“A witness reported two men going into the house. Both had facial hair but that could have been part of a disguise. Both were large men.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“That and they wore uniforms that made them look like the York Screechies.”
When Deek didn’t respond, I asked, “Am I a suspect?”
“One of hundreds,” Deek said with a sigh. “Duran had many enemies. He was pressing for tightening the laws.”
“Tightening the laws won’t do much good,” I said. “What we need the most is enforcing the ones we have.”
“You won’t find any argument here.”
After we disconnected, I turned on the telly to see if Duran’s death had made the news. Sure enough. Channel Four didn’t mention it but the other three did. Channel Two sympathized with HO so I expected them to make a big deal about it. The part I liked the most was the police didn’t have any clues. But that could be a lie. Cops do that.
The news on Duran mentioned he’d been killed by gunshot. The fact that he was burned and bloodied first never came out. I figured the police withheld that part.
Channel One was the only one that mentioned poisoning the water. That story was not repeated on the other channels.
I didn’t see any mention anywhere, even on the Net, about Alena and Leanna being missing. That irritated me. A minor male politician gets killed and it spreads, but when two women go missing, not a word. But Zor was a frontier city and women went missing often.
Chapter 23
I grabbed a Snap and put it in my holster.
“I need to visit Zetto.”
Andy was still out of town. Vincent insisted on tagging along, despite his leg wound. He limped to our van while I drove with Ron in the passenger seat.
“Chima, whenever one of my team drives, check on a possible tail.”
“Affirmative,” replied the female voice.
“Report any suspicions.”
“Affirmative.”
“Oh, make that when any of my team is in the van.”
“Affirmative.”
“And plan a route that includes looping around a block.”
“Affirmative.”
Most cars and vans used automatic driving. Since it might arouse suspicion if I drove, I gave Chima the address of Dr. Newton’s office and let the AI pick a route.
Chima drove around two blocks and I was pleased that she understood my instructions. When we arrived at the doc’s office, we went in.
I spoke to the receptionist.
“Dr. Newton? I gotta see her personally.”
Ten minutes later, she came out in her white lab coat with a DetectIt hanging from her neck. A DetectIt could analyze breath, sweat, or blood. It ran hundreds of tests and gave near-instant readouts to the doctor. When held to the patient’s chest, it could also detect heartbeats and breathing irregularities.
She took us into her office and closed the door behind us.
“Dr. Newton,” I asked, “Where’s my friend?”
She took her seat.
“My place. I thought it best to take him there. My staff here might wonder why I hadn’t reported his injuries to the police.”
“We can take care of him on our own. We have a place that won’t arouse suspicion.”
“Can I visit him?” she asked.
“If you’re willing to wear a blindfold during your travels. We can’t let anyone know where that place is.”
“I understand. And agree.”
She knew about our work for BIS. As a matter of fact, that was a major reason why she helped us.
With her agreement, I replied, “Can I take him now?”
She rose from behind her desk. “You’ll have to wait until closing time, I’m afraid.”
“When is that?”
“Five. Come back at five thirty and you can follow me.”
“Your address?”
She gave it to us.
When we returned to the ops center, I put a stack of twenty sols in my jacket pocket.
At five, Vincent and I left for her office. At five twenty-five, we waited in her parking lot.
I looked in my outside rear view mirror to see Dr. Newton walk out the side door of her clinic.
Gone was her lab coat. Instead she wore a beige long-sleeved blouse and black full skirt. And a long coat, open at the front.
“Here she comes now. You sit next to her and give her driving instructions. Make sure she takes many turns. I’ll follow and check for a tail.”
We took twenty minutes to cover the two miles to her home, doubling back twice.
When she pulled in her driveway, I parked on the street and joined them.
She lived in a two-story house with a peaked roof of red slates. That would come in handy when it snowed, which it often did in the winter.
I followed Vincent and the doctor as they entered through a side door.
As we progressed in her home, I used my comm to scan for broadcasting.
We made left turns all the way through the kitchen, into a dining room, and then into the living room. I spotted a door off to the left of the living room. We had traversed a full circle. I figured the side door to the outside lay beyond a closed door. Sure enough, when I opened it, there was the door. Another door lay on my right, just left of the front door.
“Number one,” said Vincent. Out of habit, he referred to me by my number when in the presence of strangers. He had never been introduced to Dr. Newton.
It was time to correct that. I turned to her, standing beside him, and said, “Dr. Newton, you know me as Jake.” I pointed to him. “He’s Vincent, part of my team.”
“And the man on the bed?” she asked.
“Zetto,” I replied, “also part of my….”
“Team,” she filled in as she nodded.
I looked around me. Opposite the front door was a staircase.
She pointed. “Upstairs is my bedroom and a small office. And the public bathroom.”
I walked into Zetto’s room and saw him lying on a large bed, white bandages over most of his body. He must have been hurt in places I didn’t see.
Those bastards must have worked him over.
His eyes were closed.
I walked up to his bed and shook the mattress. He opened his eyes, focused on me, and smiled.
