The Primal Connection (24 page)

In any case, to Terry, it made no difference what Jones thought. All he wanted was to give Charlie the chance to learn what he could from his Chrliti. And Charlie was doing his best not to let him down.

In the mindscape between the two men, Charlie finally met the other occupant. He could sense its trepidation. There was real fear in it as it slithered mentally through the rail.

Charlie gave the standard greetings that would be meaningless to anyone but another Chrliti and then started to ask the questions he had in mind, but the other creature beat him to it.

“I have been here with you this close, yet I could not detect you. Your very presence seems diaphanous. As if you are only partially here. Are you a
lentha
?”

Charlie froze at the word. It had been a long time since he had even heard it, but the meaning still made him shiver after a fashion. The word translated literally a
ghost.

“I am no
lentha
. I have been locked by a particular type of human and rendered invisible by his fields. My situation is not relevant here. What is is the fact that you were there when this human saw the creature that they believe killed the other humans in the cab. We need information on this creature and ask for your help.”

The other Chrliti, who called himself Biner, was quick to answer.

“I know little more than what the human has told the others. I was able to read his bio-fields from a distance. All I can tell you is that he was just a normal-looking human. He did, however, have several odd characteristics I was able to detect from the distance he was at. I was able to identify several chemical compounds in his blood that I had never seen anywhere else. His bio-fields were...skewed.”

For a moment, the alien seemed to waver as he allowed the connection to fade as he concentrated on the moment he had scanned the man in question. Charlie could almost feel the sudden burst of the epiphany as it happened.

“Your questions have stirred memories in me. As I now recall, he seemed interested in the scene, as well as the fact that it had been discovered. When I noticed him, he seemed to be studying the area. As I watched, he seemed to grow less interested and more confused. As if he was waking up in a strange place. The process took only a few seconds. After that, it seemed he was just another bystander. But he definitely knew something about the area.”

“And these compounds you mentioned?”

“I could not analyze them at that distance, but I could tell they were complex. And exotic.”

In his mind, Charlie could see the scene just as Biner did. But Biner still had his own questions.

“If you are not a
lentha
, what are you then? You say the human you occupy is unique. How does that affect you?”

Again, Charlie froze. He knew what this would lead to. Mir had been too preoccupied with Traci to ask, but in every other meeting he had had with one of his people, it had been one of the preeminent questions. And his answer was equally repetitious.

“I don’t know.”

* * * *

The entire conversation had taken less time than Frank Jones’ first drink. After that, Charlie simply flowed in and out of Biner’s consciousness while allowing him to flow through his, careful not to give away anything Terry would have considered private.

Terry, meanwhile, ended the
interrogation
of Frank Jones, leaving a confused Roan watching from the doorway. He had seen the entire thing, and although, he was out of earshot, he had seen nothing that even suggested that Terry had even asked any questions in anything more than the most casual manner. Interrogation techniques like this he had never seen, but if they worked, he was all for it.
If
it worked, that is.

Only now, Terry and Jones were both getting up and heading for him. Whatever had happened was at least over for the moment.

“Mr. Roan, take Mr. Jones back to the room and let him get some sleep. In the morning, barring any new developments, you’ll be taking him home. I need to get a room, and here looks as good as any place else. Tell Decker to find me when—”

The only thing that stopped Roan from launching a barrage of questions was, at that moment, his phone rang. Holding up a finger, he answered it quickly. A few seconds of talking and he hung up, brightening slightly.

“They just brought in the guy from the scene. Decker had him stashed at the one-one-eight. He’s on his way down to head over there. He says you can ride over with him or follow him in a cab, but he ain’t getting in that thing of yours again. Period!”

Terry smiled at the memory of watching Decker contort his way into the front of his rental. He didn’t blame him. “Tell him I’ll meet him down in the lobby. Don’t feel like driving anyway. Take care of Mr. Jones.”

