“So you are disappointed because the killer doesn’t want to kill you?” Alicia chuckled.
“No, it just feels good to be … someone important. Two nurses took selfies with me. One of them post it online with hashtag “NotAllHeroesWearCaps”. Can you believe it? Just promise me, you won’t tell this to anyone. Okay?” Sam looked at her hopefully.
“ I will think. You remembered hacking into that Poland police database.” She said powering her new laptop and setting the internet dongle with it. “So I was thinking that perhaps there was something in Poland Database that we ignored at that time, so is it possible to hack into it again today?”
“It is possible, but I don’t have any hacking software here.” Sam said punching buttons on Gameboy.
“Hmmmm.” Alicia thought for few minutes. “Did you save it in cloud anytime?”
Sam thought for a second. “Actually yes. We can download the file from my Dropbox account.”
It took Sam almost twenty minutes to download the hacking software into Alicia’s laptop and got the access to Poland’s police database.
“Right, now what do you want?”
“Is it possible to download the entire database because I am not sure about what I will need.” Alicia said.
“It is possible if the database is in SQL. You will need a software to view it on pc.”
By the time, Mr Richards came back, the database had started to download.
The more Alicia thought about her kidnapping, the more she became convinced that it had to do something with Warsaw. The killer tried to shoot her first, and then kidnap her. These were quite bold moves and needed planning and premeditation, but the killer responded within few hours. That showed the level of threat he felt by her progression. On the other hand, there was Ken explicitly asking her not to go in the direction of Warsaw.
After taking leave from Sam and Mr Richards, she planned to visit the police station. She wondered why Harry didn’t ask her to record her statement as a victim of kidnapping. It was another matter that police station itself looked like a crime scene when she reached there. There were few vans parked outside of the building with big bold NCA logo.
NCA, the British Feds, had finally arrived to investigate the Georgestown murders.
There were lots of black suits and uniforms inside the building with NCA logo on it. She tried to search for Harry or Kripke, but unable to find any of them. One of the black suits noticed her standing there in confusion and talked to her.
“I want to record my statement for the kidnapping case.”
The man called one of the lieutenants to take her statement. She told him the complete chain of events truthfully from getting unconscious in the central park to break out from her captivity, except for the part of Garret. “I asked a man to let me call my aunt from his mobile, and then my boss came to pick me from the location.”
“What was the name of the man? And where did this happened?” The lieutenant asked her typing vigorously.
Alicia broke a sweat. She had not thought about that before coming to the police station. “I didn’t ask his name. He was on the road changing his tire.” She dared not give any fake location; the ambiguous, the better.
“Did you see any landmarks nearby?” He said.
She tried to remember seeing anything from the Volvo, she and Garret took lift from. “There was a McDonalds within a kilometer.”
The lieutenant printed the statement and asked her to sign it.
“Where is Kripke?” She asked signing it.
The lieutenant gave her a stern look and went back to his work. It appeared to her that the presence of feds was demotivating the local officers. She left the police station thinking about the situation. Lost in her thoughts, she turned a corner and bumped onto someone.
“Hello! Cellmate.” It was Garret. “What are you doing here?”
“I came here to record my statement.” She looked at him in a surprise.
“I thought you were on our team.” He didn’t like the idea of giving information to the police.
“But, if police have all the information, they might be able to catch the killer before your brothers.” She said looking at the coming NCA van. The weather was cloudy since morning, but it started to rain all the sudden and they both had to take refuge under a tree.
“They might catch us instead of the killer.” Garret complained.
“You think our police is incompetent?” Alicia gave him a look.
“Well, I don’t know about everybody, but this guy is sitting ducks.” He pointed at Harry who was coming out of the van with an NCA officer. “I am watching him since morning.”
“Be easy, this is his first case.” She defended the honor of her local police. “But why are you watching him?”
“Clarke has put me on work.” He said in anguish. “Clarke … has … put … you … on … work?” She repeated slowly. “Clarke is the Head of British Division?” She found it difficult to believe it even in her own voice.
“And you didn’t know that?” He looked worried. “Can you tell me once and for all what exactly you know and what you don’t. I am getting all the blame for tipping you off.” The rain was getting fierce by every passing minute, showering them with more raindrops.
“Who is blaming you?” Alicia said.
“Mufasa and Simba.” He said loudly to make her understand. “If they ask you, just don’t throw your friend under the bus.”
Alicia didn’t need to ask him who was Mufasa and who was Simba. It was obvious. “We are friends?” She asked raising her eyebrows.
“Off course, we carried out a prison break together.” Garret said with a cheeky grin. “So how about having lunch?”
Alicia was also feeling hungry so she gave it a green signal. There was a steakhouse nearby where they could grab a burger at this time.
“Tell me one thing. What’s wrong with your boss?” He asked her after ordering two chicken burgers. “Why does he behave like a nanny who is responsible for everything?”
“Got into a problem with him?” Alicia said. The place was empty except for the two of them.
