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Chapter 28

"This is a pain in the ass," said Morris. Richard lay strapped to the gurney in front of him, unconscious.

"When can you start pulling info?" asked Frankie. He stood on the opposite side of a spotless operating room. Against one wall was a tall, white device with a Hotwire Port. Richard was plugged into it. There were no stats on the screen.

Morris shook his head. "No signal from his port and I don't want to push. We just got him stabilized."

"How long?"

"Hard to say." Morris moved to the white device and tapped the blank screen. A green light appeared in the bottom corner. "The Reader shows a connection but no transmission.... There could be a block."

Frankie scowled and glanced at the floor. He was frustrated. "What does that mean?"

"A block works like a safe. You need a passcode to get by. It's there to keep sensitive information out of the wrong hands. Used on Security Officers all the time. I've never heard of it being used on a Locum or HICOP patient before."

"And there's no way around it?"

"None. Unbreakable code."

"Everything is breakable," said Frankie. "You just need to find the right genius to do it."

"If you think so, but it's never been done."

"That makes it more of a challenge."

"What does a low level guy like Nickle have in his head that's worth all this risk? Blowing stuff up isn't your type of thing."

Frankie smirked. "Morbid curiosity. And he was my nephew – adopted but that never mattered. I loved the kid. Shitty thing to have someone like that die right beside you."

"I had no idea." Morris tapped a few more buttons on the screen and crossed the room. He pushed on a section of wall and it slid open to reveal a cabinet full of medication.

"I want to know who killed him. My sister's really upset – that kid was her world. And right now we've got nothing. Not a witness or hunch. I figured looking through his memories might turn something up."

"Memory retrieval is quite invasive."

"Doesn't matter. Charlie's body belongs to the family – no one seems to understand that. We should be able to do whatever we want."

"So you're prepared to kill a guy to maybe find out who killed a guy?"

"Yes I am."

Frankie left and closed the door behind him. When he was gone Morris removed a vial of clear liquid from the cabinet and withdrew some into a syringe.

He injected this into Richard. His eyes opened immediately.