Episode 3.14 - Hugger Mugger 2 страница

Logan took a breath at the hurt and anger that were evident in Matt's tone. "That never even occurred to me. I didn't want to involve you. I thought you'd be safer if you didn't know."

"You didn't think I was capable of making my own decision about that? Logan, I found out about you from files that Agent White handed over to my boss. I found out that you and Max were more than friends from hoverdrone surveillance that Clemente dropped in my lap. Did it ever occur to you that maybe, if I knew ahead of time, I could have run interference for you? Or was it that you didn't trust me?"

Logan was quiet as Matt's accusations hit home. "You're the second person in a month to accuse me of a lack of trust in them," he observed after a few minutes.

"Then maybe you ought to think about what you're doing, Logan." Matt wasn't giving in.

"You sit in your ivory tower and think you can pull strings, as if people are your puppets. And then you justify it by saying you're protecting us. Maybe some of us don't need or want protecting. Maybe we want to feel like we're doing our part to fix some of the crap that goes on around us every day. Why do you think I became a cop?"

Matt was silent a moment, watching Logan. His tone softened as he continued, "Did you ever think that you need to share things with your friends? Logan, I want to look out for you, as well as having you look out for me. It's a two-way street. Clemente was out for you, and it didn't help my credibility with him finding out what he did, the way he did. If I'd known what was going on ahead of time, it would have been easier."

"I'm sorry, Matt. I was wrong." Logan's voice was low and he looked down at his coffee. There was a moment of silence between the two men.

"Yeah,well, you scared the hell out of me when Clemente went on the warpath over you."

Logan looked up with a twinkle in his eyes. "Can't say I didn't have a moment or two there as well. Especially when I was sitting in a bar on the verge of being arrested."

"Damn, Logan, you did cut it close, didn't you?"

"Too close."

Matt laughed shortly. "Can't say it doesn't serve you right. How'd you get out of that one, anyway?"

Logan paused, then slowly answered, "With help from some friends."

Matt nodded, and the two men's eyes met in shared understanding.

"So anyway, Matt, I put together the common factor about the bodies. Every one of them was a grand-prize winner on Seattle Superstar."

"The hell you say!" Matt was clearly shocked at Logan's revelation.

"The only thing that puzzles me is why no one at the department put it together. Don't you guys look for patterns?"

"Seeing as how the victims were all transgenics, I guess no one really cared enough to bother."

"What?!" This time Logan was shocked.

"They all had barcodes on the backs of their necks."

"Matt, I know for a fact that at least one of them wasn't a transgenic. I'll bet the others weren't either." Logan thought a moment, then laughed bitterly. "Pretty smart move. Make the victims someone that the authorities won't give a damn about. Good way to derail any investigation before it even starts."

It was Matt's turn to look ashamed. "Logan, I'm sorry. None of them were in my jurisdiction, or I would've looked into it. You know I don't feel that way."

"Well, I guess I can't hold a grudge, since I've made my own share of mistakes."

"I'll see what I can do to get an investigation going, but unless you can prove they weren't transgenics, I'm not going to get much support from the department."

"Do what you can. I'm going to give this information to our mutual friend; maybe he can do something with it."

"Be careful, Logan. These guys are playing rough."

"Just like old times."

Matt smiled at that, and the two shook hands before heading off.

Fogle Towers- that night

Max was pacing restlessly back and forth across Logan's living room, as he watched calmly from the couch.

"It's not fair, Logan. I could do this thing. Or Alec could. It'd be a piece of cake for one of us to win that stupid show."

"It's not going to work, Max. You and Alec are too well known, what with your faces being plastered all over the news for months. They'd make you in minutes."

Max continued to pace, and Logan smiled at her energy.

"Do you want a drink?" He rose from the couch to go to the kitchen. Max looked at the exoskeleton, which was visible over his shoes, and frowned.

"How come you're wearing that now? Expecting some bad guys to break in and try to take us out?" Her tone was sarcastic.

Logan flushed and shrugged his shoulders. "I was, um, adjusting it earlier, and didn't have a chance to take it off before you got here." Max looked at him but didn't respond. "Do you want that drink?" he continued, trying to pretend that the sudden tension between them wasn't there.

