Read Online Vanished - A Mystery (Dixon & Baudin Book 1) by Victor Methos - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Victor Methos
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the precinct?”
On the drive over, Dixon glanced at Baudin, who was busy again on his iPad. The man had an intense look of concentration that never broke. Even when he appeared to be relaxing, his face and body posture betrayed the fact that he was thinking furiously about something.
“So that 9-11 bullshit,” Dixon said. “You really believe that?”
“I do.”
“Well, what else you believe?”
“Whatd’ya mean?”
“I don’t think conspiracy theorists are ever happy with one conspiracy. I’m sure you got more.”
He grinned and lowered his iPad. “You trying to get to know me, Kyle?”
“I’ve always been interested in what crazy people believe.”
He went back to the iPad. “You ever heard of the Tuskegee experiments?”
“No.”
He looked out the window at a woman on the corner. “Government researchers wanted to study the progression of syphilis but didn’t want to use whites. So they studied it in the black population in Alabama. They never told the participants they had syphilis. In Guatemala, these same government doctors purposely infected people with syphilis, too. They knew penicillin could cure it, but they never gave it to them or to the blacks in Alabama. They let them die, so they could study them.”
“Bullshit,” Dixon said.
“Look it up, man. Don’t take my word for it. But a government willing to kill its own people just to study syphilis… Imagine what that government would do to its own people if it wanted to go to war and needed an excuse. We been at war for a hundred years with almost no periods of peace, man. Somewhere in the world, American soldiers are fighting, all the time. We’re a nation built on war. Our government doesn’t know how to function any other way.”
Dixon shook his head. “You believe in UFOs, too?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t—what? That’s just stupid.”
“How the hell do I know what’s up there? Could be giant spacewomen for all I know.”
“Giant spacewomen infecting people with syphilis?”
He shrugged. “Maybe they get around?”
Dixon chuckled as he merged onto the interstate.
Once he’d dropped Baudin off at his car, Dixon headed to KBS 5 News. The studio was in what appeared to be an office building with a private two-year college on the first floor. Dixon parked at a meter and put coins in before heading inside and up to the main floor.
The station had no security, which always surprised him, considering that these people were on television every night and the offices had nameplates on all the doors. Everyone seemed to be preparing for the mid-morning broadcast, and he stood by for a second and watched them on the monitors, practicing and warming up their voices.
He continued to the last office, which had a nameplate on the door: “Carol Billings.”
She was typing away on her computer so quickly that it sounded like pounding rain rather than typing. When she didn’t notice his presence after he’d stood there for a few seconds, he cleared his throat. She jumped as though he’d just grabbed her purse.
“Oh my gosh,” she said.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting down across from her. “Didn’t think you were so jumpy.”
She exhaled as though forcing herself to calm down. “You always sneak up on women?”
“Just the ones I’m gonna rape.”
She threw a pencil at him. “Asshole.”
“How you been?”
Carol took a sip from a bottle of water and then leaned back in her chair. “Good. Did you see my piece on the water dispute between the mayor and Frank Herbert?”
“I didn’t. I don’t watch TV, Carol.”
“Like, at all?”
“Like, at all. Just takes away my time or upsets me.”
“What about the news? You’re a detective, you gotta know what’s going on in your city.”
“I figure it’s none of my business. World’s always been a mess, I ain’t gonna fix it.”
“That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”
Dixon brushed a piece of lint off his pants. “Listen, I
On the drive over, Dixon glanced at Baudin, who was busy again on his iPad. The man had an intense look of concentration that never broke. Even when he appeared to be relaxing, his face and body posture betrayed the fact that he was thinking furiously about something.
“So that 9-11 bullshit,” Dixon said. “You really believe that?”
“I do.”
“Well, what else you believe?”
“Whatd’ya mean?”
“I don’t think conspiracy theorists are ever happy with one conspiracy. I’m sure you got more.”
He grinned and lowered his iPad. “You trying to get to know me, Kyle?”
“I’ve always been interested in what crazy people believe.”
He went back to the iPad. “You ever heard of the Tuskegee experiments?”
“No.”
He looked out the window at a woman on the corner. “Government researchers wanted to study the progression of syphilis but didn’t want to use whites. So they studied it in the black population in Alabama. They never told the participants they had syphilis. In Guatemala, these same government doctors purposely infected people with syphilis, too. They knew penicillin could cure it, but they never gave it to them or to the blacks in Alabama. They let them die, so they could study them.”
“Bullshit,” Dixon said.
“Look it up, man. Don’t take my word for it. But a government willing to kill its own people just to study syphilis… Imagine what that government would do to its own people if it wanted to go to war and needed an excuse. We been at war for a hundred years with almost no periods of peace, man. Somewhere in the world, American soldiers are fighting, all the time. We’re a nation built on war. Our government doesn’t know how to function any other way.”
Dixon shook his head. “You believe in UFOs, too?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t—what? That’s just stupid.”
“How the hell do I know what’s up there? Could be giant spacewomen for all I know.”
“Giant spacewomen infecting people with syphilis?”
He shrugged. “Maybe they get around?”
Dixon chuckled as he merged onto the interstate.
Once he’d dropped Baudin off at his car, Dixon headed to KBS 5 News. The studio was in what appeared to be an office building with a private two-year college on the first floor. Dixon parked at a meter and put coins in before heading inside and up to the main floor.
The station had no security, which always surprised him, considering that these people were on television every night and the offices had nameplates on all the doors. Everyone seemed to be preparing for the mid-morning broadcast, and he stood by for a second and watched them on the monitors, practicing and warming up their voices.
He continued to the last office, which had a nameplate on the door: “Carol Billings.”
She was typing away on her computer so quickly that it sounded like pounding rain rather than typing. When she didn’t notice his presence after he’d stood there for a few seconds, he cleared his throat. She jumped as though he’d just grabbed her purse.
“Oh my gosh,” she said.
“Sorry,” he said, sitting down across from her. “Didn’t think you were so jumpy.”
She exhaled as though forcing herself to calm down. “You always sneak up on women?”
“Just the ones I’m gonna rape.”
She threw a pencil at him. “Asshole.”
“How you been?”
Carol took a sip from a bottle of water and then leaned back in her chair. “Good. Did you see my piece on the water dispute between the mayor and Frank Herbert?”
“I didn’t. I don’t watch TV, Carol.”
“Like, at all?”
“Like, at all. Just takes away my time or upsets me.”
“What about the news? You’re a detective, you gotta know what’s going on in your city.”
“I figure it’s none of my business. World’s always been a mess, I ain’t gonna fix it.”
“That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”
Dixon brushed a piece of lint off his pants. “Listen, I
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