by Alex Siegel
Horn Dog raised his eyebrows. There was no need to point out that Virgil and Alfred were badly outnumbered. Silver Bullet Security had a total of fifteen men on their side, and most carried some kind of weapon.
"And what happened to Jerry?" Horn Dog said.
"The poor man was too injured to come," Virgil said.
"But he wasn't too injured to talk."
"We did provide strong encouragement. Enough chit-chat. You know why we're here. Tell us who the client is."
Horn Dog laughed out loud. "You seriously expect me to tell you?"
Alfred stepped forward. "There's no need for hostility," he said in his special voice. "We should be working together."
The tension went out of the room like air out of a balloon. His voice was truly magical.
"Why?" Horn Dog said.
"Your client has no regard for your welfare. You're disposable. Why do you think you were hired? He didn't even warn you about us."
"What are you talking about?"
"We're part of an elite unit of federal agents," Alfred said. "Our agency is so secret, just hearing the name is a crime. We're working with Detective Haymaker on a case which has national security implications. Obviously, your client knows about us. There has been a critical security breech. It is imperative we find the rat before he compromises the operation further."
Horn Dog stared at him with an expression of disbelief.
Virgil used a small dose of his gaze to rattle Horn Dog's composure and drain his confidence.
"Let me be even clearer," Alfred said. "If you don't identify your client immediately, you'll go to prison, all of you, for obstructing a federal investigation. It won't be just any prison either. How does Guantanamo Bay sound?"
Horn Dog swallowed. "Doesn't sound good."
Chapter Seventeen
Lisa was watching the small office building with absolute focus. Virgil and Alfred were inside and were depending on her for their safety. Protecting teammates was a responsibility she took very seriously, and in this case, they were more than just teammates. She considered them friends even though they had just met a few days ago. She was particularly fond of Virgil. The man had a practical, no nonsense approach which matched Lisa's own. She knew she could count on him in a tight spot. He was a natural leader, and she instinctively wanted to impress him.
Lisa, Sara, and Haymaker were hiding across the street. Lisa and Sara had climbed up to the high branches of a tree where leaves provided excellent cover. Haymaker had been unable to do the same due to the limitations of his ordinary body. He was lying on the dirt under a hedge.
Lisa noticed a brown car pulling into the lot in front of the building. The engine rattled alarmingly, and blue smoke puffed out of the tailpipe. The fenders had rusted through. It rocked heavily on its suspension as it turned. The car backed into a spot directly in front of the building. It continued backwards, rolling onto the sidewalk, until the rear bumper almost touched the front door.
Is the driver drunk? Lisa wondered.
The driver got out. He had a massive chest and shoulders the size of footballs. He was wearing a white sports coat and dark blue slacks. Odd bulges suggested body armor hidden underneath his clothes. When his jacket flapped open, Lisa caught a glimpse of a gun.
The guy quickly walked around to the trunk of his car. After glancing to either side, he opened the trunk with a key. He put his hand inside and fiddled with something. Then he very gently closed the trunk. He checked for witnesses again and strolled casually away. He was carrying a small gadget with an antenna in his hand.
Lisa could draw only one conclusion. "A car bomb," she told Sara. "He's going to blow up the building."
Lisa had to make an instant decision about what to do. She had only a vague idea of how to defuse a bomb, so that wasn't an option. There wasn't time to evacuate the building. She had only one choice left.
She leapt out of the tree. It was a long fall, risky even for her, but she landed on soft grass and managed to avoid breaking a leg. She absorbed the energy of the impact by bending her knees until they made a creaking noise. She jumped up and ran towards the bomber.
Lisa drew a gun. "Freeze!" she yelled. She aimed at his head.
He stopped, turned, and held up his hands. "What's wrong?" he said innocently.
"Turn around and go back to the car. Defuse the bomb."
"Bomb? What bomb?"
Lisa cocked the hammer on her gun. "Don't make me ask a second time."
* * *
Virgil's phone rang. The caller ID showed Sara was trying to reach him.
"I need to take this. Sorry." Virgil stepped away from the crowd. He accepted the call and put the phone to his ear. "Yes?"
"Some guy just parked a car outside your building," Sara said. "Lisa thinks it's a car bomb. She's dealing with it now."
"Where?"
"Right out front. I have to help her."
The call ended. Virgil stuffed his phone in his pocket and ran to a window. He saw Lisa in the street with her gun drawn. She was aiming at a man with a brawny, athletic build. His wide stance and straight posture suggested a military background.
She found the ambush, Virgil thought.
* * *
"Fine," the man said. "I'll show you there is no bomb."
He walked back towards the car. Lisa looked at a small device in his right hand, and she expected it was a radio detonator. He couldn't use it while he was so close to the bomb.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw drivers looking at her from their cars. Somebody would call the police. She didn't have a lot of time.
The man calmly unlocked his trunk and opened it. Lisa edged around for a look inside.
"Holy...," she whispered
The trunk was full of blocks of a substance that looked like orange clay and had to be plastic explosive. She wasn't an expert, but she judged there was enough to completely demolish the building. An electronic triggering device was wired to blasting caps inserted in the explosive.
