UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck (22 page)

After a seriously long time, John was able to see again. Sheila was using a tiny flashlight that provided just adequate light to see the room in which John was tortured only a few minutes earlier. The beam of light fell on the two guys – Sam and Bob – who were unconscious. Their mouths were filled with what appeared to be pieces of cloth. Their hands were tied at the back of their jackets and their guns were thrown away from them.

“That is impressive work Sheila.” said John, admiring her handiwork.

“Boss, I told you to stop talking. Now, let’s look at your wounds.” said Sheila. She looked at the injuries on his shoulders, stomach and legs. Every tortured part of his body was bruised and bleeding.

“Boss, I am no doctor and cannot tell if you are just wounded or also have broken bones. Unfortunately, checking your wounds will have to wait. Can you stand? Walk?” asked Sheila. Even as she was speaking, she quickly got up and walked up to the unconscious goons. She searched their pockets and found their phones and came back to John. John was having difficulty standing up and could only crouch at that point.

“John, I am guessing that they have taken away your phone and your weapons and anything else that you might be carrying?” asked Sheila.

“Yes, they have. I don’t even remember them doing it. They gave me some liquid that had me completely knocked out.” answered John.

“What about the gadget on your belt? Did they find out about that?” asked Sheila.

John looked below his bloodied shirt and found his belt still hanging around his pants. John quickly removed the belt buckle and gave it to Sheila. The belt buckle was a nifty little gadget from Drake. Sheila took the buckle and pulled out what looked like a really thin phone. She quickly pulled out a cable from another part of the belt and connected the phone she stole from the thug on the ground to John’s buckle phone. With everything set up, she dialed Drake from the buckle phone.

“Drake here. John, is everything alright? I notice that you are calling from that buckle phone I gave you.” said Drake.

“Drake, this is me, Sheila.” said Sheila, quickly.

“Sheila! I haven’t heard your voice in a long time. Glad to hear from you.” said Drake.

“No time for pleasantries Drake. Do you notice that a phone has been connected to the buckle phone?” asked Sheila, helping John get up.

“Yes, I do. I have already started downloading all the information from that phone.” answered Drake.

“Good. Let me know once the information is copied. I have another phone that needs to get the same treatment.” said Sheila, tearing up a part of her dress and tying it around John’s leg where it was still bleeding. John let out a cry of pain, as she tightened the cloth around his right leg.

“Hold on John, it will be fine in a few minutes. Okay, there. I am done.” said Sheila, tying the knot.

“Sheila, you there?” said Drake’s voice on the phone.

“Right here tech guy.” replied Sheila.

“I am done with the first phone.” said Drake.

“Okay I am connecting the second phone now.” said Sheila. She disconnected the first phone and plugged in the second one.

“Okay, Sheila. I have established connection with the second phone.” answered Drake.

“Good. Now, if you check John’s contact list you will notice that there is a cab driver who was added to the transport list about six months ago. Do you see it?” asked Sheila, helping John stand up.

“Yeah, I have that name. What do I do with this?” asked Drake.

“Call him up and give him our location.” said Sheila and continued, “Keep me posted on the phone data transfer as well as the cab driver.”

With everything taken care off, Sheila turned to John.

“Okay John, any moment now, these folks who kidnapped us will figure out that we are no longer restrained. I have called that cab driver you met and told me was pretty good. Let’s get out of this place. See if you can walk.” said Sheila, helping him stand up by putting his arm over her shoulder.

“Let me try.” said John, using her support and standing up with a great amount of effort, “I think I can walk Sheila. Let’s go.”

Sheila picked up the buckle phone that was still connected with the goon’s phone and put it in her top pocket. With John hanging onto her shoulder, the two walked slowly across the room toward the exit. Sheila was supporting John with one hand and using the other to hold one of the guns she picked up from the goons. It took them a while, but they were finally outside. It was still dark outside and at a distance, John saw a pair of headlights. That was the taxi cab that Drake had arranged for them to escape.

“Sheila, the second phone is all copied. The cab must be with you in a few seconds. I will begin analyzing the phone data right away.” said Drake.

