The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A look at Davinder brought the Sikh constable forward with a bundle of clothes, which included an RCMP issue flak jacket of Kevlar, a pair of heavy combat boots and the equipment belt that they were all wearing.

"You need to get out of those overalls," she indicated, taking the bundle of clothing from Davinder to hand them to Mordecai. "And put these on." As the big man took the bundle from her with a bemused expression on his face, she turned to Elisa. "We need our substitute, Elisa, ASAP."

"I'm on it," the young Asian woman replied and, with a nod to the rest of the team, she was jogging around the van.

Staring after her for a moment, Mordecai sighed softly when she disappeared and began to undo the buttons holding the overalls on with one hand, holding his new clothes in the other. Seeing the big man begin to shed the overalls, the women turned away to give him a measure of modesty, though he appeared not to care one way or the other.

Dee could hear the big man slide on the pants just as Elisa and Duffy came around the corner, dragging a third man with them, blindfolded and cuffed, hand and foot. Loud protests were coming from within the canvas bag draped over his head.

"This is totally unfair, you fucking pigs!" the man snarled, his voice thick with rage and impotent frustration as Elisa gave his arm a sharp tug, pulling him forward. "I'm supposed to be going to Cold Lake! What the hell is this shit?"

Mordecai looked up as he buckled the equipment belt on, now completely clothed in the black uniform that the other officers were wearing, gazing for a moment at the bound and blindfolded man that was apparently his replacement.

"I got my rights, you know," the man went on to bite out even as Davinder and another male member of the transition team took him by his arms and pulled him up into the van where he was quickly secured where Mordecai had been sitting.

As soon as the newly arrived man was secured, Davinder was waving the rest of the team back into the van. Which they quickly did so without a sound, leaving Dee and Mordecai standing alone outside.

"And?" Mordecai said softly, the flak jacket going on last, the final item.

"And now we finish our little exchange," Dee said in reply, turning to climb into the van as well. She found her old seat and sat, looking back at Mordecai. "Coming?"

Realizing his part in the charade that the Normals were playing out, Mordecai gave his equipment belt a last tug to make sure it was secured and, with his old overalls in his hand, he stepped into the van, finding a place beside the officer with a turban. As he sat down, the officer handed him an automatic weapon exactly like the one he was carrying and a handgun to slip into the holster at his waist.

Mordecai swiftly holstered the sidearm as the blindfolded prisoner continued to grumble loudly, checking to make sure both the handgun and the automatic rifle were safetied before he let the rifle rest in his hands in a grip he copied from the man beside him.

"This is fucking bullshit, is what it is," the prisoner growled. "I had my room picked out and everything."

Abruptly the turbaned officer reached out with a gloved hand to take the prisoner by the collar of the overalls he was wearing, matching the pair that Mordecai had let drop onto the floor of the van to kick under his seat once he was secured. Knotting thick fingers into the heavy fabric, he gave the man a hard jerk.

"Want to be gagged as well as blindfolded?" he hissed in a tight whisper, leaning close enough for the man to feel his hot breath on his neck.

Immediately the prisoner fell silent, the note in Davinder's voice enough to convince him of his sincerity. Nodding with satisfaction, Davinder uncurled his fingers from the prisoner's collar and sat back, a slight smile dancing on his lips.