The man made his move while Lisa was looking at the bomb. His arm swept around, and a hidden device in his sleeve shot out a knife. The blade was aimed straight at her face, and she barely had time to dodge it.
At the same time, he dropped down and kicked upwards. Her gun was knocked cleanly out of her hand before she had the presence of mind to pull the trigger.
He reached into his jacket with his right hand while still down. She kicked his right forearm to stop him from grabbing his gun. She leapt forward and tried to land both her feet on his chest, but he dodged aside at the last instant.
He's good, Lisa thought.
The man produced another knife and slashed the back of her knee. If she had had tendons there like a normal woman, the attack would've crippled her, but instead, it was only annoying.
He was pissing her off. Her demon nature took hold, and the fires of Hell burned where her heart should be. She savagely attacked his face with her heel, and this time, she connected solidly and heard a crunch.
He grabbed her by the belt and dragged her down. He was too strong for her to resist, but she made him pay by dropping an elbow into his sternum. The body armor underneath his shirt absorbed some of the impact, but he still grunted.
The man tried to grab Lisa by the throat. She struck his elbow with her palm, and it made a nice popping noise. His nose was already a mess, but she punched him in the same spot for good measure, and blood sprayed outwards. She gave him several more hard punches, her arm moving like a piston, until he stopped moving. She pounded him a few more times just for fun.
She heard a police siren.
She noticed Sara standing nearby. She was holding the detonator which she had apparently found on the ground. A clear plastic cover protected a red button, and a little antennae poked out the top.
"You could've helped more," Lisa said.
"You didn't give me a chance," Sara said, "and you didn't need it."
Lisa turned her attention to the bomb itself. She
started yanking out the blasting caps because it seemed the obvious thing to do.
The man woke up and started groping at her legs.
"Stop that!" she yelled.
She kicked his face with all her strength, and his head turned sideways. His neck cracked.
"That didn't sound healthy," Sara said.
Flashing red and blue lights were coming up the street.
"The police can take over from here," Lisa said. "Run."
She and Sara ran off.
* * *
Virgil watched the women flee, and he took it as a good sign. They wouldn't leave unless the bomb threat had ended. Lisa had blood on her knuckles and her shirt. The brawny guy didn't follow her, another good sign. Nice job, ladies, Virgil thought.
"What's going on?" Horn Dog said.
Virgil turned to the boss of Silver Bullet Security. "It seems your employer just tried to blow you up. I guess he didn't want you talking to me. My teammates took care of the problem. Feel free to thank me for saving your life."
Horn Dog frowned. He pointed at two of his men. "Check it out!"
The two men ran out of the office.
Two police cars with flashing lights pulled up. Four officers got out of their cars and rushed forward to investigate.
Alfred walked up. "Let's not get distracted. You were going to tell us who hired you. Guantanamo Bay, remember?"
"Oh, right," Horn Dog said. "The fact is, I don't know. He never gave me his name, and he paid in gold."
"That didn't make you suspicious?"
"I'm used to dealing with clients who prefer to remain anonymous. As long as they give me all the money up front, I don't care."
"Some of your clients could be criminals," Alfred said in his special voice.
Horn Dog shrugged. "It's a dangerous world."
"You're right, and if you don't help us out, it will be especially dangerous for you. The United States Government will not accept 'I don't know' for an answer."
"Well." Horn Dog leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I do have a video."
The two men who had left earlier returned.
One said, "There is a car full of C-4 out there! Enough to take out the entire block! And there is a guy who looks like he got hit by a truck."
Virgil wondered if that much explosive might actually destroy him. His body was tough, but ordinary weapons could still damage it, and his ability to heal had limits.
Horn Dog narrowed his eyes. He looked at Alfred and said, "I secretly tape all client meetings just in case I need evidence later."
"For blackmail?" Alfred said.
"For whatever. Let's check out the tape."
Horn Dog walked over to a blank wall. He touched a spot, and a hidden panel swung out revealing the controls for a surveillance system. Alfred and Virgil joined him.
"The meeting happened early this morning," Horn Dog said.
He manipulated the controls until he found the right timeframe. The video was shot from a high angle behind the desk in the office.
"That's him," Horn Dog said.
The client was seated in front of the desk. His red hair and light skin indicated Irish heritage. A long, straight scar on his forehead was a distinctive feature.
Horn Dog pressed the "play" button, and the video came to life.
"Three men and two women," the mysterious client said in an Irish accent. "One of the men is Detective Thomas Haymaker, Chicago PD. He'll lead you to the others. They're the ones I want to find." The client placed photographs on the desk.
"Who are the others?" Horn Dog said in the video. He was facing away from the camera.
"Dangerous, and that's all you need to know. Don't engage. Don't pursue. Use long-range surveillance. Call this number to keep me up to date on the progress of the investigation." The client put a business card on the desk.
"What about payment? I need to see the money up front."
The client put a briefcase on the desk. Horn Dog turned it around and opened it. The camera saw just the edge of a gold bar.
"Sufficient?" the client said.
"Very," Horn Dog said.
"Good day."
