Liberation Day - A Thorn Byrd Novel

by Dustin Stevens

Nine blocks from the docks, Iggy had rented a single room in a cheap hotel. Close enough to swing by whenever she needed, far enough away to allow ample time to watch for a tail upon returning.

  At half past eight o’clock, she and Nio together stepped out of their room and down to the street. Darkness began to descend on the city as they went for a stroll, Iggy’s hand looped into the crook of Nio’s arm, just another young couple without a care in the world. They maintained the pose for over twenty minutes, working their way toward the docks in the most circuitous route they could manage without being noticed.

  An ambient glow rose from the city as the last of the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Once it was gone, they looped their way toward the dock, avoiding the guardhouse on the far end, concentrating their efforts on the cluster of buildings sitting a half mile away.

  The sum total of Iggy’s efforts the previous nights had yielded her a fair bit of information. Her first evening had rendered a pretty decent layout of the small structures grouped tight. The next two she had managed to sweet talk a pair of bumbling oafs into revealing far more than they should have.

  The result was a hand-drawn map she had made from memory and the strong supposition that the feeds for the cameras she saw stuck at various locations were housed in one of two buildings. Both small and nondescript, they were tucked away in a remote corner, virtually out of sight from the main thruway.

  Identical in construction, each was made of wood with plain glass windows on either side of the front door. Like every building on the dock, they were neat and in good repair, if not a little aged.

  “You take one, I’ll take one?” Iggy suggested, pulling her hand free from her brother’s arm as they approached.

  “No,” Nio said, shaking his head as they ducked behind a dumpster overlooking the buildings, the scent of day old produce finding their nostrils. “One of us needs to stand watch. You stay outside and I’ll go in.”

  “You’re seriously trying to play the tough guy card on me?” Iggy seethed, her brow pinching inward. “I’m the little lady who cries help and you’re the gallant knight on his white horse?”

  “Knights and little ladies?” Nio asked, his face contorted in surprise as he twisted to look at her. “And who the hell said anything about a horse?”

  “You know what I mean,” Iggy snapped. “We’ll go one at a time while the other stands watch.”

  For the sake of time and maintaining their cover Nio let the directive pass, avoiding the same conversation that had played out with them for years, always ending the same way. Instead he circled toward the first building, Iggy on his heels. He waited as she positioned herself, giving him a small wave once she was tucked away with a clear vantage of their surroundings.

  The plan, as thin as it may be, was for them to gain access to the data stored from the cameras and use it to determine if their father did in fact arrive in Boston. Using Nio’s journey as a barometer, they had a rough idea of when their father left and how long the trip took, knowing to start a few days before, checking only the hours of dusk until dawn.

  The hope was to find out definitively if their father had passed, and if so, who was responsible.

  Nio started with the front door, determining it as expected to be locked tight, the same for the windows on either side of it. Slipping around to the far end of the building, he found one cracked just a half inch and wedged his fingers under it, the aging paint grunting in protest as he slid it upward.

  Once it was open just over a foot, Nio ducked his head around the front of the building and asked, “All clear?”

  “For now, but if anybody’s close they definitely heard that racket you were making.”

  Nio didn’t bother to respond, instead sliding his head and shoulders through the window and scanning the room in both directions. In it was a standard office set-up, replete with a desk, file cabinet, ancient computer, and a couple of office chairs.

  Pulling himself through, he went straight for the filing cabinet and rifled through it. Heavy manila folders stuffed with purchase orders and receipts filled the drawers, but nothing of any value.

  The thought of trying the computer crossed his mind, but it appeared far too old to serve as the repository for the cameras, not worth risking the lights or noise of turning on. Instead, he opened the office door and stepped into the foyer.

  The door of the second office stood slightly ajar as he pressed his back against the wall alongside it and nudged it open. The iron hinges of the door creaked as it inched back, going just far enough to allow him to squeeze through.

  The office was a mirror copy of the first, furnished in the same way and housing more outdated equipment. The only difference was a small collection of personal photos atop the desk that showed a plump woman with red hair and two small girls that looked exactly like her. Nio shook his head in sympathy for the poor man that went home to that every night and again dug through the filing cabinet.

  The result was more of the same banal paperwork and four minutes after entering, he slid out through the window and pushed it back down into place.

  “Still clear?” he whispered, joining Iggy along the front of the building. Despite the cool evening air, beads of sweat lined his forehead, his heart rate pounding

  “The only sounds I’ve heard were you,” she replied, a trace of hostility present in her tone.

  “Not a thing in there,” Nio whispered, ignoring her comment. “Purchase orders and such, couple of computers that looked like they were bought used in the eighties.”

