The girl’s lithe, tall frame was flattered by her loose, flowing white gown. Silky black ringlets cascaded down the nape of her neck. The soft smile on her face was infectious.
Although Jia had seen recordings of Rena Winston’s performances and couldn’t deny her talent had she wanted to, being in the same room as the singer was almost mesmerizing. It was as if she exuded an invisible force that made you want to stare at her.
Rena stood, still smiling. “I’m so sorry to have to take up your time, Detectives.” Even when not singing, her voice was soothing, almost ethereal. "I know you’re very busy, and I wish I could have met you under more pleasant circumstances. Are you hungry or thirsty? I’m sure I could get you something.”
“They’re not here for breakfast, Rena,” Leonard muttered. “And we don’t want them here any longer than they need to be.” He sat beside her and glared at the detectives. The bodyguard headed silently toward a corner, his expression blank and his hands in his pockets.
Jia’s eyes flitted to the man before she returned her gaze to the singer, clearing her throat. “That won’t be necessary, Miss Winston. We’re fine. We had a bite to eat before we came here.”
“Rena,” the girl replied. “I insist. No one calls me Miss Winston around here.”
“Okay, Rena. I’m Detective Jia Lin.” She gestured at Erik. “This is my partner, Detective Blackwell.” She took a seat on one of the chairs across from Rena. Erik joined her, sparing a glance for the UTC’s most pathetic bodyguard.
“Oh, I know who you are.” Rena’s smile grew wider. “I’ve read about your heroic efforts. Leonard doesn’t like it when I read the news.”
Leonard frowned. “Because it’s a waste of time. Two cops taking on gangsters or other stupid garbage doesn’t matter to you. I’m just trying to help keep you focused, Rena. All you need to do is worry about pleasing your fans.”
She looked down, her smile vanishing. “I know, Leonard, and I appreciate it. You’re probably right. You usually are.”
Jia frowned at the overbearing manager, and he in turn ignored her.
“Let’s just get to the questions,” Erik suggested. “We’ll try to make this brief, and we’re sorry if anything upsets you.”
Rena shook her head and offered an apologetic smile. “I can’t imagine any questions that would be more upsetting than Chau’s death. I was shocked when I heard.”
“Were you close?” Jia asked. She noticed that unlike Leonard, Rena used the victim’s first name.
“I liked to think so.” Rena sighed. “That might be assuming too much, considering she worked for me. I believe she had my best interests at heart, so I liked to think of her as a friend. She was one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with.” She blinked away her welling tears. “I’m sorry.” She reached up to wipe one away. “Please ask me whatever you need to. I’ll do anything I can to help you.”
“We’re still exploring her death.” Jia kept her voice soft. “Although preliminary examination suggested a suicide, we have evidence that suggests that’s not the case.”
Rena stared at the table, pain etched on her face. “Leonard mentioned that. It’s awful. It was bad enough when I thought she’d killed herself, but the idea that someone might have done it to her?” She shuddered. “I suppose that’s why we still need police, even on Earth.”
“Is there anyone you know who might have wished her harm?” Jia asked.
Rena shook her head. “No, not that she ever told me. She did seem…more distant in recent weeks.”
Leonard frowned. “We’re gearing up for the world tour. She was busy. Don’t waste their time with unimportant crap, Rena.”
The girl winced. “I’m sorry, Leonard.”
Jia glared at the manager. “We’ll collect all the necessary information, and then we’ll decide what’s important. Sometimes even the smallest discrepancy can lead to a break in the case. I would appreciate it if you would let her talk without further interruption.”
Leonard rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. Waste her time. Waste my time. Call the Prime Minister and waste his time, too, while you’re at it.”
Erik smiled. “If we had a reason to believe he was involved, we would.” He nodded to Jia.
Jia continued, “Rena, you said Chau’s behavior changed?”
The young woman nodded. “Yes. She was never mean or short with me, but I could tell something was bothering her lately. I tried to get her to tell me about it, and she told me not to worry. That it was just personal problems. I even suggested she might need a vacation, but she said there was no way she could take one right now.”
