“Doing jes’ fine, Your Honor,” Eli said, shaking the judge’s hand. “Thank you for asking.”
“Please, have a seat. Tell me, what brings you to the big city?” Alfred asked.
“It’s a rather… sensitive issue, Alfred,” Danni said. “We have a client who has been held against his will in a private clinic owned and run by a Dr. Edwin Skitz.”
“Skitz?” Alfred asked, interrupting Danni.
“Yes,” she said. “Are you familiar with the man?”
“Actually, I am,” Alfred said. “Excellent doctor, from what I’ve heard. Has the bedside manner of a Nazi stormtrooper, though. Pretty well-known in the country club circle. Lots of political contacts. You say he’s holding someone in his private clinic against his will?”
“Yes,” Danni said. Alfred turned to Eli.
“Can you shed some light on this, Ranger?” he asked.
“This Dr. Skitz feller was holding our client against his will,” Eli said.
“Was?” Alfred asked. “Where is your client now? Is he at that old west town of yours?”
“No,” Eli said. “He’s somewhere else. But we have reason to believe he’s holding others against their will.”
“And we have reason to suspect that he’s holding those men hostage so he can use their wives, sexually,” Danni added.
“Those are some serious charges you’re making, Danni,” Alfred said. “Do you have any evidence to back this up?”
“Yes,” Danni said, handing the judge a small thumb drive. “There are some videos on that drive.” Alfred put the USB drive in his laptop and brought up the first video. He watched for a moment, then paused the playback.
“How did you get this?” Alfred asked, frowning. Danni and Eli looked at each other for a moment.
“That’s where this gets a bit… dicey,” she said. “I’ve been told those videos came directly from our client’s memories.”
“His memories?” Alfred asked, his eyebrows raised. “Danni, I’ve given you a lot of leeway over the years, but you know this will never fly in court.”
“I know,” Danni said. “That’s why we wanted to show you this in person. So you would know this is real.” Alfred looked from Danni to Eli.
“So, what is it you want from me? An order to get this man out of that facility?” Alfred asked.
“We’ve already gotten him outta there,” Eli said. “But there are others in danger.”
“I see,” Alfred said, recalling his own encounter with Eli decades ago before he became a judge. “Where is he now? At that old west town of yours?”
“No, he’s in no shape to travel right now,” Eli said. “He’s somewhere… safe. And he’s being looked after. But as I said, others are in danger. I want that place shut down, and this Dr. Skitz behind bars. I’d rather do it proper-like.”
“I understand, Ranger,” Alfred said. “But that may not be as easy as you think. This Skitz character has a lot of powerful friends. Have you spoken to anyone in the state Medical Board yet?”
“No, we haven’t,” Danni said. “We both felt this is a time-sensitive issue. You know how long it can take for things to work through that process.”
“Yes, I do,” Alfred said.
“And a lot can happen in that time,” Danni interjected. Alfred glanced at the video as he thought.
“Tell you what I’ll do, Danni,” he finally said. “I’ll look through your… evidence, maybe make some discreet calls. You dig into this a bit deeper, get me something a bit more… useful in court.”
“And if we can’t?” Danni asked.
“Then I suspect the Ranger here will probably have to act independently,” Alfred said, giving Eli a knowing smile. Eli nodded his head.
“I think I understand, Your Honor,” Eli said with a sly smile. Alfred nodded his head.
“Good,” Alfred said. “Do what you have to, Ranger. I’ll give you all the cover I possibly can.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Eli said. He turned to Danni. “I think we’ve done all we can here, Danni.”
“But… Can’t you at least issue an injunction? A restraining order? Anything?” she asked Alfred.
“Based on what, exactly, Danni?” Alfred asked. “A video from someone’s memories? We’d both be laughed out of the legal profession, and you know it. The Ranger here can handle this. I’ll support you as much as I possibly can.”
“It’s alright, Danni,” Eli said. “We can handle this on our own.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” Eli said with a grim smile. Alfred stood, signaling the end of the meeting.
“Good luck and happy hunting,” he said as he extended a hand. Eli took it and nodded his head as the two men shook hands. “Let me know what you find,” he told Danni as they shook hands. Danni was a bit confused when they left Alfred’s office.
“What just happened?” she asked.
“We’ll take care of this ourselves,” Eli said as they walked to Danni’s car.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?” she asked.
“I suspected it might,” Eli said, all trace of his Texas accent gone.
“So what do we do now?” Danni asked.
“Adrestia tells me Max is sending this Cameron fella to speak with Skitz. According to her, he can get the good doctor’s memories. That should be quite interesting,” Eli said.
“Yes, it should,” Danni said, confused.
