Shrouds of Darkness

by Brock Deskins

  “What did you find out?”

  “Johnston had nothing in her emails but I did find a deleted email from Van Graff to Bryan Dawson telling him to get “the sample” from the bio safety-level 4 lab and to make sure no one sees him.”

  “Who is this Dawson guy?”

  “Some security drone. He was hired a year ago but the time sheets show that he hasn’t checked in to work for a couple weeks. His termination is going through channels right now,” Marvin explains.

  “I have a feeling Mr. Dawson has already been terminated—permanently.”

  “Hey, if they used a sword like you at least he got a severance package! Get it?” Marvin replies, laughing uproariously over his own twisted joke. I have to admit, it is pretty good.

  “What about Vincent’s security system, have you hacked that yet?”

  “Too easy. His system had the same vulnerability as yours and a million other people’s that got LaRoche Security Corporation in so much hot water. I can’t believe how many people just don’t understand the importance of installing software patches. I was able to grab the encryption key between his system and the corporate server. All your base are belong to us,” he finishes in some weird voice.

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Resistance is futile?”

  I respond with a blank stare.

  “It’s a nerd thing, never mind.”

  “Enjoy your pizza and make sure you have that system locked down. I want to pay Mr. Van Graff a visit very soon,” I say as I return to my armory to think and prepare for what I hope is my final assault in this case.

  As I work on the tools I’ll need to accomplish my mission, I continue to process everything I know about the case, everything I suspect about the case, and the evidence I have gathered that puts Vincent right in the middle of everything.

  A new realization hits me like a truck. The hit on Yuri and Hanako that night in the club. I had dismissed it as a power play or a revenge killing by a rival family, but I now realize that it too is part of this only I stopped it. I cannot believe I did not link the two hits. Vincent pulls me into the case the day after that failed hit. That pulled me away from Yuri and a few days later he, Hanako, and the Italian get hit hard.

  But that’s not what is bugging me. Something else is itching in my brain and takes me several minutes to figure out what it is.

  “Marvin,” I call up out as I emerge from my armory. “I need you to do something else.”

  I explain what I want to Marvin. “You sure like to challenge me, don’t you?”

  “Can you do it?” I ask him.

  “I don’t know. The system is almost the same but this one’s been patched and you know it’s going to be top of the line but I can try.”

  “What about using the encryption key you got from Vincent’s system?” I ask the young hacker.

  “No, each key is unique. Marvin pauses to think. “But the encryption algorithm used to encrypt the key was never the problem, it was how the keys were stored and exchanged that got LaRoche in so much trouble so they may still be using the same algorithm. That’s a big part of the battle right there. I have some ideas I can try. If I had not gotten into the vulnerable system at Vtech then this would be impossible. But since I have an inside look at nearly the same system I’m pretty sure I can do it.”

  “Excellent. I need you to get me in. It’s time to end this,” I tell him and disappear back into my armory.

  *****

  Yuri Poplonovich, aka Molotov, Georgian mob boss, sits at his desk pouring shot after shot of vodka, wondering when the strigoi will come to finish off him and his men. The entire day has been nothing short of barely controlled chaos. Everyone is scared but these are tough men and they will not go down without a fight.

  The mob boss throws back another shot and looks at the empty bottle in disgust. Gunfire and shouts of pain and terror break the tense silence that permeates the building. Yaakov, Yuri’s lieutenant, bursts into his office.

  “Yuri, the devils are here! Everyone is fighting a retreat to the safe room,” his second in command informs him.

  Yuri replies with nod, grabs his pistol from the table, and follows Yaakov through the narrow hallways to the reinforced chamber that will hopefully protect them from the strigoi.

  Smoke, shouts, and the rattle of automatic gunfire fill the air. The entire building shakes from small explosions caused by thrown grenades. The body of one of his men flies through a doorway immediately followed by a strigoi in a leather motorcycle jacket.

