An hour earlier, he had stopped at a Pic N Pump gas station, just outside Apple Valley, where he bought himself a six-pack of beer and made the call to his employers. He then proceeded to drive out of town to the hills at the rear of the Horseman’s Centre, where he parked the bike off the road, drank two tins of beer, and watched the sun go down. He then used the plastic binding to hang the remaining four over his handlebars.
Now, as he leaned back on the cracked leather seat of the Honda, smoking a Marlboro, Mitch looked to the heavens, and wondered for a moment about eternity. Although his own personal god was technology, he occasionally wondered how an omniscient deity would look upon his sins. He reassured himself he had not actually hurt anyone directly, and in case God existed - which he doubted - he would be all good. At least that was what the preachers on the cable TV channels said. Hopefully, this single fact would save his soul, when the time came to meet his maker. Not that he was planning on that any time soon.
As he crushed the cigarette under the heel of his boot, Mitch had been so distracted by the relentless whirring and clicking of the native insects he did not notice the large man in the Hawaiian shirt, who stepped softly through the undergrowth towards him, until he was standing beside him.
‘Why did you call him?’ the large man asked.
‘Shit!’ Mitch shuddered. ‘Do you have to sneak up on people?’
‘Why did you call?’ the large man repeated.
‘I got fucking raided.’ Mitch said, as he struggled to settle his breathing.
‘You what?’ The large man frowned.
‘A couple of cops came sniffing around my place. They were asking about the site.’
‘What did you tell them?’
‘Nothing. I told them squat.’
‘And they left?’
‘Yeah, they left.’
‘Why are you here?’
‘I left in a hurry. All my shit is back at the house - my computers … everything.’
‘Is the website down?’
‘No, it doesn’t need a physical operator.’ Mitch laughed, ‘Jeez, man, did you listen to anything I said at the diner?
‘No,’ the large man sighed. ‘Probably not.’
‘The site will tick along just fine. But, the thing is,’ Mitch puffed out his chest, ‘I’m going to need to, you know, be recompensed?’
‘For what?’
‘Well, I need somewhere to stay now, and I need to replace the equipment.’
‘But, you said the site would be fine.’
‘The site will be fine, but I still need a fucking computer. That’s how I make my living.’
‘You were paid up front.’
‘Yeah, but that was before your activities drew some unwanted fucking attention, man.’
‘You need more money, then, is that it?’
‘Yes, fuck, yes! Finally.’
The man in the Hawaiian shirt turned away from Mitch, and looked into the darkness, ‘Well, should I?’ he called to a darker shadow amongst the oversized boulders.
‘Hey,’ Mitch squawked, suddenly spooked. ‘Who the fuck are you talking to, man?’
The large man ignored him, and kept his attention on the darkness, from where a soft single word was spoken.
‘Yes,’ it said.
‘Hey,’ Mitch repeated, but by then, the large man had turned back around to face him, jamming a long boning knife deep into Mitch’s abdomen. Pulling the blade out, he watched as Mitch looked down in disbelief at the hot, dark patch spreading like ink across his t-shirt. The large man was experienced, and had pushed the knife in far enough to pierce the spleen, guaranteeing Mitch would bleed to death in minutes.
Mitch swayed slightly and his hot blood dripped on to the parched dusty ground. The large man walked back to the bike, where he removed one of the beers from the handlebars. Sparking it open, he took a deep gulp, belched, and settled back to watch the show.
32
Leighton stood on the balcony of Vicki’s apartment and watched the ocean waves as they crashed in long explosions on the beach. It was a warm afternoon, and the beach was crammed with families. Behind him, Vicki was peering intently at a computer screen. She had been silent for over half an hour. Leighton was lost in his own thoughts, remembering taking his daughter to the beach, where she had dug for pretty shells, and he had read trashy novels. If he could have a second chance, he would have put down the book and spent more time digging with her.
‘Okay there?’ Vicki called to him.
‘Sure. How you getting on?’ Leighton moved back into the apartment, sat down on the sofa alongside Vicki, and rubbed his hands together.
‘Hmm.’ Vicki frowned at the screen. ‘There’s not much data, but what there is generally suggests the site would sit on top of a genuine web page. Only it would be fake.’
‘Like a fake ATM fascia crooks use to scam bank cards?’
‘Exactly. Anyway, it would filter the data …’
‘Filter for what?’
‘Whatever made the ideal victim - solo travellers, one-way tickets, isolated age, gender …’
‘Okay, so what can we do with this?’ Leighton tried to sound hopeful.
‘Not a lot,’ Vicki admitted. ‘But, because the memory had stored the general parameters, I was able to go to various bus companies, and activate the automatic page redirect.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘I found the only sure-fire way to find the damned bus.’
‘And what would that be?’ Leighton asked quietly.
‘To book a ticket on it,’ Vicki said, and met Leighton’s eyes.
‘No way!’ Leighton shook his head.
‘Hear me out,’ she said, widening her eyes.
‘I said no way. Look, Vicki, these are killers - real sadistic bastards. This isn’t CSI!’
‘I don’t need to physically get on the bus,’ Vicki persisted. ‘We just make a booking, and wait out of sight at a bus stop to see if actually shows up. I’ll bring a camera - even if it speeds on by, I can get the plates and a shot of the driver, too, maybe.’
‘And then what?’
‘We follow it at a distance and call your old boss, give them everything we’ve got’
‘Yeah, sure.’ Leighton shook his head dismissively.
‘You don’t agree?’ Vicki turned around fully to look at Leighton. ‘Then, explain what we should do, Leighton. Otherwise, we’re doing nothing!’
‘I just think we could explore other options.’
‘Like what, stake out every bus stop, and hope we get lucky?’
‘It would be a hell of a lot safer.’
‘Well, to be honest, it’s all academic now, anyway.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I’ve already booked the ticket.’
‘What?’
‘I got a ticket under a false name for a pick-up from outside Blythe, tomorrow afternoon. A similar bus stop to the one Laurie was picked up from. I was going to use the exact same one, but I reckon that would arouse suspicion.’
‘It’s not safe. Christ, Vicki, you don’t want to put yourself in the lion’s den.’
‘So, what are we meant to do, Leighton, huh?’ Vicki stood up in frustration. ‘How the hell do you think we can get these people?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said honestly, and pinched the bridge of his nose, ‘but this isn’t it.’
‘You ever here that line about how all it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing? Well, that’s what we’re doing - nothing!’