“I am staying with him.” He said.
“You are staying with Ken?” She looked at him in disbelief. She couldn’t imagine two any more different people living together.
“And I am feeling murderous these days.” Garret took plates from the waiter who brought their order. “It’s like I have got a cold-hearted nanny who scolds me at everything. I told Clarke to give me an outdoor task or I will escape.”
“You can change divisions?” Her curiosity kicked in again.
“I am a rare case so … ahem,” he coughed, “the top management is trying to figure out what to do with me.”
“I am feeling sympathetic … with Ken.” Alicia pressed her lips to stop from smiling.
“I have never seen such a young man with such an old soul.” Garret looked outside of the window at the rain.
“He is different in a positive way.” Alicia admitted. “Most of the men wear arrogance these day and women misconstrued it for charm. When you grow old, you realize all you need is someone who cares about you.”
“And you have grown old?” Garret laughed. “Do yourself a favor; get a nanny and a real man, instead of Mr Kenny. It will not work anyways.”
“What will not work?” Alicia tried to look uninterested.
“You and Kenny.” Garret gave him a victory smile.
“In which universe, me and him …” she stopped from saying something imprudent to him. “Hypothetically speaking, if it is me and him in some alternate universe, then why not?”
“Hypothetically speaking, in some alternate universe, you and him are too much alike. You both are living in some kind of 80’s world. You both are dispassionate about life. You know, for a stable relation, you need someone different who bring something in your life which was not there before. You might want him, but you don’t need him darling.” Garret said chewing a piece of burger.
“You need someone robust, fun-loving, spontaneous, outgoing type man, and I know a guy who just fit the profile.” He winked at her.
“You think you are robust?” Alicia chuckled. “Then why didn’t you try to escape from that building?”
“All right, that doesn’t count. I have a doctorate in genetics. I was not trained to carry out prison break.” Garret looked offended.
“And I am a LLB. I am also not trained to prison break.” She mocked him. “But still I did which means I am more robust than you.”
“I agree that you still show some sign of life.” Garret took another bite.
“So what happens to your research after giving it to Archiver? He has to guard it like a watchman?” Alicia was still getting his head around what she saw under the red maple.
“No, basically the job of Archiver is quite boring. He has to make sure that every research submitted to him is ready for archiving or not. A research is only ready to be archives if it is backed by enough resources, evidences and beta testing. After that, when the Archiver is satisfied, he sent it to the Archive where it would stay until further development.” Garret said.
“And who will look after the Archive?” Alicia asked.
“That’s a story, I won’t tell the children.” Garret smiled at her. “It is mostly a rumor by the way.”
“Say it.” Alicia said.
“There is a rumor that our research organization has also a Tactical Division which is in charge of securing the Archive. We are not new to this world. The Legacy was founded in 18th century for the first time. There must be thousands of research records in Archive. It needs to be protected at any cost.” He said munching fries.
“Tactical Division means military?”
“Private military, but it is just a rumor among the brothers who used to wonder about security of their research material. Some of our findings are really lethal and can give unfair advantage to the beholder.”
“Wait a minute.” She stopped eating and looked at the television in horror.
The Georgestown killer had not only got the attention of feds, but also of mainstream media. BBC was showing details of the killings and venues where the dead bodies were found. They also showed the street view of her bookstore which was displaying the sign of CLOSED in bold letters. She missed everything about it; her and Sam going on lunch together, someone kept calling her Miss Stone. She wondered when would life go back to normal. October was almost gone.
The channel also showed a brief interview clip of Harry who was looking like a child who just got to know that Santa Claus was not real, then a breaking news tape ran at the bottom of the footage.
GEORGESTOWN POLICE CHIEF KIDNAPPED.
She looked at the news in shock and asked the guy on the counter to increase the volume. The news reported that Chief of Police was kidnapped coming back from London. There was no further information available to media. The police were investigating with his daughter and his colleagues. She sat silently and listened to her heart beat for a while. Kripke was gone and he would have kept in a cellar just like the one in which she was kept. He could have turned up dead like Bernard. She didn’t want to imagine Kripke locked up in a room for the rest of his small life. The sweet man who believed in brotherhood and ancient scriptures; he did not deserve that. Every time she saw him with Flora, she felt a little hope about life, but now he was gone.
Someone pushed a glass of water under her nose, she raised her head to see Garret looking at her worriedly. After lunch, Garret gave her his mobile number and asked her to keep in touch before going his way.
Back to home, Alicia was not in mood to talk to anyone. Lucy and Steve didn’t comment on her gifts and accepted them without any objection, which was new for her. She watched Flora setting the new salt lamp in her bedroom and turning off all the other lights. She thought about talking to Flora about Kripke, but she was already looking gloomy so Alicia postponed her plan and came back to the attic.
She called Harry to find out more about the abduction. He sounded tired and rueful talking to her on the phone. Daisy, who was still in London, had refused to come back until Kripke would be found. Harry had not talked to her after that. Feds were not happy with the progress of local police and the kidnap of Police Chief was enough to cause distress among his pupils. She told him to take care of himself and disconnect the call.