  Yuri raises his pistol and fires six shots of armor-piercing bullets into the vampire at the same time Yaakov opens up with his automatic shotgun. The devastating combined attacks blasts the vampire off his feet but Yuri has no time to ensure that it will not rise again.

  The hall is getting crowded as Yuri’s men file in front and behind, providing an escort for their leader as they all fight their way to what is hopefully sanctuary. Dark shapes flit into and out of view down the smoke-laden passageways, darting into and out of rooms and side corridors to avoid the hail of bullets that futilely try to put them down. Occasional return shots reply, blasting holes in the walls or striking a human who is then grabbed by one of his retreating comrades and carried or dragged along.

  The hallway opens into a larger room with an open door on the far end that is the entrance to the panic room. Boxes of food, ammunition, water, and anything else needed to withstand a siege is already inside as Yuri and his men pack themselves into the room.

  As the last man jumps through the doorway, a heavy steel door drops into place, sealing them inside only a fraction of a second before the lead vampire slams into it with his body and begins beating on it with his fists and kicking it with his feet.

  Yuri stands on the other side of the door, glaring through a tiny window made of tempered safety glass several inches thick and watches as over a dozen strigoi pile into the room, looking around for a way to get to the humans just beyond the door. Almost all of them sport numerous holes and tears in their clothing, but if any of the bullets that ruined their clothes put them down, it was not nearly enough to keep them from rising again.

  “Nice panic room, stupid human,” the vampire that had slammed into the door hisses at the speaker built into the wall next to the door. “You have trapped yourself. Do you think we can’t get explosives to blast you out of your hole?”

  “Do you really think I would let vermin like you trap me and my men?” Yuri replies with a smile that holds not a hint of amusement.

  Another steel door slides down from the ceiling, blocking off the only other entrance into the outside chamber. Several of the vampires begin tearing at the walls with their fingers and pounding with their fists. Chunks of plaster and sheetrock rain down under the assault only to reveal sheets of steel bolted to the concrete walls.

  “Do you know who you are focking with?” Yuri shouts into the speaker. “I am Yuri Poplonovich! I am Molotov! Now burn, you motha fockers, burn!”

  With the push of a button, gas-fueled jets built into the walls by an army of contractors working through the night and rest of the day, erupt to life, sending a fiery hell of flame into the room. In moments, the creatures trapped within turn into flailing, screaming masses of fire that futilely try to claw their way through half an inch of steel and a foot of concrete.

  It takes only a minute for the thrashing to cease as the temperature inside easily tops a thousand degrees. Plaster burns away to reveal the faintly glowing metal beneath. Yuri does not turn off the flames until nothing but ash remains in the room that has become a huge crematorium.

  Turning his eyes to several security monitors, Yuri sends orders to his men waiting just a few blocks away. In seconds, several vans screech to a halt all around the building. Men with automatic shotguns and rifles pour out of the vehicles and pump round after round into the legs of the few vampires positioned outside that were meant to pick off anyone that might manage to escape the intended slaughter within. A singl
e man from each vehicle, armed with a flame thrower, strides forth as their targets drop to the ground and incinerates the vampires right on the street.

  The strigoi caught Yuri by surprise once before. They would never do so again.

  *****

  It is nearly 3 a.m. when Marvin shouts, “Leo, I’m in!”

  I emerge from my armory to see. “You have control of their alarms and cameras?”

  “I got everything.”

  “I want to see everything regarding his finances. Log into his bank account and check his emails. I’m looking for one or two large withdrawals and several small ones occurring around the same date.”

  Marvin begins typing and clicking away on the computer and it does not take him long to find what I am looking for.

  “Damn, this dude had a lot of money but he’s bleeding Benjamins like crazy!” Marvin exclaims as we both scroll through the bank records. “Other than this guy being real broke real soon, is it telling you anything?”

  “Yeah,” I reply. “See these small withdrawals all at the end of the month? He’s paying the bills for his minions. This large cash withdrawal was probably paid to get the sample out of Vtech.”

