Inside Man | ONC2023

15.Progress...or...

(Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Shreya_Va and her urban fantasy story for the ONC2023, Larkspur)

Frank Yelt gave a surprised bark of laughter. "You're kidding! Somebody's snatched young Maddon? This'll be the second time." He chuckled. "You'd think his Dad would take better care of him."

"I gather you and Chris Maddon don't have much time for each other," said Paul as tactfully as he could.

"You could say that," Yelt agreed, without going into any details. "Let me have a look at the man you think took the lad. You never know, I might recognise the face."

Yelt took his time studying what he could see of the man on Paul's console unit.

He sat back. "Now that is interesting... I thought he was still locked up, in the Dome on Luna II."

"You know who it is?"

"Yep!" Yelt grinned and shook his head. "It's hard to believe, but I think it's the same man who was involved with the kidnapping six years ago. Kam. He got a seven-year sentence for it. Looks like he got out a bit early."

"Kam? Kam who?"

"Just Kam, I think. At least, I never heard any other names. I had him on my own radar for a while. I should have been told when he was released." He frowned. "I'll have to follow that up. I should have been told," he repeated.

"Seven years, huh? I suppose that explains why he's got it in for the Maddons, in a twisted sort of way. Though it doesn't seem as if he learned anything in prison. It was stupid getting caught on camera like that."

"True," Yelt agreed. "It strikes me that the kidnapping was a spur of the moment decision."

"Me too. I wonder if he was behind the plot with Mikel? He must have been. It's too much of a stretch to imagine two perpetrators, but that was far more subtle."

"Though, apart from the image of him outside your door, is there any solid evidence to tie him to the kidnapping?" Yelt pointed out.

Paul frowned. There was the gas cannister Kam had tossed into the room, but he couldn't see it anywhere. He bet Kam had picked it up and taken it with him.

"Good point. We'll have to find Rik if we want more answers."

"Never mind him. Maddon can sort that out. If I could recognise Kam, he certainly could. I'm sure he'll take care of him." Yelt was dismissive. "What I need you to do, is follow up those missing credits. I've got my suspicions but I need confirmation before I act."

Damn, that was awkward, thought Paul. What he really wanted to do was to go out and find Rik straightaway, but Yelt was his employer. He was paying him to do a job.

"I can do both," offered Paul, quickly. "I have my own reasons for wanting to find Kam. I nearly died as a result of his little scheme with Mikel."

Yelt studied him for a moment. "Fair enough. I guess I'd feel the same." He stood. "I have to get back to work. Keep me informed."

Paul closed the door behind him, hoping that would be his last visitor for the day. He spent the next half hour on his console, searching for everything he could find about Kam. There were several interesting articles on TriD News about the kidnapping and Kam's subsequent arrest and trial. He read that Rik had been found by two women hikers, who had subsequently gone on to form a search and rescue business.

There was also an address for Kam from six years ago, but nothing more recent. Still, he had to start somewhere. He grabbed his bag of tools, attached his stunner to his belt, picked up his jacket, and headed down to the basement where his hovercar waited.

He wasn't expecting Kam to be living at that old address, but he was hoping he might have been back for a visit. Records showed he still owned the property. If he had rented it out, the new occupants might know something of his whereabouts. It was a long shot, but worth pursuing.

The apartment was in a tall block of flats, on the fifth floor. As in most residential buildings, entry to the main part of the building was gained by a code on each resident's wristcom but there was a Reception Office on the ground floor, open for enquiries and deliveries.

Paul brought up his Private Investigator's license on his 'com and showed it to the man staffing the Reception desk. He slipped a 100 credit note into his other hand. "I'm looking for Kam. Apartment 514."

"Not here," the man answered shortly.

"Any idea where I might find him?" asked Paul, letting him see the note in his hand.

The Receptionist twitched the money out of Paul's fingers. "As I told those other people, I last saw him three days ago. I haven't seen him since. He comes and goes."

"Other people?"

"Man didn't tell me his name, but he looked like a businessman, with a couple of heavies. They were here about an hour ago."

Chris Maddon, thought Paul.

Paul slipped out a second 100 credit note and hung on to it this time. "Anything else you can tell me?"

The man stared at the money. "Like I said, I haven't seen him, but he might have come back when I wasn't on duty. His apartment's empty, I checked for those other folk, but his hovercar is in the basement."

Paul handed over the money. "Registration number?"

~~~

Rik stopped and rested his back against the cave wall with his hands on his knees. Everything was still pitch black and he would have given a small fortune for a bottle of water. He was trying hard to keep positive, but he had to admit his current strategy might be a mistake. He had been concentrating so hard on keeping his footing and his direction, that his brain had stopped working.

He didn't have his wristcom but he knew he had been in the cave for hours. He must have travelled a kay at least. Maybe two. How likely was it that he had been carried by his kidnapper, that far into the cave system?

Perhaps there was a chance this route led to an exit point, somewhere, but he was quite certain it wasn't the way he had been brought in.

Now he had a choice to make. He could continue on his current trajectory, or he could turn back. Back to where he started.