The curiosity was burning inside her. She wanted to see what Riverton found on the footage and so had ordered the AI to display its activity on her screens. And she wasn’t the only curious one. Although Ford had convinced Bronte and Hernandez to rest, Mitch and Beggs had stayed back to watch with Salvi. Mitch sat beside her now, eyes darting over Salvi’s console screen which had been divided into several sections displaying the AI’s different processes; some showing the fast moving security footage, another bearing a list of names the AI had facially recognized, and another showing statements of interest the AI had lip-read on the screens. Beggs remained at his desk, undertaking his own searches on the names listed by the AI, as well as those provided by Attis Solme.
“Huh,” Salvi said, eyeing the latest name that had appeared on the list of guests entering the club. “I guess she’s not the pure pop princess she makes out to be.”
“This ghost worries me,” Mitch said, motioning to the screen. “Chaney has a lot of powerful friends, but even he doesn’t seem to think they’re enough to protect him from this ex-silent partner of his.”
“That’s why we have to take them down, Mitch. Because everyone else is too scared to.”
“But how do you catch a ghost?” he said, sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling.
Salvi looked past him to the mugshows along the wall. She stood and walked over to them, wanting to stretch her legs more than anything, as she paced and rubbed her neck.
“What bothers me most,” Mitch said, finishing his takeout coffee, “is that he said cops were some of his patrons.”
Salvi nodded and looked back to the screens. “If they were at the club, Riverton will find them for us.”
“Sadie!” Mitch called, and the department’s robo-cleaner came out of its cupboard and swooped toward him.
“Detective Brentt,” it said as it passed, turning its white ball-shaped head to Mitch. “Detective Grenville.”
“Sadie,” he acknowledged it, tossing the cup into Sadie’s receptacle.
Salvi watched as Sadie turned and went back to its cupboard. For some reason it made her think back to her visit to the ‘Mission and all the robotic stores there. Then, of course, she thought of Randy’s Retrotech again. She turned back to her console. “Riverton?”
“Yes, detective.”
“Confirming you have a search programmed for Dancer, a.k.a. Dancell Marks, especially with the lip-reading?”
“Yes, detective. I’ve already included that name, along with Randy’s Retrotech, as I am linking every line of questioning in the Trident investigation we have done so far.”
“Good.”
“Son of a bitch!” Beggs blurted.
Salvi and Mitch looked at him, then back to her console screen.
“What is it?” Salvi asked, moving back to her desk.
“Latest name on the list,” Beggs said. “Lee Hinde.”
“Hinde?” Salvi said, staring at the text on the screen.
“Yeah,” Beggs said, standing. “As in Detective Lee Hinde from Narcotics. Was he on Sorenson’s team undercover on this? I don’t recall seeing his name anywhere.”
Salvi looked up from the screen to him. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“We need to get his ass in here right now!”
“Beggs–” Salvi began.
“This fucker might have accessed the Trident files!”
“Riverton!” Mitch cut across Beggs’ voice firmly. “Provide a list of names of who has accessed the Taskforce Trident files.”
“Yes, detective.” A new screen appeared with the list of names: Ford, Salvi, Bronte, Mitch, Hernandez, Beggs, Eli Sorensen, Kara Shadid, and Josef Noble. There was no Hinde listed. “All names have been previously provided to Detective Lieutenant Ford.”
Salvi turned to Beggs. “There. He’s not accessing our files. He might’ve been working another case.”
“Or he might’ve gone there on his night off,” Mitch shrugged. “Riverton, provide dates and times of his visits.”
“Yes, detective,” Riverton answered. “According to my scanning so far, he has appeared on the following dates.” Another list appeared.
“Night and weekends,” Mitch said, reading the list. “He might’ve been a social clubber.”
“Yeah?” Beggs said. “So why is he keeping so tight-lipped then? I haven’t seen him say jack shit about the club since this case started.”
“He doesn’t fit the profile,” Salvi thought aloud. “He’s not rich, he’s not beautiful, and as far as we know he’s not powerful.”
“As far as we know,” Mitch said.