“Feeling up to a ride?” I asked.
Zetto looked at Dr. Newton and Vincent when they walked in.
“If the doc says I can,” he replied in a hoarse voice.
She turned to me. “It will be dark soon. Care to eat here before you take him? I usually eat alone but could use the company.”
“That might be a good idea. Moving him in the dark. Can you make sure any outside lights are off?”
“Okay. You three visit while I fix dinner. I started a slow cooker before I left.” With that, she walked out of the room.
I looked at Zetto. “They did quite a job on you.”
“I don’t think they liked having their communications sent out,” he added. “Have you found our two women yet?”
I put my index finger to my lips. “Let’s not talk until we’re in a more secure environment.” I glanced at Vincent and tapped my comm.
He took the hint, held his comm up, and walked around the room holding it in front of him. Zetto and I waited in silence until he stopped and said, “All clear.”
Zetto asked, “What about Leanna and Alena?”
I looked down and Vincent replied, “We haven’t found them yet. But we know who did it.”
“That’s great!” said Zetto. “Are the police on the case?”
Vincent answered, “The confessor didn’t survive.”
Zetto looked at me. “Oh.”
A look can tell paragraphs.
I added, “We can talk more at the center.”
Zetto said, “You’ll find them.”
I looked down at the floor. “I’m afraid we may be too late.”
Dr. Newton peeked in the door. “Dinner’s read
y. Hope you guys like split pea and ham.”
I said, “Beggars can’t be choosers.”
She smiled before replying, “You’re guests, not beggars.”
I answered, “Then guests can’t be choosers.”
She grinned again and walked out of the doorway to her left.
Vincent and I helped Zetto get up and walk.
Her dining room had six tall-back dark wood chairs. Zetto sat on the end opposite the doctor and rested his limbs on the arms of the chair. Vincent sat to his right. Behind Vincent rested a dark wooden case with glass doors. On the shelves of the case, I saw stacks of dishes.
I sat to Dr. Newton’s right in a chair without arms and said, “I hope you don’t mind. We’ll fill you in more when you come to visit Zetto. There are just too many possible ears.”
I pulled the thick pile of twenties out of my jacket and handed them to her. “For groceries, and such,” I said with a wink.
She smiled and took the money.
After dinner, we adjourned to the living room. We needed to wait until darkness would cover our exit.
We watched the news on the telly. The artic jet stream was due to dip south in a week, bringing cold weather. Just what we needed.
I pulled her living room curtains aside a crack to check on the weather. The sky was dark.
“It’s time to go.”
Under a black sky full of clouds and with the side door light out, we transferred Zetto to the passenger seat of our van. Vincent kept a lookout from the back of the van while I drove around the university and the railroad station to check for any tails.
Chapter 24
I received a tag from Ron on the way.
“I’m in the center.”
“Vince and I are bringing in Zee. Can you set up a bed in the planning room?”
“Got it.”
Zetto moaned.
“Can I have another pain pill?”
Vincent handed him a morphine pill and a bottle of water.
When we got to the ops center, I told the now sleepy Zetto, “Put your arms around my neck.”
His eyes drooped as I lifted him up and carried him. Vincent limped ahead to open the doors.
Once inside the dorm room, Ron met us and led the way past the bunk beds. I glanced and saw that one bed lacked its top counterpart. We went through the kitchen and into the planning room. There rested the missing bed.
How he got a bunk bed from the dorm I didn’t know. With the beds stacked one on top of the other, it must have been a chore to remove the top one. But he was half-Binger.
Zetto laid down on the bed and Vince covered him up.
Zetto’s eyes drooped. Having a full meal, a ride, and the morphine must have worked their magic.
Before he nodded off, he mumbled, “I overheard of a meeting with some bigwig and Coocher to take place Saturday at noon.”
“Did you find out where?”
“Yep,” said Zetto as he fixed his eyes on me. “In the parking lot of Franken Mall at noon tomorrow.”
Vincent said, “Odd place for a meeting.”
I noticed the time. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we all get some shuteye and start fresh in the morning?”
Zetto closed his eyes. Ron, Vincent, and I left the room. As I made my way out the room, I flipped the switch on the wall to turn the lights off.
At breakfast the next day, I swear you could cut the tension in the air. An op always does that.
After nine in the morning, Vincent and I headed to the mall in our van. Ron stayed to take care of Zetto.
“Chima, change your outside color.”
“What color would you like?”
“Gray…er, light gray, until we get within a block of the mall. When I park in the shade, change that to all white. And gradually, in case anyone is looking.”
A block away, I turned into an alley. Shade came from the nearby buildings. “Chima, it’s time to change colors. Change our license plates too.”
“Affirmative.”
Then I headed to the mall’s huge parking lot.
We had plenty of time to set up six remote viewing cameras and at eleven-forty, one of them showed a black van parking in the southeast corner of the lot. Two men sat in the front and kept the engine running. Two other guys looked out the back windows.
That seemed odd. Might be our target.
