Code of Vengeance: The Complete Collection, page 6
Crossing the street had given her a little space. Without thinking about the dangers, she charged across the next street, another red light. She made it across alive and gave herself another few seconds’ lead.
Nat ran in front of a hotel and abruptly changed her direction. Another glance behind her confirmed her suspicion. The man chasing her didn’t even look winded. She needed to hide, needed a place with doors and intersecting hallways, places where she could lose a pursuer.
Nat ran through the revolving door, pushing hard to get it to move faster. She crashed out the other side, eyes darting left and right. The first opportunity she saw was a bank of elevators. She sprinted towards them, smashing the buttons repeatedly.
Nat waited for a second or two before realizing her mistake. Elevators never worked in the movies. The stairs. She needed the stairs.
Fortunately, they were right behind the elevators. She slammed into the door, crashing through it just as the man entered the lobby behind her.
Nat had a choice. Up or down.
What way did people usually run?
Lacking the time to think it through, she ran up the stairs.
Goddammit!
The stairs ended one floor higher, with no more places to run. The concrete wall and lone exit stood there silently, mocking her as they trapped her.
As if on cue, the entrance to the stairwell slammed open below her. Nat held her breath for a second, hoping the man would choose to go down the stairs instead of up.
Her luck didn’t hold. The man started up, and Nat pushed open the exit.
What were the odds?
She had come up to a pool balcony, one floor above street level. A low glass barrier had been erected to keep people safe. But the only other exit was the elevators, and Nat knew she’d never have the time. There was no place to hide, no place where she could find safety.
She was trapped. Her mind kept running in circles. Trapped.
The man came through the door behind her, taking in the situation with a single glance. A malicious grin appeared on his face.
Nat kept looking around, kept searching for a way out.
There was no one in the pool.
The man was between her and the stairs.
The elevators were useless.
She glanced down towards the street. It was maybe fifteen feet below her. Not too far, but much higher than she had ever jumped. She didn’t know how to land.
The man was closer, and Nat noticed he still wasn’t even breathing heavily. He was a full six feet tall and looked like all he did for fun was pushups. He had a big, bushy beard that Nat loathed.
He grabbed at her wrist, speaking quietly. “Come with me. There’s no need to make any more of a scene than you already have.”
She tried pulling away. There was no way in hell she was going with this man. She wasn’t born yesterday. He was too strong, though, his grip firm. His fingers wrapped all the way around her much slimmer wrist.
He pulled her towards the bank of elevators, and Nat was in too much shock to be sure of what to do next. In the movies, the hero always got away. They never got herded into a corner and firmly taken away.
Another memory surfaced, a self-defense class she had taken while in juvenile detention. The man wasn’t expecting her to fight. She could surprise him, get away from him.
Nat raised her foot and stomped down on the man’s shin. The blow was far from perfect, but it had the desired effect. His grip on her arm loosened, and she pulled away.
Nat ran for the stairs, the man’s footsteps slapping against the concrete right behind her.
And all the signs said not to run near the pool.
She crashed into the door and pulled it open. As she tried to step through, the man caught up with her, slamming into her with his shoulder.
Nat felt like she went flying, her whole back in agony, the wind knocked clean out of her. She smashed into the wall, her head knocking violently against the pale white concrete. Suddenly, she understood what it meant to be seeing stars.
Somehow she managed to keep her feet, but the man had caught her by the front of her shirt. He was shaking her back and forth and shouting, but she couldn’t make out the words.
His breath smelled nice, though. A mint toothpaste, she guessed.
As her senses returned, she noticed he was pushing her towards the stairs.
Fear took over.
Her legs turned to jelly, just for a moment. She refused to go with him. He would have to carry her wherever they went.
Her sudden shift caught him off-guard. As she buckled, he was pulled down, and she instinctively brought her knees up to prevent his full weight from falling on top of her.
She collapsed onto her back, and the man finally let go of her. But it was too late for him.
He was leaning too far forward, and in letting go of her, he had let go of his only anchor.
The man tumbled over her as she hit the back of her head on the landing, the second blow in as many seconds.
She could hear him falling down the stairs, could hear the crack of his bones on the steel edges of the steps.
Nat rolled over, groaning as stabbing pains shot through her head. She imagined she could feel her brain screaming at her, heaping abuse on her for her careless protection of her skull.
For as bad as she felt, though, the man looked worse.
Nat could see the bone sticking out from his leg, a sight that made her want to vomit.
His neck was at an angle it shouldn’t be.
He was alive, his eyes blinking in surprise. But blood was trickling out of his nose and from the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, in her mind, she was fourteen again, the most horrible event of her life replaying itself in front of her. It wasn't an assailant, but Jack, lying at the bottom of the stairs, his body broken. She closed her eyes and prayed that the memory would pass. When she opened them again, the scene was back to normal.
She never thought about helping him.
Nat got back to her feet, unsteady at first. The world swam in front of her eyes. She grabbed the handrail, waiting for her world to solidify once again.
