Minions (8 page)

“But why
human
blood?”

“Nothing feels or tastes or
smells
like human
blood.  It complements my theatre as a total sensory thing.”

“And how does this involve Malcolm Venn?”

“It doesn’t really.  We were mixing a batch when he got a
call and rushed out.  The mixing can get a little messy, but he left just the
same.”  Angie didn’t wait to be asked to explain.  She laboured a deep breath
and continued.  “I get a number of bags of blood product, expose it to air for
a while, mixing constantly and just as it starts to congeal, I add a little
sodium citrate to stop the clot and then re-bottle it.  Genuine stage blood.”

“Can I take a sample?  Just in case,” Detective Reymond
asked.  It took him a moment to remember that Angie was not in need of an
alibi.  Weighed against what the hospital had reported when Venn was admitted,
Angie’s story was undeniably plausible, but it wasn’t what he’d expected. 

“I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’m not even a suspect in
any crime, so why would you need a sample?” replied Angie defensively.

Reymond changed direction, not wanting to labour the
point.  “I’ll do my part for his discharge.  I’ll pop in for a chat while
you’re in hospital.”

“Do we have anything to talk about?” Angie asked.

“My job is hospital liaison, and there’s no way that any
medical practitioner will ignore your current state without getting me
involved.”

“Just tell Malcolm where I am,” Angie said.

“
That,
I will do, Angie.”

                                                                                                                                                        
Chapter - 15.
               
 

There was no work being done when Ikel and Devlin returned
to the building.  The mood was decidedly casual as Lori, David and Glen all
shared a drink, sharing a joke and laughing in the kitchen.  Ikel helped
himself to a beer from the fridge and another for Devlin.   Lori and David gave
sincere welcoming gestures before continuing their conversation.

“Calmed down a bit?” Glen enquired.  “I’m not a complete
charity, you know.  I pay well because this is a stressful job, but I guess
you’d never have guessed would you?

“We all get stressed at times.  It’s just something that
you accept.  You also need to understand that it will get worse, not better. 
You’ll read worse than you read today, and you’ll feel just as helpless, if not
more so.”

“I don’t believe that no-one takes matters into their own
hands.”

“Just accept that there’s a greater good,” Glen replied. 
“How you believe this greater good comes into being is much less important.”

“But …” Devlin persisted before being interrupted.

“Relax and don’t worry about it.”  Glen had a way of
talking that Devlin was beginning to understand.  There was something amazing
in his tone that conveyed what he was thinking.  It was clarity of
communication at its best.  Devlin understood that it was time to leave it
alone, and Ikel and the others knew that it was now time to change the subject.

“I have a confession to make,” Lori took command of the
conversation.  “I’m terminally curious and I looked in your backpack while you
and Ikel were gone.”  Smiling, her confession was not one of regret, but more
of a statement of fact.

“You’re unbelievable!” Ikel laughed.  “I should have known
you wouldn’t be able to help yourself.  Sorry Devlin.  I should have expected
it and warned you.  Maybe I was expecting David to keep her honest.”

“You know how devious women are!” said David as he
wandered off towards the bunker.

“It’s all right.  There’s nothing in there anyway.”

“I’m curious, sure, but I’m not a thief.  Your pictures,
change of underwear and a t-shirt are still there,” said Lori a little
defensively.  “Do you know where you’re sleeping tonight?  And no, I’m not
offering.”

“It’s not a problem.  Really,” Devlin replied, genuinely
not fishing for offers, but receptive to any raised.  “My plan for the day just
didn’t extend to the need to find a home.”

“Glen?” Ikel questioned.

“I couldn’t let my latest employee sleep in a park or
something, not that you would with cash in your pocket,” Glen said.  “The hotel
is just around the corner.”

“I’m capable of sorting myself out.  I’ll be OK.”

“Yes, you are capable, but it’s part of the deal.  Lori or
Ikel will show you the way.”

Devlin didn’t put up much of a fight.  “But I can find my
own way there I’m sure.”

“Suit yourself,” said Glen, turning to Ikel and Lori.  “Make
sure you let Devlin here find his own way to the same hotel that you stay at.” 

