Broken Protocols 1-3

by Dale Mayer

  “Good idea. You do that and I’ll start dissecting the information Milo stripped off Johan’s communication center.”

  She walked to the pod room, calling behind her, “Was there much information there?”

  “Lots. But we don’t really know what it all means yet.”

  “Right. I’ll leave you to it then.”

  At the pod, she crawled inside and sighed as the humming started, lulling her to sleep.

  *

  Levi watched Dani as she slept. He let out a heavy sigh. She’d done so much with so little and it looked to have completely wiped her out. And they were a long ways from being safe. As long as she was in there, though, he could work on the next step. “Milo, make sure the stealth is on in the pod room,” he said as he walked into the kitchen. “She needs some downtime and I want to make sure that she can’t be found.”

  Charmin pinned him with that look he was starting to hate. The look that said he was falling down on the job of taking care of Dani. He could hardly argue. Dani had been in nothing but trouble since Milo had snatched her up. And she’d been the one to save him. His relationships with women had been superficial in many ways. In all ways, if that was possible. Until Dani.

  And there was nothing superficial about his feelings for her.

  “Hey, lover boy, I could use your help here.”

  Levi gave a mental shake. “I’m here. What’s up?”

  “Look at this.” Milo said, “It seems like whoever was tracking Johan’s tags came from the Council.”

  “And that would only be if he was a prisoner out on bail.”

  “Normally, but I’ve searched the databases and there is no sign that Johan did time or has a criminal record of any kind anywhere.”

  Levi studied the square holograph moving faster than his eyes could see. “What are the chances that it was wiped?”

  “I’m inclined to think so. Considering he was as cagey as he was, his history is a little too clean.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of. But why would the Council track him?”

  “That’s the million dollar question.”

  Charmin yawned. “Someone in the Council is bad.”

  Both Milo and Levi stared at him. “And you’d know that how?”

  “Think about it.” He rolled his eyes as if having to speak to peons instead of peers. “Johan’s reporting, willing or unwillingly, to someone in the Council. Only someone with power could wipe his history clean. So someone in the Council is doing this for the benefit of the good, or for the benefit of himself. Knowing people, I’d say he’s doing it for himself.”

  “Listen to him.” Milo snorted. “He’s actually making sense.”

  Charmin raised one long-haired eyebrow and peered down his short nose. “Of course I am.”

  “Besides.” Milo grinned. “I’m all for anything that makes the Council the bad guy.”

  “But there could be other answers. We have to keep an open mind.” Although Levi couldn’t think of one. And it was galling to think a cat had seen it first. He added, “It won’t be just anyone. It will be one person playing both sides.”

  “Or the Council is keeping tabs on things they shouldn’t be, making deals with criminals,” Milo suggested. “Or blackmailing criminals into working for them.”

  Levi tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, his thoughts a jumble. “If Johan’s pod is the issue, then it affects us a lot. If this is something Johan was into by himself, then we are only involved at the edge. And that could mean we can stay quiet and no one will know anything. We’re just afraid someone would know something. But they might not know anything.”

  “The real question is how to know and what do we do to protect ourselves.” Charmin added under his breath but loud enough for the others hear, “and our food.”

  “I’m locking this material from Johan down and keeping it in a deep dark hole where no one can find it.”

  Charmin stared at him. “Except for you guys, right? It’s not blackmail material, but it might keep someone off your back if they know you have this ace in the hole.”

  “Ace in the hole?” Milo asked curiously.

  “An old phrase,” Levi said absentmindedly. He pulled out his comp. “The lockdown makes sense if the Council was the one forcing Johan into collecting dirty information. We’re presuming he was doing it for them, but he could have just as easily been keeping something back to screw with them.”

  Charmin sat back. “I like that last part.”

  “So do I.” Milo grinned. “So let’s see what else I can find.”

  An alert sounded through the apartment, followed by a robotic voice saying, “Stephen Cavendish requests a call.”

