by Joe Canzano
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
About the Author
More Books
Suzy Spitfire Kills Everybody
Joe Canzano
Published by Happy Joe Control
Ⓒ 2017 Joe Canzano
Smashwords Edition
www.happyjoe.net
SUZY SPITFIRE KILLS EVERYBODY Copyright © 2017 by Joe Canzano. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For contact information visit Happy Joe Control at www.happyjoe.net.
Happy Joe Control books may be purchased for educational, business, or promotional use. For contact information visit Happy Joe Control at www.happyjoe.net.
Cover design by J Caleb Clark at jcalebdesign.com
ISBN: 9780990636571
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Chapter 1
It was a peaceful evening in a peaceful part of town. Not really Suzy Spitfire’s style, but what the hell. She wasn’t going to let a beautiful sense of calm ruin her night.
She walked with cat-like steps across the beach as a salty breeze rifled through her coppery-crimson hair. With a sharp glance, she eyed the flashing lights of a hover-ship out at sea. Finally, she slipped through a plastic door and entered the shadowy interior of a local pub called El Pájaro Feliz.
Suzy narrowed her eyes and studied the glowing mix of wood and glass and hanging paper lanterns. Bouncy music and bubbly conversations flooded her ears as she did a quick scan of the room—okay, not bad. No need to be concerned right now, not in this seaside party shack with a moonlit view of the surf and the sea. But she kept her Series 7 pulse pistol close, strapped to her thigh under her black leather skirt, because people and places can go bad at any time. It was something she’d learned the hard way. It was something that still kept her up at night.
Too many people in here, she thought. Why couldn’t this meeting happen in a place with fewer tourists? Aiko had wanted it to be somewhere public. Well, he’d always liked the public more than she had. But he was also a stand-up guy who she hadn’t seen for over two years—not since he’d gone to Tokyo and she’d become a murderer.
As her boots glided across the floor, she vaguely wondered if this was a setup. She recalled her father’s words: “It’s all about the math, Suzy.” But Dad had said a lot of stuff. Empty talk.
It didn’t feel like a setup. Hey, maybe after a few drinks Aiko could help her come up with that pile of cash she needed.
She rolled her eyes as a holographically-enhanced robot bartender appeared in front of her. The thing was “graphed up” to be a tall guy with red hair, dressed in black. She knew a hidden scanner had analyzed her appearance and then displayed the face of someone calculated to be appealing to her—but just because she’d inherited her mom’s light skin and reddish hair didn’t mean her bartender had to resemble a giant leprechaun. She really preferred someone like the guy sitting eight or nine seats down.
He was fairly well built, with curly dark hair and eyes like gooey black puddles. Probably from the United Mexican Union, or the southern country of Rio da Vida. Forget about it, she thought. There were bigger things to worry about. At the very least, her fantasy had to be quick.
She noticed the sexy guy had his own phony bartender—a tall blonde squeezed into a short red skirt with breasts like a couple of fresh torpedoes. So that was his type, huh? Bold and trashy. What a coincidence. There’s a woman who looks like that right over here—except she’s shorter, with no torpedoes, and a body that’s completely organic. Suzy watched without watching too much as the sexy guy smiled and said a few words to his slutty drink-serving projection. Then she realized someone was talking to her. It was the phony bartender in front of her.
“Can I do something for you?” he said.
“Sure. You can steal me a new spaceship. But if that’s not part of the plan, how about a Jack and Coke?”
The bartender smiled. Suzy knew they were programmed to do it constantly, and that was the problem with these modern bars in a trendy metropolis like Diego Tijuana. They were filled with holograms and empty smiles.
He put a drink in front of her. “From the man over there,” he said, motioning with his hand.
So the sexy guy had bought her a drink. That was good, maybe. And now he was smiling at her in a way no piece of programming ever could. Fine, there was no harm in smiling back. Lots of great times start on the heels of one stupid second.
He strutted over to her and grinned. “Hi there. My name’s Ricardo. It’s good to meet you.”
His tone bubbled with happiness, and she guessed it was common for him to be this way. He was wearing black jeans and a sleeveless shirt that showed some muscle along with a small tattoo of a grinning coral snake. It was tiny compared to her one and only tattoo, the one that spanned her shoulder blades—but the size wasn’t the thing. It was the significance, and Suzy had seen Ricardo’s tattoo before. She also saw that his skin was a smooth shade of bronze, and his teeth were white like minty toothpaste—and so she decided to ignore the implications.
“Suzy,” she said. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“A pretty name for a pretty girl.”
“Thanks. Are all your opening lines so original?”