In her heart, she agreed with Garret. Harry was not in the state of mind to conduct the investigation. First Rebecca’s murder, and now Kripke’s abduction, he was not going to sleep properly for the next few months. Feds were arrived, but they needed time to collect all the information and develop a perspective about the case, but did Kripke have enough time left?
She rubbed her temples with her fingertips. Laying on the peaceful confinement of her room, scrolling through the database Sam downloaded on her laptop, she started to retrace the footstep of the killer.
The killer was in Warsaw, and then he came to Georgestown, which meant he followed someone who lead him here, but the only members of Legacy who came from Warsaw to Georgestown were Bernard and Garret, and none of them made it to the Georgestown which didn’t make sense. If the killer wanted to discover the British members of Legacy, he should have followed them to their destination.
Why did he kidnap them?
There was only one possible explanation that the killer already knew the member of Legacy in Georgestown. The first two-deaths was not a hook; it was a warning to the Legacy.
Fulfil my demands or more people will die.
She felt a sudden clarity in her thoughts. Rebecca died because she double backed, but then why Kripke? What was the point in kidnapping him? A voice echoed in her brain. We have made some considerable development in catching the killer. Then another voice followed it. He exterminated the whole Poland Division, and then another, I saw him killing three people with a fucking umbrella.
She kept scrolling the database when she suddenly stopped looking at an entry. She stared at the laptop without really processing what she was looking at, then she muttered.
“But that changes everything.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Dangerous Disposition
The first thing she did in the morning was visiting the departmental store again. She remembered seeing some cool surveillance equipment in a corner. After having discussion with the shelf supervisor, she carefully made purchase of few items.
When she came back, Sam was sitting in the small kitchen of Stone Manor with Flora.
“What are you doing here?” She wrapped her arm around his head from behind.
“I am fine.” Sam’s full concentration was on Flora who was preparing Shepard’s pie for the Sunday lunch. Lucy and Steve were watching television as usual.
“I want to talk to you alone.” Sam whispered to her. “Hey Flora, I am taking Sam to my room.” She told Flora and took Sam upstairs to the attic not forgetting her shopping bags. If anyone else saw what she had purchased, she would be spending the whole weekend in the argument.
“Wow.” Sam climbed the stairs of attic and looked around.
“I painted it myself.” She said with pride. When she had first moved to attic, Flora was really mad at Lucy for moving Alicia to attic, but Alicia was happy because her first bedroom was adjacent to the master bedroom and there was always too much noise to adjust with. On the contrary, attic was unkempt and she needed to clean it to make it habitable. She painted the walls white leaving the beams in their natural state. The large glass windows added some glamor to the simple room.
“So what do you need to talk about?” She quickly removed the bed cover to make place for Sam.
“You know Mayor Robinson? He had come to meet me in the hospital.” Sam said.
“Really?”
Sam gave her a nervous look. “He offered me scholarship to study in London Business School.”
&nbs
p; “Wow. You don’t need to save money now.” Alicia said in excitement.
“I don’t know how to tell father.” He gave the reason of his nervousness.
“Of course, he would be happy. Your father is warm and affectionate. Why are you getting worried?” Alicia stopped herself from saying anything more than that on the subject of parents.
“I had never told him that I was saving money for MBA. If I go away, he would be totally alone.” Sam said in despair.
“Oh come on. You have not seen London’s traffic. Not to mention, rent. Do you even know how expensive is London’s real estate? You better stay here and take a train every day. It will take hardly an hour or two.” She advised him to the best of her knowledge.
“This is a nice option,” Sam smiled getting relaxed after listening to her.
“I used to do my homework in school bus so I could play at home.” She reminisced about her childhood.
“You must have enjoyed a lot in childhood.” Sam looked at her in admiration.
“No, I didn’t, but I tried really hard. That was the problem I guess, I always try too hard to be happy.” She said looking out of the window. “I also didn’t have a brother or sister to play with so I missed that part too.”
Sam put a hand on her shoulder, “You have got me.”
Alicia felt a rush of emotions emitting from her heart. She felt grateful to Sam for saying that.
“Thanks, it really means a lot.”
Sam patter her shoulder.
“Look, I also need your help.” It was Alicia’s turn now.
“For what?”
“To catch the killer.” She said then she told him her plan.
By the time, Flora came to call them for lunch, she had already briefed him everything.
“How will this work? You don’t even know whether he will take the bait or not?” Sam whispered to Alicia after the lunch when Alicia came out of the house to send him off.
“He will take it hook, line and sinker. I know what he wants.”
————
The sun was getting down and the clouds had started to gather. Lucy and Steve were taking their afternoon nap. Whatever Alicia had to do, she had to do right now. If she missed this opportunity, she would not be able to do anything to catch the killer.
The Killing Scripture (Alicia Stone Series Book 1) Page 16