Page 26

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2022

Nemo

Gem had never flown in a helicopter before. He could tell it was not an experience she was particularly fond of. Flying itself didn’t seem to frighten her. It wasn’t the speed or the sudden changes in direction or even the steep banking because Medusa flew like her hair was on fire. It was the noise. As someone who spent most of her time working in near silence, noise often meant complications. He understood how that was unsettling because it had been the same for him at first as well.

The dog sat on top of Gem’s feet, her muzzle on Gem’s knees. Nemo sat in the seat next to her and gave her a set of headphones so she could hear what was going on over the rotor blades but also to cancel out some of the cacophony. Once they were over her ears and she gave him the thumbs-up that she could hear people talking, he put on his sunglasses, put on his own headphones, and took hold of her hand. He didn’t speak. He just gave her hand a squeeze and didn’t let go.

When the helicopter landed at a private airstrip outside of Ramona, California, they quickly transferred to a corporate jet. As soon as their bags were stored in the cargo hold, they were introduced to the copilot, a man named Janus, and then hustled into two of four seats around a table and belted in, with Scheherazade under the table at their feet. With a cursory nod to the copilot, Medusa had switched from helicopter pilot to jet pilot, and they were off.

Seeming to sense she was intimidated by the plush surroundings, Nemo handed her a map of Zimbabwe. “Do you know where the mine was that you were at, or at least a close proximity?”

She scanned the map as Waters and Steel slid into the opposite chairs. She frowned at first, then shot Nemo a look of disgust as she turned the map one hundred and eighty degrees so it was right side up. “Cunt,” she murmured under her breath.

“That’s one word for him,” Steel murmured back.

She looked up at Steel through her lashes, caught the twinkle in his quicksilver eyes, and winked at him. Nemo smiled. It was good to know she could interact with the men in a teasing way, even if it was at his expense.

“Just want to make sure she can actually read a map,” he teased.

“Don’t worry, Nemo. I won’t get you lost and leave you stranded, no matter how great the temptation may be,” she cooed.

Steel didn’t even bother to hide his smile. “She’s almost as sassy as Kubrick.”

“She doesn’t need any help or lessons from the sass monster,” Nemo grumbled .

She opened the map to its full extension and surveyed the key. “Here.” She pointed to a spot north and west of Beitbridge along the Mzingwane River.

“How can you tell? There’s nothing there.”

“The Zhovhe Dam is here.” She pointed to a spot along the river. “I was directly west of that. If you follow the main road from Beitbridge up to Gwanda, it’s about”—she tilted her head as she calculated—“two hundred kilometers, so I’m guessing the dam is approximately seventy-five kilometers from the city. That’s not with any promise of accuracy since the river and the road do not run parallel.”

Steel hunched over the map with a pencil. He circled the spot where the dam was located. “It’s close enough. How far inland?”

“Not far. A kilometer. Maybe two. The water from the river was being diverted for artisanal mining at the site, but at the time the mine was formalized originally, they were also in competition with the locals for rights. It’s part of why the whole thing was a bust, I think.”

TB’s head popped up from the seats in front of them as he kneeled on the seat, his arms folded across the headrest. “Why is that?” he asked.

Waters chimed in, “Alluvial deposits in the riverbed are how miners find gold. It’s also how diamonds were first discovered in South Africa. Find diamonds in the riverbed, or whatever mineral you’re looking for, and chances are the vein runs farther. If they’re only a kilometer or two in, they’re following a profitable vein.”

Gem nodded. “Exactly. The mine was meant to be an alluvial site due to its proximity to the river. However, environmental studies done before the purchase of the land and after the purchase of that land showed huge discrepancies between what the projected damage to the water table would be. The owners decided it wasn’t worth the pushback, so they shut down the site. It’s been sitting there, unused and basically unmonitored, since the nineties.”

Consulting his tablet, TB added, “Midas discovered the mine was purchased by a corporation approximately four months ago. It’s a shell corporation, and—surprise, surprise—that company is owned by another shell, and so on. He’s gone through twenty-two companies so far. Since its sale back in May, whoever it is has been pouring money into equipment. And bribes. I’m guessing a lot of that is going to the local police to look the other way on inspections.”

Again, Gem nodded. “The Kaders are likely behind the purchase since Hemeda and Pilis are there. Not those two in particular. More likely Hemeda’s father, Pharaoh. It’s likely they got a hold of the prospectus from someone on the inside. Using ASM can be lucrative when done right.”

