Disclaimer: "Wash. Rinse. Repeat." Now, go read!
Ikimashou!
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Chapter 2: Helper Monkey
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“So, are we ready to go?”
Annette gave the white-halred woman a worried look. “You sure you wanna do this?”
“It\'s not like I have a choice,” Naya answered. “I can\'t hold this form for much longer, and I\'d rather be somewhere where it\'s harder to find me, than sitting here and waiting for them to come get me.” She gathered her hair and bundled it inside a scarf, tying it as best she could.
“You got a point, but we can\'t keep running forever.”
“I don\'t plan to...we need to get evidence beyond just my body. We need to expose the Brooklyn lab, and the people behind it, without getting caught.”
Annette took one last look around the apartment, then closed the door behind her as Naya made her way to the stairs. “And how are we supposed to do that?”
“If I knew that,” Naya said with a big smile, “I\'d have done it already!” She ignored the shocked look her new-found sidekick gave her. “First, we\'ll get someplace where I can change, then we go to your paper. Once you get the ball rolling, I\'m sure we can get help from other sources.”
“You\'re putting a lot of faith in me...too much, I think.” Annette slowly made her way down the stairs.
“You\'ll be surprised what you\'re capable of, Annette.”
The pair made their way down to Sixth Avenue, which was already buzzing with pedestrians and traffic. They settled in a side street not far from Washington Square Park. While Naya was used to just disappearing in a crowd, Annette still had to get comfortable with the idea—especially since it meant she might have to run at a moment\'s notice. She looked around to make sure no one was looking, then nodded to Naya.
“When I\'m done, toss the clothes in the garbage, okay? Don\'t want anyone thinking about doing any forensic work...” With that, Naya transformed and walked out from under the pile of clothing.
Annette discarded the pile, tossed it in a nearby dumpster, then scooped up Naya and tucked her inside her coat. “Okay, let\'s go!” She stepped out of the alley, and weaved through the park, making her way toward Fifth Avenue. She noticed the woman she had seen earlier. “Hey Naya...have you seen her around before? The lady with the helper monkey...she seemed really nice.”
“No...not that I can tell. How do you know her?”
“I saw her this morning, when I went to the bakery.” She noticed the monkey seemed a bit agitated by something. “That\'s odd...she was very well-behaved when I saw her.”
“Really...” Naya felt the hairs down her spine stand stiff. “Let\'s get out of here, Annette. I\'m not getting a good feeling about this...”
“Oh...okay.” The reporter took another look at the monkey, who seemed to be staring directly at her. “Creepy...”
- - - - -
“Unit WV reporting...I got a ping, but the target hasn\'t been spotted yet. Requesting tracker release.”
Cortez picked up the headset communicator from his desk. “Request granted. Be sure to keep me posted.”
“Will do. Unit WV, out!”
The sergeant waited until the connection dropped, then established another one. “Owl Unit, check!”
“Owl Unit, standing by.”
“Target is in play...Washington Square area. Get me a visual.”
“Will do. Owl Unit, out!”
“Raptor Unit, stand by!”
“Raptor Unit, standing by.”
Cortez opened up a laptop and made some notes. “Time to show \'em how it\'s done...”
- - - - -
Annette stopped in front of the West 4th Street station. “Maybe we should catch a cab. It\'s gonna be crowded like crazy down there.”
“Better for us,” Naya replied. “Big crowds means no Chimera. And as long as I keep my head down—and you don\'t lose your coat—we\'ll be fine.”
Sitting under a parked car, Gina watched as Annette walked down into the station. She reached behind her and pulled out a small device, pushing a small button on it. She screeched twice, then put the device back behind her, scampering off along the curb.
Down in the station, a security camera zoomed in on the people coming down the stairs at that particular exit. The feed was diverted from the station booth to a mobile unit parked at Washington Square South.
“Get facial recognition on these people, and see if anything pops,” a woman barked.