“That’s right,” Leonard mumbled. “At least Nguyen understood priorities.”
“Besides her behavioral changes,” Jia continued, “did she mention any names? Not people who had harmed her, but maybe names she didn’t mention often but suddenly did?”
Rena put a finger to her mouth and tilted her head as she pondered the question. She lowered her hand and offered a single shake of her head. “No, I can’t say I remember anything like that. We mostly talked about the upcoming tour and the different cities I’m going to visit. Sometimes we talked about movies. I enjoy love stories.” She let out a wistful sigh. “My career requires sacrifices, so it’s fun to imagine what it could be in other circumstances.”
The door slid open, and a man in a brown uniform and a long-brimmed hat stepped inside. He held a large glass vase filled with colorful flowers. “I’ve got a delivery for Rena Winston.”
The singer blinked and then smiled. “Oh, how lovely.” She sniffed the air. “And they smell even lovelier.”
Leonard shot out of his chair. “What the hell are you doing in here? What idiot sent you this way?” He scrubbed his face with his hand. “Why are we paying people at the front if they’re just going to send every random nitwit directly to the talent?”
“I’m just here to deliver some flowers.” The delivery man averted his eyes. “No reason to get hostile, sir.”
“You think this is the first time, peon?” Leonard sneered. “Let me guess, you gave them some sob story about how your cousin always wanted an autograph from Rena. Well, too bad, slick. You’re not getting one. Put the flowers on the table and get the hell out of here before I get you fired.”
The delivery man sighed. “You’re kind of an ass.”
Rena put a hand over her mouth and gasped. Erik and Jia snickered.
Leonard’s eyes bulged. He nodded to the bodyguard and motioned with his hand. “Break something if you need to, but make sure he’s escorted out of the building.” He glared at the delivery man. “Your ass is so fired, punk. You should start looking for a new job when you get home.”
“No, Leonard, please,” Rena insisted. “He needs his job.”
“Yes,” the delivery man responded quietly, “I do. But there’s something I need more of.”
“And what’s that?” Leonard asked.
The bodyguard advanced, still stone-faced.
“My Rena.” The man hurled the vase at Leonard. His hand whipped to his side, and he yanked out a stun pistol tucked into his belt. The vase slammed into Leonard, shattering into shards. He stumbled backward, hissing in surprise. The bodyguard rushed forward, but the delivery man fired two quick shots into him, dropping the huge man to the ground with a loud thud.
Rena shivered in wide-eyed terror. Jia and Erik sprang out of their chairs.
Erik yanked his chair up with his left arm and threw the chair at the delivery man. The man panicked and fired at the chair, his white bolts scorching it but doing nothing to stop the flying furniture. The makeshift projectile crashed into the delivery man and sent his stun pistol flying. Erik’s chair assault pushed the man against the door with a grunt.
Jia pulled out her stun pistol. Two bolts flew across the room and nailed the assailant in the face. He toppled forward and hit the floor a second after the chair.
Drool leaked from his mouth.
Erik retrieved his pist
ol from its holster. He pushed the chair and the stunned delivery man out of the way with his feet and approached the open door. He swung his weapon back and forth. “Clear.”
Jia hurried to the bodyguard and checked his pulse. He was fine. She confirmed their suspect was still breathing before holstering her stun pistol. She looked over her shoulder. “Rena, are you all right?”
The singer wrapped her hands around her shoulders. “W-what is going on?”
Leonard groaned and clutched his chest. “That bastard hurt me. I guess you cops are good for something. You solved our little stalker problem.”
Rena turned her head slowly toward the stunned delivery man. “Stalker?” Her voice quaked. “I have a stalker?”
Jia knelt by the suspect and slapped binding ties on him. She turned her wrath-filled eyes on Leonard. “Are you kidding me? Why didn’t you report this to the police?”
The manager shrugged, wincing afterward. “Talent always attracts stalkers. We’ve got security. We don’t need police attention or the bad PR.”
