Free shadowrun 40 The Burning Time by Stephen Kenson Page B

before Otabi appeared again, went to his car, and drove away. Roy waited a few moments before taking after him, just long enough to create some distance. The tracker was still operating, so he wasn’t worried about having to stay so close that he’d give himself away. Otabi drove toward the bridge into downtown, and Roy followed.
    At the Fenway Park stadium, Otabi pulled into a parking garage. The stadium was dark, so it didn’t look like he was planning to attend a game. After circling the block without finding a parking space, Roy also drove into the parking garage. He hoped Otabi hadn’t spotted him. Fortunately, someone on the first level was pulling out just as he was coming in, and Roy quickly claimed the space. He killed the engine and the lights, and waited for Otabi to come out.
    He must have parked on one of the upper floors because he emerged from the stairwell a few moments later. Roy kept his head down and watched in his rear-view mirrors as Otabi shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and left the garage on foot. Roy got out of his car and followed, careful to keep his distance as Otabi continued a short way up the street, then crossed over to Landsdown Street.
    The street was lined with nightclubs, and Otabi went up to one whose name was proclaimed The Avalon in big neon letters. Roy waited until Otabi had actually gone in before he went to stand in the short line at the entrance. Within minutes, he’d paid the cover and went in.
    He didn’t take off his jacket, figuring its armor-cloth lining would come in handy if things got hot. He was painfully aware of how unarmed he was; if things did turn ugly, his only defense was to run. Of course, most of the clubbers around him wore considerably less, though sometimes they wore long coats over their scantily clad bodies.
    It was still early and not too crowded, but the music was already going full tilt, with a thudding bass Roy could feel in his bones. Multicolored lights cut through the dark, smoky interior and shimmered on the dance floor. He stayed close to the walls, trying to stay inconspicuous as he wandered into the main room, taking everything in.
    He spotted Otabi right away, but not on the dance floor. The sarariman was sitting and talking to someone at a table in one of the tiers that surrounded the main floor. The other guy looked Anglo and he was dressed like most of the other club-goers, but that was about all Roy could tell. He could see something lying on the table between Otabi and his companion, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Roy pondered whether to try and get closer, then decided it was wiser to hang back near the entrance, just in case.
    He watched as Otabi drew a slim plastic credstick from his jacket pocket—which he’d probably picked up at the bank earlier today—and handed it to his companion. The other man slid the package across the table to Otabi, who quickly snatched it up, then stood to leave.
    Roy walked away from the entrance so that Otabi wouldn’t make him as he exited the club. After waiting a few moments, he followed Otabi out without another look at the man sitting upstairs or betraying any other interest in the situation.
    Otabi went directly home with whatever he had picked up from the man at the Avalon. Roy guessed it was chips rather than drugs. Otabi just wasn’t the type to go for the organic stuff. He was probably into sims, maybe beetles. Roy knew that BTL-abuse was all too common in the high-tech, high-pressure corporate sector. The package could have contained something else, of course. Roy had no way of knowing without confronting Otabi directly, and he wasn’t ready to do that yet.
    He could make an anonymous call to Knight Errant, who might send officers to investigate, but all they could do was question Otabi. Roy didn’t think they could get a search warrant based on an anonymous tip.
    Thinking he should call it a night, he started up the Spirit and headed back to the hotel, mentally working