Amazon
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: 1503077624
Type: Fiction
Pages: 86
Copyright: 2014
ISBN-13: 9781503077621
Price: $3.79 (eBook)
Part Two of futuristic detective series.
Excerpt
Ezra Hauk
Part Two
Chapter One
Nadia was only mildly surprised by the location of Ezra Hauk’s office. At first, she had expected that he would reside at the top floor of some high-rise business building, with a secretary that was either the elderly librarian type, or a seductive blonde. She had even envisioned how everything might look…genuine wood bookshelves filled with the classics, oversized, antique furniture that belonged in a museum, and heavy, velvet drapes to cover the windows and keep out the bustle of the city. Precious bits of art would be scattered about to impress more knowledgeable clientele; paintings, sculptures, and rare vases filled with fresh flowers.
Reality, however, wasn’t quite how she had imagined. And being Nadia Dankin, host of the most popular TV show in the nation, Nadia Dankin, Truth Exposed, she thought she had seen and heard it all.
As she drove up to the massive metal structure near the edge of the docks she thought at first that she had been misled by her director, Andrew Croft. Surely someone like Hauk would prefer the culture of the city, not some relic that looked like it belonged on a movie lot. But as she looked around more closely, she realized that this building, much like Ezra Hauk himself, was solid, secure, and away from the scrutiny of the public eye.
Parking as close to the building as she dared, she wondered if she should take the gun that she kept in her glove box as a precaution. The .22 Walther that she kept in her purse at all times was her favorite—easy to handle and accurate to a T—but the .38 Smith and Wesson revolver in her car gave her a solid sense of safety, as it had been her adopted father’s. She decided on both, putting the .38 in her coat pocket.
It didn’t take long to spot the security cameras that seemed to be everywhere. Even on this foggy night, the bright red specks of light peered through the mist like the eyes of the infamous Cylon’s on the old Battlestar Gallactica series that she had oddly grown fond of watching. No other cars were in sight, so she supposed that either they were parked in back, or inside the huge structure.
Walking towards the front of the building, she expected to see some indication that someone was still inside. Andrew promised her that he had called and made an appointment, and that the detective was willing to see her, even at such a late hour—and long after normal business hours for the average person.
The door to the construct stood ajar, which stunned her at first, until she assumed that either Ezra, or an assistant, had seen her pull up and opened it for her. A pale light seemed to float just above the doorway. Cautiously, she pushed the door open a bit more and peered inside.
Completely empty.
No cars parked inside. Not a stick of furniture. Not a piece of stray paper on the floor. Nothing but shadows and a hazy view of the river from one of the colossal lower windows on the back of the building… shadows and haze that seemed to flow above the fog covered river.
“Ms. Dankin?” A male voice sounded from somewhere in the dimness.
Nadia jumped back, breathing hard for several seconds until she recovered enough to speak. “Oh my God! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Where’s Mr. Hauk? I know his voice, and what I am hearing doesn’t belong to him.” In spite of her initial surprise, she managed to pull the .38 from her coat pocket and held it—ready to pull the trigger—aimed in the direction that the voice originated.
A speck of light from outside managed to illuminate part of the man’s face as he stepped out from behind the door that she had just entered. Enough so that Nadia could tell that the man wasn’t quite right. Something…something was off. He was too perfect. His posture too straight. His features too refined. Then it hit her. “You’re an android!” She almost shouted, and heard her words echo throughout the empty building.
“I prefer Thomas, if you don’t mind,” the perfect mouth spoke with the hint of an English accent. “If you would follow me please, Mr. Hauk is expecting you.” He turned and began to walk back into the darkness. “I must inform you, that particular model of handgun is not effective on me.”
She eased the gun back into her pocket, her hand momentarily still on the grip.”Wait. Wait!” Nadia took a couple of steps and reached out to grab at Thomas’s coat sleeve. “It’s dark in here. I can’t see where I’m going, but I can see well enough that I know that he’s not in here,” she planted her feet firmly. “So I’m not going anywhere until you either turn on some lights or give me a flashlight.” She chastised herself for not having brought her own, still sitting in her glove box.
