Bruce Wayne

Chapter 23: Dangerous Surveillance

Night descended upon Gotham with black wings of clouds, smothering the light from the moon and stars. Gloom spilled out of the trash choked alleys to fill the streets as well. The lights along the road were barely enough to push the darkness back, and the headlights of the cars still on the streets didn't reach beyond the curbs. Everyone was hurrying to get home before they became prey to the criminals lurking around and using the shadows to cover their murderous activities.

Bruce sat in the passenger seat of his van, checking over the cameras and microphones he would be deploying around the docks where the meeting with Officer Cunningham was scheduled to take place. Alfred sat in the back of the van, testing the monitors and speakers to ensure they had a solid connection. Neither of them spoke, but they both understood the significance of tonight's mission. Bruce had apprehended a single fugitive in a hotel room, but neither of them knew how many criminals might make an appearance on the docks, and all of them were probably armed. If Bruce had to engage in combat, his defensive skills weren't enough to stop a bullet.

Bruce was dressed all in black with a like color satchel strapped diagonally across his chest. A ski mask covered his head but had been rolled up to reveal his face as he didn't need it yet.

"I'm set here," Bruce announced. "Are we ready?"

"Signals are coming through perfectly, Master Bruce," Alfred replied. "The receiver in the van will pick up the transmissions anywhere within a six block radius."

"Good, watch my back," Bruce requested before putting a radio earpiece in position.

"Are you reading me, Sir?" Alfred asked in a microphone.

"Perfectly," Bruce answered while pulling down his ski mask. Opening the door, he slipped out into the night and headed toward the designated meeting place.

The docks were composed of more than two dozen piers jutting out into Gotham's harbor. Built on the shoreline were countless rows of storage warehouses to stockpile both the goods coming in and those being prepped for shipment out. The dark waters lapped softly against the piers and shore, filling the air with a deceptively tranquil sound. A bell mounted on a buoy swaying with the tide clanged occasionally in the distance. The birds, so plentiful and noisy during the day when they came looking for a free meal, had returned to their nests, leaving the skies empty and silent. The air smelled of salt but also reeked of fish and diesel fumes.

Cunningham wasn't expected until midnight, and it gave Bruce and Alfred some time to prepare a proper reception. They could only hope no one showed up early.

Bruce approached one of the warehouses and jumped up, kicking off the wall for added height. His gloved hands latched onto the rusty bottom rung of the fire escape ladder. Pulling himself up, Bruce climbed to the top of the four story structure. He ignored the windows and doors near the fire escape since he didn't need to get inside to accomplish his task.

Standing on the railing at the uppermost floor, Bruce secured a firm grip on the eave, hauling himself up and onto the roof. Moving with as much speed as he dared on the smooth metal surface, he headed toward the front of the building overlooking the waters of the harbor. The roof was only slightly sloped, and jutting out from the peak horizontally was a sturdy I-beam. Hanging under the beam was a motorized winch and pulley system linked to a metal platform for raising cargo from the ground to storage spaces on the upper floors of the warehouse.

Bruce climbed down the reinforced metal supports and dropped onto the cargo platform below the pulleys and winch. Kneeling down, he dug into the satchel he carried and produced a wireless camera. The diminutive component easily fit in the palm of his hand but had exceptional range and clarity of image. He used a pair of plastic ties to secure the camera underneath the platform where he knelt.