Book 2: Chapter 36: Enemies? (1/2)

Dan couldn't be sure what his client had intended, when they'd hired him to deliver a plastic tub of body parts, but Dan was pretty sure that this wasn't part of the plan. There were now—Dan did a quick headcount—approximately seventeen cops swarming the storage facility. The entrance was blocked off by squad cars, and there were more flashing lights than at a blockbuster premier.

Homicide detectives were taking pictures of the locker, while another interviewed Dan. He didn't recognize any of them. Baker was nowhere to be found because, despite Dan's paranoia, there was no actual evidence yet implicating either Coldeyes' Crew, or the People. It was just a body in a tub in a locker. And a Dan.

”So you never actually met the client in person?” the detective, who had introduced herself as Sarah McKay, asked him.

Dan shook his head. ”We only corresponded through my business email. They sent the delivery information and payment. I require a contact number for emergencies but I can't imagine it's real after seeing this.”

”We'll need it anyway,” Detective McKay told him. ”You never know when a criminal will make a stupid mistake like giving out their actual phone number.”

Dan shrugged. ”Sure.”

He pulled out his phone, brought up the email, and rattled off the contact number he'd been given. McKay scribbled it down on a notepad, then asked, ”And where were you meant to deliver this?”

Dan consulted the email, then told her.

”Do you know the individual who you were delivering to?” she asked.

Dan shook his head. ”I'm just a courier. I go where I'm paid to go. I don't think I've ever even been to that part of town before.”

”It's a dangerous place to be right now,” she noted.

”Where isn't?” Dan replied.

McKay chose not to answer that, instead switching track. ”Did you open the tub?”

”That was the first officer on scene,” Dan corrected. ”My mutation gives me a rough idea of my surroundings, and my work as a crisis volunteer has exposed me to more than my fair share of bodies. When I sensed what was inside, I immediately called the police.”

A sharp whistle rang out from somewhere behind the storage unit, then an officer rounded the corner at a jog. His arms flailed like a startled octopus as he attempted to flag down McKay. The woman regarded him with confusion, as he shouted, ”The cameras!”

Dan glanced at one of the nearby security cameras. It was positioned five units away, mounted on a corner and facing towards the crime scene. Unlike the rest of the storage complex, the cameras were actually in somewhat decent condition, though they all looked like something out of a nineties heist film. Large, boxy, and painted white, with a blinking red dot to show that it was active, the cameras served as an adequate warning that the premises was under watch.

They were also the sole source of surveillance, given that there wasn't even a guard posted, so that was probably less useful than one might assume. Dan guessed that the owner hoped the overt cameras would scare off thieves, and was too miserly to spring for an actual deterrent.

”The cameras!” the officer repeated, coming to a halt in front of McKay. In his hand was a cell phone. ”I've got the owner on the phone. He says the cameras are props!” He gestured towards the camera, and its blinking light. ”As in: plastic! I just finished checking the facility, and confirmed it. None of the cameras are hooked up to anything! Even the lights are just cheap LEDs mounted inside a hollow case.”

”So?” McKay asked. ”What's your point?”

”I've got the Double-E's upgrade,” the officer explained, waving his hand up and down in front of his eyes. ”The Electric Eyes. I can see electrical activity. Sir, the camera watching this unit is active! It's hooked up to something, and transmitting!”

Dan and McKay both stared blankly for a few seconds, as the implications clicked in.

McKay spun on her heel to face the camera, and strode towards it like an angry bull.

”Follow those cables!” she bellowed to the officer behind her, pointing towards the camera. ”Tell me where they lead!”

He hurried after her, as every other officer stopped what they were doing to watch.

”It looks like they just go inside,” the officer said, as he circled the building.

”Open that unit!” McKay ordered. A nearby officer tossed her a crowbar, and she knelt next to the lock.