“ASM?” Steel asked.

“Artisanal and small-scale mining,” she defined.

“ASM might be lucrative in certain situations, but definitely optimal if you’re trying to do something illegal,” Nemo surmised.

Gem glanced at him.

He shrugged unapologetically. “Criminals know criminals, tiny.”

He watched her process that comment. Technically, both she and he were criminals, even if their paths were a little less crooked now. She turned her focus back to Steel. “Basically, ASM is supposed to mean individual contractors rather than corporations or conglomerates. There are individuals who mine for a living, but they prefer to work for themselves. They might move locations at will or possibly even work on a limited-time contract for a small-business interest. Maybe even a larger corporation, but they want the freedom to set their time frame rather than work the corporation’s timeline. Then there are people who do the work seasonally. A large number of farmers mine as a form of offseason work.”

“And then, of course, there are all the illegal variations,” Nemo added.

“You mean slave labor?” TB questioned.

“Yes,” Gem agreed. “It’s not unheard of for a warlord to use captives to mine and then line their pockets with what’s brought in. Primarily men. It’s more likely that women turn to the skin trade to make money in the camps rather than mine, but I’ve seen women working the veins as well. No one is immune.”

Waters frowned as he made a decision. “Okay. So that’s where we peg the Kaders. Warlords, for all intents and purposes.”

Steel froze Gem with his gaze. He pointed to the spot on the map he had circled. “Proximity to the dam notwithstanding, this is out in the middle of nowhere, so we’re not exactly going to be able to sneak in. How the hell did you get in there without being noticed? You don’t exactly look like a local.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Now it was Nemo’s turn to frown. “Kitty cat, I’m not going to like your answer, am I?”

“It won’t work for the three of you. Any of you, actually. Medusa would be the only one able to get away with it.”

He closed his eyes and hung his head. He tried to regulate his breathing, but he wasn’t sure he was being overly successful. “You didn’t.” It was a statement of denial that he knew was going to be answered in the opposite.

Clearly she understood what he wasn’t asking. “I did what I had to do to get the job done. And I already have three brothers who try to tell me what I can and can’t do, so don’t you start.”

He glared at her. “Oh, I have no problem starting anything.”

“You’re not my mother, either, Sawyer. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time and making my own decisions.”

“Nor am I your daddy, but we can take it that direction if I need to get an answer from you, little kitty. Now fess up so I know how many spankings you’re getting.”

“Touch my ass, and it will be the last time you use that hand.”

“Oh, I’ll be touching that ass, and you’ll enjoy every second of it, but that’s for another time. Now tell me.”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. I posed as a sex worker. There. Happy now?”

He began counting in his head so that he didn’t lose his shit.

Steel, TB, and Waters looked at each other, then at Nemo, then back at her. Neither Steel nor Waters said anything at all.

TB, however, said it for them. “Ballsy. But when you’re female, white, and blonde with blue eyes, that's probably your only option.”

“Yes, it was. And there was no way in hell I was giving anything up to anyone, but I needed an entry,” she admitted.

Nemo didn’t know who he was more angry with—her for putting herself at risk or Loki and company for allowing her to do it. His voice was low but measured in its delivery. “Do you have any idea what would have happened if you’d been caught? Or what could have happened if you’d been unsuccessful in getting to your target?” When his eyes opened, and he turned his head to look at her, he felt like flames were shooting out of the sockets. “Not a repeatable option,” he growled.

“How else was I going to get inside? I certainly wasn’t going to pass muster as a miner desperate for work. So what would your alternative have been, genius?”

“I don’t know, but that option is no longer available since you’ve already been chased out of there once while in that role.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Now I’ll have to run an even bigger risk, which is to use the illegal tunnels, risking cave-ins, flooded spaces, and heaven knows what else.” She looked to Steel and Waters. “I’m going to need aerial maps, a ten-kilometer radius, and eventually a plan to cut across the country. Entry is probably safest coming off the river if it isn’t being diverted to the farmers. I can sneak in at night when they’re deep in the overnight shift of mining. Less chance of being seen.”

“No way am I letting you go across the country without me, considering they’ve put out a contract on you,” Nemo argued.

Out of his peripheral vision, he watched her stare at him. Then she blinked once.

It wasn’t how he’d meant to tell her, but it was out now, so he refused to be sorry. Maybe now she’d understand just how goddamn dangerous this was for her.

