by Matt Doyle
“Computer, cross-reference highlighted results with internet search ‘common uses’.”
“Processing.”
I wait.
“Request complete. Results on screen.”
I scroll through the listings. The contracts mostly relate to larger equipment. It appears as if they can be used in a lot of different things, but almost all are standard components for industrial machinery. In fact, I recognise some of them. The times I’ve walked around the manufacturing areas for Familiar Enterprises let me get a good look at the machinery. Some of these fit with what I’d expect to find there. Or I may have just seen similar. He’d only just found the link with Familiar Enterprises when Angel killed him.
“Computer, advanced internet search. Search news articles and historic staff pages containing the exact terms ‘New Hopeland’ and ‘Jonah Burrell.’ Use dates up to…when did FE Ltd. open? Eight years ago? Yeah. Use dates up to 2072 only. Once done, sort oldest to newest.”
“Processing…request complete.”
The first page of hits is fairly useless, but the right at the top of page two, I find something interesting. An article titled “AI Entrepreneur Joins New Hopeland Elite.” The article covers Jonah Burrell, then fifty-one, being hired to work as head of the programming team for the software firm Hollister and Holtz. It notes that, though no official papers had been released, Joint CEO Dean Hollister was impressed when he saw what he described as an “incredible proof of concept” in relation to Jonah’s AI work. The aim was to have him assist with an exciting new piece of intelligent security software, built with the capability to learn.
The next interesting hit sees Jonah leaving Hollister and Holtz to focus on his own projects, with the blessing of both CEOs. There are a couple of articles noting rumours that Dean Hollister provided Jonah with a sizeable loan to start the business, but this was denied by both men. The evidence was pretty straightforward: it was leaked that the money used came from another company owned by Hollister. He later pointed out this company was set up to assist with a variety of government projects. The loan technically came from a legally sanctioned business start-up scheme.
“Someone was busy. Okay, now I’m curious. Let’s see what Hollister did before New Hopeland. Computer, advanced internet search. Search news articles and historic staff pages containing the name ‘Dean Hollister’. Use dates before 2055 only.”
“Processing…request complete.”
“Computer, scan results and summarise common themes within them.”
“Processing…request complete. Dean Hollister is commonly described as a rising star of the business world. He has held outsource roles with at least twenty companies. These roles are listed as intellectual property consultant and contract negotiator. He has been shown to have been instrumental in negotiating a large number of deals for his employers, roughly a third of which are recorded as relating to supply deals with the US government and US military.”
“Computer, cross-reference the name of Dean Hollister’s employers with file name ‘Hollister contract results historical’, location external media. Highlight matches.”
“Processing.”
I down my coffee, confident in what the results will be.
“Request complete. Results on screen.”
Sure enough, every company on the list is highlighted. “Computer. Advanced internet search. Confirm current owner and major shareholders for all highlighted results in file name ‘Hollister contract results historical,’ location external media.”
“Processing…request complete.”
Okay. So, some of the companies have been swallowed up by others, all of which are also on the list. Dean Hollister owns every single one of them. And Jonah Burrell holds shares in all of them. Well, isn’t that interesting.
“Computer, save results from all requests made within the last hour to external media, new file, name ‘Hollister Burrell.’ For internet searches that have not been summarised, a link to the results and a copy of the articles opened by user Cassie Tam will be fine.”
“Processing…request complete.”
I turn the tablet off and take out my cell phone and then send a short message to Angel.
Dead end on government officials. Found links for Dean Hollister and Jonah Burrell. Going out soon. Will show you tomorrow.
I sigh. “I think I could do with the dinner date of doom now.”
*
“You’re nothing like what I was expecting is all,” Jody says, smiling at Lori. “I mean, the whole Tech Shifter thing? I kinda thought you’d be, I don’t know, wilder, I guess?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Charlie says, and buries her face in her hand.
“You know we’re not really animals, right?” Lori replies, sporting a bemused grin.
“I know, I know, but I mean, you feel like you are, right?”
Charlie takes a big mouthful of white wine from her glass. She’s beginning to look exasperated.
“I suppose that’s…how do I put this?”
“Can I try?” I ask, and Lori opens her hands let me know to go on. “For Lori, Tech Shifting is an escape. When she does it, yes, she enters a headspace where she can immerse herself in the role, but generally speaking, no, she doesn’t think she’s really an animal. Is that about right?”
Lori smiles and nods. “Very good. That’s much better than you would have managed a few months back.”
“Well, okay, but what about…” Jody begins.
“No,” Charlie cuts in. “That’s enough inappropriate questions. Honestly, Jody, sometimes you’re cuter when you don’t open your mouth.”
“I’m curious is all. You see all sorts of people at the clubs, but I’m not in the best position to chat, ya know? The DJ booth is like its own set of shackles in a way.”
“Well, it’s good you’re open to things,” Lori says. “Seriously, though, not everyone is as laid back as I am. If you’d asked me at a club, I probably wouldn’t have been either.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“Anyway,” Charlie says, trying to steer things back on track. “So, what are you up to right now, Caz? You haven’t stopped by in a while.”
