The Warning

by Michelle E Lowe

The chaos on the streets thinned as police cars drove away. A few officers remained for interviews with arriving reporters from other news stations. Even onlookers had moved off.

  Knox instructed Dr. Crowe to stay in her apartment to avoid the press. He himself left shortly after her brother was taken away. As he took a stroll on the sidewalk, his phone rang.

  “Jesus,” Rivera said, “you sound like you haven’t slept in days.”

  “I feel like it.”

  “You look like it, too. I’ve been watching the news.”

  Knox rubbed his tired face. “Haven’t you learned not to believe everything you see on TV?”

  “Are you saying Crowe wasn’t caught?”

  “No,” he sighed despairingly, “that part’s true.”

  “Okay, then. What do you want me to do with these guys?”

  He’d nearly forgotten about Douglas Crawford and Dr. Novak. The last half hour had been a soul-draining experience. Before he could reply, he heard a beep from his phone.

  “Knox?”

  “Hold up. I got another call coming in.” Without checking the number, he switched lines. “Knox.”

  “Lucas,” Sho said, “I just saw the news. Is it true? Is he in custody?”

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the mayor meant. “Yes, it’s true.”

  “I heard you were the one who found him.”

  He felt sick to his stomach.

  “Even after everything that’s happened to you tonight, you still came through for me. I commend you, my friend.”

  How dare he! He played me like a pawn and has the audacity to call himself my friend?

  “Come over,” Sho urged. “I want to thank you in person.”

  He thought of declining but didn’t. “I’ll be over in a few minutes.”

  He stood on the cold sidewalk, clutching his phone in his hand. He gritted his teeth. I’ll go to his house and confront him face-to-face.

  * * * * *

  Nikolai kept his attention on the police cars surrounding him in the unmarked car. He could hear helicopters overhead.

  “How many are up there?” Geiger asked Cooper.

  Cooper glanced up through the windshield. “Four, maybe five choppers. Most of them are the news, but it doesn’t matter, ’cause you aren’t going anywhere this time.”

  Nikolai shifted his gaze to the officer. They locked eyes for a moment before he returned his attention to the window.

  “What the hell happened when we were taking you to the precinct?” Geiger asked. “Our car looked like King Kong used his can opener on it.”

  “That guy who threw the manhole cover at us, was he a Replica?”

  Nikolai lifted his shoulders. “Don’t know. I remember the crash after the explosion, then I woke up in the sewer.”

  “You were pulled out of the car and dragged into the sewers, but you don’t remember any of it?” Geiger challenged.

  “That’s what I said.”

  “Uh-huh,” Geiger said mildly. “Think he’s telling the truth?”

  “Nope.” Cooper pulled his gun. “But it doesn’t matter what he says. He’s still gonna be executed.”

  “Why don’t you stop with the threats and shoot me already?” Nikolai dared. “If you think I’m afraid of any of you corrupt cocksuckers, you’re mistaken.”

  Cooper aimed his gun at him and pulled the hammer back. “Don’t fuckin’ tempt me, asshole. I’m about a second away from doing us all a favor and paint our back-window red.”

  “Put that damn thing away before someone sees you,” Geiger ordered. “You shoot him in this car and we’ll be screwed so hard, we’ll be walking funny for the rest of our lives.”

  Cooper slowly lowered his gun and returned it to its holster.

  “Besides,” Nikolai said, dancing on the tightrope without a net under him, “wouldn’t the mayor prefer my death to look accidental?”

  Both officers looked at each other. Cooper turned back to him. “What did you say?”

  Nikolai only grinned and turned away. In a way, he wanted the bullet. He felt his purpose in life was over. With the truth exposed, he had nothing else to look forward to. Without Jade and his freedom, he had nothing to live for.

  Chapter 24

  Marko drove the rusted station wagon only as fast as the speed limit allowed. His concern for roadblocks disintegrated the moment Nikolai left the car, though his heart swelled with guilt for letting him out of his sight. It hadn’t been part of the plan.

