Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1) (36 page)

Noah went still. “What kind of money?”

Sisko kept staring into the screen. “Half a billion, at least. I’ve been poking around in his stuff . He’s got some sweet algorithms. I was checking out a few just now, when you came down. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was a modified.”

“Huh,” Noah muttered. “Weird, for a kid who would never do his math homework or pick up his dirty socks. What kind of enemies?”

“The kind you wouldn’t want to have,” Sisko said. “There’s a price on his head. He stays on the move. It’s hard to pin down his location.”

Noah padded into the kitchen to get a beer, and then went to stretch out on a couch. He was a couple yards away from Sisko, but he could still read all the data on the screen without appearing to look.

“Data auctions, huh?” he said. “With that kind of money socked away, he must do it just to keep score.”

Sisko shot him a thoughtful glance. “You’ve got that much money,” he observed. “More, even. Are you just keeping score?”

Noah opened his beer and took a swallow. Light from the unshielded computer screen was making his eyes water, which made the combat program sputter and scroll in his inner vision, in jarring fits and starts. He rubbed his eyes, squinting. Didn’t want to put on the lenses, or the shield specs. He was so sick of them.

“That’s different,” he muttered. “I’m creating stuff that improves the quality of people’s lives. He’s just exploiting greed and vice for profit.”

Sisko’s narrow gaze met his. “Wow. Pissed at him much?”

Noah took a swallow of beer. “Why would I be? Haven’t seen him in years.”

“You’re not usually so quick to judge. Cut him some slack.”

“Doesn’t matter if I do or don’t,” Noah said. “He doesn’t give a shit.”

“Ah.” Sisko’s tone was thoughtful. “So it’s like that. After all this time.”

“What of it? Don’t preach. It’s been a long day, and I’m not in the mood.”

“I don’t make adjustments for your moods,” Sisko informed him. “I just spent hours replaying that footage of Mark’s attack on Luke. About a thousand times.”

“Insights?”

“That thing he stuck onto Luke’s head,” Sisko said. “It reminded us of something. Zade noticed it first. We were going to mention it to you. Then things got crazy.”

Sisko’s hesitance was bugging him. “So? Let’s have it.”

“It looks like a miniature brain scan and brain monitor design,” Sisko said. “There’s something similar in the line of Batello products that are currently in development.”

That startled him. “Simone,” he said.

“Yeah,” Sisko agreed. “It looks like one of Simone’s designs.”

The implications of that were sweeping and ugly. Noah pondered them briefly, and then shoved them into a box in his mind. For later.

“One thing at a time,” he said finally. “This has to wait.”

Sisko nodded slowly. The laptop on his thighs was the only source of light in the room, which made it easier to scan his sig. It was usually a mellow, uniform pulsing alternation of purples and blues. Today it was bigger, darker, with more extreme contrasts, and it was shot through with agitated spikes like solar flares.

“What’s up with you?” Noah asked. “You OK?”

“No,” Sisko said. “I’m just trying to distract myself from the thought of what’s going to happen to Luke once Mark realizes that we have his shiny toy.”

“Caro isn’t his toy,” Noah said. “I have to take him down before he finds out.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about. We, Noah.
We
have to take him down.”

Noah clenched his fists. “Are you going to get up in my face?”

“Someone has to,” Sisko said. “You’re being a goddamn dictator.”

Anger flared, ramping up his combat program. A kill plan for Sisko suddenly flickered on his inner screen. He ignored it.

Sisko heaved a weary sigh. “But hey. You saved our asses on rebellion day, and afterwards. We all know it. We’ll never forget it. Still and all, you can’t carry us anymore.”

“We saved each other at Midlands,” Noah said. “We all did our part. I couldn’t have done it without every single one of you guys.”

Sisko rolled his eyes. “Maybe in the battle itself. But after? We were wrecked. They would have scooped us all back up and tossed us right back into the shredder if not for you.”

Noah scowled. “So what’s your point?”

“You can’t do everything yourself,” Sisko said.

“What about Zade?” Noah demanded. “You really think that he should be involved in this? Mark has his fucking codes. He can kill Zade in one second. From across the room.”

“Yes, that is a problem,” Sisko conceded. “Let Zade work it out. He’s not a kid. And Hannah--”

“No way. She can’t get near this.”

