“Get inside. Go straight and take the second right turn. You will find a ladder, climb up and you are in. Your ship is right next to the manhole you walk out of. Good luck. Thanks for the money.” he said, walking away from them and disappearing behind a wall.
John allowed her to climb down the manhole first, and then got down after her. As he stepped down, he pulled the cover over the manhole. Once down the ladder, she led the way with her torch. Just as the man had indicated, they took the second right turn. At about a hundred meters ahead, they reached the ladder the man had told them about. On reaching the ladder, John climbed first, pushed aside the manhole cover that was blocking the exit. He pushed it away, and climbed up. He waited on the surface for the Lipstick Woman to come out. Once they were both on the ground, John closed the manhole cover. He stood up and looked around him. He was right next to a large container vessel.
“This is the vessel, detective. Time to locate our containers.” said the Lipstick Woman.
“I hate to be the guy who gives the bad news. There are like two hundred containers on that vessel.” said John, looking at the huge container vessel in front of him.
“I have got that covered. Let’s go.” said the Lipstick Woman, beckoning him to follow.
They ran along the length of the ship for about fifty meters and then she stopped. John followed her lead and stopped as well. He noticed that the place where she stopped was the darkest possible spot along the length of the vessel. She proceeded to kneel down, placing her backpack on the ground. From the bag she pulled out a thin but lengthy rope, which John estimated would be about fifty feet. She placed the rope on the ground and then dug back into her bag and pulled out what looked like four corner hooks which was shaped like dart guns. She plugged one end of the rope into the dart gun shaped device. She pulled it twice to make sure it was in place and then she pointed the shooting end of the dart towards the edge of the ship, which was about forty feet away.
She stood up, with John instinctively moving backwards, and shot the gun. The rope shot up like a rocket with a long tail. It then curved towards the vessel and the hook latched onto the side of the vessel. She pulled the rope down and found that the grappling cable had found its home. She turned to John, smiled, and grabbed the rope and started climbing it. Even as John watched, he noticed that she climbed easily and in less than a minute, she was already at the top and climbed over on the vessel.
She then looked down and motioned to John to grab the rope. John noticed that she understood that his injuries wouldn’t let him climb up. John grabbed the rope with great difficulty, his arms paining like crazy. The moment he was holding the rope firmly, she started to pull him up. Given his weight, it took her a little over two minutes to pull him all the way up. Once he was high enough, he climbed over the railings and was on the vessel as well. She pulled up the rope and placed both the rope and the gun in the bag. They hid behind the closest container, and then knelt down.
“John, the time right now is one am. I don’t know if you know this, but this is usually the time when the vessel’s security takes a break from their night shift security beat. We have about fifteen minutes before the beat resumes. You need to know that these containers are ordered in rows of twenty. As you noted earlier, there are about two hundred containers. Check with the first container number, and use that as a reference to find the container we are looking for. Do you have a list of the containers we are looking for, John?” she asked.
“Got them right here.” said John, tapping his phone inside his pocket with his arm.
“Good. I will start looking for the containers from container number hundred. You start with the first one. Based on the numbers, you should find two of them and I will find the remaining three. Here, take these.” she said, handing him two tiny marble shaped metal balls. Looking at his confusion, the Lipstick Woman continued her explanation.
“Do you notice the flap on one side of the ball? Very good. Tap them and the trackers built into them will become active and the balls will attach themselves to the surface. Once you have got both the containers, you will return to this spot. Once I find and attach my three trackers and I will come back. If anything goes wrong, let’s just agree to scream for help for each other.” she said.
John nodded, stood up, and ran toward his row of containers. As he ran, he turned back to see that she was already behind one of the containers and was no longer visible to him. John kept running one container to another, looking for the first of the two that he was responsible for. He ran two rows and had just passed the fifth container in that particular row, when he found his first container. He double checked the number on the container and then tapped the marble that was given by the Lipstick Woman. He could feel a buzz coming from within and placed it under the container surface. Just like she said, it attached itself onto the bottom surface. John then continued to run and found the next container in the next row. He did the same to that container as well. With his job done, he found his way back to the original location where they stood when they climbed onboard the vessel. He found that she was already there.
“Very slow detective.” she said smiling.
“Well, I am still recovering from an injury, Lipstick Woman. The trackers are in place. I am guessing that you have done the same.” said John, returning her smile.
“Did and almost felt like taking a nap while you returned. I will get the rope down and we should climb down and return to our car.” she said.
