Polaris Rising (Consortium Rebellion, #1)(25)

Once I was sure we were alone, I closed the distance between us. “I’m not sure that was wise,” I said. “We need to be invisible, to be overlooked. You put a target on us.”

“Sweetheart,” Loch drawled, “I’ve been running from mercs for far longer than you’ve been slumming it. If I want to know what fork to use at a Consortium dinner, I’ll ask you. If we’re dealing with mercenaries, I’ll handle it.”

I clenched the hilt of the knife and told myself I absolutely, positively was not going to bash Marcus Loch in the head with it. But I imagined it. Oh, I imagined it with great relish. One of these days I was going to take the cocky bastard down a peg or two or twenty and he was going to deserve every second of it.



The fence’s shop was behind an unmarked door in an unmarked alley. We were let into an empty room where Marcus had a quiet conversation with an older woman. After a few minutes we were led through a series of rooms and passageways until I was positive we had left the original building.

Twenty minutes of mind-numbing twists and turns later, we entered the shop. I had a fairly good idea of where we were but wouldn’t be able to confirm until we were outside.

The shop looked like any high-end boutique in the ’verse, with glass counters protecting the valuable merchandise and everything else displayed on shelves. The only difference was that everything of value was placed on cloth rolls or cloth sacks for easy grab-and-go convenience. Portability was essential when the law came to call.

A tall, slender woman with warm brown skin, long black hair, and round, rose-colored spectacles stood behind the far counter. Several guards were scattered around. Clearly the fence didn’t want her own goods stolen.

I started by looking at the knives. I’d dealt with fences before and you never wanted to tip your hand too early. Most of the knives were mediocre combat blades but a nice little stiletto dagger caught my eye. My younger sister Catarina would love it.

I worked my way halfway around the room, spending time looking at things I had no intention of buying. When I got to the com units, I saw that they only had one option that was going to work for me.

The shopkeeper wandered closer, smelling blood. “Do you need a new com?” she asked. Her voice was soft and melodious. I bet she’d talked many a person into spending extra money with that voice.

“Perhaps,” I said. “Do you have anything decent?”

Her lips tipped up in a small smile. “Ah, a woman,” she said. “Women get discounts in my shop. I am Veronica. And to answer your question, yes, I have many decent things, but if you’re looking for the best, this is it. This com just arrived yesterday.”

She pulled out the exact com I knew I needed. It was a top-of-the-line House von Hasenberg model very much like the one I’d left behind on the space station. In fact, there was a chance it was the one I’d left behind.

“May I see it?”

“Of course,” Veronica said. She pulled it out, powered it up, and handed it over. Device locked to Maria Franco was the only thing shown on the screen.

Well, I’ll be damned.

“It seems it is locked,” I said. “And therefore useless.”

Veronica waved her hands. “It is a small matter to unlock it,” she said.

I didn’t have to fake my dubious look. If she could unlock this device then I would hire her for the House on the spot. “How much?”

“Five thousand credits,” she said.

I laughed. Even new it hadn’t cost that much. “I will give you two thousand if you can unlock it. Otherwise, I will give you two hundred because trying to unlock it might be an interesting challenge. But most likely it will end up a paperweight.”

“You give me too little credit,” she said. “Thirty-five hundred if I can unlock it in the next five minutes, otherwise seven-fifty locked.”

“Three thousand unlocked or five hundred locked,” I countered. “Plus, I will see what other things I might want to purchase from your lovely shop.”

The fence inclined her head. “You drive a hard bargain, madam, but I accept. I will start a timer.”

I glanced at my current com. This room and probably the entire compound blocked the signal, but I could still check the time. I went back to shopping. Loch remained standing by the door. Apparently he was playing silent bodyguard.

I found a bracelet and necklace, a pretty scarf, some clothes, and several other odds and ends. I pointed at the stiletto and an assistant materialized from the back to pull it from the case. A couple of anonymous hard credit chips—ridiculously marked up, naturally—rounded out my purchases.

I’d spent a fortune, but by the way Veronica was frowning at the com, she wasn’t having any success. It had been well over her five-minute allotment at this point.

She sighed in defeat. “I wish you luck, madam,” she said. “This com is locked more thoroughly than any I’ve ever seen. I feel bad selling it to you.”

“No worries, I agreed to purchase it. Plus, I found all of these other lovelies to soothe my frustration when I can’t unlock its secrets.”

“Twelve-fifty for the lot of it,” she said. It was a more than fair price, so I nodded. I tapped my right thumb and pinky finger together under the concealment of my cloak.

“Hard credits?” she asked. When I shook my head, she held out a chip reader. “Then scan here, please,” she said.