"Yeah, sure."

Logan returned in a few moments with two glasses of wine, and the bottle under his arm. He placed the bottle on the table and handed a glass to Max.

"Here's to old times - you, me, and an Eyes Only investigation." Logan held his glass up in a toast.

Max smiled at him in spite of herself, as she raised her glass to meet his. She took a sip of wine, then said, "Except, in old times, I'd be the one going on that show to get the goods on the bad guys. Who do we use now?"

"We need someone we can trust who already knows the deal with Eyes Only. That list is just about nonexistent." Logan sat back down, brow furrowed in thought.

Max hesitated, then said, "There is one person."

Logan's eyes snapped to hers.

"Original Cindy figured out you were Eyes Only when I came back from Manticore with the virus."

"You're kidding."

"She knew about us and she knew about Manticore, Logan. It wasn't too hard for her to put two and two together, especially given the way Eyes Only was out for Manticore's blood after I was ‘killed.'"

"I never thought about it." He paused to consider this new information. "So you're saying we could use Original Cindy? It'd be dangerous."

"They killed one of her friends from Jam Pony, Logan. I think she'd want to do it."

"But should we let her?"

"Logan, she's a big girl. It's her decision."

Logan started to argue, but then stopped. "Someone else said something like that to me today."

"We can protect her."

Logan thought a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose I could wire her, and you could sneak in and wait backstage during the show. When she wins, we follow her and we catch them in the act..."

"Oh," Max exclaimed, and Logan looked at her with a question in his eyes. "It's a talent show. How do we make sure she wins it?"

Logan smiled. "The voting is done by the audience pushing buttons on the arms of their seats. The responses feed directly into a computer, which collates the votes, and then displays them on a screen on the stage."

"So you use your amazing hacking skills and rig the results." Max was grinning at Logan, who gave her an answering grin in return.

"You bet." The two stared at each other, and Logan patted the couch next to him. "My hacking skills aren't all that are amazing..." he said with a smile.

Max gave him a sidelong look. "That wouldn't be in the nature of you making a pass at me, would it? I thought this was a working evening?"

"All work and no play makes Max a dull, dull girl," Logan quipped. "Come here." When she hesitated, he added in a tone of command, "Now."

Max's eyes widened in surprise, but after a gazing at him thoughtfully for a few seconds, she answered in a voice oozing with sweetness, "I just love when you go all macho on me."

With that, she sauntered over to the couch and sat down next to him, placing her wine glass on the table next to his. Logan dropped an arm lightly around her shoulders and she looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes. He slowly lowered his head to hers and their lips met. After a few minutes, Logan broke the kiss and reached out for their glasses, pouring them each more wine.

They sipped their wine companionably, but Max seemed distracted. Finally she turned to Logan with a puzzled look. "One thing still bugs me about all this. Why haven't the police connected the victims with the show? Even given how stupid our wonderful cops generally are, it seems pretty obvious."

Logan hesitated before answering. "They didn't bother. Guess they had more pressing things on their plate."

"Bodies are washing up daily and the cops don't care that they might have a serial killer on their hands? What aren't you telling me, Logan?"

Logan met her eyes and then slowly answered. "The bodies all had barcodes on their necks."

Max jumped up, eyes blazing with anger. "So the cops didn't give a damn. Someone was offing transgenics for them and saving them the trouble."

"Max."

"You know it's true, Logan."

"Max, it's gonna take time. You know that."

"I gotta go. I need some air." She started toward the door.

"Max." His eyes were pleading with her.

She relented, and returned to stand over him as he sat on the couch. "I really do need to get some air and clear my head. Do you wanna come for a ride on my baby with me?"

Logan looked at her wistfully. "Not tonight." He started to say something, stopped, and finally continued, "Be careful. There are a lot of people out there who don't like transgenics very much, and your face is too well known."

"I can't say I'm averse to kickin' some butt right now." Max looked at him and pushed him a bit more. "Unless you can think of a way to work off my excess energy without goin' out?" She slowly looked him up and down, making sure he couldn't mistake her meaning.

Their eyes locked, and she held her breath as she waited for his answer. Her face fell as he hesitated and then finally said, "How about doing some B&E tomorrow night? We need to know how they pick their contestants so we can get Original Cindy on the show."

