Vigilante Investigator Series Box Set

by Eden Sharp

  'Tell me just one, very small, detail from that dream.'

  'I was dreaming about a young girl I'd met out there called Mehri. We'd been doing some building work. I was giving her a piece of pineapple. From rations off a shipment.'

  'An actual event that happened in real life.'

  'Yes.'

  'That was very nice of you, giving up your rations.'

  'She didn't like it. She'd only ever eaten yogurt and bread before. After I saw her face screw up I tried a piece and realized it was sour. She thought I'd played a trick on her.'

  'What happened then?'

  'She laughed her head off.'

  Knox felt the tears come. He couldn't stop them from spilling down his cheeks.

  SIXTEEN

  Inspector Dean Ortiz

  Ortiz watched the hunched shoulders of Eric Lewan come into view as he exited the front entrance of the SoMa InterContinental. They added extra padding to the silk-blend suit and caused the jacket sleeves to end at his wrist bones. A travesty to go high-end and not have the fit.

  Lewan bent forward and placed a graphite-colored hard-shelled case on the asphalt and waited for the valet to come around with his vehicle.

  A midnight blue BMW swung into view and parked. Lewan declined the valet's help and used both hands to haul the case onto the passenger seat. He walked round and slid in to the driver's side.

  Ortiz alerted the team and read out the license tag.

  'Okay the deal's going ahead, let's move.'

  He checked the intersections and one-way traffic layout on the GPS.

  'He's made a right and gone past Fifth. Barstow, you go parallel on Telhama. Jordan get ahead of him and make a right onto Sixth and see if he follows.'

  The bike was the easiest to deploy. It could disappear easily in the traffic and do a complete three-sixty if necessary without much chance of being blown.

  Aaron left a three car gap. If they were spotted they would blow past the stack and call in Connor and Dawson in the third car to pick up the tail.

  Jordan called in. 'He went left on Sixth.'

  'Unless he's on route to the Hall he's probably heading for the Southern Freeway,' Ortiz said.

  He saw he was right when Lewan joined the on ramp for the 280. Nothing to do now but sit back and wait for the drop.

  Lewan exited at Bayview and headed for Hunter's Point. The decommissioned naval shipyard had been redeveloped into a mainly commercial area alongside some low-rent housing, where if the toxic waste didn't kill you the gangs probably would.

  Lewan slowed out by Pier 80 and pulled into a storage locker facility of old shipping containers sitting outdoors in a half-abandoned wasteland.

  'Everyone hold back.'

  Ortiz peered through binoculars pinpointing the exact location where Lewan had stopped. One rust brown can out of a sea of others came into view.

  Lewan opened it up, deposited the case inside then relocked the door and pocketed the key.

  Ortiz waited for the BMW to head out back to sunnier streets where there was less chance of it getting jacked.

  'He's dumped the dope. I want round-the-clock surveillance. Jordan you get the unit number and pull the first shift with Connor. Barstow? Go with Dawson and get a warrant.'

  John Knox

  Knox was flicking through the channels on the TV when his cell rang.

  'Want to meet me for breakfast?'

  McGlynn.

  Knox looked at his watch. 13.00. Five minutes earlier he'd worked through a homemade pastrami sub.

  'Sure. You want picking up?'

  'No. Meet me at Blue's, corner of Mission and Sixth, in half an hour. It does the best coffee in the city.'

  She hung up.

  Dan always said he ate like it was about to be taken away from him. It was never a problem to fit in another meal.

  Blue's consisted of a bright airy space, painted white to maximize the light let in by expansive windows at the front. A neutral-colored service area ran along the back wall.

  McGlynn sat at a long, narrow bench-like wooden table, perched on a stool, sharing the space with a couple dressed in mix and match shorts, eyes facing the door. She spotted him as he walked in and nodded.

  He went over to the counter and checked out the menu above. It detailed every permutation of coffee available. It was the sort of place where you were expected to know the regional climate and soil composition before ordering. He decided to ask for advice on what was good and headed over to the table.

