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SEPTEMBER 9, 2022

Haskell

At six o’clock sharp, everyone was back in the conference room, but this time, they all sat around the table. Scheherazade lay across Haskell’s feet. Waters wasn’t quite as high-strung as he had been when he’d blown out of the room earlier. Considering he was wearing a different shirt than the one when he’d left and had slightly damp hair, Haskell figured that this Kubrick, whoever she was, had used the one thing guaranteed to calm down most men who were about to lose their shit.

Those thoughts immediately made her think of sex with Nemo, and she felt her face flush. Eyes wide, her gaze flew to where the man in question sat next to her. As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, there was a smile on his face, and his eyes seemed to light up with laughter at catching her.

Rolling her eyes, she shifted her gaze back to Waters and worked very hard to ignore Nemo .

“Midas, what do we have?”

“Not a lot. I did manage to track down Loki and company. I’ll patch them through in just a minute. Be advised. They’ve got a friend with them.”

She noticed the word “friend” had some edge to it. There were two people it could be, and only one was plausible.

The telescreen flashed to life. In a large rectangle across the top half sat the three Mythos members—Loki, Gilgamesh, and Medusa. The bottom half of the screen was a long rectangle. One revealed a single male with auburn hair, black horn-rimmed glasses, and vivid blue eyes—someone Haskell knew well.

“Loki,” Waters began. “As you can see, we’ve found your contractor.”

Haskell gave a cheeky finger wave at the screen.

Loki flashed a smile. “Glad to see you haven’t used up all of those nine lives, kitten.”

There was a rumble of irritation from next to her.

“Nice to have them all intact, Loki,” she replied. She flashed a look at Nemo sitting next to her, who now had a scowl on his face. “What’s your problem?”

“He called you ‘kitten.’”

“Yeah. You call me kitty cat. So?”

“You need a new nickname.”

“Fine. You can call me ‘goodbye.’ As in, you can go away.”

“Not from me. From him. He needs a new nickname for you. No one calls you ‘kitten’ but me.”

“Maybe,” she piped up, “we could just call me ‘Haskell’ and ignore the nicknames altogether.”

A resounding “No!” came from everyone except the solo man on the screen.

Waters explained, “Nicknames keep you as anonymous as possible, which means safety if we need to talk about you over comms. No sense drawing attention to you by using your real name if anyone is listening in.” Haskell noticed the slight edge of panic that Waters and everyone else in the room let creep in. Then, after his explanation and a calming breath, it ebbed out like the tide. “As entertaining as this all is,” he continued, “we really do have shit to do. Nemo. Loki. You two can piss on your territory later when we’re done with real-world problems.” Waters took a long, hard look at the guest they brought with them. “Who are you?”

Before he could answer, Loki made the introduction. “Midas informed me of your situation earlier today. I thought you all should meet. This is Cerberus.”

With the exception of Haskell, everyone on Tribe’s end of the call eyed the newcomer with even more suspicion.

“Cerberus, these are Tribe’s deadmen. Waters, the team leader. Midas, their cyber specialist. TB, their interrogator. Steel, their overwatch. Demon, their doctor. And the pretty boy over there shaking his tail feathers at Haskell is Nemo. He’s in… acquisitions.”

Cerberus seemed to look at Nemo just a shade longer than the others before he nodded his head at the group in general. “Loki said you had some work done near you with my signature on it. I’ve been in Sri Lanka for the past two months, so it’s not my work. However, I am interested in what occurred and how you think it’s mine.”

Waters relayed their adventurous morning. “A pressure-plate bomb was engaged at a coffee café this morning. Haskell initiated its protocol when she sat down. We were able to observe it before it went boom.”

In anticipation of Waters’ order, Midas put the photos of it from Nemo’s phone on the screen. “As you can see, we also managed to keep it from taking out the women, as well as any other café patrons. We have not been able to secure any forensics since we’re not exactly on the up-and-up with the blue line.”

Cerberus made a few clicks on his computer screen, his eyes scrunching up as he looked at the array of photos that had been taken. “It’s a really good copy, but it’s not mine. See the bottom left dewclaw? All the other claws are present. If it’s mine, this one will be missing on the signature.” He pulled up a sample of his work on the screen so that Tribe could see the differences between the two devices.

“Why?”

Cerberus flashed his left hand at the screen, where everyone could clearly see his thumb on his right hand. “Art imitates life. Massive scarring from my early years. Still, even if the signature had been accurate, it would never have been my work.”

“Because…?”

“I don’t blow up people, no matter how much they might piss me off with their stupidity.”