Max sighed, clearly disappointed at his response, but she didn't comment further. "You got it. Night."

She leaned in and gave him a swift kiss before striding from the room. Logan sat looking after her with a mixture of sadness and longing evident on his features.

Matt Sung's earlier words echoed in Logan's head as he rested his hands on his legs. "Did you ever think that you need to share things with your friends?...It's a two-way street..."

Logan shook his head as if to clear it, and turned to stare out the window into the darkness.

Seattle Superstar Show Offices, Seattle – December 1, late evening

The building that housed the offices and studios for Seattle Superstar was dark. Max had been perched on the rooftop across the street for several hours, observing as the building shut down and the staff left for the night. She checked her watch, noting that it was now almost midnight.

"Showtime," she whispered.

She aimed a long, tubular device with a grappling hook protruding from the end at the rooftop of the opposite building. She squeezed the trigger mechanism and the grapple shot out, trailing a thin wire behind it. There was a faint clang as the grapple reached the other building, and Max gave the wire a tug. The wire gave for a moment, then stopped as the hook snagged on the low wall surrounding the other building's roof. Max pulled hard, making sure the grapple was well-seated, then secured her end of the wire to a chimney on her rooftop. When she finished, a tightrope stretched across the street between the two buildings. She checked the street below, but there was no trace of any observers. She stepped lightly onto the wire and, with feline grace, made her way across. Once there, she located a door that gave access to the building, and in moments she had it open and was inside.

"I'm in," she whispered.

"The offices are on the fourth floor." Logan's voice sounded in her ear. "Find the casting office."

"I'm on it." Max made short work of the stairs and was soon peering out into the fourth-floor hallway. She began checking offices, but none of them appeared to be what she was looking for. As she was about to step back out into the hallway, she heard faint footsteps. She ducked back into an office as a beam of light swept the hallway outside.

"Logan, I thought you said there was no inside security," she whispered.

"Not supposed to be."

"Tell that to the guard who's coming down the hallway." Max flattened herself against the wall next to the door as she saw the knob begin to turn. The door opened and the watchman shone his light into the office. As he was about to swing it in Max's direction, the radio on his belt crackled and came to life with a familiar voice.

"...possible break-in attempt at rear door...it out...repeat check it...now..." The guard muttered a curse, then turned and left.

"Damn, Logan, why'd you do that? I wanted some exercise," Max complained.

"The idea is not to let them know someone's been snooping around, Max," she heard Logan chuckle in her ear.

"Spoilsport."

"Find those files and get out. I don't know how long he'll be gone and I can't pull that trick again. I'll hack the surveillance cameras and warn you if he heads back your way."

"Right, boss."

The next office Max went into proved to be the one she was looking for. Opening a file cabinet, she saw files labeled with names, and when she opened one, it contained an application to be on the show. The first one was stamped REJECTED, as were the next few she opened. Finally she found a drawer that contained files stamped APPROVED.

"Got ‘em. What am I looking for?"

"See if there are any notes in the files. How do they select contestants?"

"Hang on while I read these." Max was silent as she swiftly perused one file after another.

"Max, get out of there now." Logan's voice was urgent in her ear, and she didn't wait. She dropped the file she was holding back into the drawer and swiftly closed the cabinet. She started toward the door, but then she saw the light shining through the frosted glass pane next to it. Turning, she ran to one of the windows of the office and quickly pushed it open. When the guard opened the office door and played his light across the office, all was dark and quiet. On the street below, a motorcycle roared to life.

Max spoke into her throat mike as she sped through the dark streets.

"I have it, Logan. Every one of the contestants they accepted checked off that they live alone, and didn't list any immediate family on their applications."

"So there's no one to wonder when they suddenly vanish. I bet their employers get a letter of resignation saying they don't need to work anymore. Very neat."

"Yeah. Hey, look, I gotta pay attention – don't want some sector pig grabbin' my baby again. You need me for anything else tonight? "

There was a pause, and then Logan answered, "Nah, it's late. Think I'll get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow. Night, Max."

"Night, Logan," Max said, disappointment clear in her voice.

