“Welcome to ASE. How may I help you, sir?” she said, looking at Drake.
“Thank you. I have an appointment with the dentist.” said Drake.
The receptionist looked at him with a sense of wondrous expression. She seemed a little taken aback with what Drake has just said. Sheila looked at him with a slight wonder herself. Then again, she was used to Drake’s technique of working so she was not that surprised. Then, the receptionist spoke again.
“One minute, sir.” she said.
She then picked up the phone on the desk and spoke to someone. She seemed to have been put on hold. She waited a minute, with Drake and Sheila also waiting without a word being spoken. Then, the hold music on the phone stopped and the receptionist was speaking again. She nodded, like she was agreeing to something that was being told to her on the phone. She was surprised by what she heard on the other side of the phone and then she resumed her composure.
“Okay, I got all of that. Thank you.” she said, placing the receiver back on the table.
“I am sorry about the delay, Mr. Drake. I joined last week. I understand you have a pass key for me.” she said.
“Of course. Here you go.” said Drake, handing over a small token that was yellow in color.
“I will be back in a minute. If you don’t mind waiting.” said the receptionist, leaving them at the table and walking back to the door she had appeared through earlier.
“What was that all about?” asked Sheila.
“Just some old codes and secret bull crap that this dentist makes his customers go through. I think it is all childish but it is his office and his rules.” replied Drake.
“John would love such things. I personally don’t care for codes.” said Sheila.
The receptionist returned from the door, and her expression seemed like she was pleased with everything that had passed by.
“The dentist will see you now, Mr. Drake. Once again, really sorry about all the confusion. I am very new to this job and still getting the hang of it.” said the receptionist, apologizing profusely.
“That is quite alright miss. Thank you for your help.” said Drake, walking toward the door. Sheila followed him and they found themselves in a large room which looked like a computer lab. There were computer screens spread throughout the room. The room had many doors, other than the one they entered through. There were no windows, and the whole room was lit by bulbs that were hidden inside the walls.
“This is a nice room!” exclaimed Sheila.
“Why, thank you pretty girl.” said a voice from behind them.
Drake and Sheila both turned in the direction of the voice. A middle aged man, perhaps about fifty years old, was walking toward them. He was dressed casually and had long hair that covered much of his face.
“Sheila, this is the dentist. Dentist, this is Sheila. She works with John.” said Drake, introducing them.
“Nice to meet you Sheila.” said the dentist, extending his hand to Sheila.
“Nice to meet you to, Mr. Dentist.” said Sheila, shaking hands and letting go.
“Drake, I believe you have got the tape that you want broken into.” said the dentist, turning his attention to drake.
“Here you go. How long might it take?” asked Drake, pulling out a small memory card from his shirt pocket and handing it over to the dentist.
“Should not take more than ten minutes. Wait here please.” said the dentist, disappearing into the door from which he had come earlier.
“He seems nice.” said Sheila, impressed by his manners.
“Yeah, he has always been an extremely nice person. He is the guy who taught me everything I know. Sort of like my guru” said Drake, taking a seat by the table.
“He does not come across like a tech guru to me. On the other hand, you look like a geek from a mile.” said Sheila, sitting on a sofa that was in front of the coffee table.
“Thank you Sheila, for such kind words. So, what happened last night? I need some more details.” said Drake.
Sheila recounted the experiences of last night. She told him about the Lipstick Woman who had been following John, and how she was following the Lipstick Woman. She told him about her being kidnapped and then, escaping from the clutches of the bad guys. She also told him about John being tied to a chair and beaten to the very edge of his life. That was when Drake interjected.
“Was he beaten that badly? I had no idea.” said Drake.
“It looked bad. The doctor said, fortunately, none of his vital organs were injured. No broken bones either. Those who hit him, knew what they were doing. They only wanted to hurt him and not injure him permanently. That tells me one thing. We are dealing with some kind of sick professionals, Drake. They are very dangerous people.” said Sheila.
