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He considered saying something a lot more blunt, but Gorren surprised him by speaking again. She seemed to have taken over their side of negotiations.

She also struck him as clearly being in charge.

“You remember the two organizations we just asked you about, Mr. Black?” she asked.

Black gave her a flat stare.

“Thatis why I am here,” she said simply. “That is why I’m speaking with you and not with Homeland Security. Or the F.B.I. Or anyone at S.F.P.D.”

“But you claim you don’t work for either of them?” Black clarified. He took a sip of the macchiato, grimaced. “Did Lucian have contracts with them or something? Was he a member of the Lion Hunter’s Academy, or––”

“No, Mr. Black,” she cut in dismissively. “That is not the nature of our interest.”

She pulled forward a leather satchel that hung from a strap on her shoulder. She unzipped the top to get to several folders that lived inside.

“Those organizations are not allies of Mr. Rucker’s, nor of any of his holdings,” she added without inflection. “Right now, they are our two primary suspects.”

She paused when he choked slightly on his macchiato.

“We wish you to determine if one or both of them are behind Mr. Rucker’s murder,” she continued next. “And if not, who else is likely to have done it.” She lifted an eyebrow, her pale blue eyes holding a harder light. “Preferably without eitherorganization knowing we are looking into them,” she added in warning.

Jesus, Black thought.

If he was smart, he wouldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole.

But the woman, Rania Gorren, was still talking.

“We have no desire to burn bridges unnecessarily.” She cleared her throat. “Nor to make enemies without reason. We are abusiness,Mr. Black. A very large and profitable one. One with significant impacts to the entire stock market. This is not about vengeance, or grudges. It is about discerning the truth so we can decide how best to proceed.”

She held out the two files she’d extracted from her case.

When Black didn’t take them, she simply bent down and set them on the glass coffee table at the center of the room.

Straightening, she clasped her hands in front of the leather case.

“Given those concerns, I would again emphasize theutmost importanceof discretion around this ask,” she warned. “You will be paid very, very handsomely if you choose to accept the job, but discretion will be an non-negotiable element of your acceptance. You are not to show anyone even a single page of the documentation shared with your organization by ours, nor any video surveillance, nor any other information received through us, nor anything you learn in the course of your own investigations. You are not to speak of this job, the terms of the contract, Lucian Rucker, Rucker Enterprises, or any of our subsidiaries, with anyone, for any reason, without our prior clearance and the appropriate paperwork being signed and cleared by our security team. This includes anyone within your own organization, Mr. Black.”

Black scowled.

He opened his mouth, but the person calling herself Rania Gorren held up a hand to head him off, a silent command for him to wait until she’d finished.

“All of your expenses will be covered in full,” she continued. “You may utilize anyone on your team you wish, as long as they pass our security screenings. If you agree to our terms, we would like an up-front list of up to eight employees right now, so we can expedite that process and get you working as soon as we leave here. Assuming that list of persons clears our own vetting, you may share any and all information we share with you, and you and they will be granted access to the crime site, and the associated Rucker Enterprises property.”

Black folded his arms. He sipped his macchiato from the mug he still held.

Rania Gorren cleared her throat.

“As I said, we will require their names in advance… really, as soon as possible, as there is considerable urgency to this job, as you might well imagine. Each member of that initial team will also sign confidentiality agreements, as will you.”

Black set down his mug on the glass coffee table. He picked up the files just placed there by Gorren, and flipped open the one on top as he straightened.

He stared at the photo of a dead body there, and frowned.

“You think Archangel or the Lion Hunter’s Academy… or possibly both of them… just shot him out in the open like this?” Black quirked a dark eyebrow skeptically at each of them. “For what reason? They don’t do things without a reason, Ms. Gorren, Archangel in particular. Did your boss do something to piss them off? Steal anything of theirs? Attempt to blackmail them?”

Mr. Gold and Ms. Silver exchanged shocked looks.

“No––” Rania Gorren began coldly.