Hotwire

by Cindy M. Hogan

  “Don’t worry, Christy, we have the car—you’re so certain it’s the target, all we need is a classic stake out. We don’t even need to tail the boy,” Halluis said, his eyes wide in mock sincerity. I glared at him.

  “I never said that,” Jeremy interjected, missing the sarcasm in Halluis’s tone. “I’ll tail Jericho. Halluis—you put a tracker on the car, which Ace can monitor from the van. Christy, you’ll be in position across the street, ready to step in if anything goes wrong.” He saw my smile and held up a warning hand. “But mostly, your job is just to watch.”

  “Got it, boss,” I grinned.

  ***

  11:30 that night found me crouched in the snow under some dense bushes, staring at Dr. Robert Madison’s coal black Mercedes S63 through ill-fitting night vision goggles. The street was dark—the street lights were inexplicably out—and I was glad for the improved vision the goggles gave me, even if they were nearly as painful to wear as the surveillance headphones had been. The car was parked outside the good doctor’s mistress’s apartment—the fact that he was a cheater made me feel slightly better about simply watching as his car was stolen. Hopefully stolen, anyway.

  “I’m not sure what I’m wishing for right now,” Halluis’s voice came over the com in my ear. Through the goggles, I could see his black shape silhouetted in green, darting under the car to place the tracker. “On the one hand, it would be lovely to see you eat crow on this one—or should I say, eat crickets? But we need a break in this case.” He grunted as he rolled out from under the car and slunk away. In a second he was gone, ghost-like, to take up position in a nearby alley. “Am I crazy to hope that you’re right?”

  I was surprised to hear a little anxiety in his normally flippant tone. He was actually hoping for this to succeed, despite his skepticism. I smiled to myself. I was really growing fond of these guys. This was my first time working with a real team, and it felt good.

  “Less chatter on the line,” Jeremy’s voice cut in. “Everyone needs to be on alert.”

  I could see Halluis’s eyes roll in my mind’s eye, and I smiled again.

  “Any movement, yet?” I asked quietly.

  “Still watching his door. Nothing.”

  I sighed inwardly. Could I have been wrong about Jericho? The feeling I’d gotten was so strong—I just couldn’t shake it. Even now, with no movement on the car or on Jericho, I had this sense that something was about to happen. I couldn’t explain it, but I knew it.

  “Hold it—he’s exiting the home. I’m on his tail. Ace, take me out of the com grid. Going radio silent. Contact me only if there’s an emergency.” With that, his line went dead.

  I waited for a snarky comment from Halluis, but there was nothing. I breathed out slowly. The moment of truth. If Jericho was really just on his way to a date, the night would be wasted, and I’d have no more information going in to the school on Monday than I did right now. And that would not be good. I really needed something to go on.

  It felt like an eternity of waiting, but it was only twenty minutes later that a hint of movement caught my attention. I whipped my head toward it, focusing my green pool of vision on the shape—it was a man, a kid really, walking silently down the street toward the Mercedes.

  I pushed up higher on my elbows, the snow crunching under my coat.

  “You see something, Christy?” Ace asked.

  I shifted the goggles and whispered, “There’s someone approaching the Mercedes. Is it Jericho?”

  I heard some tapping over the line, probably Ace performing some kind of analysis on the feed from my goggles. “That’s a negative. But it is one of our tagged suspects. Mikado Kawaguchi, another student at the school. This could be good.”

  I held my breath and watched the kid—Mikado—nonchalantly pass right by the car. I sighed, disappointed, until I noticed he was slowing down. He stopped at a street lamp about ten feet away from the car and just stood there, standing almost inhumanly still. His straight, chin-length hair hung loose around his face, and he was wearing dark clothing. The darkened street lights, and now this suspicious behavior—it was looking good for the car being a target at least.

  Five minutes after midnight, Mikado shifted slightly, straightening his shoulders in anticipation.

  “Incoming,” Ace said. “On your ten.”

  I turned my head farther to the left, up the street from where Mikado stood, and saw another kid approach the darkened street lamp.

