by Andrew Hood
He rounded the corner and found the goods lift, which was on a separate platform for couriers. He had used this lift once before when dropping off some marketing goods. As it didn’t have the mirrors and carpet of the main lobby lifts, it didn’t stop at ground level but went through to the loading dock. Perfect for the situation at hand.
Shane had previously thought of it like being the rotten core of an apple. Everything else about the building screamed opulence and success while this dirty lift ran through the middle of it. Today it was his escape vehicle and worth more than its weight in gold.
He rode it to the basement of the building, which ran out onto the street behind and as soon as it opened Shane was on the run again. He heard the foreman of the loading dock calling for him to identify himself. Shane raised his hand as if to wave behind him, but by that stage he was already out of the building leaving two lost policemen searching three floors behind him.
( * ) Shane ran from the building until he was exhausted and then left the back streets of the city to be amongst the masses again. He changed to a brisk walk so he did not bring too much attention on himself but was sure the heavy puffing gave him away.
Shane was recognizing a pattern in his own behavior. Whenever he was in danger he sought protection in the familiar. He had just run to the one building he knew better than any other, outside of his own. Now fear had brought him back to the church he was at the previous day.
For a moment he pondered about any possible religious significance. He then decided it was simply somewhere he knew he could make a phone call without interruption, which was strangely comforting.
While things had not been good for him that morning, they had then proceeded to get rapidly worse since. He now had no means of transportation and was unsure if he could access the internet to find the people responsible for ruining his life.
His mobile phone rang but the private number alert gave him no indication of who it might be.
“What?” Shane just couldn’t think of anything else to say and wasn’t in the mood to be pleasant.
“Shane, is that you? It’s detective Adam Kelly.” “I’m trying to help you people. Can’t you just fucking leave me alone?”Shane was starting to shake uncontrollably. He had screamed the last three words in anger. “Wait!” He fumbled in his briefcase for the mini tape recorder. Everything he discussed with the police had to be on record. He had decided that with a clear mind and he would stick to it no matter how upset he was.
“Shane, let me make something very clear to you.” He had the voice of a teacher fed up with one of its students. “You are on the run for stabbing your boss! We are not working together on this. You are working for yourself. If I get the slightest chance, I will bring you in. That is where it will all finish for you. Do you understand?”
“Then why the hell did you call me, Adam?” Shane demanded in frustration.
“I called to tell you that the others did have access to that audio program you mentioned. I want to know where you got it.”
“They did? Are you sure?” Shane felt ill suddenly. “I’m not going to waste time here Shane. Where did you get it?”
“Pete gave it to me. He downloaded it from the net.” “For god’s sake!” this was not the answer Adam wanted to hear. “Look Shane, this could be good for you. If you give yourself up immediately, I will tell them that you gave us the link.”
“It’s not that easy Adam. You weren’t the one in that room. You didn’t have to wipe someone else’s bloodstains out of your shirt and wonder how it got there.”
“We will catch you anyway Shane, I guarantee it.” Shane hung up the phone and burst into tears. For the first time in his life he was totally lost. Everything he had worked for was now gone. There was nobody around and he had hidden himself from the street below, so he let the tears flow until the emotion had passed.
The limestone church walls offered him no warmth when he had needed it the most.
( * ) Shane had been sitting on the grass with his back against the church wall since the call with Adam. He had been lost in his thoughts so much over the last few days, losing track of time was becoming routine. He was only brought back to life when he started to feel the internal pains of hunger.
Shane stumbled to his feet, collected his possessions and started to walk in whatever direction he was facing. There was no point heading to the car; it was now in the hands of the police. Every intersection he came to gave him another opportunity to make a bad decision.
As he looked up at the world around him, everything seemed to remind him of how lost he really was. The commuters rushing for their trains reminded him that he had nowhere to go and even the city that had provided him with safety until now, no longer seemed the safe haven it once was.
He slipped through a crowd around a McDonalds Restaurant and ordered some food. It didn’t seem to matter how tired or stressed he looked. Some of the characters around him were more than happy to take the attention so he hardly got a second look.
Shane found a table on the fringes of the room and sat down with his food. It was the first meal he’d sat down to eat since he had attacked Simone and he could feel it bring life back into his body. The warmth started in his stomach and the sugar carried it through his veins to his limbs.
Once he had finished the food, he cleared the space on the table and arranged his laptop in front of him. Shane had used the internet connection at McDonalds for checking email between customer visits in the past, so he followed his usual procedure. He was again denied access to the network. Fuck, what else can go wrong? He took a gulp of his Diet Coke and waited for inspiration to show him a workaround.
“Excuse me guys?” Shane interrupted the two teenage boys next to him. “Do either of you know anything about computers?” “Nah”. The one that was dressed in only black responded. He then turned his back to close the conversation. Shane figured he was one of those kids that had a grudge against the world.