  McGlynn peered at him over the rim of her skinny latte or whatever.

  'That what you call breakfast?' he asked.

  A guy in a blue shirt wandered over, laden. Put down a plate in front of her. Poached eggs, bacon, Italian sausage, tomatoes, mixed greens, all with guacamole and jalapeño piled on top.

  'No this is.'

  He was impressed. He nodded to the server. 'I'll go with one of those.'

  'Sure.'

  'Now I just have to choose the coffee,' he said.

  If only it were that simple.

  'They've got this interesting Japanese coffee-making machinery back there, check it out,' McGlynn said.

  'What do I ask for, bukkake?'

  He headed over back to the counter to wait in line.

  When he returned the couple had moved on. He jostled in beside a newcomer, a guy with a messenger bag slung over one shoulder. Took a sip.

  'It's real good,' he said. 'So what's up?'

  McGlynn stabbed a fork at the plate.

  'Food first,' she said.

  He smiled. Good priorities.

  'Out late?' he asked.

  She flicked her eyes up but continued eating.

  His meal arrived. Neither of them said anything until all of it was gone.

  The place had thinned out now and they had the bench table to themselves but McGlynn kept her voice low.

  'I found out Grifthawk's real name and address,' she said.

  'How?'

  'That's what I do. I find people.'

  Knox shrugged.

  'Anyhow, that's not all. Turns out he's pulled a scam on a Ukrainian gang. He's hacked into their system and lifted charge card data they've skimmed to print his own cards. I think I've figured out a way to get him to talk to us about Amber.'

  'And what's that?'

  'Who do you know who could pass for a member of some Russian-speaking mafia? Someone big and boulder-like? Skull like a Neanderthal?'

  'Right now?' Knox said. 'He'll be training at the dojo.'

  Kelly was working a bag, Knox could see Besson through the glass sitting in the office. McGlynn walked straight through to see him first.

  Kelly stopped punching. Wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Grinned as Knox walked over.

  'How are you two getting along?'

  Knox shrugged. 'She doesn't give much away.'

  He helped Kelly lift the bag off the hook and drag it over to a storage cupboard along a side wall.

  'She needs you for something,' he said.

  'So she's bored of you already and wants a real man. Leave you to your five against one,' Kelly said, heading towards the office.

  'That's exactly it,' Knox said and followed on behind.

  Before he got to the office he took note of the framed photographs on the wall for the first time. Some contained McGlynn and Besson along with other students. In another, she was clearly taking part in a competition in Japan. She wore her hair piled up, looked different somehow in a gi but he couldn't make out much detail, the shot was old and grainy.

  One stood out among the rest. Besson, the black hair, deep tan and narrow eyes squinting out from a large face, posing chest out next to McGlynn, his hand on her shoulder. She looked young, maybe fifteen or sixteen, eyes like depth charges. Serious, like she knew it all already.

  Besson came out of the office. Stopped next to him, studying him not the photographs.

  'She's a good fighter. Fearless,' Knox said.

  Bes
son looked at the picture then back at Knox eyeballing him like a father meeting a prom date.

  'For sure. And you'll be familiar with the idea of putting fear to one side.'

  The softly spoken Louisiana slow drawl that you had to listen to hard so as not to miss anything, lent a Zen-like quality to everything the man said.

  'But you know something? Sometimes it's fear that keeps you alive.'

  Besson eyed him for a minute longer as if to drive home his point then slung an oversized sports bag onto his shoulder and headed for the door, his gait relaxed, rolling from side to side.

  In the office, McGlynn sat in Besson's chair bringing Kelly up to speed.

  Knox sat down and waited for her to finish.

  'So here's what happens next,' she said and began to lay it all out.

  SEVENTEEN

  Angela McGlynn

  The three of us sat in the Dodge around the corner from the apartment block.

  'Don't fuck it up or McGlynn will have to whoop your ass again,' Knox said.

  And people said it was only women that gossiped.

