Mumbai Manhunt Page 10

  “At least that will be normal.” Big-guy shrugged and stepped back out of Zar’s path with exaggerated care. “Look, this was all Vikram, okay? I’ve got no trouble with you.”

  Zar tried not to chuckle. Humility was easy to find when they just saw what he assumed was their best fighter get coldcocked. “Don’t jump me from behind, and we’ll be fine. But if you and your ’Net-head friend there start thinking that math is on your side…I can assure you, it’s not.” He flashed his best prefight madman smile, and big-guy took another step back.

  “No! We, uh, wouldn’t consider that.” Big-guy nudged the third guy, who hadn’t moved; whatever he had been doing on the ’Net was clearly more interesting than getting involved physically—an attitude that made zero sense to Zar. “Besides, like you said, we need to get Vikram to a doctor.”

  The ’Net-head came back to reality and assessed the situation, then without a word helped big-guy lift loose-suit—Vikram—and carry him out of the alley. After a handful of minutes, it was as though Zar had only ever been alone.

  He smiled as he checked the GPS again; the green highlight still showed the alley as the fastest path to the meeting, so he grabbed the trash from his snack and headed out. Surely there’d be a composter along the way. Maybe Mumbai wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  Well, shit. Yashilla turned off the security camera feed watching the mouth of the alley and unplugged from the ’Net. At the front of the room, Venkat paced back and forth, the gold on his fingers and wrist glinting as he passed beneath the yellow bulb. The bespoke cut of his dark suit spoke volumes about his success at fencing data and arranging scores.

  Yashilla gave an exaggerated sigh. “Are we planning to start sometime today?”

  Venkat sniffed. “I don’t make the rules. I am supposed to wait for the other party bef—”

  “And what if they decided not to show?” Or, you know, I had them waylaid by a few street thugs.

  “The payment offered was more than generous.” Venkat replied. “And I know his plane landed. He’ll be here.” He sniffed again.

  He’s nervous. The question is why.

  And if Venkat was nervous, then she needed to be as well.

  Yashilla stood up. “I’m sure that the work is good and all, but I’ve got enough on my plate already. Surely you have other hackers you can bring in.” She pushed back her sleeve, and the interface keys glowed beneath her skin. Without looking, she tapped in the commands to disable the street cameras outside the door. “You know how to get in touch.”

  The door opened, and a massive shadow filled it. Yashilla couldn’t hold back her growl of frustration. Venkat’s “other party” had arrived, and she’d missed her chance to escape early.

  The newcomer glanced at her, his eyes drawn first to the interface on her arm then the sockets in her shaved temple. With a snort, he dismissed her and focused on the fixer at the front of the room. “You Venkat?”

  Venkat sighed audibly and rushed forward to shake the man’s hand. “Mr. Marks, I’m so glad you could join us. My client was very specific.” The fixer shot her a pleading look, quietly begging her to stay

  Yashilla puffed out an annoyed sigh. No harm in hearing it out, now that everyone was here. She slumped into a chair and gave the newcomer a fresh glance now that she wasn’t watching him through security cameras. He sported high-end cybereyes with custom bronze irises, but the implants didn’t hide the laugh lines in his burnt-umber skin. He kept his hands covered, right arm stiff as he used his left to shake Venkat’s hand. Not a lot of hardware, which made her suspect that a lot of the muscle had to be natural rather than vat-grown implants.

  Measuring him against Venkat’s height, Yashilla pegged the newcomer at almost two meters. His bald head carried a sheen of sweat, but no hair that could be grabbed in a fight or to hide the scars that crisscrossed the broad planes of his face. The nose had been broken at least twice and clearly healed naturally, rather than surgically. On reflex, she saved a half-dozen images of him to run through recognition software. It never hurt to know everything about a person.

  Venkat perched on the corner of his desk, ankles crossed, and smiled at them. “Now that we’re all here—” he shot her a dirty glance as he spoke, and Yashilla knew he suspected her of misdirecting the newcomer, “—I can begin. The job is a simple extraction.”

  “I don’t do that kind of work.” Marks’s voice resonated in the small room.

  Yashilla was quick to chime in. “And that sounds suspiciously like meatspace work. Your client picked the wrong people, Venkat. Extraction is a CorpServ gig.”

  “I assure you they did not. They asked for you, , even if they didn’t know your name.” He took a deep breath. “My client is unable to contract an extraction from Corporate Services because they are being held captive by that same organization.”

  Marks laughed out loud, a bass rumble that shook his whole frame. “Wow. This keeps getting better. Do we have to take them out of the Bulwark?”

  Venkat wasn’t laughing. He fixed Yashilla with a stare. Oh shit. That’s exactly what they want us to do.

