“How many today?” Yol asked, nodding to the rest of the limo.
“Only three.”
“Is the spook here?”
“I’m not CIA,” J.C. said. “I’m special forces, you twit.”
“Is he annoyed to see me?” Yol asked, grinning behind his garish sunglasses.
“You could say that,” I replied.
Yol’s grin deepened, then he took out his phone and tapped a few buttons. “J.C., I just donated ten grand in your name to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I just thought you’d like to know.”
J.C. growled. Like, literally growled.
I leaned back, inspecting Yol as the limo drove us. Another followed behind, filled with Yol’s people. Yol had given Wilson instructions, apparently, as this wasn’t the way home. “You play along with my aspects, Yol,” I said. “Most others don’t. Why is that?”
“It’s not play to you, is it?” he asked, lounging.
“No.”
“Then it isn’t to me either.” His phone chirped the sound of some bird.
“That’s actually the call of an eagle,” Tobias said. “Most people are surprised to hear how they really sound, as the American media uses the call of the red-tailed hawk when showing an eagle. They don’t think the eagle sounds regal enough. And so we lie to ourselves about the very identity of our national icon . . .”
And Yol used this as his ringtone. Interesting. The man answered the phone and began speaking in Korean.
“Do we have to deal with this joker?” J.C. said.
“I like him,” Ivy said, sitting beside Yol. “Besides, you yourself said he was probably involved with that assassin.”
“Yeah, well,” J.C. said. “We could get the truth out of him. Use the old five-point persuasion method.” He made a fist and pounded it into his other hand.
“You’re terrible,” Ivy said.
“What? He’s so weird, he’d probably get off on it.”
Yol hung up his phone.
“Any problems?” I asked.
“News of my latest album.”
“Good news?”
Yol shrugged. He had released five music albums. All had flopped spectacularly. When you were worth 1.2 billion from a life of keen commodities investing, a little thing like poor sales on your rap albums was not going to stop you from making more.
“So . . .” Yol said. “I have an issue I might need help with.”
“Finally!” J.C. said. “This had better not involve trying to make people listen to that awful music of his.” He paused. “Actually, if we need a new form of torture . . .”
“Does this job involve a woman named Zen?” I asked.
“Who?” Yol frowned.
“Professional assassin,” I replied. “She was watching me at dinner.”
“Could be wanting a date,” Yol said cheerfully.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Our problem,” Yol said, “might involve some danger, and our rivals are not above hiring such . . . individuals. She’s not working for me though, I promise you that.”
“This job,” I said. “Is it interesting?”
Yol grinned. “I need you to recover a corpse.”
“Oooo . . .” J.C. said.
“Hardly worth our time,” Tobias said.
“There’s more,” Ivy said, studying Yol’s expression.
“What’s the hitch?” I asked Yol.
“It’s not the corpse that is important,” Yol said, leaning in. “It’s what the corpse knows.”
3
“Innovation Information Incorporated,” J.C. said, reading the sign outside the business campus as we pulled through the guarded gate. “Even I can tell that’s a stupid name.” He hesitated a moment. “It is a stupid name, right?”
“The name is a little obvious,” I replied.
“Founded by engineers,” Yol said, “run by engineers, and—unfortunately—named by engineers. They’re waiting for us inside. Note, Steve, that what I’m asking you to do goes beyond friendship. Deal with this for me, and our debt will be settled, and then some.”
“If a hit woman is really involved, Yol,” I said reluctantly, “that’s not going to be enough. I’m not going to risk my life for a favor.”
“What about wealth?”
“I’m already rich,” I said.
“Not riches, wealth. Complete financial independence.”
That gave me pause. It was true; I had money. But my delusions required a lot of space and investment. Many rooms in my mansion, multiple seats on the plane each time I fly, fleets of cars and drivers whenever I wanted to go somewhere for an extended time. Perhaps I could have bought a smaller house and forced my aspects to live in the basement or shacks on the lawn. The problem was that when they were unhappy—when the illusion of it started to break down—things got . . . bad for me.
I was finally dealing with this thing. Whatever twisted psychology made me tick, I was far more stable now than I had been at the start. I wanted to keep it that way.
“Are you in personal danger?” I asked him.
“I don’t know,” Yol said. “I might be.” He handed me an envelope.
“Money?” I asked.
“Shares in I3,” Yol said. “I purchased the company six months ago. The things this company is working on are revolutionary. That envelope gives you a ten percent stake. I’ve already filed the paperwork. It’s yours, whether you take the job or not. A consultation fee.”
I fingered the envelope. “If I don’t solve your problem, this will be worthless, eh?”
Yol grinned. “You got it. But if you do solve it, that envelope could be worth tens of millions. Maybe hundreds of millions.”
“Damn,” J.C. said.
“Language,” Ivy said, punching him in the shoulder. At this rate, those two were either heading for a full-blown screaming match or a makeout session. I could never tell.
I looked at Tobias, who sat across from me in the limo. He leaned forward, clasping his hands before him, looking me in the eye. “We could do a lot with that money,” he said. “We might have the resources, finally, to track her down.”
Sandra knew things about me, things about how I thought. She understood aspects. Hell, she’d taught me how they work. She’d captivated me.
And then she’d gone. In an instant.
“The camera,” I said.
“The camera doesn’t work,” Tobias said. “Arnaud said he could be years away from figuring it out.”
I fingered the envelope.
“She’s actively blocking your efforts to find her, Stephen,” Tobias said. “You can’t deny that. Sandra doesn’t want to be found. To get to her, we’ll need resources. Freedom to ignore cases for a while, money to overcome roadblocks.”
I glanced at Ivy, who shook her head. She and Tobias disagreed on what we should be doing in regard to Sandra—but she’d had her say earlier.
I looked back at Yol. “I assume that I have to agree before I can know about the technology you people are involved in?”