Chapter Fifteen
No Exit
Boise Safehouse
Auburn Seattle
April 19, 2059
6:25 pm
"Tell us that story again, Tart?" Lenny sounded amazed. That in itself was a rare event. Lenny always thought of himself as prepared for anything. Now a recent development caught him off guard.
Tart sipped at a cup of soycaff. She was still shaking even though the events that lead to her condition were hours old. Gideon had determined that she had been mildly injured due to her encounter in the Matrix. Some of it was dump shock, but some was physical damage that would take time to heal.
A call from Smiley had caused Lenny to cut the visit to the Pier short. The shadowrunners got back to the safehouse to face a hysterical Tart. She told her story with a bit of coaxing. The picture of events was still fuzzy in Lenny's mind. He knew that Tart had encountered a hostile decker in the Matrix. That decker had given Tart a real run for her money. Apparently that other decker had invested solely in offensive programs for use against other personas. There was not anything stealthy about him. Beyond that was a mass of words punctuated by sobs from Tart.
"Mr. Frost said that he was hiring us to find Abigail on behalf of her parents." Tart sobbed.
Lenny nodded his head quietly. "That's right. The mother was particularly concerned. Or so Gabriel said."
"It's not true." Tart shook her head in defiance. "Abigail was right. Her parents are dead! I'm sure of it. I matched Abigail to a citizen database in California. The picture matched perfectly. Abigail Starlight is really Abigail Teller."
"Abigail Teller?" Gideon repeated to himself.
"She's listed as missing in California since October of fifty-eight. I ran a check on her family. Her parents are both gone. They died in some kind of shooting in San Francisco." Tart paused to catch her breath. "Mr. Frost is not taking her back to her parents. I saw the death certificates and pictures of the funeral. Abigail was present when her parents were buried. They're both gone. Mr. Frost is not telling the truth."
Lenny put his thumb to his chin. "Who did you say that Gabriel worked for?" He said to no one in particular.
"James Wesson." Gideon supplied.
"And Wesson's daughter?" Lenny wondered, looking towards the decker.
Tart answered that question. "I told you about that. Abigail doesn't match either of Mr. Wesson's two daughters."
Lenny nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Mr. Wesson is the man who owns Gabriel. That leads to the next obvious question. What does Wesson want with Abigail?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Smiley sneered.
"It don't take a genius to figure that one out, Smiley." Gideon grunted.
"Gideon is right." Lenny agreed. "Look at the facts. Abigail is a street joygirl in Loveland. She might have had a torrid affair with Wesson, but if that came to light there would just be another sex scandal in a politician's career."
"Might be worse for Wesson. More than just another scandal." Gideon grumbled. "I've seen this guy on the news a few times. I've seen enough to know that he stands by family values and other such bulldrek. It would be like bringing down a building by destroying the foundation."
"Wesson wants to avoid a scandal that would ruin his chances of getting elected." Lenny said. "That would give him a motive to find Abigail."
"Well I say you are all guessing!" Riggs mouthed off. The dwarf had become more discontent with the conversation ever since it started. He did not like the direction it was taking. "We don't know if this Wesson chummer jumped on the joygirl. No proof equals no scandal. Big deal."
"Why don't we ask her." Smiley said again. He believed in getting information straight from the source. "Find out what she knows. Pick her brains."
"We might do that, Smiley." Lenny replied. He was still reading through some of the papers that Tart had printed out. The papers contained the information and pictures that the decker had uncovered in the Matrix.
"I still say this is all for drek! So Abigail's parents are dead, big deal." Riggs cursed. "There's a death certificate, whoop-de-do. I got a death certificate with my name on it too, but I'm still here. Abigail's parents could have faked their death. Gabriel Frost might be an old friend of the family. Abby's parents hired him to reunited her with her parents. Fairy tale ending. We turn over Abby and everyone is happy."
"Riggs, you sound like you are making this up as you go along." Gideon remarked.
Riggs snorted his response. "I might be, but it could happen. It's possible. Death's can be faked."
"What if Mr. Frost turns Abigail over to Mr. Wesson?" Tart's soft voice contradicted the other runners sharply. "What would happen to her?"
"Hard to say." Lenny lite a cigarette. "It depends on why Wesson wants Abigail."
"This doesn't change the gig, does it?" Riggs said while waving his arms like a flightless bird. "We still going through with the meet."
