Chapter 23

Gabriela tossed the ruined lamp away and quickly knelt beside Geraldo, picking up the picture before she felt along his waist and found his sidearm. The big man groaned and lazily pushed himself up from the floor just as Gabriela had unholstered the weapon and stood back.

“Stay down, Geraldo.” She warned as she tucked the picture into her pocket..

Geraldo groaned and looked behind him, and up at her. His augmented pupils erratically contracting and expanding.

“What?” He said lazily as he staggered to his feet.

“God dammit, Geraldo. I mean it,” She warned and pulled the hammer back on the pistol. “Stay where you are.”

He held up his hands and nodded. “Okay. Just take it easy.”

“What are you doing here?”

He stood there, stoned face, his hands in the air. “Looking for evidence.”

“You need to get out of there, Gabriela.” Soma’s voice chided in her ear.

“Shut up.” She growled.

“Okay.” Geraldo said. Soma said nothing.

Gabriela shook her head and gathered her thoughts. “Are you with Cy-Tech?”

“Cy-Tech?”

“Answer the question,” she growled, and took a menacing step towards him with the pistol raised.

“No. I’m not with Cy-Tech.”

Gabriela licked her lips. “What evidence are you looking for?”

“That you had a child.”

“Why?”

“Common, Gabriela.” Geraldo slowly put his hands down. “I know you broke into Taurus and expunged your record.”

“Why the hell would I do that?” She demanded.

“So, you could be eligible for the Lottery.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Soma warned. “Just get out of there.”

“No.” She whispered as some of the pieces started to fall into place. She had assumed her mother had something to do with the changes to her record. “It wasn’t me.”

“Then you won't mind if we go back to the station and clear this all up? We can forget about the lamp to the back of my head.” Geraldo smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Geraldo, I don’t know what’s going on, but I didn’t do it.”

“Fine, Gabriela. I believe you.”

“I didn’t do it.” She stressed again.

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“Fine, can you tell me where you were two nights ago?”

“Here.”

“Was anyone with you?” Geraldo took a small step forward.

Gabriela moved back, keeping the pistol aimed at his chest. “No.”

“Gab,” Geraldo said coolly, “you know that’s not an alibi.”

“I have receipts. At two am I went to the market. I picked up a case of beer and paid with UN vouchers.” The words that escaped her mouth seemed wrong. It wasn’t that she couldn’t remember that night, but that she could, and in vivid detail. “I picked up a chocolate bar at the register, before I paid. I was stopped by a man begging for change and gave him the rest of the vouchers I was holding. The cashier’s name was Tony.”

“Okay, where are the receipts?”

“On the kitchen counter.”

“Okay, then. We can work all of this out. Just come with me and I’ll go to the market and ask Tony if he remembers you.”

“Don’t go with him.” Soma warned.

“No. I want you to lay face down on the floor.” Gabriela motioned with the pistol.

Geraldo shook his head. “I’m not going to do that.”

“I swear to Christ I will shoot you, Geraldo.”

“No, you won’t. You’re not a murder, Gab.”

“You saw what I did to those men in the chop shop.” She warned.

“That was do or die, kid.” Geraldo held out his hands and took another step closer. Gabriela was running out of room to retreat. “Life and death. Killing someone in cold blood is different, and I know you don’t have it in you to do something like that.”

Gabriela took a step back and felt the gold glass of the window to her back.

“They found you, Gabriela.” Soma warned. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

Geraldo smiled and took another step closer. Just as the vid screen in the living area sprang to life. She and Geraldo turned towards it.

“This is an urgent message issued by Cy-Tech security.” A woman’s voice announced. “This woman, Gabriela Fohren, is wanted for the murder of Vice CEO of Bioloxys, Owen Conner.” The warning on the vid screen showed her picture along with the picture of Owen Conner. “If you have any information regarding her whereabouts please contact any local security company. She is believed to be armed and dangerous.”

The smile slipped from Geraldo’s face as he spread his arms out and prostrated himself on the floor. Gabriela moved around him and backed out of her apartment.

“I warned you not to come here.” Soma hissed in her ear.

“I need a way out.”

“There isn’t one. Officers are in the elevator and seeker mechs are making their way up the stairway.”

Gabriela looked at the elevator at the end of the hall. The numbers displayed above the door were slowly ticking up. She moved towards the door to the stairs and cracked it open. She could hear the clicking of the mechs as they made their way towards her.

“Fuck.” Gabriela looked around her.

A door opened up and her neighbor peered out. An old woman named Elli.

“Officer Forhen?” She asked nervously.

Gabriela raised her weapon and forced the old woman inside. She could hear the mechs getting closer and closer. Gabreila looked at the opposite end of the hall and raised her weapon and fired. The glass at the end of the hall shattered and an alarm began screaming out. Gabriela pushed Elli inside before she closed the door behind her.

The mechs scampered past the door. Gabriela kept her weapon leveled at the old woman as she waited for them to pass.

“Be quiet, and I promise nothing will happen to you.” Gabriela warned.

The old woman nodded.

“Go into your bathroom and turn the water on. Count to two hundred and then come out. I promise I will be gone.”

Elli did as she was told.

Gabriela opened the door. The mechs were crawling through the broken window, searching for her. She quickly crossed the hall and got to the stairwell. She looked down over the railings before she started making her way down. When she got to the tenth floor, she heard the sound of boots marching up the stairs.

She flung the door open to the hallway and rushed down the hall. She stopped when she saw a seeker mech crawling just outside the window. The sound of boots came marching closer and closer. Gabriela tried the doors in the hall, but they were locked. She stopped just as she came to the garbage shoot and hesitated.

“It’s one hundred feet down.” Soma warned.

“What choice do I have?” She panted and slipped the pistol into her waistband before she opened the shoot and slid in feet first. Her heart pounded as she slid into darkness and fell.