by Eric Brown
He shook his head, rubbed his eyes. ‘It’s okay. I’ve been awake for so long I’m starting to see things.’
‘Hal, are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ He regarded his coffee cup, so obviously needing to say something that Anna wanted to crank his starting handle in order to get him going.
‘What is it?’
He looked up. ‘What do you remember about the fire, Anna?’
The fire . . .? The question surprised her. It was so long ago, now. All she recalled was a series of images: flames, the house collapsing, the sight of their father running across the lawn. She had no recollection of what she had felt at the time. She knew she had been in the house, with Hal and Eloise, but had no idea how she had escaped.
She could recall the strange, empty days that followed the fire, being told by her father that Eloise was in heaven now, but not linking the fact with the fire. It was only later, in her teens, that she came to understand how her sister had died. .
Now she shrugged and shook her head. ‘What do I remember? Not a lot. Practically nothing at all. The flames, the house falling down ... I was only seven.’
He nodded, staring into his coffee cup.
‘You?’ she asked.
He lifted his shoulders in a hopeless, expressive shrug. ‘Much the same,’ he said, and he glanced, once again, across the bar towards whatever he had seen earlier.
The silence stretched, and finally Anna said, ‘It’s been good talking again, Hal. Come round some time, okay?’ She reached into her bag and passed him a card.
He took it in his solid, square hand and read, frowning. ‘Anna Ellischild.’ He looked up. ‘Ellischild?’
‘I changed my surname a few years ago,’ she said. ‘You know, Ellis was Mom’s maiden name.’
He could see from the expression in his eyes that the explanation had explained nothing. She touched his hand. ‘Come round for a meal some time. Are you seeing anyone?’
He nodded.
‘You going to tell me about her?’
He shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t know where to begin,’ he said.
She smiled at his inability, or his reluctance, to open up.
They left the bar and stood on the sidewalk, facing each other. ‘I meant what I said about coming over. And bring your girlfriend, okay?’
He nodded. She reached out and embraced him, felt his hands almost reluctantly touch her shoulders. ‘Bye, Hal.’
‘Bye.’ He made an awkward farewell gesture and turned, and she watched him as he walked away; a small, faded, black-clad figure, soon lost in the bustle of pedestrians on the sidewalk.
She walked home, turning her collar up against the chill wind. She’d call Mantoni when she got back, ask to talk to Kia. They’d had their rows in the past, gone a day or two without speaking, but on those occasions there had always been a reason for the falling out, an event that could be talked over, atoned for. Anna could think of nothing she had done that might possibly explain Kia’s strange, withdrawn attitude, her unexplained departure that morning.
She turned into her street, and her heart jumped when she saw the familiar old Cadillac drawn up outside the apartment block. She almost ran the last ten metres along the sidewalk and up the steps to the second floor.
She let herself into the apartment, calling Kia’s name.
She paused in the hall, composed herself. She told herself that she had to be tough. She could not let Kia see how damned relieved she was that she was back. Instead, she’d have it out with her lover, ask her what the hell was happening.
She moved into the lounge.
Kia was seated at Anna’s computer console, which in itself was odd. Kia had once called Anna’s computer a toy compared to the rigs she used at work.
‘Kia?’
Stranger still was the fact that Kia was connected to the computer. A lead ran from a spar on the side of her skull, across the desk and into a port in the terminal. The screen flickered, scrolling with line after line of what looked like mathematical formulae.
‘Kia, what the hell?’
Something made Anna loath to approach. Kia was slumped in the swivel chair, staring blindly at the screen with eyes that rolled from time to time to show their whites. The sight sent an electric surge of panic through Anna, paralysing her.
‘Kia!’
As if in response to the sound of her name, Kia yanked the jack from her skull-port and stood unsteadily.
Close to tears, Anna ran forward and tried to assist her. ‘Kia, what the hell’s happening?’
Kia turned, pushed Anna’s hand away, and stared at her with eyes that seemed devoid of the slightest recognition.
She stumbled down the corridor towards the door. Anna followed, pleading with Kia to stay and talk. ‘You can’t go out . . . You aren’t well, Kia. Let me help you!’
When Anna touched her arm, Kia turned and lashed out, and the expression of venom on her face stopped Anna in her tracks. Unsteady on her feet, Kia hauled the front door open and disappeared down the steps.
Anna slumped against the wall, pressing fingers against her lips as if to stifle the sobs. At last she moved herself to give chase. She ran from the apartment and down the steps. She pulled open the ground-floor door and ran out into the freezing street.
Kia climbed into the Cadillac and gunned the engine. Anna ran to the side widow and hammered on the glass with the heel of her hand. ‘Kia, Kia! You can’t
The car surged, stalled, and then careered away from the sidewalk. Anna could only stand and watch the car disappear down the street, tears turning ice cold on her cheeks.
