“Sheila, the second phone is all copied. The cab must be with you in a few seconds. I will begin analyzing the phone data right away.” said Drake.
“Thanks a lot Drake. The cab is here and we should be out of here soon. John has a lot of wounds and I am hoping it is nothing serious. Talk to you later.” said Sheila, disconnecting the call and placing the buckle phone in her top pocket. She threw the goon’s phone in nearby bushes. The cab was in front of them.
“Mr. Russo? You look bad and I cannot believe I got a call from you after all these months.” said the driver.
John had a quick memory jog to that morning when the same cab driver gave him meaningful advice. John smiled through the pain.
“I look bad alright. Sheila, this is Xavier. Xavier, this is my assistant Sheila.” said John, getting into the backseat.
Xavier, the cab driver, noticed the gun in her hand and then looked at Sheila, smiled and said, “Nice to meet you Sheila. Where to?”
Sheila gave him the address of John’s doctor, Rick Falk. Xavier confirmed the address and drove towards it as fast as his taxi would go. Sheila called the doctor and requested him to be ready and described John’s condition. By the time the taxi reached the doctor’s house, two nurses were already standing at the gate with a stretcher. After stopping the taxi, Xavier jumped out of the car and quickly ran back to help John. John was placed on the stretcher and pushed through the doctor’s house. Doctor Falk was waiting for them and John was immediately taken into the patient room. Sheila was asked to wait in the outside room. With his job done, Xavier collected his fare and drove away.
The night was a massive ordeal for Sheila. She grabbed a glass of water from the cooler and gulped it down. The doctor had already checked her the moment she came in. She was not harmed in anyway. Sheila sat on the sofa and kept an eye on the clock. She was too tired to stay awake for long, and fell asleep on the sofa.
“Sheila, wake up.”
Sheila got up and found herself on a large bed. She was wearing night clothes and there was a bright light beaming through the windows. The room was large, spacious, and almost resembled a hotel room that was cross pollinated with a hospital room. A nurse was standing next to the bed and was the one who was waking her up.
“It’s almost ten o’ clock and the doctor asked me to wake you up. I hope you don’t mind but I had to get you into fresh clothes.” said the nurse.
“I don’t mind at all. Thank you for doing this and making me sleep here.” said Sheila. Then she remembered about last night and asked the nurse, “How is John? Is he okay?”
“Your friend. He is fine. There were no serious injuries and he is still asleep. He is in the next room.” answered the nurse.
“Thank God! Thanks to you and your doctor as well” said Sheila.
“That’s alright. If you want to freshen up, fresh towels are in that cabinet and anything else you might need, buzz me using the buzzer. Okay?” said the nurse, leaving the room.
Sheila got up and spent the next half an hour taking a shower. As the nurse had indicated, there were fresh clothes in the cabinet. She wore them, and they fit her very well. She noticed that there was a cup of hot coffee on the table next to the bed. She took a few sips, and feeling refreshed, walked out of the room and into the next one. Once inside, she was happy to see that John was still sleeping peacefully.
She took the seat that was placed next to the bed and picked up the newspaper. The headlines were filled with the usual news about sports, politics and warnings about the earth becoming too hot. Sheila found them boring and fast-forwarded to the puzzle section. There was a pen on the stand and she picked it up and started working on the jumble. A few later, the doctor entered the room.
“Sheila. Good to see you up and running. Hope you slept well?” said Dr. Falk.
“Hello doctor. Good morning. Yes, I slept well thank you. I was hoping to know more about John and how bad it is. The nurse said there was no permanent damage or broken bones.” said Sheila, putting the paper and pen back on the table.
“There would have been some infection if you hadn’t done some quick first aid on his leg. If that wasn’t done, he would have been in some kind of trouble. Nice job. I did not know that office assistants knew how to do first aid on the ground. Nor did I know that they knew how to handle a gun, which by the way, we have placed in that locked cabinet over there. You may take that when you are ready to leave.” said the doctor, smiling.
“John is a private detective and he made me take classes. I never knew that they would come so handy, but last night turned me into a believer. Weapons handling and on the run first aid was one of those classes that John made me attend.” said Sheila.
“He sounds like a smart man, Sheila. He has been sleeping as long as you have. He should get up any minute now. When he wakes up, he is good to go. Do ask him not to indulge in any sort of hard physical activity for at least a week.” said the doctor.
“Thanks doctor. I will make sure that he does not do anything like that.” said Sheila.
The doctor then proceeded to check up on John. He checked his temperature and seemed to make some notes on his tablet. Then, he wrote a prescription and handed it over to Sheila. Sheila took it and placed it on the table next to the newspaper. The doctor then said goodbye and left Sheila alone with John. John was still sleeping, and deciding to stay there, Sheila returned to her puzzle in the newspaper.
Sheila had only reached the second puzzle on the newspaper when John’s phone went off. It was in silent mode and the display showed that the caller was Drake. She picked it up and answered.