  Milo looked up slowly. “Oh? Interesting.”

  “Yeah, let’s see what he has to say.” Levi flicked the buttons to open the communication system. Instantly, Stephen’s face and shoulders popped out of the HoloKomp.

  “Good to see you, Stephen. What can I do for you?”

  “Sorry, this isn’t a social call. We have alerts coming from your building. A death and rodents.”

  Milo froze. He picked Charmin up and walked him down the hallway to the pod room. Levi heard the door open and close. “Sorry to hear that. Anyone I know?”

  “Johan Stroud.”

  With what he hoped was a suitable look of shock, he said, “Johan? He’s deceased?”

  “Apparently. A Medivac team has been dispatched. Someone has anonymously reported the death. But we have no idea who it was.”

  Levi raised his eyebrows. That alert had to have come from the intruder that escaped. “I have no idea who that would be. I was under the impression that you were searching for Johan, but he was on the run.”

  “And apparently he returned and was living quietly under everyone’s radar.”

  “What can I do to help?” Levi asked.

  “I need to know everyone’s whereabouts for the last four hours.”

  Levi narrowed his gaze and felt his temper simmer. Not to mention the fear. “Are we suspects in Johan’s death?” he asked incredulously.

  “Not at all. However, the Council wants to clarify who reported Johan as deceased.”

  “Well, it wasn’t me. Or Milo or my wife.”

  “There are signs that someone from your apartment accessed the rooftop from your elevator. Several times in fact.”

  Levi tilted his head. “Yes, that’s quite possible. My wife’s cat got loose today when we were trying to fix the door after John’s death. She had taken him up to the little rooftop garden a couple of days ago and she figured he might have gone up there again.”

  “I need to speak with her.”

  “And why is that?” His voice deepened with anger. There was no way he was going to force Dani to speak to the Council. “Particularly when the documents are in place for me to speak on her behalf.”

  Chapter 9

  Dani woke up slowly. The heat from the pod was a welcome relief from the earlier stress. It felt like she’d slept for hours. Chances were good though that it was less than a half hour. She felt decent. With a yawn and stretch, she pushed the pod lid open and swung her legs around. The theme was still the Pacific island. She swore she could hear the surf as it rolled out in the distance. Smell the flowers. Maybe they could leave and go to the Pacific for real in a few days.

  Or somewhere else. Anywhere else would be good. She needed a few days away. Milo and Levi could as well. Charmin probably wouldn’t care as long as food came with them.

  She smiled at the thought of her baby. He slept, snoring gently beside her. He’d done so well getting in and getting out of Johan’s apartment. He’d been quite the hero, saving the day. She hopped off the bed and wandered out to the kitchen. Food and coffee was topmost on her mind. As soon as she’d imagined herself sitting in the island with a cup of coffee in hand, she’d been lost.

  The kitchen appeared silent until she made it around the corner and saw Levi in discussion with someone on the HoloKomp. S
he didn’t recognize the male holo image and had to remind herself that he ran a huge corporation that she knew nothing about. He interacted with hundreds of people. He had to get caught up sometime.

  A pang of guilt hit her. He was behind because of her. Milo was busy doing something on the big 3D monitor, but both appeared to have an ear tuned to the ongoing conversation.

  That stopped her on the spot. She tuned into the conversation. And stopped herself from gasping, slapping a hand over her mouth. Milo grabbed her arm and tugged her over to him. “Stay out of sight and be quiet.”

  She nodded mutely. “Did they find Johan?” she whispered.

  “They know about his death. Presumably, they will be sending someone. They want to speak to you about what you saw.”

  Her eyes widened, and she shook her head. “Hell no.’” Then she winced. “Unless it helps you guys. I didn’t really see anything.”

