turned the top half of his body toward me. ‘‘You know, Zach, some of us are capable of doing more than one thing at once.’’
‘‘Well, I’m not,’’ I said. I looked through HARV, literally. ‘‘Shannon Cannon was a student here. Correct?’’
Desma nodded. ‘‘Yes, she was a fine, devoted student. A great mix of mutant and natural psi.’’
‘‘I know she’s capable of killing, but would she turn on her charge?’’ I asked.
‘‘No,’’ Desma said without hesitation. ‘‘She was totally loyal to Sexy. She even listened to her music.’’
‘‘Wow, that is going beyond the call of duty,’’ I said, scratching my head.
HARV chimed in. ‘‘I’ve looked at Shannon’s online psych profile and I agree . . . Shannon would never harm Sexy.’’
‘‘I assume the police are treating this like an open and shut case,’’ Desma said. ‘‘Just blame the crazy mutant psi . . .’’
I thought about the situation. I tried to put myself in the police’s shoes. ‘‘It’s convenient and fitting and easy. So you can’t blame ’em.’’
‘‘And the evidence does point to a superassassin who knew the building,’’ HARV added.
Desma shook her head. ‘‘The assassin would be near impossible to find if they had a massive man, woman, or bot hunt, but they aren’t even looking.’’
Yeah, the future didn’t look bright for Shannon. She had nobody in her corner and everybody lining up to chain her, toss her in a cell, and erase the key codes. I was her only hope. Lucky for her I was good at what I do.
I stood up. ‘‘Looks like I better find the police a couple of other suspects . . .’’
Chapter 12
I left Desma’s and hit the open road. HARV informed me that it would be twenty-four more hours before my office was repaired so for now, the road was my office.
I knew in my gut that Shannon wasn’t the one who offed Sexy and the others. But, as HARV always liked to point out, no judge in their right mind would listen to my gut.
The police wouldn’t be out looking for other potential killers. They had a perfectly good suspect in custody. She had the means, she had the power, she had the motive. At least, according to my buddy Tony. Shannon did it to protest the three council members voting against the Moon’s freedom. She was a mutant psi killer who snapped. The media was eating it up. No way the police would upset the apple cart here.
If anybody was going to find the true killer that anybody would be me. All I needed was a viable suspect.
‘‘HARV, put me in contact with Threa,’’ I said driving through the countryside.
‘‘Threa is in Incognito,’’ HARV said. ‘‘Quite literally.That’s what she calls her fairy realm. She is not accepting calls or visitors.’’
I needed to track Threa down, STASAP (sooner than as soon as possible). ‘‘Connect me with Ona,’’ I ordered HARV.
Ona Thompson may have been the richest, most powerful, most sexy woman in the world, but she was still an ex-client who owed me. She should be able to get me in contact with Threa.
It wasn’t long before Ona’s picture filled my dash viewscreen. She was in some sort of dojo, wearing a scantily cut karate uniform. Ona was surrounded by at least twenty angry-looking people, all also wearing karate uniforms.
Ona glanced up at the camera. ‘‘Oh, hi, Zach. You caught me during my midday workout. I will be with you in a nano.’’
‘‘Don’t hurry on my account,’’ I said, even though I really wanted her to hurry. My experience with Ona had taught me it’s best not to push her.
I watched with great anticipation as the karate people swarmed her, engulfing her in a sea of white uniforms and kicks and punches. The twenty of them just whaled away on their foil for a good minute. Suddenly, they all stopped cold. Their eyes rolled to the back of their heads. They all spun around 360 degrees. They all fell over on their backs, but with their legs up. They weren’t knocked
‘‘Well, I’m not,’’ I said. I looked through HARV, literally. ‘‘Shannon Cannon was a student here. Correct?’’
Desma nodded. ‘‘Yes, she was a fine, devoted student. A great mix of mutant and natural psi.’’
‘‘I know she’s capable of killing, but would she turn on her charge?’’ I asked.
‘‘No,’’ Desma said without hesitation. ‘‘She was totally loyal to Sexy. She even listened to her music.’’
‘‘Wow, that is going beyond the call of duty,’’ I said, scratching my head.
HARV chimed in. ‘‘I’ve looked at Shannon’s online psych profile and I agree . . . Shannon would never harm Sexy.’’
‘‘I assume the police are treating this like an open and shut case,’’ Desma said. ‘‘Just blame the crazy mutant psi . . .’’
I thought about the situation. I tried to put myself in the police’s shoes. ‘‘It’s convenient and fitting and easy. So you can’t blame ’em.’’
‘‘And the evidence does point to a superassassin who knew the building,’’ HARV added.
Desma shook her head. ‘‘The assassin would be near impossible to find if they had a massive man, woman, or bot hunt, but they aren’t even looking.’’
Yeah, the future didn’t look bright for Shannon. She had nobody in her corner and everybody lining up to chain her, toss her in a cell, and erase the key codes. I was her only hope. Lucky for her I was good at what I do.
I stood up. ‘‘Looks like I better find the police a couple of other suspects . . .’’
Chapter 12
I left Desma’s and hit the open road. HARV informed me that it would be twenty-four more hours before my office was repaired so for now, the road was my office.
I knew in my gut that Shannon wasn’t the one who offed Sexy and the others. But, as HARV always liked to point out, no judge in their right mind would listen to my gut.
The police wouldn’t be out looking for other potential killers. They had a perfectly good suspect in custody. She had the means, she had the power, she had the motive. At least, according to my buddy Tony. Shannon did it to protest the three council members voting against the Moon’s freedom. She was a mutant psi killer who snapped. The media was eating it up. No way the police would upset the apple cart here.
If anybody was going to find the true killer that anybody would be me. All I needed was a viable suspect.
‘‘HARV, put me in contact with Threa,’’ I said driving through the countryside.
‘‘Threa is in Incognito,’’ HARV said. ‘‘Quite literally.That’s what she calls her fairy realm. She is not accepting calls or visitors.’’
I needed to track Threa down, STASAP (sooner than as soon as possible). ‘‘Connect me with Ona,’’ I ordered HARV.
Ona Thompson may have been the richest, most powerful, most sexy woman in the world, but she was still an ex-client who owed me. She should be able to get me in contact with Threa.
It wasn’t long before Ona’s picture filled my dash viewscreen. She was in some sort of dojo, wearing a scantily cut karate uniform. Ona was surrounded by at least twenty angry-looking people, all also wearing karate uniforms.
Ona glanced up at the camera. ‘‘Oh, hi, Zach. You caught me during my midday workout. I will be with you in a nano.’’
‘‘Don’t hurry on my account,’’ I said, even though I really wanted her to hurry. My experience with Ona had taught me it’s best not to push her.
I watched with great anticipation as the karate people swarmed her, engulfing her in a sea of white uniforms and kicks and punches. The twenty of them just whaled away on their foil for a good minute. Suddenly, they all stopped cold. Their eyes rolled to the back of their heads. They all spun around 360 degrees. They all fell over on their backs, but with their legs up. They weren’t knocked
Similar Books