  “Sample of what?”

  “A virus,” I answer with a partial truth.

  “So this guy is some kind of bio-terrorist or something?”

  “I don’t think so. I think it is just something to use as leverage in what is appearing to be an extremely large and complicated corporate conspiracy.”

  I lay out my plan for Marvin then return to my armory to pack up the equipment I have been preparing. Katherine shows up right on time and is looking spectacular despite the late night call and short notice.

  Marvin takes her hand and gives it a kiss as I introduce them. “Enchantée de vous rencontrer ma jolie dame."

  "Oh, merci monsieur, " Katherine replies with a small curtsy.

  “And here I thought the only women in Leo’s life would be chained down in that dungeon he disappears into,” Marvin says, indicating the entrance to my armory. “To what do I owe the pleasure of such beautiful company?”

  “What happened to your Ebonics, Marvin?” I ask snidely then answer, “She’s here for protection while I’m gone.”

  Marvin shoots me a leering grin. “You leave her with me and the only protection she’ll need is birth control.”

  “She’s here to protect you, not the other way around,” I reply darkly, not caring for Marvin’s attempt at humor.

  Marvin responds with a laugh, “This pretty little thing?”

  Katherine moves with impressive speed, grabs Marvin by the front of his jacket with both hands, lifts him from the floor, and pins him to the wall.

  “That’s right, so you best keep your hands to yourself,” Katherine says with a smile.

  “Oh damn, Xena! I’m just playin’!”

  I give Katherine a smile as she sets Marvin back down. That’s my girl. Marvin regains his composure and brushes the wrinkles out of the front of his coat.

  “Now I see the attraction,” he says, pointing back and forth between Katherine and myself. “You’re both mean and violent people. Does it mean there’s something wrong with me if I am a little aroused at being dominated like that? I’m not gonna lie, there was something exciting in that—in a sexual way. Did you feel it?”

  “Not in the least,” Katherine answers.

  “Are you sure? Because I know a white guy like Leo probably has a hard time satisfying a strong, dominating woman like you.”

  Katherine gets a mischievous smile on her face and replies, “I can assure you, Leo is quite—adequate.”

  “Hey, be nice,” I tell her.

  She wraps her arms around me and says, “I’m sorry, honey, I thought I was.”

  Marvin nearly drops to the ground laughing. “Oh man she burned you good, Leo! Oh my god I like her.”

  “I am so glad you all can enjoy this levity while I go off and risk my life.”

  “I’m sorry,” Katherine says and kisses me on the cheek.

  I look pointedly at Marvin who looks at me in confusion. “What? I’m not sorry, that shit was hilarious.”

  I show Katherine how to open and close the access to my armory. “If anyone comes, get yourselves inside. You can lock it shut from within, so even if someone finds out how to open it, they won’t be able to. A small access hole leads to an old storm drain. You can follow that to a street access cover.”

  “What’s with all the computer equipment?” Katherine asks. “It wasn’t here last time I was here. It looks like NASA mission control.”

  “I had to set Marvin up in here after some—people—raided his apartment,” I explain to her.

  She looks at me skeptically. “I supposed all this is going to be on my bill?”

  Marvin calls out, “and a phone!”

  “And a phone,” I confirm. “It will all be itemized.”

  “And the phone is because…?”

  “Because your boyfriend is an angry, phone-hating bastard!” Marvin answers before I can respond.

  “You must think you are close to finding my dad if you called me over to watch Marvin,” she says, her body language showing eagerness and concern.

  “Yeah, I think this is it.”

  “You’ll have to fight won’t you?”

  I nod. “Yeah. I can’t go attacking Sheriffs willy-nilly so I need to lure them out and deal with them wholesale,” I explain. “I also can’t have them at my back when I deal with the one responsible for all this either.”

  “It sounds so dangerous. Are you really strong enough to beat them?” Katherine asks, showing nothing but fear and concern for me now.

  “Honestly, no,” I answer truthfully.

