by John Bowers
“He’s a U.F. Marshal. Finding people is what he does.”
“So you have no hard evidence that he knows where I am.”
“No, but I’m sure he does by now. If I could find you, then he will, too.”
She stood up and brushed wheat crumbs off her clothing, then sat down again.
“If you were to ask my advice, I would suggest that you pack a bag as quickly as you can and get out of this castle before he shows up. You might even have time to get back on your yacht and leave the planet.”
Saracen laughed again, more relaxed this time. His rage had vanished.
“If I were to ask your advice, that would be very funny. But I’m not going anywhere.”
“Oh, I think you are.”
“Really? And where do you think I’m going?”
“To Hell. And it will be a very short trip.”
Saracen smiled and shook his head.
“Miss Cross, it’s very thoughtful of you to worry about my welfare, but it isn’t necessary. Walker isn’t coming.”
“You don’t think so?”
“No. In fact, I’m pretty sure of it.”
“And why is that?”
He grinned, his expression smug.
“I’m still waiting for confirmation, but I’m pretty sure that Walker is already dead.”
***
Ten minutes later, Saracen summoned Brandy to return Victoria to her closet. When the sexy blonde had left the room, he picked up the comm and punched in a number. His call linked to a geosynchronous satellite several thousand miles above the planet, connected to a subspace channel, and beamed a signal across interstellar space toward Alpha Centauri 2. Three minutes later, a grungy young man with long hair and a bad complexion appeared in his view screen.
“Hello?”
“Malcolm, this is the Chairman. Do you still have that Vegan girl pinpointed? Kristina Green?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Pick her up. Call me back when you have her secured.”
Chapter 27
Hardwood – Tau Ceti 4
Nick parked the taxi in front of the sheriff’s office and killed the turbine. He turned to Mijo.
“Do I have to take you inside with me, or can I trust you to stay here?”
The boy grinned at him.
“You can trust me.”
“You won’t run away?”
“No. I want to hang out with you.”
“If I have to come looking for you, I will get really pissed. You won’t like me when I’m pissed.”
“I know.”
Nick left him in the car and trotted up the steps to the front door. Inside the lobby, he asked for Sheriff Thomas. Thomas appeared a moment later.
“Didn’t expect to see you so soon, Walker. What’s up?”
“I just dropped by to interview the prisoner. Didn’t Billy tell you I was coming?”
Thomas shook his head.
“What prisoner? What are you talking about?”
Nick felt a jolt of dread.
“Billy isn’t here?”
“No. He’s out on patrol.”
“Oh, Jesus!”
Now Thomas looked concerned. He grabbed Nick’s arm.
“Walker…what the hell is going on?”
“We caught the girl who killed Harry Jones and Mrs. Fricke. Billy was bringing her in. He should have been here ten minutes ago.”
Thomas turned to the desk clerk, who was listening with eyes wide.
“Did Billy come in and I missed him?”
“No, Sheriff, I haven’t seen him.”
Nick began to backpedal toward the door.
“Sheriff, you might want to bring a couple of men. Billy may be in trouble.”
He didn’t wait for Thomas to respond, but bolted through the door and ran down the steps. He leaped into the taxi and started the engine.
“What’s wrong?” Mijo had picked up on his agitation.
“Mijo, I have to run an errand. Wait inside the sheriff’s office. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Why can’t I go with you?”
“I’ll explain later. Just do it, okay?”
The kid got out of the car and stepped onto the sidewalk. Nick didn’t wait for him to go inside. He spun the taxi around and sped down the street; he turned left when he reached the railroad. At the drugstore he turned left again and drove to the hotel, where he turned once again—all the time scanning the sidewalk for any sign of Billy Stanfield and his prisoner.
Nothing.
Next he checked the cross streets, but again came up empty. That left only the alleys.
By the time he reached the first alley, Thomas and Hugo Barnes were on the street, both on foot. They all arrived at about the same time.