The client stood up and walked out of the frame. The real Horn Dog pressed the stop button on the video.
"Where is that business card?" Alfred said.
Horn Dog pulled a white card out of his pocket and handed it over. Virgil saw just a phone number. There wasn't any other writing.
Maybe Mei can do something with this, he thought.
"And those photographs," Alfred said.
Horn Dog went to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a short stack of photos and laid them on the desk.
Virgil leaned in. The pictures were sharp even though they had obviously been shot from long-range. The entire team had been captured on film. He smiled slightly at the image of himself. Not a bad looking guy for a dead man, he thought.
He scooped up all the pictures. "We'll be going now. I don't have to tell you to not try to follow us. For you, the assignment is over. Be glad you got out with just one casualty." He used his gaze to make sure Horn Dog got the message.
Virgil and Alfred took their guns back. They left the office and went downstairs to the lobby.
There was a lot of activity just outside the building. Virgil looked through a window and saw paramedics attending an unconscious man. Lisa had turned his face into a gruesome piece of modern art. The paramedics were trying to resuscitate him.
An open car trunk allowed Virgil to see the bomb. He whistled in amazement.
"Mr. X really wants us gone," he said.
Alfred nodded. "He probably has issues he needs to work through. For that matter, so does Lisa."
They didn't want to get entangled with the police, so they left the building through a back door.
As soon as Virgil was safely outside, he grabbed his phone and called Mei.
"Hello?" she answered in her soft, sweet voice.
"I have a phone number for you. Please, tell me who owns it." He read the number off the business card.
After a pause, she said, "That's an internet phone."
"What does that mean?"
"The calls go through internet anonymizers. They can't be traced. It's a favorite trick of hackers."
"Hmm." Virgil frowned. "Maybe I should call the number and see who answers."
"Wait, no! I have a better idea, but I need to write some software first. Don't use that number. Meet me in Chinatown."
"Uh, sure. We'll be there in twenty minutes." He hung up.
Lisa and Sara emerged from some bushes and approached.
"Thanks for stopping that bomber," Virgil said in a sincere tone.
"No problem," Lisa said.
"It's too bad we can't interrogate him right away. Did you have to hit him so hard?"
"He was trying to kill everybody in the building. How did it go with Silver Bullet Security?"
He summarized the meeting.
"At least we got a phone number," Lisa said. "That's better than nothing."
"I have confidence Mei will do something useful with it. Let's find Haymaker and get out of here before the police start asking us questions."
* * *
Virgil walked into Li and Li's Electronics Boutique. Mr. Li was behind the counter wearing a black jacket and a white shirt but no tie. He gave the team a wary look.
Virgil wondered what Mr. Li thought about the situation. Theoretically, he still believed the time traveler story, but he was intelligent enough to know how thin it was. Virgil wanted to tell the truth but didn't dare. Too many people were too deeply involved already.
Virgil just gave Mr. Li a polite smile as he went to the back room. Lisa, Alfred, Sara, and Haymaker followed.
Virgil knocked on the secret door. "It's me!" he called.
Mei opened the door and grinned when she saw him. She was wearing a cute, black dress with some lacey frills.
"You look much better than last night," she said.
&
nbsp; "I told you I'd be fine. What's your plan for the phone number?"
"I'll show you. I just finished getting ready."
Everybody went into her workshop. Virgil didn't know how Mei could keep track of things in the cluttered space. Equipment was stacked on top of other equipment. Old computers were stuffed under tables, some with their electronic guts hanging out. He noticed she didn't have a lot of manuals, but then he realized she got most of her information off the internet.
Mei sat at her impressive computer workstation in the corner.
"I'm assuming the guy you're after is in Chicago or somewhere in the area," she said.
"That's still a big area," Virgil said.
"But manageable. I hacked into all the phone carriers. My computer is keeping track of every call as it is placed or received."
Mei pointed to her computer screens. Numbers were scrolling past faster than Virgil's eyes could follow.
"Every call in Chicago?" he said in amazement.
"Yes."
"Oh," he said. "I think I get it. I'll call the number, and somebody will answer. Your computer will be able to tell who. But there must be thousands of calls happening all at once. How will you know which is exactly the right one?"
She winked. "Watch and learn."
She picked up her own phone and put it in speaker mode. He assumed she knew what she was doing, and her call wouldn't be traceable. She dialed.
A man answered in an Irish accent. "Hello?"
Mei immediately hung up and looked at her computer. "I have 707 candidate numbers. All of them picked up at about the right time."
"That's good," Virgil said, "I guess. Better than a million."
She dialed again.
The same voice answered, "Who is this? Stop calling me."
Mei hung up again.
"That narrowed it down to one. Only one number picked up both times. It's a cell phone, and I can track its location."
"You're brilliant," he said.
She blushed. "Thank you."
"Where are we going?"
She checked her computer. "Maywood Park Racetrack."
* * *
"Come on, crow bait!" Slattery yelled. "Run! You're costing me money!"
He was standing at the railing of a horse track. A group of horses was running past, their hooves kicking up big clumps of dirt. His horse was barely keeping up with the herd. It was an embarrassing effort.