* * * *
Ten
The alarm went off at midnight. Halliday lay on his back and stared up at the shaft of moonlight slanting through the frosted skylight.
He had slept solidly since midday without dreaming, something of a miracle considering the sights he’d witnessed that morning. He and Barney had stayed back at the ComStore while the tech attempted to decode the file that Sissi Nigeria had uploaded seconds before her death. The tech had come up with nothing. Barney had speculated that the file contained the information Wellman had hoped Nigeria would not divulge to rival firms. She had sent it to an unknown destination, though quite how and why she died was still a mystery.
Another shock that morning had been his meeting with Sue . . . or rather Anna. He reached out and took her card from the bedside table, reading her new name. Anna Ellischild. Not only her name had changed, he reflected. Since he’d last seen her she had become a mellower, kinder person. He recalled Sue as she had been, bitter and guarded, seemingly always looking for the opportunity to rebuke him with cutting criticisms and observations. In five, six years she had grown up, matured, lost her anger and become a person he could easily come to like.
Eloise had turned up again while he’d sat talking to Anna. Out of the blue she had appeared at a table across the room, watching him and swinging her legs beneath the table. At one point she had mimed the words, ‘Ask her, Hal!’
So he’d steered the conversation around to the painful subject of the fire, but to his disappointment Anna could tell him not much more than he recalled himself. When he’d looked up to reprimand Eloise with a stare, she had vanished.
He yawned and stretched. The Nigeria case was closed and he was about to begin another shift. He wondered whether Barney had anything of interest on the files. A simple case of an absconding husband, perhaps.
‘You ‘wake, Hal?’
He turned and pulled the warm bundle of woman towards him. He located her face in the moonlight and kissed her lips. ‘Mmm . . . when did you get in?’
‘ ‘Round five. You were snoring. Didn’t want to wake you. I crept in like a mouse.’ She reached out, took the card from his fingers and read the name. ‘Anna Ellischild? Who’s that, Hal?’
‘My sister.’
She stared at him. ‘But you haven’t seen her for years, Hal! Did she call round?’
He considered telling her that t
hey had met yesterday, but he was dissuaded by the thought of trying to explain the complex emotions he had experienced in the bar.
He shook his head. ‘She dropped the card off when I was out.’ He pushed his face into her hair and inhaled. ‘Ah, barbecue spiced pork, spare ribs, steamed noodles.’
‘Hal! And I showered before coming to bed!’
‘I’m not complaining. I haven’t eaten since last night.’
‘It was a nice meal,’ Kim said. ‘Should do that more often.’
‘Fine by me. Look, I’m off at midday tomorrow. Why don’t we meet here and go somewhere for lunch?’
‘Hokay.’ She watched him with big eyes beneath her straight-edged, schoolgirl’s fringe. ‘How’s work, Hal?’
‘Don’t ask. Two people we were looking for turned up yesterday. Dead.’
‘The lesbians? What happened?’
‘I’d rather not talk about it. . .’
‘They were killed by evil spirits, yes?’ She stared at him crossly. ‘I told you not to take that case! I told you about evil spirits!’
He laid a hand on her cheek, practically cupping her head. ‘Kim, listen to me. They were found dead and we were informed, okay? I didn’t want to get involved with the evil spirits, not after what you told me.’
She looked satisfied. ‘I want you to look after yourself. Your job is dangerous enough, dealing with human beings. You don’t want to deal with spirits, too.’
‘Whatever you say.’
She shook her head, then reached out and stroked his face. ‘We are so different, Hal. We do such different jobs. You see terrible things, and I feed people good food. I talk about everything with you, and you keep things hidden, inside here.’ She knocked on his chest as if it were a door. ‘Sometimes I wonder who you are, Mr Halliday. Who is in there?’
He stared at her. We forever make the mistake, he thought, of thinking that our words and actions allow others to know us as well as we think we know ourselves. Just the other day he was considering how much of an enigma Kim was, and now she was thinking the same of him.
‘I don’t know who I am, Kim. I’m the person who loves you. Isn’t that enough?’
‘Talk to me more, Hal. Tell me more about yourself.’
He wondered where this was leading. Please, he thought, not to another crying session.
He pulled her to him. ‘What do you want me to tell you?’
‘Tell me what you want for your birthday, for a start.’
He felt relieved. ‘My birthday? When . . .?’
‘In two weeks, at the end of January. It’s your first birthday
‘More like my thirty-fifth.’
‘Your first birthday with me. I want to make it special. I’ll surprise you, hokay?’
‘I hate surprises. Let’s plan something in advance. We’ll go somewhere. I don’t know . . . Where do you want to go?’
‘It’s your birthday, Hal. Where do you want to go?’
He smiled at her. ‘I don’t know. Anywhere. Somewhere warm.’
‘VR - the beach in VR!’
He tried not to let his disappointment show. ‘Only if you promise that you’ll keep this body, Kim.’ It was out before he could stop himself, and he hoped she didn’t take it as a reason to start a fight.