“Yeah, it’s been pretty busy. Like the last month, I’ve dealt with a stalker and a workplace harassment case. Lori helped with that last one.”
Charlie turns to Lori, and the smile she gives her is one full of respect. And maybe a little relief too. “Well, good. I’m glad Caz has someone who can help her out a bit. You be careful though. Once she starts getting you involved, it’s a slippery slope. You’ll be stuck undercover before you know it, and after that, who knows what she’ll have you doing.”
“I kinda was undercover,” Lori replies with a giggle. “But that was enough for me. Obviously, I’ll help Cassie when I can, but I really couldn’t do what she does. She’s something special.”
I blush and can’t think of a suitable reply, so hide in my wine glass instead.
“Excuse me,” the waiter says. “I have your desserts. Let’s see. Mississippi Mud Pie?”
“Here,” Charlie says.
“Two Black Forest Gateaux?”
“Mine,” Lori and Jody say in unison.
“So, yours must be the butter tart.”
“Must be,” I say, and tuck right in.
“Slow down, Caz. It’s not gonna run away.”
“Mmm. It’s just so good.”
A quirky little melody plays out, and Charlie makes a quick apology and pulls her cell phone out of her bag. “I better take this,” she says and then answers it at the table. “Charlie, go…okay, so everything’s set at the usual place…? Good. It’ll be done by morning then. Let me know if there are any issues.”
Charlie hangs up and I raise an eyebrow at her. She catches my eye, and it’s quite clear she knows I have a good idea what the call was about. That’s not good. The timing is too close.
“Work again?” Jody asks.
“Afraid so,” Charlie replies.
“Sounds like you’ve been busy too,” Lori adds.
“You could say that. Has Caz told you what I do?”
“She has, yeah.”
“And it doesn’t bother you?”
“Not really. Does it bother you that, as a member of the press, I could be secretly recording everything for a high-end scoop?”
Charlie laughs and continues, “Well, you’d be on to a goldmine if you recorded me at the right time. Me and the other Elites have been working on some stuff that could make us a lot of money. Like, set for life stuff if it all pans out.”
“And she won’t tell me a single thing about it,” Jody says.
Charlie puts her arm around her and kisses her forehead. “This one needs some secrecy. Besides you don’t like it when I talk shop.”
“I don’t mind really; I just worry about you.”
“Trust me. If everything works out, you’ll never have to worry about me again. You can thank Caz for that too. I’d have never stumbled into this one if she hadn’t nudged me in the right direction.”
“Oh?” Lori says.
I frown. “I’m guessing this has something to do with the Malcolm Castleford case?” She brings her wine glass to her lips and points at me with her free hand, confirming I’m right.
Lori frowns. “When you found Fish?”
I turn to Lori and say, “Yeah. Remember how I said Castleford was working on some dodgy stuff outside the dog fight? Well, it goes pretty deep. I’ve made a point of not digging more than I have to with that one.”
She eyes me curiously. “Don’t you want to be set for life too?”
“I don’t want to end my life. That’s the problem.”
“What?” Jody says, panic not so much creeping into her voice as pouring out of it.
“Well, thanks for that one, Caz.”
“Diu. Sorry. I wouldn’t worry, Jody. Charlie and I are in different worlds, eh? She’s actually in a much better place to take advantage of the situation than I was.”
“Why do I keep ending up with people like this?” Charlie laments, shovelling more cake into her mouth.
Lori laughs. “Honestly, Cassie, sometimes you are far cuter when you don’t open your mouth.”
*
“So, how are you feeling?” I ask Lori as we head to my car.
“Hmm?”
“Well, I know you were a little…uncertain…about tonight. It was you who came up with the name ‘dinner date of doom.’ I just embraced it. And when we went in, you were doing that thing where you tense up because you’re nervous. You didn’t look too happy when you first saw Charlie either.”
“Someone’s been paying close attention to things tonight.”
I shrug. “It’s in my nature. So. Come on. Talk to me.”
“Well, after seeing her up close, and seeing how comfortable the two of you are around each other, I would say…I’m maybe a little jealous. You can tell you know each other well.”
“Oh.”
She squeezes my hand. “It’s not a bad thing, Cassie. I stand by pushing you to reconnect with her properly. Honestly, with the amount you went on about her at our first date, I needed to know for sure you weren’t still too hung up on her.”
“I wasn’t that bad,” I reply, but I know I was.
“Weren’t you? Must have been someone else who could barely start a conversation without bringing her into it.”
“Okay, okay, so I was a terrible date.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I came back for more, didn’t I? And after tonight, even with the jealousy, I do feel pretty secure. For one, even if you were still into her, Charlie and Jody are clearly crazy in love. The little things they do give it away; the glances, the shared jokes, all the warm fuzzy stuff.”
“Now who’s paying close attention to things?”
Lori gives me a playful punch in the shoulder. “Meanie. It was you I was paying the most attention to though. And do you know what I saw?”