Erik shoved his pistol back into its holster. “Yeah, great security. The bastard got all the way to Rena and stunned your security guard. If we hadn’t been here, things might have gotten really bad.”
“He would have never gotten out of the building. Even if he had, Rena’s got a tracking implant. Insurance insists. There’s no way she can be kidnapped.” Leonard took a halting step and sat back down. He looked down at the stain on his suit. “Stupid stalker.”
Jia stood, her gaze flicking between the stalker and Leonard. “Is this why Chau was upset?”
“She knew about him, sure. She was the main person I had filtering Rena’s messages.” Leonard tugged on his collar. “Rena doesn’t need this kind of stress. She needs to concentrate on being pretty and singing.”
Tears streamed down the singer’s cheeks. She stared at the fallen bodyguard, trembling.
“You stupid…” Jia took a deep breath and slowly let it out, pointing to the two bodies on the floor. “And you didn’t think any of this was relevant? The stalker might have killed Chau Nguyen.”
Rena lowered her face into her hands and sobbed. “Then it’s all my fault.”
Leonard’s nostrils flared. “Shut your trap, Detective. You don’t know that. Yeah, I didn’t mention it. I didn’t think it was relevant.”
Erik stomped over to the man and yanked him up by his lapels.
Leonard glared and pushed off him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Erik growled, “If you got a woman killed because you’re worried about PR, don’t think you’ll get away with it.”
Leonard got in Erik’s face. “You touch me again, and I’ll get you fired.”
Erik snorted. “You lie to us again, and we’ll transmit every piece of this investigation over the entire UTC. You understand me?”
Rena lifted her head. She scrambled out of her chair and went to the bodyguard’s side, kneeling beside him before looking at Jia. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” Jia explained softly. “He’s just stunned. It’ll take a while for it to wear off. It hurts, but it does no permanent damage.”
Rena wiped her tears away with her forearm. “I just can’t take anyone else getting hurt for me.”
Leonard gestured at the stalker. “Why don’t you stop upsetting her and make yourselves useful? You got the guy, right? Drag his ass to jail. Beat him up in the cells or whatever it is you people do.”
Erik glared down at him. “Don’t worry, Mr. Carl. We’ll do just that, but this isn’t over.”
Leonard shrugged. “Yes, it is.” He pointed to the fake delivery driver. “You got the guy.”
Erik eyed the stunned man. “Yeah, we’ll see.”
Chapter Ten
May 6, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Police Enforcement Zone 122 Station, Interrogation Room
The detectives stared at the bound criminal sitting across the table from them. The man hadn’t resisted when he recovered from the stun. He’d been remarkably cooperative, including giving him his name, Trevor Fairchild. His PNIU and a DNA search confirmed he was indeed Trevor Fairchild, a native of Neo SoCal.
Jia stood and circled around the table and the back of the suspect’s chair. “You’re in a lot of trouble, Trevor. I mean, how stupid are you? Not only did you go after one of the most famous singers on Earth, but you tried it when two cops were in the room.” She continued walking and pulled a seat out, sitting down once again.
“Bad luck,” the man replied. “It happens to the best of us. I wasn’t going to hurt her, you know. I just wanted to talk to her. I’ve tried before, but they wouldn’t let me in, so I took advantage of my work uniform.”
Erik frowned, then stood up and walked in the opposite direction Jia had. “That’s called kidnapping, you sick freak. You’re going to go away for a long time.”
“I used a non-lethal weapon, and I have no priors,” he replied calmly. “I’m sure my lawyer can get me sentenced to transportation. And I wasn’t going to kidnap her. I didn’t take her anywhere. You can’t prove I was going to.”
Erik crouched by Trevor’s side. “Yeah, transportation. They’re going to ship you off to the edge of the UTC, so some Zitark can stop by and have you for lunch.” Erik opened his mouth, clicking his teeth together. “Munch, munch. I hope you taste good.”