  “Positive ID,” Ace’s voice chirped in my ear. “It’s Jericho.”

  Yes. I celebrated inwardly. Finally, the break we needed!

  He walked up to Mikado, and I could tell they were talking, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Jericho slapped Mikado on the back, and Mikado nodded, then they approached the Mercedes. I watched, nearly in awe, as they expertly broke past its defenses. All it took was a roll of sticky film slapped on the driver’s side window, a computer, a blank key, and a GPS jammer, and in three minutes flat they were inside. Even I couldn’t do that.

  “I can’t believe it. The kid was right.” Halluis’s flippant tone was back.

  “Hey, that’s Wonder Kid to you. Show some respect.”

  “I’m activating the tracker now. See you at the van.”

  “I’ll expect some humble words of apology when you get there.”

  Halluis snorted. “Not likely.”

  I let the night vision goggles fall around my neck and watched the lights of the Mercedes as it sped away down 69th Street and skidded onto 5th Ave. The headlights shone right at my position for a few quick seconds before darkness descended on me once again.

  “Tracker activated,” Halluis said. “Those kids are fast.”

  “We’ve got them on the screen,” Ace said. “Their days of stealing cars are numbered. Great job, Christy. We finally got a break in this case, and it’s all thanks to you.”

  “Now, that’s what I like to hear,” I said as I climbed out from under the bushes and stretched before brushing off the snow from the front of my jeans and jacket. After lifting off the goggles and depositing them into my go bag, I pulled out a Ritter Sport mint chocolate bar and took a big bite before depositing it back into the pack. The chocolate melted slowly in my mouth, and I savored the rich flavor in celebration. I looked back down 69th street and then out at the sprawling black pit that was Central Park at night before jogging to Park Avenue to join Ace and Halluis in the van.

  I beat Halluis there.

  “Shotgun!” I cried as I pulled the door shut, the slow beep of a tracker sounding in the background. Once I sat down, I flipped the heater on full blast to clear the frosted windshield. I rubbed my hands together and held them in the warm blast. “In fact, I think I get shotgun for life—what with me being totally right, and you two being totally wrong.”

  Ace didn’t respond. I glanced back at him and saw that his brow was furrowed and he was staring intently at the screen. It was only then that I noticed that the beeping had stopped.

  “I don’t get it,” he said, brushing his hand through his shaggy blond hair. “The tracker stopped working.”

  “What?” I said, climbing into the back to look at the monitor, too. Sure enough, the tracker was dead, and we were no longer tracking the Mercedes. Sirens wailed in the background.

  Halluis crashed into the front passenger seat yelling out, “Shotgun!” as he did.

  “I already claimed it, you dork. What took you so long?” I made a face at him.

  “I’m not as young and sprightly as you, my little chicken. The real question is why is this van still so cold? Have we decided to start selling ice cream?”

  We didn’t answer, but Ace asked, “Any way that tracker wasn’t secure, Hal?”

  “No. It was totally secure, as all my bugs are. Why?”

  “We lost the signal. I thought maybe it fell off the car.” Ace bit the corner of his lip as he looked at the screen. I leaned back against the van wall and exhaled loudly.

  “I can’t believe
we lost it. It would have done so much for us if we could find out where they’re taking the cars.” I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them.

  “It was secure. They must have found it and disabled it,” Halluis said, looking at the monitor.

  “They must be actively looking for bugs, then. I’m going to have to step up my game.” Ace rubbed his hands over his face, obviously angry with himself for losing the tracker.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s all right. I mean, it’s not great I know, but we’ve now identified two of the thieves. I can get in with them, learn how the operation works, and get to the cars that way. We’ll find our target in no time, you’ll see. Where’s Jeremy, shouldn’t he be back by now?” I glanced out the window, hoping to see him. “Ace, can you put him back on the com?”

  “Oh, yeah. Right. Got it.” Ace typed quickly then looked up at me with a nod. “You should be able to get him now.”

  “Jeremy? Did you see? We got them!”

  There was a pause over the line, then Jeremy’s voice came in, rough and clipped.

