Lewis stared blankly at it. One of the officers had given him a wet washcloth to get the blood off his face, but she’d said he wouldn’t be permitted to go back to his hotel and change for a while. They’d wanted to take him to the hospital to get the bullet removed, but Gonzalez forbade them to let him leave, so they had a well-trained EMT do it at one of the tables upstairs. He was now all patched up, and both he and Jenna had already been thoroughly questioned.
Gonzalez told the cops that, due to the nature of the “corruption” case, neither he nor Jenna were permitted to discuss why exactly the “hitmen” had been after them, citing national security concerns. Lewis did, however, tell them everything that had happened over the past few hours, including the murder of the policeman on the bridge. He also told the officers that Blackwell had bragged about the footage being edited or even deleted, which given the hushed frantic conversations of the detectives in charge, appeared to have some validity to it.
Once they became concerned with a mole in the police department, the investigators quickly lost interest in Lewis and he was left without instruction. He’d been aimlessly wandering around the dance floor since.
Jenna sat on a bar stool some distance away, still being questioned. Gonzalez finished talking with one of the detectives, then approached him.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I’ve had better days.”
“Some vacation, huh?”
“Technically, it was a business trip.”
Gonzalez looked around Solaria. “Seemed like a nice club. Shame we had to tear it up.”
“I’m just glad nobody innocent got hurt.”
“But they already have,” she said, growing more serious. “This Arcadia business has been going on for months. We need to put an end to it ASAP.”
“Blackwell and Caruso are planning their next moves as we speak. Once the S.W.A.T. team leaves, they’ll find a way back. They’ve invested too much in this to let either of us go.”
“We’re going to be out of here soon. I’ve requested an unmarked car from the Vegas PD. The three of us are going to Arcadia. Tonight.”
“Tonight? Still?” He glanced at his watch. It was barely 9PM, but he felt exhausted.
“You said they weren’t well guarded. We should be able to sneak in and get to the other building. Whatever agency is behind this is never going to let us get a warrant; they’ll find a way of interfering with due process. The only way to get hard evidence is to sneak in there and take it, like you tried to do. Although this time, you’ll have backup.”
“That’s crazy. Jenna and I aren’t trained at all.”
“I know, but you’re alternative is staying here like sitting ducks. If a government agency wants you dead, not even the police will be able to protect you. I’m surprised they haven’t altered your and Jenna’s criminal records and forged warrants for your arrests yet. I’d rather not wait around for that to happen.”
“I have no clue if what we find there will be any use.”
“We know that Arcadia has to be where the final brainwashing occurs. Clearly, the game by itself is not enough to induce homicidal psychosis. So they must do something else to the gamers there. Not to mention they kidnapped a person last night. Remember?”
He nodded. He hated to think what they might be doing to the poor person.
“They have access to the security cameras all over Vegas,” Lewis pointed out. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a special drone flying overhead. They’ll know we’re on our way.”
“Not necessarily. In movies, they always make it seem like the conspiracy is much larger than it actually is. Whoever is funding this Zhao guy, it’s probably a rogue element of an existing agency that is funneling money from other projects toward this side venture. Think about it, they could have framed you for murder and had the Vegas PD come after you by now, but they haven’t yet. It doesn’t mean they’re not trying to get access to those sort of things, it means they don’t have easy access to begin with. They sent some of their own people after you two as a quick op, and then those people fucked up.
“There were three of them. Two were probably surveilling you at the pool. They followed Jenna up to her room and were supposed to grab her there while one waited in the car, keeping the engine running. It was supposed to be in and out. But she got away, and then you got mixed up, and then one of them killed a cop, and then the whole incident here happened, and now one of them is dead. Zhao is probably freaking out right now. He ran a low profile in the desert for six months, but now his people have become a liability. I wouldn’t be surprised if his bosses decide to torch everything and terminate the project – and him along with it.”
“If they killed everyone involved, that would be convenient for us.”
Gonzalez shook her head. “Probably not. If they bring in real professionals – I’m talking top-level black ops teams who you won’t be able to outrun – then we’re all dead. Zhao’s employers will want to wipe the slate completely clean, and they’ll leave nothing behind.”
“How long do we have before that happens?”
“Probably not long. I would say tonight is our last chance to get in there before the clean-up crew scrubs it off the face of the Earth.”
Lewis nodded and sighed. He hated the thought of going back there, but those two words sifted through his memory like the whispers of a distant dream.
“Arcadia awaits.”
He could see Jenna standing there, drenched in blood, her eyes turning black and her lips curling into a sinister smile.
Lewis shook his head and turned back to Gonzalez. “When do we leave?”
“Soon,” she said.
One of the detectives, a lean Japanese man in his late 40s, walked up to them. “Agent Gonzalez, Officer Rogers just informed me that the car you requested is here.”
“Excellent. Thank you.” She turned to Lewis. “Get Jenna. We’re out of here.”
30
A cool breeze greeted Lewis as he climbed out of the passenger seat and looked around the gas station. It was a quiet night out here along this lone section of desert highway. US-93 stretched off to the horizon in each direction beneath the stars. A full moon shone down from the heavens. A large sign just off the road displayed a giant, glowing white letter G against a gray background. Theirs was the only vehicle here.
Gonzalez shut the driver’s side door of the unmarked white Nissan. “Can’t believe they didn’t give us a car without a full tank.”
“Guess they didn’t think we’d be driving so far,” Jenna said, getting out of the back and stretching. It was over 70 miles from downtown Las Vegas to Arcadia, and then another 70 back.
“We’re still about a half-hour away,” the FBI agent noted, glancing back the way they came. They hadn’t seen another car in ages.
“Can we grab some snacks or something quickly? I haven’t eaten in ages,” Jenna said, putting a hand on her stomach.
“Sure, be quick,” Gonzalez said, moving to the pump.
“Come on, Des.” There seemed to be something off about her tone. She led him to the convenience mart entrance and they went in. The air conditioning gave the store an unnecessary chill and the clerk behind the counter looked pale and bored reading a weathered paperback novel. His eyes flicked up from the page as they walked in, then returned down again.
The store had three aisles and a bunch of drinks along the back wall. Chips were in the second aisle and Jenna led him over to it. She sighed and put a hand to her forehead.