Chapter 14

Barbie

7:30 AM Present Day

Barbie turned to Dean and stuck out her tongue at him. "Why didn't you force that old man to tell the truth? I thought you'd go all John Wayne on him. My Handler said he was a real man. You aren't the help I thought you'd be. I'm going to find the Maker by myself." Huffing, she turned around and entered the waiting elevator, leaving Dean standing outside the old Chinese man's door.

She hit the button for the first floor. Two of Yichen's bodyguards followed her in. One pushed the button for the sub-basement. The other one stared straight ahead. An arm appeared in the elevator doorway, bouncing it open. Dean stepped inside and glared at Barbie.

"You're not leaving me here," he said to Barbie, sticking his finger in her face. "You're the only one who can read that code, and I don't trust you yet."

She rolled her eyes and turned to the two bodyguards, "You're crowding me in here. Can you give me some space? They stood back and looked at each other. The one on the right put a hand in his pocket and came out with a tube.

"What's that?" Barbie pointed to the device.

The man on the left grabbed her arms while the one on the right plunged it into her neck. Dean grabbed his hand before he could push the plunger down.

"Ow!" She yanked her arm from the left's grip and punched the right one in the face. She heard his nose crack. He went down, taking Dean with him. The other one behind her depressed the plunger and grabbed her arms. "What are you doing? I don't want to be touched like this! It's icky." The man didn't let go and stuck a cloth over her face, muffling her voice.

"Barbie!" Dean yelled. He was fighting with the broken-nosed man on the ground and losing.

"What are you doing? You have to grab his hee-haw," Barbie said, stumbling against the wall. "This isn't pos..ibule." The nanites should fight off anything in her blood, but they weren't working. Maybe they had been overworked repairing her body earlier. "I'm not going to fo...rge..t th...is."

She slumped to the ground.

✦

"That wasn't nice!" Barbie said. "How'd you knock me out? There was something in that syringe, wasn't there?"

Her hands were tied behind her to a metal chair in a small, dirty room when she woke up. She puffed out her cheeks and rocked back and forth in the chair. It was solid metal and stuck to the ground.

The detective sat across from her, still asleep, his head slumped forward. He was also tied to a chair, but he looked more comfortable. He had a black eye, and blood was dripping onto his pants. Maybe she was wrong about him. He wasn't very strong, but he did try to help.

The two guards from the elevator with her were sitting across the room. One had a bandage over his nose, and his eyes were turning black.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

They said nothing.

"Come on. Talk to me," Barbie whined. "I need to go to the bathroom. I drank too much coffee."

"Has she been like this the entire time?" The old Chinese man said as he walked into the room, leaning on a walking stick. He was dressed in a better suit than the pyjamas, and his hair had been combed. The nice-smelling secretary was following him.

"Hey, you're Ming's Uncle. You felt up my tushy," she said. "Let me go so I can break your leg." She struggled against the chair.

"Please be quiet," he said. He directed one of the guards to put down a chair in front of Barbie. The secretary stood behind him. "Tell me what you know about Slazney and how to find that code."

Barbie was silent. She stared at the old man and the secretary.

"Say something! You wouldn't shut up a moment ago." Yichen smacked his walking stick against his palm.

"You told me to be quiet. You asked nicely, so I thought I'd comply." She shrugged.

He just opened his mouth, raised his cane and smacked her on the head.

"That hurt. You are a big meanie," Barbie snarled. "When I snap these things, I'm going to have to take her out first, before I return that," she said, looking at the secretary. "Just from her sexy legs, I can tell her training is so much better than the guard's."

Yichen smiled. "What are you talking about? Those are the latest plastic cuffs. There's no way you can break them."

Barbie struggled against the plastic, running her fingers over it, trying to locate a weak point. He was right. "Maybe, I won't worry about them for now." She turned to the Chinese man. "What do you want?"

"Tell me where I can find Slazney and Bobby," he asked.

"I don't know," Barbie said. "I want to find Slazney, too, but I've never met him. As for the Maker, he's gone on a trip. You won't find him soon."

