by Alex Siegel
"OK," she said. "After the phone store, we'll go home. I promise. And we won't spend a lot of time there. Let's go."
Everybody headed towards the car.
* * *
Hanley parked the car in front of a strip mall. Marina looked out the window at a liquor store, a check cashing place, a dry cleaner, a sandwich shop, and a phone repair store. The name of the latter was simply "Phone Repair." The parking lot was mostly empty.
"I'll go in alone," Marina said. "I'm good at making people trust me. I'll call when I'm ready for you guys."
Aaron furrowed his brow with obvious concern, but he said, "OK. We'll be right here."
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
"You certainly are." He winked knowingly.
She got out of the car and straightened her clothes. She was still wearing the nice, gray suit she had put on to meet El Toro. The outfit was generic enough to work in this case, but she was probably a little overdressed.
She hustled across the cracked parking lot to the phone store. Cell phones of all types were on display in the window. Some had scuffed corners or scratched glass, but all the phones seemed functional, and the prices were suspiciously low.
Marina went inside. The interior of the store was cramped, but every inch was being put to good use. Chargers covered one entire wall, and she had never realized there were so many types. The store also sold other accessories such as ear buds, belt clips, memory cards, batteries, covers, cases, and cables.
She checked the security. A surveillance camera was aimed at the door, and another one was aimed at the clerk behind the register.
He was an Asian man with gray hair. His jowls hung down to his neck fat. He was wearing a blue, button-up shirt with dried sweat stains under the armpits.
Three other customers were in the store, and Marina waited patiently for them to clear out.
Finally, she went to the clerk and said in a low voice, "Are you Brian Altman?"
"No." The clerk shook his head. "He went out for lunch."
"Oh. When will he be back?"
"Probably fifteen minutes. Can I help you?"
"No, thank you." She smiled. "I'll wait for Brian."
He shrugged. "OK."
* * *
Hanley watched the front of the phone store. He couldn't see through the windows, but he had to assume Marina was all right. She was capable of handling any kind of trouble.
"How did you meet Marina, sir?" Hanley said.
Aaron looked over at him. The commander was a handsome figure in his black suit. He had the chest and shoulders of a bodybuilder, but he wasn't grotesquely muscular. Thick eyebrows shaded his brown eyes. A small scar on his neck probably had an interesting story behind it.
"I used to be a private investigator in Chicago," Aaron said. "I was trying to find a girl who had joined a cult called the Church of One Soul. The Chicago cell of the Society was investigating the same cult, and Marina was a veteran legionnaire. We bumped into each other in the woods. You could say it was love at first sight."
"She has more experience as a legionnaire than you?"
"A lot more."
"Oh." Hanley furrowed his brow. "She doesn't act like it."
"Her development was hampered by a very troubled childhood. She would still be a total mess if we hadn't run into Wesley."
"Wesley?"
Aaron lowered his voice dramatically. "The Voice of Truth, the Beacon of Light, the Child of Destiny, and an enormous pain in the ass. It's incredible how much trouble a ten year-old boy can cause."
"I think I heard about him. Some kind of prophet?"
"Yes. He tells the truth whether you want to hear it or not, and sometimes, it's about the future. His prophesies are annoyingly vague though. You never quite understand them until they happen, and then it's always a shock."
"Is he a member of the Society?" Hanley said.
"Not really, but the Society protects him in accordance with the Lord's commandment. There is a special team of elite warriors who guard him 'round the clock. They make Marina and me look like creampuffs. Actually, the crazy prophesies are not the worst part. Wesley's other gift is the one that causes the most trouble."
"Oh?"
"When you look into his eyes, the light of truth fills your mind," Aaron said. "Have you ever seen paint being sandblasted off a wall?"
"Yes."
"Imagine the same thing happening inside your head. The lies get blasted away, and you're left facing the naked, ugly truth about yourself."
"Sounds like a form of enlightenment," Hanley said.
"Yes, and for some people, it's a devastating experience. I've seen Wesley cause suicides. He reduced one of my legionnaires to a weeping puddle of goo. She actually pissed her pants and begged for forgiveness. Imagine that kind of power in the hands of a boy."
"Hmm."
"Anyway," Aaron said, "Wesley scrubbed out Marina's mind and made her a functional adult."
Hanley raised his eyebrows.
"She used to be a lot worse."
Hanley snorted. "That's hard to imagine, sir. She's a cold-blooded monster now."
"I will admit she has some distance to go before she achieves full sanity, but she's making steady progress. You can encourage her. Give her positive feedback when she makes rational, calm decisions instead of instantly resorting to violence."
"What if she backslides?"
"Run away," Aaron said. "Then call me or the legate."
"What will the legate do?"
"No matter how crazy Marina gets, she'll listen to Ethel. Disobeying the legate is a guaranteed form of suicide even for a commander."
Hanley frowned and scratched his palms.
"What's wrong with your hands?" Aaron said.
"Some kind of weird rash, sir. It's like a burning sensation. After the mission is over, I'll see a doctor."
"Do that." Aaron looked out the window at the phone store.
* * *
A jingling sound announced that somebody had entered the phone store. Marina looked over at the newcomer.
