Watch Dogs: Dark Clouds

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Her wet hair wrapped in a towel, Seline walked over to him from the kitchenette. She had a cup of tea in her hand. “You want some tea?”

“Tea’s not my cup of tea.”

“Funny guy. It didn’t even occur to me to ask if the laptop got wet when we had to slog through that lake…”

Wolfe shook his head. “It was in plastic. Double wrapped. It should be okay…” He was sitting at the desk, with the PC shoved aside for the laptop.

They’d both showered—her first. He’d given her plenty of privacy. He was wearing his only other outfit, jeans and an old Army t-shirt, and a pair of sneakers. She’d put on some extra men’s clothing Pearce had left here, trousers and a button up Arrow shirt. It didn’t fit very well—the trousers were rolled up over her bare feet. Wolfe glanced at Seline.

She actually looks kind of cute dressed that way…

Don’t start thinking about that. Focus.

“What’d you find on the laptop?” she asked.

“It’s just now booted up… oh, here’s the password form. What’s the password?”

She knew the password. Remember GlowWorm.

The laptop accepted the password, and the screen showed a block of text:

Wolfe memorized the address. “That’s one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago…”

“Let’s make sure the file’s there…”

He opened the text and graphics file on the desktop—the only file on the laptop. He had to use the second password for that: Remember Ruth.

It went on for page after page. “She knew…” Wolfe said, after he’d scanned the extensive file. “Medina knew I was right. She knew what Verrick did…”

“She knew,” Seline agreed. “But she didn’t have enough evidence to convince her superiors. She needed more to have Verrick and Van Ness arrested. The money vanished, sure. They know millions of dollars were laundered through the casino—and that a payment was made to Roger Verrick from ‘Iceberg Investments’. He later ‘reinvested’ a lot of it in Iceberg. But the connection is mostly circumstantial. And the footage you put on disk just isn’t there anymore. So, she was gathering evidence… she spent more than a year doing it.”

“The year I was in prison! Christ. She could have told me.”

“She wasn’t free to do that, Wolfe. She was allowed to investigate but she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone what she knew… except whoever this file was to go to. When she was about to make a move with this data… they killed her.” Seline shrugged, sighing. “She got it to me because she suspected they were moving in on her.”

Wolfe opened a desk drawer, took out the Scotch and two glasses. “Why didn’t she just email the damned thing to her superiors?”

“It could be she didn’t trust them enough. Maybe she was planning to go over their heads. Right to the Pentagon. Defense Intelligence Agency. She was gathering information and she had some pretty damning stuff… Don’t pour any whiskey for me, thanks… And then…”

Wolfe sipped Scotch from the small tumbler. “And then someone killed her.” He looked at Seline. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“Yeah. They didn’t know I had the file—not until after I got here. I had a friend in the area with some connections with the local chapter of DedSec and I knew they have been working with SystemLeaks so…”

“You sure you don’t want a drink? You don’t really have to worry that I’m trying to get you drunk. I’ll keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t put roofies in my drink.”

“Okay, wise guy. Just one.” She put her tea cup on the desk.

He poured her a drink. “Looks like when we go to that address in the morning, there’ll be someone there ready to help up us do the satellite upload…”

“Uh huh.” She looked around.

“The sofabed,” he said, guessing at her thoughts. “You take that. I’ll be on the cot in the bedroom. Sofabed’s more comfortable.”

Wolfe sipped some Scotch, then got out the PearcePhone and sent a text.

Don’t be throwing your face up on the system here unless you want it to be seen by my guest… We’re doing the upload tomorrow. Crashed a chopper in a lake. Yes that was us… Hope this is secure. Yeah I know: always secure.

He sent the text.

“Who’re you texting?” she asked, going to sit on the sofabed.

He drank off his Scotch, and stood up. “I’ll have to get his permission before I tell you. A friend.” Wolfe looked at her. “Nice new look. Have to get you some loafers to go with it.”

She smiled and sipped her drink.

He said, evenly, “You were pretty cool headed today. Glad I had you on my side.”

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Are you patronizing me?”

“No. I meant it.”

Seline raised her eyebrows in mild surprise. “Okay. Thanks.” She grimaced. “But… tell you the truth, I felt kind of weird on the roof when I…”

“When you shot that guy? I don’t think it was a killing wound.”

“I never shot anyone before.”

“I wouldn’t feel bad about it where those shit-dicks are concerned. They were ready to shoot us dead.”

“I don’t feel bad about it exactly. Just… a weird feeling. I could have gone my whole life without shooting anybody and been fine with that.”

“I hear you. Only two ways to feel about it. Feel nothing—or the way you do. Me—I think it’s better to give a damn if you have to do it.”

She nodded, just slightly.

Wolfe kept looking at her. No special way. Just looking.

She glanced up at him—then quickly away. She opened her mouth as if to say something…

Then she gave her head a small shake and raised her glass to him. “See you in the morning.”

