“I—hmm-hmm. My reasons, and actions, don't concern you. Or won't, as soon as you get me to the good Dr. Ansbach.”
“Come on. What's it cost? What, you telling the working girl things you won't share with your colleagues? Hey, I'm in the car with you. You didn't even pay for my services. Why don't you fill me in? What do you get out of this?”
“That would surprise you, Mr. Drake. Wouldn't it?”
“What's that?”
“To know that there is nothingpersonal for me in the entire matter.”
“So, what, offing scientists is a hobby of yours?”
“Mr. Drake, you are in the position of speaking about things of which you know little. While I suspect this is, to you, hardly a unique situation, to me, it is to me an extremely tedious one. So if you must prattle, why not take this time to talk to me about professional wrestling, or whatever it is that you occupy your time with.”
“Yeah. You're right there, Hannigan. You want to know what's got me?”
“I believe I've already expressed disinterest in anything serious from you that doesn't concern the location of one Dr. Ansbach
“What's bugging me is where the Chinese fit in. It ain't a trade secret they're stealing. Heck, if it was something so special, they'd'a just snagged it. Heck, they got our entire patent database, right? Maybe Agate gets bought, some bigger company can sue them, but that'd take 20 years, and, what, the responsible parties just emigrate to Vancouver like everybody else.”
“Mmm?”
“I'm sitting with those folks, they got bucks to spend, they're the high bidder. Really, they're the only bidder, right. It's a big time drug, vaccine, compound—”
“Virus, Mr. Drake. Virus.”
“Right. Virus. It's a big-time virus, only nobody here's interested in the thing. They are. They're paying cash for it—don't tell the Execgal, but I'd bet you they know everything there is to know about Dr. Ansbach.”
“Mmm.”
“So what gets me, Hannigan, is why you want to stop them? You got the inside track on something, you can buy shares, have your wife buy shares, your kid, your dog. Even a shell company. The thing is sold, you profit from it. OK, maybe it's not sold, you make more—maybe you're one of the poor bastards who bought into this thing years ago, but there's always some way to score major cash if you know the future. You can make up for your losses here, and boom, afinancial killing. Even the stock only goes up three.”
“That... is very interesting, Mr. Drake.”
“Yeah. Oh, don't worry, we're almost there.” I pulled in front of the convention center hotel, left the car idling.
“Are you planning on parking here, Mr. Drake?”
“Yeah, that's the general idea.”
“I'm sorry, but it goes without saying that we won't want to attract any unwarranted attention to ourselves.”
“Yeah.” I rolled down the window towards one of the people there, a gentleman whose black leather pants and apron may not have looked attractive to my captor.
“Hey,” I said as Hannigan stirred against me, “this guy's a nut who's been offing scientists up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Can't say what motivates him, but he's got another victim in mind. Know if that dude in the playroom, the one setting an 8-hour record, is still there?”
“What, him? With the chick watching over? Mother-hen like? But not doing nothing.”
“Yeah, he's somewhat memorable.”
“You bet he is. Listen, that guy's setting his endurance record, right, but my lady and me, we'd like our own time there. Only... too much of a wait. Anyway, tell your friend, he offs him, I'll help you hide the body.”
“Cool, we good to drive around?”
“Yeah, just give the attendant one of these, and he'll let you park.” A laminated purple slip came through the window.
Hannigan had little to say. I'd not found his conversation all that enjoyable myself, so I came to a stop and got out of the truck. As though waking from a dream, Hannigan followed, his gun clutched vaguely.
“Ansbach's on the ninth floor,” I said. “You can keep that gun at my back, but there's always a chance somebody's watching the cameras.”
Hannigan kept the gun right up against me as we strolled through the hallways. I waited for him to question me about our peculiar encounter downstairs, but Hannigan bumped a 300-pound gal with leather bustier and matching thong. She dropped him to the ground, shrieking “did you think I was going to get out of your way?! Do I look like I'm going to get out of your way?”