“It’s funny isn’t it? Three days ago, John was almost thinking of giving up on the private detective work. Now, both of you have been captured and beaten to hell. Life is crazy, Sheila.” said Drake, lamenting on the situation.
“I agree Drake. John has missed working. In some ways, I think he likes his job more than anything else.” said Sheila.
Drake was just about to reply when the dentist walked back into the room. He was carrying the same memory card that was provided by Drake. Drake stood up from his chair and Sheila did the same.
“That was some nasty security on those files. Of course, I got through. You are carrying your credit card with you, I am sure.” said the dentist.
“Please use mine.” said Sheila, handing over John’s credit card to him. The dentist went over to the table and swiped the card. He printed a bill from the desk and handed it over to Sheila. Sheila, kept it safely in her pocket. With their job done, they both bid goodbye to the dentist and returned to the lobby. Drake pulled out his phone and pushed the card into it. He then spent a few minutes looking at the contents of the card, while Sheila looked on.
“There isn’t much on the card Sheila. All it has is a map. There are also dozens of receipts for purchases of chemicals, most of them in large quantities. I am mailing all of these files to John. None of this makes much sense to me. John should be able to figure this out.” said Drake, putting his phone back into his pocket.
“I am sure John will figure something out, Drake.” said Sheila.
“I should return to my place. I have other work to tend to. Do you want me to drop you at the doctor’s place?” asked Drake.
“That would beat having to take a taxi.” said Sheila.
“No problem. Let’s go.” said Drake getting up, and they both left toward the parking area. The drive took a few minutes, and they had reached their destination. Drake said goodbye to Sheila and drove off. Sheila walked back to the doctor’s house and found that John was still asleep. Sheila returned to the puzzle she was working on before Drake had called her. An hour had passed before John woke up to see Sheila sitting right next to his bed.
“Good morning, Boss. How do you feel?” asked Sheila, smiling. There was a slight hint of a tear drop in her eyes. Sheila hoped that John would not notice that as he woke up. John did notice the tear drop, but he knew she would not be happy if he pointed it out or reacted to it. He simply smiled and replied.
“Like I was dragged on the railway track all night by an extremely slow moving railway engine that was powered by steam.”
Sheila laughed. It wasn’t a particularly smart reply but she was laughing mostly because she was just happy to see him in good shape again.
“What did the doctor say? Do I need to go away for a vacation or something?” asked John, collecting his thoughts.
“He said, you can walk and talk right away. The doctor did warn me that you are not to get beaten up or anything else for a week. Also, he said that because of the first aid I did, you are better off than worse.” said Sheila.
“Sheila, if it wasn’t for you, I would have been found in the dumpster by the garbage collectors in the morning. I cannot thank you enough.” said John.
“You have thanked me enough, John. Now, stop thanking me or I won’t rescue you ever again.” said Sheila.
“Okay, I will stop thanking you. I am still dying to find out what happened last night. One moment, we both had the situation under control and the next thing I know, you have stopped responding on the radio. What exactly happened Sheila?” asked John, curious about the previous night.
“I was following her, like you said. Believe it or not, while you were being followed by her, and I was following her, another car was following me. That was when I realized that we were being outsmarted. I had to change the game plan right away, and I simply did not have the time to inform you. I pretended to have car trouble and let the car slow down. The car behind me was fooled by it, and the car in front of me slowed down. When you took the turn, she stopped and blocked my car. The guy in the other car ran out of his car and jumped on me. I kicked him in the face and one of his teeth was knocked out.”
“Oh! That explains the blood in your car. I thought you were injured or worse.” said John, sighing a huge relief.
“Yeah, that was his blood alright. While I was busy with him, she came from behind and gave me a snap on my head. I don’t know what she did, but I became unconsciousness. I only have a vague memory of being in the back of my car and when I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar office. They did not want anything from me so they simply had me tied to a chair with just one guard. Two hours later, he fell asleep and I slipped out of the ropes, grabbed him by his throat, found out where you were, and ten minutes later you were free.” said Sheila, wrapping her story up.
