Toys

Chapter 14

“Dr. Baker, Sir. Our street surveillance cameras have picked up four skunks on motorcycles fleeing the area,” a city cop called out, hurrying toward me. “They’re heading north along the lakefront. We have emergency units-”

I was already running for my car. I wanted in on this capture in the worst way. I had never investigated a crime as daring and unspeakable as this one.

This time I took over the driving controls. As I sped out onto the streets, I barked a command at the dashboard computer: “Four motorcycles, north lakefront. Rapid pursuit until intersect.”

That order activated a link to the city’s network of surveillance cameras.

Instantly, a grid appeared on-screen, showing a cluster of four shapes hunched over their bikes.

The readout gave their speed as 187 miles per hour and their location as 7.347 miles away. Other shapes on-screen showed me that airborne police pods were already chasing them and ground vehicles were forming roadblocks ahead.

The fact that they’d gotten as far as they had was astonishing and made me feel anything but secure about a peaceful arrest.

McGill’s avatar suddenly appeared on my display. I blinked my eye at the communications icon, signaling the computer to pick up his call.

“Hays, we’ve ID’d the vics at the store,” he reported to me now. “They were all Toyz Corp execs.”

“What?”

“Yeah, and we’re not talking district managers either. They were members of the Toyz board. Moore’s crazed about it. So, you know, no pressure or anything. Just catch-and kill-the bastards. No mercy.”

“I’m closing in on the vermin right now,” I said, then clicked off McGill’s feed with a blink.

No mercy indeed.