Origami St.Claire No. 2 Read online

Origami St.Claire

  No. 2

  Ashley Grace Carpenter

  Copyright 2015 Ashley Grace Carpenter. All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means - without written permission of the publisher.

  Cover design by Ashley Grace Carpenter.

  Table of Contents

  Gaping Maw

  Let me tell you

  Stasis fields are nice

  I give CIBL

  The tunnel dug

  About Ashley

  Gaping Maw

  Late nights are one thing. Early mornings are another. Each have their downsides; however, if there is one thing Colin Quinn hates more than anything else it is an early morning following a late night. He and Franko Sillas had been busy over at the Payne residence for most of the previous night. Mr. Payne’s body was discovered by response units from NMCPF after an anonymous tip had come in just before midnight. The place was processed and the body of Mr. Payne was delivered to the examiner’s office. After the pair of detectives went over everything they had and it appeared to them that the deceased man’s missing wife was the likely suspect, the two parted ways and planned on picking up on the trail of Mrs. Payne in the early afternoon. Mr. Burges’ body was found only a few hours before Colin and Franko were called onto his case. So rather than getting to sleep in before another long day and night of work, Colin was regrettably only able to get a couple hours sleep. Needless to say, it does not sit well with the man. The sun is shining; the birds are chirping; the city of New Manhattan is thriving all around; and yet Colin cares for none of it. He would have to be awake in order for any of it to matter to him.

  At first Colin and Franko believed it was unnecessary for them to be called out to the scene of an unrelated murder, but the Chief never disappoints. As if on cue, Franko saddles up alongside Colin. “Checks out,” Franko states flatly, because they both know that they are only here to confirm what the Chief has already told them. “So if this is where our vic got all shot up, how did he end up back in his bed?”

  “Don’t know,” Colin replies, too tired and preoccupied to offer any more.

  “Geez, you’re lively today.”

  “Not now, Franko.” In the crowd Colin spies his old partner leaving, with a suit slung over his shoulder for some reason. Colin still feels responsible on some level for his ex-partner’s previous hardships. However, both men know that it was better for each of them to have parted ways when they did. The only thing that still stings about the whole situation was that Origami had never once reached out to Colin and Colin had never once extended his hand. The two have not talked to one another in the past year. If it wasn’t for Colin’s sister, he might have believed Origami to be dead somewhere. Colin had recently learned about his old partner’s nearby office but found it hard to believe that Origami could actually afford a place in this neighborhood. "Guess I was wrong," Colin thinks to himself, deciding to make a point of stopping in to see Origami later in the day. If Colin was aware of who his ex-partner’s client was, a visit to Origami’s office would be a much higher priority.

  Getting back on topic, Colin asks of Franko, “And the sensors?”

  “All out, for a five block radius. Nothing saw this,” Franko states, waving his arm out, indicating the alley and the scene of a most heinous crime. “What kind of bitch pops off her husband in an alley and then makes Swiss cheese out of a bum?”

  “I ain’t saying it was her, and I ain’t saying it wasn’t,” Colin replies. He knows the evidence points the finger squarely at the late Mr. Payne’s wife, but there are at present too many unanswered questions. And, Colin Quinn is not a detective who jumps on the first scenario that presents itself, just because it is first.

  “Well, maybe we should ask your buddy over there,” Franko snidely remarks.

  Colin looks down at Franko. To Colin, Franko always seemed to be jealous of Origami, ever since Colin and Franko were assigned to be partners. Colin never cared to ask why. To him it was and remains petty. Colin and Franko are partners and all that matters to Colin is that they have each other’s backs. And they do. But Franko is not someone who Colin will ever really consider a friend, outside of work. It is just not there, that kind of comradery. Normally Colin would choose to ignore Franko's jabs in Origami’s direction, but this last one just happens to coincide with Colin being in a poor mood himself.

  “What the hell does that mean?” The bravado in his voice only just hints at his dissatisfaction with Franko for bringing up Origami yet again.

  “I’ll tell you,” Franko retorts. “Cyber Division just made contact. Seems like Civil’s been hacked this morning. Twice,” Franko holds up two fingers in front of Colin.

  “And?” Colin asks, irritated. “Not like it’s illegal. So why even bother with it?”

  “Let me spell it out for you. Your friend over there,” Franko says, pointing to where Origami had been standing, “was the one that hacked the servers. Want to guess what he was looking at?”

  Dammit, Colin thinks to himself. This is not what he wanted his first visit to Origami’s office to be about. “Our case files. Fine, we’ll check it out. Later. We need to finish here, first. And then get those results from the secondary site.”

  “Fine,” Franko reluctantly relents. “Don’t forget we have to go to that place.”

  “We’ll hit that first then.”