  “We need to talk.”

  Chapter 3

  “We still have to send her in,” Halluis argued, his face screwed up in anger, eyes shooting daggers at Jeremy. It was an hour later, and we were once again gathered around the kitchen table. No food this time, just angry, tense voices and a whole heap of trouble.

  “I’m telling you, the kid is a psycho. There’s no way I’m sending her in to that mess.” Jeremy sat up straighter in his seat.

  “It’s not only your decision—we are a team, and we all have a mission to accomplish. You can’t just override everyone else’s opinions.” Halluis slammed his fist on the table, his face bright red. I needed to do something to diffuse this situation, quick. The relationship between Jeremy and Halluis had already been tense, but this was the first time Halluis had actively challenged Jeremy’s authority. Jeremy had joined the mission when I had, and the director had made him team leader. I got the impression that before then, Halluis had been calling the shots.

  I cut in, trying to keep my voice reasonable. “Jeremy,” I said, placing my hand on his arm. He was so tense, his muscles felt like rocks. “I’m a trained operative. I’ve been in dangerous situations before, as you very well know. I can handle a couple of teenage boys.”

  Jeremy shook his head. “You didn’t see what I saw. I don’t want you messing with these guys, Christy. There’s something seriously wrong with that Jericho kid. And Ace, you guys gathered some pretty nasty stuff on Mikado, too. Back me up.”

  Ace glanced down, avoiding Jeremy’s eye. “I’m just the tech guy. I don’t make mission decisions.”

  Jeremy glowered at him. “Fine, just pull up the audio feed from tonight.”

  “You had audio?” I demanded. “Why didn’t you tell us that right away?”

  “I thought you’d trust my judgment.”

  I winced. “Just…show us the feed.”

  Ace opened his laptop, typed in a few commands, and soon we were listening to the sounds of the city—distant horns blaring, the scuffling of feet, and various unidentifiable sounds.

  “What are we hearing?” I looked at Jeremy questioningly.

  “Just wait for it. It didn’t take long. This happened a few streets away from where they lifted the car.”

  A moment later, a muffled voice came onto the feed, rough-sounding and a little garbled, like maybe the guy was missing more than a few teeth.

  “Hey, man. Can you spare a dollar? Just trying to catch the train home, know what I’m sayin’?”

  “Of course, friend, of course.” That was Jericho’s voice; I recognized it from the feed earlier. “Just step over here with me for a second, okay?”

  “Oh thank you, man, that’s real nice of you. You got a good heart, I can tell—hey, what the—? Hey!”

  After that, all we could hear was the sound of fists connecting with flesh and cries of pain and alarm.

  Jeremy nodded, and Ace stopped the feed. “He took that guy into an alley and just whaled on him.” Jeremy’s face looked grim. “When he’d stopped moving, Jericho opened his wallet, pulled out a dollar and dropped it on the guy’s chest. Then he just walked away like nothing had happened.”

  I shuddered. “That was… awful. I…” I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? I still had to go in, and Jeremy knew it.

  “He wasn’t even anywhere near the crime scene. It’s not as if he could have been a witness or caused Jericho any harm. Do you see what I’m saying? The kid just did it for the fun of it. A guy like that—you just never know what he’s capable of.”

  “Was there any more?” Halluis interjected.

  Jeremy looked confused. “I got the guy help, if that’s what you mean. I called an ambulance. I think he’s going to be all right, but I can’t be sure. He was beaten pretty badly.”

  Halluis was shaking his head. “I mean on the feed. Did you hear anything else?”

  We all stared at him.

  “Look, I’m not trying to be callous, but somebody here has to be the practical one. We have a mission to accomplish. We need every bit of information we can get. Was there anything else on the feed to go off?”

  Jeremy scowled, but then he shrugged. “Roll it forward, Ace. He didn’t talk again until he met up with the other kid.”

  Ace complied, and the audio skipped ahead. A new voice joined the feed, a quiet, impassive voice that must have belonged to Mikado. “You’re late.”

