The Nightwatcher: Episode Three

By Scott Shoemaker

After a hitman shoots billionaire Gregory Arkadin, four people - a homeless woman with perfect memory, a simple office worker,a priest, and the hitman - find themselves in the sights of the vigilante known as The Nightwatcher. Can the hitman get out of Lake City before he's brought to justice? Will the priest help the vigilante even though it may betray everything he believes in? And how does the menial office worker fit into The Nightwatcher's plans?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Shoemaker
• Release date: Mar 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310313868

Scott Shoemaker

Scott Shoemaker lives in Minnesota.

Book preview

The Nightwatcher

Episode Three

by Scott Shoemaker

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 Scott Shoemaker

Table of Contents

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1

Gregory Arkadin glared at his assistant, freezing her with his eyes. What did you say?

The arching eyebrows might have terrified a civilian, but blonde tressed Alicia had worked for Lake City’s richest man for fifteen years. She was used to delivering bad news and the inevitable flare up. After all, even Gregory Arkadin had to deal with the occasional obstacle.

The underground garage is unavailable, she repeated. The car will pick you up in front of the east entrance.

Arkadin’s lip twitched slightly. An outside pick up meant dealing with people. Just the thought of a few seconds among the great unwashed made his thousand dollar suit itch. And the press would be there…

Why is it unavailable?

Alicia didn’t look up from her tablet, scrolling through the day’s schedule. A bank of security cameras failed. Maintenance is replacing them as we speak.

Arkadin considered it for a moment. It was a nuisance, but what was the point of having money if nuisances couldn’t be eliminated. No matter, it was being dealt with.

He stood silently in the elevator as it descended down the gleaming tower that bore his name. His mind began to wander to the schedule full of meetings and other obligations. None of them meant anything to him. The money, the power, all of the things anyone else lusted after were old hat to him.

No, what mattered to Gregory Arkadin at this moment was the secret project that he and several others had initiated months before, the one he considered his true legacy. It had gone well thus far, but not without problems. Not challenges or opportunities, Arkadin told himself. There was no room for management-speak in that world.

He had faced problems before and conquered them. The unions had threatened his plants south of the city, but he crushed them before they barely started. And the fight against Arkadin Tower had taken years until the first steel beam was erected. He would do the same with this new venture.

The elevator eased to a halt with a soft musical tone. Alicia handed Arkadin his coat and led him through the lobby of Arkadin Tower, ignoring the surprised looks of his worker drones. He looked up the open space that ran down the tower’s center, wishing he was still at the top in his office. Up there, if he couldn’t solve a problem, at least he was far away from it.

Before he reached the revolving glass door, Arkadin saw the snapping, snarling press waiting for him. Not a lot of them, maybe a half dozen with cameras and recorders, but that was more than enough.

Damn security cameras. If it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t have to face that nattering horde. If someone caused the cameras to fail, not only would they be looking for a new job, they wouldn’t be able to find one within sixty miles of Lake City.

Control.

That was it. He didn’t like talking to the press because he couldn’t control the questions. And now the defective cameras had taken control away from him.

Sir?

He turned Alicia who was handing him the tablet.

Yes, thank you. He took it and started to the door.

There were two strategies for dealing with the gathered press. Push through and ignore their questions or answer a few in the hopes that that would be enough.

Arkadin knew it would never be enough for them. Answers only led to more questions, turning the billionaire into a dog chasing his own tail. Perhaps he needed to sit down and do an interview, maybe with Matt Thompson, the one who thought he was the Nightwatcher. He seemed like the type who could be given a little and think he got a lot.

Another time, Arkadin thought, as he pushed open the door. There were more pressing issues.

The press converged on him like ravenous lions on fresh meat.

Mister Arkadin, do you have any response to the rumor you’re the Nightwatcher?

Arkadin decided on the first strategy. He kept his head down and plowed forward. How many questions could they get in in the twenty feet to the waiting car?

Is it true you’ve started this campaign as a way to get rid of Cheech Beldone?

Focusing on the cool plastic of the tablet he held to his chest, Arkadin summoned every bit of will power not to react. Fifteen feet to the car…

What about reports you’re going to buy the St. Louis Razors and move them to Lake City?

He hadn’t heard that one. That was a good one. A laugh escaped from Arkadin’s lips. That would give them more than enough to talk about in the papers and on the