  “Then how can you win and bring my dad back?”

  I smile evilly, “By being a sneaky son of a bitch.”

  I return to my armory and come back out with a laden rucksack.

  “Do I even want to know what’s in the bag?” Katherine asks.

  I look at her innocently. “Just some library books I need to drop off.”

  We kiss passionately before I jump on my bike and speed northward upstate to what will be by far the toughest fight of my life. I’m not so arrogant to think my strength and fighting skill is so great that I can ride in Rambo style and proceed to kick ass. If I am to succeed, I need to pick my battleground and prepare it to favor me significantly.

  I am also counting on the crooked Sheriffs being fairly new to the game. If they were the Sheriffs I worked with back when I was amongst their ranks, I would be in serious trouble. Fortunately, whoever decided to hatch this plot replaced good men and women with loyal ones, sacrificing quality for manipulability. Of the Sheriffs I’ve seen on duty only Wyatt has any tenure.

  Nearly an hour later I hide my bike in some bushes near the wall that surrounds the massive estate. The wall itself poses little in the way of being an obstacle, but I need to deal with the cameras and other security systems. That’s where Marvin comes in.

  I talk to Marvin through my headset. “I’m at the spot.”

  “Let me know when you’re ready to go,” Marvin replies.

  We mapped out every camera and motion sensors on the property then assigned simple labels to them. When I call out the number, Marvin turns off that camera or sensor then back on in hopes that anyone monitoring them will attribute it to simple anomalies and not sound the alarm.

  I take a running leap and easily clear the ten-foot brick and wrought iron wall. “One.”

  Marvin does not answer, as expected, and I can only hope that he can hear me and does his part. “On.”

  “Two,” I speak into the headset as I sprint across the acres of manicured lawn, trees, and shrubbery.

  “On. Three, on,” I continue as I rapidly approach the enormous mansion.

  I crouch and hide in the shadows of a hedge next to the palatial home, listening intently for anything that would indicate that someone is aware of my presence.

&
nbsp; “Damn, Leo,” Marvin speaks into my earpiece, “maybe you are blacker than me. I have never seen a white boy move that fast! Jesse Owens has nothing on you!”

  “Focus, Marvin. I’m making my way to the outer library doors. When I get there, I need you turn off the outside camera and disable the inside motion sensors.”

  “I know what to do. You told me five times before you left. Part of being a genius is having a rather remarkable memory after all.”

  “And part of not getting killed is making doubly sure everything goes exactly as planned and my security guy isn’t distracted by a pretty woman being in close proximity.”

  “She is distracting, I’ll give you that, but I’m all over this,” Marvin assures me. “But when you’re done, you can bet I’ll be all over that, yes sir.”

  Through my headset, I hear a slap then Marvin curse. “Damn it, your woman just hit me. You two are perfect for each other.”

  “She’s just making sure you understand the boundaries.”

  “Yeah well, you better hope she didn’t knock any of the genius out of me.”

  I ignore Marvin’s whining and stealthily edge along the wall towards the French doors that open into the library. I pause just beyond the view of the camera and give Marvin the signal to shut it off. The door is not designed with security in mind and I pop it open easily and step into the chamber.

  The smell of hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper bound in various volumes filling shelves and lining walls welcomes me the instant I step through the door and secure it behind me. I tell Marvin to turn the outside camera back on and I immediately begin setting up my battlefield.

  I position several heavy oak tables near the inner door that should serve to funnel my opponents between the tall rows of bookshelves in the center of the room. I will be outnumbered and my greatest vulnerability is my foes outflanking and hitting me from multiple directions, so I need to do what I can to get my enemies to attack me from one direction.

  Their superiority of numbers, although certainly advantageous for them, could also be their biggest weakness—next to being a bunch of noobs. They will be over-confident and feel secure enough in their numbers that they will forego any real tactics and seek to simply overwhelm me. At least I hope they do. If I misread them, I am in a lot of trouble.