Chapter 17 – My time has come

Chloe and Marcus spent the first few minutes of their journey in awkward silence. Chloe knew that sooner or later they had to speak about the previous night, but she wanted to delay the inevitable. Marcus was tapping with his fingertips on his knee nervously, and finally, he broke the silence.

"Listen, Chloe." He cleared his throat before he spoke again. "I know last night didn't turn out as we expected. I thought that maybe we should talk about it because I don't know how you want to proceed."

Chloe was glad that she had to focus on the road, so she could at least partially hide her nervousness.

"Yeah, it's kind of awkward now, I know," she sighed. "And yes, you're right. We should talk about it and maybe about some other things as well, but it's not the right time." She glanced at him and forced a weak smile.

Marcus studied her for a while, then nodded.

"Okay. Maybe we could do that after we speak to Mr Morris."

"Absolutely. Right now, we should focus on the questioning. Some aspects of this case are still very vague, and I think that he is the key to understanding all of these – ambiguous details better. So, I have to be very focused when I talk to him."

She tried to maintain the tone of her voice to neutral, but she rambled a little in her nervousness anyway.

"True. I have a feeling that he's craftier than he looks, so we have to be careful."

They arrived at the company not long before 7 PM. The company's neon logo shone brightly in the twilight. The area around the building was always crowded with the workers' cars during the day, but now the parking lot was eerily deserted. Chloe drove down the narrow service road to stop closest to the rearmost building. It was smaller and less significant than the other buildings, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. There was less chance of unpleasant surprises.

They walked to the entrance, but the door was closed. Chloe noticed a small intercom next to the door and pressed the button on it. After a while, they heard a crackle, then Brian's voice through the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Mr Morris, I'm Detective Decker."

"Oh, hello, Detective. You're a little early, and I'm still in the middle of something. Please, come to the Logistics Division. You can find the stairs in the right rear half of the foyer."

Before she could respond, they heard a buzzing sound, which indicated that the door was now open. Chloe sighed fretfully. She would prefer to speak with Mr Morris in a more open area. She glanced at Marcus who seemed equally tense. They both knew that they didn't have a solid reason to draw out their guns, so all that they could do was to be as careful as possible.

Chloe grabbed the knob and opened the door carefully. Although the foyer was totally empty, with the warm lighting and indoor plants it didn't seem intimidating. They found the stairs easily. A small plastic plate on the wall indicated that the two-story building had three basement floors as well, and the Logistics Division was in Basement 1.

Chloe frowned and looked at Marcus.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, me too."

"But we don't have enough evidence against him. If he had an inkling that he's a suspect, he would have lawyered up immediately. Hopefully, he's not suspicious yet."

"So, maybe this is our only chance," Marcus concluded. He looked at the stairs, then back at Chloe and smiled at her reassuringly. "And there's the two of us against him."

She returned the smile and motioned towards the stairs.

"Yeah, right. Let's go and get on with it."

They went down the stairs, reaching a room crowded with objects – there were long metal tables, shelves, and cabinets everywhere, and everything was impeccably clean. Various instruments were lined up on the grey metal tabletops, and Chloe spotted some larger machines between the tables and cabinets.

The layout of the basement was quite intricate, and the lab was probably much larger than it looked. She could see the beginnings of several smaller corridors at the corners of the room. A board on a column in the middle of the lab indicated where each subdivision was located.

Based on the directions on the board earlier, Marcus and Chloe headed right, towards the Logistics Division. They followed the narrow, winding corridor, which was lined with tables, shelves, and various instruments, till a small plate indicated that they had arrived at their destination. A massive double door greeted them, left slightly ajar.

Chloe pushed the door open, both of them stepping into a harshly lit room. As their eyes began to adjust to the brightness, they heard a deep, loud, hollow sound from behind them. Chloe turned back reflexively and grabbed the doorknob, but she was no longer able to open the reinforced steel doors. Okay, that was enough. This situation had already justified them taking out their weapons.

But before they could reach for their holsters, they heard a low voice from behind them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Raise your hands and turn back slowly."

They did as they were commanded. Both Chloe and Marcus were familiar with this situation and they knew that they must act calmly.

Brian Morris stood in front of them. In his simple, checked shirt and jeans, the bright light reflecting on his metal frame glasses, he looked like just as she remembered. But his humble and kind expression was gone. His cold, calculated gaze flickered from Marcus to Chloe as he pointed his gun at them.

"Mr Morris," Chloe told him in a calm, measured voice as she held her hands up, "We're just here to ask a few questions. There's no need to point that gun at us. We're not a threat to you."

Brian's mouth twitched.

"Oh, Detective, we both know that's not true." His lips curved into a lopsided smile. "I can recognize clever people. And you are one, I knew that the moment we met. But for a while, I was sure I could fool you. I'm quite impressed that in the end, you didn't fall for my tricks. Too bad you can't tell this to anyone."