John nodded. She got started right way. Just like before, she pulled out the rope and the dart gun from the bag. She tied one end of the rope to the railing on the ship and threw the other end downwards and got it anchored to a railing on the edge of the dock, right beside the sea. She motioned John to climb down first and waited while John did that. Once he was down on the ground, she climbed down quickly and pulled the rope down after her. She knew how to undo the ship-end of the knot from the dock in a matter of seconds.
Placing the rope and dart gun back into her bag, she led John back into the drain they had used to come there. Since they had already come this way earlier, they found the way back much easier. In a few minutes they had reached John’s car. The whole operation at the dock took less than fifteen minutes.
“If you are too tired to drive, I can drive your car detective.” she replied.
“I am good. Where do we go now?” John asked, getting into the car. She did the same. John started the engine and the car began to move.
“To my apartment detective. The necessary equipment to track those containers is at my apartment.” she said, locating her apartment in the navigation system of his car. She pointed out her address and asked him to follow that. John agreed to it and continued driving towards the location she indicated. The time was about 1.30am and John was feeling extremely tired. He observed that she looked tired too, but after all the hours he had spent with her, he knew that she would never admit to her tiredness. Soon enough, John had driven the car to the address she had indicated.
The apartment she had identified as her own was in one of the busier parts of the inner city. Street lights burnt bright, shedding enough light to make any sort of activity on the streets visible. The streets were empty except for an occasional cop car on the beat or a late night taxi. John looked outside the window of his car to get a good look at the apartment building he was about to enter. It was a six storied building and he noticed, not surprisingly since it was about 2am, that most of the apartments had their light turned off. Only one apartment had its light turned on and he could clearly see a guy smoking a cigarette. John wished that he was in that guy’s place, for he was getting tired with all this running around. He also felt that he needed some rest to allow his injuries to heal. John drove into the basement parking and they both made their way to the lift. Once inside, she pressed the button for the third floor.
The music inside the elevator was soothing, like a lullaby
to a baby. John felt his eyes getting heavy, the lack of sleep getting to him. He saw his own reflection in the mirror inside the lift. His eyes looked tired and he looked like a guy who hadn’t got enough sleep in a while. He also caught the reflection of his companion. She looked just as tired as he was, but there was something different about how she looked now. John had been thoroughly impressed by the way she worked, almost making him forget that she actually worked for the bad guys. Not only that, she had still not mentioned her name nor any details of how she planned to help John. The lift doors opened and she led him into the third door on the left. She pulled out her key, unlocked the door, let him in, switched on the lights, and locked the door securely from inside.
“You have a nice apartment here.” said John, appreciating the two bedroom apartment that was well it and looked ready to invite guests.
“Thank you detective. I rarely get to come here, and I find it very peaceful.” she said, walking to the computer, which was on the desk that was propped up against the wall.
“I will get something from the kitchen. Do you want anything?” said John, thinking of grabbing a glass of water and perhaps some juice to energize his tired mind.
“On the second shelf in the refrigerator, there are bottles of energy drinks. I will have that.” she said, powering on her computer.
John walked into the kitchen and grabbed two energy drink bottles, one for himself and the other for her. He returned to the living room and found that she was sitting in front of the computer, which was now fully functional. He opened both the bottles, handing one to her and started drinking from his own bottle. He pulled a chair next to her, and saw what was happening on the screen. The screen on the table looked like a standard computer monitor, but it was huge, roughly sixty-five inches, John thought. She was playing around on a large track pad on the table. Even as he watched, he noticed that the map of the city showed up and there were five glowing dots on the top right corner. She tapped on one of the maps, and the map zoomed in, showing ground level images of the port they had just sneaked in and out of.
“All the trackers are working, John. So far, everything is going as planned.” she said, taking a sip from the bottle of energy drink he had given her.
“That sounds perfect. What happens now?” John asked, still looking at the map.
“The container vessel should leave port in about ten hours from now. My guess is that after travelling for a while, these five containers will probably be offloaded and taken to a nearby place. That is what we are trying to find out. The location where these containers will go to. We need to go and find the guy who is receiving these containers. That guy, to whom the containers are being delivered, is our target. Once we get him, my job is done and I will deliver on my promise.” she said, pushing her chair away from the computer screen and getting up.
John was still sitting on his chair and nodded.
“We have about twelve hours before we may have to travel again, detective. If you want to, you can join me in the shower. Alternatively, this apartment does have a guest room which also has a shower. You are free to use either of these facilities and get a well-deserved rest. Your choice detective.” she said, walking away from him and heading to her room. John noticed that she left her room door open and he could see her removing her clothes.
I am still working John said to himself, getting up and walking to the guest room.
