“What the hell?” he growled, squinting up at her. “What are you up to?”
“I’ve completed my analysis.” Emma smiled. “I have a likely hit on the shop featured in the robbery video. I thought you would like to know.”
Erik glanced at the floating red time display hovering above his PNIU on the nightstand. “I don’t go into work for three hours.”
Emma scoffed. “And here I thought you would be interested in solving this case in a timely manner. I apologize for overestimating your dedication.”
“It’s not that.” Erik rubbed one eye, his voice heavy. “The shop owner isn’t going to be there before dawn,” he explained. “We don’t have enough evidence to kick his door in and drag him off yet, either.”
Emma looked to the side before nodding. “Hmm. I do see your point. I sometimes forget how sad and limited humans can be. It’s a shame you’re all so hesitant to modify yourselves in a serious manner.”
“Humanity’s screwed up enough without us tinkering with what makes us human,” Erik answered. “Imagine the best scientific screwups humans have accomplished, and then consider if humans worked on ourselves.”
“Not a pretty thought.”
“That’s my point. I’ll hit the shop in a few hours with Jia.” He laid back, then lifted back up to punch his pillow into a normal shape. “We can go to the stars, but we can’t make a pillow that works all night long.”
Erik stood next to the break room counter and kept downing coffee.
It was hard to get back to sleep when a smart-ass AI did her best haunting impression and woke you up before dawn.
At least she had a lead for him.
All they needed to do now was investigate the shop. The Leem King could take all the technological precautions he wanted. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be brought down if an accomplice rolled on him.
After a few more sips of coffee, Erik’s PNIU chimed with a message. He brought it up. The captain wanted to see Erik and Jia in his office at their earliest convenience.
Translation: Right now.
Erik set down his cup and headed out of the break room. In the hall, he caught sight of Jia. She nodded to him as they joined up and continued toward the captain’s office. Captain Ragnar sat inside with an apologetic look on his face, a rare expression from the boisterous man.
Erik frowned as he stepped inside. This wasn’t a good start.
Jia sighed, sensing the same thing. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“In five minutes, the NSCPD is putting out a public statement on the Leem King,” Captain Ragnar explained, shaking his head in disgust. “The interim chief is worried about copycat contagion, so every EZ in the city is going to be hunting this guy.”
“This is our collar,” Erik insisted. “We’ve got a lead.”
Captain Ragnar put up a hand to quell him. “I agree, and you have primary jurisdiction, but you need to move immediately on your lead. I just got done arguing with the interim chief about holding off on the public statement. We don’t want our guy going to ground. Even if he’s covered his tracks, having the entire city hunting him might spook him, but the council is insistent that this be taken care of. Not only that, the public statement will talk about how his stunts and crimes might be staged.”
“People won’t believe that until we catch him,” Jia suggested. She furrowed her brow in concern. “It might even convince him to do something bolder to keep his audience.” She closed her eyes. “This is a mistake.”
“That’s true, and I agree. The interim chief doesn’t. I think they’re trying to defang him, but I’m with you. I’m not convinced it will work.” Captain Ragnar stroked his beard. “I think they’re concerned this will end up being some weird terrorist thing. Everyone’s still on edge from what happened at Halloween, and the idea that there might be yet another massacre has them worried.”
Erik noted that Jia’s calm demeanor didn’t extend to her fists, which were clenched and shaking. “If the Leem King escapes because of the public statement, the council will have blood on their hands when the inevitable copycats follow their leader’s example.”
“Don’t worry.” Erik snorted. “They’ll blame us for not catching the guy right away.”
Captain Ragnar shook his head, a playful grin finally erasing the discomfort. “I won’t let that happen. I’ve made it clear that this is their call, and they’re interfering with your investigation. For now, you pound on the shop door and see if you can get any leads. All we have is a man who is trying to inspire murder but likely hasn’t committed a real one. If we unmask him, we can destroy his mystique, and this ends without anyone hurt.” He waved a hand. “Dismissed.”