"Is Ming with him?"

"How'd you know?" Barbie puffed out her cheeks. "He was supposed to take me."

Yichen stood up and waved to the two bodyguards. "Do what you need to do to her. I don't care what happens as long as she can still answer questions. She's already listed as dead." He pointed to the detective. "Be careful with him. Don't kill him and wait till he wakes up on his own. Ming likes him for some reason. I'll figure out what to do with him later." He left the room, followed by the secretary.

"Where did you get your scent?" Barbie yelled after the secretary. "I want to try it."

Dean Lifante

8:00 AM / 9:00 AM?

Dean woke up from the darkness to the sounds of grunts and slaps. It was cold and dank, smelling like a rusty cellar. He could taste it. Keeping his eyes closed, he tried to understand where he was. His arms were tied to the side of a chair, and the bindings dug into his wrists. He felt them with his fingers; plastic. At least his feet were free. Why? He was in a closed place, probably the Shujing basement. A woman screamed out in pain, and he opened his eyes. "Barbie! Are you okay?"

Across the room, the two big men from the elevator were in front of Barbie. One with a bandage across his nose was standing to her right side, his fist out, blood dripping down it. The other was rolling on the ground, clutching his crotch.

"Dean! You're okay! Great. I thought they had broken you. Give me a few minutes to take care of these two," Barbie spat out a tooth. Blood was dripping down her face, and her nose matched the man she punched. She was smiling and tied to a chair like Dean.

"Why won't you stop smiling?" The big man to her right asked, on the verge of crying. His shoulders dropped, and he bent down to pick up the other man, dragging him out of the room in defeat.

"Did you scream?" Dean asked Barbie.

"Me? No. That was the guy on the floor. He thought it would be okay to touch my chest. My knee told him that was a bad idea. My mother always told me to aim high."

"I see." Dean winced. He didn't wish that on any man, no matter how deserved. He looked around the room. It was a basement. Cold and covered in concrete. The pipes looked old. They were probably here when the place was built. The damp chill seeped into his bones, causing him to shiver. He sniffed and spat out a wad of blood. "Sorry, I couldn't stop them in the elevator. They were too strong."

"It's okay. You did your best. Besides, not everybody is as strong," said Barbie as she worked on the restraints. "Gee wiz, I spoke too soon. It looks like I can't break these things. I guess we're stuck here until that old man comes back."

Dean couldn't wait until then. He'd already lost five or six hours looking for this computer. He couldn't lose any more. How long had he been out cold? He wasn't hungry, so maybe an hour? "Damn!" He strained his arms against the cuffs but stopped when they sliced into his wrists. That was a waste of time. He needed another way to get them off. Breaking the chair was out. It was made of metal, bolted to the floor and solid, not the folding type.

"What are you doing?" he asked Barbie as she struggled to stand up with the chair. It was also bolted to the floor.

"If I can just pull this thing from the bolts, maybe I can get out of these cuffs," she said. Dean watched her strain against the floor and give up, panting. "Why can't I do it?" she said, her voice quivering. "My nanites aren't working."

"Maybe you're human after all," he mumbled to himself. Dean strained back with his fingers to explore the cuffs. They were plastic and usually unbreakable, but easy to cut. He slipped off his shoes and socks.

"What are you doing?" Barbie asked. "This isn't time to strip down. The Maker needs us."

Dean ignored her and rolled up his right pant leg with his left foot. Just inside the cuff was a small knife in a sheath, strapped to his ankle. He wore it just in case. Experiencing this kind of humiliation once was enough. Sliding it out with his toes, he gripped it and brought his foot to his hand, using the chair as support. They would regret not tying his feet.

A leg was not meant to bend this way. He grunted at the pain, and the knife slipped. He needed to hurry. Sticking his tongue between his teeth, he strained against the cuffs, bending his body forward to give his leg more room to move. His fingers brushed against the blade, and he brought it into the palm of his hand. Breathing a sigh of relief, he flipped it around, slicing his hand. Wincing, he started cutting through the plastic strap.

