Broken Genius by Drew Murray

Author:Drew Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Published: 2020-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

The sound of movement echoes down the hall outside the darkened room where Dana and I wait. The conversation about Sterling and what happened in Miami has taken us past midnight. Someone’s coming and it’s not likely the guard since he wandered by, not too long ago, nose still in his phone.

“Who are we expecting?” Dana whispers, hand going automatically to her Smith and Wesson. She steps back until her face disappears in the gloom, but I can see the whites of her eyes. She’s looking toward the hall, still as a statue.

“First, the collectibles thief. Second, whoever broke into the RV.”

Third, my watcher.

“What RV?”

“More of a mobile display vehicle, really.”

“Couldn’t it be the same person?”

“Two different MOs,” I say, shaking my head. “Collectibles thief grabs things up off the tables that look like they might be worth a buck. The break-in at the RV was more sophisticated. They picked the lock. Lots of valuable gear inside, but they ignored it. They were looking for something that wasn’t there. But it is tonight.”

“How do you know this?”

“Knock and talks this afternoon.”

“A more skilled thief. Professional?”

“Maybe.”

“One that might also be after a Fukushima Unicorn?”

“Here they come,” I whisper as the sound of footsteps approach.

Dana sweeps silently over to the doorway for a better angle. I follow, sliding up close behind her.

The hall’s cavernous space is broken up by pockets of furniture arranged into seating areas. Small, sleek sofas and chairs. I remember seeing them covered with people earlier today.

Dana’s blocking my view; I can’t see the source of the footsteps. “Do they look dangerous?” I whisper.

“Not exactly,” she whispers back.

Leaning out to look around her, I see a group of young people. Late teens. They’re sliding along the wall like mimes, heading directly for the long row of maroon fire doors into the vendor hall. The one at the front, a tall boy, slowly slips open one of the doors with barely a squeak and disappears inside. Two more boys and a girl follow him. The door clicks shut. If they had any idea Dana and I were watching them, they didn’t show it.

“Did Caplan have any more kids?” Dana asks.

“No, just the one.” I fill her in on the profile Bradley worked up.

“Anyone else?” I ask.

“Nothing,” she says, looking both ways. “Looks like the kids are alone.”

Clapping my hands together shatters the silence of the room. “All right. Let’s go talk to some witnesses.”

“What witnesses?”

“They just walked by.”

“Those kids?” Dana asks, frowning. “I thought we were looking for professionals.”

“That was them,” I say, walking out into the main hall. “Don’t be ageist.”

“What the hell is that?”

“Discrimination against a particular age.”

“I’m not being ageist. You said it was sophisticated. They picked a lock.”

“It’s a standard RV lock. There’s a how-to for everything on YouTube. Let’s go.” I look both ways and set out toward the hall.

“Hold up,” she says holding out a hand to block the door. “There’s four of them and two of us.”

“So? They’re just kids. I’m sure we can handle them,” I say, reaching for the door.

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