John got up at 8am to notice that the Lipstick Woman was still asleep. He had about six hours before going with her on the next leg of the assignment. Previously, John wanted to be sure about Todd Luck. It was a way of confirming his character that would provide John with an important clue about what was going on.
At that point, he decided to go back to that idea. He had to find a way of confirming whether this missing guy was a criminal or not. He called up Drake right away.
“John, early phone call. Don’t like it, but it’s you, so I answered.” answered a half-asleep half-awake Drake.
“Drake, sorry about that. One of things you mentioned about this missing person. You said something about him being extra-ordinary in his school life. What did you mean by that?”
“That’s what it said on his school certificate. I don’t really know what it means. You may want to ask someone at the school for that.” said Drake.
“Looks like I will have to do that. Have you provided the school address in you report?”
“Yes, it is all there. I am ending the call John. Bye.” said Drake, hanging up.
John Russo, realized that he had to speak to the principal of that school where his missing person went to. He opened the report that was sent by Drake, found the name of the school, called the principal’s office, and booked an appointment for ten o’ clock. He skipped going to the office for the time being, and drove directly to the school. On the way to the school, he phoned Sheila and told her that he would be in the office after his meeting with the school principal. The principal’s office let him in.
“Hello Mr. Russo. I am Jason Kimble, the principal. I usually don’t take non student related visitors. I understand you are here on some investigation. I would like to see your license please.” said the portly man, behind the principle’s desk.
John Russo was ready for a cold welcome. He did not sit on the visitor’s chair. He took out his wallet, and presented his private detective license. The principle looked at it, made some notes on his notebook, and then looked at it some more. Finally, he seemed to be satisfied. He looked at John and motioned him to sit down, handing back the license. John took his seat, and his license and pulled out two photos from the same wallet. He presented a picture of the missing person to the principal.
“Do you recognize this man?” asked John.
“Not really.” said the principal, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was unhappy about their meeting.
“How about this?” said John, putting a photo of the missing person, when he was a school student.
“I remember this guy. Wait a minute. Sandy, can you get in here!” he shouted. A middle aged woman wearing librarian glasses walked in. The principal showed that photo, and she let out an expression of recognition.
“This is that student all right. Could you tell him something about this student?” he asked her, and then turned to the detective and said, “Detective, she will help you out. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a school to run. Thank you”.
John Russo was led out of the principal’s office and onto the corridor. His assistant seemed a lot less rigid and more talkative.
“What is his problem? I did book an appointment didn’t I?” said John.
“Don’t worry young man. Mr. Kimble has always been like that. Come this way and here we are, the glory room. The room where we celebrate some of the most popular students who passed through the halls of this school.” said the lady, walking him into a trophy room.
John Russo was overwhelmed with all the trophies in the room. Right in the center of the left hall was a big photo of a newspaper article. The article mentioned his client’s brother by name and a photo of him next to a drowning school bus. The article said that this young boy saved the lives of four other students with extraordinary swimming skills.
“Four kids. He really saved their lives?” asked John, shocked.
“Yes. He did. He was always like that. Always running around, trying to help anybody who was in danger. He was the best boy scout that there ever was from our school.” said the lady.
John thanked her for the information and walked back to his parked car. As he drove to his office, he had a smile on his face. He just confirmed his suspicions. The brother of his client was working outside the law alright. The evidence from the school indicated that he was a good guy and that most likely meant that he was not a criminal. Yet, he was working above the law.
That could only mean one thing. This brother, the missing per
son that John had been searching for three days, was some kind of government agent. He could be a spy or an undercover police officer or an intelligence gathering agent. John Russo had almost solved the case. All that was left to do was find the brother, and reunite him with his ever crying sister. Having made up his mind about Todd Luck, John felt a lot better about the mission. He was pretty confident that the guy that he was searching for was a good guy. That also meant that the Lipstick Woman was not a bad person either. Things were beginning to fall into place.
John phoned his loyal assistant Sheila to say that he would be in the office in 15 minutes. Although he had stayed in regular contact with her during last night’s mission, he was still looking forward to seeing her and briefing her on the latest developments.
Chapter 10
John drove back to the Lipstick Woman’s apartment and arrived there by 2 o’ clock. He was let in by a middle aged woman who apparently worked for the Lipstick Woman as a housekeeper. John noticed that the Lipstick Woman’s bed was empty and he could hear noises from her shower. John returned to the computer screen. All the trackers that they placed were still in the same position as before. The timer indicated that they had about two hours before the trackers would start moving. John continued to stare at the screen when the housekeeper spoke to him from the direction of the kitchen.
“Mr. Russo, shall I lay out lunch on the table for you?” asked the housekeeper.
UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck Page 25