Moonlight Shadow

He’s on the move.

I was parked up with Scully in a dead side street in the heart of the city. We had the whole perimeter of the block on watch.

“What do you mean, he’s on the move?” I asked, over the radio on our secret channel. Nobody could tap into it, other than if someone had been given the frequency.

“He’s on the damn move!” shouted Singh. We could hear him punch the steering wheel. “I don’t know why he’s suddenly leaving the place.”

“Singh, we were told he was going out to meet someone, at the back of that club,” replied McKinlay, in a deadpan tone.

“Well, someone needs to put on their big boy panties and go into that club and find some gossip, over,” Singh spat into the radio.

A southerly breeze was blowing through the heart of Auckland City. And, the reminder that someone from the team, parked up around the block that we were watching, had to go into that club and investigate, haunted Scully and I. No way were we strong enough to go in there, snoop around, all while trying to remain calm.

“Well, who is going in there? I don’t see movement,” Singh harassed. “If we have missed him completely, I’m going to be roasting some cheeks on the barbie.”

“I’ve just walk past the joint,” Applegate responded, out of the blue. “I’m dressed in a trench jacket, no-one saw me, not even Jarrod on the door. It’s quiet as – hold up.”

Singh was further down the street, hiding behind a parked truck outside a donut shop. He could see Applegate on the corner of Queen and an off street. Someone was talking to him. He could see Applegate fidgeting in his pocket.

“Guys, someone is interfering with Applegate, a few shops down from the club, over,” Singh said, over the radio. “Scully and Cross, you’re nearby. One of you do walk by and see what you can do.”

Scully looked at me.

I lifted up the radio and was about to press to talk when Applegate responded.

“False alarm boys,” he said. “Singh, the man was wanting to know where Ollie’s is.”

“Bro,” Scully said, ripping the receiver from me. “Applegate, get out quickly!”

There was no opportunity to explain to Singh what was going on but Scully knew something was up so his survival skills kicked in. He turned on the car, did half a turn and zoomed out from where they were hiding.

“Applegate’s down here, right?”

I nodded. I wasn’t fully aware but it felt like we were saving Applegate.

“Who’s Ollie?”

Scully came to screeching halt at the end of the side street, looked both ways then saw Applegate turning into a side alleyway up from a popular eatery. We turned left onto Queen St. I looked toward the club and only saw a select few amounts of people oblivious to what was going on. Singh had driven off.

Scully parked up, just before the traffic lights, expected me to go down the alleyway. I reluctantly got out of the car and sauntered down the alleyway, catching up to Applegate. Earpiece was in my ear still, so I could hear the other guys. My hand was trembling in my pocket, adrenaline pumping through my body at a rapid pace.

“Applegate?”

“Bro!” he whispered, as he turned around.

But it wasn’t Applegate. It was someone else who was trying to be Applegate. I didn’t know who he was and he didn’t know who I was.

“So, you’re looking for Applegate, then?” the dude said, peeling down the jacket collar. His neck revealed tattoos galore, with one snake tattoo crawling up his neck. The end of snake sat on the shoulder while the head was nestled under his earlobe.

“Pretty snake, aye?” he said, watching me look at the snake, under the streetlight above. “That’s Hiss. They call me Hiss.”

Then he spat.

I jumped.

“So, who are you?” Hiss said, rolling a cigarette. “And why are you dressed in black? You in some kind of authoritative role? You look like you’re fresh out of High School Musical.”

I didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or what.

“Are you bugged?”

I hope he didn’t see the earpiece in my ear. It was too dark for that. I turned my head towards the darkness, positioning myself so it didn’t look like I was hiding something.

“Applegate isn’t the guy, you think he is,” Hiss said, smugly. “I know who you are and who you work for and whatever information that’s been thrown at you, isn’t anything you should be worried about.”

“Sounds familiar,” I managed to say.

“Oh, he has a voice,” puffed Hiss. “I thought you lost your tongue when you hopped out of the car just before. Yes, I saw you.”

“Where’s Applegate?”

“You don’t need to worry about, Applegate,” Hiss said, with a smile. “Shouldn’t your focus be on who you were out to get tonight? We knew you had the perimeter under watch. That’s why Tobias has left. That is why Applegate walked past when he did and made up some gibberish. That is why you’re standing here talking to me. I am a road block and unfortunately Nathan Cross, is it? You fell for it. I hope Singh won’t be pissed off.”

I went to turn around on my heal when he tapped my shoulder.

“I know you’re a rookie but you should know that this should have been put into your radio, right?” Hiss said, showing the earpiece jack had been pulled out of radio.

