Chapter 16

Paron's body was found within minutes, his throat cut from ear to ear, and stuffed up under a delivery vehicle on the loading docks of the office tower. The security video showed Paron stumbling to the dock and hiding behind a stack of pallets until a vehicle pulled up a minute later. A man got out of the passenger side, a hooded jacket covering his features, and he walked over to Paron. Helping the wounded man stand, they headed back to the vehicle but the path they took led them behind a delivery truck and the camera's view was obstructed.

When the hooded man cleared the obstruction, he was alone. He climbed into the vehicle and the it departed. The vehicle was found, a few blocks away, clean inside and out. It was a stolen ground car, reported to the Peace Keepers three days before on the other side of the city. The Peace Keepers were reviewing traffic cameras and other surveillance devices around the city, but the sheer amount of data meant that tracking the vehicle would take time.

James, the Security chief, had questioned the uniformed security officers but was convinced that they were incompetent, but not really involved in the escape or the murder. He had brought in a private firm, one certified by the Agency for medium to high risk environments, to fill the manpower gaps until more Agency security could be brought out from the Citadel. Each shift would have two of his men on site, supervising the private firm.

Kat was still sitting at Margo's desk, listening to reports roll in from James and the local Peace Keeper force, long after the dinner hour had passed. Poseidon had left early that afternoon, and Margo was hoping to find more information before she contacted him with the news of his nephew's death.

Kat had already given up on the thought of leaving tomorrow morning and was about to suggest they order some food delivered when Margo stood, turning off her terminal and grabbing her purse.

"Let's get this over with, Themis. He won't thank us for waiting."

Kat groaned, silently, and stood, girding herself to face the lion in his den, though she wasn't sure what the hell a lion was, Probably yet another species that was extinct before human kind spread to the stars. Margo led her to the underground parking area and they were met by a pair of James's Security team members. One was holding the back door of a ground car open for them but Margo started shaking her head as soon as she saw them

Margo marched right up the man by the door and stopped.

"No. If you want to come along, fine, but you are following me. When we arrive at the house, you will wait outside the gate until we return. Is that clear?"

The man holding the door looked to his partner for support, but when the other man just shrugged, he closed the rear door of the vehicle and stood by his own, waiting. When Margo pulled out of the garage, they were right on her tail and remained there for the trip out of the city.

Poseidon's house was more than twenty kilometers outside the city and was surrounded by lush forest land. The homes on this area, the visible ones that were not hidden behind screens of trees and long, winding drives, were more of the estate variety. Most had names, often on large signs near, or over, the entrances, and Poseidon's was no different.

They had been driving for almost a mile, passing a long, uninterrupted stone wall that was at least three meters tall and topped, every five meters or so, by conspicuous lights and cameras. It was built of huge blocks of stone, each looking like it weighed several metric tons, but fitted so close that only the shifting illumination of the ground cars' lights allowed then to see the seams between each stone.

Kat, old habits dying hard, couldn't help but speculate about the security setup. With all of the obvious visible security, how much more was hidden from view? She supposed that, as a business leader, a politician and an Agency honcho, the security wasn't necessarily overkill.

The driveway was gated and on each side there was a pillar that was about two meters square and a meter taller than the stone wall on each side. It had a large, curved sign, stretching from pillar to pillar with "No Return" figured in a delicate script across the face. The gate was ornate, but no less secure. It was a grid-work of heavy metal bars, mounted on a frame that looked like it weighed as much as an armored car.

There were four retractable steel and plascrete structures that looked like dragon's teeth, those anti-tank obstacles used in all those holocasts about old wars. They were embedded in front of the gate to prevent anyone from attempting to smash through, though Kat would have bet that even one of the old tanks would have been able, dragon's teeth or not. Beside the drive there was a small box mounted on a pole. The box contained a card sensor and a call button next to a small, embedded speaker's grill.

A call to the house got the dragon's teeth retracted and the gate opened remotely. The drive up to the house was at least a kilometer of tree-lined, paved road, and it was almost ten minutes before they were exiting the vehicle in front of a mansion. Mansion was an accurate description, anything else would not have suited. It was at least three stories tall and as long as a city block, all done in natural stone and with massive, fluted columns that held up a deck on the second level. It had the appearance of old money, the kind of home that planetary aristocracy, and politicians, seemed to always build.

They were met at the foot of the stairs by Poseidon himself, which surprised Kat. Based on her view of the house as they drove up, she would not have been surprised to have been met by a uniformed butler or, because of the security, an armed guard. Another thing that surprised Kat was the way Poseidon was dressed. She had rarely spoken to him since had arrived, though she had seen him around the offices. He had always been immaculately turned out. Even when he was trying to look casual, he had been an ad agency, model perfect example of casual.

Tonight, he was wearing a pair of old, faded shorts with paint stains, a worn out shirt with a sloppily mended rip in the sleeve and a pair of sandals. He looked more like a beach bum than a politician.

"Margo." He said, nodding, but completely ignoring Kat's presence. "What was so important that you had to come all the way out here and pull me away from my boat?"

"Tav Paron was murdered. His throat was cut, by persons unknown, on the loading dock at the office." Margo told him.

Poseidon looked, if anything, annoyed. "Somehow, my sister will find a way to blame this on me." He shook his head. "What the hell was that little pain in my ass doing on the loading dock in the first place? I can't imagine him being anywhere that might soil his suit. Even as a child he was a prissy little boy."