“He should’ve said something, and he didn’t!” Beggs spat.
Salvi nodded. “Because he’s got something to hide. We need to bring him in. I’ll call Sorenson now.”
“No,” Mitch said. “Let’s talk to him on the quiet. We don’t know how far or wide this reaches, Salvi. You said it yourself. You’ve spotted Senators and all kinds there. There’s potentially a whole network involved. Chaney himself said cops and judges are among his clientele. We need to talk to him alone. I’ll find him and bring him in.” He stood and grabbed his coat.
“Then I’ll go with you,” Salvi said.
“No, I’ll go,” Beggs said firmly.
“Beggs, you’re–” Salvi began
“I’m what?” he snapped.
“On edge!” Salvi snapped back. “You stay here and update us on anything else Riverton finds.”
Mitch pulled on his jacket and fixed his collar, watching while Beggs glared at Salvi.
“Riverton?” Mitch called. “Is Hinde on or off duty at the moment?”
“My best estimate, detective, is that he is currently off duty.”
“And his geo-loc?”
“One moment… His geo-locator is registering at his apartment. Details sent to your iPorts.”
“End request, Riverton.”
“We’ll handle this,” Salvi said calmly to Beggs. “If we think he’s got something, we’ll bring him in.”
Mitch approached Beggs. “Let us do this, Beggs,” he said calmly. “Please.”
Beggs’ stance softened and he nodded.
“Come on,” Mitch said to Salvi as he headed out. Beggs grabbed Salvi’s chair and sat down at her console. Salvi picked up her gun, then moved to the door after Mitch. As she did, her eyes caught on one of the mugshows by the door. It was new. The image was of a mean-looking guy with a shaved head and silver flame tattoos reaching up the sides of his neck. Her eyes drifted to scan the details of the felon, wanted for assault, and she paused when they fell upon the man’s known associates.
Vincent Calabri.
“Salvi,” Mitch called from down the corridor.
“Coming,” she said, and she walked out the door as her mind wandered back to Myki Natashi once more.
Salvi and Mitch knocked on Detective Lee Hinde’s door. He lived alone in a small apartment on the fringe of the city center. No one answered.
“Riverton?” Salvi spoke into her iPort. “Has Hinde’s geo-locator moved at all? He’s not answering his door.”
“One moment, detective,” Riverton replied.
Salvi turned to Mitch. “If he’s off duty, he might’ve switched his tracer off.”
Mitch nodded. “We need to get to him before anyone else realizes we’re looking for him.”
Salvi nodded back. “Before Sorenson sees one of his detectives listed among those names.”
“Detective Brentt,” Riverton said, “it seems his tracer has been turned to sleep mode and is no longer responding.”
“He could actually be asleep,” Mitch said. “Or he could be dead. Should we kick down the door?”
“Riverton,” Salvi said, “please scan drone footage now and see if you can locate him out and about. Focus on the Sensation and the Transmission.”
“Yes, detective.”
Salvi sighed and checked the time. It was approaching midnight. “Riverton, what case is he cu
rrently working?”
“His primary at present is a drug and money laundering case involving a real estate multi-national. It was a joint initiative with Cyber.”
Mitch shrugged. “Could well be why he was at the club; if he was undercover and mixing with that crowd.”
“But why hasn’t he said anything?” Salvi asked. “Like, anything. There’s no record of him confirming ever being there.”
“Maybe he has. To Sorenson. Or Noble. Just not to us.” Mitch’s mind turned over. “Maybe we should talk to Sorenson after all.”
Salvi paced outside Hinde’s apartment door. “I don’t know. I mean, yes, we need to do that, but there’s something sticking inside my brain about Myki Natashi. She’d had Flyte, I have no doubt about that, but I don’t know if her taking it was consensual. I’m not sure whether she had it voluntarily in Diabolique, or if it was given to her to wipe her memory prior to Barker’s murder, or at the very least incapacitate her while it happened. The most likely suspect we have, that we can’t tie to the crime scene other than he was in the area at the time of the murder, was Vincent Calabri, who is a lieutenant for Francis Mellon.”