  “Don’t take it hard, Mikey, you know you’re my best girl.” Jericho’s tone was mocking. “I just gotta spread the wealth, you know? The J-Love’s gotta make the rounds.”

  Mikado didn’t respond. I remembered the stillness of his stance, his curt nod. This kid wasn’t one to respond to mockery. He knew when to keep his silence.

  Jericho snorted. “Come on, where’s this lady we’re lifting tonight?” A moment passed, then there was a faint, low whistle. “Day-am! Ol’ S-Dub doesn’t mess around, does he? Jeez, that car is sweet.”

  Jeremy nodded at Ace, and he cut the feed. “That’s it. After that, they just take the car.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

  “We still have to send her in,” Halluis repeated. “These are the only guys we’ve found with a solid connection to the thefts. It’s the only choice.”

  That started Jeremy off arguing again, and I sighed. It was so frustrating to have them squabbling over me like they were my parents or something. I was a trained Division operative. Shouldn’t I have a say in this? But neither of them was even asking my opinion. I checked out of the conversation and let my mind wander back to what I’d heard on the feed.

  Yes, Jericho sounded scary. And Mikado was so poker-faced it was hard to know what to expect from him. I’d have to look into the intel they’d gathered on him, find out what I’d be dealing with. He hadn’t responded at all to Jericho’s goading or to his exclamations over the car.

  “Hang on,” I interjected, forcing my way into the argument. “There was something in that feed we need to pay attention to. Jericho named their leader.”

  “What? No, he didn’t,” Halluis started, but fell silent when I held up my hand.

  “He did. He said, ‘Ol’ S-Dub doesn’t mess around’—S-Dub. That’s gotta be their leader, or at least the one who assigned them their target. The next guy up on the totem pole.”

  Jeremy pursed his lips. “Sure, I can see that, but S-Dub? That’s not much to go on—it could be anyone, anywhere. Sounds like a nickname, maybe like dubstep? Like a deejay or something?”

  “Or initials,” Ace cut in. “SW, perhaps?”

  “More likely than a deejay.” Jeremy shrugged. “But how are we supposed to find someone with just initials?”

  Ace had already started typing away at his computer, and we all turned to him expectantly.

  “There are 32 students at A.G. Bell Academy with the initials SW. Three teachers.”

  “Subjects?” Jeremy asked. Of course, I had the list of fa
culty and students memorized, and I pulled it out of its little folder in my brain, studying its contents for clues.

  Ace typed again. “American History, Spanish, and—oh, this one’s a counselor.”

  “Hmmm…I mean, it’s possible,” Jeremy said, but he still looked skeptical. Halluis shook his head again, and I could tell he was gearing up for another go at the argument.

  One of the names stood out to me—I could see it as clearly as if I were reading it off a paper in front of me. I didn’t want anyone else to know about this uncanny ability of mine—some things were better kept secret—so I had to bring it up a little carefully.

  “What about the auto engineering teacher? He would likely know a little something about cars. If it was going to be anyone at the school…” I trailed off as Ace pulled up the information.

  He frowned. “Not likely, first name Robert, last name Shareweather. Not S-Dub.”

  “Shareweather!” I exclaimed. “There’s your S-Dub. Share, weather. Not initials, just a nickname.”

  I let the idea sink in for a minute. Halluis still seemed unconvinced, but Jeremy and Ace started nodding.

  “It’s worth investigating anyway,” I said. “I’ll start there on Monday. If Shareweather doesn’t pan out, I’ll investigate the other SWs. But then…” I didn’t have to say the rest. If those leads didn’t pan out, I’d have to go back to Jericho and Mikado. “Look, I’m not excited about it either, but we have a job to do.”

  Jeremy shook his head. I couldn’t be sure, but I had the uncanny feeling that there was something he wasn’t telling us. “I don’t want you to get in with those boys if you don’t have to.” Jeremy stood. “If you can find some of the other lifters at the school—we know there are more—then I think that’s the wiser route.”

  Halluis sniffed but held his tongue, for which I was grateful. I didn’t want to listen to another round of their bickering.