toes on Rocky’s other foot. Oliver could see a tiny red mark
there. “Injection site,” Tyler said. “This could’ve been you.”
Oliver felt sick. “But why?”
“Why kill you? Like I said, we don’t
know yet.”
“No, not that. Why kill him? What does he have to do with this?”
Tyler stood up. “You think Mr. Teasdale
is in the phone book? He’s not. If you want to hire him, you need a middle man.
Rocky here is…was…one.”
“A middle man?”
“Yeah. A guy with connections. He knew
everyone and could get you most anything. I didn’t know until now he was the
broker on your contract, but even if he hadn’t been, it would have been a good
bet he knew who was in the market for a killer.”
“So why kill him?”
“The deal’s gone to shit. You got away
and now we’re involved. If he’s dead, he doesn’t tell us who’s behind this. I
guess Mr. Teasdale didn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut.” He took his phone
out of his pocket. “Damn it. Artemis is going to be pissed.”
Tyler made a quick call, telling the
little girl what had happened and listening to her instructions. He hung up
with a grimace. “She’s sending cleanup,” he told Oliver. “You may as well look
around the place, see if there’s anything you want.”
Oliver looked around, confused. There
was nobody else working. “You mean steal things?”
Tyler shrugged. “Steal. Loot. It hardly
matters now. Leave some money on the desk if you want.” He spotted a stack of
old records and started flipping through them. “You never know what he’s going
to have.”
There was something grotesque about
looking through a dead man’s merchandise while the dead man in question was
lying on the floor in front of them. “What did you mean by cleanup ?” he
asked.
“Grab his computers and files. I’m sure
it’s all encrypted but we’ve got a guy. There may not be much we can use, but
you never know.”
“Oh.”
“And of course, scrub away any trace
that we were ever here. Hair, fingerprints, skin cells. Anything with DNA that
could lead back to us.”
“You can do that?”
“Sure. It’s easy, if you know how. And
if you have the right tools.”
Oliver didn’t feel like browsing around
the shop. He went to stand by the door. “How long until that team of yours gets
here?”
“A few minutes.” Tyler had chosen a few
records and was looking through a stack of comic books. “You sure you don’t
want anything?”
“That man is dead!” Oliver snapped.
“And you’re alive,” Tyler observed.
“Keep that in mind.”
Oliver shook his head in disgust. He was
thinking about calling his office, although he knew he didn’t dare. The police
must be finished over there by now. How much would they have been able to get
off of the security camera footage from the lobby? If they managed to get a
good photo of Mr. Teasdale, maybe they were out looking for him. Of course,
that meant they were likely out looking for Tyler, too, given that Tyler was
the one who had actually dragged him out of the office.
He made a mental note to update his
resume when he got the chance. And he’d have to think of an answer for when
somebody asked the reason he’d left his last position. He wasn’t sure a story
about an assassin showing up at his office was going to cut it. Hostile work
environment , he thought. That sounded better.
“Nice!” Tyler said. He held up an old
Spider-Man comic so Oliver could see it. Oliver looked at him blankly. “It’s
rare,” Tyler said by way of explanation.
“That’s great,” Oliver said dryly. He
didn’t know of many grown men who got excited over comic books. That was stuff
for kids, or people who lived in their parents’ basements. But then again,
maybe for people in Tyler’s line of work it counted as research. The next time
you had to fight a killer robot from the future, you could try doing what
Superman had done in that situation. It wasn’t like that kind of thing was
taught
there. “Injection site,” Tyler said. “This could’ve been you.”
Oliver felt sick. “But why?”
“Why kill you? Like I said, we don’t
know yet.”
“No, not that. Why kill him? What does he have to do with this?”
Tyler stood up. “You think Mr. Teasdale
is in the phone book? He’s not. If you want to hire him, you need a middle man.
Rocky here is…was…one.”
“A middle man?”
“Yeah. A guy with connections. He knew
everyone and could get you most anything. I didn’t know until now he was the
broker on your contract, but even if he hadn’t been, it would have been a good
bet he knew who was in the market for a killer.”
“So why kill him?”
“The deal’s gone to shit. You got away
and now we’re involved. If he’s dead, he doesn’t tell us who’s behind this. I
guess Mr. Teasdale didn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut.” He took his phone
out of his pocket. “Damn it. Artemis is going to be pissed.”
Tyler made a quick call, telling the
little girl what had happened and listening to her instructions. He hung up
with a grimace. “She’s sending cleanup,” he told Oliver. “You may as well look
around the place, see if there’s anything you want.”
Oliver looked around, confused. There
was nobody else working. “You mean steal things?”
Tyler shrugged. “Steal. Loot. It hardly
matters now. Leave some money on the desk if you want.” He spotted a stack of
old records and started flipping through them. “You never know what he’s going
to have.”
There was something grotesque about
looking through a dead man’s merchandise while the dead man in question was
lying on the floor in front of them. “What did you mean by cleanup ?” he
asked.
“Grab his computers and files. I’m sure
it’s all encrypted but we’ve got a guy. There may not be much we can use, but
you never know.”
“Oh.”
“And of course, scrub away any trace
that we were ever here. Hair, fingerprints, skin cells. Anything with DNA that
could lead back to us.”
“You can do that?”
“Sure. It’s easy, if you know how. And
if you have the right tools.”
Oliver didn’t feel like browsing around
the shop. He went to stand by the door. “How long until that team of yours gets
here?”
“A few minutes.” Tyler had chosen a few
records and was looking through a stack of comic books. “You sure you don’t
want anything?”
“That man is dead!” Oliver snapped.
“And you’re alive,” Tyler observed.
“Keep that in mind.”
Oliver shook his head in disgust. He was
thinking about calling his office, although he knew he didn’t dare. The police
must be finished over there by now. How much would they have been able to get
off of the security camera footage from the lobby? If they managed to get a
good photo of Mr. Teasdale, maybe they were out looking for him. Of course,
that meant they were likely out looking for Tyler, too, given that Tyler was
the one who had actually dragged him out of the office.
He made a mental note to update his
resume when he got the chance. And he’d have to think of an answer for when
somebody asked the reason he’d left his last position. He wasn’t sure a story
about an assassin showing up at his office was going to cut it. Hostile work
environment , he thought. That sounded better.
“Nice!” Tyler said. He held up an old
Spider-Man comic so Oliver could see it. Oliver looked at him blankly. “It’s
rare,” Tyler said by way of explanation.
“That’s great,” Oliver said dryly. He
didn’t know of many grown men who got excited over comic books. That was stuff
for kids, or people who lived in their parents’ basements. But then again,
maybe for people in Tyler’s line of work it counted as research. The next time
you had to fight a killer robot from the future, you could try doing what
Superman had done in that situation. It wasn’t like that kind of thing was
taught
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