“So, if it’s not your work, Haskell suggested it might be a copycat from the Salieris.” Waters swung his chair in an arc to survey all of his people before turning back to those on the screen. “People, this name is coming up way too many times of late, and no one is sharing. I want an explanation of who, or what, the Salieri are and why they are coming after my people.”

The men and the woman on the screen sat quietly for a moment, soaking up the pronoun “my.” It was not going unnoticed that he was extending this description to Haskell.

Finally, Medusa spoke up. “The Salieri,” she began, “can be traced back as far as the Crusades, but it’s likely they go back far longer than that. They are the original organized crime family.”

“Never heard of them,” TB interrupted. “I’ve been scurrying around on the dark web longer than Midas, and there’s been no whispers of that name crossing my path. I’m pretty sure I would have at least heard of these players if they existed.”

“You probably have run across them. In fact, you’ve probably worked for them at one time or another. Possibly many times. They use individual players mid-level on the chain to hire out a lot of grunt work, including targeted hits, which is why no one ever hears about them as a whole. But they haven’t gotten to be who they are and as powerful as they are by letting their name slip through the cracks. While Flame’s kidnapper worked for the organization, he should never have known about them yet. He was far too low on the totem pole.”

The people on the screen all shared looks again.

“People,” Waters broke in, “weighty looks make for great drama in movies. However, in real life, we have two women who were targeted today in a very public place. We recently interrupted a very sophisticated prototype of a distribution center for human trafficking; two of my team members found a huge increase in technology for that trafficking scheme, and my woman’s brother is somehow smack-dab in the eye of this clusterfuck. Will someone please read us in?”

Haskell watched Medusa closely, noticing she didn’t respond like the others. As long as she had known the woman, she more than lived up to her name. All of her—from her hair ends flipping up like forked snake tongues, the lightly shaded sunglasses over her eyes, and the stone-faced expression—she more than fit her name.

Therefore, it was surprising to her when Medusa chose to volunteer information. “What Gendry knew, or thought he knew, is immaterial since he’s now shark chum.” She directed those words to Waters. “The brother? We’ll deal with him eventually. He knows to be patient, and the cavalry will arrive.”

It took a moment for the last statement to sink in. It was Steel who spoke. “Does that mean that Ka-Bar works with you?”

Loki responded, “On occasion, our paths do cross. He was vetting a source for us in Egypt.”

“Zahra.” The light bulb answer came from Waters.

“Yes,” Loki confirmed. “She had information we wanted, and given their past history, we sent Ka-Bar in to handle the asset. He managed to get her talking about her family’s involvement with our target, and during that time, they clearly reestablished their relationship.”

“You’ve known all along where he was? You’ve let us waste all this time and resources looking for him? His sister has been worried sick, which, in turn, upsets me.”

Loki admitted, “Obviously, we knew who he was with, but we’ve always been a few steps behind on the where. The sighting we gave you a few months back was the last we had until the photographs from Haskell, and when we received those, we were under strict orders not to share that information yet. Since he was our contractor, the hope was we could handle it on our end. We broke protocol when we ran out of options looking for Haskell, so when we called you, we used it as a bargaining chip, yes. All of our asses are going to be on the line for going against orders. While I appreciate your concern for Kai Serrano, that is not our problem. Our endgame is not yours.”

Haskell piped in, “Everybody needs to calm down. Before Ka-Bar disappeared, he told me that the Kaders were using an abandoned Mzingwane mine as a means to fund their new pipeline. Originally, they were manipulating the illegal surface miners to surrender their finds for extremely low returns. However, with their new discovery in the mine itself, they’ve since expanded to extorting the miners to abandon their individual tunnels at the surface level and work in the abandoned tunnels. No method of coercion is off the table—threats of arrest, torture of the miners, their families, you name it.”

“All things we suspected,” Steel said.

Gilgamesh added, “We’ve recently identified their source on the police force who warns them when a raid is coming. They bug out until the police leave, then start back up again. Getting in front of them and their work has been near impossible.” He gestured to Haskell. “Go ahead and show them what you found, Haskell.”

Haskell reached into her pocket and extracted a small packet of wax paper. She laid it on the table and opened it to reveal two dozen pebbles in various sizes. “I found these running in three separate veins that were within three feet of each other.”

Cerberus explained, “Those stones are the key to a disaster of epic proportions. If they’re allowed to continue mining for those stones, they’ll be nearly impossible to stop financially. And not only that, but they’re doing irreparable damage, raping the ecosystem there with their operations.”

