Silence In Numbers: File One (17 page)

“It was a wise move this time. I’m sure you’re wondering who I am.”

“That’d be one of my questions, yeah.”

“One I can’t answer at this time. However, do know that I am going to help you.”

“Great. So what should I call you, Mysterious Messenger? The Night Man?”

“John Briggs is my name; one you won’t find in any database.”

“So it’s a fake name.”

“It’s as real as any name. You won’t need to know any more of that.”

“Fine. Let’s get to the part where you help me.”

“Very well.” The man pressed a button and a panel on the wall slid open to reveal a piece of paper. “On that is information that will aid you in discovering one of the paths your ‘bomber’ took through computer systems. It will take you one step closer to him.”

Sano picked it up. “Why didn’t you just send this in the message?”

“I prefer to do business face to face. Besides, there is something I need in return.”

“Of course there is. There’s always a catch.”

“It will be worth it for you, though. I will aid you more over the following days.”

“And in return?”

“In return, once your Captain Samakura has finished with this case, I want you to bring her here to meet me.”

“Ah…” Sano peered through the glass as if he hoped to see the man’s intentions just by looking hard enough. “So what you really want is to kill Katsumi.”

“Were that the case I would be aiding her target, not you. I only desire a face-to-face meeting with her.”

“Why?”

“I have information she will be interested in learning. About her condition.”

Sano frowned. “She doesn’t have any condition. Besides, why don’t you just give the information to me, and I’ll pass it to her?”

“I told you, I do business face to face.”

“Well, I’ll let her decide on that. We’ll see just how helpful you are before then. Thanks for the mysterious visit, Mr. Briggs.”

Sano headed for the exit, contacting Rufus. “It wasn’t a trap, but it was strange anyway. John Briggs - fake name - wants to help us in exchange for meeting the boss.”

“Hmm. Assassination?”

“Doesn’t sound like it. If nothing else this seems like a strange way to go about it.”

“Well, it’s not how I would do it, but maybe it’s personal. Captain Samakura has made a lot of enemies in her time. I should know, I was one of them. Briefly.”

“He did say he had information she’d want to know. I’m not sure if he even knows what he’s talking about.”

“I suppose that’s her decision. What about helping us, did he actually give you anything useful?”

Sano dropped the paper in the passenger seat of his car as he started it. “Maybe. I’ll have to check it out once I get back. Supposedly a lead on the target, a possible trace on one of his hacks.”

“Could be a false lead.”

“I considered that, but then, if he doesn’t lead us to the target, he won’t meet Kat – Captain Sama.”

“Good point. Well we’ll consider more based on whether or not this checks out, but I can’t imagine he’d set this up just to give us useless information.”

“It does seem pointless. I’ll let you know what I find; you keep working on your job. With luck we’ll have our boss back within the week.”

Sano worked on the data the moment he got back in his office and was unsurprised to find it actually helped. He managed to find the hacking method their target had used to hack the screen the day before. How the mysterious Briggs got a hold of such he had no idea, but he copied it and sent it to Katsumi’s phone right away with a short explanation of what it was.

He didn’t expect a reply and he didn’t get one. He hoped she’d received it, at least, as he turned in his chair to look out the window at the dark city beyond. “It’s gonna be a long week…”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi ducked into a doorway and pressed her back against the wall as bullets flew in after her. She’d expected troubles of this sort. As a well-known officer there were certain dangers one could expect in the less reputable areas of a city, and running into criminals with personal problems against you was one of them. There were eight of them outside, spread in different rooms down the hallway. Katsumi was fairly certain she could take them down easily.

She leaned out the door and fired twice, catching another one in the head before ducking back into the room to avoid the return fire. Pick them off one by one, use a little skill and intelligence, and they’d either leave or die eventually. All she had to do was take her time.

Unfortunately for Katsumi, fate decided that time was not something she’d have today. It started with a headache; at first she ignored it, but soon dread filled her. She’d worried about this before but so far she’d been lucky. Apparently, today was the day her luck ran out. She clenched her jaw as the pain began to spread through her body, leaning out again and firing more rapidly, suddenly aware that if she didn’t take these guys down fast, her chances were zero.

She managed to get another two but that still left five; five that would now be much harder to kill now that her vision was blurring. “No, no, no, no, no… Please, no…
Not now
…” Panic tore at Katsumi as she leaned against the wall, weakness draining her ability to fight. She resisted as long as she could but willpower could only do so much. The world swam before her eyes. Balance disappeared and she fell to the floor, the gun slipping from her hands.
Ayane… I’m about to be hard to reach again…

What? What’s going on?!

It’s hitting and… people are after me… They’re here to capture though, not kill. Try not to worry…
Katsumi grunted in pain, her eyes closing.

How… how can I not worry about that?!

Trust me… That’s how. I’ll let you know when I’m back. Just… keep calm…

Sumi…?

She heard footsteps cautiously nearing her room, but her hearing was dimming at the same time, giving her that familiar ‘through a tunnel’ effect.

Katsumi cursed fate, God and herself, but regardless of where the blame truly lied, one fact remained: she was done.

“Did we hit her?”

Sumi!

The words were distant; she barely registered them.

“I don’t think so, there’s no blood... Something’s wrong with her.”

“Good. That’s saved us a shitload of trouble. Grab her and let’s go.”

Please stay alive…

Katsumi half-noticed large hands gripping her arms before she finally fainted.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“So Captain Samakura was down here,” Rufus repeated his question.