  'She didn't tell you I let her win?' Kelly said.

  'You're all hulked up and heavy, gravity is not your ally,' I said.

  On the first floor, I knocked on the apartment door. Waited. Nothing. So I tried it again.

  I was about to knock a third time when a shadow passed over the spy hole. Bolts slid out of their housings and the door opened on a chain leaving a gap three inches wide. Kelly moved in from the side and put two hundred and fifty-five pounds into a front kick that wrenched away the chain and knocked the kid behind off his feet. An oppressive heat met us from the interior as we slipped inside. Kelly grabbed the kid and I shut the door behind us, leaving Knox out as sentry. Stale pizza smells permeated the room. I know what you did last night.

  Scrawny mohawk guy had a row of computers along one wall. Fans whirred intermittently into life then fell silent again. Kelly held him by the throat up against one wall with one hand, his other hand pressed across the guy's mouth. There was a foldaway bed in the corner. The blankets were all messed up indicating he'd not long emerged into the light of day. If that was the case he looked wide awake now.

  I turned to Kelly. 'Dostatochno,' I said in my best Russian accent. Enough. Google truly is a wonderful creation.

  Kelly threw Grifthawk, aka Simon Nieger, down onto one of the office chairs in front of the machinery. Wheeled him into the middle of the room. Grabbed another for himself. Pushed it directly opposite. The gas spring sighed like a dying man's last breath as he settled his bulk down onto it.

  'You've heard of the name Mykola Zlenko right?' I said circling between the two chairs.

  Neiger shook his head at a variable speed as though he couldn't make his mind up.

  'Mr. Zlenko is a very good friend to have. A terrible enemy though. Do you know what he does to his enemies?'

  I stopped in Neiger's line of vision temporarily blocking out Kelly. He shook his head from side to side much faster. I continued walking, circling behind him.

  'Some might consider what he does extreme.' I shrugged. 'Others might just put it down to cultural differences.'

  Neiger slid his eyes across to Kelly then flicked them back as I appeared in front of him again, as if I were some kind of lifeline.

  'The thing is, you have something of his, two things actually, one more important than the other. This important thing might even buy you your life.'

  Neiger screwed up his eyes. Sweat beaded out across his forehead.

  'We want the data back of course, but perhaps this transgression can be viewed as a mistake.' I leaned in. 'You want to know what you have to do to buy your own life?' I asked.

  He nodded his head vigorously up and down.

  I continued on, letting Kelly come and go in his eyeline.

  'Mr. Zlenko had a girl working for him called Amber Grigson. We sent her here once we realized you had the data. She told us all about your little operation. But then she didn't come back.'

  I paused for a moment to ensure Neiger was following along.

  'This girl was a business asset and now Mr. Zlenko wants all of his property returned. You have exactly one minute to tell me where she is. After that, you tell it to him.' I pointed at Kelly. 'I hope your Russian's good.'

  I stepped to the side. Made the big man's menace visible behind me.

  A sound between a scrape and a squeak came from out of Neiger's mouth. He swallowed. Attempted to locate some moisture that wasn't forthcoming.

  'She went out with a card and I never saw her again. I just figured she got busted. Honestly that's it,' he rasped.

  Kelly stood up. Making himself look bigger in the space. Dangerous.

  'You'll tell me when and where, the name on the card, what she had for breakfast and any other detail you can think of,' I said.

  He pointed to the side of the room. His hand hovering limply in mid-air but he didn't move.

  'Yes?'

  He glanced at Kelly again then scurried over to a closet and rummaged inside. Kelly moved faster than his size indicated was possible and stood behind him, holding a Glock to the back of his neck.

  Neiger began to cry. He lifted out a woman's purse. Kelly stood back. Neiger stayed down, kneeling on the floor, hands shaking.

  'She went out to a mall, I don't know which one,' Neiger said.

  'When?'

  'A couple of weeks ago, three maybe. A Saturday, two or three weeks ago.'

  'With one of our cards?'

