A Hard Rain Part 13

Two other men added they would take care of the other two.

"Make your shots count," Dix said. "Clean shots between the eyes. No point in making them suffer."

"How about we use their own guns," Mr. Whelan said, extending the charade.

"Good idea," Dix said, taking from his belt the gun he had taken from the man in the street.

"Give me a second, Dix," Bev said, moving toward the sidewalk at the mouth of the dark alley. "I don't want to get blood on my shoes like the last time."

"Wait!" the man Dix had first caught shouted, his voice echoing in the narrow, dark alleyway, the panic clear. "You can't just go an' kill us."

"And why not?" Dix asked. "Wasn't that what you had intended for us?"

"No," the guy said, his head shaking as if someone was yanking it with a rope. "We was supposed ta just follow ya."

"And who gave you that order?" Dix asked.

"Benny da Banger," the guy said, glancing at the man beside him against the wall, who seemed just fine with giving up information in exchange for not being killed.

"Well, isn't that a surprise," Dix said. "We were just on our way to visit him."

The guy said nothing.

"Well," Dix said, "the way I figure it, we take out you four here, we have less to deal with when we get to your boss."

"He don't want a fight with ya," the man said.

"Then why did he want you to follow us?" Dix asked, waving the man's gun in his face.

The guy was breathing so hard, he was almost panting. He glanced at the other men beside him. All seemed to be staring ahead in the darkness, looking at the guns aimed at them. None of them were going to give him any help, that much was clear.

"He just wanted to make sure of somethin'," the guy said.

"And just what would that something be?" Dix asked.

Again the guy hesitated, then blurted out the answer. "That you wasn't da one who took out Stan Hand and Redblock's gangs. Benny figured since you and da cop took down da Undertaker and Ghost Johnson, you might be gunnin' for him next."

"And what if I was gunning for Benny?" Dix asked. "What were your orders then?"

The guy swallowed so hard, the gulp echoed off the brick walls.

"You were supposed to stop us, right?" Dix asked.

The guy said nothing.

"So why shouldn't we just stop you here and now?" Dix asked, his voice as low and as mean as he could make it. "Seems only fair to me." He raised his gun.

"Yeah, me too," Whelan said, following Dix's example.

"Wait!" the guy shouted, holding up his hands and waving them. "I told ya everythin'!"

"Really?" Dix asked. "You didn't tell me who did s.n.a.t.c.h Redblock."

"The boss thinks it was Upstairs Benton."

"And you think for your lives, your boss might be willing to work with me in finding Benton?"

The guy looked like he might be sick. His eyes were large, filled with fear. Dix knew without a doubt he was telling the truth.

"I don't know," he said. "I can't be speakin' for Benny. He'd kill me quicker den you can."

"Now I know I'm getting the truth," Dix said, lowering his gun. "How about we all go for a little walk to talk to Benny, as if we're all the best of friends?"

Dix put the gun back in his belt and motioned for the others to do the same.

Benny's men slowly lowered their hands, clearly confused.

"This way, I think," Dix said, motioning for the men to head back out of the alley and into the street with him. "Unless I got my address wrong."

The guy nodded and stepped away from the wall, moving up to a spot beside Dix as they walked down the middle of the street.

The silence of the night was broken by the heels on pavement of the small parade all marching toward the same destination.

Dix let everyone walk in silence for a block, then turned to Benny's man beside him. "I'm really not looking to take down Benny," Dix said. "Just looking for a small gold-painted ball about this size." Dix held up his finger and thumb to show the man how big the Heart of the Adjuster was. "You seen anything like it?"

The guy shook his head. "Naw, nothin' like that." Dix could feel the disappointment and the slight feeling of panic twist through his stomach. They had to find the Heart quickly. It was only a matter of three or four hours now. And if this guy was telling the truth, then it was Harvey Upstairs Benton that might have it.

Unless he had been following the wrong lead the entire time. What happened if Harvey had s.n.a.t.c.hed Redblock and Slippery Stan Hand, but hadn't taken the Heart? That would leave them at square zero with no time left. But someone had taken the Heart out of the Adjuster, someone in this world, some thief with connections to Redblock or one of the other bosses and this entire mess.

