by Brian Parker
The chief hung up and I glanced out the window at the old St. Louis Cathedral as the BMW crawled by in the lunchtime traffic. I tapped the nav screen; there was an accident along my normal route, so this must have been the fastest way. Street performers and people tricking tourists into paying for crystal ball and palm readings crowded along the side of the road, taking advantage of the rare break in the rain.
I remembered Paxton’s message, so I looked away from the carnival-like atmosphere outside the car and tapped a few more times on the screen.
Paxton’s message displayed on the dash:
“REMEDIATION CREW COMPLETE. WENT TO WORK. WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU SOMETIME.”
I liked that she didn’t type in shorthand. Half the time, I couldn’t understand Amir’s messages when he sent them to me. Although, I wondered what she meant by the wording of her message. Wasn’t she returning to my apartment tomorrow morning once she was done with work?
I tried to call Paxton, but the phone went directly to her message folder. I left a simple message requesting that she call me back and hung up. Then I tried to connect with Andi, but couldn’t do that either, she must still be mad at me.
“Guess I’ll be having a table for one,” I told the BMW as I stared out the window on the way to the Pharaoh.
TEN: MONDAY
“Wow, Zach, you almost caused a riot when you came in here yesterday,” Karina stated from behind the hostess desk when I walked into the Pharaoh’s Tomb. “Are you sure you don’t want to give it a few days?”
“I don’t know what’s going on with Teagan, but I didn’t cause it,” I replied gruffly. What’s wrong with all these kids recently?
“Okay, keep telling yourself that. Mike can take you this afternoon.”
I glanced over at my normal table. Two people sat at it and it looked like Teagan was just beginning to take their order. Every table in her section was full, including my normal seat, so I sighed resignedly. “Sure, let’s go.”
I didn’t dislike Mike, but I did like my table. I could keep an eye on the door and most of the restaurant from that seat. A few of the wait staff and even Regina, the manager on shift, stared at me as I walked behind Sarina to the table. I sat in the booth with my back to the kitchen so I’d have the best view of the doorway. I’d never liked placing my back to any door that led to the outside and the dislike had only gotten worse after my stabbing.
Mike came up and took my order, not making any small talk or trying to sway my opinion with a more expensive item from the menu. I was halfway through my “Egyptian-style” cheeseburger when Teagan walked up from behind me and sat down in the seat opposite me.
“Hi, Zach,” she said. “Dining alone today?” Her voice practically dripped with sarcasm. I wondered what was wrong with everyone in this place the past couple of days.
“Hey. Are you okay?” I asked, deciding to be diplomatic with the girl. “Amir said you had a problem in your personal life and everything seemed to be falling apart yesterday.”
“Oh, I’m just fine.” Lie. “Where’s your girl?” Besides the tone of her voice, her cheeks shone a muted shade of pink.
“I— I don’t have a girl. The woman I had lunch with yesterday went to work.”
“She a stripper or call girl or something? She ain’t working in no office with that hair and them fake-ass boobs.”
“What’s going on with your accent?” I asked. “You don’t normally talk like that.”
“Like what? Easytown trash? You seem to like that.”
I was friends with Teagan, but she was purposefully trying to push my buttons and I’d had enough. “Teagan, I don’t know what fucking game you’re playing, but you need to stop. I’m sorry that a boy broke up with you or whatever, but I had nothing to do with it and I won’t be talked to like that.”
“I ain’t gotta…” She trailed off and stood up. “Later, gotta go back to work.” I half turned to watch her strut off into the kitchen.
“Jesus,” I muttered and took another bite. Maybe I should have had Andi send me something to eat at the office. I didn’t need this shit on top of everything else I was dealing with.
Two slender, tanned hands landed on the edge of the table with a loud slap and Teagan leaned over me. “You know, Zach. I didn’t do anything to be treated like that.”
Her street accent was gone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Teagan. If you want to sit and talk about it like an adult, then please, have a seat.” I indicated the seat across the table.
“Nah. Like I said, I gotta work. But you’re right, you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Nope,” I grunted. “But, I know it wasn’t my fault. I don’t know why you’re singling me out to take out your anger at the male population. Grow up.”
“Fuck you, Zach.” She tossed her apron on my half-eaten sandwich and walked out the front door.
Regina came rushing over. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ll comp your meal today, Zach. If she comes back, Teagan is in big trouble.”
I held up a hand. “No. There’s no need. She’s going through some things. I don’t know what, but getting in trouble at work will only make them worse.”
“She can’t treat customers that way, even if she thinks she has a good reason.”
I glanced up at Regina. She wore the same ridiculous black wig that the staff wore, but hers had a brass ring around the crown of her head and she wasn’t dressed in the rest of the Egyptian costume.
“What’s going on with her?” I asked. Maybe Regina would give me a straight answer now that the girl was in trouble at work.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
I threw up my hands. “You, Amir, Amanda—heck, even Teagan—all of you keep saying that. What are you talking about?”
“Teagan likes you,” Regina replied. “Actually, she’s been crazy in love with you since her sophomore year when you helped her with those street thugs outside of her apartment, Zach.”