“How original do I need to be?” he said with a laugh. “Pretty is pretty—but guess what? I’m also a part-time poet.” Then he stared off into space and said, “You’re a sexy slice of sirloin, honey, who could steal a guy’s beating heart. Or at least his French fries… Any better?”
“It’s an improvement,” she said, sipping her drink. “I mean I can’t say I haven’t stolen a few things.”
“And here I was thinking you were an innocent girl.”
“Hey, I’ve only killed one person so far.”
He paused and cocked his head. “That’s fine. Anyone can make a mistake.”
“Who says I made a mistake?”
He laughed again. �
�So what brings you here tonight?”
“I’m here to meet a friend.”
“A boyfriend, right? Damn, I knew it. I’m too late.”
“You’re not too late. You’re just here on the wrong day.” She turned away and gulped down her whiskey. “Come back tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Suzy. But I never plan that far ahead.”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Ricardo, we might have a few things in common.”
Ricardo motioned for the bartender to get her another drink as he moved closer to her. “Yeah, and after all, we’re both outlaws.”
“Why do you think I’m an outlaw?”
“You just told me.”
“I was kidding. Couldn’t you tell?”
He shrugged. “Sure, I could tell. I could tell that you might not be kidding. It’s a feel thing. It’s hard to explain—right?”
Right. She looked into his chocolaty stare and said nothing. And then she spotted Aiko.
He was slipping out of the restroom—thin and sleek, like most Japanese guys, and more or less how she remembered him. His black hair was still tied back in a ponytail but the goatee was new. His almond-shaped eyes were lucent and brown as they scanned the room and then locked on to her own.
His face lit up and he moved toward her. She turned away from Ricardo and embraced Aiko with gusto. Just like old times, when they’d been the best of friends—with a few extra moments.
“Suzy, it’s so great to see you. You look fantastic.” He spotted the silver dragonfly earrings she was wearing and raised his eyebrows. He also looked at the silver chain around her neck, the one with a ring through it. “Nice jewelry,” he said.
“Yeah. I still have it all. And you don’t look so bad yourself.”
“I look better when I get more sleep. I haven’t gotten much lately.” Then he motioned with his head toward Ricardo.
“Oh, this is Ricardo,” she said. “I met him a few minutes ago. He compared me to a steak and then bought me a shot. So we’re off to a good start.”
“Right.” Aiko flashed Ricardo a tight smile and then pulled Suzy away.
“Suzy, we need to talk. I hate to be rude, but it’s a bad night to be working on your love life.”
“I never ‘work’ at it, Aiko. I just let it follow me around until I kill it.”
He led her toward a corner of the room, near an old-style jukebox and a pool table. Meanwhile, she saw Ricardo wave a salute with his hand and turn his handsomeness back toward the bar.
“It’s been too long,” Aiko said, lowering his voice. “But I wanted to meet in a public place because I figured it would be safer.”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“Yeah. I’m really happy to see you, Suzy, and I’d love to hang out and talk, but I need to tell you something, and I wanted to do it in person.” He paused and looked around with shifting eyes. “It’s about the Artificial Intelligence your father created—the one that got him killed. I mean murdered.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Suzy blinked. “Yeah, I did—but my father wasn’t murdered. He died in an accident.”
“No, he didn’t. He was killed because of the AI he made—the one I helped him make. And then I stole it and ran.”
Aiko reached out and grabbed her hand. “Hey, I know it’s a lot to process—but you knew your dad was a neuroscientist who worked on Artificial Intelligence, right? And I was his assistant, right? Well, we were working on a top-secret project for the government to create a special kind of AI, and we finished it—and now there’s big trouble.”
Suzy shook her head, like a fighter who’d been nailed by a few big fists. She felt her chest heaving and blood pounding in her ears.
“Aiko, what the hell are you talking about? I just know he was too busy working and had no time for his kids. I know he was a wimp with no backbone. I know some other things, too—but I try hard to forget them.”
Aiko put his hands on her shoulders and whispered, “Suzy, calm down.”
“Calm down? I haven’t seen you for two fucking years! I’m waiting to meet you in a bar, sitting here with a shot of whiskey, perfectly fine, flirting with some guy—and now I’m talking about a secret brain and my murdered father! Exactly how calm am I supposed to be?”
Ricardo turned back around. He waved again and went back to his drink.
Aiko spun his head and studied the room. “Calm enough to not attract attention.”
“Not attracting attention has never been my strongpoint.”
“Crap!”
“What?”
“Outside,” he said, motioning with his head. “They’re coming.”