I picked up Hannigan's gun, waited for her to kick him a few times, then added my own lick.
“I remember you,” she said to me sweetly, then left for the sauna.
I rested for a moment, pondering the fact that while my life had indeed been saved, as a result of the incident I'd lost all interest in reproductive functions.
Finally, the vision faded, and I went to the chase.
Hannigan had made it down the hall, into the parking lot, and stood smack dab in the middle. Lost. Genius of a fugitive here.
“You gonna steal a car or something?” I asked, gun in my pocket.
He stared blankly.
“Yeah, don't see a chick like that every day.” I approached slowly, out of range of the video cameras. Hannigan remained stock still.
“We ain't gonna fight, are we? 'Cuz that'd be boring. And quick.”
“I wonder, Mr. Drake, if you could listen to reason.”
“According to my C.O., not so much. It just isn't a strength of mine.”
“Well, you haven't yet called the police.”
“Ain't seen the need. It's early though. I think I'll cuff you somewhere, tell them the story.”
I moved in, slapped a bracelet around his wrist, then chained his right arm to his leg. It was a good look for the man. I thought of leaving him like that, seeing if he'd get one last date before going away.
“This... is a predicament you've placed me in, Mr. Drake.”
“Yeah.”
“But don't you wonder—you asked me, why? Surely you can understand?”
I started backhanding him
“We must—we have to slow things down, Mr. Drake. We have to keep progress... under control. We must... test progress. Evaluate progress. There cannot be… anyone else… who forwards progress, without… us.”
I decided that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard, slapped him across the chin. He fell to the ground.
Bored, I called a banker.
JD picked up on the first ring.
“Yes.”
“Mr. Lieu. It's Drake.”
“Ahh, yes. Mr. Drake. Have you been physically abusing persons of color lately?”
“Nah. Not me. Well, OK, one. But he was caucasian. Still is. Whiter than before. Anyway, one of your buds has gone down.”
“Hmm. 'Gone down.' Permanently, I imagine. I suppose that would be Mr. Fang. A pity. He had such a bright future before himself. A long life ahead as junior deputy minister's assistant.
“Yeah.”
“Well, Mr. Drake. To what do I owe this call?”
“Well, I got the guy who killed Fang. He's killed some other people too.”
“Yes. A fortunate happenstance. And you assume that there will be no one else out there to assault Agate executives?”
“Yeah. That's the gist.”
“Wonderful. I'm quite pleased. It was a burden, supporting the stock price. Quietly, of course.”
“Supporting?”
“Well, it would have been bad form had it gone too low.”
“But don't you want to acquire it? Cheap?”
“Mr. Drake, we have already 'acquired it.' Some time ago.”
“Huh.”
“It would be too complicated to explain in detail, Mr. Drake. Suffice to say there were certain loans taken out by Agate in the past. Loans which, truth be told, give us sufficient share of the property in any case.”
“Huh?”
“But you understand, Mr. Dr
ake. We are acquiring quite a number of such properties. It would not do, of course, to be seen as taking things... in a mean fashion. There is, after all, a surplus of currency for us to work with. And, what's another hundred milliondollars , more or less?”
“So… well, do you want it quiet?”
“Yes. Of course we do. But, as you have the assailant in your custody...”
“I can turn him over to you. He made me spend several days with Ansbach. You got some kind of water torture or something you can do to him?”
“I—no, Mr. Drake. I'm afraid that it is your government that specializes in torture these days.”
“Well. Yes. I suppose so. So you don't want him?”
“Not especially, Mr. Drake. Merely the safe return of Dr. Ansbach to his house and… activities. He is with you?”
“Ansbach's safe.”
“Wonderful. Well, that is all that I need. Leave the assailant to the police.”
While we were chatting, Hannigan had staggered clumsily more than 50 feet from me. I looked at him, figured there'd be paperwork, returned to the hotel and sought the Doc.
