4
Remko Brant pulled his shoulder-length hair back at the nape of his neck and tied it into a knot.
“You know if you let me cut that mop off your head you wouldn’t look so much like a girl,” Helms DeMarko, Remko’s friend and fellow CityWatch guard, taunted. He shot Remko a goofy grin and stuck the toothpick he had been rolling between his fingers back into the corner of his mouth. “Actually . . . not sure that would fix the problem.”
Remko fought to keep the smile off his lips as he turned to walk across the field.
Helms chuckled quietly, which was typical of the guy. It didn’t matter if anyone else thought he was funny, because he always amused himself.
A couple yards ahead Remko could see the other CityWatch guards who had gathered with the medical investigator. It was the same group as before, just a different area. Dodson Rogue, Authority member and head of the CityWatch guards, would be among them, and Remko prayed for all their sakes that he wasn’t in a bad mood.
“You work the Lints transport tonight?” Helms asked.
Remko nodded.
“Man, I keep hoping they’ll put me on that shift.”
Remko raised his eyebrows and threw Helms a glance over his shoulder.
“What? Don’t you think I’m trustworthy?”
“Not with wo . . . wo . . . wo . . .” Remko cursed himself and stopped trying to get the word out across his tongue. Women. He could easily think it, but his mouth was irritatingly dysfunctional.
“Keep your opinion to yourself. Women love me.”
Remko shook his head and huffed.
“Man, you should see the looks I get walking through town, and it ain’t just because I’m wearing this CityWatch uniform. No, girls know a catch when they see one. It’s just too bad no one will ever be able to tie me down. It’s their loss, really. A tragedy, man, a freakin’ tragedy.”
Remko saw the cocky grin on Helms’s face but could hear the hint of sadness permeating his tone. CityWatch guards weren’t allowed to be married or have families of their own. Their duty and complete focus was to keep the city and its citizens safe. A family would only be a distraction. For some, joining the CityWatch was a choice, but for Helms and Remko it wasn’t.
Remko had known early on that his place would be with the CityWatch. He couldn’t remember a day in his life when he hadn’t stuttered. His parents said that although he didn’t speak much as a child, there had been a time when his words were clear and came easily. But at some point he had lost the ability to express himself through language. Remko knew that for the right price, the Authority had the ability to fix the problem with his speech, but coming from the Farm Lands and being the son of a poor farmer, Remko did not have access to the medical advances that could have made a difference in his future.
He had accepted the fact that being a CityWatch guard was his destiny before his twelfth birthday. How could he lead a family if he couldn’t even speak to them? Logically it made perfect sense, so when his emotions threatened his resolve, he switched them off and focused on being pragmatic.
Helms, however, had more difficulty accepting his reality. He never talked about what had gotten him here, and Remko had never asked. It was one of the unspoken rules in the CityWatch barracks: you don’t press for details if they aren’t volunteered.
Even so, Remko saw the way Helms watched mothers with their children and the way he looked at young women during their courting season. Clearly this life had not been his choice.
“Remko, Helms! I didn’t call you out here for a casual stroll. Get over here,” Dodson yelled.
So much for a good mood. Remko picked up his pace and covered the distance in a couple seconds; Helms was right on his heels.
Dodson towered over his men. He was as mean as he looked, his face decorated with battle scars and his eyes darker than the sky. He pulled the thin cigarette from where he had it clenched between his teeth and turned his head to spit tobacco-stained mucus to the side. “Enjoying the evening breeze?”
Remko could hear Helms’s nervous swallow to his right. “Sorry, sir,” Helms said.
Remko locked eyes with Dodson and nodded his apologies.
“Helms, go help Bradley scan the banks for evidence,” Dodson said. “Remko, you’re with me.”
Helms saluted and trotted off toward the river. The field around them was one of the few undeveloped areas inside the city grounds. It sloped down into the river and ran along the outside of the High-Rise Sector wall.
Smith, a promoted lieutenant with a bite as bad as his bark, appeared at Dodson’s side. “Nothing,” he said. “Same as the last time.”
Dodson cursed and flicked his spent cigarette to the ground. Smith smothered it in the dirt with the tip of his boot.
Remko let his eyes fall to the body a couple of feet away. It was hard to make out details in the dark, but the stars and moon showed enough for him to know it was another girl. Judging by the shade of her uniform, she was a Lint, same as the last four. Her skin was breaking apart across the surface of her arms and legs like paper dissolving in water. The medical investigator was still working over her, inputting data into the flat panel he held.