Suzy stared over Aiko’s shoulder as the quiet darkness outside was shattered by bright lights and whooping sirens.
“The cops!” she said. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Did you tell these guys I was here?”
“What? How could you say that? They’re not here for you, Suzy. They’re here for me.”
“For you?”
“Suzy, I’m sorry. Now let’s get out of here.”
Suzy swore and scowled. And then two big guys stepped out of the crowd.
“Not so fast, Aiko,” one of them said. “I think you better come with us.”
They lunged forward, grabbed Aiko’s arms, and started to handcuff him.
Suzy’s eyes flashed. “Get your hands off him!”
Two more guys stepped forward and grabbed her.
“Suzy Castillo, you’re under arrest,” one of them said. “Come quietly or you’ll regret it.”
In addition to the plainclothes agents, Suzy saw a squad of black-uniformed Federal Strike Force agents charging through the front door with their weapons up and ready.
She didn’t think. She gave a shout and twisted away—and fired a kick into an attacker’s groin.
The guy gasped and doubled over. That got the attention of the remaining three agents—just enough of it for Aiko to avoid being handcuffed and to throw a punch into one guy’s face.
Shouts and screams sounded in the room.
Suzy whipped out her gun just as three agents reached for guns of their own. She shot them all. The guy she’d kicked managed to fire one round—but she ducked, and the energy bullet exploded into the wall behind her.
What a bastard, she thought. The guy is using fully-maxed bullets. Her own weapon was set to fire medium-powered energy slugs that had put two people down but hadn’t killed anyone.
She shot the remaining attacker in the gut. Then she swung her weapon toward the other SFs and started blasting.
The SFs had already spread out and were looking for cover, but there wasn’t much other than some flimsy cocktail tables. They all started shooting.
Suzy shot two more of them and then she was on the ground, crawling fast behind the pool table. Luckily, there were a lot of people in the room, and they were stumbling and screaming and trying to get out of the way. No problem; there was always good cover in the chaos. Glasses were breaking, paper lanterns were falling, and a few chairs were pummeled and splintered by random shots.
Where the hell was she going? Did this place have a back door? And where was Aiko? He was over by the bar, firing a weapon. That was something new. She’d never seen him with a gun before and obviously a few things had changed in his life.
Suzy peered out from behind the pool table and fired a few more rounds. Most of the party crowd was out of the way, and that was too bad. After all, the SFs didn’t usually like to kill civilians. Then again, they would be happy to kill a few and blame it on her.
She saw Aiko ducking behind a pylon. She saw a tall Strike Force captain moving in a low crouch through the front door. There were two more armored SFs behind him with rifles in their hands—but Aiko was quick and tossed something into the middle of the room. There was a loud bang as the air filled with a thick black mist. Suzy turned away and coughed, and when she looked up she saw Ricardo standing behind the bar. He lo
oked right at her—and then pointed toward a doorway nearby. Suzy gritted her teeth and crawled fast toward the opening. She dived through and found herself in a hallway with Aiko.
“This way!” he said.
She leaped to her feet and they raced toward a window. Aiko whirled and fired a bunch of shots back through the doorway, just to delay any pursuit. Then he fired a shot that blew the window to pieces. Suzy was about to leap through when Aiko grabbed her wrist.
“No!” he said. “Wait.” He pulled another grenade from his pocket and tossed it through the window. There was an explosion followed by a billowing cloud of smoke.
“Jump now!” he said. Suzy hit the ground and flattened out onto her stomach. A hail of energy bullets blasted just over her head. Aiko leaped up and tossed another grenade.
This one was more powerful, but it was mainly to produce additional black clouds of cover.
“This way!” he said. There was a hover-car right there, surrounded by swirling grey plumes. He pulled out his allcom, and he touched the screen. The doors of the car popped open.
“Don’t get in!” he hissed and pointed at a nearby dumpster.
Suzy was a bit confused, but still strangely comfortable—maybe because confusion was a typical part of a gunfight. She leaped to her feet and fired a few shots through the smoke before hitting the ground again. Then she was rolling behind the dumpster.
Why was she here? It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to get into that car. That car had no chance of getting out of the city.
But Aiko was in the car and then he was rolling out of the car, and now it was moving—whoah! Overriding a vehicle’s government specified navigational system with a personal remote was difficult, and vacant Class One passenger cars were strictly forbidden. They were manufactured with tough security codes—but Aiko had always been good at getting around security. She recalled an encounter she’d had with him back in junior high school, under a boardwalk. Yeah, he’d gotten through her security codes without much trouble. Of course she’d been a little drunk and a lot curious. Kids had been cracking that code since the beginning of time.