Ansbach leaned against the wall largely as I had left him. He was still alive, albeit burbling through a frothy mix of what I hoped was saliva. Execgal rested in the corner, dozing amid the constant slaps and lashing. There were half-a-dozen other couples in the room, one a three-spot, so I unhooked Ansbach before they started fighting over who got to be next. A quick word to the Execgal, notes of acknowledgement to the grateful accolades from the crowd, and we headed, me walking, her stumbling and the Doc crawling, towards our hotel room.
“Did you find that other girl?” asked the Execgal jauntily.
“Nope,” I replied.
“Well, it must have been an eventful trip, Mr. Drake. Glad to see you're making such a productive use of your time.”
“Yeah.” We entered the elevator.
“Anything you'd like to say to me about the events?”
“Made me want a beer.”
“That's a surprise. Anything...unique you want to tell me?”
Fast elevator. We trundled in, saw a trio of vampires, still no werewolves. Figuring their dated hip garb to be a mark of possible membership in the news media, I stood silently, pulling Ansbach roughly to his feet when he sniffed too closely at my leg.
Execgal grew more perturbed with me. We entered the room, me half-carrying the Doc again, and I went right for the mini-bar, draining a single of Jameson's and then snapping the tape on the fridge to pull suds. Real British lager opens so smooth.
“Freshly stocked!” I said happily, as I lit a cigarette.
“Mr. Drake. What happened?”
Time for coyness over, I looked her square in the eye.
“Oh, I found the guy who shot at Ansbach and me in the park. He's probably the same one who killed your boss. He's a nutcase; might have been blasting away at other people as well. He seems to have offed one of the Chinese. That might impact your sale of Agate negatively. Then again, maybe not. Dude couldn't have been too important. Besides, PR of this sort might be helpful.
Execgal said nothing for a moment. Then:
“What was his name?”
“Hannigan. The government official. Had a real background in marksmanship.
“Hannigan—where is he?”
“He was coming here to blast Ansbach, and me at the same time. He ended up dusted on the floor of this hotel. Guy ran off. Figure we got a couple hours to kill.”
“To—why—what? Should we leave? Where's his gun?”
I pulled it and put it on the dresser.
“Might not want to touch it; it's a murder weapon and all.”
She stared at the gun for a while. Then me. Then the gun.
“How did you—how—?”
“Wasn't me. We were all saved by an angry lesbian.”
“That isn't true, Drake.”
“You're right. I don't know that she was a lesbian. Maybe a professional dominatrix. Or some other specialty. Definitely an aggressive member of the species. Really, you could learn quite a bit from her.”
“So, you took Hannigan here?”
“Well, I drove, but he was leading me, if you will.”
“And, you went straight for us...”
“What? Was I going to lie? Take him out to the hills or something?”
“Mr. Drake. It seems you've put your client—me—in danger.”
“I got the gun.”
“Right, but where are the police?”
“You want them now?”
“Well, you've found the killer.”
“Like I said, all I know for sure is he's the guy who shot at the doc and me. And I think he killed one other person. I wouldn't swear he offed your boss, though.”
“You think someone else?”
“No, I think he did it. But I wouldn't swear. A couple other people need to turn up. He wasn't smart even smart enough to dodge the dyke.”
“But, Mr. Drake, why did you come here with him?”
“Because there's beer in the fridge, and I can smoke with impunity. Unless you're going to complain. I wouldn't recommend it. I've had a long day, and there's a firearm handy.”
“I—well, OK, Mr. Drake. But don't you think you should call the police about Hannigan?”
“Yeah, I guess it's time to bring them in. Tell you what,” I said, reaching in my back pocket for a card, “this guy; he's not a friend, exactly, but he's part of the Capitol Brach of the PD. They're in the District. Take this phone,” I unwrapped a fresh prepaid from my pocket, “go out and call him. Don't mention Dr. Ansbach, just say you saw Dr. Hannigan entering the Convention Center with a weapon and exiting shortly thereafter. He was headed for the Metro. You realize, suddenly, that maybe he had something to do with your boss ending up dead.”