  “My client was extremely precise. Someone who could infiltrate CorpServ’s rather complex security systems. Someone who had done it before and was good enough to do so without leaving a trace. There is only one such person that I know of.”

  Marks scoffed lightly. “Then what’s my job?”

  Venkat rolled his eyes, as though the answer was the most natural thing in the world. “You’re a bodyguard. Protect her.”

  As though she was stupid enough to put herself in danger. As though she deserved saving. Yashilla made an obscene gesture, stood, and spun on her heel. “Fuck it. I’m out.” Her pulse hammered in her temples. Rage prickled just beneath the surface of her skin like old coals waiting to flare up again.

  “Agreed,” Marks said. The bodyguard appeared next to her but waited for her to get the door. “I don’t babysit ’Net-heads. She can lock herself in a room and handle it from here.”

  “Actually, I’m afraid she cannot.” Venkat sniffed as punctuation. “The security systems she would need to cut are isolated. Only accessible from within the Bulwark. And time is of the essence, so can we please stop the interruptions.”

  That made her pause. Making a run against CorpServ was one thing; she’d done that before to find their less-secure information. But on their isolated files systems… Corporate Services kept records of every job they’d ever taken, had dirt on every company that had ever used them to eliminate a rival or paid for stolen secrets. Screw the rescue mission; she was being offered the keys to the kingdom. With that data in her hands she’d be able to name her price, parceling out secrets for twice a king’s ransom.

  “That sounds like soldiering,” Marks muttered. “I’m in security only. I’m even less interested.” He reached past her, apparently having decided she wasn’t going to open the door quickly enough.

  “Let’s not be too hasty,” she said, putting her hand on his forearm. She refused to notice the flex of muscle under her fingers or the way her pulse hadn’t slowed down despite her dissipating anger. “After all, you barely know me.”

  “My client anticipated your possible aversion, Mr. Marks.” Venkat sounded a little desperate, as though he feared one or both of them would genuinely leave. “You were also requested by name. They instructed me to say that it would give you a chance to make up for Nassau. I assume you know what that means.”

  Marks’s arm tightened under her hand. He knew, all right. And the knowledge angered him. Hopefully it would turn up when she ran the facial scan against the ’Net. Having an idea of a person’s foibles was always useful, especially when you had to work with them.

  She consciously took her hand off his arm and took a step away from him. Being close to him was distracting. It made her all too aware of meatspace.

  Marks’s shoulders slumped. “Fighting them on their turf isn’t the best way to get revenge. More likely get us all killed.”

&nbs
p; “My client is hoping you won’t have to fight at all. As the person on the inside, they have some ability to help you with the rescue, but yes, if there were to be…excitement…it would be in Corporate Services headquarters.” Another sniff as Venkat paused for effect to emphasize the next word. “Innocents, if such a thing can be said to exist, would not be present.”

  The giant chuckled again, a deep sound like two stones being ground against each other. He dropped his hand from the doorknob and turned back to face the fixer. “Okay. Tell me more.”

  Yashilla gave Venkat a tight-lipped smile. “Agreed.” Going into Corporate Services’ private island fortress was beyond idiotic, but if she could crack that wall and grab the files off their internal systems… Legendary was too small a word.

  She’d be epic.

  Don’t miss out on Yashilla’s story!

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  Acknowledgements

  So many people have been involved in the creation of Mumbai Manhunt that a simple page of thanks cannot possibly catch everyone, but I want to try. First to my editrix, Sasha - without her help, and her expert skills, this wouldn’t be half the story that it is now. I first worked with her in my Samhain days, and working with her now makes me happier than I can possibly imagine.

  To Kim, Jenn, and the other artists at The Killion Group - your amazing vision for the Corporate Services covers has given me great images for my stories, and never fails to make me feel like a superstar.

  To my family and friends, thank you for understanding, for your support, and most of all, your love. I couldn’t have put this together without your help.

  Thank you to all my sisters in the Greater Seattle RWA chapter, and the community of Romance Writers everywhere. Your unflagging support, and your boundless optimism, have buoyed me through the rough spots and made me eager to live up to your peerless examples. Without your stories as inspiration, and your support and friendship, none of this would have mattered.

  Lastly, to all of you readers - your love of romance, your belief that Science Fiction and Romance aren’t strange bedfellows, and our tireless collective understanding that everyone deserves a happy ending - these are the things that get me up every morning, and bring me back to the keyboard again and again.

  Bless you all,

  JC

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestseller and Galaxy-award winner JC Hay writes science fiction romance with an action-adventure bent, because the coolest gadgets in the galaxy don't mean a thing if you don't have someone to share them. In addition to Romance Writers of America, he is also a proud member of the SFR Brigade (for Science Fiction Romance), and the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal Romance chapter of RWA.

  Read more at JC Hay’s site.