Once she was certain she could walk, Nat pushed open the door back to the pool. She wasn’t going to try stepping around him. She walked straight to the bank of elevators, pushing the button once to go down.
A minute later, she was out the front door of the hotel, stumbling towards Br00-S’ lair.
She wasn’t sure how long it took for her to return to Br00-S’ little hideout in the subbasement of the building. As hard as it was to focus, years of living largely off the grid instilled habits that were hard to break. She remembered the appropriate countermeasures, certain that by the time she made it to the alley, no one would find her without an enormous amount of effort. She felt like she had walked for a week through the desert with no food or water. Had she ever injured her head before?
A murky memory, long suppressed, floated to the surface. Another stairwell, this time accompanied by the sound of a young boy’s laughter. There had been blood. So much blood.
She blinked and she was in the alley, standing like an idiot in front of the door. Nat pressed her eyes shut and tried to remember the code. It swam to the surface eventually and she entered it, making sure no one was in the alley when the door opened and she stepped in.
The world still wobbled if she moved too fast. She made it to the stairs and froze, her memory of the man lying broken at the bottom of the flight superimposed over her reality.
Closing her eyes, she tried to erase the memory. If only it was as easy for her as it was for her computer.
When she opened her eyes again, the image was gone.
The only thing in front of her was a staircase.
Holding tight to the handrails, she walked down, taking every step one at a time, making sure both feet were planted before attempting the next one.
She made it to the bottom of the stairs, following the narrow corridors until she reached a recessed ladder. That went even slower for her, but she found her way down to an even narrower corridor. She went left, right, and then right again to get to the opening where Br00-S had made his home.
At first, she thought she was alone. She didn’t see Br00-S at his charging station, so she assumed he was gone. She suffered from a momentary surge of worry and frustration. Hopefully he was all right, and hopefully he hadn’t done anything without her.
She felt exhausted, but she was nervous to fall asleep. If she had a concussion, and she almost certainly did, sleep could be deadly.
She closed her eyes and fought tears. She wanted someone to be there, someone she could talk to, someone who would take care of her. Her body hurt, her head was pounding, and though she’d never even allow herself to think it, she didn’t know what she was doing. Chasing a mad dream, really.
The result? Here she was, alone in a dark subbasement room, afraid to sleep because she might not wake up again. She tried running through the names of people who could help her, but no one made the cut. Her obsession had driven them all away.
There was a movement in the corner of her eye, and she watched as Br00-S unfolded himself from the corner. She was too tired to even be startled.
He stood up and walked towards her. He was naked, although that meant little for a robot, his white surfaces sliding smoothly over one another as he moved. She didn’t think she’d ever been so relieved to see a robot.
He saw the marks on her face. “What happened?”
“The man who was chasing me attacked me.”
“Are you okay? Your pupils are dilated. I can take you to medical attention.”
If the action wouldn’t have hurt, Nat would have laughed. She had only been around Br00-S for a couple of days now, but he was a continual enigma to her. Most of the time he sounded like any other robot, bland and helpful. But then he would talk about trying to break into a building. This work couldn’t be for nothing. He had to be the one she was looking for. “I’m fine. At worst, I have a concussion.”
“A concussion should receive immediate medical attention.”
She waved him away. “No. I’m fine. And I don’t want to go to a hospital. They collect data from you there, and neither of us can afford that.”
Most robots would have persisted, but Br00-S didn’t. Nat noted the difference, and it only confirmed her suspicions.
He stood there, looking at her without saying a word. After a few minutes, it felt awkward. There was something more happening behind his mask, but robots were notoriously difficult to read, especially if they were as young as Br00-S claimed to be.
“Yes?” she said.
“While you were gone, I made some disturbing discoveries, Nat.”
That piqued her interest, but the tone of his voice concerned her. “What about?”
“When I returned, I questioned why we were spotted so quickly outside that building. We shouldn’t have drawn any special attention. After a few minutes of research, I discovered that Kleon was killed the night we broke into his house.”
“You think Sapiens First killed him because he spoke to us?”
“There is no evidence to support that conclusion, but yes, that is my belief. The events are too close together for them to be coincidental.”
“Did you look into the police files?” That was what she would have done.
“Yes.”
Nat raised an eyebrow, then immediately hid the reaction. The robot had hacked into a police server, a felony. Despite the technical ability, it also meant Br00-S had broken the law. Her partner continued his story. “He was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head. The official report is that it was a robbery gone bad, but in the private notes of the detective, it seems as though they suspect it was premeditated murder.”
Nat’s head swam as she tried to piece the events of that night together. “So, we found Kleon and went to his house. Either Sapiens First had his house wired in such a way that they knew we were there, or he called them afterward for help, and that was his reward. Either way, they know someone is coming after them.”
“I agree. Nat,” the robot paused, the silence extending just a moment longer than it should have, “I think this is becoming too dangerous for me to have any help. I’ve accepted the risks to myself since I started this task, but I cannot allow you to put yourself in harm’s way.”
