"Where does Brother Tick-Tock initiate the new apostles, Cindy?"
"That"s a secret, I told you."
"Then try this: Unless you tell me where this sacred place is, I think someone is going to try and kill Brother Tick-Tock before the day is over."
"No! Without Brother Tick-Tock to guide us, to interpret what Lord Relativity thinks in His Cyber Palace, we will be lost and--" I slapped her. I couldn"t help it.
I didn"t know how much time might be left.
"Dammit, girl, tell me!"
"CARL!".
I turned to see Parsons standing in the kitchen doorway.
He looked livid.
"How dare you strike her like that!"
"I don"t have time for your subtleties, my friend.
Have you talked with Jimmy yet?"
"A little."
"There"s a huge hole in his memory, right?"
"Yes."
"One that you"re going to have to use hypnosis to fill in?"
"Probably."
"Let me save you a little guesswork. You"ve got the latest incarnation of Lord Relativity up there."
Cindy gasped.
Parsons tilted his head, looking confused.
"How do you know--what do you mean the latest incarnation of--" "Get on the horn and see if any seven-year-old boys have disappeared in the last three days, then call Detective Sherwood and tell him to get a squad over to the address Cindy is about to tell us." I glared at her.
"Well?"
"How can that man be Lord Relativity. He exists only in cybers.p.a.ce, where all intellect and electricity meet to form a new consciousness and--" I drew back to slap her again, "Because Brother Tick-Tock and the elders of the church have been kidnapping little boys, drugging them, then hooking them up to medical equipment which is tied into the church"s mainframe server so that followers like you can get online and commune with Lord Relativity. I have no idea how many times they might have done it, or how often your precious lord rises like a phoenix from the ashes of cybers.p.a.ce, but I do know that Brother Tick-Tock may be dead soon, and if you don"t tell me where the sacred initiation site is, it"ll be your fault."
Parsons must have heard it in my voice, because he did not contradict what I said. We try never to use threats with people here, but if what I suspected was true, there was no time.
"Are you telling me the truth?" whispered Cindy, looking so scared and broken I almost took her in my arms.
"Yes, Cindy, I am."
She gave me the address.
On my way to the address Cindy had given, I put the hover-car on autopilot while I tidied myself up and removed the detective"s shield and ID from the glove compartment--a gift from Sherwood at the police department. Sometimes I had to impersonate a detective in order to gain access to certain people.
Thus far I"d never been called on it, and Sherwood had always promised to take care of any problems that might arise should I get busted.
I hoped he was a man of his word.
My phone beeped, and, the car still on auto, I answer edIt was Sherwood.
"You nailed it, my friend," he said.
"One call to the church, two from. All within the last twenty hours."
"Your plainclothes boys there?"
"They are, but I don"t think anyone"s there."
"I"m listening."
"Right after you left, she called the local precinct and was connected to the Records Division."
"Unlisted phone numbers, legal name changes, private addresses, and the like?"
"Two cigars for you."
"Parsons called you, right?"
"I"ve got two cars on the way, and as soon as I hang up, I"m on the way my own self."
"Good-bye, then."
I broke the connection and landed right in front of the upscale condo and went inside to find the security guard unconscious at his desk.
Not bothering to remove my gloves, I checked the computer for Roger Buchanan"s (a.k.a. Brother TickTock"s) apartment number, then grabbed the first elevator.
The ride to the twentieth-floor penthouse seemed to take forever.
When the door opened, I came out with my gun drawn. Across from me stood the door to Brother Tick-Tock"s personal initiation s.p.a.ce where, I suspected, he"d seduced both boys and girls into the fold.
The door was open.
I nudged it farther with my foot, then slipped in, my gun in front of me.
There was no sound.
I went from room to room, until at last I came to a large set of oak doors that had to lead into an office.
I opened them slowly and quietly, Brother Tick-Tock sat in a plush chair behind his desk, a small splotch of blood staining the center of his shirt.
I could still smell the shot in the air.
Not unlike the dying aroma of gunpowder that I"d sniffed in Joyce Waggoner"s sad and hollow home.
I walked over, very slowly, to the person sitting in the chair on the other side of the desk.
Joyce Waggoner was still holding the gun, an automatic with silencer attachment.
There was no doubt in my mind that it was one of the untraceable weapons her husband had bought.
It took a moment for her to register my presence, and when she did, she simply shrugged and smiled.