicopters. Computers and Servers. You name it.”

  “Since when?” asked Vik.

  “3-4 years,” said Xavi.

  “Who’s the buyer?” asked Vik.

  “I don’t know, man. He mentioned something like Sirius or Serra,” said Xavi.

  Vik’s eyebrows touched each other as he thought about it.

  “Sierra?” asked Vik.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” said Xavi. “But that’s all I know.”

  “Okay,” said Vik.

  “Don’t forget the belts,” said Xavi.

  “Don’t forget the list and the trucks,” said Vik.

  They nodded and went in opposite directions.

  Xavi got in his car parked a couple of blocks away and made a call. He checked in his rearview mirror to see if anyone was around.

  “Got a deal for you. 50 trucks for 8000 belts?” said Xavi. “Take it or leave it.”

  “10000,” said the man on the phone.

  “We had a deal,” said Xavi.

  “That was for 100 trucks for 15,000 belts. Get me 15,000 belts, and I’ll give you 100 trucks. For 50 trucks, the price is 9500. Take it or leave it,” said the man.

  Xavi thought about it for a second. He usually worked at a margin of 25% of the trade value, but it was too easy a deal to let go.

  “Deal. Keep the trucks ready,” said Xavi. “I’ll be there in 3 days with my crew.”

  “Okay,” said the man.

  Xavi smiled. He drove away in his car. A couple of minutes later, he received a call from an unknown number.

  “What?” asked Xavi.

  “What have you got for me?” asked the caller.

  “500 Belts. Goes to the highest bidder,” said Xavi. “Gold is mandatory.”

  “Excellent. I’ll setup the auction,” said the caller.

  The scar on Xavi’s forehead smiled as Xavi grinned. He raced away to Morrow’s Gate, where he winked at Sheriff Eric, before leaving.

  “What a weird guy!” exhaled Eric.

  ********************************************************

  Vik returned to the precinct around 12:45 PM, and went to the lab. He couldn’t find Karen and thought she had changed her mind. He was relieved and disappointed at the same time. As he was leaving, Karen walked through the door.

  “You’re early,” said Karen. “You’re really looking forward to it.”

  “No, I’m just curious,” said Vik.

  “Okay, I’ll not keep you waiting then,” said Karen. “Let’s go.”

  Karen grabbed her purse, and they walked out together. Emma and Kate saw them leaving, smiling while talking to each other. Emma’s face lost its usual glow, as her smile turned into frown a second later. She didn’t know what to think, but Kate told her that they were leaving for some forensic work.

  “Karen told me,” lied Kate.

  Emma wasn’t convinced but felt a lot better when she heard that. She knew her and Vik weren’t romantically involved with each other. She only hoped that they would give themselves a try when they were ready to be in a relationship. Emma’s worries subsided when she remembered that Vik had told her that finding Katie was the only thing in his mind when it came to establishing relationships.

  “Where are we going?” asked Vik.

  “Get in the car,” said Karen as she sat in the driver seat.

  Vik got in the car, and Karen drove them to Morrow’s cemetery.

  “Thought we were going to a place where we could eat,” said Vik.

  “We will,” said Karen, as she stopped the car and turned off the engine.

  Karen got out of the car. Vik followed her. A gravedigger saw them walk past him, while he was sweeping leaves off the grounds.

  Walking past numerous graves, she stopped near Mark’s grave. She held Vik’s hand as she began to weep. Vik’s emotional strengths often eluded him whenever he would see a woman cry, especially if he couldn’t empathize. He felt that Mark was just a colleague that Karen couldn’t care less about. That changed when he saw her face. All the micro-expressions pointed to personal grief rather than a professional one.

  She turned her face and hugged Vik. He gently stroked her hair as her tears ran down Vik’s neck. The moment lasted for a minute, though neither of them was counting the seconds. She wiped away her tears and composed herself, giving a fake smile.

  “Sorry, I didn’t know you two were so close,” said Vik. “Now, I feel bad for not caring about him enough back then.”

  “It’s okay. Not your fault,” said Karen. “There’s nothing you could do.”

  “That doesn’t change anything,” said Vik.

  “We were secretly dating,” said Karen. “He had asked me to marry him. I asked for more time.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Vik.

  “Me too,” said Karen.

  Vik held her hand and took her to a wooden bench nearby. A cold wind was blowing her hair as he sat next to her.

  “You ever feel something driving you to do something that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?” asked Karen.

  “All the time,” said Vik. “What do you need to do?”

  “I want to kill every last one of them,” said Karen.

  “Who? The Emulations?” asked Vik.

  “Who calls them Emulations?” said Karen. “Your friend?”

  “Yeah, she used to call them that,” said Vik.

  “Yeah, I need to kill the Emulations,” said Karen. “I need to find their weaknesses.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that,” said Vik.