  “And if you could tell them exactly that, I’d appreciate it,” Levi said from beside her. “I’ve told them that you went up to the rooftop garden to search for the cat that got loose. It’s not like you could see much from there, but if you could tell them the little bit you do know…”

  He let his voice trail off and raised an eyebrow. She nodded. And took a step toward him. He held out his hand. “Stephen, my wife Dani.”

  Dani, suddenly shy, smiled. “Hello.”

  Stephen’s face split into a broad grin. “Hi, Dani. Couldn’t believe it when I heard this guy finally found the woman of his life.”

  Her smiled brightened as Levi wrapped a possessive arm around her waist and pulled her close. “That I have.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really didn’t see much up on the roof. I wasn’t focused on anything but my cat.”

  Stephen nodded. “Understood. But can you tell me if you saw anyone? Anything?

  “Oh no. There was no one up there. And the place was quiet.” She opened her mouth to add that it was dead quiet and managed to choke the words back. But he looked at her oddly as if waiting for her to say more. Compelled to add something else, she said, “The place was locked down and silent.”

  “When you say locked down, what do you mean?” Stephen asked curiously.

  “It had steel doors all around. The other time I caught a glimpse of it, I saw a lot of glass everywhere. This time I couldn’t see any glass.”

  Stephen frowned. “Interesting.”

  “It could have been just window coverings inside. It just looked different from the last time I saw it.”

  “Thanks. I’m glad you found your cat.”

  Her smile this time was bright and happy. “Thank you, me too.”

  She stepped away from Levi, smiled at both of them, and said, “I’ll leave you to your business.”

  “You’re a lucky man, Levi,” Stephen said.

  Dani wanted to believe there was genuine admiration in his voice, but she didn’t know him. And everyone she’d met here so far had been less than what they seemed.

  She backed away and circled around to meet Milo and Charmin, who just arrived. Bending close, she asked, “Was that all right?”

  “Perfect.” Milo reached forward and tapped the screen in front of him. “Look.”

  “What am I looking at? I can hardly see what you’re pointing out with everything else going on.” With every side of the monitor showing different images and all overlaying on top of each other, it was confusing to see what he was pointing out.

  Milo made several adjustments, and the monitors on three sides went black. In the center was a series of boxes with orange spots. “That’s this building, isn’t it?”

  He smiled and nodded, then pointed to the spots around the middle of the building. “That’s us.”

  How freaking fantastic was it that he could shift perspective like this? Then her gaze shot to the rooftop and the blacked out apartment. Only it wasn’t black any longer. There was an orange dot…on top. “And who is that?”

  “We don’t know.”

  “But you can find out.” She shot him a sideways look. “With the tags and visual stuff you guys do here, I’m sure you have it figured out.”

  “His tags appear to be undetectable, and he’s wearing a mask.”

  “Oooh, interesting.” She studied the spot. “Maybe he’s just running something that interferes with the signal.” Feeling Milo’s sudden start, she glanced over at him. “What? What did I say?”

  “You could be right.” He leaned his hands on the counter and stared at display. “If he is running interference, then I should be able to bypass it.” He frowned, then his fingers moved faster. “It could take some time though.”

  “Or don’t bother. Wait until he leaves and track him then. Surely you can identify him from that point.”

  He snorted. “Say what?”

  “Why try to bypass it? He had to arrive from somewhere. Can’t you track him backwards and check his tags from his earlier position?”

  “Only there’s no way to know which way he’s going to leave and if he ports out, then he’ll disappear faster than I can track him.”

  She shrugged. “True. I thought maybe you gave him only one choice. But then all this is beyond me.” She watched Levi end the conversation. The HoloKomp disappeared. She walked toward him, catching an odd look on Milo’s face as she did so. She raised an eyebrow in question, but he shook his head. She reached Levi’s side. “Is everything okay?”

  “As good as they can be.” He tugged her into his arms. “You look much better after your nap.”

  “I feel better.” Her stomach grumbled. She gave a tiny laugh. “Sorry. It’s been a while.”

