Half Light

by Matt Doyle

  “Okay, remember. Once I start applying pressure, alleviate, strike, turn. Got it?”

  “I think so,” Lori replies.

  Hanson nods. “Here we go.”

  A slight choke comes out of Lori’s mouth as Hanson steps in. Quick as a flash, though, she uses one hand to push on the elbow of the arm Hanson has against her throat and slams her free hand into Hanson’s forehead. With her foe now off balance, Lori turns the hand she’d used to push the elbow, grabs Hanson’s face, and pulls while stepping to the side. Hanson slams into the crash mat, trips, and falls forward, bringing the pad down on top of her.

  I let the laughter pour out while Lori scrambles to pull the crash mat aside, and Hanson pushes up onto her knees before taking Lori’s outstretched hand and getting to her feet.

  “Sorry,” Lori says.

  “Don’t be,” I cut in. “That was great!”

  Hanson smiles. “To be fair, Cassie isn’t wrong. That was pretty good; maybe a touch slow, but it worked.”

  A look of relief spreads across Lori’s face then and she asks, “Any advice?”

  “I advise that the laughing hyena over there doesn’t piss you off. In all seriousness, though, you doubt yourself a little too much. That’s the only reason you’re a little sloppy with it. Have confidence in yourself, and you’ll be smoother and quicker. Otherwise, what you did works fine. If someone corners you like that, you’ll definitely get out of it. And if they don’t trip like I did, what do you do?”

  “Knee to the gut and run.”

  “Exactly. Want to try again?”

  Lori looks over at the clock and says, “I better not. I kinda need to dive out early tonight because work deadlines mean an early start tomorrow.” She looks over to me then and adds, “You can stay if you want. I mean, we’re meeting up tomorrow night anyway, right?”

  “Yup, dinner date of doom.”

  “Dinner date of doom?” Hanson asks.

  “Me and Lori, and my ex and her current,” I clarify.

  “Ooh, awkward.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Lori says and gives me a quick kiss. “See you tomorrow. Thanks, Hanson.”

  “No problem,” Hanson says and then starts dancing around like an arrogant boxer. “Okay then, what do you want to try?”

  “Hmm. Actually, there was something I wanted to check with you. Can I?” I signal for her to turn around and she does. I walk up behind her and slowly apply a light rear naked choke without applying the pressure. “It’s figuring out how to escape I sometimes get stuck on. Sometimes people sneak up on you without you realising. Usually, I’d say if you can’t see, hear, or speak evil, you can still hit it, right?”

  I apply a little pressure and place two fingers behind Hanson’s head and then use them to tap out a pattern. Dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot. SOS.

  Hanson shifts her weight, does something I don’t see with her hands, and then turns and slams me down to the mats. She climbs on top and, while shifting her position, taps my shoulder. Dash-dash-dash, dash-dot-dash, dash-dash-dot, dash-dash-dash. OK, go. Then she says, “See if you can get out of this first.”

  I start rolling underneath, jockeying for position, and tap out another message. Dot-dot-dot-dot-dash, followed by a rough finger drawing of a crown. Four Kings.

  I manage to get on top and Hanson balls up into the defence position. She says, “Loosen up. Good. Now, what do you think I need to know here?”

  “Probably where I’m positioned?”

  “Right,” she says and then slips towards my voice and hauls me down.

  I grapple from underneath and tap out dot-dash, dash-dot, dash-dash-dot, dot, dot-dash-dot-dot. Angel. Then I stop fighting, and say, “And now I’m stuck. Where do I go from here?”

  “There are always options, but once you have control, you can pretty much guide things. Bring your arm up around me, use the other one to take my arm, and roll.” Hanson lets out a grunt as I come down on top of her. “Good. See? From here, you pretty much have control.”

  I release the hold and say, “Okay.”

  “Now, as to the chokehold, I’ve seen you escape it before. Just keep doing what you do.”

  “I’m still not sure if I get it all right though. And it’s hard to know without someone watching.” I crack my shoulder out and try to move the conversation in a way that will mask what we’re talking about a bit more. “Maybe next time I can try some of it with Lori?”

  “Perve.”

  I smile and shake my head. “Yeah, yeah. But it would be good to have you watch to make sure I’m not slipping up.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. I got ya.”

  “It’s kinda hard to try out new stuff without someone else to demonstrate on, isn’t it?”

  “It can be. Want to call it a night?”

  “Yeah, I better.” I grab my bag and add, “Hey, it’s an odd thing to bring up, but I was curious about something. You remember the case I was working a couple of weeks back?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I know you mentioned there being a case you wished went differently. You never did tell me which one you were thinking of.”

  She gives me a cheeky grin. “You’re right, I didn’t.”

  I return the grin and, before leaving, reply, “Typical you. Always on guard, eh?”

  *

  Click.

  And there go the lights. And the kettle.

  I peer out of the window and notice the power in the whole street is down. “Well, that’s just great. How hot is the kettle?”

  I place two fingers on the side and pull them away again quickly, hissing at the infernal pot. “Hot enough.”

