He took a swig of Scotch. It tasted good: a real Scottish highland malt. Not like the low-strength, government endorsed, politically correct brands that filled the shelves of most supermarkets. No, this brand had all the standard health warning labels: ‘May cause alcoholism, liver failure, heart attacks and…’
“How’s the drink?” said Rosie.
He turned and almost choked on the whisky. She was wearing a see-through black lace teddy night suit that left nothing to the imagination. “Wow,” he said. “You sleep in that?”
“You like?”
“Oh, it ticks all the boxes.”
She smiled and sat next to him and pointed to a tiny bow. “It has this special bow. Want to see what happens when you pull it?”
He smiled and pulled it. The teddy split in half straight down the middle.
She leaned forward and rolled him back on the couch climbed on top of him and kissed him.
“At last,” she said.
They kissed again.
“Whoa, I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
“It’s been a year, Shelby. You deserve a life.”
“It feels like cheating. I’ve got to leave.”
“You don’t have to. I said you could have the spare bed. You don’t have to share mine.”
“Rosie, if I stay, I would be thinking about that teddy all night. Better if I go. I’m sorry, I gave you the wrong idea.”
“I wish I had someone that loved me the way you loved her. But you need to get over it. She would want you to be happy.”
“You’re right. But I’ve never been good at taking advice from dead people. I have to go.”
Shelby left Rosie and headed back to the Justice Department.
* * *
Shelby knocked on the door of 1007, and Scarlet answered wearing a marshal’s dressing gown.
He smiled at her. It didn’t work; she scowled back.
“Where have you been? It’s three in the morning,” she said. “Have you been drinking?”
“I had piles of reports to complete. It took so long. Hasn’t Jess been looking after you?”
“You mean your fembot? Yes, she bought me some clothes, and we had a long chat. She told me all about you and her.”
“What? A long chat? She’s mute.”
“Not anymore. I fixed her.”
“You fixed her? What if I didn’t want her fixed?”
“You can’t be serious. That’s a horrible thing to suggest. Why are you here anyway? It’s the middle of the night.”
“I thought I could crash here tonight. My place is being watched by Morelli’s muscle.”
“You want to sleep in my bed? You’ve got to be joking.”
“I’m not fussy; I’ll crash on the couch. I just need somewhere to put my head down.”
“I don’t want you here. Get back to your fembot and leave me alone.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jess told me everything… About how you use her.”
“What?”
“Don’t deny it. Droids don’t lie. Go away and leave me alone.”
“I take it that’s a ‘no’ then.”
“Go!” She picked up a vase and threw it in his direction.
Shelby closed the door behind him as the vase hit the door. He didn’t have a clue about what happened. Women, they’re so unfathomable.
CHAPTER SIX
The following day, Shelby sat outside Chief Justice Haglon’s chambers. He had spent the remaining hours of the night in one of the holding cells. It was the only place he could find at short notice, and he was feeling terrible. He ran through the events of the last three days in his head making sure he had his facts right. Why was the Chief Justice so interested in him? He didn’t know.
She had a reputation of being a hardliner on criminals. In her first term as Chief Justice, she had reviewed 3,000 cases of criminals on death row, and fast tracked their appeal process. She denied ninety-five percent of the appeals and execution followed by lethal injection. The rest she gave life sentences. It ended death row. And since then, the courts had acted swiftly on all major homicide cases. She was also the first to introduce the role of Special Marshals and to remunerate them on a bounty basis.
Twelve months ago, she recruited Shelby as a special marshal on the recommendation of the former commanding officer of his regiment. She had said at the time that she was looking for someone who was as determined and fearless about bringing criminals to justice as she was. Since then they had hardly exchanged more than a few words together. And yet he knew she had reviewed every single arrest report he had submitted by the electronic stamps logging her review on his data files. And it was her who decided, which cases he was given.
The door to her chambers opened and Deputy Chief Justice Reagan came out. He scowled at Shelby. This was a bad omen. Shelby had never got on with the Deputy Chief Justice. He was a by-the-book man, more concerned with process than effectiveness.
“Busy again, I see, Shelby.”
“Just doing my job.”
“She will see you now.”
As Shelby stood, Justice Haglon walked out to greet him. The rumour was that the Chief Justice was in her eighties, but she didn’t look a day over fifty. She was a picture of health and beauty, with high cheekbones, impeccable makeup and hair, and a disarming smile. Like many other wealthy individuals, her health and appearance was down to bioscience technology. She ushered him into her office and offered him a seat. She sat down at her desk and glanced for a few moments at a flat screen monitor.
He felt like a schoolboy called in to see the principal. She sniffed. “Shelby, I don’t know whether to congratulate you or fire you.” She paused for a moment’s thought. “What you did was plain crazy. And you got away with it.”
“Ma’am, the evidence will show Vincent Morelli resisted arrest.”
“I know he did. They always do when you arrest them. But why did you go into that snake pit in the first place? And then there’s the shoot-out with the Morelli clan. Are you trying to declare war on the whole of the Morelli family? Or are you trying to commit suicide? Do you realise that we employ other marshals who can be used to help you?”