Nick didn’t even have to turn into the alley. He saw them, thirty feet from the sidewalk. He stopped the taxi and leaped out, drawing one of his pistols as he strode quickly but carefully toward the bodies.
Billy had been shot through the forehead, Ginny through the left eye. Billy must have been killed first, because the girl was lying across him, her hands still cuffed behind her back. Billy’s gun was in its holster.
“Jesus!” Thomas whispered. “Oh, sweet Jesus!”
He wiped his mouth with one hand, looking more shaken than Nick had ever seen him. Hugo Barnes glared at the bodies with rage in his eyes, then turned his glare on Nick.
“Where the hell were you when this happened?”
Nick was too upset to get angry at Barnes. Instead of answering, he walked down the alley toward the next street, keeping his weapon at the ready until he was satisfied that no killer lay in wait. He walked back to Barnes, who hadn’t taken his eyes off him.
“I was at the drugstore, making a deal with Lard Davis.”
“What kind of deal?”
“I rented his taxi for the day. I’m taking it to Lago District.”
“So you let Billy bring the prisoner in by himself?”
Nick met Barnes’s eyes squarely.
“Yeah, I did. He’s a deputy sheriff, with a badge and a gun. I figured he was old enough to handle the job.”
“Looks like you were wrong.”
“No, I wasn’t wrong. He was doing just fine until somebody ambushed him.”
Thomas had knelt over Billy Stanfield and was stroking his hair, like a father with a sleeping child. Now he stood up and coughed several times before turning to face Nick and Barnes.
“This is a peaceful town. Who would do something like this?”
“I think it’s pretty clear,” Nick told him. “You had two murders yesterday, which was unprecedented. Today you have two more, and one of the victims is yesterday’s killer.”
“You’re sure about that?” Barnes demanded.
“Yes. When I confronted the girl, she came at me with a knife, probably the same one she used on her victims yesterday.” He pointed. “I gave it to Billy. It should be in his pocket.”
Thomas knelt over the body once more, and a moment later straightened up with the knife in his hand. He nodded.
Barnes looked conflicted.
“If that’s true, and this girl killed Jones and Viola, then who killed her? And why?”
“She was killed to keep her from talking.”
“By who?”
“She worked for Ken Saracen; I believe Saracen found out I’m on TC 4 and sent her to kill me. She must have tracked me either to or from the hotel and the train station. She questioned Mrs. Fricke and Harry Jones, then killed them so they couldn’t tip me off. This morning she had me in her sights, but I spotted her first.”
“That doesn’t tell me who killed her.”
“Saracen’s girls always work in pairs. My guess is that this girl’s backup saw her being taken into custody and had to keep her from talking.”
Barnes frowned. “Sounds kind of thin to me.”
“You have a better theory?”
Thomas stepped between the two men, looking as if his world had ended.
He locked gazes with Nick.
“Walker, you may be full of shit, or you may not, but either way, I don’t care. Four killings in two days is more than I can accept. You find this son of a bitch and do whatever you have to. Just tell me what you need from me.”
Nick nodded, then inclined his head toward Hugo Barnes.
“Just keep him out of my way. I’ll be in touch.”
He stepped past Thomas and headed for the taxi. Barnes called after him.
“Where you going, Walker?”
Nick stopped and looked back. He took the badge out of his pocket and pinned it on his shirt.
“To do some police work. You take care of Billy.”
Saracen’s Castle – Lago District – Tau Ceti 4
Ken Saracen sipped from a cup of tea, his mind troubled. He should have heard something by now. In fact, he should have heard something yesterday.
He glanced at his watch. It was midmorning. He turned to his desk and reached for the comm. It buzzed before he could touch it. He punched the Receive button.
“Yes?”
“Mr. Chairman, this is Danube.”
“Ah, good! I was beginning to think something happened to you. Is Walker taken care of?”