  Fumbling in the dark, I somehow manage to pour a mug of coffee and find my way to the couch to brood over what I’m supposed to do about this whole mess. The problem is, I’m still not sure there are any good guys in all of this. Which makes it harder to know who to stand with.

  Thud.

  Looking over my shoulder, I can see someone has pushed something through my letterbox. Bert didn’t react, so it must have been someone we know. Or at least not anyone we know is dangerous.

  I feel my way over to the door and pick up an envelope addressed to…Bert?

  Frowning, I open it and pull out a sheet of paper with what feels like a metal disc attached to it. Using my cell phone for light, I notice it looks similar to the communicator Angel gave to me, but it’s bigger and bulkier. The note it’s stuck to is short.

  Stick it in Bert’s mouth and make sure he stays close. We’ll do the rest. JF+H.

  I’m gonna take that as Joe Farrah and Hanson. It appears the King’s Guard work quickly. “Hey, Bert. You have a present.”

  My little gargoyle trundles over, and I say, “Open up.” He opens his beak and lets me place the disc inside. It’s magnetised, which is useful. Almost immediately after I’m finished, my cell phone goes off. It’s a voice message from an unknown number.

  “This is Gary Locke. Get back here. Now.”

  I consider ignoring it for a second and then shake my head. “Diu. Come on, Bert. Looks like it’s gonna be a late one.”

  “Caw.”

  *

  “Wait on the roof of the building. Monitor the situation, but only come in if I’m in danger. Don’t worry about anyone else. Understand?”

  “Caw.”

  “Good boy.” I make my way from the car to the entrance, and once inside, I can hear Gary Locke shouting in the rooms at the back of the building. “Idiot.”

  “There you are,” he yells, as he spots me walk in. “Will you please tell th-this madwoman we have a lot of good info here?”

  I roll my eyes and speak to Angel without taking my eyes off Locke. “Hey, madwoman. We have a lot of good info here.”

  “Oh, very funny. We have so much evidence here tying the government to the TS Murder Files, we could actually bring them down. On
e of you has to realise that, right? Either of you?”

  “I’ve told you,” Angel says, her voice full of amusement. “Things will change. We need to be certain before…”

  “Before what? Before I can get back out there and do what I was born to do?”

  Angel shrugs. “If you like.”

  “We need to act before they find us. I can make sure everyone knows the truth, but you won’t let me out of this damn warehouse. And M-Miss Tam over there gets to lead a normal life. I’m doing all the digging. It’s not fair.”

  “Need I remind you that you’re still a wanted fugitive?” Angel replies. “Cassie is not. Her freedom of movement is an asset you simply don’t have right now. Not to mention her ties to the Four Kings of Utah. They trust her, and that may prove useful to us.”

  “They trust her,” Locke mocks and then spits on the floor. “But you don’t, do you? Or you wouldn’t be monitoring her so closely. Were you aware M-Miss Tanner here was monitoring your every m-move, detective?”

  I nod and cross my arms. “I was, yeah.”

  Locke’s eyes open wide in shock. “And you’re okay with that?”

  “Not really. But I understand the necessity.”

  Locke is getting exasperated now and growls, “We’re not going to get anything else out of the data I have access to. This is as full a picture as we’re going to get.”

  Angel laughs and walks over to give him a patronising pat on the cheek. He flinches away as she says, “Such a lack of vision. We need to know exactly who is in control before we act. That’s what the three of us have to keep searching for.”

  “Releasing what we have to th-the public will flush them out.”

  “No,” I cut in. “It won’t flush them out, you moron. It’ll make them burrow down deeper and start running damage control.”

  Locke throws his arms up in frustration and then freezes. His shoulders start to shake, and a laugh rises to his lips. “Fine. I’ve already e-mailed my findings to Harvey and Melanie anyway. They’ll be expecting us to act, and when we don’t, they will. What do you think of that, M-Miss Tanner?”

  “Oh, I already know where you sent the information. I monitor all your incoming and outgoing data. Tell me, when they responded to you, did I get their tone right?”

  Locke pales and asks, “What?”

  “I told you, you are the last root to be dug up. Frank betrayed you all. And Harvey and Melanie? They were quick to sell each other out. People like them are suitable only to be pumped for information and disposed of.”

  “You…you killed them?”

  “Eventually, yes.”

  Locke turns to me, desperation in his eyes. “I did some digging into one o-of Dean Hollister’s business partners, a man who has a fair few government ties of his own. You kn-know Jonah Burrell, right? He used to live with M-Miss Tanner in California. She’s not what she seems. Not even close.” Neither I nor Angel react and Locke swallows hard before continuing. “She’s a ro-robot, Tam. Like that fucking gargoyle of yours.”

  I nod. “I know.”

  His eyes go wide, and he yells “Shit,” the tears falling from his eyes almost reaching his voice. In desperation, he tries to throw a clumsy punch at Angel, but she’s too quick and ducks under it. She wraps an arm around his throat.

  Angel pushes her mouth close to his ear and says, “I do so hate betrayal, Mister Locke.”

