Author's Note: Thank you all who left such wonderful reviews. I also would like to thank my beta PJ Murphy who is indispensable who cleaned this up in the beginning may he be okay wherever he is. This story does contain some Cyberpunk elements, it's a fascinating genre. Hope everyone is enjoying the story. I did a little RE-EDITING since I used my tablet to upload the old version. But nothing much.
December 17, 2041
New York City
8:21 am
The professor's corpse looked so pristine, as if the man was in a slumber…in an eternal slumber never to wake up, Liam noted as he stared at the corpse dressed in his best suit, a black blazer with a dark blue tie and his best black loafers. Doctor Ed had always been fascinated by the stars, what might be out there in the void that's why he chose to study Astrophysics.
Liam silently entered the funeral home like a specter of sorts, the funeral directors downstairs hadn't even noticed. The young operative knew for certain that the professor had no history of heart problems; the man jogged every morning for the past forty years. Not to mention an aortic dissection is incredibly rare, which meant he did not die of natural causes as he suspected when he heard of his unfortunate death. He narrowed his eyes and spotted a miniscule red spot on his index finger near the nail so small it could be mistaken for a mosquito bite. Taking out his optical magnifier, a device which allowed for a greater enhanced image, it looked like a pinprick of sorts, as if he stubbed his finger on a thumbtack...or a needle. A hypodermic needle, Liam thought. It was the perfect delivery system…fast, efficient, and deadly in the right hands.
"Hmm..." Liam studied the small hole, his blue eyes taking in the image. He knew a number of modern "death ray" devices that could induce a heart attack such as the infamous Norseman device which could poison an entire room, although that one hadn't been used in over twenty-five years. But there were a few very nasty custom-made cocktails designed by rogue chemists that could cause such a thing in an otherwise healthy person.
He heard footsteps approaching telling him it was time to go. He was gone like an apparition.
"We still have Mister Chung to attend to," said Gerald "Gerry" Mortini, the owner of the funeral home into his ePhone."His family wants him impeccable, and they demand no less." . Given how immaculate the empty Ramirez viewing room looked, Liam realized the Mortinis didn't spend over 50 years in the business giving out mediocre service.
William headed back to the Sanctum Sanctorum with that hunch still picking at him like an itch he couldn't scratch. His mind was in overdrive running every possible theory.
"Media lunas, facturas with sausage and cafesito." Liam nonchalantly placed the synthetic wooden food containers on the desk.
"What's the matter?" Autumn asked before her brow instantly furrowed. "I know that look."
"Secretary Ramirez didn't die of natural causes. He was murdered." Liam grabbed her desk chair and rolled her to another port at their computer station taking at a seat. "Autumn, see what you can find on what the Secretary was up to the last few days. I'll finish decrypting the program."
The spy just nodded. She knew his hunches were something, it must have been his ninja training.
"Coming right up." She began rapidly researching the professor, looking for recent documents, doctor visits, conference calls, the works. William smiled when she quickly found what they were looking for. Autumn had amazing hands in more ways than one.
"Looks like the secretary had been a client of one Lara Bartowski for a month now," Autumn said, reading the information in front of her. "It seems he was suing this Canadian company called IronTech because they were violating several trade agreements and he found several inconsistencies during his investigations. Sounds like they were doing some off-the-books deals."
Liam raised an eyebrow while his fingers were like a blur on the keyboard. This whole mission just got a little more perilous; he did not like this new development one bit. Lara had to be in danger at the minimum because of this. Mortley tended to use fronts for his illegal activities. He was good at it, when his schemes were foiled those fronts unsurprisingly filed for bankruptcy. Mortley has tried kill Liam many times, usually by the use of hired guns. Qiu called him the luckiest man on the face of the Earth…or the unluckiest, given his clocktower apartment in Buenos Aires went up in flames thanks to Mortley. But it was replaced, and as his dad always said there is no crying over spilt milk.
"Her office is nearby," Liam said, breaking the last of the encryption. A series of codes and letters appeared in the hologram screen. "Another puzzle; hopefully this will be easier than the last one. It's a series of codes and numbers. You solve them."