He detected just a hint of hesitation before she replied.
“No, sir, I’m afraid not. Ginny got herself captured.”
Saracen ground his teeth, his anger rising.
“Damn her! Goddamn her! I knew she was too stupid for this assignment!”
“I don’t think it was her fault, sir. She had Walker in her sights, but he spotted her before she could take him out.”
“If he spotted her, then she fucked it up. Where is she now? I swear, if she talks—”
“She won’t talk, sir. I took care of it.”
“Took care of it? How?”
“Ginny won’t be coming back. I had to kill a deputy sheriff, too.”
“Did anybody see you?”
“No, sir.”
“Are you sure?”
“Nobody saw me. I did it in a back alley, no witnesses, and then I got out of town.”
“Where are you now?”
“At a public comm booth in Sweetwater. I’m about an hour from home.”
Saracen felt his rage begin to abate. Danube was one of his original followers; she had been with him on Terra, Mars, and Alpha Centauri as they carried out their righteous crusade, and avoided the bloodbath that Walker had perpetrated on his ARMO group. He had always been able to count on her. She was a veteran.
“Good work, Danube. Do you know where Walker is now?”
“Still in Hardwood, I think. I haven’t seen him for an hour or so.”
“Okay. If you’re confident he won’t recognize you, try to get eyes on him again. Do whatever you can to take him out, but don’t get yourself caught or killed. Let me know when the job is done.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, I’m sorry about Ginny.”
“Don’t be. Ginny was stupid. Stupid people don’t deserve your sympathy.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Come on home when the job is done.”
Hardwood – Tau Ceti 4
Hugo Barnes watched as Nick drove away, then grumbled to Sheriff Thomas.
“Awfully nice of that jackass to leave town while we clean up his mess.”
“How do you figure it’s his mess?”
“Well, according to him, the murders yesterday were done by someone who wanted to kill him—Walker—and these murders resulted from those murders. So if he’s right, Walker is at least indirectly responsible for all four bodies.”
“You think Walker is making it all up?”
“Maybe not, but—come on, Sheriff, you don’t seriously believe that crap about Tinker-Smith being the man he’s after, do you?”
“Right now I don’t believe anything. I don’t believe we had four murders in less than twenty-three hours and I don’t believe I have a dead deputy lying in an alley, even though I can’t ignore the evidence at my feet. And, to be truthful, I don’t know if I buy Walker’s theory or not, but I sure as hell don’t have a better one.”
Barnes scowled.
“Maybe he’s got it right, but I still don’t like him.”
“Why not?”
“I just don’t like his attitude. Big shot Federation superstar, waltzing in here like he owns the goddamn planet. Doesn’t take orders, doesn’t collaborate, insists on working alone…like we’re a bunch of fucking backwoodsmen. Like he can’t trust us.”
“Hmph. Reminds me of a deputy I used to have.”
“Yeah? Which one?”
“You, Hugo.”
“Me! What the hell are you talking about?” Barnes’ scowl darkened. “And what do you mean by ‘used to’? Are you firing me?”
“No, I’m not firing you. But you do need to get that attitude under control, or I might just have to put you and Walker into a bullpen and let you have at each other.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we have a dead deputy at our feet, so maybe we can concentrate on that. What do you say?”
“Sorry, Sheriff. You’re right. Billy is a—was a good kid. He sure as hell didn’t deserve this.”
“No, he didn’t. So whether you like Walker or not, he’s going after the bastard he thinks is responsible for this. Maybe you’d best be wishing him luck.”
Sweetwater – Tau Ceti 4
Danube replaced the comm receiver and stepped out of the public booth, her blood running just a little cold. She had known the Chairman for years and recognized the implied threat in his words. Come on home when the job is done…translation: If you fail, don’t bother to come back!
