Page 44

“Yeah, I get that. But why try to kill me? That’s what I don’t get.

If it’s a strike against the company, there are better ways.

Tipping off the C.P. about any of the Hex labs, for example.

That would make our lives difficult for a lot less than a hundred grand.

And why try to take out one person? Why me?

Myhre’s just as central to running the business as I am.

Probably more. Why haven’t they targeted her? ”

A very cold finger runs down my spine. “Maybe ‘cause you can’t target yourself?”

Kez takes her eyes off the central viewie to look at me. She lifts an eyebrow. “Seriously? ”

I shrug. “Why not?”

“Why?” Kez counters. “Chi doesn’t trust her.

She takes me out, and then what? She’s got no more control than she has now.

Besides, I fucking promoted her. I’ve agreed with practically every suggestion she’s made.

If you hadn’t told me about Sokun, maybe I could see her wanting to eliminate the competition, but it’s clear I’m not, so what reason would she have to try to kill me? ”

“Maybe she doesn’t have a reason,” I say, but nothing in me believes it.

Kez snorts. Guess nothing in her believe it, either. “She has a reason for sneezing. Look, if we’re pointing the finger, it could be anyone. It could be Chi. She’s got the money. A hundred thousand is spending money to her. She’s throwing twice that at her damn Crackle, and that’s just one day.”

“Baby Tyng? Why would she take a swing at you? You’re her new best friend.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like the plates I picked,” Kez says. She navigates onto an updraft to save fuel. Smart kitten. Once we’re surfing the air current, Kez sits back and scratches her head. “There is one reason.”

“Other than the plates?”

“Yeah.” Kez clears her throat and flushes. “I really didn’t want to tell you about this. You’ve got enough to think about, and this isn’t my secret to tell.”

I spread my hands. “You can tell me anything, kitten. You know that. But I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other.”

“This isn’t my secret. You’ll understand in a second.” She checks the settings before she turns slightly in her chair to look at me. “I know who the father of Nevie’s baby is.”

“Ain’t that kid, what was his name? Skylar?

” I only met the kid once, and it was his mother who made the impression when she leveled a fucking plasma cannon at me.

But he was as fucked up on Hex as anyone I’ve ever seen, and I thought Hex made men infertile.

So the idea of him being the father never quite rang true .

“No.” She rubs a hand over her face. “It’s Ape.”

Fuck. I take a deep breath while I try to get my head around the ramifications of that one. “Does Chi know?”

“I don’t think so.” Kez rolls her eyes upward. “I didn’t think so, but now I don’t know. You’ve got me second-guessing everything and everyone.”

“Sorry, kitten.” I’m not trying to turn her into the same sort of paranoid twist that I am. But a little suspicion is useful, given our situation. “Does Ape know?”

Kez shrugs. “He can count, just like I can.”

“Yeah, but Nev ain’t exactly a one-man woman.”

Kez sighs. “You’ve only seen her at her worst .

.. when she’s on Hex, she doesn’t know or care who she’s with.

But the rest of the time, she’s pretty monogamous.

Serial, you know, but monogamous. When she and Ape got together, she was clean.

That’s how she got pregnant. She should have had another conhibitor put in, but she wasn’t with anyone, so I guess she didn’t bother.

She wasn’t with Ape for long. A few days.

Then they had a fight – I don’t know what it was about – and the next thing any of us knew, he brought Chi home.

It was less than a five-day from the last time he and Nev were together. Bang, bang. He’s such an ass.”

I don’t disagree with her there. “I’m missin’ how this translates into a reason to kill you, kitten. Seems more like she should off Ape for bein’ a two-timing dick.”

“You’re right.” Kez shrugs. “But sometimes it’s hard to blame the man you love. And I’ve been really vocal about Nev being the only one who has any say in keeping the baby. I’m the easiest target.”

That does make a kind of twisted sense.

“Hard to blame the man you love, huh?” Kez didn’t have any trouble blaming me when she thought I was interested in Myhre.