  “They’re leaving,” Ari announced, while viewing her computer screen.

  “Who? The cops?” he asked, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.

  “Yeah,” she said with a dash of confusion. “The roadblocks are disbanding. I wonder what’s going on.”

  A rush of fear swept over him. He turned on the car’s in-dash TV. A fuzzy picture formed on the small, cracked screen.

  “It seems Detective Knox is telling him to surrender,” came the voice of Sakura Yoko before the hazy picture appeared. When the image finally cleared, the live footage of Nikolai’s arrest played out.

  “Shit,” he cursed as Nikolai placed his hands behind his head and lowered himself to his knees. “He walked right into a trap.”

  “They got ’im,” Kip mourned. “We might as well have dropped him off at the police station with a big ole sign around his neck saying, Arrest Me.”

  “It wasn’t our fault,” Ari argued. “We didn’t know.”

  “What should we do?” Dog asked.

  Marko rounded a corner. “There isn’t anything we can do. We don’t have the resources to go up against a whole police force.” He shut off the TV. “We just have to hope the footage airs before something bad happens to him.”

  It was ridiculous to consider a jail break, yet he couldn’t help wanting to turn the car around and die trying. After all, he’d made a promise to keep the kid safe. It appeared he’d failed to keep that promise.

  Loren Waver watched Nine rise to his full height while keeping his eyes on his friend’s body. He turned away and focused on Linden at the platform. The heat generated off Sixteen like a furnace. Nine began walking, then ran at full speed toward the platform with the others following. She nearly fell when the one holding her joined them.

  Linden gave a sharp yelp and stumbled back from the railing, clutching his arm. He rushed toward the short staircase off the side of the platform but stopped when Twenty stood in his way at the bottom of the steps. Linden backpedaled as Twenty climbed only to bump into Nine. He turned to face the Replica, who lifted him by the collar of his thick robe.

  “Don’t,” Waver shouted. She struggled to make her way to the platform by using the slabs for support. As she limped, she passed the body of a Gamma on his steel bed. The Replica was supine, his mouth agape, and his eyes wide as if he’d been scared to death.

  She continued on until her foot hooked the leg of another body on the floor. She pitched forward, but before she hit the tile, something grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up. When she looked back, she was shocked to see Seven.

  “I … I thought you were dead.”

  He said nothing, only slid a hand across his throat to show that he’d completely healed before succumbing to his injuries. He set her down on an empty slab and walked away.

  Linden trembled as he stared into the pale eyes of his own creation. He had to remain calm and take control. After all, he was the one who’d brought them to life. Without him, none of them would have existed.

  “You put me down right now, Nine,” he demanded. “And forget the idea of killing me. Do as I say!”

  “My name isn’t a number anymore. I’m now Stewart.”

  By his tone and dangerous expression, Linden realized that he no longer had any control over them. They were going to kill him, and that would be the end of it.

  “Leave him alone,” Christos said. “This isn’t right. He’s my father, as well as yours.”

  Before Stewart could respond, a weak, yet st
ern voice called to him from below. “Stewart!”

  Both Linden and Stewart turned to Seven as he approached the platform between the rows of bodies. Stewart dropped Linden and moved toward the railing. “Ebenezer? You’re alive?”

  “Yes, and that’s exactly how Linden will remain.”

  “But he deserves to die,” Eight argued. “After everything he’s done, he shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

  Ebenezer turned his attention to Eight. “It’s not right for us to take a life because we feel a person should no longer live.”

  Linden watched him from the floor, too amazed to move. He’d created a soldier, yet that creation now spoke with understanding and wisdom. Seven—Ebenezer now—was expressing real compassion that he himself lacked.

  “To our dismay, he is our creator,” Ebenezer went on. He slid his gaze to him. “Are there any more of them?”

  Linden remained silent before looking to Christos.

