Chapter 21

The Payoff 2082 a.d. – A Week Later

Epilogue

The courier didn’t even read the sign, but knocked twice on the frosted glass door. He entered without waiting for a response, knowing he was expected. The strong scent of cigar smoke assaulted his nose and eyes as he stepped into the dimly lit room. Silhouetted by the curtained window, a large man sat at a desk. He raised his head to look at the approaching courier.

The man behind the desk didn’t seem to be alarmed by the intrusion of this particular individual, though few men would dare to enter his office unannounced. The alarm sensors indicated that the courier was unarmed. The only metal on the courier’s person was in the special packet he carried in his left hand.

The courier laid the packet on the desk in front of the Security Chief and bowed, respectfully. The crisp lines of his clothing and his alert demeanor indicated nothing of the last ten hours he had spent traveling halfway around the globe from New Mexico to deliver this information in person to his superior.

“This is from our American offices in New Mexico, sir,” the courier stated. “On this disk is the confirmation of the data you received last evening. It also contains the video; the proof you requested.”

He stood, waiting silently.

“Thank you, Johnson,” the man behind the desk said. His voice was gravelly and hoarse, the result of too many cigars and his own second-hand smoke. “Go get something to eat. Come back in an hour.”

“Yes, sir!” the courier replied, hoping it wasn’t the rumbling of his stomach that had prompted the Security Chief’s suggestion to get some decent food. Turning sharply on the balls of his feet, he turned and left the opulent office of the Tomlin’s Security Chief. Munich was his favorite city when it came to spicy foods and sausages and, for a moment, he begrudged the fact that Chief Blacker had only allowed him an hour’s freedom.

Blacker waited until the door was closed, then spoke to the empty space of the room: “Computer, open security file, ‘Jake Pestova’.”

Blacker knew that name easily, by now, having spent a small fortune of company money keeping tabs on the American employee for the ten years that he’d been Security Chief here at Tomlin.

A wall panel lit up, the file entries displayed on the previously invisible screen:

Nov 9, 2059: Standard Security Check on job applicant Jake Pestova

• Subject’s records modified by Tabor Investigations, Inc. in 2051

• Subject’s actual age and birth date unknown.

Nov 11, 2059: Cross-reference Jake Pestova w/ legal:

• American Military Intelligence: Nov 4, 1991: Ref: X file.

Nov 11, 2059: Request Data transfer: X file from MI to Tomlin Security Munich

• Data Transfer Complete. Data from MI as follows:

Nov 4, 1991: X file closed due to termination of subject, Béla Wilson.

• No DNA samples of subject available on site.

• No physical evidence of termination of subject available.

• For more information, request: Communication Blackout MI X, item 7.

Nov 11, 2059: Request Communication Blackout MI X, item 7.

• Information not available. Reason: National security.

Nov 11, 2059: Cross-reference: Béla Wilson w/ legal.

• Information not available. Reason: National security.

Nov 12, 2059: Cross-reference: Béla Wilson w/ civil.

• Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:

• Chicago, IL. Cook County Records: Last update 1991.

• Béla Wilson: Born Betty Belview around 1904 exact date unknown.

• Aliases: Bee Bee Belview. Deceased: 1928. Cause of death: Multiple gunshot wounds.

• Bozeman, Mt. County Courthouse Records: Last update 1991.

• Aliases: Bee Bee Palinni, Béla Wilson.

• Married Joseph Palinni in 1929, divorced in 1940.

• Deceased: 1994. Cause of death: Multiple gunshot wounds.

Nov 12, 2059: Request police report of shooting death of Bee Bee Belview, 1929.

• Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:

• Shots fired. Witness saw boyfriend of Bee Bee Belview fleeing scene. Witness saw deceased’s body lying on floor in her apartment. No body found at scene of crime. Murder warrant issued on Johnny Dombrosky. Victim’s body not recovered.

• Photo available.

Nov 12, 2059: Request police report of shooting death of Béla Wilson.

• Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:

• Shots fired. 911 call: Robbery in progress. Three shooting victims at crime scene:

1. Béla Wilson: multiple gunshot wounds in back and chest.

2. Jake Pestova: single gunshot wound in stomach.

3. John Doe: single gunshot wound in back of head.

• Béla Wilson data as follows:

• Subject disappeared in route to hospital. Body not recovered.

• Photo available.

• Additional data: Béla Wilson

• Subject’s name appears in legal hearing of Charles Blacker as follows:

• “Béla Wilson was a vampire! An evil creature of the night! I did society a favor by ridding the world of her!”

Nov 13, 2059: Request news coverage re: Charles Blacker.

• Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:

• Charles Blacker: police officer accused of the murder of Béla Wilson and the attempted murder of Jake Pestova, Béla Wilson, Frank Tabor, founder of Tabor Investigations and Tonya Hastings, a local dancer. Blacker accused Frank Tabor’s boss and senior partner of the Target Club, owned by Béla Wilson, of being a vampire and confessed to her murder by car bomb. Official police records differ; showing that subject vanished after being shot. The body was never recovered in either case.

Nov 15, 2059: Application approved. R. Blacker, Asst. Security Off.

• Albuquerque Division. Tomlin Corp.