“I’ll see you soon, detective,” Subjugate-52 said quietly.
Salvi looked out the window at him, at his blue eyes. It sent a shiver down her spine.
Ford reversed the Raider and Salvi continued to stare at the Subjugate, believing in her gut they were not merely words of goodbye, but instead a promise.
And it was a promise that concerned her deeply.
She kept her eyes on him in the rearview mirror as Ford drove the Raider toward the front gates of the Complex. As they neared, Ford began to slow, and Salvi looked forward again to see another vehicle approach from the opposite way.
“Sheriff Holt,” Salvi said, recognizing the vehicle and its occupant.
“From Bountiful?” Ford asked.
“Yeah,” Salvi said and motioned for Ford to stop.
The sheriff’s vehicle pulled up alongside theirs, and he stared past Ford to Salvi, giving her a nod behind his mirrored sunglasses.
“Detective Brentt,” he said, glancing back at Ford.
“Sheriff Holt,” she nodded back. “This is Detective Lieutenant Ford of hub 9.”
He gave Ford a nod and looked back to Salvi. “Glad to see you’ve recovered.”
“What brings you out here?” she asked, changing the subject.
He glanced at the main complex building. “Oh, I have some Council matters to discuss with Attis.”
“Still trying to shut him down?” Salvi asked, remembering that Mitch had told her Holt had called for an inquiry into the Solme Complex after the Bountiful case.
Holt stared at her but gave nothing away. “Well that’s for the Federal inquiry to decide,” he said. “And the purpose for your visit?”
“Confidential,” Ford said bluntly.
Holt eyed her again, then glanced back to Salvi. “Well, you have a good day now,” he said, tipping his head then continuing on as he followed the drone.
Ford looked at Salvi. “He’s trying to shut Solme down?”
Salvi nodded. “Yeah, but Holt’s like the Bountiful folk. He doesn’t do tech.”
Ford shrugged as she moved her Raider along. “Sometimes people will dance with the devil if they think the means will get them the end they desire.”
Salvi and Ford began the drive back to the city. For whatever reason, Ford had opted to operate the Raider and not switch it to autodrive. Salvi’s mind ticked over the case as she watched the quiet countryside slowly turn into the concrete metropolis she called home. All the while, every now and then, the slingshot train sped past them in its silver snake-like form.
“We need to bring Chaney in for questioning,” Salvi finally said, breaking the silence.
Ford didn’t answer, but Salvi saw her mind turning over too.
“I’ve blown it with him,” Salvi said. “I’ve got nothing to lose by laying my cards on the table.”
“What do you think he’ll tell us?”
“He has to give us a name,” Salvi said. “He’s using illegal, stolen tech in his club. He promotes the taking of unauthorized substances, and I saw some pretty young-looking people there as well. I bet if we check all the patrons’ IDs, we’ll find at least a few who’re underage. There’s a whole list of charges we can throw at him, if he doesn’t talk to us.”
“We’ll be charging him regardless. Diabolique will be shut down.”
“He’s big on privacy and discretion. He stakes his reputation on it. If he gives us the names we want, we can shut the club down but leave the rest of his clients alone.”
“You want to do a deal with this guy?” Ford asked.
“That man will have a lot of important names in his data cloud that he’ll want to protect. We tell him the club is shut down but his patrons’ discretion is secure, so long as he tells us who is involved in the drugs and tech.”
“If people find out we’re talking to him, our window for answers and evidence will grow significantly smaller. Whoever is behind this isn’t scared of erasing evidence, including police officers.”
“We get a warrant and access all his records, his security footage, everything. We’ll prove that Caine was there the night he died. We’ll prove the Chief’s daughter was there before she disappeared. He’ll have to talk. He’ll have no choice.”
Ford looked at her. “And if he’s not behind the drugs and tech hitting the street? If he’s not responsible for Caine’s death or Clare’s disappearance?”
“He’ll know his clientele better than anyone. If there’s a particularly sick fuck who’s stealing his clients and making them disappear, putting Fyte on the streets, he’ll know who it is. He’ll have to. I saw him on the Ceiling and in Diabolique. He’s on first name basis with a lot of his clients.”
“If it wasn’t him, we’ll need to place him under protection.”
“Agreed, and as you say, our window is growing smaller by the hour.”
“Alright,” Ford said. “I’ll get Grenville and Hernandez to pick him up and bring him in. Once we get the list of names from Attis, we can cross-check to see who they both have in common.”
“Yeah,” Salvi said, studying Ford.
“What?” Ford asked, glancing at her.
Salvi wondered whether she should raise her relationship with Solme. Part of her felt it wasn’t any of her business, but the other part of her, the cop part, needed to know.
“Solme told me that you and he go way back. Is that correct?” she eventually asked.
Ford glanced at her, then looked back at the road. “Yeah. We go back a ways.”
Salvi nodded. “I know about the drink-driving incident.”
Ford glanced at her again, her eyes slightly harder, then she looked back at the road. “Grenville, right? Of course.”
“Hey, just like you don’t care what I’m doing with Grenville, I don’t care about your past with Solme, but I do need to know if he’s using that to blackmail you for information.”
“Blackmail me?” Ford’s brow furrowed in irritation.
“Yeah. How the hell did he find out I was back on active so soon?”
“You think I told him?”
“I don’t know how else he could’ve found out.”
“Listen, Brentt, there’s one thing you need to know about Attis and that is that
