Chapter 7- Tracking The Mastermind

As always, the man who held a gun pointed at Katie's head, kept his silence. Bruce squinted his eyes. He understood the problem now. Not speaking a single word for nearly 20 minutes and also not being an elite soldier. The most possible cause is mind-control. There can be other causes like mind-submission through torture. But then they would have some level of special training. They should have put up some fight. These people were just street-level thugs. They should not even have any guns with them. Katie's previous guards did not even show any sign of mind submission or mind-control before. So it means someone recently mind-controlled them. And that person also supplied them with most, if not all the weapons.

Bruce took out his knife from a hidden location in his arm. He aimed it carefully and threw it towards the hand that held the gun.

The knife flew out of his hand, and in an instant, it pierced the last kidnapper's palm from behind. His gun fell from his hand. And he screamed out loud.

This is when Bruce got another surprise.

Katie turned around and punched the kidnapper in the face with a very good form. The man got pushed back but he could easily endure a punch like that. He tried to hit Katie with his leg, but suddenly all he could see in front of his face is a big black fist. Then everything got dark.

Katie- "Bruce. Is that you?"

Bruce- "Yes. Did they hurt you?"

-"No. Although they were not gentle, they never hurt me."

-"So what happened? I want every detail, it will help me locate the main culprit."

-"There is not much to tell. There was an orphanage opening ceremony, I had to attend. It also worked as a fundraiser for the orphanage."

-"Where was the ceremony?"

-"Bloomingdale."

-"Hmm. This is Harlem. Not very far. No possible way to triangulate any location."

-"Hey. You said you are going to be a private detective. Is this what you had in mind? A vigilante?

-"We will talk about it later. Now please continue the events as you remember."

-"Yes we will. And there is nothing much to say. After the ceremony & my and some other people's speech, we were coming back. That is when I heard someone say one word to me. 'Sleep'. After that, all I remember is waking up here.

-"What about the guards? Were you with 3 of them all the time?"

-"No. That is not always the case. When I am outside, sometimes one of them goes to bring food or followed some of my other demands and needs. That is when I am with two guards. But no less than 2."

-"When you heard the voice in your head, were you with those two guards?" Bruce pointed at the two unconscious guards.

Katie looked at them and said- "Yes. Did they betray me?"

-"Not necessarily. From my initial inspection, everyone here is under mind-control of some kind. Now, remember very carefully, when you were with these two guards, and the 3rd guard was not around for some reason. Was there anything that stands out? Or anything common between the events?

Katie thought hard for some time but she could not find any connection.

Bruce- "Ok, don't worry. I have other ways to find him. But if you remember anything, remember to tell me through this communicator. I have to go now."

Katie- "What? Why? Can't you let the police handle everything from here? I am already safe."

-"Yes you are safe for now. But what about later when I am not around? From the shadow guards report, I found out what happened after you passed out. Although both of your guards were mind-controlled, they did not fall asleep. They held you like you are sleepy. Shadow guards did not find anything wrong with it. But when the 3rd guard arrived with your car, they zapped her using a stun gun. One of them dragged her out of the car and left her there. The other guard then dragged you into the car. Then they drove off on a very specific road. The shadow guards followed you. But when they reached this place, it was already guarded by at least 15 men. There exchanged some bullets. But before they received backup from other bodyguards or police, the building was already in lockdown.

-"What? If you already had all the information, then why did you ask me about where I was and which guard I was with?"

-"To rule out the possibility of someone in the shadow guard being mind-controlled."

After that Bruce checked the building and its system completely. He told her to unlock the building after exactly 16 minutes. As that would be the last time to complete the transaction.

Katie- "What should I tell police about what happened here?"

Bruce- "Tell them you don't know. All you could see was a black shadow. That would be enough."

-"So where are you going now?"

-"After exactly 11 minutes I will send them dummy data. That will let me track them. So I have to be ready to follow the signal."

-"Take care of yourself. Don't get hurt."

-"It's them who will get hurt."

After saying that Bruce left the building the same way he entered. He took the car and went directly towards the tallest building in Harlem. He can get a better signal from there.

.

When the time came he told Alfred to signal the FBI from the given device and told the AI to upload the data.

But what is surprising is that they downloaded the data just before the time they had given. And right after that, they closed the server. It is impossible to track the device using normal technology now. If there is no military-grade equipment, it is impossible to track them in that short time. It is good that he had a backup plan.

After following the tracking signal, when he reached the place, the FBI was already arresting a teenager. This cannot be right. At this moment he even got another signal from someplace else. It's from Hell's Kitchen.

This teenager is a middleman. Maybe someone paid some money to download the data and send it to another device. He did not think that FBI could track the server signal within that minimum time. Their technology level is higher than he thought. It's like they have military-grade technology. Other than Army no one else should have this high-level technology.

Well, no one else other than Bruce Wayne. As his supercomputer is made by his own company. It was even assembled by Alfred, away from everyone's eyes. Other than Alfred, Katie, and Bruce, no one else knows about this supercomputer.

It looks like US Army did provide help, even though they did not send any manpower.

He drove his Black Ascari KZ1-R towards the target location. He now has to reach his target as fast as possible. Which is in a completely different direction.