Cruelty Is Bitter Bane Log 5

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Logan and Kane trail the money drop back to a suspect



There were some advantages to the modern stake-out. First of all, they could stay at an extended distance and monitor the drop location with less chance of discovery. Second, Logan's senses acted as a second surveillance suite, feeding in more information. They watched in silence as Walter DeMattis pulled his car up to the small park that had been indicated. The message had been simple; bring three million in bills to the park at 10:00pm and wait for the signal. Walter stood for a moment, checking the time, when an electronic ring cut through the silence. He looked around for a moment and then crouched, removing a phone that had been tapped to the underside of the bench.

"Here we go, Old Man."

Logan grunted. "About time." He'd been getting cramped sitting in the truck. Place barely had room for the both of them and all the gadgets. It was all well and good to do this with minimum chance of getting spotted, but it still sucked in the meantime. His senses hadn't come into too much play yet. A quick jog around the park hadn't revealed anything out of the ordinary. Long as he could get a sniff of DeMattis and the money bag, they'd be good and this would go the way they all wanted.

Kane tuned his signal pirate to match the cell phone frequency. Logan's hearing could easily pick up the conversation. The voice on the other side was digitally modified, a simple trick that they didn't have a good way to counter.

"Mister DeMattis, I trust you've come with the money and alone. I want you to hail a cab. This phone has a local app for a company. Once it arrives, I want you to take it to Busch Gardens without delay or stopping. Specifically down Interstate 64 to the Gratiot Street exit and to the stadium from there. I will have other instructions once you reach the ballpark."

The signal went dead. Kane touched the comm channel as he watched DeMattis fumble with the phone app to hail his cab.

"Looks like we get a trip to see the Cards. Their game just started twenty minutes ago."

"What? Ya have every team's schedule memorized or somethin'?" Logan glanced at the monitors that showed the cross streets. Traffic was just the right kind of busy for them to tail DeMattis without being noticed. "I'll let ya do the honors of gettin' us there then. DeMattis looks like he's sweatin' bullets and me drivin' probably isn't gonna do anyone any favors."

"There's been about a dozen reminders of the game versus the Reds on the radio." Kane said as the cab pulled up. DeMattis got into the back and as it pulled away, Kane put the truck in gear. He eased out into traffic several cars behind the cab. Because they knew the route, he could drop back or use the occasional alternate route to break up his vehicle profile, making it harder to tell they were following. After a few minutes, the cab pulled onto the interstate and they followed suit.

"No more calls or transmissions? You run the cab, check if it was legit?"

Logan shrugged. Not his fault he wasn't one of those folks that paid attention to everything that drifted across his hearing. "Yeah, I ran it. It's legit and so's the company that owns it. Looks like they're just usin' 'em for this thing, no insider action or nuthin'."

"Is the kidnapper dumb enough to just-" Kane stopped as they picked up the cellular signal. DeMattis was carrying a spare phone that they'd already dialed into, and they could hear the phone ringing. DeMattis thumbed the phone on and they could only hear his voice, agreeing to the demands. Both vehicles were just coming clear of the bridge and could see the stadium coming up. From the side of the cab's window, closest to the edge, the bag of money appeared. The driver swung onto the shoulder, long enough for DeMattis to throw the bag over the side of the interstate.

"I'm told to keep going to the park and wait at Gate 10 for instructions." he said quietly into the space phone. Kane pulled the van onto the shoulder where the bag had gone over.

"OK, Logan. Get the scent. I'll pull off of the interstate at the next exit and circle around for you."

Logan nodded and climbed out to follow the scent profile of the money bag. High priced cologne from DeMattis and the unique blend of U.S. Treasury ink. It wasn't going to be hard. He used the van's bulk to hide his drop over the side of the interstate. There should've been enough of a lag following DeMattis that whoever was running this wouldn't have spotted them. That was the hope anyway.