“Why? Because she’s your baby sister? She’ll tear you to shreds if you cut her out of the action.”

“Let’s argue about this when I’m not chewing nails.”

“You could spit out the nails,” Sisko suggested. “Just a thought.”

Then Noah saw the colors, slowly revolving on the walls and ceiling. Caro had sneaked out the bedroom door. She leaned over the railing, trying to listen in, her sig like a huge peony blooming in the darkness. He glanced up, and she pulled back with a guilty look.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked.

“Same reason you’re not, probably.”

“Don’t think so,” he said. “I do soldier sentinel sleep. It’s a Midlands thing. We toggle brain hemispheres, resting one while we function at a hundred percent with the other. You, on the other hand, need regular sleep. I can see it from here. Go get some more of it.”

Her sig got bigger, unfurling like the fan of some huge fantasy peacock, like it always did whenever her pride was involved. The image filled the room, silently defying him.

It drove him nuts. OK, he could be a controlling bastard. But for a damn good reason. Controlling people was sometimes the only way to protect them. Worked sometimes. Or it crashed and burned. He hadn’t been able to control Asa. He hadn’t been able to protect Hannah. But God, he had tried. So fucking hard.

If he couldn’t control Caro, then he couldn’t protect her.

Caro ignored his command and descended the stairs, dignified as an empress. She seemed to drift an inch or so above the ground, in her swirling cloud of colors.

“How did you know I was there?” she asked. “That door doesn’t squeak.”

Sisko snorted under his breath. Noah shot him a quelling look. She didn’t need to know how acute their hearing actually was. At least not right now. Best to let details like that sink in gradually over time.

“Your sig. It’s really bright,” he said. “I could see you from space.”

“And I try so hard to be unobtrusive,” she murmured. The lights were ebbing now, Noah noticed. He wondered if she could control it.

“So what are you guys doing?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“Fill me in, Noah.” Her voice was adamant.

“You don’t need to know about things that don’t concern you.”

“How could you conclude that this doesn’t concern me?” she demanded. “I wrote that note to Mark myself, remember? You’re the Keyholder. Mark’s the Keyseeker. I’m the goddamn key. Me, Noah. So yes, I’m pretty fucking concerned.”

“You’re not getting anywhere near it,” he said.

“I appreciate your protective instincts, but Mark won’t walk into your trap so easily. Plus, I assume you mean to take him alive, so you can question him about Luke. Then there’s the safe, which is a huge threat to everyone as long as he has it.”

“Anything else?” She was on it, he had to admit.

“So, with all that, you still think you have to go after Mark alone because only superduper you can handle him? Get over yourself.”

Sisko crowed under his breath. “Amen, sister. Nailed it.”

Noah exhaled slowly. “But it makes sense,” he said tightly. “It was my decision to let him run around loose for so long, so it should be me who makes it right. Plus, we’re evenly matched. Same advantages, no surprises. It’ll be like fighting myself.”

“Yes, except that he’s a psycho.”

“I don’t intend to fight fair,” Noah said. “When my AVP is running hot, I could give fucking Satan a run for his money. I can send Mark a video of you when we make contact with him.”

“Send him what you want, but he still won’t show for a meet-up unless he knows for sure that I’m there,” Caro said. “And he’d be an idiot to come alone. So you can’t either. It would be a suicide mission. I’m vetoing it.”

“Is that right.” His hands clenched into fists as the data scroll speeded and flickered. “Since when did you get veto power?”

“Since I took it for myself.”

They stared at each other as her sig billowed out. If he were outside the house, he’d see it filling the whole dark forest. Rising up into the night sky.

“Throwdown time.” Sisko’s voice was hushed.

“Shut up,” Noah snapped. He turned back to Caro. “Got some brilliant alternative?”

“No,” she said. “So far, my biggest ambition was just to prove that Mark killed Dex, and see him go to prison. Everything’s different now that you guys are involved.”

“Yeah, well, somebody has to die,” Sisko said. “And it’s not going to be any of us. If he lives, he’ll punish us by hurting Luke. Unless we take him alive.”

“Don’t know if we can,” Noah said. “He was the best back in the day, and he’s had twelve years to hone his killing skills. And even if we did take him alive, that doesn’t mean we’ll get Luke’s location out of him.”

“That’s true,” Sisko conceded.

