Authors: Ross Harrison
‘Fuck you.’
‘Off the record, Mr.
Mason, I don’t think you did anything particularly horrendous to the girl.
Other than subjecting her to that mess of an apartment. Why do you think I let
you keep the gun?’ His eyes flicked down to my coat pocket, where I thought I’d
manage to hide it without him seeing.
I wondered if I
really did have an ally in him. I couldn’t afford to trust him completely. But
without his help, I wouldn’t find that data chip. And by the looks of it,
Webster’s change in direction, whatever that was, had brought a war to Harem.
We had to be quick, or a lot of people could get hurt. Things would get out of
hand and the cops wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. Even if they tried.
‘So where is this
data chip? I assume it would be too simple to just hold out my hand and you
give it to me?’
‘Well, that’s the
small problem,’ I admitted. I was thinking about the cigarettes in my pocket
again. I wanted one, but I couldn’t be bothered moving anything more than my
mouth. Even that was getting tiring.
‘Let me guess. Either
it’s somewhere safe and secure from people like us. Or you don’t know where it
is.’
‘Both, probably. But
definitely the second one.’
‘I see.’ He flicked
his ash out the window again. Some blew into the back seat.
‘Webster implanted
the chip into the girl, Leonne—”
‘Oh, you learned
her name.’
‘She thought she
was helping his competitors, but really it was his off-world partners. They’d
scan the chip and it would give them everything they needed for a smooth
transaction.’
‘Girls?’
‘Yeah. Lots of
girls, by the sounds of it. Well, maybe guys as well, but he probably uses them
himself in the mines. Not just from Harem. There’s too few here. He buys them
in and sells them on, too. Trades them like stocks or something. That’s what
was cut out of her. But not by Webster’s guys. He wants the chip too. He
doesn’t know where it is. I suspected Little Dick was trying to make a move
behind his back. I doubt even he would be stupid enough to keep the chip at
home. Not when he lived with Daddy. So whether I’m right or not, it doesn’t
give us any leads.’
That was probably
the most I’d spoken all night. And not an ounce of sarcasm. I lowered the backrest
and lay back. Closed my eyes.
‘And what about the
drugs? Were you right about that?’
‘I was making that
up.’ There was a light snort from his direction. ‘I had to give you something
or you’d have sent me straight off to Anshan.’
‘Well, all’s well
that ends well. And if we find that data chip, it
will
end well. For me. Not so much for Cole Webster. We should probably leave
Detective Lawrence out of this for now,’ he added after a moment’s thought.
He fell silent
again. He was right. Lawrence would be sore that I was out freely walking the
streets. We couldn’t allow that to get in the way of taking down Cole Webster. He
could be brought in once we had the data chip and all the evidence we needed.
I let my mind
wander into that warm, fuzzy state just before sleep. He said ‘we’. That meant
he probably wasn’t taking me straight back to jail. In which case, I didn’t
really care where he was taking me. It seemed like my time limit had been
extended.
My mind was
abruptly sucked back into clarity. ‘Who were those guys in black trench coats?
They said their boss didn’t like Webster’s new direction.’
‘Must be enforcers
from Webster’s off-world partners.’
‘And I bet they’re
the ones with the data chip. I think I know someone who can help. He hears
about most of the comings and goings in Harem.
‘Okay, where are we
going?’
‘Club WET.’
*
As soon as we pulled up at the
corner of the block, we knew something was wrong. The giant sign was dark. No
bouncers stood at the door. No secretaries or cowgirls undressed themselves in
the windows.
‘This time of
night, a place like that should be in full swing,’ DeMartino said. He’d picked
up on the trouble before me, due to the fact that I was dozing.
I grumbled an
agreement. This wasn’t good. This club pulled in a lot of money every night. No
way Van would have shut it down. Nor would Webster. That left just the black-coated
newcomers.
‘It’s Webster’s
partners. They’re taking over. Looks like they’re starting on this side of
town, where there’ll get less resistance.’
‘But why shut the
place down? If they’re taking over Webster’s businesses, surely they’d keep it
running.’
I had a notion. I
really hoped I was wrong.
