Shrouds of Darkness

by Brock Deskins

  Buckshot strikes the killer in the shoulder, neck, and head. It doesn’t drop him but it staggers him. I kick him back even further, launch myself off the pillar and chunk of steel that pierces my back, and draw my blade mid flight. I come down with a hard chop to the arm holding the weird knife and sever it at the wrist. My back swing does the same to his head.

  I would like to have taken him alive but he was too dangerous and he probably didn’t know anything anyway. Professional assassins, I have no doubt that is what he was, rarely meet their contractor face to face. Nearly all correspondence is done electronically, through dead drops, or a third party at the very least.

  This hasn’t been totally uninformative however. The fact someone went to this kind of expense means they consider me a serious threat to their operation. The fact that he waited until I had a new lead suggests am going down a route they do not want me to follow. It could have been coincidence, but I doubt it. I have a feeling he had been up there for some time.

  “I take back what I said before, Leo. Now this is a hostile work environment,” Marvin calls out as he picks himself up off the floor and retrieves the shotgun that flew several feet further back. “Daaaaamn, you see that shit? I just smoked that dude gangster style! Oh, man, his head is gone. What are you, some kind of highlander or some shit? Who the hell carries a sword and cuts a nigga’s head off with it?”

  “The kind that’s still alive,” I reply as I search his clothing even though I know he won’t be carrying anything to identify himself or his employer.

  “Dude, my street cred is gonna skyrocket when I post this!” Marvin crows and starts taking pictures of the body with his phone.

  I launch myself at Marvin, grab his phone, and shatter it against the wall. “Do you think this is a game, Marvin? This is a highly skilled assassin and it is just dumb luck we aren’t both dead right now!”

  “My phone! Oh my God I can’t believe you just destroyed my phone! Why would you disrespect me like that after I just saved your life?”

  “You helped but that does not change the fact that this is very serious and advertising is not going to help our position.”

  “Helped? Dude, I saved your life. That guy was two seconds away from popping your ugly head off. Do you thank me? No, you just wreck my phone! Phone didn’t do nothing to you!” Marvin pouts.

  “I’ll get you a new phone.”

  “And are you going to get me back the hundreds of hours I put in to make my custom operating system and applications?”

  “I bet a smart programmer like you has that kind of thing backed up somewhere.”

  Marvin still sulks. “Yeah, but it still don’t make it right. You owe me a bonus and a new phone. I don’t know how much a ‘saving Leo’s mean old ass’ bonus is worth, probably not much, but you owe me.”

  As I carry the body to the furnace I tell Marvin, “What you need to do is find out how he got in here without tripping my alarm. I thought you fixed it?”

  “I did. No way he got in like I did. Let me get on the system and check the logs,” Marvin replies and darts back to his workstation.

  By the time I toss the assassin and his head into the furnace, Marvin has an answer. “He used an admin code, didn’t hack it or bypass anything.”

  “How would he get that?”

  “Same way as me, hack their server or snatch a data packet that has the password in it. Or someone gave it to him that already knew it.”

  “Disconnect me from their system and change the password. I want a standalone system from here on out. Someone knows you have been snooping into Vtech’s computer system. How?”

  “Not possible. I am like a ghost in there. No one can match my genius when it comes to being a cyber-ninja. My kung fu is unbeatable.”

  “First of all, kung fu is Chinese. Ninjas are Japanese and use ninjitsu. Secondly, what about three guys half as smart as you working together?”

  “No one likes a know-it-all, Leo.” Marvin looks pensive. “But your math is solid. I guess that could do it.”

  “I need to get to Sandra Johnston before someone can tell her to disappear. Lock up behind me, set the alarm, and drop the crossbars in place,” I instruct him.

  “Are you sure it’s safe?”

  “Yeah, she’s just a scientist. Shouldn’t pose too much of a danger.”

