BLACK INK SOCIETY {Sci-Fi Thriller} #Wattys2016

Part 7,2: Here Comes Trouble

As soon as they had made their way out of the tunnels, Dante felt that something was wrong. He could find no rational explanation for this odd feeling of uneasiness that grew stronger with every step. Quite the contrary.

Surrounding him was the peaceful, perfect image of a neat suburb - couples and parents sauntering through the open streets, their children running ahead of them. Little shops were lined up along the pavement, this loveable old kind with handmade decoration and hearty shopkeepers. The blue shimmer of high-security asphalt was brightened by the rays of the autumn sun. Redbridge was one of the few boroughs that was entirely paved with the aquamarine tarmac, ensuring the traffic safety of its honest citizens. A small piece of plastic perfection.

He hated it.

"If Garrett's calendar is accurate, the adress must be 43 George Lane," Irene said. "I just hope we arrive there first..."

"By all means, spread more optimism..." Lupin mumbled.

"Oh, someone's in a bad mood." Irene smiled. "What's the matter, Lupin?"

"Nothing, it's just... I have a bad feeling about this. This chemist, Frye... If he was Mr. Jardine's last appointment, maybe they had an argument and... he killed him." He cleared his throat. "Irene, are you sure that we can exclude a personal motive in this case? From what I know about your editor, the man probably had enemies. I just don't want to get into trouble trying to solve a mystery where there isn't one."

"I can exclude a personal motive. They murder a prominent dissident, proof is nowhere to be found, they frame another dissident. Kill two birds with one stone. That reeks of government. Ministry of defence, more precisely." She turned and faced him. „Since when are you afraid to take a risk? That's part of what we do, as far as I remember, and you signed up for it voluntarily."

Lupin nodded. „It's just... we need to be careful. If we're really dealing with the ministry of defence... you know what they can do to the poor fellows that got on their bad side."

„Brighten up your spirits, Lupin." Dante gave him an encouraging pat on the back, „They won't even know what's happening when we expose them."

 Lupin grumbled something and kept walking, pulling his coat tightly around him. He was acting weird lately, Dante noticed. Lupin's vivid hazel eyes were surrounded by dark circles, his gestures seemed almost tense and his usual smooth-talking nonchalance was slowly being replaced by something he could only describe as cynism. And Dante was an expert when it came to cynism.

Irene stopped in front of a brick facade with an old-looking sign above the door, reading Pharmacy. "That should be it," she stated.

The door rang a little bell when she opened it, and they stepped into a small, dim room with shelves reaching up to the ceiling.

"Mr. Frye?"

Dust and silence filled the small shop. Irene stepped to the counter.

"Mr. Frye!"

"I don't think he's present," Lupin said.

Click.

"Who sent you?"

Dante stared right into the barrel of a gun. An old man stood in the doorway next to him, pointing the weapon straight towards his head.

He was wearing a white lab coat, glasses, his thin grey hair sticking up. Without the gun he would have looked like Albert Einstein, Dante mused. Being shot by a mad professor would at least not be the most ordinary of deaths.

Irene walked slowly towards the chemist, soothingly gesturing, as if she was approaching a shy animal. A shy animal with a firearm.

"Mr. Frye, we know you had an appointment with Garrett Jardine. We are here to..."

"I don't care who you're working for!" Frye shakily lifted his weapon. "Get out of my shop, now!"

"You misunderstand."

"Now!"

Irene lowered her hands. Then, quicker than her adversary could possibly react, she drew a handgun from under her coat and disabled the trigger lock. Frye startled backwards, his eyes widened in surprise, and finally his index finger found the trigger...

"I wouldn't advise to do that." Irene's voice was sharp and cold like a knife's edge. "Judging by the fact that you still haven't fired that gun, I'd assume you have no idea how to release the safety. If we wanted you dead, you would be dead."

The chemist didn't move. He still held his gun pointed towards them, a vein bulging on his forehead.

"Drop your weapon, Mr. Frye. We are not your enemies."

Slowly and suspiciously, he lowered his gun and let go. It hit the floor with a loud knock.

"Thank you. Would you kindly kick it aside?" Frye did as he was told and Irene gave a short smile. "Very good. It's much easier to talk under these circumstances, don't you think?" She stowed her own weapon away and hid it under the black coat.

Where did she even get that gun from?

"What do you want?" Frye stood with his arms akimbo, sceptically looking at her.

"What I want is very simple. I work for the Gazette, Mr. Frye, and I belive you had a chat with my editor-in-chief not that long ago."

"Maybe I did."

"What was the purpose of his visit?" Irene demanded to know, "Did he hand any kind of documents to you? Did he mention something about a current story? And whom did you expect that you originally wanted to bestow with such a nice warm welcome?"

The chemist pressed his lips together; Irenes cross-examination was visibly unsettling him.

"How do I know you really work for the Gazette?"

"There is no way I could possibly convince you, except for the fact that I have neither shot nor tasered you yet for threatening me with a firearm. Which means I am obviously not an emissary of the Ministry of Defence."

"Or maybe you are, and it's a strategy to have me talking."

"Believe me when I say the Ministry has other ways to make people talk. And neither of them is especially pleasant, so what would you say..." She focused her eyes on him, "We drop the banter and you show me and my friends here what Garrett gave to you."

He sighed. "Fine. Follow me."

Frye opened the wooden door behind the counter and allowed his visitors to step inside. Dante was just about to enter, when the alarm went off.

"THE BUILDING IS SURROUNDED. DROP ALL WEAPONS AND SURRENDER YOURSELF. I REPEAT. DROP ALL WEAPONS AND SURRENDER YOURSELF:"