So right now, they had one suspect left, and the only choice was to follow that one lead until they found the Heart or ran out of time.

Or came up with a better idea.

Right now, in the middle of the dark street, with people following him like the Pied Piper, Dixon Hill was fresh out of ideas.

Thirty-seven minutes after the Heart of the Adjuster is stolen Captain's Log. Personal.

A short time ago, while Chief Engineer La Forge and Mr. Data were finishing the last of their tests on a device to shield the impulse drives from the effects of the Blackness, the holodeck malfunctioned and switched to the Dixon Hill program. The device they were working on was unharmed, but on the switch, two things happened that led to what may be a fatal series of events.

First, the safety features of the holodeck were shut off by the malfunction, leaving Mr. Data and Engineer La Forge in that world, standing over a small device they were calling the Adjuster.

They were located just outside the office of the fictional character, Dixon Hill, near the top of the stairs. However, they could not leave, since the malfunction also closed and locked the holodeck doors.

Both men moved to find a way to reopen the doors, while other members of the crew worked from the outside toward the same aim.

During their attempts the Dixon Hill program switched three times, once leaving them standing in the middle of a busy street for ten seconds, a second time moving them to the sidewalk for almost a minute, but always bringing them back to the hallway outside Dixon Hill's office.

After ten minutes of work on both sides of the door, the malfunction was corrected and the door opened. At that point, when Engineer La Forge turned to retrieve the Adjuster, it was discovered that the small golden ball of the material Auriferite was missing.

There are no sides on the Adjuster, and the Auriferite was simply sitting on a small platform in the center, easily taken while the men worked on the doors.

The staircase to that floor of the building was where Mr. Data and Chief Engineer La Forge could not see anyone coming up or down. And anyone seeing that device sitting there would instantly want the gold ball inside it, since it looks valuable.

Both men a.s.sure me that without that small ball of Auriferite, the Adjuster will not work. It is somewhere in the program for Dixon Hill, and if the program is shut down, it will be lost into the holographic matrix, just as sure as if someone had transported it into s.p.a.ce.

La Forge and everyone with any knowledge or wild idea are continuing to work on the problem of shielding the impulse engines from the effects of the Blackness. It seems my only choice is to take as many people as possible into the world of Dixon Hill and work to find the ball.

Mr. Data, using a small portion of the remaining Auriferite, has put up a shield around the main controls of the holodeck to keep it from shutting down, but it cannot be changed. The world of Dixon Hill is very much alive and working in there, and the safeties are off, which will make it a very deadly place.

But there is no choice. The golden ball of Auriferite is in there somewhere, taken by someone. It can be found. But do I have enough time to find it? There are less than twenty-four hours left before this ship is torn apart entering the Blackness. Time is critical.

This will be my last Captain's Log until the ball is found, or this ship destroyed. Until that moment I will be Dixon Hill, the best detective to ever walk the streets of the city by the bay. I just hope the best is good enough.

Section Two: Teamed Up Benny the Banger's headquarters were in the back of a hardware store with a big front window and a door with the words H ARDWARE AND T OOLS etched on the gla.s.s. Blinds had been drawn on both windows and Benny's goon didn't even slow down as he went past. Dix and Bev and the others followed the man around the corner and down the block to the alley where he stared down the dark, garbage-littered pa.s.sageway between the buildings.

Dix motioned as they entered the alley for Whelan and the rest to spread out along the street and wait while he and the Luscious Bev went in with their shadow escorts.

"Oh, you'll want your guns back," Dix said, flipping the gun in his belt to the man who had done all the talking and was leading them. The other three goons got their weapons back as well.

"Thanks," the guy said, sticking the gun away inside his jacket.

The other three did the same.

"Don't mention it," Dix said.

"Don't worry 'bout that," the guy said, laughing.

The other three also nodded. It was clear that making a mistake with Benny and letting themselves get caught was a very bad thing.

The inside of the hardware store looked like the back room of any other store, with shelves of tools and boxes of nuts and bolts. A counter along the back wall was cluttered with hammers and saws.

