CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Chaz:
I slammed on my brakes and my car screamed in resistance; it jerked, skidded sideways, and then shuddered to a stop. Right in the middle of the intersection. I threw the door open and ran across the street. A crowd had already gathered on the sidewalk and I couldna€?t see what was going on. I tried to get past them, but almost immediately a popping and glittering band of virtual-reality crime-scene tape appeared, pushing all of us back.
a€?Babysitter! Let me through!a€? I yelled as I shoved my way through the stunned crowd.
It felt like we were covered in mud, like some gritty glue held all of us in place and we could only move in slow motion, one spare inch at a time. In my mind I screamed for everyone to get out of my way, but I dona€?t think those words ever made it out. One part of me was moving faster than I ever had, while another part was stuck somewhere in the past, still back inside the car, overwhelmed with astonishment and terror.
I was a frozen blur, moving and stationary in the same instant. Wishing that what I had seen wasna€?t true. Dreading what I would discover as soon as I pushed through this eternal moment of now that refused to bend.
Two mugs flashed into position in front of me, wearing a couple of those new experimental VR skinsuits, the ones with the more realistic facesa€”although all these faces looked the same.
a€?Hold it right there, Domingue.a€? A hand sizzled in front of me, hit me square in the chest and held me in place. This was new for VR. Normally I would have been able to push my way through. Until now. I recognized the voice.
Skellar.
a€?Stay right where you are,a€? he said, his voice fading in and out before it finally stabilized. Apparently the voice modulators on this skinjob werena€?t up to speed yet. a€?We have to scan for evidence before we can let you in.a€?
I tried to see past him. Something fluttered on the ground, like the wing of a bird. Dark, torn fabric. Part of a dress.
A woman. The person lying dead on the ground, about ten feet in front of me, was a woman.
Please dona€?t let it be Angelique, I prayed.
I looked up. Thought I saw someone standing on my balcony.
A team of VR mugs surrounded the body now. Behind me, somewhere in the distance, a siren sounded. The real goons would be here in a minute. For all I knew, one of them could be Skellar in the flesh. He could be wearing a VR suit in the back of a van, projecting himself here.
I was done waiting. I pushed my way back through the crowd. Whoever was on the ground was already dead.
And whoever was responsible was probably up in my suite.