Primacy of Darkness (18 page)

CHAPTER 23

Trinh awoke to the electronic sounds of various monitors clicking and beeping. She opened her eyes to the familiar image of Dr. Birch’s makeshift emergency room. She sat up and began pulling the electrodes from her skin and the air tube from beneath her nose.

Dr. Birch walked in holding a clipboard. “Ah, you’re up already. Not surprising. We had a hell of a time keeping you sedated. The V-cells identify anything drug-related as a toxin and work quite vigorously to destroy it.”

“V-cells? Oh, you mean my Hulk juice.”

Dr. Birch chuckled. “I suppose that’s as good a name as any, although I will find something a bit more marketable once I perfect it, if you don’t mind.”

Trinh waggled her fingers in a dismissive fashion.

“I have been going over your blood work.” She handed Trinh the clipboard. “If you can fill out this questionnaire, it will give me a better idea of how effective each dosage will be, given your level of activity and sustained injuries.”

Trinh took the clipboard and skimmed over the questions asking about the date and time of her last injection, dosage, physical activity, and injuries. “You’re just like the Internet offers. Just fill out the survey to receive your free yadda yadda yadda.”

“Well, this yadda has twice saved your life, so I hope you find it’s worth the bother.”

“It’s less painful than my health insurance deductible.”

“Speaking of pain, how do you feel?”

Trinh traveled her eyes up and down her body and moved around. “Good, actually.”

“It’s been roughly forty-eight hours since your initial injection of 50cc of serum and your V-cell count is down seventy percent. That should give you a rough idea for dosage. If you could avoid getting shot for a few days, I would like to check the natural rate of attrition.”

“Natural rate of attrition?”

“The rate at which your body uses up the V-cells without having to heal serious injuries. Since your body does not produce them naturally, the injections are your only source, and those have to be replaced just like fuel in a car. Mashing the gas and drag racing uses more than just puttering down the road.”

“So you need to know how much mileage I get in both city and highway driving.”

“Exactly. It would be bad if you suddenly ran out during a race.”

“Fine, but don’t expect any results for a while. I can’t promise I won’t get shot again soon. So, if we are done swapping analogies, I’d really like to get back to work.”

“It’s a shame you can’t work with the vampires. It would speed my research significantly.”

Trinh removed her gown, and Dr. Birch tossed her a clean shirt. “Maybe I can bring you some organs or something if you think it would help.”

“Could you?”

The hunter gave the doctor a blank stare. “No.”

“Well, if you change your mind.” She handed Trinh a stoppered glass jar. “Here’s a refill of your prescription. With what is already in your system, it shouldn’t be quite as traumatic as the first time.”

Trinh took the vial and syringe. “Thanks again, Doc.”

“Do try not to get shot. I really need to get that baseline.”

Trinh waggled her fingers over her shoulder.

It was still dark with no sign of the morning’s arrival. She did not know how long she had spent at Dr. Birch’s lab, but she was confident it wasn’t long. She pulled her phone from the rugged metal case and checked the time. Just as she had thought, it was only about two hours since she left to confront Malone. Two hours to almost completely recover from a wound that would have taken at least two weeks before. She could certainly work with that.

She paused a minute as she straddled her motorcycle and strapped on her helmet. She was furious at having lost Malone a third time, especially when she had been so close. If it had not been for that stupid cop, Malone would be dead, and her family could rest in peace. Trinh was not sure she ever would, even if she did finally kill Malone.

Trinh rubbed at the spot on her side where she had branded herself with the dog tag Malone had dropped when he attacked her village. It was a connection that even death could not sever.

She revved the engine and left a long, black strip of rubber behind her. Trinh slowed to a reasonable speed once she got on the populated streets. She had answered enough questions tonight with Dr. Birch and the last thing she wanted was to answer a cop’s because she got pulled over for speeding.

Trinh made it back to their loft and stormed in. “Do you have him?”

Carol’s head snapped up from staring at her screen. “Huh?”