“Thanks a lot Drake. The cab is here and we should be out of here soon. John has a lot of wounds and I am hoping it is nothing serious. Talk to you later.” said Sheila, disconnecting the call and placing the buckle phone in her top pocket. She threw the goon’s phone in nearby bushes. The cab was in front of them.

“Mr. Russo? You look bad and I cannot believe I got a call from you after all these months.” said the driver.

John had a quick memory jog to that morning when the same cab driver gave him meaningful advice. John smiled through the pain.

“I look bad alright. Sheila, this is Xavier. Xavier, this is my assistant Sheila.” said John, getting into the backseat.

Xavier, the cab driver, noticed the gun in her hand and then looked at Sheila, smiled and said, “Nice to meet you Sheila. Where to?”

Sheila gave him the address of John’s doctor, Rick Falk. Xavier confirmed the address and drove towards it as fast as his taxi would go. Sheila called the doctor and requested him to be ready and described John’s condition. By the time the taxi reached the doctor’s house, two nurses were already standing at the gate with a stretcher. After stopping the taxi, Xavier jumped out of the car and quickly ran back to help John. John was placed on the stretcher and pushed through the doctor’s house. Doctor Falk was waiting for them and John was immediately taken into the patient room. Sheila was asked to wait in the outside room. With his job done, Xavier collected his fare and drove away.

The night was a massive ordeal for Sheila. She grabbed a glass of water from the cooler and gulped it down. The doctor had already checked her the moment she came in. She was not harmed in anyway. Sheila sat on the sofa and kept an eye on the clock. She was too tired to stay awake for long, and fell asleep on the sofa.

“Sheila, wake up.”

Sheila got up and found herself on a large bed. She was wearing night clothes and there was a bright light beaming through the windows. The room was large, spacious, and almost resembled a hotel room that was cross pollinated with a hospital room. A nurse was standing next to the bed and was the one who was waking her up.

“It’s almost ten o’ clock and the doctor asked me to wake you up. I hope you don’t mind but I had to get you into fresh clothes.” said the nurse.

“I don’t mind at all. Thank you for doing this and making me sleep here.” said Sheila. Then she remembered about last night and asked the nurse, “How is John? Is he okay?”

“Your friend. He is fine. There were no serious injuries and he is still asleep. He is in the next room.” answered the nurse.

“Thank God! Thanks to you and your doctor as well” said Sheila.

“That’s alright. If you want to freshen up, fresh towels are in that cabinet and anything else you might need, buzz me using the buzzer. Okay?” said the nurse, leaving the room.

Sheila got up and spent the next half an hour taking a shower. As the nurse had indicated, there were fresh clothes in the cabinet. She wore them, and they fit her very well. She noticed that there was a cup of hot coffee on the table next to the bed. She took a few sips, and feeling refreshed, walked out of the room and into the next one. Once inside, she was happy to see that John was still sleeping peacefully.

She took the seat that was placed next to the bed and picked up the newspaper. The headlines were filled with the usual news about sports, politics and warnings about the earth becoming too hot. Sheila found them boring and fast-forwarded to the puzzle section. There was a pen on the stand and she picked it up and started working on the jumble. A few later, the doctor entered the room.

“Sheila. Good to see you up and running. Hope you slept well?” said Dr. Falk.

“Hello doctor. Good morning. Yes, I slept well thank you. I was hoping to know more about John and how bad it is. The nurse said there was no permanent damage or broken bones.” said Sheila, putting the paper and pen back on the table.

“There would have been some infection if you hadn’t done some quick first aid on his leg. If that wasn’t done, he would have been in some kind of trouble. Nice job. I did not know that office assistants knew how to do first aid on the ground. Nor did I know that they knew how to handle a gun, which by the way, we have placed in that locked cabinet over there. You may take that when you are ready to leave.” said the doctor, smiling.

“John is a private detective and he made me take classes. I never knew that they would come so handy, but last night turned me into a believer. Weapons handling and on the run first aid was one of those classes that John made me attend.” said Sheila.

