Monster Rundown Part One Chapters 1 and 2

Monster Rundown Part One Chapters 7 and 8

Chapter 7

"How the hell did you get stuck in the evidence room?" Henry asked as he drove to the police station.

Walt whispered so quietly they could barely hear him. "While I recorded the files, they changed the guard. The other one was... sleepy."

"What are we supposed to do about that?" Mel said, holding the phone in front of the radio.

"Hold..." Walt ended the call.

Mel sat back and sighed. "At least he's holding up his end."

"It isn't holding up your end if you have to be rescued," Henry said.

Driving around at night was usually relaxing. The movement of the car could help calm the stress of long days, and now that Henry was actually the one turning the wheel, he liked it even more. However, driving to a police station to break someone out of the evidence locker made relaxation hard to find.

"You are driving like a..." the phone rang. Mel answered it. "Get caught?"

"Almost," Walt said.

"Darn."

"All you need to do is get down here and distract the guard at the door for five seconds. He can't be looking at the door or the monitor just long enough for me to get out. He's damn vigilant," Walt said.

"How do you know?"

"I can see his chair through the door window. Keeps it turned towards the security monitors."

"They'll just let us walk down there?" Mel said.

"No, you'll have to get past the front desk."

"How?" Henry said.

"Figure it out," Walt said. "Call me before you talk to him."

"Why couldn't you find some excuse to see the file? I mean, you are on the case. It doesn't make sense that..." Mel said.

"The police aren't a huge fan of me right now. I'm afraid if they knew I wanted to see it, they would alter it or something." Walt's quiet voice was getting annoying.

"They probably already..."

"Hurry up." Walt hung up again.

"Dude." Mel put down his phone.

"No appreciation."

*

Acting is an essential part of the rundown. Most of the time, it was simply acting confident in the face of waves of fear to help push through the paralysis. George said it was scary how good Mel and Henry were at it. They played off each other in a distracting way that made most people just want the conversation to be over, so they gave them whatever information they wanted. Maybe that was why Henry was having such a hard time with Hamlet, without Mel on the stage, he didn't know how to act.

Also: an audience. Also: Charlotte.

"Hey, we need into the evidence room," Henry said to the officer behind the front desk.

"No," the officer said, ignoring him while watching something on his computer.

Mel shoved Henry aside and showed the man his intern badge. "Sorry, his brother, Walt Crane, is investigating something for monster division. Sent us over for some files or evidence or something." He looked over at Henry. "What case is he working?"

"Promethean Eagle," Henry said, distractedly.

"Right, we're interns." They showed him their badges.

The officer glanced at them. "You'll need an order signed by your captain and sergeant."