“John, is that you?” asked Drake, without even waiting for Sheila to say anything.
“Drake. Sheila here. He is still resting. Last night was a little too rough on him.” said Sheila.
“Is he hurt seriously?” asked Drake.
“The doctor said that he is just fine. All he needs is some rest. If you have a message for him, I can take it.” said Sheila assuming her duties as an assistant.
“I am happy to hear that. There is something that I wanted his help with. Since he is out of order, you will have to take over the responsibility.” said Drake.
“What should I be doing?” asked Sheila.
“Remember that phone data you guys copied and sent to me? There is a problem with it. I cannot explain everything on the phone. You will need to start right away and meet me at the lobby of the Science and Space Center.” said Drake.
“Okay. If I leave now, I should be at the Space Center in less than an hour. Would that be fine?” asked Sheila.
“That is just fine. I will explain everything later. Bye Sheila.” replied Drake, ending the phone call.
Sheila quickly rummaged through her bag. She picked up her wallet, slid one of the guns into her pants and reached for the door. She ran into one of the nurses.
“There is no time to explain, nurse. If John comes around, tell him to take rest. I will be back in a few hours.” said Sheila quickly.
The nurse nodded in agreement, and Sheila headed for the exit. She was outside the building in a few minutes and quickly got into a cab. It was late in the morning and there was enough traffic, but nothing that could be considered too inconvenient. The driver rode smoothly, navigating the streets of Primer City like it was the back of his hand. If Sheila wasn’t in a hurry, she would have complimented him on his impressive driving skills. They reached the destination in about thirty minutes. She got out of the cab, having paid the fare midway, and made her way to the lobby. Drake was sitting on one of the waiting room chairs. The moment he saw her, he got up and made his way to her. They shook hands.
“Sheila, I am guessing that you have access to John’s credit card?” asked Drake.
“Of course. What is this all about?” asked Sheila, walking with Drake.
“The data from the goons’ phones is locked,
and I am pretty sure it has important information. It looks like these guys were pretty serious about their information. They have an encryption on all the files. I can access it on my own but it will take a lot of time. I know a guy who can get this done in minutes. He has the right equipment for it.. I am used to managing commercial grade encryption but this is military grade encryption. He charges a lot of money and it would be nice if you could pay for it, instead of me sending a bill for it later.” said Drake, summarizing the situation.
“I am ready with the money, Drake. I will follow your lead.” said Sheila.
“Good. He has an office on the third floor. We will take the escalator.” said Drake, stepping onto the escalator.
Sheila followed suit and got on the escalator. As the escalator took them to the next floor, Sheila noticed the many offices that were at the Science Center. The Science Center was a joint initiative of the city of Primer and the national Government, and focused on both research and technology. When she was a kid, Sheila would spend hours at the library, one of the largest science libraries in the country. She even tried to get into one of the facilities at the Center, but her marks just weren’t good enough. She was pretty upset when she was rejected, but had moved on since then. They had switched over to the third escalator that led to the third floor. Once on that floor, Drake led her to a door marked ‘ASE’.
Once inside, the place looked like a dentist’s office. There were a lot of people sitting, some with magazines in their hands. Others were reading a novel or just playing with their mobile phones. There was a reception table that was empty. Drake walked up to the reception table, with Sheila right behind him. They must have stood there for few minutes, when a door at the end of the room opened. A young woman in a business suit came out and took the chair behind the reception table.
“Welcome to ASE. How may I help you, sir?” she said, looking at Drake.
“Thank you. I have an appointment with the dentist.” said Drake.
The receptionist looked at him with a sense of wondrous expression. She seemed a little taken aback with what Drake has just said. Sheila looked at him with a slight wonder herself. Then again, she was used to Drake’s technique of working so she was not that surprised. Then, the receptionist spoke again.
“One minute, sir.” she said.
She then picked up the phone on the desk and spoke to someone. She seemed to have been put on hold. She waited a minute, with Drake and Sheila also waiting without a word being spoken. Then, the hold music on the phone stopped and the receptionist was speaking again. She nodded, like she was agreeing to something that was being told to her on the phone. She was surprised by what she heard on the other side of the phone and then she resumed her composure.
“Okay, I got all of that. Thank you.” she said, placing the receiver back on the table.
“I am sorry about the delay, Mr. Drake. I joined last week. I understand you have a pass key for me.” she said.
“Of course. Here you go.” said Drake, handing over a small token that was yellow in color.
“I will be back in a minute. If you don’t mind waiting.” said the receptionist, leaving them at the table and walking back to the door she had appeared through earlier.
“What was that all about?” asked Sheila.
“Just some old codes and secret bull crap that this dentist makes his customers go through. I think it is all childish but it is his office and his rules.” replied Drake.
“John would love such things. I personally don’t care for codes.” said Sheila.
The receptionist returned from the door, and her expression seemed like she was pleased with everything that had passed by.
“The dentist will see you now, Mr. Drake. Once again, really sorry about all the confusion. I am very new to this job and still getting the hang of it.” said the receptionist, apologizing profusely.
