Jayne tugged at her jacket. “And I need a shower.”
Vlad nodded towards the bathroom and coughed out the smoke. “So take one. I can watch the kids.”
Jayne watched Burrett and Merry out of the corner of her eye. “You sure?”
“Absolutely. You narrowly escaped death.”
“Yeah, well, I smell like it, too.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell you, Ms. Austin…”
They laughed. Vlad lowered his voice. “Seriously, go. It’ll all be here when you get back.”
“Thanks,” she smiled, and wandered away.
“But not the food,” he added. “Nobody’s picked that up yet. Send Baggins.” He nodded at the young Fred curled up on the floor.
Jayne knelt by Fred and shook him gently. “Hey… Hey! Fred, you with us?”
Fred put his head in both his hands. “No!” He groaned into the floor. “Fred isn’t home right now. Fred go bye-bye.”
“Sorry, but I’m going to need you to get food. I need Vlad and Merry here.”
Fred groaned and rolled to one side. “Why can’t we get it delivered?”
“And risk some delivery dude seeing Public Enemy Numero Uno sitting on our couch? I don’t think so.”
Jayne hovered over Fred, intensely fixing her eyes on his temple. She stifled a giggle as he writhed under her gaze.
Jayne continued to stare at him, watching his body language grow more and more agitated. Fred shot up to sitting. “Aaargh! Alright, I’ll go.”
Jayne made sure Fred left before she dragged her tired bones to the bathroom. She gave herself a pressure point massage as she waited for the water to reach the right temperature. The combination of steam and steady pressure of her fingertips and knuckles melted the knots in her muscles and eased the tension in her head. Jayne inhaled deeply, choosing to focus on the coconut smell of her body wash.
She splashed more water on her face, quickly admonishing herself. “Stop it, Jayne. You have plenty of time to focus on the stuff you can’t unsee.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Burrett and Merry huddled over her laptop. Merry scrolled slowly across the channels at Burrett’s direction. They toggled between two stations for about 15 seconds.
Burrett listened intently. The language spoken sounded like a mix of ancient and modern Armaros. “Wait, what was that?” he said suddenly.
Merry scrolled back.
The alto voice boomed with authority and upper crust diction in something Merry couldn’t make out.
“Theater broadcast,” Burrett confirmed. “Never mind.”
Merry’s scrolling landed on a scratchy channel. The speaker was using a foreign dialect, sometimes coordinating his cadence with techno jazz. Burrett listened intently and laughed, then blushed deeply. “Red light planetoid. Good to know that hasn’t changed.”
Merry raised an eyebrow and continued scrolling. “Good to see you know all about the red light planetoid.”
Vlad lit another joint and took a hit. “What exactly are we looking for?”
Merry scrolled to another station, this one asking if a ship had permission to dock. “We’re listening for Chamberlain. The short-wave encompasses most channels, increasing our chance of finding him. The trick is figuring out what channel he’s using.”
“My current theory is a military transport channel or an obscure foreign one. We have to stick with DX-ing the foreign stations or cruising the more specialty ones. There’s no way Chamberlain would hide in plain sight in this case.”
Vlad contemplated Burrett. “Interesting theory. Chamberlain managed to go off the grid and disappear himself. That’s pretty much unheard of for your kind, isn’t it? What makes you think he wouldn’t hide in plain sight?”
Burrett took a huge gulp of orange soda, then studied the bottle happily. “It’s been forever… To answer your question, though, Chamberlain has been doing all of his work in the shadows. That chicken shit always has.” His upper lip twitched slightly before he appeared to catch himself, calming his expression considerably. “I don’t see him changing a pattern that’s been working for him long term. Nobody ever does, especially if they think they’re the smartest and strongest.”
Fred and Vlad made quick eye contact. “What are we listening for anyway? How will we know when we find this guy?”
Jayne noticed Burrett’s hands clenched into shaking fists before he looked around the room. Burrett’s right hand rubbed his left arm until his energy settled. “I’m sure James will know his old partner when he hears him. The trick is narrowing down the channels out of the pool of foreign, military, and merchant.”