  He stood up and walked a couple of meters away. He had an inclination to where the conversation was going, and wasn’t sure he was ready for that. He couldn’t betray Olivia like that.

  “Your friend, who told you about them, how was she connected to all this?” asked Karen.

  There it was. The ultimate question, if answered truthfully, could start a storm by itself. Vik was surprised that Karen didn’t beat around the bush at all.

  ‘Could this be the reason she asked me here today? So that she could spin a sob story and get Olivia’s research? Could she be working for them? The timing is peculiar. She arrived pretty soon after Atlantis was destroyed’ were some of the thoughts in his mind that his heart was trying to fight.

  He didn’t belie
ve she could be a mole sent by his enemies to gather information about him.

  “She used to work in a lab where people were doing tests on these things,” said Vik.

  Thoughts of Olivia’s death crowded Vik’s mind. He remembered seeing her body lying on the ground, while Atlantis was burning around him.

  “I see,” said Karen. “At Atlantis?”

  Vik turned around and faced her. The demons in his head had taken over completely.

  “How do you know about Atlantis?” asked Vik.

  “It’s not a big county, Vik,” said Karen. “If you keep your eyes open, there’s nothing you can miss.”

  “Yeah, at Atlantis,” said Vik.

  “Do you know how I could access their research? You’re good behind a laptop, aren’t you?” said Karen.

  “That research, even if it existed, is probably gone,” said Vik.

  “I saw some papers stashed in the storeroom,” said Karen. “It looked similar to something we are looking for.”

  “We?” asked Vik.

  “You’re with me, aren’t you?” asked Karen as she stepped forward and stood close to him.

  Vik felt his senses were betraying him. She had a certain allure about her. Like her eyes were casting a spell on him. He knew he would never give Olivia’s research to a woman he hadn’t known for more than a fortnight, yet he felt he didn’t care if she got hold of it. The air smelled differently when she was around, and the world looked brighter. His brain wanted to surrender. But there was a sudden spark in his brain that hindered this sudden urge.

  As she leaned forward to kiss, he stepped away. She was taken aback.

  “Sorry, I...” said Vik.

  “No, I’m sorry I got lost in the moment,” said Karen.

  “We should head back,” said Vik.

  “Of course,” said Karen. “Raincheck on the lunch?”

  “Yes,” said Vik.

  Karen walked ahead, while Vik looked at the far end of the cemetery at an unmarked grave. He remembered having disposed of Anthony’s Apollo soon after he was released from Stanton Road Penitentiary. He realized he needed to be more careful around Karen. She made him feel vulnerable. He didn’t like that. There was something about her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  Suddenly, he felt a gush of wind kiss his body. He turned right to look for Karen but couldn’t see her. He turned back to look at Anthony’s grave but instead saw Karen standing on his left. Almost as if he was so lost that he didn’t see her walk past him. He felt confused. He looked at her, and she smiled. His mind began to wander, searching for something, but he couldn’t remember what. How he could not remember what he was searching for, he thought. Karen caressed his face with her cold hands. They walked together deep into the cemetery. The gravedigger followed them before they disappeared in thin air.

  ****************************************************

  Karen returned to the Morrow police precinct a couple of hours later and headed to the lab. Emma saw her come alone. She couldn’t help but notice Karen’s hair and mouth. The lipstick wasn’t smudged, and the hair was as good as they were when she had left. She looked for Vik at the door. After waiting for a couple of minutes, she went outside and looked for him. He was nowhere to be seen. She found it strange as she thought they had gone together for a lunch date. Kate saw Emma standing at the door and walked towards her.

  “Who are you looking for?” asked Kate as she looked around the parking lot.

  “No one,” said Emma as she turned her face away.

  “Vik’s car is still here, so I guess he hasn’t returned,” said Kate.

  “Karen is back, though,” said Emma.

  “Really? Where’s Vik?” asked Kate.

  “I didn’t ask. I didn’t want her to think I’m spying on them,” said Emma.

  “No, you’re just concerned for a colleague,” said Kate. “Let’s go.”

  They headed to the lab where Karen was sitting on a chair, going over the stack of files she had found in the storeroom. Emma and Kate realized it was what they had gotten from Vik’s server before he shut down the access.

  Kate rushed to the files and took them from Karen’s hand.

  “What are you doing? That’s private,” said Kate.

  “No, that’s important to our investigation,” said Karen as she took them back.

  Emma grabbed the box.

  “No, this doesn’t concern you,” said Emma.

  “Actually, Vik told me I could look at it,” said Karen.

  “Well, he didn’t tell us. By the way, where is he?” asked Emma.

  “How would I know?” asked Karen.

  “Because you guys left together a few hours ago,” said Emma.

  “Now, you’re mistaken. Yeah, we did leave, but we went different ways. I haven’t talked to him since then,” said Karen.

