BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN-1

Brandon Cane hurried through the deserted walkways of Chicago toward his boyhood home. The eerie silence made him feel as though he was walking through a ghost town, with the motion-activated recessed lights along the wide path providing an appropriately eerie glow. The majestic starscrapers served as colossal tombstones for the city dwellers that had apparently met their demise. This illusion would be short lived: in two hours, the walkways would be occupied by the working masses on their way to earn a day's credits.

Brandon reached the senator's house and was dismayed by what he saw. The officers from the Security Bureau had surrounded it. Though still protected by the invisibility suit, he was hesitant to move closer to the stately white structure. Brandon remembered hearing the security chief say that the bureau had detected Max Bardy's presence while the infamous thief was wearing the same attire. The authorities may have determined how the suit functioned by now, and found a way to neutralize it.

The scene playing out in front of the senator's home would have appalled any other citizen of the Second Territory. The Security Bureau's officers were preparing to invade the home of their chosen leader, an event that would send political shock waves through the territory, if his constituents ever became aware of it. Brandon's thoughts, however, were limited to very personal considerations. His only reaction to the bureau's presence was one of concern for Cybil and Cori.

He walked down by the shore to use the secret tunnel and discovered that there was an impassable barricade blocking the entrance to it. Brandon returned to the front of the house, just as the dawn began its slow climb above the horizon. He observed a solitary figure walking up to the portico. Horace Claven knocked on the front door and Chris Cane opened it.

"Senator Cane. I'm sorry to disturb you at this early hour, but we have to search your house. A fugitive from the law was seen entering it."

"You'll need a warrant," Chris replied in an irritated tone. "And I don't believe you'll be able to get one, since the judge will need a compelling reason to issue it. You, Mr. Claven, don't have one."

The senator started to close the door, but Claven braced himself against it.

"Justice Manning has already given me a warrant." He handed it to the senator.

"Do you know who I am?" Chris asked in an exasperated tone.

"Of course. You're the senator of the Second Territory. That's why I addressed you as senator.  You appointed me as the security chief of this territory. Now I must do my job."

Twelve officers approached the house in response to Claven's signal. Chris Cane gave way, realizing that his protests were falling on deaf ears. The men swarmed through the house and found Max Bardy in the senator's office.

"I didn't know the Canes were having a party today," he said, displaying his most irritating wiseass grin. "I would have dressed for the occasion."

"You won't have to worry about what to wear where you're going, asshole," one of the officers said, as he put restraints on Bardy's hands.

They escorted the thief out the front door as Senator Cane watched with a satisfied expression.  The Vitala dealer was placed in an air craft. Brandon thought about trying to free him, but there were too many officers around the vehicle.

"I'm glad you're finally going to put him away," Chris said to the security chief. "He's been allowed to flourish for far too long."

"Why was he in your house, senator?"

"Apparently my adopted son Brandon is an old friend of his. I guess Bardy thought he would find him here."

"Do you know where Brandon is? He's also wanted for questioning."