  “Show them, Father.”

  He stared into the eyes of the young boy, remembering what he’d said.

  Perhaps I’m acting as you would have when you were a young man, Father. Don’t I remind you of the person you once were, or have you grown so corrupt there’s none of that left?

  The boy was right. There was a part of him that had died long ago and been forgotten. He hadn’t always been so careless with human life. His plan to go to war against his own country would have been inconceivable to the young, ambitious scientist he once was. But the years had whittled away his own humanity, and he’d become a person he never would have recognized as a young man. It wasn’t until he looked into the face of the very child he used to be that he remembered the person he’d once been.

  He led them to the steel door on the other side of the platform and opened it with his identification card. Behind the sliding doors, four hundred developing Replica fetuses lined up in rows of fifty. Each fetus was cradled inside black metal incubators, encased under glass, and submerged in red amniotic fluid. An artificial population. Ebenezer’s gut twisted. He knew the nightmare they’d be born into.

  “There they are,” Linden said despairingly. He pointed to a four-screen computer system identical to the one Ebenezer had destroyed. “That computer keeps them alive.”

  Ebenezer turned to Christos. “Shut it down.”

  Christos stepped into the room. Linden felt a firm grasp around his arm before Ebenezer dragged him from the doorway.

  “Are these truly the only ones left?”

  “No,” he admitted. “Twenty is still out there.”

  “Out where? Here in the lab?”

  He shook his head. “He told me he was hunting someone.”

  “Hunting? Who?”

  “Nikolai Crowe.”

  “Nikolai? Why?”

  “He said Crowe escaped him, and he couldn’t allow himself to be disgraced by a human.”

  Ebenezer turned to Stewart and said, “We need to find Nikolai before it’s too late.”

  The police whisked Nikolai into the precinct like a rock star fighting through his fans. They battled through reporters, eager to get a statement from anyone. His ears clogged from all the questions thrown at him.

  “Mr. Crowe, how did you escape police custody earlier?”

  “Why did you risk going to see your sister?”

  “Is it true that you and the victim were dating?”

  “Mr. Crowe, why did you murder Jade Sho?”

  That one stung him deeply. He wanted nothing more at that moment then to shove that reporter’s microphone down his throat and let him gag on it. Inside, the officer took him below to the holding cells.

  “What a pain in the ass,” Cooper complained, stopping in front of the cell. “We should’ve just run him over.”

  “I know,” Geiger returned, waving his badge over a scanner beside the door. “But then we’d have had to wash his blood off the car.”

  Nikolai turned to the officer with animosity. He said nothing, only gave him an evil glare. Geiger was unnerved by it and grabbed him by the arm to shove him into the cell. The door slid shut behind him and the officers’ footsteps faded away. When he was alone, he approached the cot and sat down. Planting his face in his hands, he smiled.

  Everything will change. When the video airs, all you motherfuckers will burn for what you’ve done.

  * * * * *

  Knox drove to the mayor’s apartment building and went inside. The door to the apartment opened to reveal Kay’s smiling face.

  “Knox,” she greeted happily. “Congratulations on finding that young man. I hope my information helped.”

  “Yes,” he said, stepping inside. “It led me right to where I needed to go.”

  “The mayor’s waiting in his study,” she said, shutting the door. “He’s been on the brink of madness to see you.”

  “Thank you.”

  When he reached the pocket doors leading into the study, he took a moment to collect himself. His anger simmered like boiling water, but he tried to cool his emotions.

  Keep your head together in there.

  He slid the doors open and stepped into the room.

  Sho sat at his desk. “Knox,” he said excitedly, standing with a scotch and soda in his hand. “I’m glad you could come by.”

  Knox stopped when he reached one of the leather armchairs on a red Oriental rug. Sho drained his glass and approached him from behind the desk, his arms wide open.

  “Thank you, my friend,” he said as he embraced him. “My daughter’s killer is finally in custody. I owe you everything.”