Devlin rolled his eyes for his arrogance.

“Anyway.  I’m out of here,” Glen announced.  “Get some
rest, clear your head.  Work starts tomorrow.  Ikel and Lori will fill you in. 
You good?”

“You bet I’m good!” Devlin replied, a little deflated when
he saw Glen shrug, turn and head for the door.  He followed not out of
obligation, but out of appreciation, desperate to convey his sincerest thanks
away from the others.  Judging by the effort he was making to leave, it seemed
that Glen was equally keen to shun the appreciation.  “Thank you.  For
everything,” he said after almost needing to hold the door closed to prevent
Glen’s escape.

Glen looked at Devlin with some annoyance.  “When, or if,
I do something for you, then, and only then, will I accept, but not expect, a thank-you. 
So far, I’ve done nothing.”

“But …”

“So far, I’ve done nothing.  Trust me,” Glen continued.  “
When
you learn about yourself and your life,
that
will be something.  And you
will.”

Devlin felt like a child.  “Thanks for the beer then.”

“Go and have another, but not too many and I’ll see you
tomorrow.”  Glen left without waiting for any acknowledgment.

“Care for another?” asked Ikel on Devlin’s return,
pointing to an unopened bottle of beer in his hand.

“Ikel!  I want to go,” complained Lori as she put on a
jacket in preparation to leave.

“I’m just being social.  One more won’t take long,”
replied Ikel.  “You could always go yourself.”

“You know I hate being on the street on my own,” Lori
whinged like a child.  “One more then,” she huffed, walking off.  “Men!”

Ikel and Devlin shared a jovial drink, but they both felt
a certain obligation to finish quickly.  Theirs was a pyrrhic victory.  Lori
returned soon after and started hinting heavily to leave. 

“Let’s go,” said Ikel.

“Finally!” said Lori, marching for the front door
expecting the others to follow.  Devlin and Ikel obliged.  “Bye David!  Wave
guys!” she said, directing Devlin’s attention to a camera above the door.

“Dave’s got the night shift!” said Ikel.  “You’ll get to
enjoy the night-shift too, once you’re settled in.”  Ikel ushered Devlin
outside to join Lori before securing the door shut.

“Nobody said anything about shift-work!” said Devlin. 
“What other nasties are involved in this job?  And why is a night shift necessary?”
he asked as they walked along the street.

“It’s not a big deal,” replied Ikel.  “We all take turns,
even Glen.  Actually, it’s pretty cool with the place to yourself.  You should
hear that sound system when it’s arc’d up!”

“But why?”

“Most of the time you’ll just end up watching TV or
movies,” Ikel replied.

“Actually, it’s mainly for security,” Lori corrected. 
“Glen insists that the building is almost permanently occupied.”

“More security!” laughed Devlin mockingly.  “I just don’t
see the big deal.  If he’s, sorry,
you’re
all that fanatical about
security surely a lone person won’t do much.  I couldn’t offer that much to
secure the premises and a little old building between a few brothels doesn’t
seem to provide that much security anyway!”

Lori sighed.  “The building is secure.  Very secure. 
There’s only one point of entry and all access via that door requires an access
code.  Any breach, or attempted breach, of the building will result in
specialist attention within a few minutes apparently, but I’ve never seen it. 
Apparently attempts do happen.  Irregularly, but they happen from time to
time.  And Glen also performs drills.”

“I’ll bet it looks pretty cool when it happens.  Did you
see the movie ‘SWAT’?” Ikel added.

“Anyway,” Lori continued, clearly not appreciating Ikel’s
interruption.  “There’s automated facial recognition software controlling
access to the building.  There’s touch sensors on all the door handles for
fingerprint cross referencing to your image for the other software.  All Glen’s
design and implementation.  Of course, this can be over-ridden if someone is in
the building to buzz you in.”

“You’re crapping me!”

“Not at all.  We should have checked it on the way out,
but Glen obviously thinks it can wait until morning.”

Devlin was still incredulous.  “I haven’t had a photo
taken yet.”

“You’ve already touched the main door and the bunker door
and your photo would have been taken from the building security system.  Glen would’ve
checked that it was all in order while he left us for a time in the bunker.”