He frowned at Erik. “I’m not an idiot. Everyone says the Zitarks are too afraid. It’s why they backed down a couple years back, right?” Trevor sighed, faint melancholy in the sound. “And transportation will be good for me. It’s a chance to start over once I’ve paid my debt to society. I recently inherited some money, so it’s just a matter of my rehabilitation. I’m obviously tainted by my soft life on Earth.”
“Oh? Is that what you figure? Granddad dies, so you can do what you want?” Erik leaned closer to the man. “By the way, you don’t get sentenced to transportation for murder. You go to prison.”
Trevor turned to look at Erik, pity in his eyes. “I’m not a murderer. I stunned one man and I threw a vase at another. It’s antisocial, but it’s barely a crime.”
“What about Chau Nguyen? She get in your way? Tell you to screw off? Was that why you killed her?” Jia asked.
“I don’t even know who that is.” Trevor sounded confused. “I guarantee I didn’t kill anyone, let alone this,” he waved a hand, “Chau Nguyen person. I also guarantee you don’t have any evidence linking me to a murder,” he finished, a glint of anger in his eyes before it went away.
Erik stood slowly, eyeing him. “Confident little punk, aren’t we?”
“I made a mistake.” Trevor bowed his head. “I know it doesn’t make up for stunning that man or scaring Rena, but I admit I’m wrong, and I’m prepared to face my punishment.”
“We’ll let you wait in here for a while. Maybe you’ll remember more once you have time to think about it.” Erik walked around the table.
Jia rose from her seat, shaking her head. She headed for the door. They both stepped outside the interrogation room. Erik slapped the access panel and waited while it closed.
“What do you think?” he asked.
Jia shook her head. “He’s too calm. Too prepared. An obsessed stalker wouldn’t be this calm after getting stopped a few meters from his target. He reminds me less of a stalker and more of a…” she paused a second before finishing, “hitman.”
Erik eyed the wall like he saw through it to the man beyond. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” He turned to her. “It’s almost like the guy expected to get caught and planned for it.”
“I checked his background,” Jia explained. “He’s right about everything he said in there. No priors, no hint of trouble. He’s never had impressive jobs, but that’s not a crime. There is nothing in public records that suggests he’s antisocial. The DNA analysis doesn’t show any uncorrected mutations associated with potentially violent psychotic or sociopathic behavior, either. He’s just a guy of
f the street.”
“Nope. He’s not just a guy off the street.”
Jia gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
Erik inclined his head toward the door. “He’s still our chief suspect. You don’t need a mutation to be a stone-cold killer. Society’s been producing plenty of those for a long time. He can stew for a while. Besides, we’ve got an appointment.”
“Appointment?” Jia looked up, trying to remember what she had obviously forgotten.
Erik smiled. “Remember?” He jerked a thumb down the hall. “When we dropped Trevor’s PNIU with Malcolm, he said he’d have something for us in a couple of hours. It’s almost been a couple of hours.”
Malcolm was whistling a jaunty tune as Erik and Jia entered his office. He was examining financial data on three different windows.
He turned in his chair, looking up. “Ah, good timing, Detectives. I was just about to send you a message.”
Erik smiled. “Oh? You ask Camila out yet?”
“Ah, no.” Malcolm coughed. “But that’s not what, uh…”
Erik waved a hand. “Just messing with you. You have something on our new best friend?”
Malcolm let out a sigh of relief and turned to the data windows. “Yes, I’ve got goodies to share. Plus, I found something else in the last few minutes. Technically, search algorithms I had running through Chau Nguyen’s files found it, but I designed them. Emma kind of pointed me toward some things, too.”
Jia coughed, looking around. “I thought we told you to be careful, Emma.”
The AI’s holographic form winked into existence beside Malcolm’s desk, her arms folded, an annoyed look on her face. “I happened to notice some file irregularities, and I offered minor suggestions to Technician Constantine about how to design searches. It’s all information he would have found eventually. I just facilitated discovery in an opportune timeframe.”
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