“I have to say, I am impressed. Now I know I did the right thing by hiring and encouraging you to take those self-defense classes.” said John.
“Don’t forget about making me get that gun license. Came in really handy yesterday, though I wished I got a chance to use it.” said Sheila.
“The way things are going, I am sure, you will get a chance to use it. Did you hear from Drake?” asked John. He remembered that Sheila had got Drake to copy some information from the phones she grabbed from the goons who were guarding him.
“We have been in communication and I don’t want to bore you with the details on that. You need to focus on your full recovery for the time being. Just know that we are working on the information and Drake will send it to your phone as soon as he has finished.
“Okay, thanks Sheila. I am going to take a shower and we can get out of here.”
An hour later, John was all set. He collected the prescription from the doctor and they both drove to the office. On reaching the office, John changed into his regular clothes and Sheila did the same. Just like John, she also kept spare clothes in the office. John and Sheila then went out and picked up new phones and had Drake remotely configure them. Once the phones were set, they both returned to their office and grabbed their weapons. John checked that both his new pair of guns were working and in good shape. He checked that the weapons holster was working fine and handed one to Sheila. He did the same to his own holster. By the time all that was done, they were both ready with the attire and weapons to handle pretty much anything. John had an odd feeling that those goons that caught them would not be happy with what he and Sheila have done so far.
Around five in the evening, John’s phone rang. It was Drake.
“John, I have the information from the two phones all encrypted. Most of it is in old fashioned codes, which are independent of the computing power I can throw at it. It’s more like a puzzle than anything else. If I had a lot of time I could break through it. Now is not the time though.” said Drake.
“Okay. I am still listening.” said John.
“I did find out something. Do you know the Angels and Demons club?” asked Drake.
“That place over at sector fifteen. I know that club.” said John.
“Apparently there is some big meeting that is going to happen tonight, about two hours from now. The club itself is huge and the meeting could be happening anywhere in the club. One of the folks who had you captured might be there. That is all I really can tell you so far, John.” said Drake.
“Okay. Angles and Demons club, eh? Thanks Drake, You have been a lot of help.” said John.
“John, these people are dangerous and now, they even have a bull’s-eye for you. That club is not going to be a nice place for you. Hope you are going there prepared for anything. I will also be available on call all night. Just give me a buzz if you need me.” said Drake.
“Thank you Drake.” said John, hanging up.
“What’s it going to be John?” asked Sheila.
“We are going to the Angels and Demons club. I am guessing that we no longer have an element of surprise. They already know who we are.” said John.
“Are you suggesting that we wear disguises, John?” asked Sheila. She always had a taste for disguises.
“No disguises Sheila. These folks are too smart for that. We will go as ourselves. As a couple who are just out for a nice evening. Hope you have a nice dress for tonight’s occasion. I want you to look beautiful.” said John.
“No problem Boss, I have just the right outfit for such occasions.” said Sheila.
“Good. I want you to drive to your home right away, and get ready. I will pick you up in an hour at your place. Be ready for anything tonight.”
“I will be ready.” said Sheila. Soon after that, she left the office. John changed into a nice suit, locked the office, and reached the basement. He then took his car out of the parking garage and drove straight to Sheila’s apartment. The moment John reached the apartment gate, the video communicator lit up. Sheila was speaking through the video display.
“John, I will right out there. Just keep the car running.”
“I will wait right here, then.” said John.
John only got a quick peek at her on the video display before it turned off. He thought she looked grand. In those few seconds he thought he saw her with a new hairstyle and round earrings; and there was something about her face. She looked extremely different and for that matter, very hot. John was reminded of his mother and also Rod, who kept pushing him toward her. John had a strict policy against getting involved with anybody who was linked to him professionally. As far as he was concerned, Sheila was a good assistant and he was scared. Scared that if he were to get involved in any possible way and something should go wrong, he wouldn’t just lose a friend but also a great assistant. That would not do. He was also aware that Sheila was a very good-looking woman, and John had acknowledged this on a number of occasions.