Thomas pointed towards the far wall and a beam of light indicated that there was a cage elevator that she assumed led up towards a catwalk that embraced the upper layer of the huge structure. Nadia was so intent on trying to see if there was a door near the top that might lead to the detective’s elusive office that she didn’t even notice the source of the light. When she was inside the elevator and it started going down she looked up instead of at his hands, or she would have noticed they were empty.
“Down?” She grabbed the rail inside the cage elevator and held on tightly. “How far down?”
“To Mr. Hauk’s office, of course,” Thomas replied dryly. “It’s perfectly safe. You may relax that death grip you have on the frame.”
“Holy Batman and Robin,” Nadia whispered under her breath, “I didn’t see this coming either—a robot with a sense of humor and a detective with a subterranean office. This night is full of surprises…and I am beginning to think that I have had enough for one lifetime.”
“I’m not a robot,” Thomas corrected her. “Android is the more accurate term.”
“I stand corrected Thomas,” Nadia kept her firm grasp on the rail, in spite of his previous assurances.
The rigid contraption came to a halt after what felt like mere seconds. A long hallway extended from the door of the elevator, ending at a massive window from which only inky darkness peered back at them.
“What, he forgot to pay the power bill?” Nadia tried to joke as she stepped cautiously from the metal cage that brought them down.
“I fail to remember that you need light in order to navigate your surroundings,” Thomas held his hand out and this time Nadia realized that the light was coming from his fingertip—not a flashlight as she had assumed earlier. “Mr. Hauk’s office is the door to the left. Please refrain from entering any of the other rooms here.” He stepped back into the cage and it slowly rose back up, as he continued pointing at the door.”I suggest you move quickly. My light will not illuminate the path for long.”
“Fail to remember? Is that another joke?” Nadia called out over her shoulder as she rushed the few feet towards the door that Thomas indicated and grabbed the knob just as his light faded out. Before she opened the door she looked back at the window that she had noticed when she first stepped off the elevator and realized something odd. It wasn’t the foggy, night enshrouded river that she had seen from the window outside the warehouse…they had gone down…so this had to be…the bottom of the river? Were they completely underwater, or was this just the iconic detective’s idea of a lovely waterfront view?
Shuddering, she opened the door and entered a room that did not disappoint her. It was just as she had imagined an office would be for the world’s most unique detective. Wall to wall bookshelves—walls that had to be at least a dozen feet high—surrounded a room that also contained several desks with open books strewn about. Computers, TV monitors, and an oversized couch that looked like it served as a bed more often than a couch, completed the décor.
“Welcome to my office, Ms. Dankin,” the voice of Ezra Hauk, Criminal Investigator called out to her from some higher point in the room.
Looking up, she found the man standing at the top of a rolling ladder, pulling a heavy, leather bound book off one of the higher shelves in the massive library. “You’re a bit late. I had begun to think that you had changed your mind … or …”
“That somebody finally did me in?” She laughed nervously.
“The thought did occur to me,” he confessed. He climbed down the ladder almost effortlessly, placed the book on the desk nearest him and approached her slowly. “Andrew said it was most urgent. He faxed me some of your fan mail.”
“I expected that he would,” Nadia sighed, looking for a place to sit and seeing only the couch.
“I should have had Thomas tidy up a bit,” Ezra shrugged, “but I’ve been asked to look into some old, unresolved cases for Captain Shanks and I’m afraid that I let my research consume me.” He walked over to the couch and collected the books strewn about there, making room for both of them to sit without being too close. “Join me, please.”
Reluctantly Nadia sat down, worried that when the time came she would not have the strength to stand, much less leave this underground sanctuary. “I don’t know where to begin,” she exhaled the words after realizing that she had been holding her breath.
“Why not start from the beginning,” he coaxed gently.
“Which beginning should I start from,” Nadia looked suddenly unlike the woman he had met so many months earlier when he had appeared on her show, but like a lost child who was on the verge of releasing a vestige of tears.
“Your beginning, of course,” Ezra instructed.
“My life as Nadia Dankin TV personality began with Andrew,” she hesitated a bit, “so I suppose I should start with that…”
And so she did.
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