  “Not for you, for me! Some dude just jumped from the roof, started kicking your ass, and now he and his head is a briquette in your giant stove! ”

  “Look, I overestimated my security and got lax. Whoever sent this guy, they went all in. If they try and strike again it won’t be for a while and I bet it will be a lot more subtle,” I assure him. “Keep the gun close and call me if you even think there’s trouble.”

  “Call you with what? You wrecked my phone!” Marvin rages, completely forgetting his earlier fear.

  I give him an exasperated sigh, go back into my armory, and return with a cell phone. I toss him the old Nokia and watch his eyes widen in disbelief.

  “Are you serious? Now I know what that room is. It’s a time machine to 1992! You cannot seriously expect me to use this phone.”

  “It works,” I reply.

  I have newer phones, several in fact. I use them for long distance remote detonators but his constant whining about his phone is pissing me off and I know giving him the Nokia will irritate him to no end.

  “Works as what, a hammer? Submarine ballast? I guess I don’t even need the shotgun anymore. If anyone breaks in, I’ll just hit them with this phone! Oh, hold on I have a call. It’s Fred Flintstone and he says he wants his phone back.”

  “I need you to look into the email records of Dr. Johnston and Vincent Van Graff both home and office. I also want you to get a good layout of Vincent’s security system at his house and how to bypass it like our friendly assassin did mine.”

  “Yeah, I can also shop for a new phone while I’m at it you mean, angry, phone-wrecking bastard,” Marvin grumbles under his breath thinking I can’t hear him.

  Marvin is still mumbling complaints as I push my bike back out and roar off into the night. Dr. Johnston has an apartment in Manhattan and I want to be gone as little as possible so take my bike. I meant what I told Marvin about the likelihood of another assault anytime soon, but I still want to be cautious. The stakes are getting higher and my enemy has shown that he has had enough of my meddling.

  Dr. Johnston lives on the twelve floor of her fifteen-story apartment building. A quick elevator ride to the roof and an easy drop has me standing on her balcony in moments. My acute hearing picks up the sound of a running shower from inside. I try the door and I’m not surprised to find it open. Few people expect an intruder to come in through the balcony door over a hundred feet above the street. People are foolish.

  Just as I am about to slide open the glass door of the patio my phone vibrates. The number tells me it’s from Marvin so I answer it.

  “Leo, did you get my text?” Marvin asks me.

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “A cat probably ate the little bird that flew out of this phone to deliver it then,” Marvin says without missing a beat.

  I’m less mad about his inane phone call as I am about walking right into his bad joke. “Marvin, do you have something important to tell me because I’m a little busy.”

  “Yes. I was watching this show on the Discovery channel about these ancient cave drawings in France. They show these cavemen hunting mammoths and saber tooth tigers and shit.”

  “I don’t see what this has to do with what’s going on right now.”

  “Just listen! So this one image shows a guy getting ready to stab a mammoth with a spear in one hand. This is the crazy part. In his other hand—is this phone!”

  “Marvin,” I say warningly.

  “I don’t mean one like it, I mean this very phone! It’s so big I can read the serial number off the cave painting.”

  “Damn it, Marvin, don’t call me unless it’s important!” I hiss into the phone, near
ly crushing it in my grip.

  “You getting me a new phone is important! I need a new phone, Leo!”

  I resist the urge to throw my phone over the balcony and settle for hanging up. The water is still running so I settle down into a leather club chair facing the bathroom. A few minutes later, the water stops and I hear some fussing around in the bathroom.

  Sandra Johnston steps into the room in a bathrobe, scrubbing furiously at her hair with a towel. I don’t think she even realizes I am here until she speaks.

  “Buddy, you really picked the wrong apartment to break into,” she tells me as she looks up and tosses her towel to the ground.

  She is a vampire and she probably thinks I am a burglar or rapist or something and that I am about to be a very convenient snack.