“That is quite alright miss. Thank you for your help.” said Drake, walking toward the door. Sheila followed him and they found themselves in a large room which looked like a computer lab. There were computer screens spread throughout the room. The room had many doors, other than the one they entered through. There were no windows, and the whole room was lit by bulbs that were hidden inside the walls.
“This is a nice room!” exclaimed Sheila.
“Why, thank you pretty girl.” said a voice from behind them.
Drake and Sheila both turned in the direction of the voice. A middle aged man, perhaps about fifty years old, was walking toward them. He was dressed casually and had long hair that covered much of his face.
“Sheila, this is the dentist. Dentist, this is Sheila. She works with John.” said Drake, introducing them.
“Nice to meet you Sheila.” said the dentist, extending his hand to Sheila.
“Nice to meet you to, Mr. Dentist.” said Sheila, shaking hands and letting go.
“Drake, I believe you have got the tape that you want broken into.” said the dentist, turning his attention to drake.
“Here you go. How long might it take?” asked Drake, pulling out a small memory card from his shirt pocket and handing it over to the dentist.
“Should not take more than ten minutes. Wait here please.” said the dentist, disappearing into the door from which he had come earlier.
“He seems nice.” said Sheila, impressed by his manners.
“Yeah, he has always been an extremely nice person. He is the guy who taught me everything I know. Sort of like my guru” said Drake, taking a seat by the table.
“He does not come across like a tech guru to me. On the other hand, you look like a geek from a mile.” said Sheila, sitting on a sofa that was in front of the coffee table.
“Thank you Sheila, for such kind words. So, what happened last night? I need some more details.” said Drake.
Sheila recounted the experiences of last night. She told him about the Lipstick Woman who had been following John, and how she was following the Lipstick Woman. She told him about her being kidnapped and then, escaping from the clutches of the bad guys. She also told him about John being tied to a chair and beaten to the very edge of his life. That was when Drake interjected.
“Was he beaten that badly? I had no idea.” said Drake.
“It looked bad. The doctor said, fortunately, none of his vital organs were injured. No broken bones either. Those who hit him, knew what they were doing. They only wanted to hurt him and not injure him permanently. That tells me one thing. We are dealing with some kind of sick professionals, Drake. They are very dangerous people.” said Sheila.
“It’s funny isn’t it? Three days ago, John was almost thinking of giving up on the private detective work. Now, both of you have been captured and beaten to hell. Life is crazy, Sheila.” said Drake, lamenting on the situation.
“I agree Drake. John has missed working. In some ways, I think he likes his job more than anything else.” said Sheila.
Drake was just about to reply when the dentist walked back into the room. He was carrying the same memory card that was provided by Drake. Drake stood up from his chair and Sheila did the same.
“That was some nasty security on those files. Of course, I got through. You are carrying your credit card with you, I am sure.” said the dentist.
“Please use mine.” said Sheila, handing over John’s credit card to him. The dentist went over to the table and swiped the card. He printed a bill from the desk and handed it over to Sheila. Sheila, kept it safely in her pocket. With their job done, they both bid goodbye to the dentist and returned to the lobby. Drake pulled out his phone and pushed the card into it. He then spent a few minutes looking at the contents of the card, while Sheila looked on.
“There isn’t much on the card Sheila. All it has is a map. There are also dozens of receipts for purchases of chemicals, most of them in large quantities. I am mailing all of these files to John. None o
f this makes much sense to me. John should be able to figure this out.” said Drake, putting his phone back into his pocket.
“I am sure John will figure something out, Drake.” said Sheila.
“I should return to my place. I have other work to tend to. Do you want me to drop you at the doctor’s place?” asked Drake.
“That would beat having to take a taxi.” said Sheila.
“No problem. Let’s go.” said Drake getting up, and they both left toward the parking area. The drive took a few minutes, and they had reached their destination. Drake said goodbye to Sheila and drove off. Sheila walked back to the doctor’s house and found that John was still asleep. Sheila returned to the puzzle she was working on before Drake had called her. An hour had passed before John woke up to see Sheila sitting right next to his bed.
“Good morning, Boss. How do you feel?” asked Sheila, smiling. There was a slight hint of a tear drop in her eyes. Sheila hoped that John would not notice that as he woke up. John did notice the tear drop, but he knew she would not be happy if he pointed it out or reacted to it. He simply smiled and replied.
“Like I was dragged on the railway track all night by an extremely slow moving railway engine that was powered by steam.”
Sheila laughed. It wasn’t a particularly smart reply but she was laughing mostly because she was just happy to see him in good shape again.
“What did the doctor say? Do I need to go away for a vacation or something?” asked John, collecting his thoughts.
“He said, you can walk and talk right away. The doctor did warn me that you are not to get beaten up or anything else for a week. Also, he said that because of the first aid I did, you are better off than worse.” said Sheila.
UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck Page 21