Vlad pried himself off his chair and shuffled towards the bedroom. He waved his hand dismissively and yawned. “I need my beauty sleep. Wake me up when you find him.”
Jayne snapped her head and torso towards Vlad. “Hey!”
Vlad waved at Jayne before disappearing into her room. “G’night.”
Deciding not to further confront the interloper, Jayne leaned back in her chair and started tossing the LED lava ball in the air. The rubbery surface with uniform bumps and bubbles had a soothing, hypnotic effect on her mind.
The voice on the radio sounded even, but emphatic in an audio forest of scratches and howls. “…8…9…3…6. Repeat: 2…7…8…9…3…6.” Followed by four bars of Beethoven’s 5th symphony.
Burrett jumped up and down giddily. “Keep it there! I think we have a numbers station.”
Jayne sat up, dropping her ball in the process. “That sounds like a straight-up Academy sequence. We could be listening to a training exercise.”
Burrett’s smile barely contained his self-satisfaction. “All the more reason for him to do it.”
Merry grimaced. “Would he be that stupid?”
Burrett nodded. “I dealt with this guy for years. He’s an expert at this. Keep listening.”
The even baritone continued, “Listen up, #19: 6…3…9…8…7…2. Repeat: 6…3…9…8…7…2. Listen up, #19.”
Burrett excitedly shook Merry’s shoulder. “Get a fix on that! That’s him!”
Fred shifted a little. “Umm, I don’t get it. How do we know this isn’t a drill?”
Burrett practically shouted. “It’s too simple. Academy exercises and real spies don’t read the numbers backwards. He’s using a number station. That’s no accident. If this signal is coming from L19, it’s him.”
Merry fiddled with equipment until she got the location. She jumped off the sofa, shrieking and jumping up and down with Burrett. Fred put down his handheld and smiled brightly.
Burrett waved his hands like he was trying to dry them. He was breathless. “What are you waiting for? Get that lunatic!”
Merry grabbed Jayne’s tablet and hastily downloaded an app. “This will mirror the office computer,” she explained, “so you can see the results in real time.”
Jayne leapt to her feet and started to rush out of the door, almost forgetting her tablet in the process. Merry shoved it into her hands and pushed Jayne out the door. “Go get ‘em!”
+++
Burrett looked at his feet. “Is L19 still mostly office buildings?”
Fred nodded.
Burrett clasped his hands behind his lower back. “Do you know what hospital this girl is in?”
Fred adjusted his glasses. “I found her at the Ridgeview General, L64. At least she was there.”
Burrett ran his tongue over his teeth behind tightly closed lips. “This girl is the pawn in this game. There’s no way Chamberlain would leave her unguarded.”
Vlad shuffled out of Jayne’s room, yawning. He moved the light blue satin sleep mask from his eyes to is forehead. “I was going to get some sleep, but then I didn’t want to miss out on this party.”
Merry shook her head with disbelief. “We found Chamberlain. Jayne’s going after him now,” she pointed to the sleep mask, “is that…?”
Vlad waved her off. “I always keep one in my jacket.” He folded the mask and put it in his inside jacket pocket. “Anyway, you were telling me some good news?”
Merry corrected him. “Sort of good news, you mean. We found Chamberlain’s coordinates, but James was just saying that girl Celia is a pawn.”
Vlad sat behind Jayne’s desk. “I see. What do you think that means for young Ms. Wilson?”
Burrett’s expression went from pensive to grave. “Nothing good, if I know Chamberlain.”
Vlad made a motion encouraging Burrett to expound upon that statement. “Which means…?”
The air around Burrett felt heavier and darker. “…which means this Celia Wilson is in serious trouble. My guess is he’s either kidnapped her or has a henchman in her hospital room already.”
Fred stood up. “That means we should go to the hospital to see if—’
Merry frowned, “If she’s still there. Or I could hack into the hospital site and verify that one Celia Wilson is still in Pediatrics where Fred left her.” She started typing furiously. “Nevermind, I’m already almost in.” Merry muttered an insult to a script kiddie for good measure and punched in another command. “Yep. Still in Pediatrics.”
