Chapter #20A Play for Confidence by: Seuzz   Conniff can land on her feet, but you're reluctant to make things hard for her. It's your fault she's in this mess; and you do like her. She reminds you of Frank; like him, she's got a warrior spirit; and like him she is straight and conscientious and doesn't like to obey orders blindly. It's hard not to want to do right by her.
Also, you want to steer her away from you and your partners, and aim her squarely at Fane. A little hands-on guidance would be helpful there.
So you grab at a security guard who's passing. "Collect the female prisoner in 235," you tell him. "Cuff her and blindfold her, and take her down to the garage. Put her in a vehicle and wait for me."
You then return to the interrogation room where you've hidden Dey, and put him into a week-long coma. You'd ordered the room sealed, so there's a good chance no one will find him until he wakes up. A week's sleep will leave him weak and famished, but he'll be okay, and in the meantime your trail will have gone cold.
If it seems called for, you might even be able to return and impersonate him once you've spun Conniff around and pushed her off in whatever direction seems best.
* * * * *
Twenty minutes later you are approaching an SUV running in the middle of the parking garage. Sitting behind the wheel is a single agent guarding Conniff. You throw your cloak over him before opening the driver's side door, and press the knock-out sigil to his cheek. Then, to make the rescue sound convincing, you pull him out with a loud grunt and bang your knuckles hard against his jaw and gut and chest before throwing him to the floor. From his jacket pocket you pull out his pistol and a set of keys, then hop into the car. Conniff, who has her hands behind her and a blindfold tightly bound over her eyes, swings around as you slam the door shut, but says nothing. You gun the engine and race off toward the exit. There's a guard there, but one look at Dey's face is enough to get him to open the gate.
As soon as you're on the street you kick off Dey's loafers and switch back into Taylor's form; Dey's clothes bind tightly around you. Once you're well along, you speak to your erstwhile superior: "How you doin' there, Conniff?"
She swings again, sharply, at your voice. "Who wants to know?" she snaps.
With one hand you gently pull the blindfold off her and switch on the cabin light. She blinks hard as you grin at her. "Call it payback for the time you saved my nuts in Boston. Let's get clear and I'll see about getting those cuffs off you. You know London? Where are we?"
She just stares at you.
"Conniff. We need to know where that place was, so-- Conniff? Do you recognize the neighborhood?"
She shakes herself, and peers out into the dark. "Beats me, I was the one in the blindfold." She frowns. "The hell are you wearing?"
"Some fucker's clothes. I lost mine when--"
You glance between her and the road, weighing how much to say. From Dey's memories you know there is now yet another Taylor Koudelka running around. They made that copy in the suite where Conniff was being held, so she probably saw it, maybe even spoke to it. So she's probably deeply suspicious of you. It'll be tricky, getting her to trust you.
It's a gamble, but you bring the problem into the open. "There's shapeshifters on the loose, Conniff. I was wrong about that, but I saw one, and he was looking like me and wearing my clothes."
"Really," she says in a very neutral tone.
You pull into an empty space on the side of the road, and pull the cuffs off her. "Don't try grabbing my throat or any shit like that, okay?" you say as you twist the key into the lock. "Because I know what you're thinking. and it's mutual. I spent most of a morning and an afternoon with a fake version of you. So I'm taking a gamble here too."
She says nothing, but rubs her wrists and keeps staring at you hard after you've got the cuffs off.
"And here's where I up the ante," you continue, and hand her the pistol.
She takes it and checks the magazine as you pull back into traffic. Then she calmly points it at your head. "Talk," she says.
"Jesus. I'd rather concentrate on driving. I don't wanna bump into anything and have you splatter my brains all over the--"
"Talk, you fucker."
"Then lemme pull over someplace--"
"Keep driving. Hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock, where I can see them. Eyes on the road. Get us back to Oxford. And tell me everything that's happened since I went to Glasgow."
You sigh. You've nothing really to worry about, since even a bullet to the brain can't hurt you -- it can only ruin Taylor's imago. But that would be bad enough. "Well, you left town. I relieved Oliver, kept watch on the Hardesty house. Around midnight Marta Hardesty showed back up, but you didn't. I called you from Oliver's phone, because he'd forgotten it in the car, like the moron he is. Did you get that call from me?"
"No."
"Then it was your doppelganger who answered. Around dawn I got a call from you. You said you'd spotted Marta doing a shapeshift. You'd gotten some backup--didn't tell me from where--and were going in to grab her. But the Hardestys were already moving. After we lost them, you then took me back to London, where your guys jabbed a needle in my neck. When I woke up I was naked and tied to a table, and next to me was a guy who looked like me and was wearing my clothes. There was another guy there too. They said something about our having had a good talk. I think they must've slipped me something to loosen my tongue. They thought I was still goofy from the juice, so when my double left, the other one undid me to take me somewhere. But I clocked him and took his clothes and got away. I was trying to find a way out without being noticed when I spotted them hauling you along a corridor. I managed to trail you to the garage, and when it was just you and one guy I jumped him. Now here we are."
Your story is mostly true, and those places where you've embellished should match Conniff's experiences, for Dey's memories tell you that's their standard technique: slip the subject a little mood-altering cocktail that sets him to talking so they can get minimal biographical information for the impersonation.
"Now what about you?"
She grunts after a long pause. "Same thing. Got jumped in Glasgow and bundled into a van. Got acquainted with a needle. I didn't know they'd replaced me, though. I saw you about an hour ago, back at--" Her head swivels as she peers at the city. "Where are we?"
"Christ, Conniff, that's what I asked you ten minutes ago. Someplace by the river, I think. London, anyway."
"It'll be a Fane building, at any rate," she says, "and we can track it down. At least we've definitely connected the Hardestys to Fane."
"No we haven't," you retort. "If the Hardestys were shapeshifters working for Fane, why would Fane be trying to grab them? Your doppelganger worked me hard to catch them, and she yelled plenty when I fucked up. They got that much of you right, at least."
"If these shapeshifters aren't Fane's, how does Fane know about them?"
"How did Fane know we were interested in the Hardestys?" you retort. "I hate to say it, Conniff, but I think Fane has someone inside OIC. That, or they've hacked our system. They must've seen that same video we saw, read our reports, decided they'd like to get to the target first. Yeah, Fane's got a shapeshifter, but it wasn't playing one of the Hardestys. They were using it to catch them."
She's silent for a very long time, which you hope means you've got her convinced. But that proves too optimistic a thought. "Not a bad theory, but it's got a big hole in it," she says. "You got a phone on you?"
"Yeah, but it's not mine. It belongs to the asshole whose clothes I took."
"Just shut up and hand it over." You comply. The glow from the pad faintly lights her face as she brushes her thumb over it. "Problem is, I've only got your word for everything you've said. And if you're not really my partner --"
"I can prove it, Conniff. Ask me anything."
"Yeah, but how much can they copy? If they can copy bodies, they can copy brains too, right? If you're telling the truth, and I call your number, then your doppelganger will answer. If not -- Well, thanks for the side arm, friend."
"Well, at least I know you're for real, Conniff," you retort. "No way they could copy your corkscrew way of thinking."
You don't want her making that call: Paige Knotts has Taylor's phone, but since you pulled her back from her mission, she'll be answering in her own voice, which will probably convince Conniff that you're the fake. If she challenges you, the only alternate story you've got is the entire truth--about you and the Stellae.  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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