Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“No weapons,” the lead guard says. He’s in a black combat helmet, and I can’t see his face, but his accent is American. I’d bet these are mercenaries.
“I have one gun in my jacket.” I pull it open to show the holster.
The guard reaches in and takes it. He releases the magazine, removes the bullet from the chamber, and hands the weapon off to his assistant. Then he pats me down quickly and efficiently but finds nothing else.
“Go ahead,” he says, nodding.
I walk toward the waiting group.
A folding card table is set up, and a small man is sitting behind it. He’s wiry and older, with a bald head, dark eyes, and a hard frown. I’ve never seen him before.
“I brought what you’re looking for,” I say, holding out the folder.
The man doesn’t move. “My name is Fungal Spread. Do you know me?”
My eyebrows raise. “If that’s true, then you’re the most notorious hacker in the world.”
“And you are Permafrost. One of the best I’ve ever seen.” Fungal Spread watches me with a cold, ruthless stare. “But you took too long.”
“I wasn’t given much to work with.”
“I’m aware. My predecessor, Iron Head, was a desperate, stupid man. You never should have been brought into this process from the start.”
“We can agree on that.” I hold the folder up. “Do you want it?”
He frowns at me. “Did you really find the watch?”
“Take a look and find out.”
He seems intrigued and gestures sharply. One of his soldiers walks over, takes the folder, and hands it off. Fungal Spread sifts through the documents, reading them quickly. His eyes dart from side to side, and his lips move as if he’s vocalizing to himself.
“And all this is correct?” he asks.
“Everything in there is entirely accurate.” I’m extremely aware of the high-powered weapons all around me. I’d bet there’s a sniper or two up on the partially finished roof as well. One wrong move, one gesture from Fungal Spread, and my brains will be a fine pink mist. “It wasn’t easy to find.”
“This is a very disturbing revelation. How did you even think to look here?”
I have to be very, very careful here. I need to skirt the line between true and false. If I make up too much bullshit, Fungal Spread will grow suspicious. But I can’t just say I guessed.
“Iron Head’s records indicated he was meeting with a wide variety of people on the day the watch went missing. We noticed he stayed with several known associates of Los Sombras. My wife’s brother was involved with one of their heists—” I hesitate, running right up against the edge here. “And he told me about a rumor he’d heard. That Los Sombras had come up on an even bigger score. Something massive and dangerous.”
“And that was enough to make you hack their systems.” Fungal Spread nodded to himself as he flipped through the pages.
“I found the conversations first. As you can see, they’re mostly in code, but they all keep referring to some massive score. But they were having trouble figuring out how to access it. That was one huge clue. We kept digging after that and monitored Diego Navarro’s communications. The smoking gun finally showed up two days ago when he directly referenced an encrypted watch. That’s on the last page.”
Fungal Spread grunts softly and leans back in his chair. He watches me, his face giving up nothing. If he realizes that every single conversation in that dossier is a forgery, I’m fucked. He’ll kill me and everyone I know. But I don’t back down, and I don’t show fear. I stand strong for Riley and our future child.
“And if I direct my people to hack Navarro’s system as well?” Fungal Spread asks. “What will they find?”
“Exactly what’s in that dossier.” Which is true, thanks to my crew. We worked day and night to set it all up right under Navarro’s nose. He’s got no clue the incriminating evidence is on his computer system now. And unless Fungal Spread himself does an extremely deep and detailed investigation into Navarro’s logs, which is possible but very unlikely, nobody will ever know the evidence was planted.
Fungal Spread nods slowly and closes the dossier. “Very good,” he says. “Very, very good. We were aware Los Sombras was unhappy with our organization; however—” He stops himself as if suddenly realizing he was saying too much. “At any rate, you did good work, Permafrost.”
“Thank you.” I hold his gaze, not moving. “I had an arrangement with your predecessor.”
“You will get paid. Once the watch is back in our possession, I’ll make sure of it.”
“Then our business is finished.” I turn away, heart hammering. I’m so close. I start back toward the door.
Fungal Spread calls out. “One more thing.” I hesitate and look back. I keep seeing Riley with a swollen belly and a smile on her lips. I have to get home to her. “Congratulations on your marriage and your new alliance with the McGrath family. I hope this successful joint venture will allow all of our organizations to work well together in the future.”