To his relief, she laughed. ‘Hokay, I’ll keep this skinny boring little body if that’s what you want.’
He inhaled her scent again. ‘That’s what I want.’
‘Perhaps . . .’ she said. ‘Perhaps we could invite Anna round for a meal.’
He shrugged, uneasy. ‘I don’t know. We were never close.’
‘Perhaps I could organise a party . . .’ she said to herself.
He kissed her one last time. ‘Whatever.’ He glanced at the bedside clock. ‘I’m late. I should’ve started at midnight.’
He dressed, then sat down on the futon, staring at the little of Kim that peeked over the thermal blanket. He brushed the fringe from her forehead. ‘See you here at noon, okay?’
She waved fingers and then submerged herself beneath the blanket. He left the loft and made his way down to the office.
Barney was staring morosely at the desk-com. He grunted a greeting. Halliday sat down on the chesterfield, poured himself a coffee, and peered at the screen.
‘The facts of the Nigeria-Villeux case, Hal. Can’t seem to stop thinking about it.’
‘I know what you mean. It just doesn’t make sense. Why the hell did she do it?’
‘Let’s look at it logically. People kill other people, even their lovers. That’s not what was so strange about this case. It wasn’t a murder in the heat of the moment, after an argument. They met at ten - Nigeria in the guise of the Latino - then went up to the room where Nigeria cold-bloodedly cut her lover into a dozen pieces.’ He lifted a hand. ‘It just doesn’t make any kind of sense.’
‘And before that, she attacked me in the guise of the Latino. This was someone described by all her friends as a gentle, generous, fun-loving girl.’
‘Thing is, were all these connected? This stuff she uploaded to wherever, what had that to do with the killing and the attack on you? Okay, I can see where it might be linked with the attack. She was heavily into industrial espionage, and for all she knew you might have been investigating this, so she goes after you. But that doesn’t explain the Villeux slaying.’
Halliday shrugged. ‘Maybe Villeux knew about it, was trying to stop her?’
‘Maybe.’ Barney looked frustrated. ‘Maybe a hundred and one damned things we haven’t even guessed at yet.’
Halliday took a long swallow of bitter coffee.
‘I saw Wellman yesterday, after I left you,’ Barney went on. ‘And that’s something else that strikes me as kind of screwy.’
‘What happened?’
‘He’s one hell of a smooth, self-satisfied little smarm-ball, with his cream suit and big house and pretty wife dancing in the background. I tell him about Nigeria, what she did to Villeux, what happened in the ComStore. He was sweating all the while. Did you notice last night how he sweats, Hal? Something wrong about a guy who sweats that much. So I tell him Nigeria uploaded a big file God knows where and he goes white and sweats even more. I ask him if he thinks the file was what I think, the information some other outfit wanted? He shakes his head, miles away. Then he tries to get rid of me. He says as far as he’s concerned, we’ve kept our side of the bargain, thanks me for my time, hurriedly signs a cheque and shows me the door.’
‘At least the bastard paid,’ Halliday said.
Barney picked up the cheque from the desk. ‘And well over the odds. I hadn’t even made out a bill; he just wrote this and handed it over.’
Halliday took the cheque, whistled. ‘Ten thousand dollars. Maybe he isn’t that bad, after all.’
‘But his reaction when I told him that Nigeria had uploaded a file. He didn’t even ask me what kind of file, exactly how big it was, how it was encrypted, where it was sent to . . . nothing. Surely if he thought a rival was getting everything Nigeria had about Cyber-Tech’s latest project, then he’d want to know all the details. But not a bit of it. It was here’s the cheque and adios.’
‘Beats me,’ Halliday said.
Barney stood, shaking his head. ‘That’s me for another day. Catch you tomorrow.’ He pushed open the door to his room.
Halliday was refreshing his coffee when the desk-com chimed with an incoming. He accepted the call and slipped into the swivel seat.
The screen flared and a thin face, all nose and Adam’s apple, blinked out at him. It was a second before he could place the face.
‘Kosinski,’ he said, and experienced a jolt of anticipation at the sight of the cyber-wizard.
At the sound of the name, Barney’s head appeared around the door.
Off screen, Halliday waved him over. Barney hurried around the desk and stood to one side, looking down at the screen.
‘Joe,’ Halliday said. ‘Good to see you. How can I help?’
&n
bsp; Kosinski bobbed his head, nervous. ‘I need to see you, Mr Halliday.’
Halliday nodded. To either side of Kosinski was a stack of computer hardware, and behind him a floor-to-ceiling window looking out over Lower Manhattan. In the distance Halliday glimpsed the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. ‘Fine. Your place or mine?’
‘Neither. It’s too risky, Mr Halliday. We can’t meet in the flesh. You don’t know how dangerous the whole thing . . .’ He ran a shaky hand through his fly-away hair. ‘Nigeria and the other woman have died already.’