She would have to kill Walker herself. She could do it, no problem there, but it would have been much easier if he hadn’t been tipped off. The Chairman was right—Ginny had been stupid. In her search for Walker, she had left a trail of bodies, alerting the whole town that a killer was afoot. Walker was no fool, he could put one and two together—by now he knew he was the target.
Which made Danube’s job that much harder.
She walked across the gravel parking lot toward her battered surface car, resignation setting in. Walker had to die, and it was up to her to make it happen…even if she had to die in the attempt. Better that than let Walker take the Chairman down, which would be the end of the Movement. Danube knew deep in her soul that, whatever his faults, Ken Saracen was mankind’s last hope for equality and justice. Walker could not be allowed to have him.
With a cold dread running through her bones, she started the car and pulled back to the edge of the road. With all her heart she wanted to make a right turn toward Lago, but instead she signaled for a left turn back to Hardwood. Traffic was light, and she only saw a single car approaching. It was moving at a steady clip and was close enough that she had to wait.
Her eyes narrowed. It was a yellow taxi cab. It blasted past a few seconds later, and she felt her heart begin to thunder. The passenger in the right-hand seat was the orphan kid from Lago—Mijo. Piloting the taxi was Nick Walker himself.
The Road to Lago – Tau Ceti 4
The taxi cab delivered a smoother ride than the one in Orosi, but Nick felt off balance as he piloted the thing down the highway. For some reason, it was tilted to the right, the pilot’s side several inches higher than the passenger side. It took him a few miles to adjust to the sensation that he was drifting sideways, but after that he hardly noticed it. Mijo, riding shotgun, talked a mile a minute. Nick was distracted by the killings, but couldn’t ignore him.
“What’re you gonna do at el castillo, Nick? You gonna arrest somebody?”
“Probably. I won’t know for sure until I get there.”
“Who you gonna arrest? Mr. Tinker-Smith?”
“Yeah. I’ll start with him and then see who else might need arresting.”
“What did he do?”
“He broke the law.”
“Yeah? Which law?”
“Pretty much all of them.”
/>
“He killed somebody?”
“Among other things.”
“Who did he kill?”
“Lots of people.”
“Like who?”
“People he didn’t even know. Do you know what a terrorist is?”
Mijo frowned. “Not really.”
“A terrorist is somebody who kills people at random just to get attention. That’s what Tinker-Smith did.” Nick grimaced. “Actually, I don’t know if he killed anybody with his own hands, but he sent his followers to do it.”
“What followers?”
“Like the girl I arrested this morning.”
“You mean Ginny? Did she kill somebody?”
“Two people that I know of. Remember the hotel yesterday? And the train station?”
“Ginny killed those people?” Mijo looked troubled.
Nick glanced at him. He hadn’t told him that Ginny was dead.
“Do you know Ginny?”
“Sure. She lives in Lago. I used to see her around all the time.”
“Used to?”
Mijo nodded. “About a year ago she went to live in el castillo. I don’t see her so much after that.”
“Does she have a lot of friends?”
“Not too many. Just one that I know.”
“Male, or female?”
“Una muchacha. Her name is Brandy.”
“What does Brandy look like?”
“Tall. Skinny. Kind of pretty. Her hair is short and all different colors. I used to see her with Ginny a lot, but not so much anymore.”
“Does Brandy live in the castle, too?”
“Yeah.” Mijo turned dark eyes on Nick. “Does Brandy kill people, too?”
“I don’t know, but if she lives in the castle, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Why would she do that? She was always nice to me.”
“Tinker-Smith. He brings out the worst in people, makes them do things they wouldn’t do on their own. That’s why I have to get him.”
Mijo lapsed into silence, staring out the window with a frown. Nick glanced at him.
“Do you know Tinker-Smith?”
“No, but I seen him a couple of times. In town.”
“What was he doing in town?”
“He gave a speech when they opened the new school. Everybody cheered.”
Nick’s jaw tightened. Ken Saracen was ingratiating himself with the locals. That would make it harder to get their cooperation.