Liam threw on his gray trench coat, dusting himself off breathing in deeply before turning to Autumn. "How do I look?"
Autumn blinked wondering why he just asked that, the lavender shirt with the khakis and Converse shoes, he looked like an everyday professional and that is the cover story. She's seen him without clothes before and he makes suits look James Bond. "You look inconspicous."
Appearances were everything in his very unconventional line of work, you dress the part with a few touches here and there and it was sold, the most harmless looking fellow could be the deadliest opponent ever. As his sensei once said deception and theatrics are fundamental when he was getting his butt tossed on the floor during his training.
"Eat, food's getting cold." Liam said as he went up the stairs.
An audible rumble broke the silence, Qiu covered his mouth stifling a laugh as a blushing hacker solved the numbers on a notepad.
Liam walked several blocks to a series of rowhouses where Lara and Laura Law Offices stood, a nascent firm founded only four years ago by his sister-in-law and her law school classmate, Laura. From what he understands Lara is quite the attorney defending the innocent, she's on retainer for the city.
He caught her just in time. He chuckled when he saw a coffee in her right hand and her satchel in the other. It had been her dream since she was a little girl. Her parents had been killed during a military coup in 2016 presided over by a former general looking to return to the old ways after Goya gave the country back to its people. Her father Pedro, a prominent lawyer, criticized the grabbing of power. He was immediately silenced along with his schoolteacher wife, Elena. Lara and her sister, Maria, were smuggled out by Pedro's twin brother Marco, a mild-mannered Gastroenterologist in contrast to his defiant and silver-tongued brother. It was said that Lara was most like her father and he couldn't disagree with that.
He knew the perfect way to approach her without raising any flags. She had a knack for suspecting deception; it's undoubtedly how she maintained such a good standing within the city and made her an effective attorney. He ran over to the other alleyway, coming to the next street, where she'd have to pass by him to get to the courthouse. He saw her coming.
"Hey Lara!"William called waving at her. She smiled. Lara recognized the tall, now muscular frame of her childhood friend, her hubby's younger brother. When he disappeared Lara along with her Stephen had traveled to Asia with Chuck and Sarah to look for the missing young man but after two months they gave up, it was like he had vanished into thin air. Between her and Stephen, William was the light that shone upon them, the three Muskateers.
They walked together. "It's...awesome to have you back around, so much has happened, we thought you were dead it broke all of us." she said her voice breaking, eyes shimmering with emotion, tears welling up in her eyes. William also missed her, his chess opponent, the last few years but he was back with his family.
''I'm back Lara, you see standing here in all my 6'2 frame.'' he laughed his lips forming a genuine smile.
"Glad to see you about, how are you liking the place?"
"New York is a different beast than San Jose but it has its charms. Particularly the food scene. I'd say it's even with Chicago I had breakfast in a Japanese place."
He smiled genuinely. It really did feel good to be back with his family again.
"Buy More huh?" She asked, showing a smile that could light up a room, formerly a big box electronics store the company had evolved and expanded into medical science, renewable energy, biochemistry, materials science, engineering and many other areas.
"Meh, he gives great benefits, plus you never run out of things to do. There is always something to fix, something to solve, something to create." He shrugged. "I watched the wedding video the night after I came home. You were beautiful, I mean you are beautiful, I mean you looked great in that white dress,"
She grinned. He can see why his brother fell for her, Lara was incredibly loving.
"Thank you. Steve cried the day before. There's no doubt your absence was felt. He doesn't say much but he missed you like crazy. We all did."
"And here I am. Where I belong."
"Why don't you come around the loft at eight? Steve loves cooking, he makes great breakfast in bed."
"He can cook?" Liam raised an eyebrow in surprise. His big brother was a great athlete but he wasn't known for his culinary skills.
"I gave him a few lessons," Lara said with a knowing wink.
Liam didn't need to turn around to know they were being followed. He spotted the navy van with blacked out windows a block away. They were going to be kidnapped, that much he deduced. He was in full control of the situation.
"We'll talk tonight, I got work to do." she smiled.
"Yeah, me too," he replied before he felt the pin prick of a tranquilizer dart on his neck.
