Part ten
Informants and their predicaments
It hadn't been easy to find out who was in charge of all the MP's crawling around Logan's penthouse. And yet, here she was now, inside the largest Seattle base, waiting to kick some ass. She wanted to catch the man alone or just go in and search the place, but someone was still there, at three AM. Damn. Patience was not one of her assets. And each minute passing made her palms itch with the want for action. Sighing, she settled down to comfortably hang off the window ledge along the building wall, while trying to ignore the cold drizzle numbing her hands. Where were Logan's high tech gadgets when one really needed to hear what was going on?
*
Seeing his superior staring through the window at 3 AM was something that made the young lieutenant Stetter want to hide in the darkest corner available in the universe. Great. The boss was in a sour mood. And hadn't slept at all in a while. But that was nothing compared to what would follow when he heard the news.
"Sir?"
The colonel's green eyes narrowed to the yellowish slits of a predator as he turned to face the latest disturbance, "Yes, lieutenant?"
The bellow followed right after, "Are you waiting to grow roots before you speak?"
"Nnno... sir, colonel Behrens, sir! I'm afraid I have bad news, sir."
Oh, how he wished the polished hardwood floor would open up and swallow - the colonel preferably. But the object of his kind thoughts looked past him at the neatly ordered mahogany desk and asked, almost softly:
"Let me guess, lieutenant: the body was not that of Logan Cale?"
"No sir, I mean yes sir, Bennett Cale has positively identified him before being released from custody. That is not the problem, sir."
"THEN WHAT?"
"Sir, the body is missing."
"MISSING?!"
Stetter felt himself cringe and grow beet red at the same time as the invectives proffered by his superior flooded his ears.
"You actually have the guts to come in here and tell me you lost a fucking paralytic body that could not move on its own when it was alive?"
"No sir, I mean it wasn't me, sir."
The colonel paced around the room and Stetter, feeling the hot breath in his neck, almost lost his cool.
"The guards were supposed to change shift at 02:00 hours. All they found was the two unconscious bodies of the men they were supposed to replace."
"At 02:00? And you are telling me now, a full hour later? That means the body could have been missing for more than 8 hours! How could that happen?"
This was the tricky part and Stetter knew it. At least Behrens had calmed down a bit.
"The only thing we could find out was that at 21:30 there was a fire alarm and the floor in question was evacuated for ten minutes until the fire was put out."
"You mean to tell me there actually was a fire?" Behrens mocked.
"Yes, sir, someone spilled chemicals in the storage room and a lot of smoke was the result."
Behrens planted himself in front of Stetter and looked straight at him. "That it lousy intel, Stetter. I want a full report, witness declarations, lab results, the works, first thing in the morning."
The lieutenant almost chuckled as Behrens grew an even darker shade of angry red, but he caught himself in time to hear the colonel gruffly dismiss him and dial a number on his cell phone.
Stetter carefully measured his steps to the door, not too quick, not too slow. The moment the door closed behind him, he allowed himself to sigh and slump against the parched wall, a mad grin plastered on his face. Being part of the informant net could prove to be a hassle. Sometimes. But most times, it was a lot of fun.