Jia spun on her heel and stomped toward the door. “The king will soon be dead. May we live a long time without a new king.”
Despite Erik selecting a dull gray color for the MX 60 in order to draw less attention, the expensive flitter stood out as it landed on the parking platform next to a narrow commercial level of a modest tower.
The building lay far from the heart of the metroplex and lacked the height of the impressive specimens in the Hexagon, but it was above being considered part of the Shadow Zone.
Erik and Jia stepped out of the flitter and moved to a narrow metallic footpath in front of their parking row. The path led to the entrance to the commercial level. The door to the PNIU store was off to the side, close to another small parking lot.
The detectives continued toward the store, stopping a short distance from the entrance and looking at the holosign above it featuring sparkling silver cards and a name Erik was having trouble believing. The floor-to-ceiling windows revealed PNIUs and accessories on the walls of the spartan shop.
“Courage Electronics?” he read, looking around before glancing at Jia. “I want a few free punches on this guy when we find him.”
“I should chastise you for saying that,” Jia replied over her shoulder, “but it’s starting to sound like a good idea.” She gestured around the area. “It’s unlikely the place would have been as abandoned as we saw it during normal business hours.”
“I should note,” Emma chimed in, “the timestamp on the video was late evening.”
“All the more reason to think it was staged.” Jia considered. “He must have done it after hours to cut down on the chance of anyone seeing and reporting him. Sometimes I think they were wrong to not approve the algorithmic crime system a few years back.”
“Although I’m impressive at this sort of thing, the pilot studies suggested far too many false positives from the simpler AIs examining the camera and drone streams,” Emma explained.
Erik nodded toward the door. “Not so sure I’d want a bunch of second-string AIs watching us all the time.”
“You’re not the only person who feels that way,” Jia admitted. “I suspect that had a lot to do with them deciding to not move the program past the pilot stage, but for now, we don’t need it. We have Emma.”
Emma snickered. “Indeed you do, Detective Lin.”
The two detectives strolled toward the shop, then stepped through the sliding door. A middle-aged, dusky-skinned man with graying hair emerged from a door in the back. His nametag read Farouk. There was no clear image of the alleged victim’s face in the Leem King’s video, which, based on the filming distance and movement, was likely taken with a small drone camera. All they had was a brief shot of the victim’s pants.
Farouk smiled warmly at them. “Welcome! How can I be of service today?”
“Are you the owner?” Erik asked.
“Yes, I’m Farouk Gamal, and this is my store.” His smile brightened. “If one of my employees gave you trouble, I’m happy to do what I need to make sure you leave satisfied.” He looked at Jia. “I pride myself on customer satisfaction.”
Jia took up the questioning. “Do you work late at night, or would that have been one of your employees?”
Farouk shook his head. “No, I work then. I only have a few people helping me. Wh
at’s this about? I don’t remember seeing you before, and none of my employees has reported any complaints.”
Erik and Jia pulled out their badges.
The owner’s smile waned. “I give special discounts to all military and law enforcement.”
“We’re not here to buy a new PNIU,” Jia replied, her tone stern. She clipped her badge to her belt. “Detectives Lin and Blackwell, NSCPD.”
“Lin and Blackwell.” Farouk gasped. “I’ve read about you. The Obsidian Detective and Lady Justice!”
Jia’s blinked in surprise, eyes flicking to Erik and back. “Lady Justice?”
Erik snickered. “Aren’t nicknames fun?”
“It’s what some of the articles called you.” Farouk shrugged. “How can I help the two best detectives in Neo SoCal?” His tone remained breezy and casual.
He didn’t sound like a man who’d helped with a fake robbery.
Jia cleared her throat. “I’ll stick with Detective Lin for now. We’re here to ask you about a possible robbery that occurred in your shop recently.”