“Ma’am, it was the only way of avoiding collateral damage. I couldn’t risk a shoot-out in the club. The second incident was unexpected. I had done everything I could to avoid being tracked.”
“Don’t call me ma’am. I’m not royalty. The correct address is Chief Justice.”
“Yes, Chief Justice.”
“You say in your report, you think the Justice Department’s systems may have been compromised. How so?”
“The only way the Morelli family could have traced me was through a satellite surveillance system. And the only satellite system that is powerful enough to do that is the Justice Department’s own system, Guardian.”
“That’s not evidence. Bring me some evidence that Guardian is compromised or corrupted and I’ll do something about it. But don’t use that as an excuse to cover up your own mistakes. It’s more likely they had more than one tracker on your vehicle.”
“Yes, ma’am. I mean Chief Justice.”
She scowled at him for a second and then relented. “I suppose, on the positive side, there are seven less Morelli mobsters on the street to worry about.”
“Is that all Chief Justice?”
“There is a matter you can help me with. It concerns another murder and rape case. I want you to investigate it and bring the perpetrators to justice. The details are on this data pen.”
She handed it to him.
“Why me?”
“I thought you would be the perfect man to handle it.”
“I was intending to take some special leave to pursue a cold case.”
“Yes, I know. But when you see the case, you’ll want to bring these vile monsters to justice. The victim was a friend of mine. She was being chauffeured in her land vehicle when she was caught up in an Action Against Androids demonstration. Three men pu
lled her from her vehicle, dragged her into an alley, stripped her, raped her, dowsed her in petrol, and set fire to her.”
“Why not get the local Angel City PD involved?”
“They would be too slow and this case is politically explosive. Many people are losing jobs to androids and the publicity could ignite emotions against the rich cyber businesses.”
“We’ve had social unrest before — when the androids were first introduced.”
“But not like this. And not on the scale we're seeing now. I don’t want a high profile trial and publicity for these men to inspire other rioters and anarchists to act. For all our sakes, we need to bring these perpetrators to justice quickly and send a strong message that the law will not tolerate such acts of violence.”
“I’m a marshal, not a detective.”
“There’s not much detective work to do. The crime was recorded on a security camera. All you need to do is find the men, and hunt them down. I want you to lead the case.”
“Isn’t that going to piss off the Angel City Police Department?”
“I’ve already cleared it with the Chief of Police. You’ll have her and the Angel City Police Department’s full support.”
“This is a somewhat strange request.”
“I know. But I need someone I can trust to lead this case without it blowing up in the media. There’s also a half a million credits bounty on the killers’ capture, sponsored by a group of her friends and business colleagues in the cyber sector. That would give you all the finance you need to take that long overdue sabbatical you want.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’ve made other arrangements.”
“At least look at the drive before you decide. I need your answer by tomorrow evening.”
“Okay. I’ll look at it. Just one more thing; who was the victim?”
“Diane Chambers, president and CEO of AndroDigm. We’re still trying to contact her next of kin.”
* * *
An hour later, Shelby returned to the marshal’s overnight rooms and knocked on the door of room 1007. Scarlet answered it.
“Don’t shout at me. I’ve got some papers for you to sign for the Witness Protection Program.” He handed her the papers and a pen. “Just sign and I’ll be out of your hair forever.”
She glared at him, took the pen, signed and handed the papers back to him. “There, satisfied?”
He glanced at the papers and then looked again. Then he realised. “Oh shit. Scarlet Chambers… are you related to Diane Chambers, the CEO of AndroDigm?”
“That’s my mother, the cyber business woman of the year for three years running. Not much of a mother though. We haven’t spoken for months.”
He bit his lip. “I have some bad news. She’s been killed. I’m sorry.”
Scarlet’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “No. It can’t be true.”
“She died in an incident during a demonstration. Do you have any other family members that should be informed?”
“Just me… No dad… Mum used a sperm bank.”
“And you say you haven’t seen her for months?”
“About six months ago, we had a terrible fight, arguing about her weird friends. I left to go to Apple City… Now I’ll never see her again.”
She burst into tears, and he put his arm around her. When she didn’t hit him, he placed his other arm around her. He tried to comfort her as she sobbed on his chest, but he couldn’t find the right words.
“How did it happen?”
“You can find out about that later. The point is she’s dead.”
“I want to know, now!”
He could see the anger in her eyes. He knew what she was feeling. Losing a loved one is the most painful experience anyone could have. He took a moment to compose himself. “She was attacked by three men during a demonstration. They dragged her from her vehicle and murdered her. The attack was terrible.”
“Was it the Morelli Family? Was it because of me?”
“No. It happened before any of that. You can’t blame yourself for this.”
She took a deep breath as if to calm herself. “What are the authorities doing about it?”
“I was asked to take the case on, but I’ve declined.”
“Why? Take it on, and do what you do best. Kill those bastards… Can you take me to my mother’s apartment? I need to be there.”
