Chapter 23

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When the cabbie pulled his car to the side of the road, I looked out the window, trying to see where we'd stopped. I couldn't see much, but what I could see was impressive. Even the driver whistled at the sight. Once Thallin and I had pulled Izi's body out of the back and paid the cab fare, I took a better look. 

"Wow! That's an impressive display you've got up there." 

Thallin stepped back from the door to get a better look, and I could swear he was impressed by the facade. "Yeah. It's going to be hard to miss when the place finally opens," he said as he opened the door and stepped inside. "Now where's the goddamn light switch?" 

I followed him through the door and looked around. I didn't see the light switch, so I suggested, "Probably in the control room, with the other switches." I wandered further into the room, checking the layout. <This place is gonna be hot when it opens. I wonder who designed it? Certainly not Thallin. He wouldn't know style if it got up and started fawning all over him.>Thallin shifted his weight irritably, changing his grip on Izi's body, and clipped, "Oh great, wonderful. And where is that?" 

I looked back at him. "There's no need to snap." 

"I am not snapping!" He snapped. Then the door started closing behind him, cutting what light we had shining in from the street. "What the...?" 

I told him, "The door. It's shutting." 

"Don't let it -" The door slammed shut and clicked as the lock engaged before Thallin could finish his sentence. "- close." I stood in the darkness for a moment, trying to remember whether the table next to me was to my left or to my right. "Kay? Did you notice any doors around here?" 

Thinking back to my scan of the room, I remembered a few, "Two doors to your right, leading to various toilets. One door to your left behind the bar, probably leading to the kitchens. One door at the far back, leading God knows where. There's backstage." I pointed off into the darkness. <Yeah, like he can see your hand.> "And there's a set of stairs near the far left, leading up to a door on the upper floor." 

"And you managed to memorise all of that in the few seconds of light we had?" Thallin sounded surprised. 

"Comes from being a reporter." I felt around with my hands, not feeling anything but air. I had been standing in what looked like a dining area when the lights had cut out, and there were a number of tables and chairs around me. <I think the closest one is right here.> I turned and reached out, feeling nothing. <Nope.>"Remind me to watch what I say or do in front of you." 

<Yeah right, Thallin. Everything you say and do is a clue.> I took a tentative step forward, then another, then, feeling safe, I started walking toward the backstage door, figuring that's where the control room would be. I immediately tripped over one chair and tumbled over another, banging my shin in the process. I moaned as I pulled myself off the floor. Then I sat down on a table so I could rub the pain from my bruised shin. I swore violently as pain erupted from the touch, it hurt a lot worse than I'd figured. <Bad idea, girl.>Thallin called out, "Kay?" 

"I'm all right. I just tripped on a set of chairs." 

"Then why is your back pocket glowing?" 

I stood up to look, but didn't see anything. Then, with a thought, I sat down again. A soft yellow glow lit up from my back right pocket. "I don't know. Seems to happen whenever I sit on this table." "What have you got in your back pocket?" 

I pulled my ID badge out of my pocket and slid it a few inches across the table. The badge itself glowed, not my pocket. "My identification badge. I didn't think it'd be a good idea to wear it while moving a corpse." I picked up the badge and put it down again a couple times. The light winked out and back again each time. "Hey, cute. The badge glows whenever I place it on the table." 

"I wonder why... The badges have a second set of codes imprinted on them using a special ink which responds to a particular frequency of ultraviolets. I don't know why, but the table is emitting UV rays close to its surface. Mmmm... maybe if I could get my hand on a supply of the ink, I could -" 

Thallin was interrupted when the main door slammed open, revealing an armed figure standing on the front walk, silhouetted by the lights on the street. It shouted, "Nobody move!" 

Thallin squeaked out his usual "oh boy" while I tried to place the voice I'd heard. I knew I'd heard it before... "Sergeant Sam'di? Is that you? What're you doing here?" 

Forward to Chapter 24.
Back to Chapter 22. 

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