Farouk stared at her. A few seconds later, he laughed. “Is this a joke? A robbery?”
Jia shook her head. “We’re serious, Mr. Gamal.”
“I’m sure you are, Detective, but I would know if I had been robbed, and I would have contacted the police.”
Erik stepped forward. “We have reason to believe the robbery might have been a hoax associated with the Leem King. Have you heard of him?”
Farouk frowned. “The news earlier said he fakes murders and does crazy stunts? I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”
“We have evidence that proves a robbery was either committed here or faked in this store,” Erik explained. He didn’t want to tip their hand. The man didn’t need to know the details. The suspect was more likely to slip up that way.
Farouk looked down and sighed. “You know, I wonder about some of my employees. I’m always trying to be a good man, give back to the community, but some people, they’re just born antisocial.” He looked up. “They could use a fresh start on a colony, if you know what I mean.”
“Are you saying you suspect it was one of your employees?” Jia asked.
He shrugged. “You’re the police. If you say you have evidence it happened here, who am I to argue? It wasn’t me, so it had to be one of them. I can give you their names and addresses if you want to go talk to them.”
Jia glanced at Erik and nodded slightly. She’d picked up on the same thing he had.
Erik grinned. “Going to give them up that easily, Mr. Gamal?”
“I’m not a criminal or antisocial, Detective,” Farouk insisted, frowning. “I’ve always lived a law-abiding life, and I want to do my part to keep Neo SoCal a good place. That’s what a good citizen does.”
“Yeah, here’s the thing.” Erik shrugged. “The robbery, fake or not, would have had to have happened late at night, and you told us earlier that you’re the only one in the shop at that time.”
Jia circled the suspect, her hand drifting into her jacket toward her stun pistol. Erik remained in front of him with a hungry smile on his face.
Farouk’s eyes darted back and forth as he licked his lips. “That’s most of the time. Not always. There are some days I need extra help, or I’m sick. I wasn’t always feeling great these last couple of weeks. Yes, there’s been a couple of nights I wasn’t in.”
Jia let out a quiet scoff. “So if we pulled the PNIU tracking logs for you and your employees for the last couple of weeks, they would show there was a night one of them was here and you weren’t? And that would match the store’s surveillance footage?”
Farouk let out a quick laugh. “There’s a problem with my security system. I’ve been meaning to contact the company about it. It goes out a lot. I didn’t want to advertise the fact.”
“Answer her question about the tracking logs,” Erik growled.
Farouk shrugged. “I don’t know a lot about that kind of thing.”
Jia laughed. “You sell PNIUs for a living. That’s a pretty basic function.”
He looked over his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean I know everything.” Farouk’s breathing quickened, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Jia sighed. “Look, Mr. Gamal, you seem like a nice man. I don’t know why you would help this antisocial criminal, but if it turns out he did kill someone and you’re helping protect him, you could be charged as an accessory to murder. That means prison. Do you want to go to prison, Mr. Gamal?”
“I didn’t do anything,” he shouted. “I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about.” His breathing turned ragged.
“If he’s blackmailing or threatening you, we can help,” Erik replied. “Or is it about money?” He glanced around the shop. “Sure, you’re living Uptown, but this isn’t exactly a luxury shop. All indications are that this Leem King’s got a lot of credits to burn. What, did he come to you and say, ‘Hey, no one’s going to get hurt, and your face won’t be in the video?’ Then he gives you a nice chunk of credits?”
Jia leaned close to Farouk’s ear to whisper, startling him as her breath touched his neck. “Don’t protect this scumbag. Even if he’s faking crimes, he’s inspiring real ones. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt for real. You really want to go to prison because you protected some bored, antisocial wealthy man?”
He fell to his knees and put his face in his hands. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. You have to understand, I’m behind on my loans. I was an idiot. My cousin told me not to go into selling PNIUs. He said I should open a restaurant, but I didn’t listen, and then there was that whole fiasco with the model recall last year.”