  “Hmm,” Iggy said, nodding. “Time to check door number two.”

  With one last glance in either direction, she pushed away from the building and ran in a crouch for its twin, Nio behind her. They reached it at the same time, huddling low in the shadows along the far side and peering out into the night for any signs of life.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Nio asked. “I’ll go again.”

  “You think you’re the only one that can climb through a window into an empty building?”

  “It wasn’t quite that easy,” Nio said, his mouth drawn into a tight line.

  “Actually it was, even if you were sweating like a pig when you got done.”

  “Just go already,” Nio conceded, his sister’s perpetual jabs beginning to wear thin. “I’ll stand watch.”

  Iggy smirked at her victory and slid past Nio to the front of the building. Both windows appeared shut tight from the outside and as she passed the door, she gave the handle a cursory twist to make sure it was locked.

  To her surprise, it turned without protest.

  “Nio,” she whispered. “The front door is open. I’m going in.”

  Nio craned his head around the corner to face her. “If the door’s unlocked there may be someone inside.”

  Pressing her ear to the door, Iggy paused and listened a moment before dropping low to peer beneath the doorjamb. “I don’t hear anything or see any lights.”

  “Still, be careful.”

  Holding the knob twisted completely to the side in her hand, Iggy slid inside and stood rooted on the front foyer. She pressed the door just short of closed and eased the knob back into neutral, remaining motionless as her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside.

  One door stood closed on either side of the hallway, the building silent.

  Her body temperature rose as she moved to her right and nudged the door open a couple of inches. Inside, the room was shrouded in darkness, shadows bouncing over a solid wooden desk and a couple of chairs.

  She didn’t bother to go inside.

  Pulling the door closed behind her, she shuffled three steps across the foyer and paused outside the opposite entry. She eased the door open and peered in to see a black desk along the far wall, a bank of video monitors mounted above it. On each of them were images from around the docks, ranging from empty concrete walkways to Thorn and another man making rounds.

  Over thirty screens in total.

  In the middle of the
room, a black rolling desk chair sat empty, turned away from the wall. The smell of coffee and body odor filled the space, the room appearing deserted.

  Heart racing, Iggy held her breath and sidestepped into the room, going straight for the desk. She avoided the chair as she positioned herself in front of the monitors, studying the images on them as the door swung closed behind her, freezing her in place.

  Before she could react, or make a movement of any kind, a pair of thick arms wrapped around her, squeezing her tight against a barrel chest.

  “Well, now, isn’t this a treat?” a thick Boston accent wheezed in her ear, breath rancid on her cheek. “Not every night a tasty young lass walks in to see me.”

  “I’m here to see you, am I?” Iggy asked, writhing her body, trying to force some crack of space between them.

  Stamping down hard with her right foot, the heel of her shoe connected with the man’s toes, loosening his grip. Using the tiny opening, she jammed her left elbow into his solar plexus, forcing out a pained gasp as for the briefest of moments his grip relaxed.

  In that instant Iggy turned for the door, making it just a step and half before the stony grip returned, lifting her from the ground and tossing her backwards into the chair. Several vertebrae in her back popped as she landed hard, her force pushing the chair across the room and slamming it back into the desk.

  “You’re a feisty little bitch, aren’t you?” the man asked, rubbing the back of his fist along his chin. For the first time Iggy could see that he was just a few inches taller than her but almost a foot wider. A square head with auburn curls sat atop even shoulders, and a heavy splash of whiskers covered most of his face.

  In a rare bit of propriety, she bit back the venomous words on her tongue as she stared at him.

  “See that monitor right there?” the man said, nodding with his forehead. “It feeds in from a camera over the front door. I saw you the entire time. All I had to do was sit here and pray you’d be dumb enough to step inside.”

  The thought of Nio outside came to mind and Iggy eased the chair to the left, hoping to block the corresponding camera, or at the very least distract the man from noticing it. She wasn’t sure how long it would be before he came looking for her, but didn’t want the man to notice when he did.

  A look of mild amusement spread across her captor’s face as he watched her, oblivious to what she was trying to do. “You think there’s a way out over there, do you?”

  Iggy glanced to her left, allowing the fear she felt to show on her features. “Isn’t there?”

  The man smiled and began unbuckling his belt. “There’s only one way you’re walking out of here, if you’re able to walk at all.”

  The man slid off his belt and dropped it to the ground, the heavy buckle making a clatter as it bounced off the floorboards. One step at a time he sauntered toward her, his tongue sliding out over his bottom lip as he sized her up.

  Halfway across the room his journey came to an abrupt end as a dark blur swung up between his legs, connecting with the soft tissue of his groin. A single moan escaped his lips as his eyes rolled back in his head, his body crumpling to the floor.