  Emma looked at Kate. Both of them were confused, while Karen was sitting there with a straight face.

  “It’s just the names of people and some basic research. I’m just browsing,” said Karen. “Or do you want me to talk to the sheriff?”

  Kate looked at Emma and shrugged.

  “It’s okay. We’ll talk to Vik, meanwhile, feel free to browse,” said Kate.

  Emma placed the box on the table and left with Kate.

  They went to the women’s washroom and looked around. After making sure they were the only ones there, Kate and Emma engaged in an animated conversation.

  “What if she finds about Anton and Katie?” asked Emma.

  “No, I noticed the box. It was the research we couldn’t make sense of,” said Kate. “Most of the research files were locked anyway. I’m sure the ones we could access mustn’t be that important, so they weren’t encrypted by a password.”

  “True,” said Emma. “Olivia’s logs and stuff about Old River is with Joey.”

  “Great,” said Kate. “We have to get rid of it. At least temporarily.”

  “Yes, I don’t want Karen to poke her nose where it doesn’t belong,” said Emma.

  Kate smiled.

  “I’m not jealous. I’m serious,” said Emma.

  “I know. I know,” said Kate, still smiling.

  As they were heading out of the washroom, they saw Karen standing at the door. They stopped for a second, before walking past her.

  “Sorry about earlier,” said Karen.

  “It’s okay,” said Kate as she turned around.

  “And we did go somewhere. It’s private, so I can’t tell you about it,” said Karen.

  “Oh, okay,” said Kate.

  Emma was visibly disturbed but didn’t want to give Karen the satisfaction. She didn’t turn around though the eyes at the back of her head could tell Karen was looking at her.

  Kate and Emma walked out of there. Karen smiled as she walked back into the lab.

  An hour later, Vik entered the precinct, only to find himself hounded by Emma and Kate, who had been looking at the door since their interaction with Karen.

  “Hey,” said Emma as she almost ran to him. Kate followed a millisecond away.

  “Hey,” said Vik. “Everything alright?”

  “Yeah,” said Emma.

  “We ran into Karen. She told me you guys hanged out today,” said Kate.

  “Really? I don’t remember,” said Vik.

  Kate noticed Vik looked convincing. Almost as if he was telling his version of the truth. She already had made Karen confess that they did go out.

  “Why are you lying?” asked Emma.

  “I’m not,” said Vik. “I haven’t seen her outside work.”

  “Oh, really?” said Kate.

  “You don’t have to lie anymore,” said Karen as she walked up to them.

  Kate was stunned for a minute. She didn’t even know when Karen showed up behind her. Karen walked past Kate and Emma and stood next to Vik. She put her hand on his left shoulder, gently caressing it. She whispered something in his ears before walking outside the precinct.

 
“What was that?” asked Emma.

  “Nothing. So yeah, Karen and I had a conversation about some stuff a few hours back,” said Vik.

  “Look at that. You suddenly remember!” said Kate.

  “Sorry, she had told me not to tell anyone,” said Vik.

  “What did you guys talk about?” asked Emma as Vik walked inside the precinct.

  Emma and Kate followed him close behind. They weren’t ready to drop the matter just yet. Vik didn’t reply till he reached the hallway past the main hall.

  “Just the usual stuff. Why?” asked Vik. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

  “Yes, you’ve made it pretty clear lately,” said Emma. “Did you give her permission to look at Olivia’s stuff?”

  “Last I knew, she didn’t need my permission,” said Vik. “But relax. You and I both know you guys didn’t get anything worthwhile. The files that were unlocked were pretty much useless.”

  “I know,” said Kate. “Does she?”

  “She will, soon. Once she takes a look at them,” said Vik. “Don’t fight it. It’s not a big deal.”

  “I’m not so sure about her,” said Emma. “That stuff doesn’t belong to her. I don’t want her to see it.”

  “The irony here alludes you, doesn’t it?” said Vik as he walked away.

  He stopped midway and turned around.

  “Don’t worry, I got this under control,” said Vik.

  “I hope so,” said Emma as she turned around.

  Vik looked at Kate and mouthed, ‘Emily’s. Tonight.’

  Kate was confused about the secrecy but nodded. She and Emma left, while Vik went inside the lab and headed to the Tech Centre room.

  He opened the county’s citizen’s database on one of the screens while coding an algorithm on the other. It took him five minutes to write an algorithm to locate someone in the entire county. His database was incomplete since only Morrow and Old River kept official records at the citizen repository at Nucleus.

  He remembered he had overheard a conversation between Anthony and Mayor Pete Gold’s assistant, Theo, over the phone. Anthony felt he was alone in the building, which later became Nucleus, so he was talking on speakerphone while working on something in his lab. Vik recalled the conversation.

  Anthony: Tell the mayor, I need more high voltage cables and transformers to create a powerful electricity grid for the entire county.

  Theo: We have run of money.