With that and a wave, Terry turned and headed for the door, but Roan gave into temptation. “Get anything worth the trouble?”

Terry turned and smiled, his eyes smiling even harder. “I got all I need. And probably a lot more.”

Roan shook his head. Whatever happened, he must have missed it. Either that or this Bridger guy was as full of shit as that FBI guy, Benin, said.

Charlie allowed himself to float inside of Terry’s mind. He had the data that Terry wanted, but he had questions of his own about it. Biner had been right in his assumption about the exotic compounds in the body of the man at the scene, but he hadn’t known what they were. Charlie wasn’t sure, because despite their abilities, the Chrliti couldn’t identify anything they weren’t familiar with, which Biner wasn’t. Charlie was.

The trouble was that there were facts to this that only Charlie, or another Chrliti, would understand. It wasn’t that it was that complex, it was just a matter that only concerned Chrliti. Or at least it did until Terry came along.

* * * *

Decker came down in a hurry. Their target had been sitting in his house, eating a pizza when the swat team burst in. According to the squad leader, he stared at them blankly, silently chewing the food in his mouth while he listened to the shouts for him to get on the floor and put his hands behind his head. He complied quietly. When they asked for ID, he did so without hesitation. They cuffed him and threw him in the back of a squad car. If all arrests went this smoothly, he thought, the police force would have a hard time asking for raises.

In the lobby, Terry was waiting, apparently, deep in thought. Decker had to call him twice to get his attention. Whatever happened, it looked like it bore some hard thinking.

“Let’s hit it.” Decker said when Terry finally came around. “They’ve got him on ice, but we still need to move fast before some clown with a past-due house payment decides he can get caught up with a phone call to channel nine.”

Terry nodded. “Okay. I’m riding with you. How far?”

“About fifteen minutes from here.”

As he spoke, he raised a massive hand and dropped it in a signal to a passing cab that slammed on its brakes as soon as it got close enough to recognize him. Apparently, there was still a need for cabs and clients. Whatever this bastard did, it hadn’t put the whole system off its game.

As it slid to a stop, Decker grabbed a door handle as Terry ran around and opened the other. As they slid in, Decker pulled out his phone and dialed a number, but instead of saying anything, he simply waited for a moment, then pushed in a few numbers and hung up. Seeing the look Terry gave him, he said quietly. “Just a coded response to an auto locator. One of Crane’s innovations. Makes sure we know where everybody is if they’re needed.”

Made sense to Terry, who nodded his agreement. Then, he sat back against the cushions. He debated for a moment whether or not he should try to contact Charlie. He knew it was hard on him when he made contact with one of his people sometimes, so he tried to give him a little space after such a meeting. This one, though, felt a little different.

In their time together, Terry had learned to read some of Charlie’s moods. He could sense them without working too hard. This one had a feel to it he didn’t feel too often. Like it portended of things to come. Some very bad things.

* * * *

It took them less than the fifteen minutes to get to the precinct. Decker had the cabbie drop them half a block from the station. He waited until he left then walked around to the parking lot. A minute later, they walked through the back door and were greeted by a patrolman that looked as if he had been waiting for them. They were quickly ushered into a room at the back of the building and told to wait there while the cop found the detective who was running the case.

Decker looked at the man in the room, pulled out his phone and took a picture of the man. Terry watched as he sent it to the room where Chans sat waiting.

Rich took the call expectantly. He had been waiting for it all night. Maximizing the picture, he showed it to Chans.

Moments later, Terry knew something was wrong. His fear was confirmed a minute later as Decker said quietly. “Chans says this ain’t the guy.”

For a moment, Terry was stunned. Then, the implication of what that meant came through. If it wasn’t the guy, it meant that there were at least two of them, providing this guy panned out. If he didn’t, they were back at square one. If he did, they were a lot further behind than they had thought.

Terry, though, was pragmatic. “The guy was there at the last scene. We know that. So whether or not he’s a perp or a witness, he still gets a talking to.”