  She looks to be in her mid thirties with a fit but soft build and a bobbed haircut. It is still wet so I cannot tell how dark it is naturally. Her face is a little rounded and bordering on cute and plain. She looks every bit the academic type.

  “Sandra Johnston?” I ask without rising from my seat.

  “That’s right. Who are you?” she asks a little warily.

  She takes a sniff in my direction and her eyes widen in alarm when she realizes I too am a vampire.

  “My name is Leo and I need to ask you a few questions.”

  She gulps audibly and her eyes go from nervous to outright terrified. “Leo Malone?”

  “Oh good, you’ve heard of me. That will save me the time of convincing you of the sincerity of any threats of grievous bodily injury I will make if you are anything less than completely forthright.”

  “Wh-what do you want with me? I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t had a full feeding in almost two months and I am always very clean.”

  “I’m not concerned with your feeding habits. I’m not a Sheriff anymore and you aren’t in my ward. Please have a seat and try to relax. Panic is terrible for the memory. I also don’t want you to try and run for it. I get really unpleasant if I have to chase people.”

  Sandra takes a seat on a matching love seat, sits straight upright and places her hands on her lap. “I can’t imagine why else you’re here for me.”

  “Really? The level of your anxiety says otherwise.”

  “There have been some rumors.”

  I arch my eyebrows in interest. “Rumors? I love a good rumor, especially ones about me. It lets me feel like I’m still relevant.”

  Sandra nervously licks her lips before answering. “People are saying you have been killing a lot of vampires lately, that you are going rogue again.”

  “I see. Well let me put that rumor to rest. I have indeed killed a lot of vampires lately, probably a dozen or so in just the last few nights. Hell, I killed one just before coming over here to see you. But I assure you, they all had it coming.”

  “Why is that?”

  “They irritated me. Tell me what you know about the Cure.”

  “Not much. I’m afraid I’m not much of a fan of their music,” she answers with forced levity.

  “Dr. Johnston now is not the time to be cute.”

  She quickly loses her smile and nods. “I assume you know what it is. It’s contained in our lab under strict security and if you want me to get it for you, you will have to kill me. I will die before I ever let it out on the streets.”

  Sandra is suddenly looking less appealing as a suspect. “Your access badge is considered a sensitive item, correct, meaning that it is treated as an accountable security item?”

  “Yes of course. All access badges must be accounted for at all times and reported as missing immediately so the card can be invalidated so it cannot be used.”

  “When did you notice yours was missing?”

  The doctor looked very uneasy again. “What do you mean? I have my badge.”

  “Six weeks ago you lost accountability of your card. How long was it missing and how did you end up recovering it?”

  “How do you know that?” she asks me.

  “Roughly six weeks ago your card was used to access the secure storage system that housed the Cure. I no longer think you are the one that took it, so someone else had your card, which means at some point it was missing.”

  Sandra lets out a long sigh and answers. “It was gone for less than an hour. I noticed that it wasn’t on my lab coat so I searched frantically for it. I found it in my locker. It had fallen behind some of my books and papers. I did not think it was a big deal, not enough for me to report it missing and get a mark on my record. Is it that important?”

  “Not to me but that bit of information may have saved your life. What if I told you the Cure is already out on the streets?”

  “No, that’s not possible. Only three people have direct access to it and only five even have access to the level four bio ward. It’s inventoried twice a month and I personally checked it last week.”

  “Did you actually examine the contents or has it become so routine that you simply saw the container and assumed that what was inside was the Cure?” I ask being no stranger to shortcuts in routine actions thanks to my years spent in the military. “What about the others that have access?”

  Dr. Johnston looks at me quizzically. “What about them? They feel as strongly about the Cure as I do. None of them would ever take it out of the lab.”

  “How often did Vincent come down to the level four bio security ward?”

  “Not often. He comes through maybe every few weeks, asks about our work, and does a cursory inspection of the lab, but he does that with all of the sections.”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  “My phone?”

