I NEED A HERO (𝓒𝓞𝓜𝓟𝓛𝓔𝓣𝓔)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

As it happened, Tau's supposition turned out to be true. While the results were skimpy, by the time they arrived the next morning, the search had found several instances where records still existed of Shapur Badrigor, showing he had, indeed, run afoul of the law. Tau dove into the craziness that was the Roki law enforcement records to find out if they had prints or DNA as well.

Although his initial hits gave no real help, Tau was surprised to find that the search was still finding more, even as he checked each one. Apparently Badrigor had moved around the homelands a great deal. The continued hits encouraged him to keep going - the more records he found, the better the chances of getting something of value.

Orr digitized the age progressed image and began to run it through the Bureau's facial recognition system, hoping against hope to find Shapur Badrigor under an alias. It was unlikely that he had been arrested in Simaliki, but it had to be checked.

Nemera was also running the image through facial recognition, but her search was in the stored video feeds of the international flights and port arrivals. She had set the search for a month before and after the time frame Tau had deduced for Rakshasa's move from the homelands. If she got a hit, they could verify the accuracy of their image, and possibly discover what alias he had used to enter Simaliki.

As one day passed into two, then three, they held to their tasks. The facial recognition alone was a monumental task. They had set the match level to a seventy-five percent, which was the ratio that Elian had given them as a buffer. It had generated several hits already, but all had been eliminated from being Badrigor.

The fourth day brought nothing new to their investigation, but a memo from Commissioner Nox Veta announced that the Om Basset Police department had decided to employ Eamon Protective Services to oversee security for Inspector Ramar's Retirement Gala to allow all off duty Om Basset police to attend the event. Inspector Ramar, in a typical gesture of inclusion, was hosting a luncheon that same day for those on duty shift during the Gala.

They continued working on the investigation as the time for the Gala moved closer. Tau's search was still running, but he had discovered a handful of possibilities for prints and two for DNA. He sent the information to Jevri in an encrypted message, asking her to send a trusted officer to check the leads. Assuming that the hoped for data was found, he asked her to send it to them via the Bureau liaison. The facial recognition had found nothing in the Bureau files, but was still searching the arrivals in Simaliki.

Orr had been thinking of a way to set Tau up as Nemera's escort instead of taking her himself. It had finally become evident that unless he flat out told the Roki to ask her, Tau wasn't going to speak up. He hesitated to be that direct, because there was a chance Nemera would turn Tau down, considering herself committed to going with him. His answer came from an unexpected direction.

A week before the Gala, when the unit responded to a swat call-up on the night shift, he had discovered that the initial officer on the scene was an old Mota friend from the Academy. The successful resolution of the situation came at the shift end and while the rest of the unit had opted for home and sleep, Orr had agreed to have breakfast with his friend Hank Ryder.

While they ate, he discovered that Hank had married another of their academy friends, a Mota named Gail. Gail was working day shift and was expected to attend the Gala, while Hank, on night duty, couldn't escort her. Seeing this as an answer to his dilemma, Orr offered to escort Gail in Hank's stead. Hank, knowing that Gail liked Orr and that Orr was a gentleman, agreed readily.

With the swat unit on down time, Tau was alone in the case room, watching over both searches. He looked up, surprised, when Orr walked in.

"I expected you to be home, catching up on your sleep," he said.