Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1)(98)

“He broke off from our group a few months after the rebellion,” Noah said. “He went on alone.”

“And became a--?”

“Criminal. He’s good at it. Rich. Not as rich as you.”

“Huh. He wasn’t around when I started my surveillance on you guys.”

“How in the hell did you do that without us noticing?” Sisko sounded personally insulted.

“Some other time, Sisko. You can buy me a beer,” Asa said. “Focus. Tell the damn story.”

Caro did. Asa’s eyes took on a look similar to Noah’s when he was on AVP; both far away and laser-focused. Caro faltered when she came to the part about the belly dance at Angel Industries, but Asa’s eyes gleamed with enjoyment.

“You came in to shake your stuff during the meeting with Batello and the blonde? Wish I could have seen their faces.” He turned his gaze on Noah. “But let’s stay on topic. Why am I here?”

“We’re not done.” Noah went on to recount the events of the last few days. “When we make contact, Mark will follow us right back through our security,” he concluded. “There’s no keeping him out. The minute he figures out who he’s dealing with, he’ll try to control us by hurting Luke. Assuming Luke is still alive. That’s what we have to prevent.”

“OK.” Asa thought for a few seconds. “You need a proxy with a solid backstory that stands up to stellar hacking. Nice to know I’m so believable as a ruthless villain. I’m a data pirate, not a kidnapper.”

Noah shrugged. “Don’t take it personally. I just don’t know anyone better. Or worse, as the case may be. And an opportunist is an opportunist.”

Asa snorted. “Fuck you, Noah.”

“Didn’t know you were so sensitive,” Noah murmured.

“Neither did I,” Asa admitted. “Did you tell Hannah about my text message?”

“Yes,” Noah replied. “She wants to see you.”

“Ah.” Asa stared down at the table for a moment. “So what makes you think that I could pull this off?”

“Everything about you,” Sisko said. “I checked you out. You’re the perfect bad boy. We liked the data mining, the secret data auctions, the luxury properties. And you gotta tell me how you keep such a low personal profile. It was hard as hell to find a recent picture of you.”

Asa shrugged.

“And the real estate,” Sisko went on. “Buildings in Manhattan, penthouse apartments, mansions in Malibu, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Chicago, Boulder, Boca Raton. Bank accounts, stock portfolios, brokerage accounts, offshore accounts, foreign properties. And I liked your algorithms. There’s some good work there. ”

Asa’s jaw sagged. “Holy shit,” he said. “I don’t know whether to kill you or offer you a job.”

“Neither,” Sisko said. “I won’t let you kill me and I’m not looking for work right now. But if you need a consultant later, when things calm down, I’d tweak that latest algo to increase precision and speed. I’m expensive, though. Be warned.”

“I’ll think about it.” Asa turned back to Noah. “There’s the matter of payment.”

“Money is no object,” Noah said.

“It isn’t an issue for me, either,” Asa said. “That’s not the point. Although I will expect a huge advance. Upfront expenses, that kind of thing.”

“Anything else?”

Asa’s mouth curved in a thin smile. “Yes. If you want to take advantage of my cred and my resources, you have to give me something that I give a shit about. Aside from money. I have plenty of that.”

Noah waited. “What do you want?”

Asa’s eyes glittered. “Depends on what you’ve got.”

The three of them stared at him, blank.

Asa made an impatient sound. “Don’t insult my intelligence. There’s a crucial detail that you all left out. What’s in the safe? And what’s my cut?”

The pause was glaringly awkward. “Nothing of monetary value,” Noah said.

“I didn’t ask what it’s worth,” Asa said. “I asked what it is. What it’s worth is based on a constantly shifting set of relationships between who wants it, why they want it, how badly they want it, and the extent of their resources. Calculating that value is my thing. I’m very good at it.” He tapped impatiently on the table. “So what’s in it?”

No one answered him. Asa leaned forward. “Understand this,” he said softly. “I owe you nothing, and I will not be your tool. Do not f*ck with me.”

A muscle pulsed in Noah’s jaw. He hesitated so long, Caro had almost concluded that he had decided not to speak at all.

“Obsidian has made a new generation of genetically and technologically enhanced supersoldiers,” Noah said finally. “More powerful than in our day, according to Mark. Their memories were suppressed. They’ve been folded back into normal civilian life until they’re called for. That safe holds their control frequencies and activation codes. All twelve hundred of them.” He gestured toward Caro. “And she set the code.”

Asa’s eyes widened. “She’s the only one who can open it?”

Noah nodded.