Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  Anthony: We can always trade.

  Theo: I speak for the mayor when I say we don’t have anything to trade with. The county has borne a lot of expense. Our resources are depleted.

  Anthony: What about the secret stash the mayor has acquired?

  Theo: What secret stash?

  Anthony: When I first came here, I made it my mission to know everything about this place and the people worth knowing. Sitting alone in a bar, I had a very interesting conversation with someone named Billy Kid, an old blue collar worker who has been living here for the past 80 years. Over drinks, Billy told me that a certain fuel company owed billions of dollars to the old mining company that used to work in these parts. With nothing else to pay, they paid their debt the only way they could billions of dollars of fuel storage belts. Of course, history says that was a poor trade on the fuel company’s part. Within a fortnight, the prices skyrocketed once they ran out of raw material to make Elecktrolavirium, the element that had revolutionized the electric fuel industry. A wonderful product. Hundreds of miles worth of fuel in the palm of your hand. Shame, we lost it.

  Theo: Billy is crazy. And how does that matter?

  Anthony: Billy remembered seeing thousands of trucks. If one is to believe Billy, they were responsible for storing these fuel belts to the mining company’s secret warehouse. A warehouse that once was located on an abandoned piece of land, part of which now….

  Theo: Stop! The mayor has no knowledge of a billion dollars’ worth of fuel belts. It’s fiction.

  Anthony: Actually, in today’s black market, they are worth almost 50 times that. Perhaps we should use that till it holds its worth. Who knows, maybe in the future, people would figure out walking, and cycling is good, and the industries in the future would find an alternate source to power their factories. Certainly, we don’t want the good people in New Frontier to know that the mayor is sitting on a fortune that could feed billions of families for the rest of their lives.

  Theo: How much are we talking about? I might know someone who has access to the remaining stash. Let’s keep this between us. I’ll talk to the mayor.

  Anthony: Check your email.

  Theo: Okay.

  Anthony: Good man.

  Vik couldn’t find anyone above the age of 80 in Morrow and Old River who went by the name of Billy or its common variations. He did a recursive search to find known people who would frequently visit bars, by compiling through decades old police records. He remembered asking Anthony about how they were able to procure resources to setup the infrastructure, including Nucleus. Anthony had mentioned that he had a secret drinking buddy, but nothing else. Since the time Vik had learnt about Anthony’s location and followed him to New Frontier, to his recollection, Anthony had never left Morrow for long hours without Vik’s knowledge. Vik always made it a point that he accompanied Anthony or followed him in case he ever did visit outside Morrow for any purpose.

  Vik didn’t regret killing Anthony as soon as he laid eyes on him for crimes against humanity when he got Eric to re-introduce them. He could have monitored Anthony from far away, but his objective wasn’t blood for blood. He wanted to get close to him. He didn’t know initially that Anthony was behind the murder of his family. Even if he did, he had nothing but circumstantial evidence against him, a desperate attempt of a frantic father and husband. He always believed that Anthony had committed a far greater crime in his quest for power – a crime against humanity, and he must pay for that. But the more time he spent with him, he felt perhaps Anthony was a changed man. Until one day when the mirage broke. Anthony let his guard down for a second, quite literally, when he sneered at the news of a child’s death, and Vik saw through him. Since that day, he wanted to see Anthony suffer. Vik believed betrayal would hurt him more, and he deserved to die a slow, painful death. Then one day, Anthony boasted of being a puppet master and controlling everyone around him. Drunk with alcohol and power, he bragged about killing a family that was heir to a superpower to fulfil his goals, but he didn’t realize he was confessing his crime of murdering a man’s family to the very same man. At that very moment, Anthony signed his death sentence. Since that night, he was a man living on borrowed time but too blind to see it.

  Chapter 22: Remnant

  Once Vik realized about Anthony’s duplicitous life, he wanted Anthony to lead him to Jenna before killing him. Vik was also running away from Josh and wanted to make sure he would live safely at New Frontier, a place he knew before the world turned upside down. It didn’t take long for Vik to realize that Anthony hadn’t settled in Morrow for a retirement. Since then, he knew he had to keep Anthony alive to unearth whatever he was planning. Anthony had installed protocols to ensure that Vik stayed at Nucleus whenever he would visit a place outside. Vik was forced to follow those protocols, but he always kept an eye on Anthony’s frivolities.

