Chapter 44 (1/2)

The interrogation room was cold and cramped. A single light hovered over a steel table casting the edges of the room in shadow. Daniel sat in a stiff metal chair, hunched over and handcuffed. Another Dan stared at him from across the room, his reflection in the one-way glass, still dirty and disheveled from fighting. His body was sore, despite the brief combat, and his wrist ached from using the police baton like a cattle prod.

He was, to summarize, extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, he knew the situation was only temporary. His bonds were a polite fiction at best, considering his ability to teleport. It was a display of trust, though a small one. It would be a colossally stupid decision for Dan to leave the room without permission. He was a suspect in the kidnapping of a police officer and a student, at least for now. There were dozens of witnesses in and around the parking lot, and Dan had spotted a few security cameras as well. He would be fine.

Nearly the instant that thought passed through Dan's head, the door to the interrogation room swung open. Sergeant Kaneda Ito strolled inside, still in uniform and with a manila folder tucked under his arm. He spun a ring of keys idly around his finger as he approached Dan's little table.

”Well this is a fine mess you've found yourself in,” the gruff officer stated. He leaned past Dan, keys in hand, and began to unlock the handcuffs.

They came apart with a click, and Dan rubbed his wrists. ”Sorry.”

He couldn't find it in himself to make a joke.

”S'not your fault, kid.” Ito waved off the apology. His other hand dropped the manila folder down onto the table. ”Your story checked out.”

Dan's body slumped in relief. He wasn't worried, exactly. He knew that he was innocent, but it was still comforting to hear it said out loud. Especially by someone in uniform.

”So what now?” Dan asked anxiously. ”How do we find Graham and Gregoir?”

The scarred officer snorted lightly. ”We do nothing. You're a civilian, remember? Your ride along has ended, and with it, the protections that it afforded you under the law. Leave this to the professionals, we deal with kidnappings all the time.”

”So it was a kidnapping, then?” Dan inquired, leaning forward keenly. ”Was Graham the target?”

The young student certainly looked rich enough to justify that sort of action. Dan had rarely considered that particular downside of wealth. It just seemed like the sort of thing that, if and when it happened, happened... elsewhere. Even after hearing Abby's stories, he'd just dismissed the idea.One more thing to chalk up to stupid naiveté.

He really needed to call Abby.

Ito seemed caught between amusement and annoyance. He gave Daniel a long, considering look, clearly calculating how much should be said.

”No,” he grunted after a moment. ”No one was a target.”

That caught Dan a little off guard.

”Not to point out the obvious,” he said hesitantly, more than aware that he was speaking to a veteran police officer, ”but two people are missing. Kidnapped, or, however you'd like to describe it. That sort of implies that at least one of them was targeted.”

Ito nodded. ”You'd think so, wouldn't you?”

”...Yes?” Dan offered, not quite sure if he was asking and answering.

”Well, you'd be wrong. Assumptions are dangerous. This is why.”

The unexpected statement silenced Dan. It seemed ludicrous on the surface. It didn't take a genius to evaluate this particular situation. Mind control plus missing people equals kidnapping. Simple arithmetic.

What was he missing?

Fortunately, Ito took pity on him before Dan could tie his own brain into knots.

”If Mr. Charleston planned to abduct the three of you, then why did you encounter his partner in the parking lot?” Ito asked pointedly. He slid to the opposite side of the table and dropped into the open chair. ”Why did Mr. Charleston give you the order to leave, rather than to go somewhere with him?” Ito leaned forward and flipped open the manila folder. ”Why bother installing this beneath Gregoir's squad car?”

The folder was filled with pictures of the vehicle's undercarriage. A square device, both bulky and electronic, was attached to a random bit of protruding metal, alongside a stick of something that looked frighteningly similar to a plastic explosive.

Dan's mouth went dry. ”Is that what I think it is?”

He had assumed that Smoke Guy had planted a bomb during his brief skirmish, but he hadn't really internalized the idea. It was more of an instinctive reaction rather than any sort of intellectual thought. Had he seen the blasted thing earlier, Dan might've just abandoned the parking lot entirely. He may have been spoiling for a fight at the time, but nothing could take the wind out of a man's sails quite like an explosion.

Ito smirked, the scar on his face twisting with the motion. ”Tracker.” He tapped his finger on the largest part of the device. ”Bomb.” He tapped a different picture, where a large stick of semtex was clearly visible.

”Just thought you should know what you were brawling beside.”

Dan's thoughts quietly groaned to a halt. He searched in vain for something insightful to say. ”A tracker?”

”Mmm.” Ito nodded, visibly amused by Dan's distress. ”Why a tracker, do you think?”

Good, a question; something for Dan to focus on other than an alternate timeline, where he was a few seconds slower to react and Smoke Guy reduced him to chunky salsa. He thought back to the hotel lobby, focusing hard on the muddled mess of memories. Eddie had talked quite a bit; his orders worded as suggestions that took root in Daniel's addled mind. What was it that he had said?

”He wanted us to forget,” Dan murmured, lost in the memory. ”He wanted us to go about our day, and not think about what had happened. He told us to leave.”

Dan paused, puzzling over the implications. ”We would've gone about our patrol, and returned to the station with a bomb strapped to the bottom of our car. Was that the idea? An attack on the police station?” The idea alone was horrifying. He glanced down at the pictures scattered on the table, searching out the close-up of the bomb. The chunk of plastic explosive was as thick as his arm. Dan couldn't begin to guess how destructive it would've been.

”A distraction,” Ito corrected, derailing Dan's train of thought. The older man leafed through the folder once more, and produced a document with a mugshot of Eddie. ”Eddie Charleston, alias 'Edict'. He's wanted for a string of kidnappings on the East coast. His usual modus operandi is to simply approach his victim while they are in a public space, and use his upgrade to bring them elsewhere.”

Dan's nose wrinkled. ”That thing he walloped us with is an upgrade? I figured it was a mutation, at least.”

”A banned upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless,” Ito confirmed. He scanned the document in his hand. ”It was created by an adult novelty supplier for...” He coughed into his fist. ”Roleplay purposes. They got it past the licensing board on the back of several bribes, and the upgrade was outlawed within a month of its release. The effects on a person were extraordinarily similar to the date-rape drug rohynpnol.”

Dan processed that. ”So his power literally roofies people?”

”You could say that,” Ito acknowledged grimly. ”And, he has a history of using it on children and young adults.”

”What a creep.”

Dan's frank evaluation startled a laugh out of Ito.