I yanked the earpiece from him and walked off in a huff.

“Say hello to Singh!”

I walked out into the open to try and find Scully. He had parked across the road. I walked off to him, dodging cars. He looked at me puzzled.

“Who the hell is Hiss?” I asked as I hopped into the car. “The knob had explained to me that he knows our wee operation, Applegate is one of them, and that he only did what just happened to stall us. He knows who we’re after.”

“Hiss is a patronising mutt,” Scully said. “He would have been in the club talking to our Tobias, conjuring up something. Singh contacted us too.”

“What did he want?”

“He’s pissed off that tonight's operation got foiled but Tobias is going to a house out west,” Scully said. “Tonight, we’ll be chasing him.”

We waited for a bit, watching Hiss stumble out of the alleyway in Applegate’s coat. He was walking back up Queen St, smoke in his fingers, smiling like an ass. His other free hand was on the radio, muttering into his collar.

“I bet he’s talking to the guys at the club,” Scully said, putting the key into the ignition. “I bet they’re planning something else. We now know stuff they are fretting over. Isn’t it sad that the entertainment industry is in bed with politics?”

“Has been, for many years,” I said, readjusting my earpiece. “I hate to think how deep we will be going down a rabbit hole tonight.”

Once Hiss had disappeared back into that club, Scully turned the car up, readjusted the air-con, turned the radio on. The car had warmed up gradually and we were roaring up Queen Street, towards K’Road.

“Hello boys,” I replied. “Anyone met a guy named Hiss?”

No-one responded. We were on K’Road by now, zooming off towards west Auckland. Not sure whereabouts but Scully knew the way.

“Copy, Cross & Scully?” it was Singh.

“Present,” I said, as we connected onto Great North Road.

“Hiss is an associate to Tobias, our interest. His real name is Taylor, skips prison a lot. We feel like he has an exempt yet he can still bully his way through. He is truly a snake,” Singh replied. There was silence on the airwaves.

“Scully, Tobias is…?”

We reached Grey Lynn. There was hardly anyone the roads, given that Auckland is a city that never sleeps.

Scully looked at me. “Yes, Tobias is well-known. Some say he’s been getting close to the government. I don’t know why Applegate would be doing what he’s doing. I wonder if he has been coerced into doing things. I know there’s some drugs involved. Everything that has been classified as taboo, has come true.”

“Why does all the crazies come out under the moonlight?” I said, looking at the moon sitting proudly in the night sky, in the side mirror.

“Copy Cross?”

“Here,” I said, as we furthered on Great North Road.

“Where are you guys?”

I looked at Scully. He gestured cutting his neck. As in, not to say anything.

“Still in the city, over.” Not lying, we were on the outskirts.

“How come I can see Scully driving towards Western Springs?”

There was a giggle from McKinlay.

“Ah, Scully seems to be onto something, over,” I stuttered, felt like I was pulling toilet paper out of my ass.

“Well, if Scully thinks Western Springs is where Tobias could be hiding, I might just agree with you,” Singh said, then the radio went quiet.

“How did you get the hunch that Tobias might be over here?” I asked.

“In my past life, I caught him out these ways, buying illegal drugs under the moonlight,” Scully said.

Western Springs was within sight. Scully turned into the carpark on the right and parked up near the walkway entrance to the lakeside park. The moon was up high, the light flooding the field in front of us. We could see the whole carpark. The entrance into Western Springs was behind us but we couldn’t see any thoroughfare yet. Adrenaline was still flowing through me from meeting Hiss, only twenty minutes prior. Whatever happened now on in, was exciting but creepy, at the same time. What if we meet Tobias face-to-face? What if Applegate was here waiting for us? He knew Scully’s car. What if I see Hiss again? That guy is scary. He knew so much, possibly Applegate fed him heaps of information. We need not worry about Hiss right now. He was probably bluffing. And he did admit that he was the road block, that we fell for.

A car sat idled just outside the gate, on the side of the road. The left indicator was flashing. But what was the driver doing?

“Here we go,” Scully said, as he slid further into his seat, with just enough eye level sitting on the dashboard.

“Can you see what type of car?” I asked, sliding into my seat too.

After I had said that, the passenger side door opened and a pair of legs popped out. A lady in a scantily-clad black evening dress stepped out onto the grass verge.

“Call-girls?” Scully asked.

“I wouldn’t say girls as such,” I said, half-smiling.

“Working Western Springs, possibly?” Scully asked. He peered out the driver’s window, looking at them from a different view.

I pulled out my phone and rang Singh. He picked up straightaway. “I had a hunch, if Applegate has jumped ship, he has our communications still. He would have heard everything we have said.”