I slowed to let Vincent out. He left via the back doors with a backpack.
I drove two rows over from the van and out of its sight. As I drove by, a guy standing outside looked at me and unfolded his arms.
Oh oh. He’s alert.
I drove by, appearing to look for an empty space. When my head turned away from the van, I spoke into my comm.
“Vince, the guy outside the van watched me.”
Luck was not on my side that day and I could not find a parking space. Maybe lots of folks shopped on this Saturday morning.
At this mall.
To avoid arousing further suspicion, I drove by the front of several stores and around the edge of the mall, out of sight of the guy in front of the van. Didn’t have much choice. Couldn’t find a parking space.
“Chima, put on the colors and logo of…”
“I haven’t used Maria’s Produce in a while,” replied Chima.
I nodded. “That’s a good one.”
Unfortunately, I had to wait while oncoming traffic cleared before I could make a U-turn. I thought of poor Vincent alone back there. If the guys in the van thought he was connected to me, his life could be in danger.
I said in my comm, “Vince, are you okay?”
“Sure,” came a quick reply. “Snug as the proverbial bug.”
I wondered where that phrase came from.
Chima reported, “I’ve changed my colors and logo to Maria’s Produce.”
“Vince, how’s your leg?”
“Some slight pain but I can handle it.”
I headed back. This time I spotted the guy outside the black van on my left as I drove two aisles over from him. A man and a woman loaded bags into the boot of a car. I waited a safe distance behind them. Behind me and to my left was the black van with the guy still outside. I turned my inside mirror to check on him. He busied himself lighting an ecig.
It seemed to take the guy in the car a half a minute to back up. Eventually, the car pulled out and I took its spot.
I pressed the button and opened the disguise kit. Then I put on a full beard and black hat, picked up a sport bag with the Stacy’s emblem, and left the van keeping my eyes on Stacy’s Department Store.
Vincent reported on my comm, “I’m here, behind the target. And with a good view, too.”
“Keep alert to anyone coming up on you.”
I walked up to the store and entered. After visiting the restroom of Stacy’s, I removed my disguise and put on a larger nose. I inverted my jacket to present a beige color.
Then I strode back to the second row from the one with the target van, where I ducked and ran toward it while keeping out of sight. When I got between two SUVs, I could peek out and see the van but they’d have a difficult time seeing me.
“In position,” I reported to Vincent.
I waited another fifteen minutes like that, crouched in front of two SUV engine compartments, before a limo pulled up in front of the black van.
A big guy in a gray suit and a buzz cut on top went from the limo to the van and back. Then Guy Coocher exited the limo, walked over to the van with the same big guy, and entered as a side door slid open.
I couldn’t see the inside of the van from my position and said on my comm, left open to Vincent’s, “See anything?”
“Beautiful view, right in the front window. Coocher is talking with a guy.”
“Can you get his photo?” I asked.
“Sure thing.”
“See if you can determine who he is.”
I waited for another five minutes before I got another tag from Vincent.
“Ash Getner, head of
YSA.”
What the hell was he doing talking with Coocher?
Five minutes later, Coocher left the van, returned to his limo, and it drove off. The black van waited another ten minutes before it left.
My legs ached from crouching so long and I stood up after the last of the two vehicles drove out of sight.
Vincent rose from his hiding place. I could see why he had such a beautiful view. He had been right in front of the van in the bushes. More bushes lay behind him.
I went directly to our BIS van and drove to Vincent’s spot. He got in.
“What do you have?”
He tapped a few buttons on the side of his camera and we both looked at the view of the front of the van. Coocher and Getner sat opposite each other. We couldn’t get any sound but at one point, Getner passed a small package to Coocher. The men shook hands before Coocher left.
I looked at Vincent with a big grin. “That shot of them shaking hands is a beaut!”
As I drove my mind went into overdrive thinking of how we could use this vid. Coocher shaking hands with Getner would undermine his credibility with his Humans Only organization. Here was the top guy of a hate campaign against “hybrids” shaking hands with a man with artificial legs. And that man was the head of the spy agency YSA.
“Don’t let that recording get lost.”
Vincent replied, “I’ve already sent a coded copy to my office.”
“You might send one to our boss, too.”
“Will do, later,” he replied.
It took fifteen minutes to get back to the ops center.
Zetto cheered at the good news.
Ron was the spoilsport.
“All that is fine, but we still need to find Lee and her daughter.”
I slumped my shoulders and nodded.
Vincent looked up from his equipment, “Hey, guess what? That guy who walked between the limo and the van? I thought he looked familiar. Take a look.” He displayed the still view on the wall.
It was the Rat.
“Found you, you son of a bitch,” I said.
You could cut the excitement in the air.
“I think Hoskins is staying at Coocher’s house,” said Vincent. “And I’ll bet my wife and daughter are there, too.”
I pointed to Vincent. “Get me his address, aerials of his home, and anything else you can find.”
Humans Only: A Jake Dani Novel (Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Book 2) Page 14