He raised his gun to shoot, but Chloe's answer halted his motion.

"And too bad we couldn't figure out every detail."

She knew their situation wasn't very bright. But Brian was right; she was smart, and she knew people. And she realized quite quickly how she could gain some time. Brian was extremely smart, but he was also vain and arrogant. He was a scientist who had never been accepted as a leader before. He craved appreciation; he wanted to prove that he was smarter than them and he wouldn't kill them until he told him how he planned the murders.

"No?" His lips curled to a wicked grin. "So, maybe you're not so clever after all. But you found me in a good mood. I can't tell it to anyone else, but since I'm going to kill you anyway, then why not?" he laughed heartily. "Which pieces did you not find?"

"We could reveal your motive, but you had an alibi. Did you hire somebody to do the dirty work?"

"Oh, so even some of the major pieces are missing," he tsked. "Maybe I overestimated you." He fixed his gaze at her. "I didn't hire anybody. I didn't need it," he smirked.

"What do you mean by that?" Marcus asked carefully.

"People are unreliable. I learned that very early on. But technology – technology never lets you down." He gestured with his free hand towards all the equipment in the lab. "So, I used technology. You probably already know that our company develops drones. Namely, vaccine delivery drones. These small devices have to be able to carry enormous weight, but at the same time, they must be able to perform the most precise movements. This is state-of-the-art technology."

"You killed Mr Skalbeck with a drone?" Chloe asked incredulously.

"It's really smart, isn't it?" he asked with gleaming eyes. "I sent one of these advanced drones to Vincent's house. I just had to find an open window—and believe me, it wasn't a big deal, the Skalbecks were so careless—and the drone was already inside. These little tools are so silent that Vincent didn't even notice that one of them was flying around in his living room," he laughed again. "He was sitting in his armchair, unsuspecting, reading his book, and when he leaned forward to grab his glass from the table, the drone that was holding the injection narcotized him with a well-aimed puncture to the nape of his neck. The rest was easy. I just had to find a sufficiently heavy object, grab it with the claws of the drone, and program the right movements."

"The marks on the hilt of the baseball bat. It was the claws of the drone that caused them. And the metal fibres were also from the drone," Chloe whispered as some of the details started to make sense. "But what about Wayne's DNA? Did you use the drone to plant it under Vincent's nail?"

"It's fantastic how it is all coming together, isn't it?" Brian smiled at them and he looked like a child who wanted to impress his parents with his excellent grades. Somehow, it made Chloe nauseous. "I used the drone to insert that small piece of hair under Vincent's nail. As I mentioned, these drones can perform incredibly meticulous movements. And getting Wayne's DNA wasn't hard either. He's obsessed with his appearance. He keeps a comb in his office, and I have access to all of the offices."

"I have to say, Mr Morris, you're a quite patient killer. After you murdered Lance Brassington, you waited two years for the best opportunity to frame Mr Price."

Brian scoffed, "Waited? You have to be kidding me. Waiting is for amateurs. I planned. Do you think it was just a happy coincidence that Wayne's wife had heard some rumours about Erin and Vincent, which resulted in some conflicts between Wayne and the lovebirds? I was the one who'd made sure she'd found out."

"But how could you be so sure that this whole situation would create an opportunity for you? What was the chance that Vincent would want to talk to Mr Price in person at his own house?" asked Chloe. She had hoped that he would become sloppy after a while and lower his hands or his gaze would wander away from them, but Brian seemed steadfast. As he went on with his story, his hand didn't waver, and he kept his eyes on them all along.

"You should know by now, Detective, that I'm not relying on chance. I'm not waiting idly. I'm the head of the scientific department for a good reason. I can hack anything. It hadn't been too complicated to call Wayne using a sound-distorting program and to pretend I was Vincent. It had been a very busy week, and their relationship was cool anyway, so there was a good chance they wouldn't meet otherwise. It had been even easier to write an email in Vincent's name later in the afternoon and cancel the meeting. I knew that Wayne had cancelled his other programs for the evening because he thought he would meet with Vincent, so he wouldn't have an alibi. After Vincent had died, I'd written the threatening email in Wayne's name, dated it back, and put it in the trash folder, so the whole framing wouldn't be so obvious. Hacking the security cameras at Wayne's house and replacing the footage was just as easy—that moron used the security system I had developed."

"But how did you know that Mr Skalbeck would be at home, alone?" Marcus chimed in.

"Oh, please. The life of Erin and Vincent was an open book for anybody who decided to pay some attention to the constant chit-chat in the office. I knew that Erin wouldn't be at home. Actually, she was the only weak point in my plan."

"Yeah, it was quite strange that a woman who had such a strong and intimate relationship with her husband didn't know that he wanted to meet with her father."

"But I fixed this bummer. My little story that I told her was quite believable, wasn't it?"