Lenny shook his head. "We need more information." He stared at Smiley for a second. "I think I'm willing to get the information from the source, Smiley. Let's have a chat with Abigail." Lenny exchanged glances with Tart. She still had a little dried blood on her nose. Apparently an encounter in the Matrix had taken more out of her than she admitted. Lenny motioned her to rest. Rest was the only way to heal some of the damage.
6:38 pm
Abigail wiped her frigid nose on the bedspread. She had been crying for most of the past hour. She came to the conclusion that she was never getting out of here. Whoever these people were, they were professionals. They had probably been hired by some of Wesson's goons. That thought made Abigail feel worse.
Hope had finally given out. That was obvious to anyone who saw her. Before she was outspoken and threatened her captors. She kept telling herself that she could get out. That she could escape. Sadly, it was clear that escape was not possible. The door to her room was locked. There was not any furniture like before. Only a mattress on the floor.
She was served two meals during the day. The first time one of her captors came in to offer her food she felt like cursing them to hell and back. She changed her mind when she saw the man who delivered her microwave meal. It was the unusual man with the sinister smile. Abigail did not have to be a genius to tell that this was poorly adjusted human being. Everything about him screamed danger. He set the food at her feet and quietly walked out. The man did not try anything with her. He never said a word for that matter.
The second meal was brought less than an hour ago. It wasn't delivered by the man with the smile, but by a short human wearing a dark red long coat. He did not seem to pay much attention to her, but when Abigail made a sudden step for the door the little human blocked her path in less time that it took to blink. It was faster than any natural human could have managed.
Abigail concluded that she was lucky to get past the girl that was guarding her before. That girl seemed to be the weakest of the group.
The door opened. Abigail turned her head to see who was there. A tall man entered. There were some others behind him, but the man motioned them to stay back. The man brought in a folding chair with him. Abigail sat up on the mattress as the man unfolded the chair in the middle of the room.
"Cigarette?" The man offered her as he took a seat. There was a pack of generic cigarettes in his hands.
Abigail took the cigarette in a trembling hand. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
"My name is Lenny." The man produced a small lighter that he used to lite Abigail's cigarette. Lenny pulled another cigarette from the pack for himself.
"I'm Abby."
"No your are not." Lenny said calmly. "You name is not Abigail Starlight. It's Abigail Teller."
Abigail looked surprised for a moment. This man knew her real name! Abigail had not been called by the name for months. The last person to call her that was her mother. Such a long time ago.
"Abigail Teller." Lenny lite the cigarette. "Am I right?" Lenny knew that the name was right. The expression on the girls face told him that. He just wanted to hear her say it.
"Yes." Abigail said hesitantly. For the first time she noticed the man's eyes. They were not like normal eyes. They were pitch black. It was like someone had poured black ink in them. There were no pupils that she could see. The effect unnerved her a little, but the tone of the man's voice was warm and focused.
"You are from San Francisco in the California Free State." Lenny looked to her for confirmation.
"That's right."
Lenny knocked the ashes off his smoke. "You parents are dead. They passed away in an accident".
Abigail did not say anything to that. She merely nodded her head.
Lenny reached into his jacket pocket. Abigail turned her head. She was expecting him to pull out a gun. Instead Lenny produced a wade of papers. He laid them near the foot of the mattress. Abigail noticed a picture on one of the papers. It was of her. Eagerly she snatched them up and read through them.
"Those are records of you from California. Our decker found them during a search on the Matrix. You are not Abigail Starlight. You disappeared on October 11, 2058."
"That's..." Abigail continued to look through the collection of printouts. "That's right. What are you going to do with me?"
Lenny blew out a breath of smoke, flicking the ashes away. "We are shadowrunners. Me and my people were hired to locate you. We were hired on behalf of your mother who wished you returned home."
"That's not possible." Abigail protested.
"I know." Lenny countered. "You mother is dead and there is no record of a foster family. Therefore we were not hired on behalf of your mother. Now let me ask you another question."
"Okay."
"Does the name Gabriel Frost mean anything to you?"
Abigail did not reply.
"I stress that you give me a correct answer. I can easily drag you downtown to a magician friend of mine. She can forcible probe your mind for the answers I need. From what I hear it can be an unpleasant experience. Please answer my question."
