"What? I thought you just said—"
"Nothing… at first. Undaunted, I delved deeper. And found this.” He pointed, and a picjector clicked on. A holographic enlargement of one of the tattoos floated in front of us. It was almost hidden, an eagles’ head between the hands of one of the Indian tats. The image enlarged further until it focused on an eagle’s eye, right beneath the Indian's left hand.
"Ok, that shows us nothing.” Rob rubbed his face with a calloused hand. "This is getting real boring, really fast. Why don’t you quit stallin' and show us what you got?"
Frankie sighed. "Very well. Look closer.”
The image enlarged even further. Everyone leaned in. In the eagle’s iris was something…
"You know… that kinda looks like—"
"A code!" Ms. Kilby pointed. "It’s a series of symbols of some sort."
"Which still means nothing," Poddar said. "Not unless we have a program that can decode it, or a cipher to unlock it."
“That’s what we figured. Yet despite endless attempts, even the most complex decoding programs failed to solve the equation. The code is simply too complex. The origin of these symbols is completely foreign.”
"Perhaps." Tommy stepped up closer to the projection. The image continued to enlarge in greater detail. "Unless there is someone here who can unlock it."
It was hard not to notice he and Selene seemed to avoid looking at me.
"Wait." Frankie stood beside Tommy. “Wait. Why don’t we allow the Troubleshooter to take a closer look?”
I took a closer look… at Frankie. His voice was just pleased enough to send my suspicious nature to full alert mode.
"Ok, Frankie. I’ll cut a peep at your little crossword puzzle.”
It was an interesting sequence, if a series of alien numbers, letters and symbols could be called that. But I was no rocket scientist, and was just about to say so when something real gonzo happened.
The sequence suddenly clicked in my head. The numbers and letters were like a language, and I spoke the native tongue. I understood exactly what they spelled out.
A location. Not only that, it was local. Right there in New Haven.
I kept my voice real casual as I lit another smoke. “Looks like you tooted the wrong ringer, Frankie boy. Because all these numbers do is swell my egg. Never had a noodle for math.”
I tipped my Bogart politely. “Glad you got your leg back, Selene. You can settle that score for me at your earliest convenience. Good luck with cracking that code.”
There was a slight pause as I turned for the door.
Then everyone drew their weapons.
The sound of gun clicking and sword rasping is pretty loud when they’re all drawn at the same time. Tommy and Selene faced off again, this time with his Beretta pointed between her breasts, while her blade was placed right at his sweet spot. The bio pistol, which had snapped out of his sleeve, was pointed at me.
Probably because the Mean Ol’ Broad was pointed right at him.
Rob had his twin Peacemakers out in the direction of Kelly and Jen, who stood back to back with twin swords, while Poddar pointed his Thompson at Christina, who twirled her Bo staff in anticipation. Stinker’s chest rumbled as she snarled at the Gutter Girls.
I noticed another pistol aimed my way. Angel’s hand shook slightly. Probably because Ms. Kilby had put her Derringer to the back of Angel’s head.
All in all, the entire party was about one bullet shy of mass suicide. “Hey… ” I took a slow look around. “How’s about we jaw a little about this?”
“Only if you divulge the information you just interpreted.” Tommy may as well have been at a ballroom for the lack of concern he showed. “You may be a competent detective, but your acting needs work. Leave the Grimoire to people who can handle it.”
“Oh, like you, Tommy?” Selene was the opposite, almost as feral as a wolf. “You already owe me for my leg. I’ll take the book as payment. You’re the last person who can be trusted.”
“Look, let’s just be calm.” Poddar tried to move in front of Ms. Kilby while keeping his gun steady.
“Not when I have you right where I want you.” There was an edge to Frankie’s voice. Kinda like the edge of insanity.
I’d forgotten about him in the scuffle to suicide heaven. He held a strange looking apparatus in one hand. It looked a lot like a pistol.
I knew I was right when he shot me in the head.
Chapter 16: Pool Party
Sheet lightning.
It’s the closest comparison I could think of while waking up on the tiled floor. That’s what it looks like when a room full of tension filled, trigger-happy maniacs are gunning each other down in a room without lights.