‘There’s a back
entrance,’ I told him. ‘You’d look too fancy going in the front. No one would
believe you’re a customer.’
I opened the door.
‘Let me get this
straight, Mr. Mason,’ he said, placing a firm grip on my elbow. ‘You’re going
to walk in the front door. Pretend you’re a customer looking for a dance. Then
when they tell you to turn around and leave…you’ll start shooting, right?’
‘I figure there’s
quite a discrepancy between the amount of lead sprayed around today and the
number of times I’ve squeezed a trigger. I was nearly packed off to Anshan to
be executed because of Webster and these assholes. Still might be, if this
doesn’t go right.’
DeMartino thought
for a few seconds. Then let go of my arm. ‘Even if I were to deputise you or
something,’ he said as I climbed out into the rain, ‘it wouldn’t be official
until I sent off the right forms to my bosses.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I
told him, reaching into my pocket. ‘I’m already a detective.’ Pulled out my
badge.
‘Mr. Mason, have I
told you I like—’ I slammed the door.
As I waded through
the inches of cold water in the street, I reached inside my coat. Clipped the
badge onto my jacket’s breast pocket. There was a slim chance I could talk my
way inside as a dirty cop looking to get on the good side of the new boss.
They’d probably have more important things to worry about though, so I
carefully checked how many bullets were in the gun. It was the same model as
all of Webster’s men seemed to use. Sixteen in the clip. One in the chamber. My
black-coated goon hadn’t taken a shot at the Lakeside Rooms. I pulled back the
hammer. Left the safety on. Slid the gun into my coat pocket and kept a good
grip on it.
I felt pretty good.
Which was strange. I wasn’t jumpy now. Wasn’t nervous. Sure, there were some
nerves. I was about to walk into a club full of an unknown gang’s enforcers
after all. But I felt like me again. Now I knew what I was aiming for. And I
guessed now the threat of Anshan and a needle was almost gone, I only had
idiots with guns to worry about. At least I could shoot back at them.
Unknown gang. No, that
made them sound too small time. These people were highly organised criminals. More
like a corporation than a gang.
There was a flash in
the distant sky. The storm was still raging outside the city. It was still a
bit windy in the street, but the worst was gone. The rain still blurred my eyes
and trickled down my neck.
I reached the first
of the windows, where the holographic cowgirl had stood earlier, tipping her
hat to me. Now behind the glass was nothing but a five foot deep enclosure
painted dark red. I walked as far as the door. Looked up at where the sign
should have been.
With a deep breath,
I stepped up and pushed the door. It was locked. I wasn’t surprised, but I
acted it. I rattled the door a few times, as though confused. Cupped my hands
against the glass to try to see through. All I could see was black. I was sure
there’d be someone on the other side watching me though.
I pulled my jacket
open on the left to show my badge. Banged on the door with my fist. Not too
hard, in case some kind of security system was active. I waited. The rain
pattered on the sidewalk and in the shallow river flowing along the road. It
didn’t calm me, but it didn’t emphasise my nerves this time either.
I was about to bang
on the door again when I heard a click on the other side. The door opened
inwards. A bald guy stood there. He didn’t wear a black trench coat, but he did
wear the same suit as the guys from the Lakeside Rooms. Maybe I’d been wrong
about the suits being cheap. Close up, they looked pretty fancy to me. A nicely
threaded black jacket sat over a grey shirt. The black tie was diagonally
crossed every few inches by silver lines.
‘Come in, Jack,’ he
said. His voice was smooth. Deceptive.
It was then I
noticed that some of the black on his jacket wasn’t fabric. He held a gun tight
against his side so it wouldn’t be seen by anyone but me. And, of course, it was
pointed straight at my gut.
‘If this is a bad
time, I can always come back,’ I said.
‘It’s not a bad
time. In fact, we’ve just finished up here, so it’s perfect timing.’
He stood aside. But
not far enough that I could run without getting a bullet for a midnight snack. I
had no intention of running. I stepped inside.
‘Can I take your
coat, Jack?’
‘Why? Yours is so
much nicer.’