''Will, you have a...'' she pointed before a dart hit her neck. The two of them lost consciousness within a few seconds.
Lower East Side
8:35 am
Steven splashed warm water on his face. When he woke up this morning he knew it would a hectic day. The police headquarters had just imploded, courtesy of that wretched devil Mulcahy. At least twenty officers were dead, the rest were currently on the street trying to put a stop to it. There was no question those officers were out for blood. On top of it all, Mortley was believed to be using some type of vibration machine used for infrastructure work which he had weaponized to be used for evil.
"Bartowski, we have a call. It's Mortley," Captain Briggs said darkly. The most wanted man for the last two decades was phoning them. It was little surprise, as he liked to play games with the law.
"The gall of that bastard," Steven growled, wiping his face with a synthetic paper towel.
Briggs, Maria, and Steven stood and glared phone on speaker. They were all wary about what this man wanted.
"I trust you are all here. Including you, Agent Bartowski?" Mortley said with a morbid chuckle.
"Yeah, I'm here. Do the right thing and turn yourself in before you end up as a corpse," Steven said in no mood to play his games.
"Agent Bartowski, you understand I am not the sort of man to just make it easy. I love games. I am especially good at charades!"
"You killed twenty-five police officer not an hour ago and you killed hundreds of sailors just last year. Why should we waste our time listening to you when you belong in handcuffs and rotting in a prison cell?"
"Because I have placed several of my contraptions, the one those police officers experienced this morning, in several locations around this majestic city." Mortley paused before continuing with the same casual air. "I also have your beautiful wife and your younger brother as my guests, Agent Bartowski."
Steven's breath hitched, Maria gasped audibly and Briggs cursed loudly.
"You son of a bitch, if you..." Maria growled no one messed with her family and got away with it.
"You'll what, Agent?" Mortley teased. "I have all the leverage and you have nothing."
"You always have something up your sleeve don't you Mortley? Of course you do, you're a regular Lex Luthor." Steven exclaimed. If he was going to save his beloved Lara and his little brother he had to be cautious.
"I want you, Agent Bartowski, and Agent Lobo to go to the Robert Kennedy Bridge, where you will see one of my contraptions tucked away safely. You have thirty-five minutes. I suggest you get moving." The line went dead.
"According to witnesses, a woman and a man fitting Lara and your brother's descriptions were taken in Astoria." Briggs heard in his Redtooth earpiece, which replaced the old-school police radios about ten years ago. "Don't worry. We'll find them."
Steven said nothing as he slipped on his NOI issue windbreaker, both he and Maria grabbed the keys to the agency-issued car. When they stepped outside they were, they were pelted with a frigid wind, the temperature having dropped ten degrees. A cold and sunny day, just like Mortley liked.
New York City
8:45 am
Liam awakened from his unconscious state, the grogginess starting to dissipate. He had developed some resistance to the regular-grade darts Mortley's men used, but the same could not be said about Lara, who hung from the same metal beam not four feet from him. He eyed his surroundings. The place looked like an industrial factory, probably shut down in the late 1980s judging from the rust. The place reeked of rusted metal and urine; the stench stung his eyes. Places like this dotted the big cities like reminders of the past. Worst of all, he really could have used his gray trench coat, given it was absolutely freezing. It was 24 degrees Fahrenheit last he checked.
"Lara!" he exclaimed, trying to rouse the Latina beauty from her unconscious state. Both of them were chained to the pipe, but the renaissance man concluded he had gotten out of worse situations.
"Autumn? Qiu?" Liam heard static from his earpiece. He was afraid of that; they were using some kind of interference to prevent communication.
The rusted metallic door slid open and two vicious-looking men entered the old room. The tattoos on their necks read like resumes. One was former Spetsnaz and the other was an ex-special forces commando from India.
"Which one of you is Curly and which one is Moe?" Liam demanded to know.
"No need to concern yourself with who they are, William."
A familiar foul voice perked his ears. Liam's sapphire colored eyes flared with white hot anger. Daniel Shaw walked from in between the two hulking forms. His sadistic smirking grin irritated the covert operative to no end. He looked horrible, the slimy bastard had stark white hair in contrast to the head of raven black hair he once had. Liam smiled inwardly; all the hardship Shaw had been through since he had been thrown in federal prison was apparent.