He nodded, and went into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

A dull thumping sound woke Wolfe up the next morning. He grabbed his .45 from under the pillow and jumped out of the bed…

And then realized it was only the sound of something thumping in the clothes dryer.

He put on his pants, stuck the gun in his waist band, and opened the door into the other room a little, peering through. He didn’t want to rush out and startle Seline.

Especially now that he knew she had a .44 in her purse. He knocked on the door.

“It’s your place, come on out,” she said.

“It’s not really my place,” Wolfe said, coming out into the living room.

Seline was hunkered down next to the small dryer, taking her clothes from it. She was still wearing the oversized pants and shirt.

“Get all the pond scum off your clothing?” he asked.

“Most of the pond scum’s out there in Chicago,” she said.

She straightened up and looked at him. He thought her eyes lingered on him—and he realized he was bare-chested.

She looked away. “If this is not your place, whose place is it?”

“You go on and change your clothes, and I’ll see if I’m allowed to say whose place it is.”

She shrugged and carried her clothes into the bathroom to change.

He sat down at the desk, and looked up the file he’d organized on Tranter. He copied and pasted select parts of it, making a summary, that he uploaded to the PearcePhone. He had a feeling it could be useful in the search for allies.

Then he picked up the phone and called Pearce. It took a while for the system to bounce the call around securely enough. The heard Pearce’s voice crackling gruffly through. “Wolfe?”

“Yeah. So—you know about Seline Garnera.”

“Yeah. Got your message. So—you crashed a chopper together? Good first date. She’s there with you now?”

“Yeah. She’s taking a shower. Doesn’t know you could be watching her get undressed and stuff.”

“I could even watch her in the shower if I wanted to. But I don’t have those cameras turned on. Never have been.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“You never had to worry I was going to check out your naked ass, Wolfe. You know what to do about the uploading?”

“Yeah. I got the address. Doesn’t look easy.”

“Best way to do it right now.”

“Uh—look. You want to meet Seline? I mean—onscreen? We’re already tangled up with her. And she’s already here. And it’s not like you haven’t been all over the news about three hundred times in your life.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Pearce hung up.

Seline came out of the bathroom, dressed in the clothes she’d worn yesterday. “Only problem is my shoes. They’re still kinda stiff. Wasn’t easy getting the mud and stuff off ’em.”

Aiden Pearce suddenly appeared on the television screen. “Hello, Ms. Garnera.”

Seline gasped, spinning toward the television. “What the fuck.”

Pearce smiled crookedly at her from the TV screen. “Wolfe said you might want to meet me. Here I am. Aiden Pearce! You’re staying in one of my safehouses. Which means I saved your ass. And so did the software I gave Wolfe there. Just keep it in mind—and in return keep your mouth shut about anything you find out about me.”

“Uh… sure.”

“I’ll let Wolfe explain the rest. There’s some instant coffee in the cabinet to your right.”

Pearce’s image flicked off the TV screen.

The windshield wipers chugged with metronomic regularity, wiping off sleety rain, as a man’s deep voice said,

“Wild action in downtown Chicago last night where a helicopter was stolen from the helipad atop the Armstrong Arms, a high-priced apartment building just a block south of Union Station. The helicopter pilot, David Hendle, had been waiting to take a client to Las Vegas when apparent gunfire broke out on the roof. Escaping the gunfire, Hendle climbed down from the rooftop using an emergency ladder. Unidentified persons, reportedly a man and woman, hijacked the helicopter and flew it a few miles south only to crash it into Wolf Lake, possibly as a result of bullet damage to the helicopter’s fuel line. ctOS security camera footage is inconclusive… The thieves were not found at the scene of the crash. The lake is being dragged for their bodies.

“Blood was found on the rooftop along with shell casings but none of the wounded or the other gunmen. This is CKNW, Chicago’s News Radio… Now let me tell you something I bet you didn’t know about car insurance. For a fantastic deal…”

Wolfe switched off the radio of the stolen Ford Explorer. “I’ve gotta stop stealing cars and helicopters and things. One of these days I’m going to be arrested.”

Seline, who was driving, just smiled. “At least you don’t keep them or sell them for parts.” She glanced at him. “Do you?”

“Nope. They get back to their owners eventually. I’m not sure the police would accept the ‘I just borrowed it from a complete stranger’ concept though. And the truck I took from Verrick got special treatment—I let it roll into Lake Michigan.”

“Ha. Good.”

He glanced down at the small backpack on the floor of the Exporer. In it was the laptop with the file for SystemLeaks.

“Wolfe—’look!”

Up ahead the road was blocked by orange cones and blinking temporary traffic barricades—stolen from some roadwork, somewhere, probably. Standing behind the barricade were half a dozen African Americans in hoodies with day-glow orange trim. Two of them carried AR15 semi-auto rifles. The tall one in the middle had a Desert Eagle pistol stuck in his waist band, the grip showing over the bottom of his sweatshirt. He grinned at Wolfe, and waggled his fingers in a joking wave.