“Yeah, like I already told ya.”

The man sitting a few feet from where Rufus and Law were standing was a wholly unpleasant man in Rufus’ opinion. His house reflected that; Rufus wouldn’t dare sit on anything in the dingy place in his pristine white suit. The man himself was even worse; a dirty, odorous, loathsome rat of a man. The left side of his face sported some nasty bruising and he rubbed at his neck as he continued, “Bitch gave me a lotta trouble. Broke my door down, attacked me. That ‘ow you guys do things now?”

Rufus moved his foot as a roach crawled past, looking from it to the man, Lou Phelps, as if he considered him and the vermin equals. Which he did. “It depends on who we’re dealing with, Mr. Phelps. Can you tell me what she asked?”

“She was lookin’ fer some guy named ‘Director’.”

“And did you give her anything to help with that?”

“A name.”

“What was the name?”

“Gamlen Ordo. Sort’ve a merc boss who got some guys for ‘im.”

“Excellent. Anything else?”

“No, ‘cause it doesn’t matter.” The man grinned, revealing a clear lack of dental hygiene.

“Why not?” Rufus asked curiously.

“You guys got no right t’be down ‘ere, so I tipped Gamlen off she was comin’.” He snickered.

“You’ll prob’ly find nothin’ but a corpse.”

Law looked at Rufus, who tapped his chin. “…I see.”

“An’ you can’t do anythin’ t’me, that ain’t the law.”

“Mhmm.” Rufus drew his pistol, shooting the man square in the forehead. “You saw that, right, Law?”

“You mean how he tried to attack you?” Law shrugged. “Damn tragedy.”

“Indeed.” Rufus holstered his pistol. “Let’s go pay Ordo a visit, and fast. I really doubt he’ll get Captain Samakura, but I’m not willing to leave it to chance.”

“Right behind you.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Katsumi woke with a scream, jerking and unable to breathe. Only after it stopped did she recognize the effects of electrocution.
An old friend
… She opened her eyes to see that she was inside some basement, which was not surprising in the least. A few thugs stood before her, including one undoubtedly more important man who was looking at her like a dog with a bone. Unlike some of his men he wore a suit and looked far cleaner.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, Ms. Samakura. I hear you’re looking for me. It appears you’ve been successful.”

Katsumi tried to stand only to realize her wrists were manacled to the wooden chair she’d been placed in. Wiring connected to the manacles showed her where the shock came from.

“Yes, I’m quite aware rope would be useless on you. I wanted a conversation, though, with one of the people who have made our enterprises so difficult over the last few years.”

Katsumi shot him a glare that could melt metal. “You’re just asking for a painful death, aren’t you?”

The man shook his head and pressed a button on the remote he held. Katsumi screamed again as electricity ran through her, setting her nerves on fire. It lasted long enough for her to smell burning before he turned it off. “We can have as many of these lessons as you like. Sooner or later you’ll learn to be my pet, and then you’ll get to leave the chair and get a collar. Won’t that be fun?”

Katsumi seethed, grinding her teeth together and testing the manacles with a few pulls.

The man gleefully electrocuted her for another ten seconds, enjoying the screams. “Those are reinforced, my dear, you won’t be breaking them. Calm down and chat with me.” He grinned, obviously trying to get under her skin. “Why don’t you tell me the kind of outfits you’d like to wear for me? I do try to be kind; I’ll let you wear your preference, so long as it’s suitably… entertaining.” He was enjoying having such a powerful enemy in this position far too much.

Katsumi wrenched her hands down, setting her feet firmly on the floor. She looked down for a few seconds before realization hit her and she smiled. “Alright then… You’ve hit the jackpot because, let me tell you, you have no idea what I can do.” She looked up at him through her hair, her voice lowering to a sultry tone. “I can do things for you…” She smiled playfully. “To you… in exchange for letting me go. All I want is to get out of here.”

She obviously had the man’s attention now, as well as the attention of the other men in the room. She tilted her head, letting her violet hair fall to hide one eye. “I can’t fight my way out of this and I have more important things to get to, so I’ll do whatever you want in return for a quick release.”

“This is a pathetic escape attempt.”

Katsumi shook her head. “I can’t do an escape attempt. There’s only one way out of here and even if I somehow took you out while we were alone – while in this chair where you can shock me at any time – I don’t have any weapons and your men would be guarding the only exit.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You’re really trying to barter for your escape?”

“Really. I’ll do anything to catch the man I’m after. I just want you to promise you’ll release me.”

The man grinned. “Very well.” He waved to his men to exit the room and guard right outside the doorway. Once they were alone he walked towards her. “I still think you’re bluffing, but that will make it more entertaining. I’m not letting you out of that chair and I’m keeping this,” he held up the remote, “in my hand.” He gripped Katsumi’s chin roughly, enjoying the disgusted look she got, and pressed his lips to hers in the worst excuse for a kiss she’d ever imagined was possible. He even had the gall to shove his tongue down her throat. It took everything she had not to retch right then.

At least until she snapped the chair arm free with her right hand and stood, spinning around him and wrapping her free arm around his neck from behind. She set her left foot on the chair and shoved, tearing the other arm free just in time as the man jammed on the button. Fortunately, with the wires torn, the button now did nothing. “You’re an idiot,” she hissed into his ear as she choked him, ignoring his nails tearing at her arm. “Reinforced manacles don’t mean anything on a wooden chair.  I would love to take my time killing you, but the screams would alert your men. You have no idea how much this disappoints me.”