  'No. She'd never done one for me before. I didn't know if she'd blow it. I gave her one some kid snatched and brought to me. She wouldn't have had long before it was reported stolen.'

  I walked over, took the purse and tipped it upside down. Lip gloss, a pack of gum, a BART map and a Californian driver's license fell onto the floor. I picked it up, read Jaime Secora. The blond in the photo was a similar age. I put it in my pocket.

  Neiger looked concerned. 'There was a cell phone in there, high-end, easy to sell.'

  He stared at the purse. 'Bitch.'

  He looked disappointed for the brief moment before he realized he had bigger problems and his face went back to being terrified.

  I pulled a memory stick out from inside my jacket.

  'Now I take back the data files,' I said.

  EIGHTEEN

  Knox pulled away from the curb. 'You get what you need?'

  I nodded. 'He sent out Amber using a card from a stolen purse.' I held out the driver's license. 'We checked it and found this.'

  'Some high-roller. He ain't exactly living the dream. He's just some skeevy kid who couldn't get laid at a nerd convention,' Kelly said.

  I shook my head. 'He'll have some luxury place in a sweet spot somewhere. Nice car in the driveway. That apartment was just a cover.'

  'So now what?' Knox asked.

  'If Amber Grigson had been picked up using the card, she would have flagged up as a missing.'

  That was unless Oakland police had screwed up the admin and the report had never made it on to the main database for the cops here. A possibility but unlikely.

  'But it turns out she had this Secora kid's cell so it'll be possible to see if she made any calls,' I said.

  'You can drop me at a Citibank, I need to go pay utilities and get cash before they close,' Kelly said.

  Knox flashed a look across his shoulder to Kelly in the back seat.

  'Why don't you drag yourself into the twenty-first century and use online banking or get a decent phone like mine? I just swipe it. I don't need cash.'

  'It's not safe,' Kelly said. 'Ask her. She told me.'

  'I'd never have had you down as Stone Age McGlynn,' Knox said.

  'It's not safe' I said.

  Even if the black hats couldn't be bothered, organized crime syndicates running identity scams or any three letter government agency could access banking information online.

  Cashless payments made possible by NFC chips, or Near Field Communicatio
n, were also a problem. NFC allowed for two-way short range communication between devices. Basically, just radio transmissions which allowed you to purchase items by holding the chip near a cash register, or to swap contact information with someone. They also provided an in to the virtual world like never before.

  Most people didn't realize their smart phones were more powerful than their desktop computers or laptops. Most did not have adequate security protection.

  Even the physical world could be compromised. Some buildings used NFC. Holding a chip up to a pad on a door sent a signal to disengage the lock. The technology allowed for a whole lot more than just making payments.

  Knox pulled over to let Kelly out.

  'I'm gonna check out your phone records with McGlynn. Bet I only find premium rate numbers.'

  Kelly gave him a look before walking away.

  Knox turned to face me. 'We can do that right?'

  'Not exactly. Phone records are only available to law enforcement. PIs need a subpoena, cops are meant to need a warrant and phoning up the carrier on a pretext or buying from a broker would be illegal.'

  'So how do you get a subpoena? I'd really like to learn how all this works. Maybe help out on the investigative side.'

  Hopefully Jeff came up with a job soon. I tried to keep one life separate from the other, the legal from the illegal, because of the risks involved. But sometimes it was easier to take short cuts.

  'Time may be running out for this girl. I'll probably not bother with the subpoena. It's the sort of thing anyone finds out, I could lose my license. You might not want to be involved.'

  I watched his face while he considered what I had said.

  'Let's just find her.'

  'You have a computer at your place?'

  'Uh-huh.'

  'Then I'll show you how a few things work.'

  Mykola Zlenko

  'Tell me.' Zlenko scanned each face as he paced the room.

  Petriv averted his eyes until his boss stopped and stood in front of him and he was forced to look. He didn't like what he saw. He lowered his gaze to cheek level, concentrated on the large flat plains of sheared bone.