“The work room is a different matter.  We call it a bunker
for good reason.  Nobody’s getting in there, except us.  Without sanctioned
access, there isn’t even any mains power to the entire building, until it’s
reset.  The building itself is locked down with its own independent power.”

“If people were that desperate to get in, surely they’d, I
dunno, blow up the entrance, or the whole building for that matter.”  Devlin
looked for a flaw in the rampant paranoia evident in what he was being told.

“Ever heard of a brothel being destroyed?” Lori asked.

“Not lately,” said Devlin thinking hard, still somewhat
distracted by the revelations of security.

“Not lately.  Not ever.  Not anywhere,” Lori made her
point.  “I’ll bet that George W. Bush himself could visit the ‘Baghdad
Bordello’ confident he’d be safe inside!”

“Of course, as soon as he left there would be crowds
waiting to off him, but that’s another matter,” Ikel added.

“Anyway,” Lori continued.  “Glen chose his location with
care.  He’s smarter than anyone could give him credit for, except perhaps us. 
Now come on, I’m cold and I want to get home.”  She broke into a brisker walk
expecting the others to follow.

“Lori.  Why are brothels
secure
?” Devlin asked after
jogging a few steps to walk next to her.

“Ikel invariably knows better than me.  Just because Glen
outed me as a former prostitute doesn’t mean that I know everything about the
subject.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.  I’m just curious.”

“I’m not offended.  My past makes me who I am and in this
case it funded my education.  I don’t know the business, only the trade.  I do
know that when I started, they took the time to tell me how safe I was and how
my safety was paramount.  In retrospect, I can see that my safety and customer
security and discretion all amounted to good business.”

“And customer satisfaction!” added Ikel.

“Thanks Ikel,” Lori said cynically.  “To answer your
question, I think you have to think a little of who is inside.  Any violent
attack on a brothel is just as likely to endanger a single mum making ends
meet, or a politician, an underworld figure, the coach of the local football
team, a parish priest.  Anyone.”

“Collateral damage is one thing, but there would be
consequences,” Ikel said, finally being constructive.

“Ikel’s right.  Brothels give exposure, excuse the pun. 
With exposure, the potential for justice goes up substantially.  Someone will
pay.  Glen’s just using this simple fact of life.

“I might add that we readers are only effectively quality
control and there’s no physical data storage at LastGasp’ that I know of.  All
of that is surely stored in some thermo-nuclear, war-proof data repository.  The
legal face of the business is some other entity entirely, but they have no idea
what goes on, intentionally.  And the monkeys who look after customer
interaction and support are elsewhere too, god knows where.  They only have
access to billing information, which is a single payment up-front, with no
means of relating payment to messages.  Glen’s probably the only one who knows
anything about how it’s put together.  Trust me.  If you aren’t supposed to
have access, you don’t have access.”

“We can continue this at dinner if you like.” Ikel brought
attention to the fact that they’d arrived at the hotel. 

Lori waved to the staff at the front desk as she passed
heading for the lifts at the far end of the lobby.  Ikel ushered Devlin to the
desk where the staff were waiting attentively.  “Hi Morris.  This is Devlin. 
Glen’s sorted out the booking.”

Morris was seasoned in his role.  He had the look of a
hotel manager who’d been in the hospitality industry for a long time, but the
perpetual niceness had not taken its toll.  His greeting and demeanour seemed
genuine as he handed Devlin a card key and beckoned for an attendant.  “Nigel
will show you the way, unless you’d prefer for your friend Mr Donovan to direct
you?”

“I’ll sort him out.  His room is with Lori and me
anyway.”  Ikel assumed the role of escort.  “Come on.”

“This place isn’t bad,” Ikel started to explain in the lift. 
“Actually, it’s pretty good!  The food is excellent, the rooms are nice and big
and they’re quiet.  So you won’t hear the street below.  We’ve ordinarily got
the entire floor to ourselves so you can just sing out if you need us.”

“Sounds fine.  For at least a little while.” 

Ikel laughed.  “I thought the same thing at first, but I’m
more than comfortable here now, especially while Glen pays!  You could settle
in, but as that won’t take you long, we might as well just have a drink.