“Mo’ Money! Do you know where he lives?”

“Yeah, I did a reverse traceroute. Took some time, but I got it. He lives on 78th in Forest Hills. I was able to get his personal information from his ISP bill. His name’s Marvin. He totally looks like a Marvin.”

“Grab your stuff. It’s time to pick him up.”

Carol unplugged her laptop and slipped it into a soft carry case. “Trinh, what happened?”

“I found Malone. I had him dead to rights, but a cop shot me before I could finish him. So now we need to get Mo’—Marvin to use as bait to bring him to us.”

“You got shot? Are you okay?” Carol asked, her voice rising.

“I’m fine. Dr. Birch’s Hulk juice did the job. Still hurts like hell, but it’s getting better. I don’t how long it will take Malone to recover, so let’s go and get his friend while he’s still off-balance.”

Carol slipped the laptop bag’s strap over her shoulder and headed for the door. “Fine, but we don’t need to hurt Marvin.”

“That’s entirely up to him.”

Carol took their SUV while Trinh followed on her motorcycle. It was a thirty-minute drive from their loft in East Williamsburg to Marvin’s apartment. The hunters parked their vehicles around the corner, out of view of Marvin’s building.

Trinh joined Carol in the SUV and dug through the satchel on her lap. “I brought some explosives to blow the door if it’s locked and he won’t open up. I’ll need you to disable his security cameras so I can approach unseen. I don’t want him getting spooked and calling Malone before we are ready for him.”

“Okay, how about we put a pin in the whole ‘blowing the shit out of everything’ approach and try something subtle,” Carol suggested.

“Like what?”

“Like, I go ring the bell, get him to let me in, and tell you when you can come grab him.”

“Do you think you can get him to open up? Malone has obviously filled him in on what’s been happening, so he’s probably pretty paranoid.”

Carol was glad it was dark inside the car so Trinh did not see the blush she felt spreading across her face. “We have a rapport.”

“How will I know when to come?”

“I’ll leave a phone connection open so you can hear me. We can use the code word
bat cave
as the signal for you to come in. I’ll give you the green light once I disable Marvin’s security.”

“I don’t like the idea of you going in there by yourself.”

Carol pulled out her phone and showed Trinh Marvin’s picture. “This is Marvin. Trust me, I’m not in danger. If things really go south, I’m like seventy-five percent sure I can kick his ass.”

“If he even lets you inside.”

Carol rolled her eyes. “Please, I’m adorable. If I had brought my cosplay outfit, he’d give me a key to his apartment and his ATM card.”

“Fine, but if anything goes wrong, you shout, and I’ll be there in three seconds.”

Carol called Trinh’s phone and slipped it back into her bag, leaving the line open so her partner could eavesdrop. She rounded the corner and skipped across the street to the building's entrance.

The outer door had a typical electronic lock allowing residents to buzz in guests. Carol retrieved an electronic box the size of a pack of cigarettes out of her satchel and held it against the door. She pushed a button to activate the electromagnet and opened the door. She then pulled a large wad of chewing gum from her mouth and crammed it into the locking mechanism to hold it open for Trinh. Shoving two new sticks of gum in her mouth, Carol bounded up the stairs to the top floor and rang the bell.

Marvin looked over at one of his ancillary computer screens to see who was outside his door. A cute girl with black hair and heavy eyeshadow smiled and waved at the camera monitoring the length of the short hallway.

Marvin pushed a button on his captain’s chair. “Uh…hello?”

“Hey, Mo’,” Carol said in her best Curly imitation. “Hey, it’s me, Circe!”

What
? Marvin’s mouth formed silently, and he began checking his other camera feeds.

He had several cameras placed around the building and clicked through each of them in turn. Nothing suspicious showed up. No sign of any killers lying in wait around the corner. He replayed the video from the camera watching the building’s apartment entrance and saw Circe, if that was who she really was, skipping across the street to the front door.

