With the creep subdued, Hailey took a minute to replay all the feeds from her bugs. The two ranches were quiet. She went to Lila’s room and knocked repeatedly until the young woman opened the door. She started at the sight of the woman in black armor from the neck down. Camille sat up in the bed. “Agent!” she cried. Cam quickly got up and ran to her.
“You know this person?” Lila asked.
“Yeah. This is Agent Ramirez. She’s gonna rescue all of us.”
“Rescue?”
“Lila, you are here against your will, are you not?” Hailey asked.
“Mr. Conley—”
“Don’t be afraid of him. He won’t hurt you anymore. Are there any other ‘masters’ on this property?”
“Grown-ups?”
“Yeah.”
“No. Just him.”
“Does he also make children dig for havva beans?”
“They’re not really beans,” Lila replied. “But he does cook ‘em into something that he sells for a lot of money.”
Hailey nodded. “What do you know about that? Do you know how they ‘grow’ underground?”
“They don’t grow. There are some animals that live underground and they poop out those things.”
Camille’s face wrinkled up. “I’ve been collecting gopher poop?”
“They’re not gophers. They never come up, not during the day, at least.”
Hailey interrupted Lila’s report. “I don’t think it’s scat. I think maybe they’re eggs.”
“Eggs? Then why do they call ‘em beans?”
“I don’t have enough information yet. But you don’t need to worry about that any more. Lila, are you the cook?”
“Yeah.”
“I think it would be a nice surprise if you cook up a grand breakfast for all the workers and invite them inside to eat it.”
“What about Con—”
“He’s tied up.”
“What?” Lila said, wide-eyed.
“He’s going to jail when I take everybody off this island.”
Lila began to smile. It was the first time she had smiled in a very long time.
Pitching In
Camille helped Lila put together a veritable banquet for Conley’s slaves. By the time the sun rose, Lila sent the delivery bot out to the metal houses with the usual wagon. But there was no food in the wagon. Only a note with pictographs: an arrow pointing to a house. The confused children looked toward the house and saw Lila, Camille, and Agent Ramirez standing on the back porch, waving them over. Sara began to run. Sasha, Melanie, Deepa, and Trish followed. The other children who had been Conley’s slaves for some time followed quickly after.
Sara and the other girls hugged Hailey. Lila made announcements to all the teens. “Conley’s gone. The house is ours. Eat as much as you want!”
With the teens happily filling their bellies beyond full, Hailey pulled Lila aside. “You got any pain meds?” she asked.
“Yeah, in the kitchen.” Lila led Hailey to the kitchen where Lila did the cooking and Conley did the drug production. “Here y’go.” She handed Hailey a container. “He takes ‘em all the time cuz the havva fumes give him a headache.”
“Thanks,” Hailey said, popping a few in her mouth and stashing the container in her suit. “Tell me, how much do you know about the other operations on this island?”
“When I was a digger, we’d hear stories about kids at other ranches disappearing if they tried to run away.”
“What do you think happened to them?” Hailey asked, reaching for a fruit and settling into a chair to enjoy it.
“Mr. Conley told us the havva monsters got ‘em.”
“Are there really animals underground?”
“That’s what they say. Big worm things that poop out those beans.”
“Well, if those beans are scat or eggs, they don’t come from anything terribly large. I think they were just trying to scare you so you wouldn’t run away.”
“But there’s nowhere to run to. James ran away once. He said he went around the whole island. There were several docks with boats chained to them, but he couldn’t get ‘em loose. He came back when he got too hungry.”
“Did he say how many boats or how many ranches he saw?”
“I don’t know. Sounded like six or seven maybe.”
“And how do supplies get here?”
“I always assumed they came by boat because once a week Mr. Conley drives off toward his dock and comes back with fresh food and stuff.”
Hailey nodded thoughtfully. “Thanks, Lila. If you want to go be with your friends, I’m OK here.”
Lila left Hailey alone to conduct her Wraith business. Through hyperwaves she sent and received messages with Derek. Almost ready to clear out this island. What’s your status? she asked him.
Kidnapping ring rounded up. Roadblock finding the buyers of the drugs. Kidnappers don’t know anything except their own link in the chain.
Any other chains to track down? Other cities?
Negative. Very centralized organization on the front end.
At least six slave buyers on this island alone. Other islands?
Winston not cooperating.
Threats?
Not working. Scared of someone higher up.
I’ll find out who takes the drugs off the island and inform you ASAP. Meanwhile, arrange for transport of at least two hundred with social services ready for intake. There was a pause. Hailey realized she had just issued orders on a mission that was not hers. Pardon. Suggest previously stated actions. Awaiting instruction.
Approved.
Hailey went to find James, the kid who circumnavigated the island. A hyperwave came in from Lucky: No such thing as havva bean.
James gave Hailey some good information. Her estimate of a population of two hundred was not far off. Besides Conley’s and Morrissey’s operations, there were four others. Taking Conley’s truck, Hailey drove from house to house, planting bugs and taking names. Every time, she parked out of sight and snuck in on foot. Afterward, she’d drive on past the house leading the owners to assume it was Conley going past, headed to a different neighbor’s house. Her circuit brought her back to Morrissey’s land.