It was a good thing Teagan had covered my sandwich or else I’d have choked on the damn thing.
The trip to the Easytown Precinct station went by quickly after I left the Pharaoh. To say that I was shocked by Regina’s revelation would be an understatement. During the drive, I’d tried to go over the hundreds of conversations that Teagan and I had engaged in. None of them stood out to me as indicating that the girl liked me. I really hadn’t known.
Everyone seemed to know, but she’d kept her cards close to her chest when I was around. What was she doing? I was eleven years older than she was. Maybe that wouldn’t have been a problem if we were both ten years older, but she was in her twenties, just a couple of years past the legal drinking age in most of the country. It seemed like a big difference at this point in our lives.
Besides, I’ve started seeing Paxton, I tried to tell myself. The truth was, I had no idea what was going on with her either. She hadn’t replied to my message, but Andi said all of her stuff was still at my place. Did that mean she was coming back?
I cursed under my breath. How was I so bad with women? Even worse, why did I seem so enamored with Paxton? She was a beautiful, sensual woman who seemed to say all the right things to me, but even then, I wasn’t normally like that around women. I wasn’t used to feeling insecure about the next time I’d see someone.
The BMW’s door unlocked and I hopped out. I’d have plenty of time to contemplate my problems after I got off work, so I shoved them away and rushed inside in case there were any more reporters waiting in ambush.
Luckily, there weren’t any reporters, but the chief was ready for me when I got upstairs.
“Forrest, my office,” he shouted down the hallway as I came into view. I didn’t even bother to take my raincoat and hat to my office.
“What’s up, Chief?”
“Sit.” He took a second to pour his coffee, not offering me any and then sat behind his desk. “The mayor saw your little impromptu press conference and he’s not happy.”
“Sir, those repor
ters surrounded me,” I replied. “I could have shoved my way through them, but that would have been even worse for the department.”
“I know. We afford these people all of their rights and they act like that. Then get offended when you try to maintain your own rights. America.”
He took a sip of coffee and continued, “Look, we need this thing stopped. I’ve already had Mai check out the calendar, there’s nothing special going on Saturday that she can see. We’re sticking to the plan to put undercover officers throughout the sex clubs and uniformed officers everywhere else along The Lane.”
“Alright, sir. Did she look two weeks out, to the Sunday?”
“There are two large events. The US Secretary of Energy is attending the groundbreaking of a new research facility near the port and then giving a speech at Tulane at 8 p.m. that night. And then, there’s a large writer’s convention at the Morial Convention Center that Saturday and Sunday.”
I thought about what it meant. I’d have to check the VIP list of the convention, there might be a big-name person coming into town for that, but the Secretary of Energy was potentially a big target. I’d have to do some research about the secretary; I had no clue who was currently in office. Was he or she the reason behind all the murders?
“Hey, Chief,” a man said from behind me. I turned to see Simmons, one of the detectives from Petty Theft, standing in the door. “Oh, hey, Forrest. This concerns you too.”
“What is it, Simmons?” Chief Brubaker asked.
“We just had a reported theft from The Stud Farm over on The Lane.”
I shrugged. “Big deal. Somebody gets robbed every couple of minutes in Easytown.”
“This is different,” Simmons said. “The Stud Farm is where that murder happened a few weeks ago, remember?”
“Yeah. I remember,” I muttered, annoyed.
“The robot that was with the victim when he died has gone missing.”
“What do you mean ‘missing’?” I asked.
“I knew that’d get your attention,” he smirked.
“Can it, Simmons,” the chief ordered. “What are you talking about?”
His expression faded away. “We don’t know if it’s actually a theft or a malfunctioning robot, Chief. The droid finished its cleaning protocol and then walked right out the front door. The manager tried to chase after it, but the robot punched him and disappeared into an alley. A taxi was waiting for it and the robot was transported out of Easytown to another taxi in Venetian Isles. That one took it to a bus station. We lost video evidence of where the droid went after two or three transfers on the RTA, both bus and rail.”
I turned back around and leaned back in my chair. The implications hit me like a brick. The hacker. He’d attacked Andi, took over my Jeep, and now he’d taken over that robot.
“I think the hacker may be controlling robots in the sex clubs,” I stated.
The chief slapped his hand on the desk. “You’ve investigated all the video evidence and the department’s analysts have examined the feeds, there’s no sign of tampering. Even if this guy were a primetime hacker, he couldn’t eliminate the digital fingerprints.”
“It’s still a huge clue,” I replied. “Maybe he didn’t do anything with them before, but if he can control the robots, then he may use them in the future.”
“Sure, but it doesn’t meet his M.O.,” Brubaker countered.
“His M.O. changes with each murder, Chief,” I replied. “With the exception of the location, there’s been little that’s the same. I think we should consider closing down the clubs and locking down the droids until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Whoa!” he cried with his hands up. “You need to slow down, Forrest. Do you realize the loss of revenue for the city that even one night of closure would create? It’s a non-starter.”
He sighed and glanced at Simmons, then back at me, “There’s nothing linking this potential theft to the murders other than it happens to be the same robot. I’m not a big believer in coincidence, but there’s no way the mayor would authorize a shutdown on an educated guess.”