Barbie stared at him, her eyes bugging out. "You can't see it, but I'm clapping my hands. Very John Wayne."

The door slammed open, and Broken Nose Goon walked in with Yichen. They paused.

Yichen asked, "Why are your shoes and socks off?"

He shrugged and stopped cutting, palming the knife. "I was hot, and I've found that rubbing your toes on the floor helps you to relax." Some blood seeped its way through his fingers and dripped to the floor.

"I see, play the wise guy. I'll let you have your little comedy routine, for Ming's sake." Yichen smiled. "When Riley told me you were awake, I had to come see for myself."

Riley placed a chair in front of Dean, and Yichen sat down. He placed his cane in front of him and leaned forward. "Where's Bobby, Dean? I need him if I want to get to Slazney."

Dean looked at the old Chinese man. His eyes were tired, and he looked like he hadn't slept. From what Ming said, he wanted to have dinner with her and Dean last night. Why was he so interested in their relationship when Dean wasn't even sure where it was going?

Yichen was worried about Ming but didn't want to show it. He'd tied them to chairs and was torturing Barbie. Still, why was his gut telling him to trust the man? Usually, when he ignored his instincts, that meant more trouble, but the situation wasn't exactly conducive to trust. Barbie's face alone was enough evidence to put him away.

"Bobby's dead, Ming too, and they will stay that way unless I find his computer. Do you have it?" Dean said, cringing. Just saying the words opened a pit within him.

Yichen shook his head. "Ming's not dead. I wouldn't allow it. As for the computer, if I did have it, I wouldn't tell you." He sighed and stood. "I won't get anything from you without force, detective. You're lucky I'm not ready to go that route with you, not yet. Help me out of here, Riley. When you come back, take care of her. Don't touch him. A dead police officer brings too many questions." Yichen leaned on Riley as he hobbled to the door. He was looking ten years older than this morning. Something was happening with him, but Dean didn't have time to worry about that now,

The door didn't lock when they left.

Riley would be back soon. It had taken him about ten minutes the last time to bring Yichen. This time, he'd be faster. Dean continued cutting through the plastic zip tie. Fumbling with the blade, he almost dropped it, but managed to catch it by the edge before it dropped to the ground. "Slow down, Lifante," he muttered. "If you screw this up, it's over." He ignored Barbie's chants of 'You can do it.' They were distracting.

Walking the knife back up with his fingers, he brought his arm around and cut through the second zip tie holding him to the chair. He then cut Barbie free.

"Thank you, detective. You're better at your job than I thought," she said, smiling. With a single motion, she straightened her nose and blew out the blood blocking it. "That's better." The bruise around her eye looked like it was already fading.

Dean shook his head, "Let's get out of here." He put his shoes and socks on while Barbie grabbed her tooth and put it in her pocket. "Why did you take that?"

"Evidence I was here. Besides, I like having a full set of teeth, and they're a pain to grow back," she said, frowning. "Especially when my nanites seem to be breaking down. I've been here too long."

"I should have guessed. It's never normal with you, is it?" He rolled his eyes. "It's about nine o'clock," he said, pointing to his watch. Checking his pockets, he closed his hand on his recorder. Keeping the surprise off his face, he pointed to the door. "Yichen may have cameras around here. Try and get yourself on them, if you can. It'll make it easier to arrest him later." Dean needed to check out his recorder. There could be something useful on it.

"We should have about sixteen hours left to find Bobby's computer. Let's go and don't make a lot of noise now." He creaked open the door and peered out. The corridor was dark but empty. Only one light stood out by the elevator at the end of the hallway. There was a door to the side of it.

"Where to?" she asked.

Dean ignored the question. If Yichen didn't have the computer, that meant either Slazney or this Gregory, Bobby mentioned, did. They already tried Ivan, but maybe he could help them. Dean was running out of time, and he was no closer to finding this thing.

The only other place he could think of was the doctors. He had the address Bobby had given him. It was either Stanley or head back home and wait for the bodies to rot.