Wolfe snorted. “It’s okay—those are friends of mine. Black Viceroys. The one in the middle’s the boss of his own little chapter of the Viceroys—Shuggie’s his name. Just pull up and let me talk to them.”

“I’m getting out too. If you’re their ally I want them to be clear that I’m here with you.”

“Okay but keep the car running in case we gotta get out of here quick.”

She stopped the car and put it in park. “I thought you said they were friends of yours?”

“They’re not the reason we might have to get out of here. Come on.”

They got out of the Explorer into the cold sleety morning, Wolfe putting up his own hood against it.

“Hey Shuggie,” he said. “What’s up?”

Shuggie nodded as they walked over to the barrier. All the Viceroys but Shuggie were having a good long look at Seline.

She looked at Shuggie.

Shuggie hooked a thumb at her. “We saw you takin’ your woman to that crib you got all up in that crap hole of a building.”

“I’m not anybody’s woman” Seline said, in flat, informational tone.

The Viceroys laughed.

“Bitch, shut up while Shuggie’s talkin,” Renfo said.

Hearing that, Wolfe felt a tautness come into his shoulders and jaw. He put his hand on the butt of the .45 at his waistband. “Renfo. Don’t talk to the lady like that.”

“Never mind, Wolfe,” Seline said calmly.

Without looking at his lieutenant, Shuggie said, “Shut up, Renfo.”

Wolfe saw Renfo give Shuggie a cold look. Could be Renfo was starting to resent Shuggie.

Wolfe relaxed a little and dropped his hand from the gun.

“Wolfe,” Shuggie said, “this is the end of my turf, right here.” He tapped the barrier. “I been having some trouble with a, what you call it, a splinter faction. All Viceroys having trouble with ’em. And past here, there’s the other Viceroys. Different chapter.” Shuggie shook his head sadly. “Man I cannot guarantee, if you go on from here, you get through where you goin’. It’s looking pretty sketchy down that way. There’s a motherfucker in CPD got some friends in the Chunkies.”

Wolfe glanced past Shuggie at the street beyond. It looked lifeless from here. “‘Chunkies’ are the splinter faction?”

“Yeah, Chunky Crunkies, is what they call themselves. Splintered off from the Viceroys. I think they’re working for the Club, is what’s up. They say they got their own thing. I don’t like either one—not Club, not Chunkies.”

“When you say the ‘other Viceroys’, Shuggie, what’s that about?”

“You think I tell all Viceroys what to do? No, just my ‘hood, man. Motherfuckers past here are… harsh. I cannot guarantee my protection there. Not from every Viceroy on the Southside, dude. You stay around that crib of yours, it’s okay. But past this point…”

Wolfe shrugged apologetically. “I got to go down there.”

Shuggie seemed to think it over. Then he nodded. “I’m committed to staying here—I’m watching this corner, man. But… you got my cell number. And who knows?”

Wolfe nodded. “Sure. Who knows? How do I identify a Chunkie?”

“Bull’s eye tattoos—each man got one around his right eye. Center of the bull’s eye is the eye socket.”

Shuggie moved the barrier out of the way of the Explorer. “Hey Wolfe—that girl there as tough as she acts?”

Wolfe said, “She just got out of the Marine Corps.”

“Straight up?”

“Straight up.”

Shuggie walked over to Seline. He stared at her. She stared back.

Then he stuck out his hand.

They shook hands. She nodded at Shuggie, then turned and went back to the car with Wolfe.

“So those are definitely friends of yours?” she said, when they’d gotten back into their seats.

“Shuggie is, I guess. I’d back him up in a fight. I know, maybe we should have a picnic on the roof of that building the safehouse is in. Have all the Viceroys over.”

She drove the car between the Viceroys and the barrier. “And they bring their AR15s?”

“So okay, maybe a picnic’s not the best idea.”

They drove through an area of low rent high rises; then passed onto another block of mostly houses, with fences around the yards. Winter-bare trees stood in margins between the sidewalk and street. The houses seemed clean, and well kept. A small black child looked out the front picture window of a two story house. The child waved to Wolfe. Wolfe waved back.

Another block down, on the left, was an elementary school. But the windows were boarded over. “I heard Chicago closed a lot of inner city schools,” Seline said. “Seems a shame.”

“It is. Makes things worse for people around here.” He was looking at the GPS. “Address we want is to the right and then about nine blocks up…”

They turned, drove past a Golden Chicken and a tavern, and then crossed a street into a more ragged neighborhood. Trash clogged the sidewalks, and old tenements rose gauntly on either side, fenced off and boarded over.

“You sure this is the neighborhood?”

“Oh yeah. This is the…”

That’s when a Molotov cocktail hit the hood of the Ford Explorer, the bomb shattering in flame and broken glass.