She stood before me, as if taking mental notes. I wondered if she'd reach out and grab her PDA, type something shorthand.
“Look, man with gun, tourist area, might have killed your boss already. They won't ask questions then. And that phone ain't been charged, so make your call quick. Leave voicemail if need be.”
“That's—that's enough to detain him, Drake?”
I'd lost the mister. I paused to savor the moment, finish my beer, reach for another.
“That's enough for multiple swat teams. Do it, get out of here. OK? Ansbach and I will be together for a little while, yet. Still waiting for one more call.”
“I—who, Drake?”
“Me to know. You've got enough in your head as it is. Can you remember the story?”
“Yes.”
“Right. And don't bring the cops here.”
“Why—what—don't you want protection?”
“It's illegal to have a gun in Washington, DC. They might have outlawed smoking, too. Besides, I'm not sharing this beer.”
After the call, we sat for a while, Execgal muttering that there was no way the police, on her or anyone's say-so, would just flip out and chase a man who, she'd screwed up, might now be unarmed. Props to her. Mentioning Hannigan might not be armed… anymore, though a subtle point and one I'd thought the she couldn't handle, just made the thing more newsworthy.
The story broke 1.7 drinks after she called. It wasn't the all-news channel that carried it. A blurb at the bottom of my screen on a semi-affiliated station mentioned there was an armed man roaming near the convention center in downtown, believed to be highly dangerous. Police and Secret Service at the Capitol, more than half a mile away, were on “high alert.” Persons without business in the area were advised to go home early.
Wrecked a damn good cartoon.
This was election time in the District. I watched as several officials, behind police lines, expressed concern for the people and especially the citizens of Washington. One thanked goodness that nobody was then at work.
Hannigan's face appeared as I ordered room service. More than two dozen late-night pub crawlers claimed to have seen him. One women swore he'd attacked her
, leg and arm still chained. A man said he shouted someone down who was behaving threateningly. Somebody had gotten hold of a performance evaluation at his agency, red-marking him for “conduct inappropriate.” It was mentioned that Hannigan was not currently in a position of “responsibility.” His relatively high salary and permanent employee status, we were told by a psychologist on hand, would not help in a case of life spent “without facing challenges.”
They caught him after my second six met the first. I'd paid good money to the room service guy to “keep it coming.” He was surprised I wanted nothing but beer, as several other things were on offer. Then he looked at the Doc and Execgal and pocketed my money without another word.
Hannigan had wandered around in a daze, sitting near the grates. Looking at his shoes, or something, for a few hours. A two-hour nightmare ended with a whimper. More than seven news stations, and one of the cable network channels, surrounded the man as police took him into custody.
“Mr. Hannigan, Mr. Hannigan,” said what I thought was the hottest reporter, “any statement you'd like to make? Why have you—”
“We can't lose it,” he said. “We can't lose it—to them. Can't lose any of it.”
“Can't lose what? Mr. Hannigan, can't lose what?”
“The—testing. We can't have them. We must. Our testing...”
His words turned to gibberish, and four men in body armor dropped him into the back of a truck.
Word of his confession came three hours after his arrest. Hannigan admitted to killing Agate's CEO, and a few other downed scientists in the area. Police reported he'd also claimed to have shot at someone else recently. Many kudos were given to their extraordinary ability to capture this dangerous man in a timely fashion. Interviews with experts, his family, and stock analysts were scheduled for later that day. Ansbach's disappearance was mentioned, briefly, in a web report. No Agate personnel were available for contact just then.
Execgal looked in my direction with a hint of what might be admiration. I smiled back, cigarette pressed in my teeth. Through all this, the Doc had sat, silently, in the corner.
“So I guess that's it?” she said to me. More a statement than a question.
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