by Neil Hunter
‘Buddy Rich? You been holding out on me, T.J.? Don’t tell me you’re a jazz fan after all.’
Cade only smiled, keeping his knowledge to himself. It would do Janek good to know he wasn’t the only one with hidden depths. He also knew that his refusal to say anything further would really annoy his partner.
Chapter Eleven
‘What’s our next move?’ Janek asked as Cade rolled the cruiser into the basement garage under their apartment building. ‘As if I didn’t know.’
‘So why ask?’
‘I just want you to be sure you know what we’re taking on, T. J.’
‘We?’
‘You don’t think I’d let you go to Lexus-9 on your own, do you? I couldn’t sleep nights if I wasn’t there to watch your back.’
Cade stared at the cyborg. ‘To hell with what Milt Schuberg says, Janek. I think you’re a nice guy.’
‘Cut it out,’ Janek replied, ‘you’re embarrassing me.’
‘Now he starts getting embarrassed. What next - blushing?’
Cade cut the cruiser’s engine. He sat still for a moment, scanning the garage. His attention suddenly focused on a particular vehicle.
‘The black stretch limo,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t belong here.’
Janek unlimbered the SPAS, working a shell into the breech.
‘Do we come out shooting, or wait until they show their hand?’ he asked.
‘Let’s take it easy for now,’ Cade suggested. ‘I have a feeling somebody needs to talk to us. If they’d wanted us dead, they would have hit by now. And you don’t use a gas-guzzler like that for a quick getaway.’
‘Smart thinking, T.J. You have the makings of a cybo in you.’
‘Heaven forbid,’ Cade said under his breath as he climbed out of the cruiser.
‘I heard that,’ Janek told him. ‘If I was sensitive, I’d be hurt.’
The limo’s rear doors opened as Cade and Janek emerged from their car. Two men stepped from the dark interior.
They were dressed alike, in dark suits. Each of them carried a suppressed Uzi 400. They placed themselves on either side of the limo, the auto weapons in full view but clearly meant more as a warning than a threat.
Cade sensed movement inside the rear of the limo.
‘Detective Cade, a word if you don’t mind.’
The voice was low, well modulated. The tone suggested a man used to having his own way.
Cade crossed to stand a few yards from the open door of the limo. The interior of the car was in shadow, and Cade could only see the speaker’s outline.
‘Go ahead.’
‘You have been causing me some problems over the last few days. Because of your interference, I have lost valuable people and also money, and I resent those losses.’
Cade suddenly understood that he was in the presence of Randolph Boon, the head of Lexus Incorporated, the man who was ultimately behind the Darksider hijackings, and also Kate Bannion’s disappearance.
‘It is time for it to stop, Cade,’ Boon went on. ‘There is too much at stake for me to allow you to carry on with all this nonsense.’
‘You have it wrong, Boon,’ Cade said. ‘I’m the one giving the warnings. It’s you who’s going to back off. Right now. The game’s finished. I’ve got enough evidence to shut you down for good.’
‘Now that’s what I like to hear!’
Cade turned and saw a figure stepping out of the deep shadows beyond the limo. It took him a few seconds to recognize the hard, gaunt features of Connor, the UCS captain.
‘I admire a man who follows procedure,’ Connor said.
‘Gets all his evidence tagged and tied. Makes it a lot easier.’
‘They say when the ship starts to sink, all the rats come out of their holes,’ Cade remarked.
‘Funny,’ Connor snapped. He flicked a hand.
The area was flooded with blinding light. Powerful beams glared harshly in Cade’s face.
‘I’ve got eight men tracked in on you, Cade. Believe me when I say they’ll blow you into little chunks when I give the word. Let’s have the piece on the floor. And tell your cybo buddy to do likewise. He can get it just the same.’
Cade eased the Magnum from its holster and dropped it.
Behind him Janek did the same with the SPAS and his own handgun.
‘See how easy it is,’ Connor said. He planted himself in front of Cade. ‘You’ve been a regular pain in the ass since you called me the night Bernie Stenner fell into our hands. Hear me, asshole?’
