without a word of thanks. “So what do we do?” she asked him.
He thought hard
for a minute. “Tell them to shut off the scanners and let everyone
in. We’ll have to get someone at each gate to check IDs visually.”
“How can they
check them if the scanners—?”
“They’ve got
photographs on them, don’t they? What else can we do? Shut down the
government for the day?”
“Right,
sir. I’ll spread the word.”
The phone rang
again. The head of security rolled his eyes and snatched up the
receiver. “What?”
“I’ve received
some new information, sir.”
“Will it help us
fix this problem?”
“Perhaps.”
Not as reassuring
as he hoped, but it would have to do. “I’m listening.”
“Do you recognize
the name Martin P. Daniels?”
“You mean besides
the fact that everyone seems to have adopted it for the day? No, should
I?”
“His ID was
stolen earlier this week.”
“Yeah?”
“By the girl who
escaped from jail.”
Now the head of
security was listening intently.
TEN stories beneath the chaos, Corey Stone parked a department car and led the way
as he and Bradley Park entered HQ. They circled the balcony to Dino’s
lab.
“Dino, we got
it,” Corey called through the door.
The funny little
man peeked out and looked at the device they’d brought back with them.
“Yeah, that’s a VCR, all right.”
Bradley Park
nodded. “Took some serious hunting.”
It turned out Mr.
Love wasn’t interested in watching illegal videocassettes so much as selling
them or renting them out. He didn’t own a VCR—or if he did it was so
buried beneath the clutter of his apartment that they hadn’t been able to find
one despite a thorough search. But as Dino had observed, Love’s clients
had to own VCRs or they wouldn’t be Love’s clients. They had tracked down
the address of one of them, obtained a search warrant, and finally nabbed a
VCR.
“And you rounded
up the rest of Love’s videocassettes for me, right?” asked Dino.
“They’re in the
evidence storage room,” said Bradley. “About fifty of them.”
“Well,” said Dino,
“looks like I’ll be verifying the content of those videotapes for a while.”
Corey rolled his
eyes. “You mean you’ll be sitting back in your easy chair watching
illegal movies for a while.”
“Work, work,
work,” Dino said shaking his head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot
of popcorn to pop in preparation.”
Dizzie appeared
in the doorway. “Finally, you’re back!” She seemed out of breath.
“You missed us
that bad?” asked Corey.
“Aren’t you off
shift until this evening?” asked Bradley.
She ignored both
comments. “Do you have any idea what’s going on up there?”
They shook their
heads.
Corey dashed away
before she’d finished explaining.
BY the time Jill made it through the line at her gate, the female security guard
at the scanner smiled apologetically. “Sorry about the delay, Miss.
We’re having some technical difficulties this morning.”
“No
problem.” Jill handed over her GoCom ID. It had her picture, and
the name matched the name on her current standard ID. She hadn’t used
Matt at Northshore Garage for that job. She
found another reliable source who wouldn’t keep ogling her and asking her out.
The guard waved
her through with hardly a glance at the ID card. “Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
She was in.
Now she crossed
the lobby toward a door in the corner. She’d carefully studied the GoCom
layout (illegally accessed by Jerry G) to figure out the best route to the
elevator which led down to Holiday’s department. It wasn’t a very long
walk. Another security guard hurried past her as she went.
A moment later
this guard was handing a printout to the guard who had just let Jill
through. “This just came from upstairs,” he told her, handing her the
paper. “Keep your eyes open for this one.”
The woman
He thought hard
for a minute. “Tell them to shut off the scanners and let everyone
in. We’ll have to get someone at each gate to check IDs visually.”
“How can they
check them if the scanners—?”
“They’ve got
photographs on them, don’t they? What else can we do? Shut down the
government for the day?”
“Right,
sir. I’ll spread the word.”
The phone rang
again. The head of security rolled his eyes and snatched up the
receiver. “What?”
“I’ve received
some new information, sir.”
“Will it help us
fix this problem?”
“Perhaps.”
Not as reassuring
as he hoped, but it would have to do. “I’m listening.”
“Do you recognize
the name Martin P. Daniels?”
“You mean besides
the fact that everyone seems to have adopted it for the day? No, should
I?”
“His ID was
stolen earlier this week.”
“Yeah?”
“By the girl who
escaped from jail.”
Now the head of
security was listening intently.
TEN stories beneath the chaos, Corey Stone parked a department car and led the way
as he and Bradley Park entered HQ. They circled the balcony to Dino’s
lab.
“Dino, we got
it,” Corey called through the door.
The funny little
man peeked out and looked at the device they’d brought back with them.
“Yeah, that’s a VCR, all right.”
Bradley Park
nodded. “Took some serious hunting.”
It turned out Mr.
Love wasn’t interested in watching illegal videocassettes so much as selling
them or renting them out. He didn’t own a VCR—or if he did it was so
buried beneath the clutter of his apartment that they hadn’t been able to find
one despite a thorough search. But as Dino had observed, Love’s clients
had to own VCRs or they wouldn’t be Love’s clients. They had tracked down
the address of one of them, obtained a search warrant, and finally nabbed a
VCR.
“And you rounded
up the rest of Love’s videocassettes for me, right?” asked Dino.
“They’re in the
evidence storage room,” said Bradley. “About fifty of them.”
“Well,” said Dino,
“looks like I’ll be verifying the content of those videotapes for a while.”
Corey rolled his
eyes. “You mean you’ll be sitting back in your easy chair watching
illegal movies for a while.”
“Work, work,
work,” Dino said shaking his head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot
of popcorn to pop in preparation.”
Dizzie appeared
in the doorway. “Finally, you’re back!” She seemed out of breath.
“You missed us
that bad?” asked Corey.
“Aren’t you off
shift until this evening?” asked Bradley.
She ignored both
comments. “Do you have any idea what’s going on up there?”
They shook their
heads.
Corey dashed away
before she’d finished explaining.
BY the time Jill made it through the line at her gate, the female security guard
at the scanner smiled apologetically. “Sorry about the delay, Miss.
We’re having some technical difficulties this morning.”
“No
problem.” Jill handed over her GoCom ID. It had her picture, and
the name matched the name on her current standard ID. She hadn’t used
Matt at Northshore Garage for that job. She
found another reliable source who wouldn’t keep ogling her and asking her out.
The guard waved
her through with hardly a glance at the ID card. “Have a nice day.”
“You too.”
She was in.
Now she crossed
the lobby toward a door in the corner. She’d carefully studied the GoCom
layout (illegally accessed by Jerry G) to figure out the best route to the
elevator which led down to Holiday’s department. It wasn’t a very long
walk. Another security guard hurried past her as she went.
A moment later
this guard was handing a printout to the guard who had just let Jill
through. “This just came from upstairs,” he told her, handing her the
paper. “Keep your eyes open for this one.”
The woman
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