previous chapter: Abetment [15]: 3.1: 2089, June 18th, Saturday. 11:00
1216 words
Ellie looks at the woman sitting across from her in the office. There were so many cybernetic devices implanted into her face, that Ellie had no idea what the woman originally looked like. Ellie wonders how many immunosuppressants the woman had to take. She probably would go down with every cold.
Then again, Ellie can clearly see the woman’s expressions through her metallic face. She looks desperate, pleading maybe. It is strangely terrifying.
“I hear you are the best of the best.” the woman says.
Eliie smiles. “I am, what can I do for you.”
The woman sighs. “Six years ago, my husband and my daughter were murdered. My husband died on the scene, and my daughter died in the clinic later. I got hurt, and had to stay in the clinic for a while.”
Ellie nods sympathetically.
The woman continues. "In the clinic, I met a man, who had been shot in the heart a couple of months earlier. His heart was infected badly, and he needed a bionic replacement. He also lost his wife and daughter, and combined with the fact that we both spent days in the clinic together, made it so that we bonded quickly.
"The authorities were looking for both of us, and we both had nothing left, so we decided to run away together. Outside of the Middle Atlantic and New England Territories, as it was called back then.
“We first ran to Florida, but when the Republic of Southern States merged with the New York Territories, we had to run farther. We kept moving farther away, but the empire of President Stephanie kept growing, so, in the end, we just decided to change our names and appearance and come back to New York, where we hid in plain sight.”
Ellie nods understandably.
The woman just drones on. "Then, recently, I made a discovery. Turns out my husband’s daughter wasn’t dead at all. She was alive and well, living here in New York. With a little digging, I even found the school she went to. She was kidnapped when she was little, not murdered.
"When I told my husband, he told me he didn’t want to reconnect with his daughter, that it would blow our cover and get us arrested or executed. But I told him I would give everything to hug my daughter one more time, and that he should do the same.
“We had a big fight, and he spend the night in our spare room. I left without saying anything and came here. I was hoping you could recover his daughter, and bring her to us, without the authorities finding out.”
Ellie nods again. “Sure, what is her name? What does she look like.”
The woman hands Ellie a picture, and to Ellie’s surprise, this is a picture of Heather when she was younger, holding her bright green Rhino Plushy.
The woman continues “Her name is Heather Rodrigues, and she should be twelve-year-olds now, this picture was from when she was six.”
Ellie hands the picture back.
“Sorry, I can’t help you.”
The woman looks Ellie in the eyes, her cybernetics suddenly come to life, as lights blink and cogs turn.
“You know her, don’t you?”
Ellie shakes her head. “No, I just -”
The woman stands up. “Don’t lie to me. I saw your face when you looked at the picture. You know her. You are probably complicit in her kidnapping. Ugh. I should never have come here. I’ll save her myself.”
Without saying another word the woman storms out of the office.
Ellie follows her through the hallway, but the woman is faster, and before Ellie can physically stop her, the woman walked out of the mansion and into her car, and drove off, leaving a panicking Ellie in the car park.
Ellie looks back at the mansion. and sees Vicky exit the front door. “Is everything alright, Ellie?” Vicky asks.
“Vicky, go get Sophia,” Ellie says.
“I can’t.” Vicky shakes her head. “Her and Lucas are doing a job.”
Ellie shakes her head again. “Then it is just us two. We are going to pick up Heather from school.”
“I thought Sarah was gonna give her a ride home? Also, it was gonna be sunny later, and I didn’t apply sunscreen, so my skin will be blistered.”
Ellie shakes her head. “The new wife of Heather’s father found her and is gonna pick her up from school. I can’t let that happen.”
Vicky claps her hands. “In that case, no time to lose. I’ll grab my gun and we’ll go.”
Ellie runs to the school’s gates, and spots Heather walking out of the school gates, together with some other kids. Heather runs towards her and hugs her. “Hi Mommy, I thought Sarah was gonna pick me up.”
Ellie smiles. “Are you not happy to see me?”
Heather hugs Vicky too. “Hi, Aunt Vicky.”
Ellie spots the woman with the cybernetics in the crowd. She is moving through it fast but doesn’t seem to have spotted Ellie or Heather yet. Ellie taps Vicky on the shoulder to signal her.
“She is her.”
Vicky nods, grabs Heather’s hand, and they walk as subtly as they can to the car.
As they walk, Ellie feels someone grab her arm. he startles but calms down when she notices it is Sarah.
“Hey Mom, why are you here? I thought I was supposed to pick up Ellie.”
Ellie looks Sarah in the eyes. “Sarah, we are in danger. Someone is trying to take Heather. Wait with Heather in the car, I am trying to stop them.”
Sarah looks confused but nods. She grabs Heather’s hand. “Okay.”
At that moment, Ellie knows she is spotted. The woman with the cybernetics walks to her in a fast pace. She grabs a gun from her purse and aims it at them. People around them start to panic. People run and scream, parents shielding their kids. Voices raise from the crowd. “O no, that woman has a gun!.” “Run.” “Hide.” Children start crying.
The woman shouts at Ellie and Vicky. "I knew it. I knew you were complicit in my stepdaughter’s kidnapping. You show up here, with that ghost lady that killed my husband’s ex-wife. Give me my stepdaughter, and nobody needs to get hurt.
Ellie looks at Sarah, who is hiding three meters away behind a car. A terrified Heather is pressing herself tightly into Sarah’s arms. A look of determination appears on Sarah’s face. Oh no, what is she gonna do?
Sarah carefully places Heather on the ground and reveals a tiny, silver gun from her boot. Where the hell did Sarah get a gun? She knew how to shoot. Ellie took her to the gun range to practice for years. But Ellie never allowed her to have her own gun.
Sarah stands up and aims her gun at the woman while walking from behind the car. “No way you are taking my sister, she yells.”
The woman looks at Sarah, and looks terrified, as she is seeing a ghost. Tears start to well up in her eyes. The woman slowly puts her gun on the ground.
“Sarah! Honey! The Ripper Doc told me you died! How are you alive?”
Sarah lowers her gun too. “Mom? Is that you?”
next chapter: Abetment [17]: 3.3: 2089, June 20th, Monday. 16:05
all chapters: Abetment