“Who is friends with suspected crime boss, John Dorant,” Mitch said. He’d clearly studied the Taskforce Trident files in depth.
“Yes.”
“So?”
“So, what bugs me is that we’re dealing with powerful people here. Francis Mellon has good reach. John Dorant has excellent reach. He’s probably as powerful as it gets in this town.”
“Yeah, but he’s not a ghost. He has a public profile. Chaney said this silent partner is a ghost.”
“Yeah, but how did Calabri get his hands on the Fyte to kill Barker, or the Flyte to dope Myki out?”
“If he doped Myki out,” Mitch countered. “And how do you know there was Fyte involved if you have no ID on the killer. You can’t tie him to the crime scene. All we know is that she was at the club beforehand and she most likely had it there.”
“Yes, but I saw Devon Barker’s smashed skull. I have no doubt that whoever killed him was on Fyte. Vincent Calabri was seen in the area. He works for Mellon. Mellon was Myki’s ex-boyfriend.”
“You really think Mellon ordered Calabri to kill Barker to erase his competition for Myki?”
“No,” Salvi shook her head. “They’d been broken up for months, but I know that Barker was taking photographs at Floor to Ceiling, photographs of women wearing the neural devices–” Salvi paused.
“What?” Mitch studied her carefully.
“Barker took photographs on the Ceiling…” she said, staring at Mitch. “Yes, it appeared to be a staged, promotional shoot, but what if he captured something he shouldn’t have in those images? And I’m not just talking about that woman’s neural device. What if killing Barker was Mellon cleaning up evidence for this ghost? The fact he was Myki’s new boyfriend may just have been a cherry on the cake to him. We need to review all Barker’s photographs. Now!”
While they waited for Riverton to confirm Hinde’s location, Salvi and Mitch reviewed the images on the Raider’s console while the autodrive took them around the city.
“That’s the one,” Salvi said, pointing to the women raising their glasses. She zoomed in on the one that wore the neural device.
“It looks just like the device I wore,” Salvi said.
“But, like you say, this was a staged promotional shoot. Surely he wouldn’t have been killed for taking that,” Mitch said. “Check the backgrounds, maybe he caught something else he shouldn’t have.” He looked at Salvi. “Maybe he caught our ghost’s face?”
Salvi zoomed back out. There were no visible faces in the background of the women’s photograph. She started scrolling through Barker’s other shots. Mitch split the screen and started searching through different ones.
“Riverton?” Mitch called to the Raider’s console.
“Yes, Detective Grenville,” it answered.
“When you scanned each of these photographs into your databank, did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”
“No, detective. I scanned them into the databank as per evidence protocol but have not undertaken further analysis. Would you like me to?”
“Yes,” Mitch said. “Check for anomalies. Digital footprints. Has anyone been erased from these pictures?”
“Yes, detective,” Riverton said. “And detectives? I’ve just located Detective Hinde. He’s outside hub 9 about to enter the building.”
Salvi and Mitch looked at each other.
“Beggs!” Salvi burst out.
“Shit!” Mitch said, snapping off the autodrive and taking the wheel.
When the Raider raced to a stop outside hub, they were not surprised to see Hinde and Beggs arguing as they stepped outside the front doors.
“Goddamnit, Beggs!” Salvi hissed.
Hinde stormed his way toward his vehicle with Beggs in tow, yelling at him. Mitch lurched the Raider forward to cut Hinde off from his car.
“What the fuck?” Hinde yelled, stepping back then banging his fist on the Raider’s hood. Salvi and Mitch were quick to exit, and while Salvi moved to Beggs to hold him back, Mitch approached Hinde.
“Hey, what’s the rush?” Mitch asked Hinde.
“Get your ride out of my way,” Hinde said. “I’m leaving.”
“We just got a few questions first.”
“Beggs already asked, and I told him I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“You’re on the security footage,” Mitch said. “You were there. Cut the bullshit. What aren’t you telling us?”
“Fuck you,” Hinde said, moving around the Raider to his car and opening the door.