The door clicked
shut and I heard him lock it. I timed my own click to coincide with the lock. It
was just me and him. That should have made me happy. It didn’t. People like
this didn’t take risks. They didn’t allow themselves to be overconfident. So if
just one guy had come to the door, that meant he was good. Meant he probably
didn’t need the gun to kill me.
He would insist on
taking my coat next. Maybe he’d pat me down first. Either way, in about thirty
seconds, I wouldn’t have my gun any more. So I shot him.
He hadn’t heard the
click of the safety over the door’s lock. His own safety was off too, but the
first bullet tearing through his kidney was quite a surprise. He didn’t even
pull the trigger. Just in case he changed his mind at some point before dying,
I shot him again. The second bullet found his heart. Or near enough anyway.
I was wrong,
though. The door behind me burst open. It was the door to the little room where
the girl in transparent underwear had stood. The guy hadn’t been alone.
An arm wrapped
around my neck. At the same time, a strong hand gripped my wrist to stop me
pulling out the gun. The left arm squeezed and I suddenly couldn’t breathe. My
head began to feel tight, like it was being pumped full of air. I didn’t have
long.
I only had one hand
free. I could try pulling his arm away. I could try punching the arm or
throwing a punch over my shoulder and hoping it hit him. Maybe I could find his
eyes and push my fingers in. But the most effective method that popped into my
head was simpler.
I wrapped my hand
around his forearm. Just up from his wrist, I dug my four fingers in on the
underside, just past the bone. With my left hand reached round to my right
side, I couldn’t get a particularly strong grip, but it was enough. I heard the
low, harsh groan as he gave into the pain. He released his grip, but I held
mine.
As I turned to him,
his arm started to twist the wrong way behind him. My other hand was out of my
pocket already. Instead of reaching back in for my gun, I thrust two fingers
into the soft, upside-down triangle between his collarbones. Then I hooked them
back round. The cry of pain came a lot louder this time, through gritted teeth.
He couldn’t resist though, and collapsed. Because of the way I was holding his
arm, he went down on that side and ended up on his back. With no more grip
anywhere on him, I punched him before he recovered. His head bashed the floor.
After a small bounce, it settled back down and he didn’t move.
I laughed. Not so
much at the fact that I’d just killed one guy and, since the floor was tiled,
potentially a second. More at the fact that they hadn’t killed me. And that my
little bit of self-taught kung fu had actually worked. I’d seen it while
flicking through channels a few weeks ago. After being a little overeager in
trying out the collarbone thing on myself, my screech of pain had brought two
of my neighbours to the door. One of them was already shouting the address
through a comm channel to the cops.
No one else burst
through any doors. I picked up both enforcers’ guns. One went into my waistband
and the other into my left coat pocket. Then I took out the pistol I’d already
used. Fifteen bullets left in it. Hopefully I wouldn’t even need that many, let
alone the other two full guns.
I didn’t know where
the other staff door led. Probably the basement. Where only VIPs went. The main
doors were probably being watched, but that’s where I had to go. I looked through
the window the girl had been behind. There was no other door into the main
club.
One option was to
wait here until someone came to investigate. Of course, if these two were the
only enforcers in the place then I could be waiting a long time. DeMartino
would come in the back way at some point, so I could also wait for him. Neither
of these options appealed to me though.
I went to the double
doors. They seemed to be thick wood. I couldn’t conjure up a picture of what
they’d looked like open. I couldn’t really risk that they were thick and strong
enough to stop bullets.
There probably
weren’t many more inside the club. Whatever they’d done here, the club didn’t
have much security to resist. The bouncers were employed to keep drunks and
perverts under control, not shoot it out with a small army of mafia enforcers,
or whatever the hell these guys were.
A thought struck me
and I hurried back to the open door. Inside were two light switches. One turned
on the light in the little room. The other turned off the light out in the
reception area. I turned off the other again and went back to the double doors.
Trying to stay
quiet, I lowered myself all the way to floor, flat on my stomach. From down there,
I slowly pushed the left-hand door open. I pushed it until there was about a
centimetre gap to peek through. The club was quite dim. Only a few lights were
on. Clear enough to see properly though. There were the tables on the raised
platform. There was the glass enclosure down in the central area. Empty now. That
was all I could see through my centimetre. I couldn’t see any enforcers in that
section.