"Daniel Shaw, god you look horrible, you're definitely the Larry here. You remind me of a wooden log too."
"Don't call me that," Shaw growled with an irrational anger. It was like Sarah's eyes were staring back at the former CIA agent who betrayed his country. It made the traitorous snake hate William even more.
"What's wrong? Truth hurts, doesn't it? You know, Shaw, medicine has advanced greatly in the last few decades. They can even help people walk again, and it's quite inexpensive, too. Although it does have its limits. I mean, it's not like they can grow your sanity back or a set of cajones."
Shaw struck the young man across his face. Liam smirked, given Shaw had many weaknesses and he was going to exploit every one of them again.
"You're going to lose Shaw just like always. I'll beat you just like mom and dad beat you every single fucking time and unlike them I'll have fun doing it!" William showed up a sadistic grin.
"He said not to kill you, but he didn't say anything about fucking you up." Shaw growled with hatred. The damage the Intersect did to him, given his mind was never designed to handle it, had turned him into a shell of his former self. Shaw was even more unhinged than he was during the early 2010s. The intersect blueprints were all destroyed because it was deemed too dangerous. Although William had heard rumors that a few organizations were developing intersects of their own.
"Where does Mortley find morons like you, huh?" Liam asked, his lips twitching into a smile as he spit crimson red blood on the floor.
Lara groaned as she woke up. "Where the hell am I?" she demanded softly. The drugs still in her system were affecting her ability to speak.
"No need to concern yourself with that, Mrs. Bartowski," Shaw replied, suddenly all business.
Shaw walked up to Lara and gazed up and down at her form. "Mr. Singh, Anatoly, please take Mister Pasteur into the next room and have some fun with him for a bit." Shaw said, referring to Liam by one of his aliases. He gave Lara a leering grin "I'll handle Mrs. Bartowski here."
The two hulking henchmen took the chains from the metal beam, taking the Bartowski roughly by his shoulders. Liam looked between the two men likely outweighed him by a hundred pounds each. The Russian even had a scar on his right hand, Liam guessed he broke it shattering someone's jaw and couldn't be bothered to let the bones heal properly.
"Liam," Lara tried to scream against the effects of the tranquilizer.
"It's going to be okay, Lara," Liam said resolutely. He was going to get them both out of this no matter what it took. He was going to enjoy tearing up Shaw's plan.
Shaw grinned maliciously, staring down at the attorney who glared back at him with defiant eyes. "What is it with Bartowski men and feisty, indomitable women?" Shaw said shaking his head.
"Go fuck yourself, you hideous piece of shit," Lara replied, spitting at his face. She was shivering violently, the cold affecting her even more than Liam.
Shaw backhanded Lara across her pristine face. "My employer wants to know where the data disk is," Shaw demanded.
"Floating in the East River, like you and the rest of the shit in New York does," she said defiantly.
Shaw smacked her again. Lara spat some blood on the floor. "You hit like a Girl Scout," she growled. Shaw got a bucket of water and splashed the attorney soaking her wet with the bone chilling liquid. Lara shivered violently, she knew from her first aid course that Hypothermia has two main types of causes. It classically occurs from exposure to extreme cold. It may also occur from any condition that decreases heat production or increases heat loss.
"We can do this all day," Shaw said, almost bored of the interrogation. "I'll get the information I need. All that needs to be decided is how many ways I can violate you in the process." Shaw stared at her with those dark brown eyes that were like black holes, taking away every ounce of happiness and joy.
On the second floor, the two behemoths hung the chains from an old pipe. Liam was pounded like a punching bag.
"Hey, Ivan. What's the circumference of a circle?" Liam asked. The Russian looked at his Indian comrade with cold grey eyes.
