Walter opened the door and saw a large freight elevator, at least 25 feet deep and ten feet wide.
“Vehicle elevator?” he said
He checked out the rest of the warehouse and found another elevator, cleverly hidden behind some old shelves, and a staircase hidden behind a soft drink machine. He went down the stairs, careful not to make any sound, and came into the underground part of the facility. There were two white vans parked against one wall, and a Chevy Equinox parked against the other wall. He inspected the open area and found stacks of money on pallets against one wall, how much he had no idea. There was a small office with a desk, two file cabinets, and a wardrobe. Nothing of interest in there. He walked around to the other side of the open area and saw something that sent chills up his spine. There were handcuffs dangling from a pipe about a foot above eye level, some discarded car batteries lying on the floor, and some drops of what appeared to be dried blood. He took out his phone and photographed everything he saw, loaded the Equinox into the elevator, and went up.
A minute later he entered Larry Wilkins’ office at the police station, to find Franklin and Kendra sitting there drinking soft drinks. He retrieved a set of keys from his pocket and handed them to Kendra.
“Parked outside. I won’t tell your parents,” he said.
“Thanks. What else did you find there?”
“Nobody was there. There was a lot of cash there, a couple vans…and I think I found where Handley was killed.”
“Handley?”
“Yeah, cop that was killed. Where’s Wilkins?”
“Went to take a pee.”
“I guess I’ll wait right here. I got some photos he might want to see, and the location of that warehouse. They might want to make a move on it, but I’ll need to talk to Wilkins.”
“And we have information on this phone you’ll all want to see,” Franklin said.
“Get you kids another soda?” Wilkins asked, entering the room, “Oh, hey Walter, what’s up?”
“The kids don’t need more soda and I have some photos you might want to see,” Walter said, handing his phone to Larry.
Wilkins leaned back in his chair and let out a whistle after he had viewed the photos.
“Where is this?” he asked.
“Abandoned warehouse just over the viaduct, not far off Queen City.”
“How much money you figure on those pallets?”
“Didn’t take time to count it. Has to be millions.”
“They’re probably laundering it a little at a time. And these cuffs on the pipe? I take it that’s blood on the floor?”
“Could be where Handley was killed.”
“Could be, but we’d need to get DNA on those blood splatters.”
“Yeah, figured you’d want to to make a move on this place.”
“We could, but it would be good to catch someone there. We could go in there and clean it out, but if we don’t catch whoever’s running the operation, we’d just be back to square one if they relocate.”
“It’s that super woman,” Kendra said, “She scooped my car right off the road and flew us there.”
“Might be, but we don’t have any idea who she is,” Wilkins said, “Did you get a good look at her?”
“Not much of one,” Franklin said, “blonde, maybe 40ish, not bad looking for someone her age.”
“Watch it buddy,” Walter said.
“Sorry Pops.”
Kendra cleared her throat.
“You got something?” Wilkins asked.
“Yeah, something on Franklin’s phone. Go ahead, play the video,” Kendra said.
Franklin laid his phone on the desk and started the video. Two men could be seen, but what they were saying was gibberish.
“Wait a sec,” Kendra said, fishing the ear buds out of her pocket, “you can understand them if you’re wearing these.”
Wilkins put the ear buds in and listened for a few seconds, then took them out.
“How many pairs of these do you have?”
“Just one more.”
“That won’t do for all of us. Give me a minute.”
He came back in the room a few minutes later with a small microphone and a digital recorder. He placed the ear buds next to the recorder, started recording, and played the video again, but no sound was coming out of the ear buds. He put them back in his ears and he could hear the talking.
“So much for that brilliant idea. They only work if they’re in your ears.”
“Maybe they just require contact,” Franklin said, “Maybe try touching them with your fingers or something.”
Wilkins set them back down on the table and tried again with the recorder, this time placing a finger on each ear bud. He played the entire video and he could hear sounds coming out of the ear buds. When it was done, he played back the recording and they could hear the voices speaking in English. He turned up the volume so they could all hear.
“Why did you give the woman powers as well? It’s bad enough we have one of them.”
“It had to be done. It’s your fault we have the one. You never should have zapped the old man.”
“I told you, it was an accident.”
“An accident brought on by your weakness for the intoxicating drinks on this planet.”
“I know, I know. So, why did you power the woman as well?”
“Balance. One of them is bound to cause us problems. With another one, especially one as morally compromised as her, they can keep each other busy.”
“Great theory, except she’s staging diversions to keep him tied up while she does her own thing.”
“That’s all fine and well, as far as I’m concerned. Keeps him away from us.”
“Well, enough of them. If they keep doing their thing, we should be able to operate without much interference, but what are the numbers? How many more do we need?”
“Have you seen the latest casualty rates? Another million should do, if we have the equipment for that many.”
“I’ve seen the numbers, and it’s unacceptable. Do you think a million will do?”
“If the