“Look, I’m really in a bind here. If you can help me I would be more than happy to pay for your food?”
“I told you, we don’t know about computers so piss-off.” The second boy had interrupted his friend “Dude, hang on!” when it looked like he was about to start insulting Shane. “We may be able to help you but is going to cost ya.”
“I told you I’m happy to pay for your food.” Shane couldn’t believe the change of attitude in the boy.
“Nah, you buy us a bottle of Bourbon and we’ll help.” Now they both smiled. They were obviously too young to buy it themselves. It took Shane instantly back to a time when, as teenagers, he and his mates had gotten their hands on a bottle of Vodka and drunk in the local park. He couldn’t help but smile. “Ok, if you fix my problem I will buy it for you.”
They quickly rounded up their food and moved to Shane’s table.
( * ) After fifteen minutes of messing with his laptop and arguing amongst themselves, the boys had changed some settings and Shane now had access to the net that bypassed his office network.
They were proud to share the fact that they had used a similar method to get around their school’s network so that they could download porn. Strangely enough Shane didn’t doubt the fact at all.
Shane then made good on his end of the bargain and bought them a small bottle of bourbon from a bottle shop three shops down the road. He didn’t feel good about it, but desperate times make desperate people.
Now back at the same table, this time with a coffee, he settled himself in to find some answers. When Shane loaded up the file-swapping program he had used that morning, he discovered that this time, there were more people with the program online. The results showed twenty-seven matches.
He tried to chat online with a few of them only to find out that they knew little more than he did. Twice the reply was simply to say how fantastic the program was and how they felt better each day they listened to it. People seemed to be getting hooked without even realizing.
He received a few other r
esponses. They were insulting in every possible way but still no one seemed to be able to tell him who the creator was.
Finally as his coffee was getting cold he got a different answer.
IDB: I know who created this program. Why do you care? The username IDB had not initially caught Shane’s attention. He couldn’t recall seeing it earlier that morning, but now it made sense that a person with this code name may know more. Shane typed his reply
Shane: I am worried that it is making people do violent things to others.
IDB: What’s wrong Shane - lose your temper????
Shane jumped in his chair. He had never thought to disguise his username and it unsettled him that this person knew something about him.
Shane: A friend of mine did, and then he killed himself.
IDB: Maybe he deserved better!! Why are you bothering the people listening to my program? Why don’t you just listen for yourself and you can be the judge?
Shane was trying to think of a suitable reply when the next message sent chill up his spine.
IDB: It’s because you have already been through the program and graduated, haven’t you Shane Kirk!!! You must be so proud? I hear she was quite a bitch!
Shane felt suddenly dizzy. He had never mentioned his last name.
( * ) Shane suddenly looked up at the people around him. While it made no sense to think that the person at the other end of his online chat was in the same restaurant, he no longer felt that he was safe anywhere.
He had spent the last three hours in a back corner of a city McDonalds restaurant ordering just enough food to keep his table. The two teenagers who had helped him unlock his computer had left hours ago with their prized bottle of bourbon. Now as the dinner crowd had started to thin Shane’s continued presence was starting to be noticed.
Shane was unsure how he should handle the situation. He was now talking online with the person who created the program he had craved so much over the last few days. And not only did they already know it could cause harm to others but it now seems as though that is specifically what it was designed to do.
Shane: Who are you?
IDB: It doesn’t matter who I am Shane. The only thing that matters is what you have done, and let me just say, you have done well.
Shane: Why would you want to create a program that makes people hurt others around them??? Do you think it is funny?
IDB: Shane, I think it’s hilarious. I don’t care what people like you do; only what they can do for me.
Shane: What could you possibly get from this violence?
IDB: I will get what I deserve. Right now I Deserve Better!
Shane: Can we meet face to face?
Shane’s computer then alerted him that IDB had left the chat and Shane was left talking to himself. Shane quickly copied all of the text into an email and then sent it to the email address on Adam Kelly’s business card. He hoped that this would be enough to prove there was someone else involved and he had not acted alone in that meeting room even if he was the only person with Simone on the day.
As he packed up his laptop, Shane’s thoughts turned to Simone. He still hated her, without a doubt. Now, he could even blame her for the trouble he was in, if he wanted to. In reality she just didn’t seem to matter anymore.
Now that he no longer reported to her for work, he didn’t get the nauseous feeling in his stomach every time he thought about her. It occurred to him not to make the same mistake twice. They only have power over you while you let them. Once their influence over you is taken away you are in control again.
“Somehow I need to change this situation so that I am in control of this idiot, instead of him her being in control of me!” Shane whispered to himself as he rose from his fast food office.
( * )
By the time Shane had left the restaurant the evening had turned icy. It was Suggesting Murder50
typical winter weather. You needed many layers of clothing to stop the wind from getting to your skin. His recently purchased T-Shirt and jumper weren’t going to be enough for long. He needed to get somewhere warm soon, to bed, down for the night.