The Ninja roared off into the night.

ACT III

Joshua's House - same evening

When Gem opened the door and entered the house, Joshua's head showed up in the doorframe to the bedroom, and he whispered, "Elfie fell asleep. I sang her a good-night song and she fell asleep."

"Good job, Joshua." Gem smiled tiredly and sat down in the big armchair.

Joshua nodded. "Gotta make sure she's under the covers."

Gem watched him disappear into the bedroom again and leaned back, rubbing her eyes and her forehead with the palms of her hands, trying to relax a little. She looked up when there came a knock at the door. Alec appeared.

"Hey, Gem!"

"Hey. What's up? Finished work?"

Alec took one of the chairs and straddled it backward.

"Don't talk about work with me. Normal's been at his best and made us pedal all day. I asked for one of the motorbike messenger jobs, but he told me that at least I should be able to ride a bike."

"Normal, prejudiced?" Gem asked, surprised.

"Nah, I think it's more the pressure he gets from his customers," Alec explained. "I wish I could just quit and work somewhere else, someplace without so much transgenic history."

Gem laughed sarcastically. "Don't even think about it. I've been doing nothing but try to find a job the last few days, but nobody's going to employ a single mother without professional experience and no proper education. Unless you're planning to join the Army, you should stay at Jam Pony."

"Come on, Gem, it can't be that bad." Alec smiled at her, but his eyes gave away the fact that he was just trying to console her. "We're strong, fast, clever..."

"Yeah, Alec, we're strong, fast, most of the people out there think we're dangerous, and ya know what? They're right. We were trained in undercover ops; we can go out there and spy and kill everybody without getting arrested," Gem shot back at him, then hesitated. "Sorry," she apologized. "It's not your fault."

Alec nodded, not sure what to say, especially since Joshua had come back and obviously heard Gem's last sentences.

"Still no job for Gem?" he asked.

Gem shook her head and smiled sadly. "No, Joshua, still no job for me."

"But if you're good at undercover ops, why don't you find a job like that?"

His innocent question made even Alec smile, and he explained, "Undercover ops at Manticore usually ended in killing somebody, big guy. Not a good thing to do."

"But you don't have to kill somebody. I watch movies; there are always these men in trench coats, spying and investigating. They don't always kill."

Gem nodded. "Private investigators. Yeah, Joshua, you're right. They exist and they don't kill unless they have to. But none of them is going to employ us. We're still transgenics, after all."

Alec nodded, deep in thought, until a huge smile showed on his face.

"So if nobody's going to employ us, why don't we get self-employed?" he suggested with a grin.

Gem looked confused. "Self-employed? You're kidding. What do you wanna do? Make hamburgers for the freaks in Terminal City?"

"Cooking? Me? Wasn't on my schedule, but I think Joshua already had the right idea. We were trained at undercover ops, right? And you said that no private investigator would give us a job. So let's start our own PI agency."

Joshua got really excited. "Great, Alec!" he shouted, until he remembered sleeping Elfie and put his hand on his mouth.

Gem smiled too. "Yeah, that's really a good idea. You can use all your charm to get us clients. We can work with freelance transgenics; I can organize the jobs and get the right people to do them. This could really work."

"Not 'could', Gem, it will work," Alec stated.

"Gem and Alec have new jobs," Joshua said. "Joshua's gonna take care of Elfie."

Seattle Superstar Show Offices, Seattle – December 2, afternoon

Original Cindy made sure the small device Logan had given her was in place before she stepped in front of the reception desk.

"Can I help you?" the pretty, young woman asked.

Original Cindy nodded. "Sure can, sistah. I'm here for an interview for this show ya make."

"Seattle Superstar?"

"Yeah, that one."

The young woman nodded and checked a file. "You must be Cynthia McEachin. The casting office is on the fourth floor. Second door on the right."

Original Cindy nodded and went toward the elevator. When the door opened, she stepped inside, sighing quietly, "Logan, I really hope ya know what we're doing here."

"Original Cindy, I always know what I'm doing," came Logan's unexpected answer in her ear, and she jumped. Luckily, the elevator car was empty.

"Boy, you're killing me. I remembered to check the bug on my shirt, but this thing in my ear is making me crazy. I'm still not expecting you to be in my head," Original Cindy muttered.