  He wanted to knock Sho to the floor. Instead, he tightened his fists until his knuckles turned bone white. Sho released him and carried his empty glass to the mini bar.

  “Of course, you’ll receive full clemency for the death of Paul Mason. In fact, I’ll make sure you’re the highest paid detective in the city.”

  He’s bribing me. Even though he has no idea of the things I know, he wants to distract me from his own wrongdoing.

  “I’m pleased you’ve caught him alive,” Sho said, twisting the cap off a bottle of scotch and pouring it into his glass. “He should suffer the agony of a trial before he’s executed.” He stirred soda in. “I hope you attend the execution.”

  He swallowed thickly, fighting to control his voice. “You act as though he’s already been proven guilty.”

  Sho looked surprised. “Are you serious? You know as well as I do that that boy murdered my little girl.”

  “I suppose if I were you, I’d want to get rid of any fingers pointing at me.”

  The mayor’s smile dropped at his harsh, cold tone. “What is it, Lucas? This is your finest hour, and you act like it means nothing to you.”

  “I know everything, Hiroshi,” he said, approaching. “The operation, the set up—everything.”

  “What are you talking about? What set up?”

  “Dammit, don’t lie to me,” he snapped. “You framed Nikolai Crowe for your daughter’s murder.”

  “Are you suggesting that I had my own child killed?” Sho demanded, his voice rising to the same angry level as Knox’s. “I loved Jade with every fiber of my being. How dare you …”

  “What did she learn?” he cut in. “What’s the secret that’s so goddamn important that you needed to take the life of your own daughter to protect it?”

  Sho’s words seemed caught in his throat. Rage and disgust formed in the mayor’s eyes, yet something was hidden in them as well.

  “I think you should leave now,” Sho said, “before my people escort you out.”

  He wouldn’t be able to get a confession out of him; not after he’d given too much away by exposing his anger. He now had to protect the only links to Sho’s downfall: Douglas Crawford and Doctor Novak.

  “This isn’t over,” he said, turning to leave. On his way out he slammed the doors so hard the sound reverberated throughout the study.

  “Lucas,” Mrs. Sho called.

  He turned on his heel as Clau
dia rushed toward him, dressed in a lacy silk robe.

  “I can’t believe you caught him,” she said, throwing her arms around him. “You’ve brought me peace of mind.”

  He gently embraced her with a sudden sickness developing in his gut. The pain you’ll go through, he thought despairingly.

  She pulled away and studied his long face. “You look awful,” she said, still smiling. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “I hope you’ll forgive me,” he said softly.

  Her face switched to confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “When I expose the truth, I just hope you understand.”

  It was all he said before he gave her a kiss on the cheek and left through the front door.

  * * * * *

  In his study, Sho drained his glass. His grip became tighter as he replayed his brief meeting with Knox in his head. He threw the glass at the wall, shattering it to pieces. The impact almost sounded like a gunshot. That’s when his wife entered.

  “Hiroshi,” she snapped.

  He quickly turned to her and matched her tone. “What is it?”

  “Lucas was acting strange when he left. What happened?”

  He said nothing, but walked back to the mini bar to fix another drink. He really didn’t want to go into what had happened between him and Knox.

  “Hiroshi,” she said in a stern voice, “tell me everything he said to you.”

  Rivera stood near the door, keeping watch. Although he kept his guard up, he was bored out of his mind. He wished Knox would come back so they could move on to the next step.

  His phone rang inside his pocket. “Hey, Knox.”

  “Get them out of there,” Knox said urgently.

  “Now you answer my question about what I should do with the surgeon and the invisible man.”

  “Get them out right now before someone comes to kill all three of you. Meet me in parking deck A.”

  “Whoa, coming to kill us? What’s happening?”

  “I’ll explain everything when I see you. Just trust me when I say we’re treading on dangerous ground here.” Knox said nothing more and hung up.