Tom didn’t know how long he sat there just staring before his mind was filled with thoughts, Tzari thoughts.  “You gave us the will to act and now we will give it back to you.  Put the man in the tank.  The fluid in the tank can be transformed, you have the knowledge.  Matter to energy, energy to matter; rebuild him before his organs degrade any further.  Complex methods of science that humans had no language for filled his head.  The fluid in the tank would nurture Robert and prevent further deterioration while Tom used the knowledge of thousands of years of study and the Haronata technology to create tiny organic machines that would enter Robert’s body and repair him from the inside out.  He accessed all of Robert’s medical records and he programmed the tiny doctors to restore his body to perfect health and to keep it that way; the process would take weeks.

            Tom had nothing left to do.  He just sat for hours checking the progress of the tiny doctors.  Tom’s phone had rung many times while he sat and watched Robert’s status charts but he ignored it.

Finally a thought rushed into his mind, “You stagnate.  You are focused on this one being when you should continue your connection with humanity.  You have abandoned the others.  Is this how you taught us to act?  Have we found the end of humanity’s strength? The idea of being disconnected from others of your kind is still very foreign to us but you are disconnected.  You are abandoning your connections.  This one will be restored in time.  Return before others fall.”

 

Greg and Pam grilled Sherry but she would not give them another name.  They had no real reason to hold her so they finally let her go.

“Now what,” Pam asked.  “She’s too damn scared to say any more.”

“We know who her boyfriend is, Jerome DW Robinson.  He is the worst of the worst of The Dogs.”

“And he has more alibis than the Pope,” Pam answered.  “If we drag him down here we’ll get nothing and he just may take it out on Sherry.”

Suddenly the captain called, “Kasinski, Williams may I see you in my office for a minute please.”

They went into the captain’s office and closed the door and the captain started, “What have you got on the connection of Thomas Anderson to your case?”

“Quite a bit,” Greg said, “the medical assistant mentioned him is his log.  The firefighter that found the doctor’s body identified him as the man that took the body, and Sherry Oliver claims that he is responsible for the fire.”

The captain countered, “As I remember it the assistant said there was a man that looked like Thomas Anderson.  With that in mind and accounting for the time the firefighter had to see the man and the conditions at the time he saw him I would not be in a hurry to call his statement a positive identification.  I don’t want to speak ill of a firefighter but, frankly, he is the only one that claims the doctor was ever there; maybe the doctor is off on vacation or something.

“Ben would never make up a story like that,” Pam protested.  “That’s just crazy.  Excuse me Captain but you’re angling to make this whole Tom Anderson thing go away but we still have Sherry Oliver’s story that links him to the clinic.  She said that she was seen by Dr. James and that the whole thing was Thomas Anderson’s fault.”

“As far as Ms. Oliver goes, she would say anything to protect the slime balls she hangs with.  I think that someone that looked like Greg’s old friend may have been donating money to the clinic and Ms. Oliver got wind of it.  Maybe she peaked at the assistants notes and misread and then used the name Thomas Anderson to side step your questioning.  Maybe you two need to improve your interrogation tactics.

Thomas Anderson is gone.  The Feds have sealed his records and I’m not going to get my ass burned screwing with the Feds.  To avoid my ass being burned you two will kindly avoid any background checks on said Mr. Anderson or Dr. James, do you understand me?  A federal agent name Sutter will be here tomorrow to collect any records you have on Anderson and James.  You will hand them over and work on the getting a collar on The Dogs.”

“What about the missing body,” Greg asked.  “Ben did not make up that damn story. There is someone that at least looks like Thomas Anderson involved and we have to find out how he fits in.”

“That’s not your problem Detective Kasinski.  I’ll handle that.  If the doctor is missing I’ll find out what happened; you just collar The Dogs.”

 

“This stinks,” Greg growled as they left the captain’s office.  “There is something very wrong here and the Feds have been in on it from the beginning.”

“What are you getting at Greg,” Pam asked.

“It was the Feds that shutdown the investigation into Tom’s death and here they are again jumping in as soon as the name Thomas Anderson shows up in a query.  Something happened to Tom and it wasn’t a traffic accident and Dr. James fits in somehow.”

“I hear you Greg,” Pam said, “and I’ve got your back if you can’t let this slide, but for now we better work on The Dogs.  Maybe it’s time to visit Mr. Sharp.  If we make it a little warm for him, he may pass the heat down to DW and make him do something stupid.”

“OK,” Greg said, “but I’m going to hold you to your promise because this ain’t over.”

Pam replied, “You got it partner.”

 

An hour later the detectives were ringing the doorbell of Andrew Sharp’s uptown luxury apartment.  A scantily clad woman opened the door and asked, “What business do you have with Mr. Sharp?”