“He sounds like a smart man, Sheila. He has been sleeping as long as you have. He should get up any minute now. When he wakes up, he is good to go. Do ask him not to indulge in any sort of hard physical activity for at least a week.” said the doctor.

“Thanks doctor. I will make sure that he does not do anything like that.” said Sheila.

The doctor then proceeded to check up on John. He checked his temperature and seemed to make some notes on his tablet. Then, he wrote a prescription and handed it over to Sheila. Sheila took it and placed it on the table next to the newspaper. The doctor then said goodbye and left Sheila alone with John. John was still sleeping, and deciding to stay there, Sheila returned to her puzzle in the newspaper.

Sheila had only reached the second puzzle on the newspaper when John’s phone went off. It was in silent mode and the display showed that the caller was Drake. She picked it up and answered.

“John, is that you?” asked Drake, without even waiting for Sheila to say anything.

“Drake. Sheila here. He is still resting. Last night was a little too rough on him.” said Sheila.

“Is he hurt seriously?” asked Drake.

“The doctor said that he is just fine. All he needs is some rest. If you have a message for him, I can take it.” said Sheila assuming her duties as an assistant.

“I am happy to hear that. There is something that I wanted his help with. Since he is out of order, you will have to take over the responsibility.” said Drake.

“What should I be doing?” asked Sheila.

“Remember that phone data you guys copied and sent to me? There is a problem with it. I cannot explain everything on the phone. You will need to start right away and meet me at the lobby of the Science and Space Center.” said Drake.

“Okay. If I leave now, I should be at the Space Center in less than an hour. Would that be fine?” asked Sheila.

“That is just fine. I will explain everything later. Bye Sheila.” replied Drake, ending the phone call.

Sheila quickly rummaged through her bag. She picked up her wallet, slid one of the guns into her pants and reached for the door. She ran into one of the nurses.

“There is no time to explain, nurse. If John comes around, tell him to take rest. I will be back in a few hours.” said Sheila quickly.

The nurse nodded in agreement, and Sheila headed for the exit. She was outside the building in a few minutes and quickly got into a cab. It was late in the morning and there was enough traffic, but nothing that could be considered too inconvenient. The driver rode smoothly, navigating the streets of Primer City like it was the back of his hand. If Sheila wasn’t in a hurry, she would have complimented him on his impressive driving skills. They reached the destination in about thirty minutes. She got out of the cab, having paid the fare midway, and made her way to the lobby. Drake was sitting on one of the waiting room chairs. The moment he saw her, he got up and made his way to her. They shook hands.

“Sheila, I am guessing that you have access to John’s credit card?” asked Drake.

“Of course. What is this all about?” asked Sheila, walking with Drake.

“The data from the goons’ phones is locked, and I am pretty sure it has important information. It looks like these guys were pretty serious about their information. They have an encryption on all the files. I can access it on my own but it will take a lot of time. I know a guy who can get this done in minutes. He has the right equipment for it.. I am used to managing commercial grade encryption but this is military grade encryption. He charges a lot of money and it would be nice if you could pay for it, instead of me sending a bill for it later.” said Drake, summarizing the situation.

“I am ready with the money, Drake. I will follow your lead.” said Sheila.

“Good. He has an office on the third floor. We will take the escalator.” said Drake, stepping onto the escalator.

Sheila followed suit and got on the escalator. As the escalator took them to the next floor, Sheila noticed the many offices that were at the Science Center. The Science Center was a joint initiative of the city of Primer and the national Government, and focused on both research and technology. When she was a kid, Sheila would spend hours at the library, one of the largest science libraries in the country. She even tried to get into one of the facilities at the Center, but her marks just weren’t good enough. She was pretty upset when she was rejected, but had moved on since then. They had switched over to the third escalator that led to the third floor. Once on that floor, Drake led her to a door marked ‘ASE’.

Once inside, the place looked like a dentist’s office. There were a lot of people sitting, some with magazines in their hands. Others were reading a novel or just playing with their mobile phones. There was a reception table that was empty. Drake walked up to the reception table, with Sheila right behind him. They must have stood there for few minutes, when a door at the end of the room opened. A young woman in a business suit came out and took the chair behind the reception table.