"The miracles of modern technology. Just make sure you don't forget what we told you. No friends, no family, you live on your own."

"Yeah, I know. No prob. Logan, need to shut my mouth now," Original Cindy whispered. "I'm there."

"We're with you," Logan calmed her. "We're parked just in front of the building, and if things go sideways, Max will be there."

In Logan's car in front of the building

"...Max will be there." Logan finished speaking into the comm unit and looked over to Max on the seat next to him. "You sure she's gonna do a good job?" he asked her.

"OC?" Max questioned disbelievingly. "Logan, I believe she was an actress in a former life. What's wrong with you?"

Logan didn't answer, listening to the interview being transmitted from the casting office to a small speaker. "Smith and Jones?" he muttered. "Those are the worst fake names I ever heard," he said to nobody specific, when he heard the casting people introduce themselves.

Max wasn't as fascinated by Original Cindy's interview as Logan was and kept staring out the side window, until she got restless and turned to face him. "Logan, she's doing great. Why are you so tense?"

Logan couldn't stand the look on her face and looked away, staring out the windshield. Only his fingers tapping on the steering wheel gave away his nervousness.

"You remember when you promised you'd tell me if something was wrong?" Max asked. "You're not really worried about Original Cindy, are you?"

Logan shrugged. "I don't like putting her in danger."

"In an interview? You put yourself in more danger than this every day. Not only in Terminal City, but all the time I've known you. Even after the shooting, you didn't stop. Always worried about others, never about yourself."

Logan sighed. "Max, myself is nothing to be worried about. I'm fine," he said, still staring out of the car.

"Yeah? So why do you wear the exo when you're just driving?" Max asked, annoyed.

"Because it might get dangerous and I might have to leave the car. See, I didn't even switch it on," Logan mumbled back, showing her the switch.

Max nodded, placed her hand behind his neck, and gently forced him to look at her. "Is that why you're using the hand controls?" she asked him as carefully as her temper allowed.

"Stop it, okay? The exo is heavy when it's switched off. Makes it hard to drive," was Logan's awkward explanation.

"Why don't you switch it on, then?" Max suggested.

Logan groaned. "Max, just don't. I don't wanna talk about the exo anymore, okay?"

"Wahoo, back to square one," Max said, masking her disappointment at his response with sarcasm, as she returned to stare out the window again. She sighed, her reflection in the window looking small and forlorn, belying her careless words.

Inside the Casting Office - same time

Original Cindy knocked and entered the room. "Hey, name's Original Cindy. You're lookin' at Seattle's new superstar," she said, smiling, and the two men who had been waiting inside the office stood up to shake hands.

"Original Cindy, nice to meet you. I'm Robert Smith, and this is Michael Jones," the older man said with a greasy smile, introducing himself and the younger man next to him. "Did you fill out the application form?"

The younger man, a guy in his early thirties, nodded. "Yeah, she did. I've got it here. It says your name is Cynthia McEachin, though."

"That's right, but my stage name's Original Cindy."

Michael smiled. "So you're planning on doing some stand-up comedy?" When Original Cindy nodded, he continued, "Could you give us a sample?"

Original Cindy nodded. "I could, but I don't think I will. Boy, you'd know all the good jokes before the show."

Both men laughed with her, and Robert said, "That's right. So no sample. You're working at Jam Pony, is that right?"

"As right as I'm standing here. But I'd quit that sorry job as fast as nobody has ever quit a job before if I won on your show," she answered.

"Already made plans for the money?" Michael asked.

"Plans? I almost already spent it all. See, I used to live with this friend of mine. Turned out she's a transgenic. A minute later I had my stuff packed. Can ya believe she lied to me all this time? Now I got this new crib, but it's really expensive..."

"I see," Robert nodded with understanding, making notes in the file Michael had handed him. "Those transgenics are everywhere, aren't they? Wish they were still holed up in Terminal City. I'd feel a lot safer in this town."

Original Cindy shrugged and didn't say anything about the topic until Robert continued.

"Looks like you're a good candidate for our show, but you understand that we have a lot of applicants for every show and can't tell you right away if you're going to be on it."