Burrett stared at Merry in amazement, then quickly snapped back into the moment. “We need to hurry. Chamberlain is crazy like a fox. It’s not beyond him to have his henchman be in deep cover for a while before the event. Maybe he’s got a hospital worker on board. Someone Celia trusts.”
Vlad put his cigarette case back in his pocket. “So what’s the plan?”
Burrett sat down next to Merry. “Chamberlain is using short-wave radio to communicate with whomever this is. He’s probably going to use another number channel by the end of the night. And maybe even a different one tomorrow. We’re going to need to—”
Merry nodded, continuing to type furiously. “—to disrupt communication between the two. Got it. But once we find this goon, they’re probably going to be armed.”
Burrett drank the last of his orange soda. “Or an expert at hand-to-hand combat. Likely both. Fred, got anything discreet at your disposal? We’re talking short-range, maybe a taser.”
Fred scrolled on his comm. “I do indeed. We just have to hit my safety deposit box on the way. Maybe we should use a sniper too, just in case.”
Burrett snapped his fingers and pointed at Fred. “Great idea. I think that would be my department. I’ll jump in if you guys get in over your heads, but I’m probably the best long-range shot here. How are you fixed for rifles?”
Fred’s eyes twinkled knowingly. “There’s one I think you’ll like in the safety deposit box.”
Burrett smiled, his eyes mirroring Fred’s. “That’s my boy.” He turned to the group. “We’re stopping by Fred’s safety deposit box on our way there. But first, I need the layout of the hospital.”
Merry twisted a lock of hair, her brow furrowed in contemplation. “I agree with everything so far, but won’t it look a little weird for all of us to be there?”
Vlad started to put his feet on Jayne’s desk, stopping when Merry shot him a dark look. “What did you have in mind, Ms. Winterbourne?”
Merry activated the projection feature on her laptop, displaying the Ridgeview Pediatric Floor’s schematics over Jayne’s desk. She circled Celia’s room with her finger and made an X over the window in the adjacent building. “The best vantage point where a sniper is less likely to be found in this building is the Pathology Lab. You can easily hide a rifle in janitorial equipment.”
Burrett nodded in appreciation of her logic. “This makes sense. Yes.”
Merry continued, “Let’s play to our strengths. I can intercept comm between Chamberlain and his goon. Fred and Vlad can guard the girl undercover like.”
Burrett examined the projection above Jayne’s desk, running his finger along the hallway. “I like it. We can refine it on the way there.”
Merry called a cab as the gang gathered their gear. She looked at Burrett. “You coming?”
Burrett looked up briefly. “I’ll meet you in the hallway. I just want to memorize this a bit more.”
Merry shrugged and Burrett watched the gang leave the office. He traced the path to the labs on Pediatrics with his finger. “Gotcha.” Burrett smiled to himself as he took the packet of pills out of his pocket. He muttered to himself, “Gotta be one step ahead.” He returned the pills to his pocket and walked out of the office to meet the others.
+++
Haron Building, L19, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Jayne approached the dark building, moving as quickly as she could without being conspicuous. Most of the windows were broken, shattered by bored kids or vagrants looking for a place to stay. The windows left unshattered were caked with thick, nearly opaque layers of dust. Spider webs and nests of roach eggs covered and filled all exposed holes and chips along the walls. She compared the map on her tablet to the address on the building. Jayne twisted her way through the security door, which time and neglect had frozen into a permanently half open position. She felt a large moving object under her boot.
An angry young man with stringy hair rolled away from her boot and scurried to a crouching position. “Fuck off!”
“Sorry,” Jayne whispered.
He went back to his spot and covered himself with a thin, tattered blanket. “You should be, bitch.”
Jayne surveyed the dark lobby. The signal indicated Chamberlain was on the third floor. The elevator was straight ahead but looked as well-maintained as the rest of the place. That was to say, not very.
Good thing this place is old enough to have stairs, she thought to herself.
Jayne felt a pang in her heart as she stepped over a small girl and a woman who reminded her of her mother and sister. She ran up the stairs as quietly as possible, unholstering her pistol as she went. Jayne memorized the location given and put her tablet back in her bag.