“Maybe if I could talk—”
“Not a chance, Forrest,” the chief cut me off. “I’m not letting you anywhere near the mayor, but since you’re itching to talk to someone, I do know somebody you could speak to.”
“Who’s that?” I fired back.
Brubaker smiled. “Go talk to Tommy Voodoo. Find out what he knows.”
Me and my big mouth.
I was practically asleep on my feet by the time I got back to my apartment in the afternoon. The late night conspired with the early morning to remind me that I normally slept during the day before my shift. By the time I walked through the door, all I wanted to do was sleep.
“Zach, you’re home. I disconnected communications with the rental car to avoid another incident like Saturday.”
“Hello to you too, Andi,” I grumbled as I pulled my foot out of my shoe, not even bothering with the laces or buttons.
“We’ve had another incident since you were on the television this morning.”
“What kind of incident?”
“Soon after your interview went live, the hacking probes began again on my mainframe. I couldn’t risk reaching out to you, so I used your previous instructions and went offline. The attacks weren’t as intense as previously experienced, but they were still complicated attempts to break into our network.”
“Goddamned reporters. The hacker could have continued to think I was dead, but nope, those idiots had to intervene… We lose anything?”
“No. I recognized the attempts immediately and stopped them.”
I walked by over to the couch and saw Paxton’s suitcase and duffle bag on the floor where I’d set them the night before. Neither seemed to be touched, not even her toiletry bag. Odd.
“Andi, did Paxton say anything before she left?”
“No.”
“She sent me a message that the remediation crew was finished at The Digital Diva. I assumed she got ready before she left, but her bags don’t look to have been opened.”
“She did not access her bags. Miss Himura sat naked on the couch for two hours, fifteen minutes, and twelve seconds before receiving a phone call. Then she dressed in the clothing she wore here and left.”
“What did she do for the two hours?” I asked curiously.
“Nothing. She sat with her eyes closed.”
“Hmpf.” I wandered into the kitchen and poured myself two fingers of bourbon. My eyes kept straying back toward the living room.
Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I unzipped the duffle. Inside were clothes and another bag that contained what appeared to be unopened bottles of makeup. That wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary, but it piqued my interest so I opened the toiletry bag. Everything was still new and sealed.
I set the duffle aside and opened the suitcase. More clothes, but all of these had tags on them and were unused.
Something wasn’t right and I had a bad feeling about it. From the unused clothing to the full-court press to have sex with me, things weren’t adding up.
“Andi, ask the toilet computer about Paxton’s urine.”
“You told me to stop talking to the toilet.”
“Now you’re going to obey me?” I asked in disbelief. “Dammit, Andi. Just find out what’s in her urine.”
I knew she could multitask, so I asked, “Did Paxton call a taxi to pick her up or make any other phone calls?”
“No, she left immediately after getting dressed without making any additional phone calls.” Andi paused and said, “Louisiana Health Department regulations do not allow the toilet to disclose the contents of someone else’s urine.”
“Override it then, Andi. You’ve been talking to that damn thing for years, sweet talk it or something.”
“While you may have programmed me to interact with you as a human, I do not have the ability to ‘sweet talk.’ If you request the information as part of the ongoing
murder investigation, then the toilet can authorize the release of information.”
“Okay, fine, I authorize it,” I replied angrily.
“You realize that this will initiate questioning into why someone who is being investigated for murder is in your apartment.”
Shit. I’d already broken the department rules about relationships with a witness, no matter how I’d tried to rationalize it in my mind. This would potentially open it up for others in the department to find out about my actions. I’d be reprimanded for sure, suspended at best, and possibly charged with violating a department regulation.
It couldn’t be helped. Even though I was physically tired, my mind was beginning to clear, like I was emerging from a smoky room. I’d been clear and levelheaded Friday night, then after I went to talk to Paxton at her home, things had slid into the haze…
The tea. Everything had gone south after I drank that tea. I didn’t hold hands in public or go to plays in the Ellis Marsalis Center. I didn’t take women I barely knew to my friends’ house for dinner. And I sure as hell would have never fucked a witness, even if I’d solved the case and everything was on the up and up.
“Do it, Andi. And find out if there’s been anything different about my urine as well.”
I pulled my phone from the pocket of my slacks. “Dial The Digital Diva.”
It rang one time and then Paxton’s recorded voice came over the line. “Thank you for calling The Digital Diva, the premiere pleasure house in all of New Orleans. We’re currently closed for our semi-annual deep cleaning in order to continue offering our clients the safest and most sanitary environment available. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and if you’d like to schedule an appointment with one of our girls, please visit our network site.”
“Urine analysis complete. Paxton Himura’s urine made up of sodium chloride, water, glycerin, propylene glycol, hydroxyethyl cellulose, sorbitol, chlorhexidine gluconate, benzoic acid, methylparaben, sodium hydroxide, and hydroxyethyl cellulose.”
“English, Andi,” I muttered as I hung up the phone.
“Miss Himura’s waste is a combination of saline water and lubricant, a product similar to the ingredients of personal lubrication.”
