I went to my speeder and entered the coordinated for Dalton's place. Within half of an hour, I had found it. I decided to be discreet, so I hid the speeder a few blocks from his house and walked the rest of the way.
His house wasn't glamorous, but it was decent. It had at least two stories, a chimney and two garages. Apparently his profession paid well; even some of the top-paying professions lived in apartments here. Houses were a luxury in California, and although his place was no mansion, it must have cost him big bucks.
I had my gun in my purse where I could easily access it. I snuck around the perimeter of the house, looking for a way to get inside.
In the back, I saw a large black Dobermin patrolling his dog run that stretched throughout the small backyard. I stayed out of his sight. The last thing I needed was for the dog to attack me to get discovered. Then, suddenly, I had an idea. I snuck up toward the backdoor without being noticed by the dog, it was too busy keeping its eye on a nearby squirrel, and scratched the screen door.
I waited a while, scratched the door again, and hid in a bush next to the door. It worked. Soon Dalton was at the door to bring his dog inside. I didn't have any time to lose--I leapt at the door and it slammed into Dalton's head, which threw him backward. I ran inside and closed the door behind me before the dog could reach us.
I had my gun out and pointed at his head, but it wasn't necessary. As an added bonus, he managed to fall and hit his head on the counter while I was running inside. He was knocked out on the floor.
I stopped and listened for a few minutes until I was convinced no one else was inside the house. I looked around the room and didn't see anything of interest, so I decided to move on. He would wake up any time now, and I needed to be ready. I dragged him into his dining room and duct-taped him to his kitchen chair. I had never held an interrogation before, but I had an idea how they worked. I positioned him in the room so he wouldn't be able to signal for help or try anything funny, and then I positioned the light so it would shine in his eyes and he wouldn't be able to see me.
There were no windows in the dining room, so I didn't have the risk of being seen. Eventually his dog stopped barking. Now I had nothing to worry about and all I had to do was wait.
About five minutes later, he started to come to. "What is this? Who the hell are you?" I noticed that he didn't have an Australian accent when he spoke.
I tried to speak as cool and confident as possible. "I need some information from you, Dalton. Just answer my questions, and everything will be just fine."
"Listen, lady. I work with some very powerful organizations you don't want to mess with, so you'd better let me go before things get worser."
I cocked the gun so he would hear it. "I'm not interested in who you work for. i just want to know what you've done with Tex Murphy."
He looked frantic. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I have enough evidence to convict you of his murder. Today his blood and DNA was found, and I have an eyewitness that has already given a police report with your description saying you kidnapped him two days ago. All I have to do is make a phone call. But I won't do that yet if you come clean with me."
"Who are you?"
Cue dramatic entrance. I stepped into the light, directly in front of him. "You mean you don't remember me? I'm hurt."
He looked partially relieved, but his anxiety returned when I raised the gun in front of him. "Look, you have nothing to do with this. I put you back in your apartment to keep you out of it. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave right now while you can."
"I don't think you're in a position to be making threats, Mr. Dalton." This was fun.
"I'm not threatening you! And I didn't kill Tex! You've got to believe me. I'll tell you what I know, alright? Just relax, lady!"
I stepped back into my dark corner and said, "I'm listening."
"I work for the FBI. We've been tracking the activities of a dangerous terrorist group known as the Australian Resistance, and exposing their cells before they do anything serious. My son, who just graduated from college, took an undercover assignment with the group and has been vital to effectively destroying each cell. He met with another member who didn't agree with what the gang was doing, and together they have been working to destroy the main organization."
"And what is his name?"
He hesitated, but then he finally answered, "Chance."
I felt relieved. "Go on."
"Chance needed some help locating the other cells, so he hired Murphy to help him out. The three of them have destroyed several cells over the last few months. Until recently, when my son discovered that Murphy and Chance were on the hit list. He had to do something, so he asked me to help him stage their deaths. I did, and so far it's worked, too. The police have already discovered the planted evidence and are writing up the murder scene as we speak. From your statement, it helped link their deaths to the Australian Resistance, giving them the credit they sought after."
"So where are they now?"
"Junior needed their help to get rid of the final cell. All three of them are in Australia now, but he didn't give me any more information that that. I guess he wanted to protect his old man by keeping him in the dark. Which is exactly what I was instructed to do with you. You have no place in this mess, and it will be a lot safer for you if you stay out of it. Just go home and wait for him when he comes back."
"I'm not a patient girl. Thanks for the information." With that, I left and ran for my speeder two blocks away.
(Go to 17.)