She reached the third floor. The smell of mildew, crack, and vinegar hit her like a brick in the face. The only source of light was a hanging lamp at the far end of the hallway. She squinted in the darkness to read the numbers on the doors, looking for 348. Then, something skittered across her foot and Jayne leapt in the air. She turned the wheel around the face of her wristwatch until she reached the flashlight setting. The beam cut through the ambient dust of the hallway, revealing the rat who’d just paid her a visit. The pattern on the carpet was so dirty and worn she could see the chewed foam matting and rat droppings underneath. With the flashlight function on her watch leading the way, she moved down the hallway towards Apartment 348.
Jayne turned off her flashlight and leaned against the wall by the doorway. An amused male voice greeted her. “Right on time. I’ve been expecting you, Jayne.”
Jayne readied her pistol. “How did you know?”
The man laughed heartily. “I’m a spy, dear. It’s my job to know everything.”
Jayne stayed behind the wall. What is his game plan?
He sighed. “I know all about you, Miss Austin. Top of your class at the academy, till that unfortunate fit of passion,” he gave a dismissive snort, “we all have our unique ways of gathering intel.”
Jayne felt her blood momentarily boil as she surveyed the apartment. He had a dim light near him and her eyes were growing accustomed to the dark. Chamberlain sat in a crumbling green brocade chair by the window. He was a nondescript man of medium build with an affable face that reminded Jayne of a benign auditor. “I suppose this is the part where you tell me how you’re on to me and will stop my evil plot,” he said as he placed a self-lighting cigarette in his mouth.
Jayne walked around the perimeter of the room. The chair, a small nightstand, the lamp, and a separate cabinet were the only articles of furniture in the room. Everything was covered with rat droppings, dust, and bug carcasses. “You always were a clever one, Mr. Chamberlain.”
Chamberlain studied Jayne, then pointed at her pistol. “You don’t need the gun, M
iss Austin.”
Jayne cautiously put per pistol back into the holster and faced Chamberlain. She shrugged. “A girl’s got to be prepared.”
Chamberlain sat back in his chair, hands clasped in his lap. “And a girl spy probably has to be doubly so. You know you can’t trust him, right?”
Jayne narrowed her eyes at her suspicious host. “Who?”
He smirked and shook his head. “Who do you think? Your new friend, Burrett. There was a reason they locked him up and threw away the key.”
“He feels they should have done the same to you.”
Chamberlain’s smug grin faded for a second. He sighed and plastered on a smaller smile. “He’s done… things even I wouldn’t do.”
Jayne folded her arms and evaluated Chamberlain. He didn’t appear armed, but she felt uneasy. “What kind of things?”
Chamberlain leaned forward, the light from the lamp exaggerating every line on his face. “If our actions were recorded, Burrett would have been a permanent target of the Office of Human Rights. Disappearing him would’ve been the least of his worries. You think I’m cunning and dangerous? You haven’t seen anything. You don’t know what you’ve unleashed. You’re going to regret getting him out of that hellhole they threw him down. Your spy BFF is seriously unbalanced. But I’m sure a good spy like you has done her homework.”
Jayne exhaled sharply. “I did indeed, Mr. Chamberlain. We planned for Burrett and implanted a microchip in him. He’s not going anywhere.”
Chamberlain chortled with surprising vigor. “You honestly think he can’t dismantle a chip? What do you think he is? A stray dog at the pound? Hell, he’s probably already dug it out.”
Jayne smirked. “Mr. Chamberlain, I’m sure me springing Burrett isn’t even in the top five of the dangerous choices made here. In fact, I can think of a worse one. You blackmailing Wilson.”
Chamberlain sat back and crossed his legs. He took a long drag on the cigarette. “What about it?”
Jayne’s eyes grew wide with disbelief. “What about it? You blackmail a government official and threaten his niece’s life. Seriously, the girl is innocent. She did not deserve to be dragged into this. I don’t care what your problem with Armaros is. What you did should get you put away for life.”
Expelled (Interplanetary Spy for Hire Book 1) Page 41