“Dude, he’s still here!” Shane had matched the voice to one of his novice computer hackers before he had even turned around to confirm his suspicions. When he did turn around they were both there in front of him.This time they were in a lot better spirit than during Shane’s initial encounter.
Shane didn’t need to look at the bottle, he could tell from the way their eyes didn’t quite open to their potential that they we already drunk. They haven’t wasted any time.
“Oh, hi guys hope you had a good night?” Shane turned away uninterested in their answer.
“We’re just getting started man. Can you buy us another bottle?” the friendlier one of the two said. Shane instantly didn’t like the situation he was in. He wasn’t about to make it worse. “Sorry guys I got to run.” He turned and had taken two steps before the more aggressive boy started in.
“Hey! We help you, now you help us!” It was caveman for - this isn’t open for discussion. Shane quickened his pace. “Sorry guys, wish I could help but I really need to go.” He started to jog so as to not show too much panic but it was enough to confirm that he was really in a hurry to be somewhere.
Shane was about 50 meters away when he felt the impact.
( * ) It later occurred to Shane that the boys must have spent a few moments discussing their options but whether they had already decided to this course of action before they had asked for his help would always be unknown.
They had silently stalked their prey to catch Shane almost unawares and the angry boy had tackled Shane from behind. While they could not disguise their last few steps as they bore down on him, Shane still did not have enough time to defend himself. He had half turned to face the sound when the tackler propelled him so forcefully forward that his head jerked backwards and he surrendered his belongings in favor of using his hands to break the fall. Without wasting any time the other boy grabbed his briefcase and ran.
Although they were still in the middle of the city, the time of day meant that there were few people in the street to come to his aid. As he climbed clumsily to his feet again Shane considered what he had just lost. His briefcase contained his laptop, MP3 player, mini-cassette tape recorder and the tapes he had made of his phone calls to the police. This was everything he had hoped to use to clear his name. It was an unacceptable loss.
He had never felt resolve like he did in that moment. Shane started to run. He ran fast but not at top pace for the first block. They were drunk which would sap any lasting energy they had and he was already gaining on the boy that tackled him anyway.
The youth ran, not with the grace of a sprinter, but like an ape which swung its body from side to side to shift its weight. If Shane had not been so focused he may have been surprised that the boy’s knuckles weren’t supplementing each second step.
When Shane got within a few meters he stepped up a gear and angled his charge so that when he hit, his weight transferred to push the boy into a shop window. The move was designed so that the shop would take care of the damage and Shane’s pace would not be impacted as he continued to pursue his property.
He didn’t need to look back to know that it had worked perfectly. He had heard the thump of flesh and the resulting moan. Shane had only top gear now. The remaining boy had seen his friend go down and was now fuelled by fear instead of alcohol. He rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.
When Shane got to the same corner he took it widely. It had occurred to him that it may have been a trap but instead, to his surprise he saw nothing. It was only a small street but he doubted his target would have had time to cross the road.This meant that he was either hiding between the cars parked there or in a shop doorway.
Shane slowed his speed down and moved his head from side to side sweeping his vision over the scene. It was probably too late, but he also tried to gain control of his heavy breathing in case the element of surprise pr
esented itself.
It did, but not in Shane’s favor. For the second time he was hit from behind though this time not with the same force as the first. Shane shrugged and took the blow at his shoulder instead of his head. He spun to face the danger and saw the same fear in front of him that he has seen with Simone two days earlier.
Shane had grabbed the boy before he could wind up a punch and threw him into the wall behind. He then used his shoulder to charge him into it again to take the air from the boy’s lungs. The youth collapsed to the ground trying to draw breath when Shane grabbed at his hair with his left hand and clenched his right fist parallel to his own face to strike.
When Shane started to throw his big punch, all of his thoughts were to inflict as much damage as possible. In an instant he retracted. The terror in the boy’s face had woken the father in Shane and the animal inside was back in its cage.
“Where is my case?” he said through clenched teeth.
“I am sooo sorrrrry!” the boy started to cry. “Please, don’t hurt me! It’s over by the car. I swear I haven’t touched anything!” When Shane had taken two steps back the boy jumped to his feet and sprinted into the night empty handed. He collected his briefcase, composed himself and hailed a cab.
Chapter 8
When Adam arrived at work the following day Belinda was waiting for him in the same clothes she had worn the day before. Even though her eyes were red there was excitement in her face that she was happy to display.
It flashed into Adam’s mind that maybe she got some action last night. He had been thinking about her a lot in the last twelve hours. Very rarely did he have to hold himself back from pursuing a woman.
Right now was the time for building his career. Getting the credit for breaking this case was too important to him to get distracted by a woman.
“What are you smiling about?” Adam said.
“I need to see you right away in the conference room..