I Saw a Man Who Wasn't There...
Part Sixteen
by Cory

    Captain Marvin Vanduren was exhausted.  An assistant came in with another cup of coffee.  He'd lost count of how many he'd had that night.  The entire New York Metropolitan area was a mess.  There were emergencies everywhere.  In fact, the city had gone so far as declaring a state of panic.  He'd been up almost twenty-four hours.  File after file kept appearing on his desk, faster then he could deal with them.  The main part of the office was an explosion of activity.  And the fatigue was obvious.
    And then, of course, there was the disappearance of Rollie, Angie, and Tony.
    He'd just accessed his computer to write a report when a message appeared.  He was so jittery that its sudden appearance made him jump.  Someone must have gotten into his computer!
    He read the message.  It had been hastily typed, as if someone had been doing it quickly:

HELPP
- 555.24.054.354
R +A     Vanduren was about to erase the message until he noticed the final line. Rollie and Angie! he realized.  He quickly scribbled the whole message down.  What are those numbers? he wondered.
    He got up and ran out of his office.  Almost immediately, he collided with Jack, who had just come back from Rollie's loft with Angie's friend, Kim.  "Captain," said Jack, stepping backward.  "I'm sorry, sir.  I was just on my way to see you.  I'm afraid we have no leads on where they are, sir."
    Vanduren handed Jack the message.  "This may be your first, then."
    Jack squinted, reading it.  "R and A.  That would be Rollie and Angie."
    "Right," said Vanduren.  "But what are those numbers?"
    Jack thought for a moment.  "It looks like a computer net address."
    "A what?"
    "The guys downstairs in computer crimes would know," said Jack.  "I'd bring it to them."
    An assistant came running up.  "Sir!  Captain Vanduren!"
    Vanduren turned.  "Yes, what is it?"
    "Detective Rizzo, sir.  He just got here."
    "He what?  How?"
    "He's badly hurt, sir.  He wants to talk to you right away."
    Jack and the captain exchanged glances.  "I'll be right there," Vanduren said.  He gave the paper to Jack.  "Take this down to computer crimes, see what they can do.  I'll be there after I talk to Tony, understood?"
    Jack nodded.  "Yes sir."

    The computer crimes division of the precinct was headed by Detective Unger.  He was a tall man, with thick glasses and tousled hair.  He spoke with a faint accent that Jack couldn't place.  "Jack!" exclaimed Unger.  "What a mess, huh?"
    Jack nodded.  "Yeah, this Torrens guy sure screwed up the city."
    "You're telling me!  My boys have been working overtime trying to fix things!  I hope you're not expecting fast results on whatever you're giving me."
    Jack winced.  "Actually, I was hoping you could do this right away."
    Unger groaned.  "What is it?"
    Jack handed him the paper.  "Two people have been kidnapped.  We got this message for help from one of them, over Captain Vanduren's computer.  We want to know what this is."
    Unger's eyes went wide, and he looked at the paper.  "Well, this is a remote computer internet address."
    "That's what I thought," said Jack.  "Can you access that computer?"
    Unger squinted.  "I could try.  It could be difficult, if it's possible at all."
    "Can you try?  Any information could save the lives of those involved."
    Unger thought for a moment.  "I'll do it personally," he said.  "If lives are at stake."
    Jack nodded.  "They are."
    Unger moved across the large room.  It was lit from overhead by pale neon lights.  The floor was spotless.  All around, technicians worked on computer terminals.  There was the whirring sound of fans.  Unger stopped at a terminal.  "This may take a while," he said.  He offered Jack a seat.  Jack took it.

    "Detective Rizzo!"
    Tony looked over and grinned.  "Captain!"
    They didn't want to risk trying to make a trip to the hospital.  The streets were dangerous, and the hospital was flooded with emergencies.  So he had stayed at the precinct, where another officer and an emergency nurse had bandaged him up.  They'd made a place for him to lie down across a few seats, and had put a blanket over him.  Vanduren looked down at Tony.  There was still a little dried blood across his temple, and there was a large bandage on the right side of his head.  An even larger bandage was wrapped around his shoulder.  "How are you feeling?" asked the Captain.
    "Like hell," said Rizzo.  "But I'll get over it."
    "What happened?" asked the captain.
    Rizzo's smile fell apart.  His eyes lowered.  "We managed to track Angie to a section of Manhattan.  She and Loubar must have been in an accident.  The truck had exploded.  We saw Loubar's body in the truck.  He was dead.  But somehow, Angie must have escaped.  So we spread out, to try and find her.  Next thing I know, I'm attacked from behind -- by Loubar!  Dammit, I don't know how he did it.  We saw his dead body.  But somehow, he was alive.
    "He had a mask.  He made himself look like me, to fool Rollie and Angie.  I ... I tried to stop him.  He shot at me, and then he took Angie and Rollie away with him in the squad car.  I managed to hot wire his car and drive back here.
    "He's got them, Captain ... "
 
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