Greg and Pam showed their badges and Greg answered, “Police business so be a good little lap dancer and get Sharpie to the door.

The woman snapped right back, “What’s your rank detective; asshole first class?  You will wait and I will see if Mr. Sharp is interested in talking to you.”

Greg pushed passed the woman with Pam right behind him.  He ran directly into a large powerful looking man with a decidedly weapon shaped bulge inside his coat.

Greg stared up at the man and said, “Step aside Goliath or your next apartment will be the downtown lockup.”

“I think not sir,” the voice came from a smaller well dressed man that appeared from behind the giant body guard.  “Mr. Sharp anticipated your harassment and he retained me to be here to greet you.  My client has numerous witnesses that will attest to his whereabouts during the time in question.  You need not waste your time and his with a lot of foolish questions.  He has no knowledge of the events that surround the destruction of the clinic.”

Greg looked with disgust at the well dressed middle aged man.  “So you’re Sharpie’s pet lawyer, I suppose it doesn’t bother you at all that four people died in that fire.  Oh I take that back, it probably delights you to no end.  You must be drooling over the extra fees you’ll be getting for all this personal attention.  Do you get extra for kissing his ass?”

“I don’t need to banter with you detective.  You have entered this residence illegally and you will now leave or you will be brought up on charges.”

“We came here to see Andrew Sharp.  We will step to the door while you tell Mr. Sharp that there are ways of getting his attention if he wants to play hard to get.”

“Hold on,” a voice called from a back room.  “Aaron, tell the detectives I will be out in a minute and the rest of you get the hell out of that room.”

A minute later Andrew Sharp came out dressed in a silk robe.  He was a tall slim African/American with piercing eyes that shined with intellect.  He made himself comfortable in a big lounge chair and said, “I’m sorry for the confusion detectives, what can I do for you?”

“Sharpie,” Greg started, “The Dogs have done a very bad thing and you are ultimately responsible.”

“Why would I be responsible for something that a pack of dogs did?”

“Don’t be cute with me Sharpie, your gang has murdered four innocent people; they burned them alive.  That’s not playing nice and now you’re going to have to pay for it.”

“See here detective,” the lawyer interjected, “I warn you I will report any threats or infringements on my client’s rights.”

“OK,” Pam said, “then let me say this.  Being a fine upstanding citizen that you are Mr. Sharp I’m sure that you will be happy to hear that your old neighborhood is going to be closely watched.  We are going to haul away every drug dealer, every street walker, and every loan shark that dares poke the ugly head out of their holes.  I’m also sure that you will be overjoyed when you realize what this will do the finances of the boss of this street scum.  We will also search for weapons and dope in all suspected criminal hangouts and we will make sure all felons on parole get sent back up if they so much as talk to a known criminal.  All of this should just make the day of a fine man like you.”

Sharpie smiled at Pam, “Oh sister how did you end up whoring for the Man.  You’re too smart to be wasting you time kissing up to white boys.  Go out and save the streets; I’m sure the city has a lot of extra money to put that many police into one neighborhood.  I’m sure the rest of the city won’t mind being unprotected while you are on your little witch hunt.  I hear those criminal types can be rather patient; some are even smart enough to have diversified accounts that can cover them for years.  If you think you can run around my old neighborhood for years saving the people from evil; be my guest.  But in the interest of cooperation with law enforcement I will make some discreet inquires and see what I can find out.  Now, if you don’t mind, it is time for my massage.  Please show yourselves out.”

In a final shot Sharpie says, “My sister would like to participate?”

Pam responded, “No thanks, I wouldn’t want my stomach turned before dinner.”

Sharpie just laughed and waved over his shoulder, “Have a good day detectives.”

 

After the detective left Sharpie growled, “That stupid fat ass son of a bitch.”  Then he announced, “I’m going in the bedroom and I want Cindy to join me.  Everyone else stay clear.” Sharpie pointed to the big body guard, “Jessie, make sure no one gets anywhere near the door.”

Cindy followed Sharpie into the room.  Once the door was closed Sharpie said, “First you’re going to make me feel good.  Then you’re going to take a note from me to DW.  Tell him if he doesn’t follow my instructions that I will make his fat ass disappear permanently.

“But what if he gets mad,” Cindy said in a shaky voice.

Sharpie pulled a 45 automatic out of the dresser drawer and put it on Cindy’s side of the bed and said, “Then shoot him between the eyes.”

Thirty minutes later Cindy emerged from the bedroom fully dressed and waited quietly.  Sharpie appeared and announced, “I want to look at some fish.  Leila and I are going to the InnerHarbor and Jessie you’re driving.  Thirty minutes after Sharpie left, Cindy slipped quietly out of the building.

 

The cops took the bait they followed Sharpie and didn’t notice Cindy head for the old neighborhood.