His brown hair was long and shaggy but too unkempt to be cool. A jeweler's loupe was attached to his thick eyeglasses. Pimples and acne scars marked his thin face. A soft, leather jacket and fine, Italian shoes were several cuts above what geeks normally wore.
"Brian Altman?" Marina said.
He nodded. "Yes. Can I help you?"
"I heard you're in the market for used phones."
"That's right. We buy and sell used phones here." Brian pointed at clear plastic racks full of phones.
"A man named Jerry Landers referred me to you. He indicated you handle phones that are a little... warm."
He stared at Marina for a moment. "Let's talk in my shop."
He took her to a room in the back of the store. It had a workbench which was cluttered with small tools, electronic gadgets, clamps, and magnifying glasses. Plastic drawers were full of spare parts. Posters of beautiful women in skimpy bikinis decorated the walls.
"Do you mind if I pat you down?" Brian said.
Marina straightened. "Yes, I do."
"I want to make sure you don't have a badge or a gun. You could be a cop."
She didn't have a badge, but she did have three guns. Regardless, she didn't want this geek groping her body. She decided on a change in tactics.
"Actually, I am a cop, and Jerry Landers wrote out a confession that identifies you as a merchant who traffics in stolen phones."
Brian's eyes widened. He made a rush for the door, but she was a step quicker. She tripped him and sent him sprawling.
She drew a gun and aimed at his head. "Don't move."
He stared up at her with wide eyes.
With her free hand, she took out her gray Society phone and called Aaron.
"Yes?" he said.
"You two can come in now." Marina ended the call.
Brian stared at her phone. "What model is that? It looks armor-plated. I've neve
r seen anything like it."
"Forget my phone. Here is the situation. A stolen phone was used in a murder recently, and we believe it passed through your hands. We want to know who purchased it, so you have a choice. You can cooperate and get off with a light sentence. Your crimes are relatively petty after all. Or you can fight us and face much more serious charges such as obstruction of justice and accessory to murder."
Aaron and Hanley walked into the shop.
"Get the other employee out of here," Marina told Hanley. "Lock the front door and guard it."
"Yes, ma'am." He left.
She heard a commotion as he ejected the Japanese clerk from the store.
"You have no proof of anything," Brian said.
"We have Landers' confession," Marina said, "and we can find other people you've dealt with. I'm sure some of them will cooperate to avoid prosecution. The game is over for you, but the good news is we have bigger fish to fry. I suggest you take advantage of that fact."
He sat up and thought about it for a little while. Finally, he said, "What phone was it?"
Marina smiled a little. He's not stupid, she thought. She holstered her gun and called Min Ho.
"Ma'am?" the hacker said.
"You still have the phone Ipo fished out of the dumpster?"
"Yes, ma'am. I couldn't get any fingerprints off of it. The memory was wiped. It doesn't look like the guy even made a call with it."
"He was probably carrying it around in case of an emergency," Marina said. "When the job was done, he pitched the phone, and it was stolen to begin with. Very professional. I'm with the guy who sold it. I need a technical description, so he can figure out who bought it. Here he is."
She gave her phone to Brian. Instead of listening to it, he hefted it like a weight. The cover was made of burnished, gray metal with a rainbow sheen.
"It is armor-plated."
"Just take the call," Marina said impatiently.
He put the phone against his ear. "Hello?" He listened for a moment. "Hold on. Let me get to my computer."
He went to a PC on his workbench and began to type. He seemed to be accessing a database of identification numbers.
Eventually, he returned Marina's phone to her. "I did sell that phone, but I don't know who I sold it to. The customer paid extra for anonymity, and he paid in cash."
She snarled. "You run a full-service operation here. Crooks must love you."
"It's a nice living." He blushed.
She remembered the surveillance cameras in the store. "Do you know when you sold it, at least?"
"Sure. I had to register it with the wireless carrier."
"Then check the surveillance recordings. You may have the murderer's face on video."
His eyes widened. "Right!"
He went to a closet in the back of the shop and unlocked the door with a key. The closet contained recording equipment, and Marina recognized the technology as an obsolete type, but it still worked. Brian went back several days to the exact time of the purchase.
"That must be him," he said.
Marina pushed him out of the way so she could get a good look. A small video monitor showed a frozen image of a man paying at the counter in the store. He was wearing a long, black coat, gloves, and a cowboy hat. The wide brim of the hat blocked most of his face.
"Damn it!" she said. "This guy is really pissing me off."
Brian played the recording back and forth but couldn't find a clear shot of the enemy's face. The cowboy hat was in the way the entire time he was in the store.
Aaron leaned in to take a look. "Annoying."
Marina went back into the main part of the store. She stood in the spot where her enemy had stood and looked around, but she didn't see anything useful. There were only two surveillance cameras.
Hanley was guarding the door. "What's going on, ma'am?" he said.
She explained the situation to him. He appeared as perplexed as she felt.
"Let me outside," she said.
He unlocked the door and held it for her. She went outside where it was sunny and warm. She didn't see any surveillance cameras in the parking lot, but a gas station was located near the entrance. She ran over. A camera was attached to the side of the station, and it had a good view of anybody entering or leaving the lot. Maybe we can get his license plate, she thought.
