Chapter 15
Now that I had an owl morph, if it was possible for me to be even more afraid of them, I was.
They say sharks are the perfect ocean predator. That, unlike most species, sharks haven't changed much over time. Nature got them right the first time around.
Sharks might rule the ocean, but owls are the perfect airborne, nighttime predator. Completely silent. Deadly beak and talons, just like my hawk body. The eyes were amazing – they saw everything that my own hawk eye saw, only they did it without any light. Any stray photon of light was caught in the owl's huge eyeballs, which were basically natural night vision binoculars. Yeah, now that I'd morphed one, I saw how easy it would be for the owl that lived in my meadow to take me out. The only thing that made me feel at all at ease about it was that my owl brain didn't seem to consider the various roosting birds-of-prey as food. They might fight back. The owl wouldn't go after something that could hurt it, not if there was any other choice.
The first thing Marco had wanted to check out had nothing at all to do with the killing spree that our town was in. He wanted to find out where all the banks Erek had listed were located. They were spread out from each other, maybe a few miles apart, but Marco had pointed out that they were all on the east side of town. On our way back to the other side, where the beach was, we passed over the DeBolt Diamond Exchange.
The security was over the top, as you might expect of a building that houses billions of dollars in stones. Three perimeter fences, each electrified and topped with barbed wire, ringed the compound. Guard stations were everywhere, and the guards were seriously armed. I don't mean handguns or whatever – everybody we saw carried fully-automatic, tactical rifles with every bell and whistle you can imagine. The kind the military would like to have, but could never have afforded.
The building itself was constructed of steel and thick concrete. I could tell that from the way the thermals were still coming off of the building, even in the cold night. Only steel-reinforced buildings were able to hold the heat of the day for so long after the sun had set. I voiced some of my concern over the security; we were supposed to be fighting there in less than four days.
(Well, at least this time, that's the Yeerks' problem,) Marco said. (We'll just follow them in, I guess.)
We continued on our night flight. Marco wanted to check out the roadblocks I'd told him about earlier. We forgot all about the roadblocks as we came within a few miles of the beach; even from this distance, we could see the two different clusters of flashing lights. The roadblocks had been abandoned.
(I've got a way bad feeling about this,) Marco said as we headed to the closer of the two clusters of lights. Once we got overhead, we could see a crime scene almost exactly like the one Rachel and I had visited earlier. I even recognized a couple of the same detectives, looking haggard and done-in. The only real difference was while the first one had been on the beach itself, this one was about a half a mile inland, on one of the backroads that led to all the private drives.
They were just zipping up the body bag when Marco and I got there, but not before I saw a young, pretty face ringed with blond hair. (It's really a serial killer. An honest-to-God serial killer, here in our town,) I said. I felt like somebody had punched me – didn't we have enough to deal with? Was this seriously happening?
(Yep. And he's active, too.) Marco was using his "expert" tone. (Four murders in twenty-four hours? Man, that's unheard of, especially for a new killer.) Without warning, he peeled off and headed back east.
Belatedly, I turned to follow him. (Whoa, where are you going?) I asked him.
(Back to Ax's. I've seen all I need to see – now it's time to sit down and put the puzzle together.)
I was lost – what had he seen that I'd missed? I was no closer to figuring this out than before I'd told him about it. I decided I'd learn for myself soon enough.
When we got back to the scoop, Marco and I demorphed. My changes were far less dramatic than his, so I was finished a full minute before he was. Ax was still tinkering with his computer, but he was also interested in what we'd found out. (I don't know,) I said, a little grumpy. (I'm assuming Marco's going to get around to telling us.)
Marco barely noticed – he was in flat-out detective mode. The first thing he asked for was a local map. When Ax found it for him, he sat down at the coffee table with it and a permanent marker. He quickly marked the banks' locations on the map. Then he moved to the other side of the map and placed crosses over the murder scenes. Finally, in the middle of it all, he circled the diamond exchange. Then he sat back and looked at it for a long time.
I was about to tell him to spit it out when he looked up at me. "Tell me you see what I see," he said, motioning to the map.
(Sorry, but I'm missing it,) I said, trying not to sound frustrated.
"All the banks are here," he pointed them out. "Here's all the murder scenes – all on the other side of town, all concentrated in the same general area." He waited, but when I didn't say anything, he slapped the map. "Come on, Tobias! What's every cop in town's first priority right now?"
(The murders, duh,) I said…and as I said it, I had the same epiphany that had struck Marco hours ago. (The murders! It looked like every cop in town was out tonight, all investigating.)
Marco smiled. "You got it. Dick, tell our contestant what he's won!" he yelled in his best game show voice. When neither me or Ax laughed, he said, "Ah, you guys are too much. You know I love it when you get the joke, but you're embarrassing me."
(Marco? Let's talk this out, then you can tell all the dumb jokes you want,) I said patiently. He got back to business.
"Right. So here's what I'm thinking. The Yeerks thought of the one thing that might keep the cops minds off of cop stuff – a serial killer. Every cop on the beat is going to be looking for Manson, not bank robbers. But that's just the beginning. If I had to guess, I'd say we're going to see a lot more of these in the next few days. Probably most of them are going to be discovered on Wednesday night and Thursday morning."
(Right when the Yeerks need a distraction the most,) I agreed. (If they find six dumped bodies at midnight on the west side of town, how many cops are going to still be patrolling the east side? The side with all the banks?)
"Bingo. Sure, the alarms will come in, and they'll send as many cops as they can…but it's my guess that most of them will be tied up in crime scene security. And really, what's more important? Catching an out-of-control serial killer, or stopping a couple of bank robberies?"
I would have slapped my forehead, if I'd had hands. Or a forehead. (And while the few cops that are available deal with that…the diamond exchange gets hit. They've got their own security, but they won't be able to call for any backup. Not any that could get there in time. The Yeerks get their diamonds almost uncontested.) Something else was bugging me though, and since we were already talking it out… (Why are all the girls carbon-copies of Rachel, though? Is that just some weird coincidence?)
Marco shook his head condescendingly. His Latin features were dark and unreadable. "Come on, dude. If it was some illegal Mexicans coming up dead, or some inner-city black kids, nobody would care. You put a young white girl with blue eyes on a milk carton? People lose their minds."
It made me sad to realize that Marco was speaking the truth. People liked to think they were more fair-minded than that, but they aren't. Not for the first time, I wondered if people were even worth saving.
Marco folded up the map. "Ax-man, I'm gonna borrow this, okay?" Ax distractedly agreed, then actually paid attention to us.
(Tobias? Marco? I know I do not understand what is going on, but…do you require my assistance?) He sounded hopeful, and, unless I was imagining things, a little left out. I was about to invite him along the next leg of our adventure, but I realized I didn't even know what Marco had planned next. He answered for me.
"Nah, we got it, Ax. It's just some wacky human behavior that doesn't make any sense." Ax nodded as if that answer satisfied him and got back to work on his computer. Marco looked at me. "I know it's getting late, but I think this is something we ought to take to Jake. Like, now. You down for one more morph?" I said sure, and we morphed.
Then we flew.