He turned his attention back to the image outside his apartment door. “How did you find me?”

Carol chewed on the end of her fingertip and ground the toe of her shoe against the floor as if she were stamping out a cigarette. “I embedded a tiny bit of code that let me do a reverse traceroute back to your real IP address.”

“How do I know it’s really you?”

Carol appeared to think for a moment then lifted her shirt just as she had in the picture. She bent at the waist, wide-mouthed in a silent, exaggerated laugh as she looked up at the camera.

Marvin’s legs moved without conscious command from his brain. With nothing more than rudimentary nerve impulses controlling his movement, he tripped over his own feet and tumbled down the three short steps leading off of the “bridge”. He rolled to his feet, almost managing to make the fall look planned, straightened his shirt, and took a deep breath to steady his wildly firing nerves. He turned a bronze bust of Patrick Stewart to face the far wall.

“Sorry, Jean-Luc, but I gotta go Kirk for this mission.” He strode toward the door. “Now, to boldly go where no nerd has gone before.”

He flipped the half-dozen deadbolt locks in rapid succession and opened the door.

“Oh my God, you’re even cuter in real life, with your shirt all buttoned up to your neck and everything.” Carol looked past Marvin to the room beyond and pushed past him. “Oh my God, your apartment is so awesome!”

“Uh…yeah, thanks,” Marvin stammered as he fought to free the top button on his shirt.

Carol picked up one of the packaged figurines from a display stand. “Is this a first series Boba Fett in the original package? NRFB!” She turned and saw Marvin’s Enterprise bridge and squealed, with her fists bunched beneath her chin. “You have a Next Gen bridge!” She raced across the room but pulled up short next to the bust of Patrick Stewart. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?” She dropped her voice several octaves. “Permission granted, Ensign.”

Carol bounded up the steps, threw herself into the command chair, and spun around several times. “That does it, I am so getting one of these. Oh, I could do a Voyager bridge! I know, Janeway is like the third best captain in the series, but someone’s gotta represent the ladies. Bunch of space misogynists!”

Marvin, so absorbed in Carol’s flouncing enthusiasm for all things nerdy, never noticed his security monitors flicker. “Uh, so, my name is Marvin.”

Carol smiled. “I know. It’s on your Internet bill, which is how I found you. My name’s Carol. I love your bat cave.”

“Yeah, thanks. I can’t believe you got into my system.”

“I know! It’s totally top-notch work. No way I could have gotten in without your permission.” She flashed Marvin an exaggerated wink. “Good thing I got a pair of master keys.”

Marvin swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and tried not to think of the other, less-controlled but equally uncomfortable reactions going on with his body. “What, ah, why did you want to come over?”

Carol’s lips curved into a frown, and she slouched in her chair. “Promise you won’t get mad at me?”

“I don’t think I could ever be mad at you.”

“You say that, but I think you’re going to be mad at me.”

Marvin smiled. “Try me.”

“Okay. Well…I kinda came over because I have to kidnap you.”

Marvin blinked several times. “What?”

“Kidnap you,” Trinh said from the doorway, courtesy of the door Marvin forgot to lock behind him.

Marvin’s eyes darted between Trinh and Carol. “Oh, shit! You’re that crazy bitch who’s been trying to kill Leo!” He looked back at Carol. “Aw, man, I did get catfished!”

“You’re going to get a lot worse than that if you do anything stupid,” Trinh said as she stalked toward him with her pistol drawn.

Carol lurched from her seat and placed herself between Trinh and Marvin. “He’s not going to do anything stupid.” She looked at Marvin, “Right?”

Marvin shook his head.

She locked eyes with Trinh. “And you’re not going to hurt him.”

“That’s up to him. Go sit over there. If you touch anything, I’ll shoot your fingers off.”

Marvin held his hands up in front of his chest with his fingers splayed and sat on the corner of his bed. Not knowing how cool Carol was with anime, he really wished it was not covered with his Dragon Ball Z bedspread and matching pillowcases.