“You seem preoccupied,” Gomez said, finally.
Jacob laughed. “There’s a lot going on.”
“True. It’s going pretty much to plan, though. I’ve known you for a long time, and I can tell when there’s something else. You sure there’s not something else?”
He could tell Gomez about the code. He would listen and tell him to stay focused on the big plan. Anything else could wait. That’s what he needed to hear.
“Something about the code in those NirvanaWare decks. It reminded me of the code I had to fix in those overloads last week.”
“Reminded you? How?”
“There was a sound, a signature to it.”
“What’s that about?”
Jacob shook his head. “No idea. Best I can figure is that some code flicker got one of those decks and doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
Gomez shrugged. “That would explain it.”
“I just feel like I can’t let somebody go around doing that. Industry standards,” Jacob said with a smile.
“I don’t think you have time to worry about that right now. How about after we finish this job. The big job, that is. Not whatever the SRS wants us to do.”
“Thanks, I knew you would talk sense into me.”
Gomez stood and walked to the Pac-Man game. “And, if we run across the person putting bad code out there, we’ll take care of it then.”
Gomez played a few more games of Pac-Man while they waited for Slade. When he did show, a six-pack worth of empties covered the table. He walked in the back bar, pointed to the bottles, and asked, “Can I get one of those?”
Gomez went behind the bar and got him a bottle.
“This is Jacob,” Gomez said, gesturing. “Jacob, this is Slade.”
Jacob stood and shook Slade’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Slade gave Jacob a look that said the feeling wasn’t mutual.
“Let’s sit down,” Gomez said.
“So what’s this about,” Slade asked as he opened the beer.
“Remember that time in Kansas City? That group trying to hack the AR pop star?” Gomez asked.
“They wanted to make her the face of their revolution. They were going to bring down the entertainment industry or some bullshit like that. Thank God they were incompetent. I mean, my kid loves Disney.”
“Do you remember how they got into the network for the AR?” Gomez looked at Slade.
Slade was quiet for a moment. Jacob could see in his eyes he was starting to understand why Gomez asked to see him.
“They had a man inside,” Slade said slowly.
“Well,” Gomez said, “that’s what this is about.”
The sounds of video games filled the empty pocket of the conversation.
“I take it you want me to be your man inside for something?” Slade asked.
Gomez nodded.
“Look, Gomez, we go way back and you pulled me out some serious shit in Berlin, but I’ve got a kid now. I asked for a transfer to this job because it’s low key and not much happens. I like it that way now.”
“I get it. I get it,” Gomez said. “But you won’t have to do much more than look the other way.”
“I don’t know.”
Gomez took a drink. “You owe me this one. That shit I pulled you out of in Berlin is worth a dozen of jobs like this. Hell, you wouldn’t have been around long enough to have a kid if I hadn’t been there for you.”
The look on Slade's face told Jacob that Gomez had him.
“That’s not fair,” Slade said.
“You told me you owed me. You said anything. I’ve never asked you for anything. Not once. And I never will again. I promise you that.” Gomez put his beer bottle on the table with a slightly louder than normal thud, punctuating his statement.
Slade rubbed his temples. “What’s the plan?” he asked.
“Just like Kansas City. The only thing you need to do is let me and Sandy in and act like we’re part of the security team,” Gomez said. “Then act like you don’t see anything we do.”
“Who’s Sandy?” Slade asked.
“She was in the front of the club when you came in.”
“Why do you need to get into the Your Better Life building?”
“The less you know, the better,” Jacob said.
Slade eyed Jacob. He started to speak, but Gomez cut him off. “It just doesn’t make sense to tell you anything else. Plausible deniability.”
Slade shook his head and stood. “Give me twenty-four hours warning.”
“We can do that,” Gomez said.
Slade turned and walked out.
“Can he be trusted?” Jacob asked.
“He can be an ass, but he’s a loyal ass,” Gomez said.
“He didn’t like me,” Jacob said.
Gomez laughed. “Hell, I don’t think he likes me. He probably doesn’t even like his kid.”
“So what happened in Berlin? I don’t think you’ve ever told me the full story.”
Gomez’s eyes grew distant, and he was silent for a brief moment. “A mission went south and we lost some people. Someone on my team. It’s part of why I left corporate. I’ll have to tell you about it later. Kat’s going to be back soon, and I want to cook her a nice pigeon casserole.”
“Sounds delicious.”
Chapter 22
Johnson watched a crocodile burst from a watering hole, its jaws clamping down on the face of a wildebeest. The herd surrounding the wildebeest backed away in panic, water and mud splashing, and the crocodile pulled its struggling prey off its feet and into the water. Johnson found himself wishing the images filling the walls came with narration. A soothing British accent giving context to the struggle.
“Mr. Craig will see you now,” the secretary said.
Johnson looked at her as she went back to her screen. “Thank you,” he said, wondering what she chose to watch while surrounded by endless hours of life and death struggle.
Mr. Craig stood at his wet bar pouring two glasses when Johnson entered the office. “Please, have a seat,” he said.
Johnson sat and accepted the whiskey.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I have a very important meeting shortly, so let us get to the point,” Mr. Craig said.
“Yes, sir.”
“How does our target progress?”
“His team is assembled, and I believe they have a plan of action.”
“Excellent.”
“They have contacted the Sino-Russian Syndicate in order to acquire