“What?”
“That you do clearly care for Charlie. At a guess, I’d say you still have some fond memories about her too. But. And this is the important bit. You look at her in a very different way than you look at me. I was happy to see that.”
I lean a little closer while we walk, and briefly rest my head against hers. “Of course, I do. Yes, I do care for her, and yes, we did have some happy times. Where I’m at now is different. In a good way.”
“Good. They both seem nice, anyway. Don’t expect us to be instant best buddies or anything, that would be weird, but they’re welcome to visit, or to join us on another date. If nothing else, it’d be interesting to see what else Jody can come up with to put her foot in her mouth.”
I laugh. “She has no filter, does she?”
“None at all. Hey, is that Bert?”
We reach my car and, yes, Bert is indeed perched on the roof. Judging by the chunk of patterned material in his beak, someone must have gotten a little too close. “Spoils of war?”
“Caw.”
“He’s been quite protective of late, so I’m letting him stick close. I thought it would stop him being destructive, but it looks like he found a new victim. Let’s see how he’s doing…” I pull up an app on my cell phone which tells me his battery is at about 50 per cent. “He should be fine to get back without needing to hitch a ride. I’ll send him off to charge himself, and then we can head back to yours?”
“Sounds good,” Lori says, and walks around to the passenger side.
I tap a few things into the app, and Bert glides off. He’ll go home, but he has another stop to make first. The wording Charlie used was important. “Everything’s set at the usual place,” and “it’ll be done by morning.” When she was with me, she was open about a couple of the side businesses the Elites run. But when one of us had a client there, she used those exact words when confirming they were disposing of a body. Bert is going to check that out for me. The thing is, they often didn’t get rid of it straight away. They hid it in case something happened, and it became clear that the body turning up would be better. They only left it a day though. If I’m right, the timing, combined with the fact there’s a dealer tunnel under Angel’s base of operations, would mean they’re getting rid of Gary Locke.
Here’s hoping Bert gets there, and the building’s closed.
*
Bert’s app sends an alert to my phone just as I finish tidying up Lori’s kitchen. She’s showering, and it was my attempt at a nice surprise. Born romantic, me.
I open the app and check out the recording Bert has sent. He was a little way from an old, rarely used building. The lights are on and there’s smoke rising from it. “Looks like the crematorium is in business. Diu, Charlie. I really hope this doesn’t mean what it looks like it means.”
“Hey, Cassie,” Lori calls. “Can I show you something?”
“Coming,” I say, and hit the button to send Bert home to charge. Lori sounded a little nervous. That extra wine we had once we got here did seem to push her over the edge a little. I wonder what she’s up to.
“Check this out,” she says as I enter her bedroom. She’s fiddling with a new chest of drawers, sitting snug against the wall on the left side of her bed.
“That’s a change from the bedside table. What’s in it?”
“Have a look.”
I walk over and pull out the four drawers one by one. “It’s empty.”
She giggles and lets herself drop into a sitting position on the bed. She kicks her legs playfully. “Very observant.”
“Do you…need some help putting some stuff away?” I try.
“I was hoping you’d be able to help with that.”
I smile and shake my head. “Okay, ya drunk. So, where’s the stuff you want in there?”
“It
’s…You stay over quite a lot, right? So, I was thinking, why not get rid of the little table, and you can…uhm…maybe leave some spare clothes here? Like, I know you won’t need all four drawers or anything yet, but it’d save you having to keep bringing a change of clothing with you.”
“Yet?” I say, a wide grin rising with the blush.
“What? No. I meant…I wasn’t suggesting you…Uhm. I think I might be drunk, you know.”
She collapses onto her back, and I flop down beside her, my face turned to hers.
“I’d love to,” I say, and Lori scoots closer to rest her head on my shoulder, breathing contentedly.
*
“What’s this in aid of?” I ask, taking a plate of freshly cooked pancakes from Lori.
“Well, I felt a little guilty about having to get drunk to offer you drawer space. Plus, you cook breakfast more often than not when you stay, so I figured it was my turn.”
“You’re sweet. How long have you been planning to give me storage?”
“I’ve had the chest of drawers flat packed for a little over a week now. Yesterday seemed like the right day to put it together.”
“Yeah? How come?”
“We had the dinner date of doom. The way I saw it, if it all went well—like it did—it would reaffirm how much I like having you around. And if it turned out you were totally still into Charlie and just using me as a stopgap until you can get her back, I could use the extra space for some retail therapy.”
I stop midchew and turn around but go straight back to eating again when I see the mischievous glint in her eyes. “You had me going for a moment there.”
“You’re too easy. Listen, I’m gonna need to head out soon. I’m due to cover some rally outside the prison, and I need to check in early with the rest of the team.”
“No problem,” I reply, and shovel the rest of the pancakes into my mouth. “I need to get going too. This current case is keeping me tied up a lot.”
“You never did tell me what this one is about exactly.”
“For now, I really can’t. Maybe once it’s done.”