“Of course, I’ll take you now.”
* * *
Shelby landed the heli-car on Diane Chambers’s personal helipad at the top of an eight-hundred foot tower block. Scarlet gained access to her mother’s penthouse apartment using retinal security technology. Shelby followed her into the apartment. Two armed android guards stood in his way.
Shelby raised his arms for the guards. “Who are these jokers?”
“Jo, this is Shelby. Give him full security rights of access. Confirm,” said Scarlet.
“Confirmed,” said a disembodied female voice from somewhere inside the apartment. The armed guards withdrew to their stations and Shelby lowered his arms.
Scarlet turned to face Shelby. “Jo’s the apartment AI. She controls the guards. No one can enter without her knowledge and approval. My mother was very security conscious.”
As Shelby looked around the apartment, it was clear Scarlet was right. The apartment had been designed with every conceivable security feature in mind. Besides the two armed androids and the AI, the doors and windows were bomb-proof quality. Even a team of Special Forces would find it difficult to gain entry. Diane Chambers must have been a woman obsessed with her own security.
The apartment was huge, with seven bedrooms surrounding a circular open-plan living space with a diameter of over sixty feet. Except for the bedrooms, bomb-proof glass covered most of the outside walls.
Shelby walked over to the glass wall and gazed out over the city. The view of Angel City bay was spectacular. The cost of renting the apartment for a year was probably more than Shelby could earn in a lifetime.
“I never liked this place,” said Scarlet. “It’s just too much of everything, as if it was saying to everyone look how rich I am to live here in luxury.”
“Your mother was a successful businesswoman. You wouldn’t expect her to live in a hovel.”
“What do I do? There’s the funeral, the estate, her business?”
“One thing at a time. Chief Justice Haglon was one of your mother’s close friends. She has already spoken to your mother’s attorney for you. You’re the sole beneficiary of her estate. So this place and all her empire is yours now.”
“I don’t want it. I would give it up in heartbeat if she could be here now… Have you decided if you’re going to take the case on?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Look, I know you’re good at what you do. I’ll post a bounty: a million, two million, whatever you want. I want you to get those bastards and finish them like you did Morelli.”
“It’s not about the money.”
“Please, I helped you in the club, you could return the favour. Do you want me to beg?”
Shelby paused. He wanted to help, but there was something that didn't feel right. And he had put off his sabbatical too many times already. The sensible thing to do would be to follow his gut, and walk away.
Shelby’s wrist communicator buzzed. He had a text message from Jim Cordite. “Discharged today, sitting at home bored as hell. Urgent. Need your help to finish a serious eighteen-year-old malt.”
Shelby turned to Scarlet. “Important marshal business, I’ll get back to you later.”
And he left.
* * *
Jim Cordite’s place was less than twenty minutes away. As it could be a heavy drinking session, Shelby brought Jess along to fly him back.
Shelby stood outside Cordite’s apartment and knocked on the door. There was something wrong: the door wasn’t locked. Shelby drew his gun and pushed the door open.
“Wait!” said Jess, pushing him out of the way.
A split sec
ond later, there was an exchange of fire followed by an explosion that blew Shelby off his feet. Shelby got to his feet. His ears still rang, and the air was thick with dust.
He could make out Jess’s body on the floor, legs and neck twisted. She had shielded him from the explosion and absorbed most of the blast. She must have realised something was wrong: perhaps a noise frequency that alerted her to the threat, and she did what she was trained to do. Damn. It was his fault; his mind was pre-occupied, and he wasn’t expecting a threat.
Shelby walked into the apartment. A child-sized arm and a leg came into view. It was a child assassin bot. Jess never had a chance, even if she fired first. The bots were designed to explode near their victims. They were expensive but very effective assassins. Damn, he thought. He should have seen this coming.
He called the hospital and confirmed that Jim Cordite was still there. Jim wasn’t going to be amused with him. First, he got him shot. Then he blew up his apartment. Shelby thought about the potential bounty on Diane Chambers’s killers. Fixing up Cordite’s apartment would be expensive. Maybe that bounty could come in useful after all.
He examined the mess. Jess’s cranium seemed intact, though most of the body parts looked irrecoverable. He wanted to put her back together again, but he knew he couldn’t afford the price of a new android body on his pay.
He made the only decision he could. He called Scarlet on his wrist communicator. “Hey, I’ve thought about your mother’s case. If you still want me to, I’ll take it on for you, but I need a favour… Jess had an accident and I need some spare android parts… Which ones…? Most of the torso, legs, and arms. Great, I’ll bring the parts around now.”
He made another call to Chief Justice Haglon. “I’m taking on the Chambers case. But I need a favour in return… I want you to reinstate Jim Cordite to the Marshal’s Office and cover his medical bills. I’ll give up the bounty due on the Morelli case to cover the cost. But I don’t want him to know who’s paying his medical expenses.”
There was a pause on the line. “Agreed.”
Twenty minutes later, he arrived at Scarlet’s apartment. He handed her a box containing the android’s head and miscellaneous android parts.
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