“Yes ma\'am!” The young man at the console did as he was told; soon multiple windows full of data appeared on the three screens he had set up in front of him. “She\'s not in any of them, ma\'am, and no one seems to be a person of interest. A few students, a couple day laborers, some local people...and a reporter.”
“And why would I be interested in a reporter, Jenks?” The woman had an impatient tone.
“Well, ma\'am...according to the data I have, she shouldn\'t be in the area unless she\'s either working on a story. Her paper is based in Brooklyn, and most of her work seems to be centered there. It\'s probably just her day off or something, but...”
The woman took a look at the surveillance film. “Something about her stance seems wrong...no one walks with their hands in front of their chest like that unless they\'re holding something...or hiding something. Get Unit WV to re-send the tracker before that woman boards a train. I want to know where she\'s going...and what she\'s hiding.”
“Yes, ma\'am!”
As the man did as he was told, the woman picked up her headset. “Owl Unit 4 reporting. We have a yellow tag. Repeat: yellow tag. Will update shortly.”
Cortez\' voice came back over the headset. “Very good, Constanza. Send me what you got, and keep me posted.”
“Already done, sir. Owl Unit out.”
- - - - -
Cortez looked over the surveillance film and had the same suspicion that Constanza did, although his theory was a bit skewed. “Either she\'s hiding that damn cat, or she needs a better bra!”
- - - - -
Annette was having a little bit of trouble holding the squirming Naya in place. “Hey, do you mind? We\'re supposed to be inconspicuous, remember? With you moving around like that, I must look like I\'m groping myself!”
“Sorry,” Naya\'s muffled voice replied. “It\'s a bit hot in here. I think it would be better if you calmed down as well.”
“The train should be coming soon. Hopefully we can get a seat...”
As if an answer to a prayer, the Queens-bound “F” roared into the station. Annette walked down to the last car, which only had a few passengers, and found a window seat. “Ah! Air conditioning! That\'ll help!”
That it did, as Naya began to feel the cool air drift down inside Annette\'s coat.
Above them, Gina worked her way along the beams between the tracks and settled herself on top of the last car of the train. A couple people noticed and pointed, but the incident went mostly ignored.
Twenty minutes later, the train pulled into the Roosevelt Avenue station in Queens. Annette waited for most the passengers to leave before getting off herself, hoping to lessen the chance of getting jostled by someone. Unseen by her, Gina climbed down the back of the train and waited just off the end of the platform.
“How\'re we doin\' in there?” Annette said to her chest with a smile.
“Pretty good, considering. Even better if I could use my hands.”
“Enough, pervy cat! We\'ll be at my place in a few minutes, then we\'ll...” Annette thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but shrugged it off.
“Something wrong?”
“Nah...just my paranoia going up a notch. Man, will I be glad to get home!” As the reporter climbed the stairs to the exit, Gina took the more direct route, scaling the walls and going up through the grating in the ceiling and into the street.
The little monkey followed Annette to a modest little tenement building just off 34th Avenue. She waited until the blond went inside, then reached behind her, once again pulling out the device she held.
- - - - -
“Unit WV reporting...tracker has yellow tag in place of residence. Please advise.”
“Interesting,” Cortez mused. “Have tracker hold position until Unit JH takes over. Understood?”
“Will do, sir! Unit WV, out!”
“Owl Unit, check!”
“Owl Unit reporting, sir. Confirmed sighting of yellow tag. Video on its way...now.”
Cortez allowed himself a laugh when he saw Annette still hugging her chest. “Constanza...see if you can pull up any video of that woman leaving or entering any of the stations in the past twelve hours.”
“Stand by, sir...” A couple minutes passed until the woman\'s voice was heard once again. “Found her, sir. Apparetnly she was in the vicinity of the target\'s last known sighting. She also was on the \'A\' line at West 4th Street not long after the target went underground. I\'d say that\'s more than a coincidence, sir.”
“Agreed, Constanza...good work, as always. But until we have concrete evidence of the two of them together, we keep our distance. Stand by, Owl Unit.”
“Owl Unit, standing by!”
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End of Chapter 2
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