  Replacing him in Iggy’s sightline was Nio, a look of pure acrimony on his face as he stared from the man to her. “You okay?”

  Pushing herself up from the chair, Iggy swung her right foot at the man, catching him across the cheek, his inert form rolling over onto his side. “Thank God you didn’t wait any longer.”

  Exasperation spread across Nio’s features. “A shout out would have sped things along you know.”

  “A shout out would have given away your position.”

  Nio opened his mouth to respond, but closed it. He knew better than to argue. “You get the footage we need. I’ll tie this guy up.”

  Iggy pulled the chair over in front of the computer as Nio took the belt up from the floor. He wrapped it around the man’s wrists, then pulled them back behind him and looped it over his left foot.

  When he was done, the man resembled a misshapen pretzel.

  A quick pat down revealed him to be carrying a.38 revolver and a folding pocketknife, Nio taking them both and depositing them on the desk. When he was done, he left the man lying inert on the floor, turning his attention to the computer.

  Resting an arm on the back of the chair, Nio leaned in close, watching as Iggy worked the cursor across the screen. “Any luck?”

  “Maybe,” Iggy said, her voice detached. As she did so, she clicked on a folder icon, a list of files spreading open before them. Labeled by date, they started less than a week before, running through the first part of June.

  Scanning down the list, Iggy clicked on 6/13, a list of over thirty numbers, all ordered sequentially, springing forth.

  “What the hell?” Nio said.

  “Camera numbers, maybe?” Iggy offered. She motioned toward the monitors above them with a wave of her left hand. “Any idea where we were last night?”

  Folding his arms across his chest, Nio stepped to the side, examining the bank of screens. Without the benefit of color and void of life, they all looked much the same.

  “Not really,” Nio said. “Try 13 or 22. Both have a crane. That’s about the only thing I can remember. You’ve been all over the docks for days now, anything look familiar?”

  “At this point it all kind of looks familiar,” Iggy replied, clicking on number 22 to open the file.

  A moment later, a media player came to life, a time stamp in the corner. Using the mouse, she sped the video feed to 11:30. There were no signs of movement as she pushed the dial further to the right, watching everything in fast forward.

  Nothing but concrete and containers stared back at them.

  “Strike one,” she said and closed the file.

  “Try 13,” Nio suggested.

  Behind them, the man groaned, his voice labored, bits of consciousness finding their way back in. Without pause Nio picked up the .38 and swung it downward, striking the man across the back of the head with the butt of the gun. The man’s head bounced off the floor as his body fell slack, a trickle of blood running down from his ear onto the wooden floor.

  Iggy raised her eyebrows as she turned back to the computer. “Nice shot. Didn’t see that one coming.”

  Nio dropped the gun back down, a smear of blood hitting the desktop. “I find myself in a bit of a bad mood these days.”

  Iggy nodded and scrolled along the footage for camera 13. She moved the cursor several times along the play bar for the camera, but each time found nothing but static. “Must be broken. Any others catch your eye?”

  Nio glanced up at the monitors before shifting his attention back to the screen. “Or it was knocked out?”

  Dragging the scroll tab back to the left, Iggy moved slowly, drawing in a sharp breath of air as the static disintegrated, a camera view coming into focus. “Here we go.”

  The screen was almost identical to the previous camera, nothing more than a grainy black-and-white picture of concrete and shipping containers. Halfway through, a pair of men in black skirted across the screen, their movements quick and precise, not once looking around for any sign of others. A moment later a third man came into view, wearing a fedora and carrying a gun with an elongated barrel. With measured steps, he strode into the field of vision and raised his gun toward the camera.

  The last thing the video caught was a muzzle flash before cutting away to static.

  “Not a whole lot to work with,” Nio said, glancing down to see that no more than a minute and a half had passed in total.

  Sliding open the top desk drawer, Iggy rifled around until finding what she was looking for and removing a blank CD. Jamming it into the CD-ROM port, she set the file to copy.

  “No, but it’s something.”

  When the burn was complete, Iggy pulled the CD out and went into the file for the current day. Looking up at the wall, she determined which camera was positioned above the door before deleting the entry for the entire night.


  “How far back do they go?” Nio asked.

  “Just a few days,” Iggy replied, shaking her head. “They must have put them in after Papi went down.”

  Silence fell for a moment, neither wanting to put to words what they both feared.

  “We’re done here,” Nio finally whispered, his voice low. “Let’s go.”

  “What should we do with him?” Iggy asked, glancing at their bound captive on the floor.

  “Leave him,” Nio said. “He never saw me and should have a hell of a time explaining how one girl kicked his ass and tied him up.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two