Without warning, Connor drove his fist into Cade’s stomach. Cade doubled over, gasping for breath. He felt Connor grab a handful of hair and yank his head up. He sensed the fist coming, but couldn’t avoid it. The blow caught him across the right cheek, splitting the flesh as it snapped his head around. Grunting with the effort, Connor swung again and again, his fist connecting with Cade’s face each time. Cade stumbled to his knees. Moments later Connor booted him in the side, sending him sprawling across the concrete. Cade had the sense to lie still, not wanting to provoke Connor’s rage further. His face ached fiercely, and he could feel blood coursing down his cheek.
‘Get him on his feet!’
Connor’s voice came from a long way off. Rough hands hauled Cade upright. He leaned on their support.
‘Nobody tells me to tighten up, Cade,’ Connor said, his face close to Cade’s. ‘Not even a fancy badge from the goddamn Justice Department.’
Shaking the mist from his eyes, Cade saw another face swim into view. Lean and well preserved, it gave the impression of inner hardness. The narrowed, cold eyes mirrored the man’s soul.
‘You’ve upset Mr. Connor rather badly,’ Randolph Boon said. ‘l can, of course, sympathize with him. Your intrusion into our affairs has upset a plan that was running very smoothly. Things have got away from us since you started interfering. We’ve had to take out some heavy insurance, but you’ve been the main problem, Cade. Chasing about the city, digging into every corner you can find and even going down to talk to the Darksiders. I can’t say I’m all that concerned about you killing Rolf. That cretin was becoming an embarrassment. Granted, he was useful when it came to setting up the raids in the tunnels, but he was getting greedy. And then tonight’s little fiasco over in Newark, Lasall being sent off in a police wagon. But despite your interference, I believe we can bring it all back under control once we have you removed from the scene. And Mr. Connor will have that carried out with his usual expertise.’
‘It won’t end,’ Cade said. ‘Killing me doesn’t stop the investigation. Somebody else will pick it up once they realize I’ve disappeared.’
‘You can’t frighten me with tales about the Justice Department. Even they aren’t infallible. By the time your disappearance has been registered, we will have engineered a thorough cover-up. This whole affair will have been fine-tuned so there won’t be a thing to be found. You’re not dealing with a disorganized street-gang, Cade. Over the years I’ve fostered special relationships with people in high places, people who can help me in times of trouble. You only managed to uncover the tip of the iceberg, barely worth raising a sweat over.’
‘You want me to tell him about Krask and company?’ Connor asked, grinning from ear to ear.
‘Why not?’ Boon said. ‘Perhaps it will convince him I’m not talking nonsense.’
‘You figure you’ve got it made with Krask, Lasall and Lappin under lock and key? Witnesses who can talk and finger us all?’ Connor chuckled. ‘Forget it, pal. They’re by now, along with those local Newark cops. While you and the cybo were driving back from Newark, my people took out the wagon. Hit it with hand-held missiles, then laid in a couple of thermal shells. Burned the whole fuckin’ to a crisp.’
One of the men holding Cade upright said, ‘I guess you could say your buddy Tanner got his hide well tanned.’
‘You see, Cade, we are not playing games. The stakes are high. I have enough invested in this deal that I can’t allow you to ruin it,’ Boon said. ‘You should have
stayed well out of it. But it’s too late now.’
‘Okay,’ Connor snapped, ‘we’re wasting time. Get out of here. One of you follow with their cruiser. Dispose of that also. I want a total wipeout as far as this pair is concerned. I don’t want a scrap of bone or a rivet left. Eddie, you know what to do. Give Mr. Boon and me time to get over to his place. We need to be in the crowd when you off this pair. And do it right. No mistakes.’
Cade watched Connor and Boon start walking away and waited a second, then yelled, ‘Connor!’
The man half turned back toward Cade, his head cocked.
‘You’re dead, Connor. You and Boon both.’
Connor laughed out loud this time. ‘Coming from you, that’s rich. What you going to do? Come back from the fuckin’ grave and haunt me?’
Cade held the man’s hard stare. He could taste blood in his mouth, and his right eye was beginning to swell over and close. ‘Whatever it takes, Connor. Believe me. You can bank on it.’