Decker closed the phone after thanking Rich. “Agreed. So how do we play this?”

Terry shook his head. “Like we know what we are doing.”

In the room, the temperature was a little high, and the dehumidifier had been turned off. The object was to keep the subject of the interview as uncomfortable as possible. The trouble was no one told the guy sitting in the room, because he looked as though he was sitting in his living room waiting for a weekend football game.

Even when Decker and Terry walked in, his only response was a tilt of his head. Then, he returned to his former pose without a word.

Terry had Charlie make sure this guy had no Chrliti.

Charlie did so then scanned the man for anomalies like the ones Biner had described. There were none of the compounds he had listed, but there were residuals that let Charlie know this
was
the man Biner had seen that night.

“Good evening, Mr. Cole. My name is Decker. This is Mr. Bridger. We need to ask you a few questions about—”

The man cut him off with an eerie calmness to his voice that made the hair on both men’s necks stand up and dance.

“I don’t care what you want, I want my lawyer.”

Decker shrugged, raising his eyebrows, saying, “Why, Mr. Cole, you aren’t under arrest. We just need some questions answered, and we hope to prevail on your civic pride to—”

“Don’t have any civic pride. Got a lawyer.” He fished in his shirt pocket. “Here’s his number. You wanna talk, you start there.”

Terry found him almost amusing.

Decker found him infuriating, but he refused to let it show.

Charlie seemed a bit more excited as he told Terry,
“The chemicals in his blood are reacting to the anxiety he seems to be feeling. His bio-fields indicate his adrenalin is up and still rising. It would seem he has been altered somehow, but I cannot tell the source or the extent.”

Terry noted all of this without comment as he watched the man for signs of distress. He found it almost comical the way he sat there so unconcerned. Almost as funny as the metaphoric steam he could see rising off of Decker.

Charlie noted that Decker’s fields showed he was not at all pleased with the way things were going, even though they had just started.

Decker, meanwhile, decided that this was going to go his way whether this guy liked it or not.

“All right,” Decker sighed, “if you’d rather do it the hard way, then by all means, let’s. You were seen at the site of a double homicide. We have witnesses and video of you, so denying it is a waste of my time and yours. Now, if that’s the way you want to play it, fine. But all you’re doing is making it harder on yourself for no reason. Assuming, of course, that you aren’t involved.”

Terry noted the man’s eyes narrowed as Decker spoke. It was the first real reaction he’d given.

Suddenly, Charlie exclaimed in Terry’s mind,
“Terry, be careful! His fields are spiking! He’s getting ready to—”

Even in Terry’s mind, Charlie couldn’t finish the statement as the man suddenly reared up, shoving himself away from the table and standing up so quickly, he caught Decker by surprise.

Even so, Decker wasn’t worried. Cole weighed in at about a hundred fifty pounds, carried on a physique so slight, the idea of him trying to overpower anyone was ludicrous. And under normal conditions, that idea would have been right.

This was not a normal situation.

Decker rose with him, ready to bellow a command for him to sit, but by the time both men made it to their respective feet, Cole leaped up onto the table and threw a kick directly into Decker’s chest, literally lifting the big man up and driving him into the wall behind him. The surprise that registered on his face was epic as he slid down the wall.

Terry was less shocked thanks to the warning from Charlie, but the sight of this frail man dropping Decker’s huge mass with such apparent ease was, nonetheless, disconcerting. There was no time to think, though, as Cole spun to attack Terry with the same ferocity.

Thanks to Charlie’s ability to speed Terry up as needed, he was easily able to block the attack and slip to the side, dropping in a jab that snapped the smaller man’s head back. In a normal fight, the blow would have most likely ended the fight at that point, but again, this was not normal. The smaller man displayed, among other things, an inordinate resiliency that belied his size and build. Where Terry should have been looking down at a semiconscious man, he instead was dodging a renewed attack that rivaled his own speed.