Abigail nodded. Tears leaked around her eyelids, but she forced them back. "Yes, I know him. I've heard of him before."
"What was your relationship with Gabriel Frost?"
"There wasn't anything between us." Abby shook her head. "He was some kind of bodyguard. I ran into him a few times."
"What were the circumstances when you ran in to him? Who was he working for."
"I-" She started. "I don't know."
Lenny frowned. He did not like that answer. Lenny could guess that she knew more, but she did not want to say it. She was hiding something.
"I have another question for you." Lenny tossed his cigarette on the floor. His foot stamped it out. "Do you know James Wesson?"
"I've heard that he is a politician. That is all."
"Be honest with me, Abigail. The answers that you give me will determine your future. Do you know him?"
"Yes." She said simply.
"Tell me about your relationship with James Wesson."
Abigail gave Lenny a harsh look. "You don't have any right to know about that. It's none of your business."
"It is now." Lenny warned. "Answer the question."
Abigail lowered her head. Her eyes stared at the floor. "He was a customer. I met him about three weeks ago. He said that he wanted someone young off the streets. I agreed, I didn't have a reason not to. He paid good. I certainly needed the money."
Lenny took a second to absorb the information. "I have another question for you. Answer with a yes or no." Lenny paused, making sure that she understood. "Did you know that Gabriel Frost works for James Wesson?"
She shook her head. "Yes."
"One last question, Ms. Teller." Lenny leaned forward in his chair. "Can you think of a specific reason why James Wesson would want to find you?"
Abigail did not reply at first. She kept her eyes glued to the floor. She would not meet Lenny's black glare. "No." She whispered.
"If he wanted you he could have found like he had before. When you two were involved. Why would he go so far?"
She looked at Lenny. "So far?"
"Gabriel Frost hired me and me people to find you. Gabriel's a front man. He doesn't do anything without someone's say so. Gabriel works for James Wesson. Therefore James Wesson wants you. I want to know why." Lenny stated bluntly.
Again Abigail stayed quiet.
"I could say the obvious thing. That Wesson wants you because you might be able to ruin his chances of getting elected to Seattle's congressional seat. That is what a number of my companions suspect." Lenny kept his voice steady. He did not let himself waver. "But I believe that there is something more to it."
"I don't know." Abigail shook her head again. "Maybe it's just him. It's Wesson. He's a real control freak. He got to be kind of rough, so I stopped seeing him. Last week he approached me, but I turned him down. I don't know." Abigail looked like she was about to burst out in tears. "Maybe this is just his way of getting back at me."
That's an expensive way to get back at a girl, Lenny thought to himself. His team was getting a nice chunk of money for what was a cake walk of a run. There was no corporation or major organization involved. That made the job less dangerous than what the team had worked on in the past.
"Maybe."
With that word Abigail broke down into tears. She cried like she never cried before. Lenny started to speak, but cut himself off. Abigail was panting away. There was nothing he could do. He doubted that he could get more information out of her. He doubted that he could calm her down for that matter.
Quietly, Lenny stood and folded up his chair. He knocked the on the door once. Gideon opened up, letting Lenny leave. The door shut just as quietly. With Abigail still crying on the mattress.
6:50 pm
"Uhm...boss?" Riggs said quietly.
His words broke the silence. All the runners were watching Lenny as he left the room. They had been listening to his conversation with Abigail over their commlinks. The only question was how Lenny would react to his new found information.
"Gabriel Frost works for James Wesson?" Gideon rumbled. "Got no solid proof of it, but it is a good guess. We got concrete info that Gabriel works as a security advisor for him."
Lenny nodded. "That's not all we got."
"Nope, that's not all." Nightsky agreed. "Gabriel said specifically at the meet that he was hiring us on part of Abby's mother. We got evidence that Abby's parents are dead. One of them is lying. We have death certificated, photographs, paper clippings, you name it. I put my bet on Gabriel. He wasn't telling the truth when he told us who he was hiring for."
"They could both be fronting this!" Riggs babbled. "We all know that deaths can be faked! We know that it can be done. We've done it ourselves for crying out loud!"
Lenny held his hand at Riggs, motioning for him to calm down.
"So Gabriel fibbed a little. Big fragging deal." Gideon grumbled unhappily. "It doesn't change the deal. He hired us to find this breeder. We did that. We turn her over to him. He gives us our money and we are out of the game."