Connor maintained his casual grin, but for a moment the defiant gleam faded from his eyes. Then he turned and walked across to the limo to climb in behind Boon. The doors slammed shut, and the vehicle moved off.
Cade watched it go. He was still watching it when someone hit him from behind, the blow crunching down across the back of his skull and pitching him into a void of swirling darkness.
‘T.J.? Can you hear me?’
Cade opened his good eye, peering out on a scene that made him think he was already in hell.
The semidarkness appeared to be framed by a swell of boiling fire. The air was hot and stank of molten metal. In the background the thump of machinery matched the pounding inside Cade’s skull.
‘Thomas?’
‘Yeah, I hear you,’ Cade said, wincing at the vibration his words created.
He felt Janek’s hands on his shoulders, lifting him into a sitting position. ‘Where the hell are we?’
‘Somewhere in the South Bronx,’ his partner informed him. ‘A wrecker’s yard. I get the feeling they intend disposing of us along with the cruiser.’
Cade stared around him. He and Janek were secured inside a small steel cabin overlooking the main area of the yard. They were surrounded by piles of dilapidated and wrecked vehicles, everything from cars to massive diesel trucks. The vehicles had been dumped in the yard for smelting down. The recycled metal would be refined and used again.
The night sky over the yard reflected the glow of fire from the smelting pits, where the molten metal was collected after it had gone through the process. The dangerous work carried out by machines controlled by computer, while menial tasks were done by work droids.
The cabin Cade and Janek squatted in was open to the night sky. An armed man stood outside. The others were ranged in a loose group around the police cruiser, deciding who should take possession of the SPAS shotgun.
‘How long have we been here?’ Cade asked.
Janek thought for a few seconds. ‘Precisely twelve minutes, thirteen seconds.’
‘And what have you done about getting us out?’
Janek gave his lopsided shrug. ‘Me?’ he asked.
‘I figured while I was unconscious you might come up with something.’
‘Jack shit, actually,’ Janek admitted.
‘Great,’ Cade said. ‘And since when did you take up swearing?’
‘I figured it covered my feelings quite well.’
‘Well, let’s just do something before they barbecue us .’
‘I didn’t want to risk starting anything until you were conscious,’ Janek explained. ‘I was worried about you, T.J.’
‘Shut up in there,’ the guard said over his shoulder. He was irritated because he’d been made to watch the prisoners while the others argued over the SPAS.
‘Go suck, pal,’ Cade replied. ‘You’re going to kill me, remember? So why should I be quiet?’
‘Kill you, sure. But I might just take the time to kick the stuffing out of you, first!’
‘You might at that, but only if you brought your mother along.’
‘Bastard,’ the guard said, rising to the bait. He turned and kicked open the door. Framed in the gap, he swung the muzzle of his Uzi in Cade’s direction. ‘You want it now, cop?’
‘If you’ve got the guts, twinkle-toes!’
The guard spit out an obscenity. He took another step inside the cabin, the Uzi tracking in on Cade’s head.
‘Now you’ve bought it! ‘ the guard snarled.
He didn’t see Janek move until it was too late. The cyborg uncoiled from his squat on the floor with a smooth, powerful movement, left hand striking out and grabbing the Uzi. Janek’s right hand closed around the guard’s throat, his fingers exerting the kind of pressure that could buckle steel. The guard’s neck snapped with a loud crunch, his limbs twitching awkwardly before Janek let him fall.
Cade scooped up the Uzi and flattened against the steel wall, unscrewing the suppressor and tossing it in the corner. He waited until his partner had armed himself with the dead man’s handgun. Janek also found spare clips for both weapons in the man’s coat. He tossed the Uzi clips to Cade.
‘You set?’ Cade asked.
Janek nodded, snapping back the auto pistol’s slide. ‘It’s every man for himself,’ he said, swinging the door open and breaking into the open.
Cade followed on the cyborg’s heels, breaking to the right when Janek moved left.
The gunmen grouped around the cruiser were already reacting, weapons arcing around and spitting flame.
Janek fired on the run, his pistol rattling out shots with unerring accuracy. His first volley took out two of Connor’s gunmen, the heavy-caliber slugs tearing fist-sized holes their chests and hurling them across the rutted ground.