  In one swift movement, she snaps his neck and lets his body drop limply to the floor. She looks down at him and then up at me and says, “It’s a shame really. His little delve into Jonah’s files taught me something about myself. Remember when I said I could always tell when he was lying? ‘It must have taken months’ is a trigger he used to stop my sensory readings kicking in properly. Looking back at it, he’s been using it for years, which means he’s hidden a lot more from me than I realised. I’ve disabled that little feature now. Or I think I have, anyway. If it weren’t for supplying me with the trigger, I may have taken more time over his end.”

  When I don’t respond, she gives his corpse a kick and tilts her head towards me, a curious look in her eyes. “You don’t seem bothered by what just happened.”

  “He tried to kill me and my girlfriend, remember? Besides, I didn’t kill him, I just didn’t try to save him.”

  “And if he’d tried to kill you instead of me?”

  “Then I would have dealt with him however the situation called for. Failing that, Bert would have finished him.”

  “Oh? Is he around?”

  “He’s outside. When Locke messaged me demanding I come down here, I figured trouble was brewing. Don’t worry, he’s under instructions not to act unless I’m in trouble.”

  “Aww, no protection for me?”

  I nod to Locke and reply, “Doesn’t look much like you need it.”

  “True enough. I apologise for the unexpected excitement. You should go and get some sleep. I have a few links here now that can help deal with our former colleague, and you may have a busy day tomorrow.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “I want you to see if you can find out anything about the senior members of governmental departments. I can’t access their files from here yet, so what we need is to figure out who has been around long enough to likely be involved with what’s happening here. I can focus my own searches then.”

  “Given Casille’s role, they may not all be senior in the sense of known pay grade. They could have moved around to where it’s beneficial.”

  “Agreed. That’s why it may take you a while to figure out. I will, of course, let you know if I turn up anything.”

  “Good enough. We’ll speak tomorrow then.”

  Angel waves, says, “Good night, Cassie,” and starts searching for a number on her cell phone.

  I exit the building and look up to see Bert sitting calmly on the roof, just as instructed. I beckon him down and he jumps, opens his wings, and glides straight onto the car roof.

  “God job,” I tell him and open the door so he can climb in. Once he’s settled, I get in myself and start driving home.

  The weird thing is, the only thing I’m upset about right now is not being upset about Gary Locke’s death.

  Chapter Five

  I glance at the clock in the bottom corner of the tablet screen. Two hours to go until I need to head out to meet with Lori. “I can’t believe I’ve spent all day going through this stuff.”

  “Caw,” Bert calls from somewhere in the kitchen.

  “Okay, fine,” I reply. “I can absolutely believe I’ve spent all day doing this. And leave the sugar alone.”

  The silence that follows is punctuated only by the slightly guilty sound of a heavy paper bag sliding back across the worktop. I roll my eyes and go back to the files on the screen. With a weary sigh, I rub my eyes and grumble. “We’ve got fewer governmental staff than Salt Lake City, but fifty-three-and-a-half thousand people is still far too many to go through, even with automated searches. After you take out the younger ones who couldn’t have been here at the start, it still leaves over half of the total staff. Then there’s the ones who have left already.”

  I pick up the scrap of paper I have next to me and scan the list of names I’ve made. Two officials were employed when New Hopeland City was founded and have since retired. Another one is still there now. Four more were in New Hopeland and joined the government from other jobs with two having since retired and two still being in place.

  “None of you were high enough to have a definite tie-in to what’s going on. But like I said last night, high position does not equal high knowledge. Ugh. Why couldn’t Locke have done this already?” I drum my fingers on the table and groan. “His laziness made him blind. He was so focused on the government because he thought them being involved at all was the bigger picture and set out for quick hits. So, if something wasn’t obvious, he didn’t pursue it.”

 
No, that’s wrong. You’re not giving him enough credit. I get up and head to the kitchen to make another drink, stopping only to pat Bert while he has a staring contest with the cutlery drawer. What am I going to need to replace this time; forks, spoons, or knives?

  The kettle starts to make its soothing quiet whoosh as the water boils. “He was focused on the government, but he was desperate to bring them down. Maybe there isn’t anything in the files because he checked, and there wasn’t anything worth pursuing. I mean, he did find out what Angel is, so he wasn’t a complete moron.” The kettle clicks off, and I pour the drink. “I can’t believe I have to say something good about him. Diu.”

  Sitting back at the worktable, I take a deep breath, hold it, and release. “Okay. Let’s assume this is a dead end for now. Let’s refocus on the Tech Shifter gear. Computer, open file name ‘Hollister contract results historical,’ location external media.”

  “Processing.”

  The file opens on screen, and I pinch my lower lip while I think. “Computer, advanced document content search. Compare column title item list with…contents of file name ‘Tech Shift gear component list,’ location external media. Highlight non-matches.”

  “Processing.”

  The currently-working-on-your-latest-ridiculous-request logo pops up on screen, and I sit back in my chair to wait. I noticed Eddie authored a lot of the files relating to TS gear. Locke obviously knew there was a link, but his priority was to prove the monitoring. The push against Hollister was designed to draw that out as his overall goal, and he just played along with Eddie to keep him onside. He would have dug into this sooner or later though. That much is clear.

  “Request complete. Results on screen.”

  Sorry, Angel. I’m gonna need to risk a net run here.