Racing the Light (Elvis Cole #19; Joe Pike #8)(80)
I was thinking up options when Jon Stone called. I signaled Pike as I answered.
“Is he at the bungalow?”
“Something weird happened.”
“Is it him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You have eyes in there.”
“I do. Did. I’m getting nothing. A blank.”
“It’s him.”
“It’s probably a system malfunction.”
I lowered my phone and looked at Pike.
“Let’s go.”
61
Donghai An Bo
Bo was enjoying an early meal of two double-dipped lamb sandwiches at Philippe The Original. Bo was alone, seated on a stool at a communal counter and anticipating a baked apple and a large slice of lemon cream pie. Donghai An Bo was hungry. Earlier, he had lifted weights and climbed stairs for two hours at the Crystal Emperor’s most excellent gym. The weights were heavy. His calorie deficit was large.
His cell phone, resting on the counter near his plate, buzzed. The woman. Mr. Chow’s annoying assistant for his American operations.
Bo finished chewing and swallowed before he answered.
“Yes?”
“The devices you planted have failed.”
This woman knew nothing, yet believed she knew everything.
“What do you see?”
“I see nothing. They have failed.”
“Both devices have not failed.”
“They have failed. They have failed at exactly the same time. This suggests they have been caused to fail. Go now. I’ll send the others. Go.”
Donghai An Bo immediately left the restaurant. He would eat more later. After.
62
Josh Shoe
They drove slowly past the bungalows, looking for the people who’d been watching for Josh. Ryan’s head bobbed and swiveled, trying to see everywhere at once.
“I don’t see anyone, but I don’t know.”
Josh didn’t see squat. An army could be behind a car and Josh wouldn’t see them. Josh wanted to drop the podcast that night while Richter and Locke were scrambling to cover their asses, but it was too dark. Josh felt queasy.
Josh said, “I don’t know.”
This was their third trip past the bungalows. Ryan slowed to a stop at the base of the steps.
“Maybe they’re inside. I’d shit.”
“Yeah.”
Josh peered up the steps.
“The old man is home. I see his lights. The lady in the pink. The new kids. People are here.”
“People is good.”
“Yeah.”
Josh turned to his friend.
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I’m kinda scared.”
Josh nodded.
“Yeah. This is fucked up.”
“What if the jammer doesn’t work?”
“It works. Everything they have works. My dad probably built it.”
“Did he show you how to use it?”
Josh was getting pissed.
“It’s intuitive. You power up, you’re good to go. It works.”
Josh pulled out the box and pressed a little switch. The box vibrated silently for half a second.
“There. Good to go.”
“How do you know it’s on?”
“It vibrated.”
Ryan nodded. He peered up the steps into the darkness and nodded again.
“I vote yes.”
“We’ll work really fast. No screwing around.”
“Hell yeah. In your face.”
Ryan parked and they hustled up the steps with their gear. They hooked up the desktop and keyboard quickly, but powering up the equipment took forever. Josh had built most of the podcast in his car, working between his phone and laptop to piece together audio files, bumpers, and clips from Rachel’s tracks. He’d even recorded intros, outros, and narrative with the windows up and his sleeping bag over his head, but the files had to be transferred and the transfers took time.
Ryan said, “We’re hot.”
Josh pulled on a headset and they divided the work. Ryan built the web page and Josh cut the podcast. His hands shook and sweat dripped from his scalp, but he wanted to finish and get the hell out.
First thing he did was upload the videos and pix from Grady Locke’s loft and the vid of his confrontation with Sanford Richter. The Richter vid jerked and jumped, but the jumpiness gave it a gonzo cinema verité feel. Ryan copied the vids and posted them. Josh added the pix Skylar had taken of Grady Locke’s phone and the art she had made of his text exchanges with Tarly. Ryan locked the page. Done. Josh split audio tracks from the vids, dropped the clips into the body of the podcast, and listened to the result. The show was rough, but coming together.
Josh took off his headset. His hair was slick and grimy with sweat.
Ryan said, “What do you think?”
“It’s good.”
“It’s better than good, dude. It’s insane. And these vids?”
“Your idea.”
Ryan laughed.
“Holy crap, we’re awesome.”
Josh grinned. Then he laughed and they both laughed. They laughed so hard Josh didn’t hear the front door open. They didn’t know anyone was in the bungalow until a burly man Josh knew as Donghai An Bo stood in the door pointing a black pistol at them.