  Slowly, he began altering Anthony’s life choices and actions. Paranoia and insecurities kicked in as Anthony started losing his mind while Vik continued toying with his target. Vik felt like a predator, while Anthony was his helpless prey. Yet, it took Vik almost a year to realize Anthony had already built a secret life that Vik had no idea about. Once he had learnt that, Vik knew Anthony had to go before he could do more damage.

  Vik heard a noise in the lab, which brought him back to the present. He looked through the slightly ajar door and saw Karen’s chiseled face. He locked the door from the inside. It was time to get back to the job in hand.

  Vik felt that Anthony would’ve met Billy in Morrow itself, however when the searches started showing no conclusive results, doubts began to circle his mind. The algorithm also gave a list of addresses of every male above the age of 80 who ever lived in Morrow and Old River. There were over ten thousand hits. After cross-checking with digitized death records available at Sheriff’s office, the list shrank to over a couple of thousand. Still, no one had arrest records related to drinking or even remotely could go by Billy as an alias based on their name.

  “So this is a dead-end,” said Vik. “Maybe Anthony bluffed based on the legend.”

  He still took a print out of everyone above the age of 80 who currently lived in Morrow or died in the past year.

  He decided to leave a couple of hours later after noticing Karen had left. While leaving, he shared eye contact with Kate, which Joey noticed. After Vik left, Joey gossiped to Emma about it.

  “You think something is wrong?” asked Emma.

  “I don’t know. Yesterday, Kate had a secret conversation with him at the hospital. Now the eye contacts, when they would never even look at each other during the old days,” said Joey. “I’m just curious. I don’t want her to get involved in something that she shouldn’t be.”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing, but what do you have in mind?” asked Emma. “Should we ask her?”

  “That would trigger her. Maybe we should keep an eye on her quietly,” said Joey.

  “How? I don’t want to follow her 24X7,” said Emma.

  “Not physically. Sheriff told me about the surveillance cameras,” said Joey.

  “Yeah, Vik set it up,” said Emma.

  “We can access them at the MSC,” said Joey.

  “What’s that?” asked Emma.

  “A secret surveillance center right here in the precinct,” said Joey. “Only Vik, Sheriff, and a couple of other officers know about it.”

  “Okay,” said Emma, as she was surprised to hear about it.

  Kate left at the usual time. Emma and Joey pretended to be busy. In the late evening, Joey casually enquired about the MSC when Sheriff returned after completing the inspection of the vehicles. Eric gave away Officer Tyson’s name in jest. Joey and Emma followed Tyson to the secret room hidden behind the old interrogation room.

  Joey and Emma were surprised to see the setup. It was like they had struck gold. Joey dismissed the officers for the night. He and Emma began monitoring the cameras.

  They saw Kate reach her home in one of the cameras planted near her
home. There were no cameras near Vik’s home, which was in a remote part of the town. They discovered other blind spots, like the areas between21stand 25th street, Emily’s, 7-10th streets and a couple of other remote spots in the town.

  Morrow always felt like a small town, until Joey and Emma browsed through the cameras. They were so many spots that Vik had left, albeit intentionally. Joey and Emma had to do with what they had in hand. Still, they felt like they had over a hundred eyes watching the town simultaneously.

  Half an hour later, Joey noticed Kate leaving her home. He tracked her as she travelled through various spots that were under surveillance. A couple of minutes later, they lost her.

  Joey frantically switched the cameras while Emma looked closely at the screens. They couldn’t trace her for the next five minutes. They realized soon enough that the system wasn’t built to track someone specific in real-time.

  “There,” said Emma. “Go back to the previous one.”

  Joey returned to the previous camera and saw a glimpse of Kate’s car as it left the angle.

  “That’s north on 43rd. Where do you think she’s going?” asked Joey. “Isn’t the market the opposite way?”

