Page 37 of Scarlet Angel

If it’s in my interest to do so. We went over this.

He scratches at the back of his neck again.

“Have you got the nits?”

“No, sorry. There’s a tag on the back of this jumper that’s rubbing me wrong.”

“Are you wearing a wire?”

“No.” He shoves his hands into his front pockets. “I’d never betray the trust.”

Hmm. Leo betrayed my trust. Some might say I betrayed Leo’s trust. But I did what was best for him. And in this world, we’re apt to cross lines.

“As you know, my negotiator died, and I have yet to fill the position.”

“So, the deals aren’t getting done?”

“They aren’t being negotiated on behalf of my firm.” The position has been open for under a month. The word firm is rather grand for the operation. We leveraged connections and cut deals. I took a cut on a high-margin business and distributed it to vested parties. The setup allowed the syndicate to have a place at the table and our connections to maintain a reliable source.

“Did you hear about X Shynik?”

“What about it?” As one of the top ten producers in the world, the semiconductor factory in South Korea possesses significant capabilities.

“It was robbed. Four a.m. Security on-site shot. No witnesses.”

“Who did it?”

“We don’t know.”

“No video?”

“Disconnected before the event.”

Savvy thieves. “What’d they take?”

“Chips.” He shrugs. “The confidence level in the claims is low.”

“X Shynik doesn’t want what they were working on getting leaked.” I get what he’s saying. I’ll log some calls, see what I can learn. Corporate espionage rarely sanctions killing the security staff, so Tristan’s correct. This is interesting.

“And then there’s North Korea.”

“Trash bombs?” I’m jesting with Tristan, as we take North Korea seriously. Jiang Tu, a retail magnate from China, has several sources within North Korea that serve as levers of influence.

“We have a source that claims one of their silos was broken into. Our estimates are they stole enough nerve gas to kill everyone within a three-mile radius.”

“You think the two incidents are related?”

“No evidence to that effect. But we’re intrigued.”

The Russians? Saudis? Iran? A government had to have stolen the chemical weapons. Private entities don’t aim to wipe out villages, nor do they have the skills to break into North Korea.

“You’ve heard nothing?” He’s dubious. Thinks I’m full of shit.

But I’m straight-up honest, which is troubling. These are the events the syndicate monitors. I’ve heard nothing from Halston, and the twat campaigned to take the lead.

“I’ll look into it.” I stare Tristan down, straight in the eye. “To be clear, I don’t condone the killing of innocents. You can always trust me to share that kind of intel. I don’t know what you expect?—”

“Leo told us we can trust you.”

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