With a crate of food she’d stashed in the cab next to her, she crept through the jungle, just at the edge of the property and tried to get Jane’s attention by reflecting sunlight into her eyes with a shiny metal knife blade. Jane looked up and spotted Hailey. “I’m going to the john,” she said. She strode away from her co-workers and slipped around to the back side of the building.
“I’ve got lots of food. Get the others to come over here, too.”
Jane’s eyes lit up at the sight of the feast. She hungrily dug into a cold breakfast and ate quickly before going back to the digging field and instructing Frankie and Stanley to go take a turn. After them, Quon, Ben, and Conner had their fill. Jane returned to ask about the six girls who were taken away.
“They’re fine. The teens over there have taken over the house.”
“Really? How?”
“I got rid of the master for them,” Hailey said with a smile.
“Are you gonna do that here?” Jane asked hopefully.
“Sorry, Jane. I need information before I can shut this one down. I’ve been listening to all the masters all over the island. Sooner or later, one of ‘em will mention what I need to know.”
“I hope it’s sooner, not later.”
Hailey smiled tiredly. “Not too much longer. Hang in there.”
Hailey returned to Conley’s house to find someone else’s vehicle parked in front. Cautiously, she donned her helmet and entered the house, now silent save one voice demanding answers. “Where’s Conley? Tell me or I’ll kill her!” Hailey peeked around a corner and instantly determined what had happened. Using the helmet’s proximity sensors, she counted up the people in the house. Only one man had entered and taken Lila hostage. Now he held a gun to her head and an arm around her neck.
Hailey drew her firear
m and entered the room. The teens all turned at the sound of her robotic voice. “All of you, get out of here.”
“Stay right where you are!” the man shouted. Hailey held up her gun, aiming at the man’s head.
“I will outshoot you, count on it. Kids, out.”
The teens scrambled out several doors. They gathered at a large window to watch what would happen. Hailey advanced on the gunman. “Let her go.”
“Take one more step and I’ll kill her,” he threatened. Hailey watched the muscles in his arm, hand, and fingers. He was perilously close to pulling the trigger. She halted her advance. “Drop your gun,” he ordered.
“That’s my line,” Hailey replied. “This is your final warning. I will kill you.”
The man’s pulse increased from its already high rate. Hailey listened to it and to his breathing, watching his fingers, hand, and arm. His pulse took another uptick in rate as his eyes closed to what he was about to do. Hailey saw it in slow motion, every minute detail in perfect clarity. She fired her weapon.
Before the flash collapsed on itself at the end of her barrel, the man was dead with a bullet in his brain. He fell, pulling Lila down with him. Lila scrambled out of his grasp, screaming and crying about what had just happened ten centimeters from her head. Camille ran in and threw her arms around Lila. James entered to have a good look at the man with a hole in his forehead. He turned and looked at Hailey removing her helmet and putting her gun back in its holster. “How many people’ve you shot like that?”
“More than I want to.” Hailey went up the stairs to check on Conley.
Having heard the gunshot and seeing the black figure entering the room, he began to writhe and whimper, trying in vain to get away from her. She took out her favorite blade again. She threw the sheet over his body, not wanting to look at it. Then she pulled up a chair and held the knife point near his face. “Who picks up the drugs?”
Conley looked stricken. “I don’t know. I swear. Only Morrissey knows who the contact is. Morrissey has all the offshore contacts.”
“For the kids?”
“Yeah!”
“For the drugs?”
“Yeah!
“You sell to Morrissey?”
“Yeah, and he sells it offshore, I swear.”
“What about the others who live here?”
“We all sell to Morrissey. I think he gets a better price than he gives us, but he has the contacts, so what can we do about it?”
“Did he bring all of you here?”
“Yeah. He brought all of us into the organization. We’re like… what do you call it?”
“Franchisees?” Hailey offered.
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“How many?”
“How many what?
Hailey sighed. “How many franchisees are here?”
“Oh. Me and four others.”
“Names.”
“Hardy. Soto. Cohen. Pandit.”
“Which one has the blue flatbed?”
“Cohen. Is he the one you—”
“He’s the one who didn’t listen to me.”
Conley swallowed. “Uh, Ms. …”
“It’s Agent. Ramirez.”
“Agent Ramirez, ma’am. Can I have some water? Maybe a bite to eat?”
“I’ll ask the kids what they think you deserve in the way of food and water.”
Conley’s face fell.
Hailey resumed the interrogation. “You come and go as you like? You have your own boat.”
“The Morrisseys, they get picked up by a chopper sometimes. Go to the mainland on their cat sometimes. But the rest of us, we don’t leave the island.”
“He doesn’t let you?”
“He’s got the only boat.”
“What about the other docks and boats around the island?”
“’Bout a year ago, he locked all the boats to the docks with his own locks. None of us can use the boats.”
“You’re his slaves, too,” Hailey summarized.
Conley had never thought of it like that before. His house was comfortable, full of nice things and a few servants. He lived on a beautiful island with great weather. It was a paradise, until a moment ago when he realized it was a prison.