  “I’m hungry too.” He turned her back toward the kitchen where his brother worked. Charmin, awake and alert, watched them with hungry eyes. “Yes, Charmin. I’m going to make a meal.”

  Charmin flopped to his side and rolled over in ecstasy.

  Levi laughed. “That’s the closest I’ve seen you to looking happy in a long time.”

  “You haven’t fed me in a long time either,” he moaned. “Food.”

  “Ha.” Dani smiled. “Now you can be patient while Levi cooks.”

  “Shrimp would be good,” he said with a long-suffering groan of hunger.

  “Cat food is what you’re going to get.”

  “That works.” He sat up and proceeded to clean his paw.

  *

  Levi set about making a hot meal. He’d ordered salmon earlier, thinking that might be the kind of meal Dani would love. He knew that Charmin would if no else cared for it. Dani made coffee and watched him prep the fish.

  When the meal was almost ready, she set the table, asking Milo, “Are you going to have a booster drink with us?”

  He looked at her blankly. “Why?”

  “So you join us for the family meal.”

  He just stared as if that was a foreign concept. Levi grinned and smacked his kid brother lightly. “Yeah. Come join us.”

  “Not now. I’m on the hunt.”

  “Hunt for what?”

  “This asshole.”

  “But you know where he is.” Dani walked back over to the comp. “So what’s the big deal?”

  “Hey, I’m just taking note of your suggestion and taking it one step further.”

  Levi looked up from plating dinner. “Really? What did she suggest?”

  “To only give this guy one escape route so we could ID him.” He grinned, that boyish look Levi loved and hated at the same time. “I figured we’d be able to use Johan’s equipment to pick up anything we needed to know. Like this guy’s com number.”

  That didn’t sound so bad. “And what good will that do?”

  “If we can ID him, we’ll be able to figure out who he works for.”

  “Or not, considering the Defino brothers are still out there and one of them is likely to be in Johan’s apartment right now.” Levi set the plates down. “Stephen is sending a team in.”

  “When?” Dani asked.

  Milo laugh
ed. “Right now from the looks of the orange spots shooting up to the top. Looks like we’ll get to see some fireworks soon.”

  “Except we can’t see anything.”

  “Then come here and watch. I’ll plug in the video.”

  And sure enough, the inside of Johan’s apartment showed on screen.

  And the intruder, dressed in black, pacing back and forth.

  Chapter 10

  Dani hated the suspense. They needed to know who was in Johan’s apartment. And what that person might want from there. Dani was more concerned about what they might know about her – if anything – and what they would do with that information.

  “Dani, come and eat.”

  She spun around, completely forgetting that Levi had cooked a meal. Then her stomach reminded her. With a last look, she took her place at the table. And couldn’t stop staring at the scene unfolding on the screen.

  “Milo.”

  “Yeah?” But his voice was distracted as he watched the screen.

  “Bring it over here,” Levi said. “Then we can all watch without getting a kink in our necks.”

  Dani’s attention was caught by his words. “Bring it over?”

  And sure enough, Milo arrived at the table, and suddenly there was the big 3D monitor at the side of the table where they could all see. “I had no idea you could do that!” she exclaimed. “That’s totally awesome.”

  Levi smiled. “It’s fun seeing things from your perspective.” He pointed to the see-through image. “We get blasé about our technology.”

  “You have no idea how much you’ve advanced.” Her gaze was caught by the orange blobs surrounding the top apartment with the intruder still inside. “And then in some ways, nothing has changed.”

  “The criminals are more sophisticated. But they still exist.”

  “Crime is everywhere,” Milo said. “Then again, what do you expect when the Council is corrupt?”

  Dani lifted a forkful of hot food then gasped as she watched the team enter, surround, and attack the intruder. He collapsed to the ground, and darned if that hot spot didn’t slowly fade to yellow.

  She put her fork down, suddenly sick to her stomach. “It was fascinating to watch – like a movie – but at the same time, I just realized that a person died. It’s not so nice now.”