Erik knelt in front of the man. “You’re having financial trouble, and then somebody shows up and offers you money? All you had to do was let them rob you?”
“I don’t know how he knew I needed money!” Farouk whimpered. “One day, there was a note left on the counter for me. I thought it was a joke, but I checked my accounts, and credits had come in from some off-world bank. Another note showed up one day, and it explained what I had to do, and how much I’d get paid. I checked my cameras, but all the footage was erased for a few minutes around the time the notes appeared.” He groaned. “It wasn’t like any of it was real. It’s just a movie, right? That’s what I told myself.”
“Most producers don’t contact people via notes and hack their security cameras,” Jia observed, rolling her eyes. “Where are the notes now?”
“I tossed them in the garbage a long time ago.” Farouk shuddered. “Am I going to jail?”
Erik hesitated.
Jia, behind Farouk, looked at him with pity before shaking her head at her partner.
“Probably not,” Erik announced. “Participating in a fake crime is, at minimum, disturbing the peace, but since you are cooperating, we can pass that along. You’ll probably get a fine and community service.”
Farouk clasped his hands together, hope returning to his face. “I’ll do anything. I never saw him without the mask. I have no idea who he is.”
“We’ll check your bank records,” Erik explained. He doubted they would find anything. If the Leem King had gone to the trouble of routing off-world, it was probably through a private encrypted account.
The truth was, there were plenty of ways to hide money if a person was patient and cautious.
Farouk stood, his hand over his heart. “Thank you. I know that I shouldn’t have done it. I knew it was too good to be true, but I—”
A loud crack sounded from the window. Half of Farouk’s head exploded, and his body jerked backward. Blood splattered on the wall. There was a huge hole through one of the windows.
“Sniper!” Erik bellowed and dropped to the ground.
Jia threw herself to the floor, stun pistol in hand. Another round ripped through the window and struck a back wall. The loud report reached their ears a moment later.
The slight delay between the shot and the report sug
gested the shooter was neither too close nor too far.
The MX 60 zoomed over from the parking lot and positioned itself in front of the window, blocking most of the shop from view. The next shot struck the vehicle, the crushed bullet bouncing harmlessly to the platform.
“Good call, Emma!” Erik shouted. He crawled over to Farouk and shook his head. “Dammit. Do we have backup and an ambulance on the way?”
“Yes,” Jia announced.
Two more shots in succession pinged loudly off the MX 60.
“This guy’s already done,” Erik muttered. “There’s nowhere to really stick a patch.” He looked at the window and sat up, then pulled out a medpatch and placed it on the side of the man’s head. He had to at least try. “Whether or not that knifing was real, this proves our boy has graduated to murder. Do you have eyes on him?”
Jia holstered her pistol, staring at the body with a deep scowl on her face.
“The gun goblin took too many shots,” Emma announced. “I’ve back-calculated the angle and traced it to the likely origin point. With your permission and in your name, I’ll interface with the local cameras and drones.”
“Do it, and pull up to the front door so we can get in,” Erik ordered. “We’ll give the Leem King what he wants.”
Another shot rang out.
“What do you mean?” Jia looked over to find Erik smiling.
“There’s nothing more thrilling than a good, old-fashioned chase.”
Chapter Eleven
Erik grabbed the yoke and pulled up, and the MX 60 rose into the air. The sniper hadn’t fired for over ten seconds.
“A chameleon-masked subject with a rifle is now getting into a large black unmarked cargo transport with one primary trailer that’s not emitting a transponder signal,” Emma reported. “I’ll send the information to your smart lenses, Detective Blackwell. I’ve repurposed two drones to follow him. Backup is inbound.”
Jia narrowed her eyes as the MX 60 barreled through the air, its holographic red and blue lights flashing. “He didn’t have to kill that man. If he used an untraceable account, it wasn’t even like we would have been able to use it to track him. What was the point?”
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