“Fuel pollution?” Steel asked.

“For starters. They’re contaminating the water table. Illegal mining operations are not concerned about operating within safety standards regarding the chemicals and techniques they use. So not only is the land dying due to poisoned water but so are the cattle and people who draw water from that table, whether it’s for everyday living or crops. The effects are far-reaching down the line, and who knows how much damage has been done once those contaminated waters hit the Limpopo and eventually the Indian Ocean. You can guarantee the Kaders aren’t big proponents of reclamation.”

Nemo was sifting through the pebbles with the tip of a pen. “Some of these are diamonds, but I don’t recognize these stones. What are they?” he asked Haskell .

“Tanzanite, mostly. The largest one is taaffeite.”

His head shot up. “Shut the fuck up!”

She shook her head. “I know, but that’s what they are.”

“I’ve never even heard of taaffeite. Why is that such a big deal?” Demon asked.

“Taaffeite is one of the rarest natural gems created on Earth. Even more rare than tanzanite, which is only found in Tanzania, hence its name,” TB offered.

Nemo added, “Taaffeite is also found in Tanzania and Sri Lanka only, at least as far as we knew.”

TB reached across the table and picked up one of the pebbles. He held it up to the light, his fingers crushing some of the packed dirt around the stone. “This little thing right here is worth tens of thousands uncut.”

Everyone stared at the unassuming piece of pebble in his hand.

“That means,” Loki began, “that if this mine happens to host all three of these rare gems, the Kaders have found themselves a possibly never-ending financial boom to fund their activities. Those stones are heavily monitored by their respective commissions. Finding all three of them in the same location? That should be impossible. Something catastrophic happened at that location in the distant past to allow for that.”

“Why is that?”

Haskell spoke up. “Because the mine isn’t all that deep yet. The original owners gave up on it early.”

Nemo explained, “These three stones are all formed at various levels in the earth, and each has unique chemical compositions required for them to form. It’s part of what makes them worth so much.”

“If the Kaders are in control of that mine,” Medusa added, “unlimited funds equals unlimited resources and power.”

“Which means they’ll be near impossible to stop.” Nemo looked to Haskell. “What are you doing chasing these stones, kitty cat?”

“These days, my skills are used a lot more widely.” She reached into her pocket again and pulled out another packet. She opened the packet to reveal several larger stones. “Black diamonds. These are what I originally thought I was going to find. Clearly, I did. But when I ran across the other stones, I realized something bigger was going on. Mythos hired me to go into the mines and see what was what. While I was able to gain access to the mine, I ran into trouble and had to abort the assignment or become a permanent resident of the mine. Six weeks later? Here I am.”

Loki focused in on Haskell. “Haskell?—”

Haskell put her hand up to stop him. “No need to ask, Loki. You know I never quit. This was just a necessary retreat. I’ll regroup and head back out.”

Loki nodded.

“Oh, hell no!” Nemo slammed his hand down on the table. His eyes shot daggers at Haskell. “You are not going back into those mines. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is for you, especially since you were discovered once already?”

She looked at him like he was a small child. “Nemo, you have no say in where I go or what I do. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I know exactly what I’m getting into.”

“This isn’t like breaking into a museum,” he argued, rubbing his chest where his heart sat. She noticed he did that regularly. While she was touched that he was concerned, he clearly was overinvested if her actions were giving him palpitations or other physical pain. It also didn’t squelch her anger at being told what she could and could not do. She’d had enough of that nonsense in her life already.

“No, it isn’t,” she agreed. “But every site comes with risks. Some are riskier than others. I get that. I’m not stupid,” she spat back. “Just because I recently needed help temporarily does not give you permission to be the Grinch to my Cindy Lou Who where you pat me on the head and send me on my way. Everyone needs help sometimes, and I’m not the too-stupid-to-live girl who refuses to take help when needed. So I suggest you take all that alpha male shite that’s overloading your brain and stuff it back down. Considering you house your brain in the cock you so often seem to be stuffing back in your pants, you should be well-practiced at that!”

A low whistle came from Demon. “Feck, that was low.”

“But frighteningly accurate,” TB commented.

The stare-down between Haskell and Nemo was hardcore. She refused to give him so much as an inch. When her voice came again, it was softer but no less firm. “This is what I do, Nemo, and I’m fucking good at it.”

Nemo pleaded with her, “Kitty cat, I’m not saying you’re not capable. I’m saying it’s too dangerous to do this on your own.”

“Which is why you’re going with her,” Waters injected. He looked at Haskell. “We all are.”