Liam took his chance. He kicked his legs into the air and wrapped them the Indian's neck, his foot kicking out to send the Russian back in the process. The Indian lost consciousness from the blood to his brain being cut off. Liam pushed up hard, climbing the wall to get the chains from around the pipe. The Russian charged at him, and Liam swung his hands hard to connect the chain with the Russian's face. His head snapped back and he screamed in pain. It gave Liam the chance to remove chains from around his wrists. He swung them around as the Russian got his sight back.
"Let's do dis," the Russian barked with a thick accent. He charged the covert operative. Liam sidestepped him, having the speed advantage over his larger opponent, and snaked the chain at the Russian's legs. He pulled hard and the Russian went flying through the air, landing on the floor with a hard thud. Liam jumped through the air and stomped on the Russian's right hand, eliciting a howl of agony from the former Spetsnaz operative. The Russian tried to turn over and get back up, but Liam swung the chains like a golf club at the Russian's face, knocking him out for good.
Liam dropped the chain and started to charge towards where Shaw was keeping Lara but stopped himself. He realized he couldn't go in there half-cocked because Lara was only familiar with him as Bruce Wayne. Liam looked back at the Spetsnaz operative and relieved the Russian of his black synthetic leather jacket and the balaclava in the inside pocket. He grabbed the chains as well and opened the rusted door. He saw nobody else; clearly Mulcahy thought Shaw and a couple of goons could handle him. He was going to show the Canadian mastermind how wrong he was.
Shaw backhanded Lara again, whose face was covered in bruises. He threw a pitcher of water onto her drenching the other Mrs. Bartowski, the hypothermia about to set in.
"Bartowski men sure love the fiery ones. Mary Bartowski she was feared in the Cold War and your husband's mother well she was a stubborn bitch, too. She took everything I had away from me, she took my Eve! My life!" Shaw said with considerable venom.
"Did she take your balls, too, you coward?" Lara scoffed. "Oh, no. She couldn't have. That would mean you actually had them once."
Shaw pulled out a long knife with a serrated edge and put it to Lara's throat. Suddenly he was pulled away by a chain around his throat. The chain tightened to the point of choking him. The traitorous bastard struggled in vain.
"Like the Borg say, resistance is futile," a gravelly voice whispered in Shaw's ear. In a few seconds Shaw stopped thrashing and gave in to the darkness. William gave him a swift kick to the ribs for good measure.
Lara coughed from the pain, and her head throbbed from the bruising around her swollen left eye. Liam stared at the motionless body of Shaw in hatred for a moment before turning to Lara.
"I've come to get you out of here," he said in a robotic voice. Lara opened her eyes to see a shadowy figure with a balaclava over his head. Liam wisely turned on his voice scrambler so Lara couldn't figure out it was him. Liam extracted her from the chains, helping her slip on a large black synthetic leather jacket. Putting her arm around his broad shoulders and a gentle but steady hand on her waist, he helped her walk out of the run-down warehouse, the two guards at the entrance knocked out cold.
"Who are you?" she asked, still weary from the tranquilizer.
"They call me the midnight Owl," he responded.
"Where is William, my brother-in-law?" she asked in a panic.
"He's safe. Do not worry about him." He gently sat her down on a block of concrete outside the building as the sounds of sirens filled the frigid air. Liam had taken the liberty of calling the authorities before freeing Lara.
"You'll be okay now." His lips formed into a smile. Lara turned and saw the familiar white FBI vehicles with three police cars in tow stopping in the gravel.
"Where should..." Lara turned but saw no one, her guardian angel having vanished. She blinked several times, wondering if she even saw him in the first place.
"Lara!" Captain Briggs called.
"Hey Pete," she replied softly.
"We need the medics here!" he barked at the uniformed officers, one of whom immediately called for the EMS.
"How you feeling?" he asked knowing the answer but trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere.
"Like crap."
"Where's Steve's brother?" asked the senior agent. He had never met the younger brother of his subordinate, only seeing him in pictures on Steve's desk.
"I don't know, that guy…the Owl…he rescued me. Well, I think…" Lara slumped from dizziness..
"It's okay, we're going to get you patched up" Briggs said soothingly as the EMS paramedics grabbed her gently by the arms.
Briggs sighed as he looked at his wrist. The time was nine in the morning, but this day was far from over.
TO BE CONTINUED...