Nat’s anger flared up, overwhelming even the pounding in her head. She was too close, too close to uncovering a truth she’d been relentlessly pursuing for years. “Fuck that! I said I was going to help you, and I’m going to help you until you finish whatever you’re trying to do.”
The robot seemed taken aback. “But, Nat, don’t you understand? If they killed one of their own, they certainly would have no problem killing you.”
Nat took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger in check. The robot was just being rational. Remaining was a foolish decision, but she would never give up. “Then keep me safe.”
Br00-S tried to reason with her. “You’ve already been hurt. If they caught you, what do you think might have happened?”
In response, she stalked off and gave him the finger.
He was right about one thing, though. Before, even as obsessed as she was, it had never been dangerous. It had felt more like a game than anything else. She saw Kleon and imagined a gunshot wound through his head. She saw the bearded man, shocked and broken at the bottom of the stairs, and she felt like she was going to vomit. Her game had become real.
She chewed on her fingernail, doubt creeping into her mind from the edges of her awareness.
There would be other ways. Br00-S might be her best lead yet, but if he was here, there had to be others. She had to continue the search. She could find another target, someone less dangerous.
But what were the odds? It had taken her years of searching to stumble upon Br00-S. Could she wait much longer? The world was moving on, and fewer people would listen to her as robots became more and more a fixture of daily life.
For all her bravado, she wasn’t sure. But Br00-S didn’t seem like he would kick her out tonight. She had time to think about it and decide what to do next.
“B?” Her voice was far weaker than she had intended it to sound.
“Yes?” He had knelt down and plugged himself into the charging station.
“Can you keep an eye on my vitals, make sure that nothing bad happens to me tonight while I sleep?”
“Sure, Nat. I can do that. Goodnight.”
A flood of relief came over her. B would watch her. She could sleep without fear. “You too.” She knew the sentiment made little sense for a robot, but it was so easy at times to forget what they were. That was part of their danger.
She was just drifting off to sleep when an alarm went off on her phone.
Groaning, she woke herself up enough to pick it up and glance at it.
Fuck.
Her public ID had just been flagged as a person of interest in a murder investigation.
Chapter Six
Bryce was having a piss-poor day. Every lead he tracked down had been a dead end. In this new era of investigation, that was almost impossible. He was working a case, but it felt more like he was riding on a hamster wheel.
The day only got worse when he received the summons to Captain Johnson’s office. He had held out hope that his actions might not be discovered, but somehow, he’d been flagged. The detective didn't want to waste the time it would take to explain everything to the captain.
There was no sense in delaying the inevitable, though, and he wasn’t making progress at the moment, so he stood up and walked towards Dick’s office, taking a stop at the restroom on the way. After a leisurely break, he finished his short journey. When he entered the captain’s office, Dick waved him towards a chair. The captain’s demeanor was pleasant, but Bryce had worked with him so long that he knew not to take that mask at face value.
He was right. When Dick spoke, his voice was strained. “What. The. Fuck. is going on around here?” he asked, each of his first words punctuated like a verbal gunshot.
Bryce stared impassively at his superior. Dick needed to be more specific if he wanted an answer.
Dick pulled up a screen between them. “Two things happened this morning, and I want to know why. First, I get a call from the mayor’s office. Just an aide, of course. The mayor is too busy to speak to a lowly captain. But I am told in no uncertain terms that there is a case they want solved, yesterday.”
Bryce frowned. That was news. He hadn’t expected any interference from up high, but after the dead ends his investigation was hitting, it made some sort of sense. “Kleon James’ case?”
Captain Johnson shook his head. “No. Some lowlife from downtown got assaulted last night.”
Bryce’s mind spun. He had guessed the correct reason for the meeting, but not the why behind it. That didn’t make any sense at all. “Why do they care about him? He’s a registered Sapiens First lowlife who claimed he was thrown down a flight of stairs. I’d think the mayor’s office would want to stay as far away as they could.”
“You’d think. But that leads me to point two. I pull up the file, and it says you’ve claimed the case.”
Dick stood up and shut the door, which Bryce assumed was more an excuse for him to get up than a sign that Bryce was in any trouble.
“So, let me repeat: What the fuck is going on? Why is one of my best homicide detectives investigating a simple assault case, and why does the mayor’s office want this wrapped up as quickly as possible?”
Bryce fought the impulse to shrug. “I can’t speak for the mayor’s office. That’s as much a mystery to me as it is to you. As for me, the cases are linked.”
“How so?”
“DNA.”
The captain was silent, waiting for Bryce to elaborate, so he did. He had asked for any DNA matches between samples from the murder case and those from other cases. The intent had been to find previous related cases, but that wasn’t what happened. Just a few hours ago, he found a match from the assault that happened last night downtown. He had wondered why the DNA results of that case had come in so quickly, but now he knew. A call from the mayor’s office tended to speed investigations up.