  “Yes,” said Emma. “Maybe she’s going to the bar.”

  Joey scrolled through the cameras.

  “There. She didn’t turn left for the bar,” said Joey.

  “Where is she going?” asked Emma.

  “I know a place,” said Joey.

  “Where?” asked Emma.

  “Emily’s,” said Joey.

  “Why would she go there?” asked Emma.

  “Let’s find out,” said Joey.

  He called Kate, but she didn’t pick up the phone. A minute later, she called him back.

  “Hey, did you call?” asked Kate.

  “Where are you?” asked Joey.

  “Home,” said Kate.

  “I’m outside. Come on down,” said Joey.

  “Actually, I’m on my way home. I went to eat outside,” said Kate. “Ran out of food in the freezer.”

  “Where? Maybe I can join you,” said Joey.

  “No, I just finished,” said Kate. “We’ll meet tomorrow, okay?”

  “Kate?” said Joey.

  “Yeah?” asked Kate.

  “Everything alright?” asked Joey.

  “Yeah, why do you ask?” asked Kate.

  “No reason,” said Joey. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye,” said Kate.

  Joey hung up.

  Joey was upset. He knew Kate was lying to him, and he didn’t need the cameras to know that. He picked up his jacket.

  “Where are you going?” asked Emma.

  “To Emily’s,” said Joey. “I need to know.”

  “I’ll come with you,” said Emma.

  They left together for Emily’s. Emma ran into Adam and told him to call Tyson, “Tell him to take over MSC.”

  “What’s MSC?” asked Adam.

  “He’ll know,” said Emma, as she ran out.

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

  Vik and Emily were sitting in her office, and going over the list that Vik had drawn off the database.

  “I don’t remember some old guy named Billy,” said Emily. “And I’ve been here longer than Anthony.”

  “I don’t think Anthony was lying about meeting someone named Billy,” said Vik. “Even the mayor’s butler, Theo, recognized the name.”

  “Too bad Theo died a year ago. Tell me why we are searching for this, Billy, again?” asked Emily.

  “Billy knows the directions to a treasure,” said Vik.

  “What treasure?” asked Emily.

  “We need a stockpile of weapons. To buy a stockpile, we need a treasure,” said Vik.

  “I didn’t ask that. I asked what treasure?” asked Emily.

  “Are you familiar with the legend associated with Morrow?” asked Vik.

  Emily burst into laughter. Her laughter would’ve been infectious if Vik wasn’t in such a foul mood.

  “You mean a million fuel storage belts?” asked Emily. “Some say it is two million belts.”

  “We only need 10,000 of those,” said Vik.

  “Why don’t you rob all the gas stations in the hundred mile radius?” said Emily.

  “I want 10,000, not a hundred,” said Vik.

  “You do realize it was just a story created by old people to keep the younger generation from leaving, right? Thousands of treasure hunters, and bounty hunters, had nearly destroyed the county before we put a stop to it,” said Emily. “It’s a lie, Vik.”

  “I refuse to believe that,” said Vik.

  “Okay, I’ll help you in this, but only because I want to say I told you so at the end of it,” said Emily.

  “Good enough for me,” said Vik.

  “So, where do we start?” asked Emily.

  “I want you to use your contacts with the bars around the town. Maybe this Billy guy told his story to a couple of bartenders and waiters,” said Vik.

  “If he did, why would they still be attending tables when they could own a couple of counties?!” said Emily.

  “Maybe they thought he was lying, just like you,” said Vik. “Just like they lie on the feedback forms, you ask them to fill after every dinner.”

  “They don’t lie on the feedback form,” said Emily as she threw a paperweight at him. Vik caught it and threw it back at her.

  They both chuckled.

  “Okay, I’ll get the girls to do a bit of research,” said Emily as she walked out.

  She returned half an hour later, informing Vik that she had asked a couple of her friends to chat up the bartenders and the waiters.

  “Thanks,” said Vik.

  “I still think it is a waste of time,” said Emily.

  “What’s a waste of time?” asked Kate as she knocked on the door and walked in.