“Yes,” Singh chuckled. “But I also have the powers to see his GPS. His last movements are close to Western Spring, which I believe that is Hiss. They’ll be following you.”

“A car has pulled up outside the entrance where we are,” I said. “The carpark between the speedway, MOTAT, and the lakeside park. Not one hundred percent sure, but things could be going down.”

Singh ended the call. By now, we could see about three girls in evening dresses on the grass verge laughing away. Another girl had got out of the car, drinking a can of something. They were laughing away, waiting for the driver to get out.

“Singh said Hiss was on his way to here!” I said. The wait was nervy. Adrenaline was pumping heavily. “Wouldn’t be surprised if that was Hiss.”

The driver got out of the car. The car eventually turned off. He patted his head, threw on a snap-back then joined the girls onto the grass verge. The streetlight caught his face.

“Applegate?”

“Makes sense,” I said, hiding my phone under my seat. “Singh said the last GPS movement of “Applegate” was coming toward us. Applegate would have tried to discard his whereabouts fairly quickly. Hiss would be listening to us and chuckling every step of the way but that’s information that is fairly concrete, nothing new in the unravelling of the picture, right?”

“Right.”

“So, I’m not sure what he’s playing. But, there’s definitely a mess unfolding and if this has something to do with the government, both parties involved are stressing. Someone’s dirty laundry is going to be aired soon,” I continued.

“This is far from over though,” Scully whispered. “We’ve only been given insignificant information that we can’t really act on until we see further progress.”

Scully had put the window down slightly, so he could hear what was going on near the road. Applegate had told the girls to meet him nearer to the entrance of the park. The girls started yabbering on about something as they flitted past in their dresses and flip-flops.

Applegate moved toward his car. Bright car lights reflected off his car. The sound of the car going faster than what it should be, got louder. And within seconds, a car accelerated and pummelled into Applegate and the car. A crashing sound filled the air as Applegate’s car enhanced a few meters forward. Applegate had disappeared.

“Holy shit!” Scully exclaimed, sitting upright in the car.

“We can’t go out there,” I said, restraining Scully from going outside. “We aren’t supposed to be here. We need to get in touch with Singh.”

The car stopped where Applegate had been parked. Who knows where his body was? Underneath the car, for all we knew. Two men hopped out of the car. Hiss from the driver’s side, Tobias from the passengers. The two men exchanged shifty looks.

“They’re over there,” Hiss said, pointing in the direction of us and the girls.

They were still yabbering behind us, oblivious at the car. Tobias’s pocket looked like it was bulging with goods. As to why he was walking across the carpark as if he had a carrot rammed up his ass, he sussed the parked car out. Thank goodness for tinted windows. He couldn’t see anything. The girls were yabbering away, getting excited to meet Tobias.

Hiss reversed into the carpark then did a swift turn into a carpark, directly in front of us.

I took the liberty and rang Singh.

“Cross?”

“Applegate is lying somewhere outside the carpark entrance to the Western Springs Speedway. He was just walking toward the car when a car accelerated up from behind him and pummelled into him, mowing him down while his car went somewhere else. We can’t investigate. We know where Hiss is.”

Singh was cussing on the phone. I put my hand over the mouthpiece. “Scully, get ready to go. Hiss is lining his car up so he can push us into the creek behind us.”

Scully twisted the key slightly and the car started to roar into motion. His foot rested on the accelerator pedal. He slipped his seatbelt on, watching in front of him intently. He could hear Hiss rev up his car.

“Go!” I spoke.

“What’s going on?” Singh called out but the call ended and my phone slipped out of my hand.

Just as we did a rapid turn out the carpark, Hiss’s car clipped our side. We sped off a few meters down the road and just managed to see Hiss’s car flip the fence and land in the creek. While we were on the road, we saw where Applegate’s car ended up and Applegate himself. He wasn’t moving.

“Guys, copy?” Singh on the radio.

“Copy,” I said.

“What’s happened?”

“We found Applegate’s car and the man himself. We need an ambulance and possibly a tow-truck. Hiss tried to run us down, failed, flipped his car and landed in the creek. Not sure where Tobias ended, probably fled on foot with his girls.”

“Oh dear. I’m on my way with the emergency services. We’ll see you shortly.”

Adrenaline had receded in my body. Scully parked the car on the grass verge and got out. He pulled out his cigarettes, handed me the box. I declined. In the distance, I could hear the emergency services coming from both directions. I got out.

Scully lit a cigarette stick and inhaled. “You know, brother, this isn’t over.”

And with that, I looked above at the moonlight and smiled. “No, it isn’t.”