Killer Karma

kind of reflection in the doors. Not like Gina and her desk reflected, though…just a misty patch. Okay, maybe he was safe.

“Good afternoon, Gina.”

She looked up, and smiled as though seeing him made her day. It certainly made his. “Inspector Dunavan. What can I do for you today?”

“Give me some information, I hope. Can you tell me if Irah Carrasco was here in the office on Thursday?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t remember seeing her, but lots of days I don’t. She comes early and leaves late, and stays back in her office all day. Like today, I didn’t even see her go out for lunch.”

Rats.

“Would you like me to call Miss Carrasco and you can ask her?”

He would love to see her reaction to him…but not around Gina. “It isn’t that important. In fact, since she and Mr. Flaxx keep accusing me of harassing them, I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention to anyone that I was here.”

Gina put a finger across her lips and nodded. She whispered, “Have a nice afternoon.”

That went well, Cole reflected with satisfaction, turning away…and he still had enough energy for a clean getaway. Then he realized he had a new problem: leaving while she looked at him.

When he reached the doors, he turned back toward her, then abruptly shifted his gaze to the hallway and leaned sideways, as though seeing something beyond the screening plants. As he hoped, curiosity made Gina swivel her chair and peer through the plants. Cole let go.

Gina turned around. “What did you…” she began, and broke off when she found him gone. After a moment, she went back to her magazine.

Cole returned past her and headed down the hallway. What were Flaxx and company up to this afternoon? He looked into Bookkeeping first. It seemed quiet. Everyone worked at their computers, with Hayes and Quon particularly industrious, eyes intent on their monitors each time Gao’s gaze swept the room.

Cole circled Lamper’s office and passed through the wall behind the desk to peer over Lamper’s shoulder. Interesting. Lamper was approving a request for ordering new stock and Cole recognized the store name as one in the Russian Hill area, burglarized last year.

“I take it the store’s doing better since its infusion of insurance money?” Cole said.

To his surprise, Lamper glanced around.

Lamper heard him? Cole leaned down to Lamper’s other ear. “Now look this direction.”

While not turning, Lamper cocked his head for a moment before continuing to type.

Cole backed off. It might be just a whisper, but Lamper heard something. That could be useful. Now if Flaxx and Irah heard, too…

No…being seen offered more potential for rattling them. After all, as a ghost, his job description started with “haunt.” Let Irah come face to face with her victim. Maybe she would make fatal mistakes.

Continuing down the hallway, Cole eyed Security’s door, wishing for another look at the security tape, to see whether Irah showed up on it. Materializing gave him the ability to walk in and ask to see the tape, but he doubted Farrell would cooperate with Cole Dunavan. The effort of materialization probably ought to be saved for confronting Irah anyway.

Before leaving to collect heat, he checked to be sure she was in her office. She was…sitting at her computer. Not playing games this time. She had gone online to a security system manufacturer’s web site. Keeping up to date on the latest developments Old Spice needed to watch out for?

What materialization would shake her up the most, Cole wondered. Just walk in and present himself as if nothing had happened? Or maybe take a more spectral approach by coming out of the computer at her. Even better, of course, would be to appear as he most likely looked the last time she saw him…a bloody body with bullet holes in his head. Too bad he could not-

The thought stopped short. Why not? What kept him from doing the horror movie bit? He had to create a mental image for materialization. So he should be able to imagine himself in any shape he wanted.

He leaned close to her ear. “Don’t go away.”

Unlike Lamper, she did not react. His next visit ought to change that.

He looked around the office, feeling its place in the world so he could come straight back. Then he walked out through the wall and around the corner of the building to where he had a line-of-sight to the Embarcadero. After picking an intersection and taking the feel of it so he could zip back there when necessary, too, he began his zig-zag stroll between lanes and stopped vehicles. He ought to be able to appear as anything he visualized. Could he? Only one way to find out.

What shape did he want to use?

Judging by the successes in travel and materializations to far, he had to visualize it clearly. That should be no problem with real subjects he knew well. A bloody body and other apparitions, though, had to come out of his imagination. So he might as well go for something imaginary to see if it was do-able.

Nothing too weird, though. The light changed and he moved to the halted southbound traffic. It should be something people accepted as real or they might still manage to block him out. Suddenly he knew just the form he wanted….not out of his imagination, but believable…and a natural for him.

After several more light changes, Cole crossed his fingers and went line-of-sight to Justin Herman plaza and on into 4EC’s mall. Then in a quiet corner, with no one looking his direction, he stiffened into a mechanical posture. He concentrated, shaping energy into his target shape. When he felt weight, he checked himself out. Yes! He looked covered in metal.

Robocop strode into the mall courtyard.

Around him heads turned. Some brows went up. He spotted a couple of double takes…also rolled eyes. Again, he noticed that he reflected in store windows as a faint haze.

Even this way not everyone saw him, he noticed. One woman said to her girlfriend, “What’s everyone looking at?” A man’s eyes, too, slid past with no indication of registering his presence. Otherwise Robocop appeared successful. Now on to haunting Irah.

Looking around for a spot to inconspicuously pull the plug, he spotted a security guard coming up behind him. Young, husky, a hint of swagger in his stride.

“Hi, there. That’s a cool costume.” The guard smiled, but above it, his eyes were wary. “It looks just the movie.”

Cole smiled back. “Thank you. I built it myself.”

“And you’re wearing it this afternoon because…?” The friendly tone did not quite hide the edge on the question, nor the direction his eyes drifted…down toward the holster on Cole’s hip.

Maybe an armed shaped had been a poor choice. Cole kept smiling and stood as relaxed as the Robocop form could manage. “A friend bet I wouldn’t have the nerve to walk clear through the mall in it. I stand to win fifty bucks.”

“Is that a real Desert Eagle?”

“Nah…just a plastic replica.” Cole felt himself starting to run out of steam. Holding this shape was harder than materializing as himself. Worse, another guard, female, strolled toward them. Trying to look casual but no doubt coming in response to the first guard’s call for backup.

“It certainly looks real. May I see it?”

Meaning: hand it over. With that being impossible, the time had definitely come to pull the plug. The male guard’s eyes had narrowed and his partner eased into a position off to Cole’s side, her thumbs hooked over her duty belt near the pepper spray. He had to let go of Robocop here in front of them, too, since running for somewhere might create a situation endangering bystanders. Well, this ought to be interesting.

“Scotty, beam me up.” He let go.

The guards, and bystanders who had been watching them, started, then gaped in disbelief. “What the hell? Where did he go?”

The female guard frowned. “It must have been some kind of projected image.”

“No way.” The male guard shook his head. “He was as solid and three dimensional as you are…and we