…
“I’m here to see Dr. Skitz,” Cameron said, giving the receptionist his business card. He remembered her from the last time he was at the clinic, and he watched her look at his card, then glance back at him.
“You were here the other day, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” Cameron said.
“One moment, please,” she said before picking up her phone. She spoke into it for a few moments, and Cameron heard only her side of the conversation. He surmised she was talking to the doctor. A few moments later, she put the phone down and motioned for him to follow her.
She ushered him into a well-appointed office with wood paneling and the obligatory framed certificates on the wall. The man sitting at the desk stood and extended his hand. Cameron accepted it and felt the slight spark that indicated the brain feed download had commenced.
“Sorry, must be static,” Cameron said with a slight smile.
“That’s quite alright,” Dr. Skitz said, rubbing his hand. “Please, have a seat.” Cameron sat and looked at the man, taking note of the 3D anaglyph effect, indicating this was not a man to be trusted. He had seen this quite often since acquiring his abilities and had learned how to deal with the headaches it usually caused.
“So, what can I do for the, uh, Burnage Agency today, Mr. Drake?” the doctor finally asked, reading Cameron’s business card.
“We’re doing a followup regarding the treatment of one James Eastland, a patient of yours, Dr. Skitz,” Cameron said. “We were hoping you could shed some light on his status. From what we gathered, he should have been discharged several months ago.”
“Well, Mr. Drake, as you know, in order to answer that question, I would have to violate doctor-patient confidentiality. Privacy laws simply do not allow me to pass that information on,” Edwin said.
“I see,” Cameron said. “So, you’re refusing to cooperate in our investigation. Is that right?”
“My hands are tied, Mr. Drake,” Edwin said, shrugging his shoulders.
“Very well. I won’t waste any more of your time,” Cameron said, standing up. “Good day.” He turned and left Edwin wondering what the hell had just happened.
“Wait a minute, Mr. Drake,” Edwin said as Cameron reached the door. Cameron turned to look at Edwin.
“Yes?” Cameron asked.
“Weren’t you here earlier with another man and a woman? According to our surveillance cameras, the three of you spoke with Mr. Eastland, didn’t you?” Edwin asked.
“Yes, we did,” Cameron said.
“Strange,” Edwin said. “After you left, Mr. Eastland went missing.”
“Missing? Did you report it to anyone?” Cameron asked.
“No, we didn’t,” Edwin said.
“And why not?” Cameron asked.
“Police wouldn’t do anything for at least 24 to 48 hours,” Edwin said.
“You mean to tell me you let a patient who supposedly can’t even feed himself go missing and didn’t bother to report it to anyone? What kind of a shithole are you running here?” Cameron asked. He already knew the answer but wanted to see Edwin’s reaction — and he got it.
“Now see here,” Edwin began, his face red.
“Save it, Dr. Skitz,” Cameron said. “I’ll just add that to my report. Good day.” With that, Cameron left. Smiling to himself, he left the facility since he got what he came for anyway, namely, Dr. Skitz’s brain feed. Cameron briefly connected to Edwin’s mind to see what the doctor was doing. He wasn’t surprised to see Edwin talking to someone on the phone.
“The man’s name is Drake. Cameron Drake. He was one of the three who came here to see Eastland earlier. Follow him. Find out what you can about him. He may just lead you to Eastland. If he does, you know what to do,” Edwin said.
“Yeah, boss, we know,” a man at the other end said.
“Get to it. Report back to me as soon as possible,” Edwin said before ending the call. Cameron smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to meet Skitz’s goons. Walking out of the clinic, Cameron saw two large men with shaved heads, goatees, and no discernible necks climb into a black SUV. He also noticed the bulge in their jackets that indicated they were well-armed.
As he sat in his SUV, Cameron considered his options regarding these goons. He could take them on a wild goose chase around town before confronting them, but he didn’t want to waste time on these clowns. Cameron finally decided on a more… direct… course of action. After looking at the layout of the place, he started his SUV and put it in gear.
He saw the two goons glaring at him and decided to have some fun. He pulled out, but instead of heading for the exit, he pulled right in front of the SUV containing the two gorillas and stopped, effectively blocking them. The goons were baffled as they watched Cameron get out of his SUV and walk to their driver’s side.
“What the fuck?” the goon in the driver’s seat asked.
“Yeah? What the fuck is your problem?” the other goon asked.
“You are my problem,” Cameron said calmly.
“The fuck you talking about, asshole?” the first goon asked, his face red.
“Yeah. What the fuck are you talking about? Fuck,” the second goon said.
“Trust me. You don’t want to follow me,” Cameron said, focusing his mental prowess on the first goon. After sizing them up, Cameron realized their combined IQs and vocabulary were just a bit lower than the average eggplant. The first goon looked at his companion.