“Schmuck,” Hailey summarized. “One of your compatriots is dead ‘cause he didn’t obey me. I suggest you learn from that…” Hailey left the threat hanging in the air and went back downstairs.
Knowing that Morrissey was the kingpin on the island, Hailey determined that he and his wife were the ones to surveil. She had several bugs on their house; now was a good time to go through the saved recordings from them. She played them back at ten times normal speed but didn’t hear anything useful. The most important thing, now, was to make sure they didn’t find out Hailey had neutralized two of his five franchisees.
“Lila, James,” Hailey beckoned. The two young people approached. “Everyone on this island reports to Morrissey. I need to go watch that house. Will you guys be OK here?”
Lila still looked shaken. “What if someone else comes here like,” she pointed to the body which someone had thrown a sheet over, “him?”
“You got a comm in this house?” Hailey asked.
“Mr. Conley has one. I know where it is,” Lila reported.
“Enter this code, and I’ll know you’re in trouble. 266638. Got it? You know what the numbers look like?”
Lila looked at the floor. “I do,” James replied. “266638. Got it.”
“Keep everyone here,” Hailey said as she put her helmet on and left the house once again.
She stuck with Conley’s truck and returned to Morrissey’s house. Instead of hiding the truck, she parked it right in front of the house, then disappeared into the nearby jungle. After a few minutes, Ms. Morrissey opened the front door. “Harold, Conley’s here. Somewhere,” she said, coming out to the truck and seeing no one inside. She looked up and down the road that connected the houses.
“Harold! Is Conley with you?” she asked, going back inside.
“What are you talking about, Erin? Conley’s not here.”
“His truck is here.”
“Huh. I haven’t seen him.”
“What’s he doing coming back here again? I swear, that man needs more hand-holding than a toddler.”
“It doesn’t exactly behoove us to hire the best and the brightest,” Harold reminded her.
“I want to go on that cruise to Abraxas,” Erin changed the subject.
“Not this again,” Harold sighed.
“This island is boring as hell. I want to take a trip.”
“We just got back from a trip two days ago.”
She looked at him witheringly. “Doing a pick-up at Trenton doesn’t count. Doing a drop-off at Gilmar also doesn’t count. I can’t stand Winston or Mané.”
“You only just met Winston.”
“I can tell. Mané –”
“I agree with you about Mané. But I suppose he’s better than dealing directly with his boss.”
“Whew, yeah. I tell ya, though: that’s the position to be in. Whoever he is, he don’t do anything but sit on his throne and collect money. You and me work too hard for that guy getting all the dough.”
“And we take all the risks, too,” Harold agreed with his wife – for once.
“Yeah, we deserve a vacation.”
“We’re not going on a two-week compression trip to look at a walking speck through a window,” Harold replied exasperatedly.
“Then how about…” Hailey lost interest. She left the rest of the conversation to the recording bugs around the house. She sent a hyperwave to Derek: Mané in Gilmar buys drugs from island thugs.
Copy.
Ready for the cavalry whenever you can get to it.
Copy. Will advise when timetable is set.
Hailey drove back to Conley’s house, leaving the Morrisseys perplexed about the appearance and disappearance of his truck in front of their house. She formulated a plan for relieving the oth
er houses of their masters so the kids could at least stop digging all day, every day. They should be allowed to wait in comfort for the cavalry to arrive, while their taskmasters shared a metal house and outhouse under the watch of their own ACME sentries in preparation for going to prison.
Agent Derek Cochella
Agent Cochella – Falcon – was relieved to get Agent Ramirez’s intel about the person named Mané in Gilmar. He had already picked up everyone involved in the kidnapping part of the crime syndicate, but they knew nothing about the drug part of the pipeline. Whomever was in charge had wisely segregated the different aspects of the operation to prevent exactly the kind of domino series of arrests that Derek was trying to achieve.
And although the “godfather” of the entire operation had vetted the Morrisseys very well via his enforcer, Mané, he didn’t yet know that the linchpin characters who had contacts on both sides of the operation had inadvertently mentioned both names to the SWORD agent they didn’t even know was on the island. In ignorance, the godfather luxuriated in his comforts, trusting Mané to handle the dirty work.
Derek traveled to Gilmar by automated taxi. He sent a hyperwave to Lucky asking for information on Mané, if there was any to be found. Derek didn’t yet know what a great resource a handler could be. If there was information on the man, Lucky would find it.
Derek also didn’t understand, yet, Comet’s experience and social skills. He didn’t know how she had acquired so much valuable intel in such a short time, but he respected her for it and made a note to interview her when the mission was complete – to learn as much as he could from the resourceful agent.
While he traveled, Derek reviewed all the information he had accumulated in his readings of history and current events in relation to drug syndicates and cartel politics. He didn’t value the history assignments in the academy – no student did – but now saw the usefulness. From the vast amount of information he had as his disposal, he predicted that if he could get to Mané, he had an eighty-nine percent probability of getting his boss, too. And if that man was, indeed, the top of the pyramid, there was a sixty-one percent chance the infrastructure of dealers and street sellers would crumble on its own, increasing to ninety-three percent if Sector Security actively tracked down the small players.
Hailey's Comet Anthology Page 33