Chapter 5, Part 1

jacobson

It was a quiet drive home; neither Thomas nor Hannah seemed to be in the mood to chat. Hannah just brooded. Thomas clicked away incessantly on that handheld of his, occasionally stopping to squeeze his temples for a few seconds, but never breaking the silence.

It was a solid half hour before we were out of downtown and I was confident we weren’t being followed. Thomas still hadn’t eased up on the handheld so I figured it’d be as good a time as any to bother him.

“So, Thom-”

“Shut up.” He continued to tap at the handheld. I looked at him in the rear-view, but all I could see was the top of his hat.

I turned and looked at Hannah. She shook her head and resumed staring out her window.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “We need someplace to go. So, where to, Boss?”

Bleakly went for the temples again for a moment then snapped, “Just take us back to my office, alright? I need quiet. Nobody’s following us and they won’t look for me there. Now please, please, please? Shut. Up.”

“Fine. Fine, fine.” I punched the coordinates into my dashboard and set the car to autopilot.

———–

hannah

The last time I’d seen Bleakly’s office, his desk had been littered with notecards and the place had smelled like industrial-strength cleaning solution.

The smell was stronger (how he managed it I’ll never guess) and the floor was littered with notecards. Now, when I say ‘littered,’ I mean wall to wall and arranged in a perfect grid with no more than a few centimeters between each card.

As soon as he opened the door he strode carelessly to his desk, sending cards left and right.

I gingerly tiptoed into a corner before he stopped me with an exclamation.

“Stop.”

I looked down at the ground- the cards beneath my feet were blank. “These cards are-”

“Yep, they’re blank. They signify leads I haven’t looked at yet, and- screw it, I’ve got a system, but I’m damned if I’ve got time to explain it to you right now. Just feel free to walk on the ones that have something written on them.”

Jacobson had already found a box to sit on and looked content to wait until Bleakly was ready to talk, and good for him. Patience is a virtue. Too bad for me. My patience had all but run out.

I put two hands on his desk and started tapping. He didn’t look up.

I said, “Where’s my dad?”

He held up one finger and continued typing with the others.

I did not break his finger, but that is only because I was able to keep myself from trying too hard, because I probably can not break a finger one-handed, and because he appeared to be double-jointed.

“Where’s my dad, asshole?“

He finally made eye contact with me. “I’ve got good news for you and bad news for you.”

“What? Anything? You’ve actually-”

With his free hand he pointed to his violently restrained finger. I released it and he held it up once again.

“Miss Smith I have good news for you and bad news. I can give these to you in their current form or I can continue my research and give you a more satisfying explanation. If you wish for me to explain it to you now there will be a surcharge of-”

“Fuck you. Tell me what you know.”

He took off his hat and ran his hands through his hair. “All right. Okay. Here’s how it is, lovely Miss Smith. There’s good news, and there’s bad news.

“The good news is, your father is not dead.”

My knees gave, my heart leapt, and tears swam in my eyes. If I’d been able to speak I would have said something like “Oh- Oh, thank-”

“The bad news is, your father is not alive.”

I do not recall how I crossed the desk or how the lapels of his coat came to be in my hands or how Jacobson came to be behind me, but I do recall screaming “What in LIVING FUCK do you mean?”

With an altogether-too-smug look on his face Bleakly once a gain proffered the despised finger. “Okay, look. He’s not alive- not legally. His death certificate is on file with Nocter Pharmaceuticals. It has to be, because that’s the only legal way that they can cryogenically freeze human beings. Now, wait. Waiiit. Wait. Don’t kill me. Hold on. Wait. Wait. Look. Okay, look.”

He offered the little screen. It showed a few small numbers and a squiggly line.

He pointed. “These are your father’s life signs. This information is not publicly available and without certain network keys and other information I gained before and during my altercations at your father’s employer I would not be able to access them, and even now I am having some trouble. But I do know that your father is alive- slightly. He is currently cryogenically frozen.”

“Cryogenically frozen?”

Bleakly shrugged and tapped a few more buttons. “It doesn’t say so explicitly, but we know Nocter’s been investing in lots of weird equipment and, most tellingly, cryoprotectant. And if your father’s heart is really beating once every minute, either he’s magic, not human, or cryogenically suspended.”

I shook my head. “No. Nobody- why-”

“It looks like they’ve managed to do what nobody else has- freeze people and bring ‘em back whole. At least, let’s hope- I mean, I’m sure they’ve got it. Nothing to worry about.”

I couldn’t believe it. “Why would they do something like that?”

He pursed his lips. “I’m not sure. In fact I really have no idea. All I know is they don’t want us to know and they froze your father. So if you’ll excuuuse me-”

I sat down heavily. It was so much – my father was alive! But- frozen? Why? What is wrong with Nocter?

Jacobson piped up, “So, where is he?”

———–

jacobson

“So, where is he?” I asked.

Thomas grimaced at me. “That’s the tough part. Remember I said we had to hit City Hall to see old man City?”

I nodded.

“He’s gotta be on something City owns, something big and well-guarded. Lucky for me, this chip I got from the Nocter building’s got access to most of City’s stuff- but only for now and I really need to stay focused in case he locks me out of the system. If I can find Smith’s exact location we stand a better chance of getting him back. Easily, I mean. Nothing to worry about. Just another couple of…” He was lost in the data once more. He didn’t notice Hannah, face in her hands, shoulders shaking.

I put my coat around her and whispered what comfort I could to her. Poor Thomas was worlds away- simultaneously doing as much as he could for Hannah while at the same time ignoring her immediate need for soothing human contact.

“Right, well. We’ll be back, Thomas. We’re just going to get some coffee.”

He waved.

With a sigh, I opened the door for Hannah and cast a backwards glance at the detective wrapped up in his case.

 

 

God help you, Thomas. God help us all…