“Did you see Caine there?” Mitch asked, following. “You see those girls?”
Hinde got into his car, but Mitch caught the car door before he could close it.
“Hey! Fuck you!” Hinde yelled.
“He knows who killed Caine,” Beggs yelled, pushing past Salvi. “He knows and he’s not saying.”
“I don’t know shit!” Hinde yelled.
“Do we need to call Sorenson?” Mitch said. “Tell him what you were doing there?”
“I was working a case!”
“Were you? That why you went to the basement?” Mitch bluffed. “To Diabolique, huh?”
Hinde angrily got back out of his car and butted chests with Mitch. “Get the fuck away from me,” he said, pointing a finger in Mitch’s face. “You don’t know shit!”
“Enlighten me!” Mitch stood his ground.
“We got you, you fucker,” Beggs said, moving in and pointing at Hinde now. Mitch thrust an arm in front of Beggs and moved him back, as Salvi grabbed Beggs’ coat and pulled him back also. “You’re going down!”
“Yeah? Fuck you!” Hinde stepped toward Beggs and viciously shoved him backward. Beggs smacked into Salvi and sent them both stumbling back to the ground.
“Hey!” Mitch grabbed Hinde and the two tussled, but Hinde quickly brought his gun up into Mitch’s face.
“You want to join your friend?” Hinde hissed. “Back off!”
Mitch stepped back calmly, hands in the air. “What the fuck have you got yourself into?”
Hinde got back into his car, gun still aimed on Mitch as he closed the door.
“Something you can’t get me out of.” Hinde started his car and thrust it into reverse.
Beggs got to his feet and thumped on the vehicle’s boot. “Stop, you son of a bitch!”
“Beggs!” Salvi shouted, getting to her feet.
Mitch pulled up his iPort. “Riverton, alert all drones and units…”
Hinde screeched the tires as he made a sharp turn, pulling out onto the street. Beggs chased after the vehicle. “You’re going down, you fuck!”
But it was no use. Hinde raced away into the night, and Beggs slowed to a stop, panting and staring after the fading taillights.
An autocab parked by the curb nearby suddenly flicked on its lights and lurched out into the stre
et with speed.
“Beggs!” Salvi yelled.
Beggs turned just as the autocab plowed into him. Salvi gasped in terror as Beggs’ body was thrown high into the air, and he came down to the ground with an awful thud on the road.
“Fuck!” Mitch cried, as the two of them raced toward him. “Riverton!” Mitch yelled into his iPort. “Officer down! I repeat, Officer down! Outside hub 9! Send help now. Hurry!”
Salvi reached Beggs and dropped to her knees. His body was visibly broken in places and he semi-consciously groaned in pain.
“Beggs!” she said. “Beggs! Don’t move. We’ve got you. You’re gonna be alright, okay?” His eyes fluttered open and closed, but no words came to his bloodied mouth.
They heard sirens in the distance as the officers on the graveyard shift began to exit the hub doors and run toward them. Mitch was beside her, his weapon drawn as he turned in circles, watching their perimeter for more vehicles.
“Hold on, Beggs!” she said, holding his hand. “Hold on!” She looked up at Mitch. “We gotta get to Hinde before that autocab does.”
“He’s already dead,” Mitch said. “The question is, why did they want Beggs dead? What does he know that we don’t?”
As the other officers gathered around them with a first aid kit and blankets, Salvi stood. “Take care of him.” She tapped her holo-badge. “Officers Brentt and Grenville. We’ll issue statements to the department’s AI, but right now we’re pursing the suspect.”
The officer pressing bandages against Beggs’ bloody wounds nodded, and the two of them raced back toward the Raider.
Within twenty minutes, Riverton reported that Drone-29 had located Hinde’s vehicle. The Raider raced toward the location, on the edge of the Presidio. As they neared, Mitch slowed the Raider. Hinde’s car lights were on and the driver’s door was open. Two marked cars were already there and had blocked off the road either side of the vehicle, while the drone, on protocol, circled the perimeter searching for body heat signatures in the park.
The Sensation Page 22