Closing in from the other side, Cade turned the Uzi loose, and the 9 mm slugs drilled into their targets. Bodies were sprawling across the ground, flesh erupting with crimson sprays, but Cade kept his finger on the trigger to scatter the gunmen.
Return fire zipped by, and Cade took a reckless dive, skinning his left elbow as he hit the ground, then rolling frantically. He banged up against a stack of auto tires, disturbing their precarious balance. The tires toppled to the ground around him, bouncing and rolling in all directions.
Cade used the disturbance to scramble to his feet and duck behind a gutted car body. Slugs whacked into the metal and howled off into the night sky as he crouched in the dirt, feeding a fresh clip into the Uzi.
Above the crackle of gunfire and raised voices, he picked up the thump of running feet. They were nearing his hiding place. Cade gripped the Uzi, trying to pinpoint the man’s position. There was a thump against the side of the car body as the enemy gunman reached it then paused before moving on.
He dashed across Cade’s line of vision, and Cade triggered the Uzi. The gunman seemed suspended in the air, twitching from the multiple impacts, then he crumpled to the ground to lie in a bloodied heap.
Putting on a burst of speed, Janek found cover behind the dark, rust-streaked bulk of an old fuel tanker. He dropped to a crouch and peered under the chassis and caught movement on the far side as two of Connor’s men reached the tanker. Without hesitation Janek leaned under the chassis, leveling the auto pistol. He fired twice, putting bullets through one pair of legs, then switched aim and took out the second gunman. They toppled to the ground but still tried to track in on Janek. He fired twice more, shots that ended the moaning for good. The cyborg stood up and swung himself on top of the tanker’s walkway. He found the metal ladder that curved up the side of the tanker barrel. When he reached the top, Janek stretched out full length, surveying the scene below.
There were only two of the gunmen left. They wore oily coveralls, identifying them as part of the crew from the wrecker’s yard. One carried the SPAS, while the other was armed with an Uzi.
They were still huddled beside the cruiser, scanning the area and trying to decide what to do. Janek helped them with their decision.
&nb
sp; He tracked the guy with the SPAS, triggering a quick shot that took the gunman’s head apart. As the dead man sprawled at his partner’s feet, Janek loosed off another snap shot. The heavy slug caught the target in the center of his chest, coring through to blow out between his shoulders in a bloody spray. He flopped back against the side of the cruiser, leaving a red smear on the dirty paintwork as he slithered to the ground.
Janek made his way to the ground, then walked around the tanker and met Cade as he emerged from behind the burned-out car.
Janek picked up the SPAS and handed lit to Cade.
‘You want to get out of here?’ Janek asked. ‘I’m starting to feel uncomfortable with all this scrap metal around me.’
Cade grinned. ‘Keep this up, and you’ll develop a sense of humor.’
They settled in the cruiser, with Janek taking the wheel. He fired up the engine, then swung the car toward the gate.
‘So?’ he asked as he gunned the cruiser along the deserted street.
‘The Heights,’ Cade said. ‘Let’s go calling. I feel in the mood to crash a party. I want Boon and Connor behind bars before we go after Kate.’
He picked up the handset and called into the NYPD, asking for Milt Schuberg.
‘Hey, T.J., what trouble you in now?’
‘Milt, listen. I’m at a wrecker’s yard down in the South Bronx.’ Cade leaned out the window and read off the street name as they sped by an intersection.
‘Yeah.’
‘Get a squad down here. I’ve left some DOAs for you. Then get your ass into gear and haul it over to the Heights. You heard of Randolph Boon, the industrialist? His place. He’s the guy behind the problems I’ve been having. He’s got a partner, too. Captain in the Urban Crime Squad. Name of Connor. You remember Connor? I’m on my way to pull them in right now.’
‘You sure know how to liven up a guy’s evening.’ Schuberg hesitated for a moment. ‘What the hell is this all about?’
‘I’ll tell you later, Milt. Just do it.’
‘And don’t stop to eat on the way,’ Janek said testily.
‘Dammit, Cade, I’ll screw the bolts off that tin man one day. You listening, Janek? You trash-can reject!’