She ran inside the gas station and found the attendant. He was a Mexican boy who seemed a little young to be working on a school day.
"I'm a cop," Marina said in an urgent tone. "I need to see your surveillance recordings immediately."
"We don't have them here. A central facility monitors all the gas stations." He pointed to one of the cameras.
She looked up at the camera. A little placard read, "High Eye Security Solutions."
She gritted her teeth. She went outside, grabbed her phone, and called Min Ho.
"Ma'am?" he said.
"An outfit called High Eye Security Solutions has surveillance recordings that I need to see. Can you hack into their systems remotely, or do we need to go over there in person?"
"Hold on."
Marina heard rapid typing in the background.
After a few minutes, he said, "It looks like they have all the recordings on a computer. I can access them from here."
"Great. We'll be back in headquarters in a little while."
She put away her phone and jogged back to the phone repair store. She went to the shop in back where Aaron was guarding Brian. The petty crook had a very anxious expression.
"We're going home," Marina said.
Aaron raised his eyebrows. "Really? What should we do with him?" He pointed a thumb at Brian.
She pursed her lips as she considered his fate. He was a peripheral player in this game, and he knew nothing of importance. She was also grateful for him cooperating so willingly. Killing him seemed excessive.
"Leave him," Marina said. "We'll send another police unit to arrest him."
"OK," Aaron said. "You're the boss."
She wrote down the exact times that the enemy had entered and had left the phone store. Then the team left.
Chapter Thirteen
Marina, Aaron, and Hanley walked into headquarters. Ipo was behind the glass in the security booth.
He frowned at Marina. "That took quite a bit longer than expected, ma'am," he said in a deep voice.
"We made a few extra stops on the way back," she said, "but they were productive stops. Let us in."
He pressed a button, and the inner door buzzed. Hanley ran to hold it open for the commanders.
Marina went straight to Min Ho. He was leaning back in his padded chair, but his keyboard was placed where he could reach it easily. Soft, wide armrests allowed him to relax while he worked. The lights were turned down in this part of headquarters, and much of the light came from his four giant computer monitors.
"Pull up the surveillance video for the Ultra Fast gas station on Camden Avenue near Union," Marina said. "Here are the times." She gave him a piece of paper.
Min Ho began to type, and while he worked, Aaron and Hanley joined her. Liam and Katie heard the commotion and also wandered over. Marina quickly told the legionnaires what was happening.
A video appeared on one of Min Ho's monitors, and it showed the familiar cracked parking lot in front of the phone store. He went forward until the team saw a shiny red pickup truck leaving at about the right time. Marina couldn't see the driver's face, but he was wearing a black coat. Min Ho went backwards in the recording and confirmed the pickup truck had also arrived at the expected time.
The second recording had a better view of the man's face, but it was still a little blurry. He was shaved clean and bald. He seemed to be wearing a shiny metal device on his head like a crown.
"That's our guy," Marina said excitedly.
The license plate of the red pickup truck was visible in the video.
Min Ho looked it up in the Department of Motor Vehicles database. "Got him. Bill Walker, and I
have his home address."
"Great. My legionnaires will grab him when it gets dark." She smiled triumphantly.
* * *
Hanley was at the wheel of the van. He parked across the street from a red house and looked out the window. The home was just one story tall, and the footprint was a simple rectangle. Every architectural detail seemed cheap and flimsy. A separate garage in back had been constructed to look like a traditional red barn on a small scale.
"That's strange," Ipo said.
Hanley looked over at him. Like all the members of the team, Ipo was wearing the "good" armor again. Weapons decorated his body like Christmas tree ornaments. They didn't have gas masks like before, but modern combat helmets with a gray and black camouflage pattern protected their skulls.
"What?" Hanley said.
"I've chased a lot of people who work for God's enemies. They usually live in much nicer places than this, or at least better defended. I don't see any security at all."
A red pickup truck was parked in the driveway. Hanley confirmed the license plate was correct by comparing it to a note on his phone.
"It's the right truck at least. How do you want to play this?"
Ipo pressed his lips together. "You and Katie will check the front. Liam and I will check the rear. Don't enter the home until we figure out how to do it safely. Doors are dangerous."
"Got it." Hanley nodded.
He checked for witnesses and then stepped out of the van. Night had fallen, and the air had cooled, but it wasn't cool enough for his taste. The advanced body armor was as thick and as dense as a rug, and he was wearing a sweat suit underneath as padding. He was already perspiring, and they hadn't done anything yet.
The four legionnaires hurried across the street as a group. Ipo and Liam split off and went around the house while Hanley and Katie approached the front.
Hanley gestured for Katie to be quiet. The armor fit her body like a second skin, and it made her look like a shadow in the night. Only her white face was easy to see. Her ninja skills had come a long way in the last few months, but she still moved with some awkwardness, and he could hear her footsteps in the grass. Marina wouldn't be pleased, he thought.
Hanley checked for signs of danger. The home had smooth walls that looked like painted metal. The borders around the windows were just plastic strips.