I should have been dead. When I touched my temple, I felt what seemed to be a small pinprick. I quickly gathered what was left of my wits and assessed the situation.
First, Frankie had shot me with something other than a standard heater. The fact that the walls weren’t decorated with my brains proved that. Second, someone had doused the lights. Frankie would be the most likely suspect.
Third, Captain Graves had played me. The room was full of black coats, which meant the homing device was activated the moment it was handed to me. His button boys had moved in with guns blazing, completing the recipe for instant disaster. I had counted on that, actually. That’s why I warned Selene to heel-toe outta there as soon as she recovered her prize. Graves was nothing if not predicable.
I didn’t count on being shot in the head, though.
The brass were engaged in a close-quarters gun battle with Tommy’s goons, resulting in my first impression on waking up.
Sheet lightning.
I figured it was time to wake the Magic Dragon.
I stayed low while I scuffled behind some cabinets and pulled it out of the holster. I activated the prep mode. The wire frame extended into shape, followed by the alloy gel sealing and hardening in seconds, taking form as a heavy-duty mech rifle.
The Dragon was ready to spit fire.
While the rest of the rubes settled for blind shooting, I clicked the threat detector on. The display pulsed, automatically targeting anyone carrying a heater. Selene and the Gutter Girls should have cashed in on my warning to split, but I clicked the setting on stun for the sake of any dames who might have still been inside.
Like I said, soft spot.
I clicked on my datacom, hoping my little crew was still alive and could hear over the din of gunfire, screams and curses. “Drop your weapons and hit the deck!”
The charge cylinder spun as I stood up and fired. The room flashed as dozens of glowing rounds dropped their selected targets. As the bodies toppled, I ran for the door. It was way past time to blow that party.
When I hit the hallway I ditched the little homing device Detective Kennedy had given me. Now that the gig was up, there was no point on letting the brass keep tabs on me.
After that I ran like hell.
A couple of Tommy’s goons were unlucky enough to be guarding the stairwell. They seemed more shocked than anything when they saw me take nearly the entire flight of stairs in one leap. As they reached for their heaters I fired again, only this time the rounds weren’t set for stun.
Out the doors and into the foul, foggy air of Downtown. It never tasted sweeter. I ran into the drizzling rain and tapped my holoband. Maxine gleamed as she skidded around the corner and zipped my way. When she stopped on a dime, I gratefully pulled open the door.
Footsteps echoed behind me.
Lucky for Poddar I recognized him right before I almost sent him to the next world. Ms. Kilby, Rob and Stinker accompanied him. They looked a bit tattered, but in one piece.
Poddar gave me a wary look. “We heard you on the datacom.”
The Cowboy used his holoband to call his rusted pickup over. It squealed around the corner and pulled up behind us. “Good thing, too. Because it wasn’t looking pretty in there.”
“Anyone know what Frankie did to me?”
“After he shot you, the receiver in his hand appeared to receive some data,” Ms Kilby said. “A download, if you will. It was hard to tell anything else, because he disappeared along with the lights.”
Rob shook his head. “That’s impossible. You trying to say he hacked Mick’s mind? Can’t be done. Hell, you can’t even do that to a synoid unless—”
I tossed the Magic Dragon inside of Maxine. “Unless you’ve really got some heavy duty tech. And as the Savant’s assistant, he would. It doesn’t really matter right now. We have to assume he was able to hack my brain. It’s not like he needed everything. There’s only one thing he was looking for.”
“The location of the Grimoire.”
“Right. Frankie is obviously a tool for the New Man, which means he sent that location straight to the lug. The New Man will be headed there, if he’s not on the move already. Only we’re gonna beat him to it.”
I tapped a few keys on my holoband and sent Hunter Valentino an urgent message. I just hoped the chump was able to get it in time to lend a hand.
Rob gave me a sidelong glance. “You barely got a look at the code. How can you remember what you saw?”
“One look was all I needed. It’s all here.” I tapped my temple. “I remember everything except my past. The binary code was a map position. I know exactly where the Grimoire is. So hang on to your diapers, people. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”