"Turn Abigail over to Gabriel, Gid?" Lenny wondered. "He will take her straight to Wesson. I'll bet my left cybereye on it."
"It's the job. It's what we agreed to do." Gideon reminded. The team accepted the job from Gabriel Frost. It was a contract. A contract that was meant to be filled.
"So we're just going to turn her over an be done with it?" Nightsky said.
"Since when did we change the plan!" Riggs raved. "We don't change the plan. We change the plan and bring down a drekstorm on our heads!"
"What are you thinking, Riggs?" Lenny said calmly. "Are you afraid that we might not honor our agreement with Gabriel?"
Riggs huffed. "I don't know, bossman, why don't you tell me. It's you I'm worried about. I know how yers think and I also know what yers thinking about."
"Don't make this personal, Lenny." Gideon warned. "We took the job."
"So we give Abigail to Frost?" Lenny wondered. "In doing that we condemn her to her fate with James Wesson. What ever that may be."
Gideon crossed his arms. "It's nothing she hasn't done before."
"Gid's right!" Riggs waved his arms about madly. "We can't cross the Johnson."
"You're telling me that you want to give this girl to Frost, Riggs?" Lenny questioned.
"Are you the one who wants to stuff the girl under a rug and say we didn't find her, Lenny?" Gideon countered. "We'll be breaching our contract. That'll kill our reps in the shadows. We won't be able to get and decent work. Not to mentioned how royally drek-faced Gabriel will be when he finds out."
"So it's the right thing to do?" Lenny tilted his head. "Giving her over like that?"
"I did not say anything about it being the right thing to do. There is no right and wrong." Gideon raised his voice. "We hand her over and avoid a world of trouble. If you refuse then we go knee deep in drek."
"Yeah, bossman!" Riggs screeched. "It's not worth it."
"Is it, Riggs? We're throwing this girl to the wolves just so you can avoid a little extra trouble." Nightsky said.
"There's more to it than avoiding trouble." Lenny reminded.
Gideon agreed with this. There was more to it than avoiding trouble. Just as there was more to it than doing the right thing. As he said, this was the shadows. There was no right and wrong. Only shades of gray.
"Look, I'm sorry that this girl is in a tight spot." Riggs held his hands up. "Really, I am. But I don't feel like putting my neck on the line for her."
"I feel that it would be wrong to give Abigail to Gabriel. He would only take her to Wesson. Wesson would do heaven knows what to her." Lenny said bluntly.
"It's nothing that the girl hasn't gone through before!" Riggs said. "She's a joygirl, she's use to it!"
"It's against her will, Riggs." Nightsky added.
"You gave your word when you took the job, Lenny." Gideon walked a small circle around the other shadowrunners.
"I did, didn't I?" Lenny smirked. "Even though Gabriel wasn't completely straight with us. Looking back, knowing what I know now, I don't think I would have accepted the job." He glanced at Riggs and Gideon. "You are both right. Breaking contract with Gabriel will bring a lot of trouble down on our heads. They'll hire people to come after us. Our reputation, Gideon, would be tainted. We would be seen as double-crossing our Johnson." Lenny looked at Nightsky. "Nightsky, you're right too. We are forcing the girl along. We are making her go against her will."
"Can't break contract, Lenny." Gideon stood firm. The principle was most important to him. "It's the job. The agreement between runner and Johnson. Can't cut and run because of a weak stomach."
Lenny's heart strained. Gideon was right. It was the professional thing to do. At the same time the action left a hollow feeling inside. The human thing to do was to turn Abigail loose. Maybe give her some money and point her in the right direction.
"I won't stand for crossing the Johnson." Gideon warned. "He's honored us so far, we need to do the same."
"Boss, we can't go back on the contract!" Riggs squealed. He was afraid. The normal dose of paranoia he got had been doubled. The idea of crossing the Johnson scared him like nothing else. He knew all of the trouble that it could bring down. The team was good, but by no means were they elite.
"Relax, Riggs." Lenny comforted. "Nobody is cutting the contract. I gave my word, as did we all. I can't in good conscious force what I want to do on you guys." He exchanged glances with Nightsky. If Shard were here, she would agree with him. But she wasn't here. "Doing that would be just as bad as forcing Abigail to go with Frost. Only then I would be going against my teammates and not some joygirl. We'll follow through with the meet."
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