The man was on his side again, at least for now. Noah continued. “We all had strong resistance to interrogation vectored into our genes. Midlander researchers probably built in some tricks to pry us open, but I don’t know what they are.”

“If we make contact, he’ll follow the breadcrumbs right back through our security and Luke will be fucked,” Sisko said. “We need someone else to be our front man. Someone with no connection to us and genuine ties to the criminal underworld. Only a real-life, drug dealing, human-trafficking crime boss would be credible to Mark.”

Noah’s heart thudded heavily. As if it was his body that had this crazy idea, but his brain lagged behind, unwilling to allow it fully into his consciousness.

Even though it was kicking and banging. Breaking down the door.
Asa.

Sisko went on with his musing. “But dealing with those guys is such a fucking mess. Like handling a bag of rattlesnakes.”

“A con.” Noah blurted. He stopped, and swallowed to keep his voice from vibrating. “You’re talking about running a con. On Mark.”

“I am?” Sisko said. He and Caro glanced at each other, uncomprehending.

“What do you mean?” Caro asked. “What kind of con?”

“You lost me,” Sisko said.

“Shhhh. Let me think.” He buried his face in his hands.

This explained that crazy imbed. His subconscious mind had already known exactly what he had to do. This was the only way through this mess.

But it was going to cost him big.

He pulled out his phone and retrieved the message he’d received the other day after Caro’s dance. Waiting wouldn’t make this idea any less insane. H
e hit ‘call.’

The line connected. He didn’t look at Caro or Sisko, who both watched him, bewildered. Five rings. Six. Seven . . .

Click.
He waited in the taut silence of the open line for a few seconds.

“Danny.” An expressionless baritone voice. Deeper than he remembered.

“I don’t answer to that name anymore,” he said. “I’m Noah now.”

Asa grunted. “OK. So what? Did you know it’s two AM? Don’t you sleep?”

“Hang up, if you feel inconvenienced. I won’t bother you again.”

Asa just waited. “So?” he said, finally. “What do you want?”

Noah controlled himself somehow. Too much backed up feeling, unsaid words.
Keep it simple.
“I need your help,” he said.

“Tell me more,” Asa said.

“Not on the phone. Are you in the Seattle area?”

“I’m around. Should I come to the lake house? You never even brought that fiancée there. Or ex-fiancée, I should say. You have me to thank for dodging that bullet.”

“I’m not thanking you for that or anything. And no, not the lake house. Come to this address.” He gave Asa the address of a nearby roadhouse bar. “How long?”

“I could be there in forty minutes,” Asa said.

“OK. See you there.” He hung up.

Sisko’s eyes were wide. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “Is that who I think it was?”

Noah let out a careful breath before he could trust his voice. “Only one person I know has the cred to pull off a con like that.”

Sisko cleared his throat. “Uh . . . I wasn’t serious when I proposed it,” he said. “You said you didn’t even know the guy anymore. You sure it’s a good idea?”

“No,” Noah snapped. “It’s what happens when you’re driven into a corner. You do dumb things, because you have no alternative.”

“Can someone fucking fill me in?” Caro snapped. “What dumb thing are you about to do?”

“Get your shoes on,” he said. “You’re about to meet my long lost brother.”

Chapter 27

Caro warmed her chilly hands with a cup of reheated coffee. Not worth drinking, but it served its purpose. The roadhouse restaurant was dim, and a live band played in the next room. The twangy music not improved by a muddy, blatting sound system.

She tried at intervals to speak to Noah, but he had retreated behind a wall of ice.

Sisko kept at him, though, too stubborn to quit. “You should have talked to me before you called,” he said heatedly. “You don’t know if you can trust him.”

“I know that I can’t trust him at all,” Noah said, his voice remote and cold. “But we need specialized help. From a crook.” He hesitated. “He’s a crook I can control.”

“What makes you think so?” Sisko snapped. “You haven’t so far.”

“He reached out to me,” Noah said. “He wants something from me. Whatever it is, I’ll bargain with that.”

Sisko made a disgusted sound. “And what could that be? Your kidneys? Your firstborn? Jesus, Noah. What are you going to tell Hannah?”

“Nothing.” Noah gave them both a hard look. “She has no reason to know.”

“She’s going to find out. You can’t protect her forever.”