Dodson walked to the body’s side and tried to wait patiently for word from the doctor. Unfortunately, patience wasn’t really a virtue for the hulking man. “Out with it, Doc, before my men freeze out here.”
“Your men have well-equipped suits that accommodate temperatures much lower than this. I won’t rush my examination because of a little breeze,” the doctor said. He was a small man, a pair of glasses hanging on the tip of his nose. He seemed frail enough to break like a stick, and Remko worried that his response was almost enough to encourage Dodson to do just that. Remko could see the color draining from Dodson’s knuckles as he tightened his fists.
“My patience is running thin,” Dodson said.
“As if you had any patience to begin with,” the doctor rebutted. Remko wondered whether the doctor really wasn’t afraid of Dodson or if he was just too stupid to know he should be.
The panel beeped, and the doctor stood from his kneeling position. He studied the results on the thin screen and shook his head curiously as he did.
Remko could almost feel the heat cascading off Dodson’s body. He struggled to keep his face from revealing his astonishment as he watched the doctor play with Dodson like a toy soldier. Remko couldn’t think of a single other person who got under Dodson’s skin so easily.
Dodson was raising the fist at his right side as if gearing up to smash something when the doctor began to report.
“Based on my calculations, the cause of death and MO are the same as with the last four victims.”
Dodson’s fists released a bit. “Meaning this is the same killer?”
“Preliminary toxicology reveals the same substances in the system: sodium hypochlorite —bleach —which has eaten away the esophagus and stomach lining. The body has been scrubbed with bleach as well, causing significant deterioration of the tissue, which is why you have the flaky appearance. Same ligature marks on the feet and wrists; same indicators of malnourishment . . .”
“Same as the others,” Dodson said.
The doctor nodded. “If I had to make a call in the field without a full assessment, I would have to say the evidence points to this being the same perpetrator.”
Dodson turned to Smith. “And no trace evidence on the scene?”
The lieutenant shook his head firmly.
Dodson ran his fingers through the short hair at the back of his head. “Any connection between the victims other than their uniforms?”
The doctor held up his screen again and scanned the information it held. “I have been running the data for commonalities, but nothing stands out. All different ages, different body types, different trades —as if each girl had been randomly selected.”
“We’re missing something,” Dodson said. He turned back to Smith. “Survey the area again, like your life depends on it . . . because if we don’t come up with some way to break this case, it will.”
“Do let me know if your men discover anything,” the doctor said.
Dodson ejected another glob to the side, and the doctor cringed. “If it’s relevant to your work. Otherwise this information is need-to-know.”
The doctor dropped his eyes to slits, but Dodson was already walking away. “Helms, Bradley,” he yelled across the field.
The two guards ran over and stood at attention, waiting for instructions.
“Get this body loaded into the good doc’s vehicle and send him home. Remko, come with me.”
Remko didn’t hesitate before falling into stride behind his superior. The two walked for a few moments in silence until there was a safe distance between them and the rest of the group.
“I don’t like the way this is starting to smell,” Dodson said. He pulled up to a hard stop and Remko nearly tumbled over him. “The Authority wants this situation kept quiet. The victims are only Lints, but if word of this spreads into the Flats, we’ll have a panic situation on our hands, and we do not want to deal with that.”
Remko gestured that he understood.
Dodson pulled another thin cigarette from his front shirt pocket and lit the end. He took a deep drag and blew a gust of smoke toward Remko’s face. Remko didn’t breathe as the rank pollutant lingered around his head.
“This stutter of yours sure is a pain in my behind. It would be nice to get a word from you once in a while,” Dodson said.
Remko opened his mouth to attempt a response but Dodson held up his hand.
“I don’t have time for you to stumble through your words. I need you to keep an eye on the Lint Stacks. Got it? You have a way of getting around without people noticing, and it seems whoever is doing this to these girls does too. We need to find a way to use that against him. And let me know if any of the guys open their mouths on this one. We gotta keep things hush-hush.”
Dodson began to walk away but paused and turned back to Remko. “We both know you’ve done good work for the Watch —always been one of the best. We don’t promote often, but you help me nail this freak and we’ll talk.”
He started back toward the crime scene, calling loudly over his shoulder, “Now get over there and help Smith find me something that will give us a lead, or I’ll hold both of you responsible for hindering this investigation.”