  “What are you doing here?” asked Emily.

  “Sorry, Sandy told me Vik was in here,” said Kate.

  “Take a seat, Kate,” said Vik.

  As Vik started explaining to Kate, she received a phone call from Joey. She didn’t pick up the call. Vik told her to call back. Judging by Joey’s questions and her responses, they all knew Joey was suspicious of Kate. Kate regretted lying to Joey for Vik, but she didn’t have any choice. She knew Vik would push her out as soon as she made a decision without asking him.

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” said Vik. “He’ll be here soon.”

  “Who? Joey?” asked Emily.

  “Yeah, he probably knows Kate is here,” said Vik.

  “Why did you ask me here?” asked Kate.

  “How do you feel about committing a crime?” asked Vik.

  “What crime?” asked Kate.

  “Heist,” said Emily.

  “Where?” asked Kate.

  “We don’t know,” said Emily as she looked at Vik.

  “What she means is, we don’t know yet,” said Vik. “But hopefully, soon. By the way, do you know anyone named Billy Kid?”

  “No,” said Kate. “Who’s Billy?”

  “Our map,” said Vik.

  “What are we stealing?” asked Kate. “And why?”

  “We need to go shopping to stand a chance in case we are forced to attack. Or defend. Either way, we need firepower, sophisticated machinery. You know, the whole modern day arsenal,” said Vik. “For that, we need to have something worth selling.”

  “What are we selling?” asked Kate.

  “The only thing that we have worth selling. Fuel belts!” said Vik.

  “And you know where we can find that?” asked Kate.

  “Maybe,” said Vik.

  “Okay. Maybe, after that, you can find a 20 feet monster that roams the woods,” said Kate, almost smiling.

  Emily chuckled.

  “Are you in, or are you out?” asked Vik, with a straight face.

  “I’m in,” said Kate, “Do you have a lead?”

  “We can alwa
ys ask the mayor,” said Emily.

  “Judging by the conversation, I don’t think the mayor knows about it,” said Vik. “The guy was dealing with thugs like Anton to make an extra buck. He wouldn’t have gone to such trouble if he had billions of dollars’ worth of product to sell.”

  “Okay, so the only people who know about it are presumably dead,” said Emily. “Our only lead is an 80 year old man named Billy Kid.”

  “I can’t back out of the trade,” said Vik. “I have to find it.”

  “I’ll help you,” said Kate.

  Vik looked at Emily.

  “Are you seriously looking at me? What, you think I’ll say no?” asked Emily.

  “No, but just for my sanity, please say yes,” said Vik.

  “Fine, I’ll help. Since you said please,” smiled Emily.

  “We’ll regroup tomorrow. I need to think about it some more. Maybe, I’m missing something,” said Vik.

  “Okay,” said Kate.

  Kate put the list of addresses in her purse.

  Kate left first. She hobbled for her keys as she started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. As soon as she passed the first intersection, Joey and Emma turned right towards Emily’s restaurant, barely missing her.

  Vik and Emily were standing in the parking lot when Joey pulled up at the gate. Joey and Emma stayed in the car when they noticed Emily and Vik standing next to his car.

  Emily saw Joey and Emma sitting in the car. Vik was standing with his back towards them, so he couldn’t notice them.

  “Don’t turn around, but your friend, Joey, and your girlfriend just showed up,” said Emily.

  “I don’t want him or Emma or Eric involved. Don’t know how many times do I have to say it,” said Vik.

  Emily noticed Vik didn’t correct her when she referred to Emma as his girlfriend. It spoiled her joke a little.

  “I’m getting tired of that cop showing up at my doorstep every day,” said Emily. “I have to do something about it.”

  “Do what?” asked Vik.

  Emily grabbed Vik’s face and kissed him on the lips passionately.

  Emma turned her face away after a couple of seconds. She was heartbroken. She knew Emily and Vik had a far deeper bond than Karen and Vik. She lamented she didn’t see it coming. Joey saw how Emma was upset and reversed his car out of the parking lot. Emily stopped kissing Vik once they left a minute later.