  “Yes, little electronic device, sends your voice to a similar device over long distance,” I explain sarcastically.

  She points to the small table in the dining room. I follow her gesture and locate the cell. I use it to dial my phone and store the number for future use.

  “I think I have what I need. I recommend you check that sample and see if it’s gone in its entirety or simply diluted like I often did to my father’s whiskey when I was a kid,” I tell her and head for the front door.

  “Mr. Malone,” she calls after me, “you have to get those samples back from whoever took them. If it falls into the wrong hands it could be devastating.”

  I turn back and reply, “I can assure you, Ms. Johnston, it already has.”

  I use the stairs to make my exit from the building. I have no love for elevators. It’s not a fear of them it’s just that there are very few options once you get inside one. Not to mention I can usually beat any elevator in race, especially going down.

  My phone starts buzzing just as I clear the outer doors of the apartment building. “Yeah.”

  “I’m in trouble, Leo,” Marvin says, obviously agitated about something.

  Anxiety courses through me and I fear that I may have misjudged my enemy’s tenacity and struck again. “What is it?”

  “I put this phone in my back pocket and when I went to the bathroom—I saw that all the hair had fallen out of my right butt cheek.”

  “Goddamn it, Marvin!” I scream at the phone.

  “This is not healthy, Leo! I need a new phone! I can feel the tumor growing in my head right now. You need to find a twenty-four hour Best Buy or something and bring me back a real phone.”

  “Forget the tumor in your head, Marvin; you’re going to have a phone growing in your ass if you call me about that phone again!”

  “So is that a no on Best Buy?”

  “No I’m not going to fucking Best Buy!”

  “Then can you stop and bring back a pizza? You still don’t have anything to eat in this place.”

  I force myself to calm down and reply. “I’m on my motorcycle. How do you expect me to bring back a pizza?”

  “I’ve seen a Korean carry his whole family and the bulk of their personal belongings on a moped. I’m sure you can manage a pizza.”

  I think Marvin is actually trying to get me to kill him. It’s
like suicide by cop only a lot more painful. Suicide by vampire. All I can do is hang up, get on my bike, and wonder why in the hell I’m stopping for pizza.

  Several minutes later, as I’m standing in a pizza parlor waiting for my order, I wonder if Marvin has driven me to some kind of mental breakdown. All I want to do is go home and beat Marvin to death with that phone but instead I’m standing here waiting for a pizza—for Marvin.

  It’s the phone. I gave it to him to deliberately piss him off but now I am the one that is being punished for it. He beat me at me at my own game and my mind simply cannot deal with that realization so here I am waiting for a pizza. I’ll be damned. This entire case has completely unraveled me. First I end up with a girlfriend, which is some sort of tragic miracle of its own, and I get beat in a ‘who can be the biggest pain in the ass’ contest with Marvin.

  Can it be I actually like Marvin? Impossible, I don’t like anyone. I like Katherine. I like Katherine a lot. Has my relationship with Katherine opened me up to actually allow a friendship with another? God I hope this is just an emotional breakdown. Dr. Morrison is going to love this.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Marvin,” I shout as I pound on the door to be let in.

  I hear Marvin struggle with the solid steel cross bar that secures the door from the inside from anything short of explosives or a multi-ton vehicle. He jumps away with his arms in front of him as I swing the door open.

  “I have some information don’t kill me!”

  “I’m not going to kill you. I have your damn pizza. I can’t have you passing out from hunger when you’re supposed to be working,” I growl and shove the pizza box in his hands.

  “Oo, pizza,” Marvin smiles in surprise then looks at me with disappointment when he peers in the box. “It has mushrooms. I don’t like mushrooms.”

  “You son of a…” I snarl and grab for the pistol inside my jacket pocket.

  “It’s cool, I’ll pick them off!” Marvin hurriedly exclaims and seeks refuge behind his computer monitors.

  His fear makes me feel a little better. I feel as though some semblance of balance has been reestablished.