The trail was quick to pick up, leading to a nondescript Pontiac that was just paying at the lot exit. The car pulled out and started down the street. Fortunately, Kane was around quickly with the van and he slowed as Logan hopped back in.

"What's going on? Do you have his scent?"

"Yeah, I got it. Keep goin' down this street. I might've caught a glimpse of the car, but I'm not sure. We're not far behind though." Logan rolled the window down to keep the scent in his nose and directed Kane down the streets after their suspect.

They moved quickly, staying just a street or two behind the person they pursued. After a while, the car pulled into a building parking lot, and they parked on the street, giving their target plenty of time to get inside. After fifteen minutes, they stepped out, Kane a few steps behind Logan.

"It's on you now."

Sometimes it still just took old fashioned hard work to get things done. 'Cause gadgets could be fooled but people would still be idiots. It was both blessing and curse. It was easy enough to track the bag into the building. The pick up driver or whoever had no idea who was following them.

The scent took them up an elevator, through a winding maze of several floors then out briefly through a service entryway before back into the building and up another floor. They were on the level right below the roof and finally Logan stopped them in a part of the building that was quieter than the others and right before a hallway with several doors on either side. "Should be down here, one of the doors on the left." He looked around because all his senses were tingling. "Somethin' feels off 'bout all this."

"What do you mean? Is there more than the kidnapper in there?"

"Don't think so. Just...everythin'." Logan waved a hand. "Seems too easy. We never get things this easy." He shrugged. "Maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, no more standin' around. Let's go get this asshole."

"Sounds like a plan." Kane walked up to the door and knocked lightly. There was a muffled response on the other side of the door.

"Sir, I'm doing a heating inspection for the building. Can I have a moment?"

The door opened a crack. "You're what?"

It was all Garrison needed. With a nudge from his strength, the door burst open and the man was flung back on to the floor. Kane moved quickly to secure him, gun on the back of his head.

"Logan! Sweep the place!"

Logan had slipped in behind Kane and was already looking around for the kid. He didn't smell anything but the man sweating profusely on the floor and the scent of the money bag. The room just barely qualified as a more than a closet. There was a desk shoved under the window with a lamp and papers scattered on it. He growled as he pulled open the door leading off to the right (empty closet) then the one across the room (utility closet). No kid in either place and no sign of the money bag either. "I got nuthin'! No kid and no money."

"What money? Who are you-"

Kane's hand tightened on the back of his neck hard enough that his neck vertebrae creaked. "I am entirely not interested in your denials. Where is the money bag?" The man gasped at the pressure and finally relented.

"False floor in the closet." He said, pained.

"Good. Now, where is Devon DeMattis?" The man said nothing, even as he jostled him. "Where is DeMattis!"

Logan gave him a look. His senses knew when someone would and wouldn't talk, and despite the threats, Kane wasn't about to resort to torture. It would jeopardise their chances of finding him. Finally, he pulled out a taser and shocked the man into unconsciousness. With Logan's help, they carefully exposed the false floor enough that a casual search wouldn't miss it and then left, leaving an 'anonymous' tip at the Field Office about the apartment.

***

Kane passed over the cigar for Logan. It was a decent one, acquired at a twenty four hour smoke shop. The FBI and police were just leaving the apartment now, with their suspect in handcuffs between them.

"Guy's name is Skip Westcott. He's a recorded sex offender. Former swimming coach and teacher who was convicted years ago for the sexual molestation of a minor during his sessions. He served four years and since his release has been working from home as on-line tech support with a small company. Apparently, he's a mutant, although it looks like his powers are simply increased lung capacity. They've already matched the bag to DeMattis, and forensics are in there right now. They found a couple of condoms in his trash which they're testing for DNA. Here's the kicker. The building has a camera on the garage. Long loop. They've already matched one of the victims to being brought in."

Logan grunted and Kane nodded.

"Yeah, I know. Something screams bullshit to me too." He said, his mouth set in a grim line as they watched Westcott hauled away.