"What is that smell?" Bev whispered.

"Cigar smoke," Dix said. The entire room was filled with thick cigar smoke. A cloud seemed to hang in the air and Dix's first impulse was to duck under it.

"Ughhh," Bev said, softly. "This is going to be toxic."

"This way," the guy said, opening up a side door that led into a well-lit and even smokier room. Five men sat around a green felt-covered table. Multicolored chips filled the center of the table and were stacked in front of each man. Cards were being shuffled by one man with his back to the door.

All the men were in their shirtsleeves, with their gun holsters showing. All five had guns.

And all five were smoking large cigars, and the ashtrays beside each man were full of old stogies. The smoke from each cigar seemed to drift upward and thicken the white cloud that filled the top half of the room. There was no window in the room to open.

"I see you brought me a guest," one man said. He stood, smoothed down his white silk shirt over his large stomach and motioned for Dix to come forward. He stood no more than five feet tall. Bev towered over him.

"I'm Benny," the short man said, smiling, the cigar a smoking stick in his left hand as he stepped around the table and extended his right hand for Dix to shake. "You play poker, Mr. Hill?"

Benny was dressed in the most expensive clothes of the bunch, and sweat had stained his shirt. He had the remains of his last meal dotting his shirt and the largest pile of chips in front of his position at the table. Clearly playing in this game was a losing proposition for anyone but Benny.

"No," Dix said. "I'm hear to make you an offer. A deal of sorts."

"A deal?" the man asked, smiling at Dix, then winking at Bev. "I heard you was looking for me. I'm just glad ta hear it wasn't to give me any problems."

"No problems," Dix said. "I'm looking for a small, gold-painted ball."

"About gumball size," Benny said, waving his hand for Dix to stop. "Yeah, I know, I heard. Why's this ball so important to you that you spent the entire night lookin' for it? I hear everywhere you look, people get killed."

Dix was stunned that the word had already reached Benny. This little man was not someone to take lightly, that was for sure.

"Just say a special client of mine hired me to find it. It has no real value." Dix winked at Benny. "But he's paying me a big chunk of money to get it back for him. Something about it being his mother's."

"Well, Mr. Hill," Benny said, walking around in front of Bev and looking her over like she was something he wanted to purchase, "I sure wish I had that little ball."

"So do I," Dix said, "but I have a feeling Harvey Upstairs Benton has it."

Benny stopped his pacing like he had walked into a wall, turned, and looked hard into Dix's eyes. "And you want me to help you get it from Harvey?"

"Basically yes," Dix said.

"Why would I do dat? Sounds like more people gettin' killed to me." Benny shook his head and took a long pull on his cigar, letting the smoke out in a direct line at Dix. "I don't like when it happens to my men. Right, fellas?"

"Right," they all said, nodding and puffing.

"Because I have something you want," Dix said, "and that's why I want to deal."

Benny laughed, the sound high and almost shrill. The other men at the table laughed along with him, like trained seals, and all puffed on their cigars, adding even more thickness to the already thick, white air.

"What could you have, Mr. Hill, dat I would want?"

"I have two things, actually," Dix said. "The first I will give you to show you that my intentions are straight."

Dix nodded to Bev.

She reached under her coat, but by the time she could pull out the book, five guns were trained on her, and every man at the poker table had stood.

"Nothin' cute, now, doll-face," Benny said, the gun in his hand looking far too big for his frame. Yet Dix could tell there was no doubt the man knew how to use that big gun very well.

"Not a chance," Bev said. "Nothing cute, I promise."

She finished pulling out Slippery Stan Hand's ledger and handed it to Dix, who then handed it to Benny.

"You're givin' me a book?" The guy shook his head and laughed, putting his gun away in its holster. Again the rest of the men laughed, putting their guns away and sitting back down.

"What am I gonna do with a book?" Benny asked.

"Take a look at it," Dix said, nodding.

Benny flipped open the book, then suddenly got very interested. The pages flipped slower and slower, the sounds like a ticking clock in the silent room.