"I don't think this was the only bummer, Brian," Chloe told him provocatively.

His eyes flashed behind his glasses.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked coolly.

"We found you out, and it's over. Do you think it wouldn't be suspicious if two police officers who worked on this case died all of a sudden? You wouldn't get away with that."

"Oh, I've got away with hacking the other cop's car, when he started asking inconvenient questions, and I will get away with this as well. I have already formed a plan for it. I am going to frame Erin," his voice suddenly took a theatrical tone, "The wife who went crazy, because her father murdered her husband, and went to jail because of it – maybe she wanted to vent her sickening rage, and she ended up slaughtering some cops. You know, we work with medication too? I know a combination or two that could cause quite long-lasting hallucinations and delusions. She could be ruled as having delusions."

"You're a monster," Chloe whispered.

"No, I'm not," he said through gritted teeth. "We wouldn't be here now if people had recognized my talent. Now I can finally show them. My time has come. But—no matter how much I enjoyed this little chat—I need to say goodbye to you. I hope you know this is not personal. Unfortunately, no one can find out what actually happened."

He raised his free hand and tapped the side of his glasses. Chloe couldn't be sure from this distance, but it seemed as if there were buttons on the temple of the glasses. She didn't have too much time to think about it because they heard a low buzzing sound from the back of the lab, and it became louder gradually.

"This last development of our smart glasses is truly marvellous," Brian gushed. "You push one button, and your drones are synchronized with your device. You have full control over them." He switched to a commanding tone. "Voice control on. Line up."

The buzzing increased and a swarm of drones popped up from behind a shelf. They flew closer and stopped in the air when they were in line with Brian's body.

Chloe's gaze flickered from Brian to the drones. At least forty of them were floating around him, and something was glistening on the top of them. Needles and syringes.

"It's quite awesome, you know. You can control them either with your voice or your eyes. Don't worry, they will sedate you quickly and efficiently. You won't feel anything." He flashed a wicked smile before he turned his gaze to the drones and barked one final order, "Eye and voice control on."

He turned his gaze to their direction again, and the drones began to fly towards Chloe and Marcus menacingly.

Chloe started to panic. The hope that Brian's attention would waver, had slowly vanished while he was telling them the details of his evil plan. And now that they were facing the army of drones, she started to panic because she realized that she and Marcus had no chance to win.

Her heart sank as she thought about Trixie and then her mother. And Lucifer. She couldn't tell him how she felt about him. And finally, here was Marcus. She was the one who dragged him into this, and if anything happened to him, it would be on her conscience.

She looked at Marcus and assumed that his expression would match hers. But instead of terror and panic, she saw something entirely different on his face. A strange serenity and determination. He even smiled for a second before his mouth formed one silent word. Run.

In the next moment, he pulled his gun out from the holster and lunged forward, shielding Chloe from Brian and the drones, and she heard a deafening crack.

oOo

Lucifer drove faster than usual, but it didn't seem enough. He didn't have time to get the proper updates on the case from Miss Lopez, but he didn't need it. The Detective was incredibly good at her job. If she had concluded that Brian Morris was the killer, it was true.

A cold shiver ran down his spine when he saw the empty parking lot. That wasn't a good sign. After a few minutes of futile circling, Lucifer finally spotted the Detective's car. He jumped out of his corvette and strode to the building's door, which he found closed. He had enough composure to press the button on the small intercom next to the door, but it didn't work.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," he muttered and grabbed the doorknob. Thanks to his inhuman force, he cracked it open just as humans break the shell of a peanut. He entered the building but stopped in the middle of the foyer uncertainly. Miss Lopez hadn't told him the exact location, where the Detective would meet Brian. Where would a killer want to lure them? His gaze slid to the stairs. The basement.

When Lucifer reached the first basement floor, he looked around again. This lab was a damn maze! He started to the left at a venture. As he proceeded, he found it increasingly difficult to maintain his sense of direction in the winding corridors. He had been wandering for minutes when he heard a sharp sound from somewhere to his right. A gunshot. He began running in the direction of the sound, not caring about the instruments he pushed over on his way.

After what seemed like an eternity, Lucifer reached a huge metal door. Without hesitation, he reached for the doorknob, but this door was also closed. His heart was already beating in his throat by now and he could barely breathe. He tried to rip the door up, but it didn't budge. Reinforced steel, he thought. Just like in the warehouse where the fake Sinnerman had set up a trap for him.

Lucifer clenched his fists and began punching the door, accompanied by a desperate roar. The skin on his knuckles was torn at the first blow and blood was soon pouring from his hand. The loss of his invulnerability could only mean one thing: the Detective was really here. He became even more terrified by this realization. On the next blow, he heard a scary crack. He probably broke his hand, but he didn't care.

He needed to get in.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger... I hope you liked the chapter, comments are always welcome. :)