“Well, you know.”

“Yeah, I do know. Still waitin’ to see it, though.”

She has the grace to blush. “I haven’t blamed you for anything in at least twelve hours. ”

I chuckle. “A new record.”

She pouts for a moment, until I divert her by asking, “While you been with Chi, has she ever logged into the T-net as me?”

The fact that someone released the mag-gun with my authorization is still bugging me.

“Nope. Chi uses her own avvy. She’s had it since birth and she’s got better access than either of us.”

“What’s Chi got access to that we don’t?” It occurs to me that I should know this, and it concerns me that I don’t. Although I have a hard time believing Chi is behind the tag on Kez, I should have looked into this before. Chiara doesn’t get to keep any secrets from me, either.

“Tyng family files. She’s showed me some of them. Lots of bad poetry.”

That makes me chuckle. What do you do with more credits than you could ever spend? Write bad poetry. “Someone’s used my access, and it ain’t me.”

“And you think it could be Chi?”

“Could.” I’m still not sure that Ape gettin’ Nev knocked up translates into a reason to try for Kez. “She’s got the creds, and the access. Without wantin’ to ruin your beautiful friendship, I think we need to put the theory to the test.”

“How?” Kez asks.

I nod at the central viewie, where several messages from Chi to Kez are flashing. “Plex her back. Tell her where you’re gonna be and when. If they try for you, we know she’s behind it.”

“She’s not the only person who knows we’re going to Kuus.”

“Don’t tell her about Kuus. Tell her about Tonlye. So far you an’ me are the only ones who know about that.” I haven’t even told Acker.

“Okay.” She taps up the plex interface and records a message for Chi. She sounds relaxed and casual. Not a hint of what we suspect. Much smoother than my message to Myhre. Smart kitten .

“Good job,” I say, once the message is winging its way through the digital ether.

She sighs. “Have I told you recently how much I hate this?”

“Once or twice.”

“It was easier when I thought it was someone like Jaxon or this guy Drogan.” She wipes her hand across her eyes, and I suspect she’s wiping away tears, although her voice is steady. “Finding out about Dunk. Suspecting Chi. I’d almost rather not know.”

“You don’t wanna know, I won’t tell you,” I offer.

She shakes her head. “I’m not that much of a coward.”

“Kitten, you ain’t any kind of coward.” This is her family that’s betrayed her. “I know this ain’t easy. But it’ll be over soon. Tomorrow, day after, I’ll have Jaxon. He’ll lead us wherever he leads us, an’ then I’ll have them, too. That’ll be the end of it. Then we’re going on fucking vacation.”

Kez smiles. “I’ll hold you to that. I got the plex, by the way. StarWave House, huh?”

I forgot that the change in our reservation would ping to Kez’s viewie. “Yeah.”

“Big spender,” she says, the smile still in her voice, and I can hear it when that smile turns mischievous. “I had a thought for our vacation. Something I want to try. You’d need to bring a lot of rope, though.”

I lift an eyebrow. “How much rope?”

“A lot. Enough to tie me up and suspend me.”

That gets the little monster’s attention. “Suspend you?”

“Uh-huh.” Kez grins. “All the way off the ground.”

The little monster’s up for that. Way, way up. I shift in my chair. “An’ what will you be doin’ all the way off the ground?”

Kez giggles.

I thought so. I’m gonna need a cold shower before I meet the rats. “I’ll pack plenty of rope.” And lube.

“Do you think you could do it so I’m upside down? Or at least so my head’s down? ”

And her ass is up. I have a very vivid mental image that makes me shift in my chair again. “You’re killin’ me.”

Another giggle. “We’re going to do the brands before we go, right?”

“Yeah, I want you wearin’ my mark by the time we hit the beach.”

“Really?” Kez looks at me. When I nod, she glows. Fuck, her happiness is so simple. I have to keep my eyes on that prize. Whatever else is going on, whatever I have to do in the short-term to keep us safe, my priority over the long-term is Kez’s happiness.