He saw her turn back to face Waters, Steel, and TB. Her voice was calm. “Well… guess I’m not surprised. I mean, I knew they were looking for me. It’s why I took such a circuitous route to get to L.A.”

Nemo slammed his fist on the table. “There’s a fucking hit on you, Gem!”

“Nemo—”

“Shut the fuck up, Waters! It’s not your woman. It’s mine! Don’t you dare tell me to calm down or whatever other bullshit you’re going to spout. If it were Kubrick, you’d be the same way. Pissed and scared as hell.”

There was a gentle touch on his forearm. He looked down to see Gem’s hand there, and now he winced .

Gem asked, “Guys, can you give us a minute?”

Nemo paid no attention to the actual words behind the mumbling he heard. Instead, he concentrated on the weight of her hand, focused on the smooth skin against his, savored the soft caress as her fingertips massaged his arm. He was fucking this up left and right, but he didn’t know how to stop. The thought that someone might actually take her from him was terrifying. At least if she ran of her own volition, he could just chase after her.

And that’s what I’ll do. It’s what I should have done years ago.

“Nemo.”

He raised his eyes from her hand on his arm to her face.

“I appreciate that you’re concerned, but the danger is part of the gig. If you want something with me, which you seem to keep saying you do, you can’t smother me. No matter how attracted to you I am, smothering me will just make me run.”

“So that’s why you ran the past three times? I was smothering you?”

“No. I couldn’t stay the first two times. You were definitely not ready for something more back then. Not sure you are now or that you ever will be. But either way, back then, I had responsibilities that couldn’t be ignored.”

“Your father,” he said.

“Yes. Da was… difficult at the best of times. And because I was the girl and the youngest, it was my job to take care of him, even before he became ill. When the dementia took hold, he became angry. Violent at times. Verbally abusive. My brothers helped financially, but they weren’t there to deal with him day-to-day. His expectations became higher and higher for me. His ability to compromise was nonexistent. When he passed, it was almost a relief.” She laced her fingers with his. “It sounds terrible to say, but de mentia is an ugly, painful, exhausting disease, and not just for the victim. But he was my da, and I loved him, even when he didn’t love me back. Or couldn’t when he no longer knew who I was.”

She shook herself. “None of this applies to what’s going on right now, though. Nemo, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I hooked up with Medusa, Loki, and Gilgamesh. A target painted on my back isn’t anything new. Yeah, it’s a little disconcerting to know there’s a monetary value attached to me now, but nothing has really changed in terms of the danger level than what was happening before.”

“If you’re not scared, then what was with the look? Because you looked scared.”

“I was. But not because someone is gunning for me. I was scared because now it seems to matter to someone that there’s someone gunning for me, and I don’t like being responsible for anyone else’s happiness. Been there, done that already. For years, I lived to make Da happy, and it meant I was doing things I didn’t really want to do.”

“But you’re so good at what you do.”

She chuckled. “Being good at something doesn’t necessarily mean you like doing it, now does it?”

Nemo thought about how he’d been living his life. The stealing? The chase? He enjoyed those things. The women? He was exceptionally good at that, but she was correct. He did not enjoy that. It hadn’t stopped him from continuing to try and drown out his need for Gem with anyone he could charm into substituting for his pixie.

He brushed the rebel curl out of her eyes, and once again, it bounced right back over them. “No, it doesn’t.” He traced the perfectly arched eyebrow to the small star tattoo at its end. “Rest, pretty baby. You’ve got heavy lifting to do later.”

He started to get out of his seat, but her hand on his arm stopped him mid-stand. He sat back down, their fingers laced together again.

“Thank you, Nemo.”

“For what?”

“For not trying to keep me out of the loop. For letting me do what I do.”

“I know better than to try and stop a speeding train.” He smiled and ran his knuckles down her cheek. “You’re good at what you do. Better than me. And tinier.”

Together, they laughed at his reference to his first nickname for her.

“Still. Thank you for not hulking out over it.”

“Oh, I am on the inside. I can’t promise there won’t be moments of worry that slip out like earlier. But the harder I hold on, the faster you’ll try to run. I can’t have you running on me again.”

“No promises, Nemo. It’s not in me to make that promise. I go where my jobs take me,” she warned.

“Work is one thing. Running is another. And if you run, I’ll just chase you down.” He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “Rest.”