“Case related?”
“Might be the most important piece.”
Flask brightened at the thought. “Hit me.”
“There’s a body at an address I’m giving to you. You’ll know him right away ‘cause someone wired cameras to his eyeballs.” I shook my head at his expression. “Long story. Bottom line is I need you to ID it. Get forensics on it if you need to. Then I’ll need the full report: known associates, family, etc.”
He glanced at his holoband as the info synched. “Got it. I’ll get back with you soon as something comes up.”
“All right. Get outta here, Flask. Do some cop stuff. I’ll be in touch.”
“You going to tell me what your plan is?”
“Can’t. Not until I figure out how Natalie is tied into surveillance. She could be listening to us right now.”
He nodded. “All right then. Make sure to get back with me.”
“Whatever you say, Chief.”
He stood. “By the way, I received a rather angry call from Bugsy’s. Casino manager wanted to know why the hell one of my detectives was roughing up his patrons.”
I gave him my most roughish grin. “Cost of doing business. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, well give me a warning next time. And after this is over you’re turning in that badge. I knew giving you one was going to bite me in the ass.”
“Whatever you say, Chief. You sure Angel is safe?”
His face sobered. “As safe as I can get her. Stay frosty, Mick. See you soon.”
Benny worked his way over, beefy face scrunched as he stared suspiciously at the departing detective. “What’d the gumshoe want?”
“Same thing we all want, Benny. For us to bring this to end.”
“Yeah, well that puts us on the same page for once. The question is: how?”
I picked my Bogart off the table and placed it on my head, tilting it just the way I liked it. Then I paid the bill via a swipe of the receipt across my holoband, including a tip for the scrawny blonde. “By getting some dirt on our hands. Let’s breeze, Ace.”
“I saw Natasha take off. You putting her somewhere for safekeeping?”
“Nope. She’s on her own now, Benny.”
“You letting her go off on her own? Maybe it’s none of my business, but I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mick.”
“I didn’t let her go, Benny. She let go of me. And that might’ve been the best thing she could have done. For her, and for me.”
“Yeah? I thought you two had a thing.”
“We have a thing. Something fragile and precious enough to know you gotta set it down before you break it. That’s why she had to leave, Benny. And that leaves me free to do what I gotta do.”
“And what’s that?”
My jaw clenched. “End this.”
Chapter 16: The Screws Tighten
“Maxine, dial up Ms. Sinn.”
Dialing.
Sinn’s almond-shaded features appeared on the heads-up display. “Hello, Mick. You must need me to find Natalie for you.”
“You made the offer, Ms. Sinn. I thought I’d take you up on it.”
“I took the liberty of starting the preliminaries. It turned out a bit more difficult than I expected.”
“Waitaminute — you already started the search?”
Her smile was coy as she gazed from the display with beckoning eyes. “I calculated a 92.37 percent chance of you making this call. When you did, I wanted to have the ball rolling.”
“But you ran into a problem?”
“Yes. It appears one of Natalie’s crew is a bioroid, as you like to call us.”
“Like you, with all the cybernetics in your head?”
“There’s no one like me, Mick. But in answer to your question — he has similar abilities. He appears to be sporting Gen 6 tech. Very impressive. Seems as though the Service is pulling out all the stops for you.”
“Yeah, lucky me. What does it all mean, Sinn?”
“It means he has instant access to the entire network of surveillance in New Haven. Every orbot, every camera installed on the streets, buildings, and even unprotected holobands. Your movements would be effortlessly tracked were it not for the cloning signal I synched to you earlier. Our friend is working hard at overriding that even as we speak.”
“Fantastic. You’re able to do something about this, right?”
“If you acknowledge that we have a working relationship, then yes. It’s entirely up to you.” Her gaze was almost sensual as she waited for my response.
I hesitated. Sinn might have been great on the eyes, but I knew she was up to something. There was some angle she was trying to get at, or she never would have bothered to offer her services. She wanted something in return, something I couldn’t figure out at the moment. But that made her no different than anyone else in New Haven.
“All right, say we’re in the back scratching business. What can you do to even out the odds?”
Her eyes became unfocused. Though she still looked at me through the video display, I knew she saw something else. Endless streams of data and coding only her enhanced mind could decipher.
“I can use a tracking program to find our tech-savvy friend. When I do, I’ll send you the coordinates.”
“What, you can’t do that now? I thought you were a cybernetic whiz and all.”
She gave a slight shake of her head, still focused on the invisible data. “You have no idea what I’m dealing with. This man is nearly as skilled as I am, and he’s aware I’m looking for him. Every stream I touch is potentially a trap loaded with the equivalent of digital napalm meant to infiltrate my system and shut down my functions. At the same time I’m uploading similar digital virus programs meant to do the same to him. It’s like playing tennis with an unpinned hand grenade. Surely you understand the analogy.”
“Sounds explosive. Call me back if you’re the one left standing.” I waved the display away.
Blurred buildings and electric lights whizzed by as Maxine weaved in and out of traffic. Droplets of rain skidded across the surface the windshield as other cars ate our vapor trails, but it still felt as if we moved in slow motion. I could almost feel the time as it disappeared, tick by tick, counting down to a deadline with an emphasis on dead.
Maxine squealed into a lot at the fringes of the Trade District. Benny and I stepped out and fell in with the crowds that milled about despite the drizzle. Umbrellas were as common as hats and just as fashionable. Some were decorated with fringes, feathers, even blinking lights. They bobbed together in a display of organized chaos as the thick crowds attended to their spending addictions by visiting the endless vendors vying for their attention. From sidewalk booths to towering shopping malls, everything had a price and everyone was fair game to hustle or get hustled.
Most everybody had a reason to go to the Trade District, unless they suffered from severe agoraphobia or were so ripe with berries they could afford to get mugged by the shops in the Uppers. Otherwise they came to the District for everything from cloned cucumbers to synthetic servants for their mansions. The forecast called for heavy spending, and like the rest of New Haven it rained every day.
We wandered past the center and made our way to the back lots, known affectionately as the Gray Market. Less savory than its brighter lit counterparts, it was the part of the District where the real deals went down. The buildings were older, the lights dimmer. It was nearly as crowded as up front, but the patrons were a bit shadier. Nine out of ten packed heat in case things got shifty.
Things always got shifty in the Gray Market.
Vendors called out their wares, hoping to snag the curious or inexperienced.
“Got red hot peppers. Grown right here in the Haven. Guaranteed to scorch yer guts.”