Page 112 of Bitter Arrangement

“Iron Head’s records indicated he was meeting with a wide variety of people on the day the watch went missing. We noticed he stayed with several known associates of Los Sombras. My wife’s brother was involved with one of their heists—” I hesitate, running right up against the edge here. “And he told me about a rumor he’d heard. That Los Sombras had come up on an even bigger score. Something massive and dangerous.”

“And that was enough to make you hack their systems.” Fungal Spread nodded to himself as he flipped through the pages.

“I found the conversations first. As you can see, they’re mostly in code, but they all keep referring to some massive score. But they were having trouble figuring out how to access it. That was one huge clue. We kept digging after that and monitored Diego Navarro’s communications. The smoking gun finally showed up two days ago when he directly referenced an encrypted watch. That’s on the last page.”

Fungal Spread grunts softly and leans back in his chair. He watches me, his face giving up nothing. If he realizes that every single conversation in that dossier is a forgery, I’m fucked. He’ll kill me and everyone I know. But I don’t back down, and I don’t show fear. I stand strong for Riley and our future child.

“And if I direct my people to hack Navarro’s system as well?” Fungal Spread asks. “What will they find?”

“Exactly what’s in that dossier.” Which is true, thanks to my crew. We worked day and night to set it all up right under Navarro’s nose. He’s got no clue the incriminating evidence is on his computer system now. And unless Fungal Spread himself does an extremely deep and detailed investigation into Navarro’s logs, which is possible but very unlikely, nobody will ever know the evidence was planted.

Fungal Spread nods slowly and closes the dossier. “Very good,” he says. “Very, very good. We were aware Los Sombras was unhappy with our organization; however—” He stops himself as if suddenly realizing he was saying too much. “At any rate, you did good work, Permafrost.”

“Thank you.” I hold his gaze, not moving. “I had an arrangement with your predecessor.”

“You will get paid. Once the watch is back in our possession, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Then our business is finished.” I turn away, heart hammering. I’m so close. I start back toward the door.

Fungal Spread calls out. “One more thing.” I hesitate and look back. I keep seeing Riley with a swollen belly and a smile on her lips.I have to get home to her.“Congratulations on your marriage and your new alliance with the McGrath family. I hope this successful joint venture will allow all of our organizations to work well together in the future.”

“I think we’d all like that.”

He nods and gives me a smile.

A chill runs down my spine.

Fungal Spread looks like a wolf pretending to be a human.

I get out of there. The soldier hands my gun back, though he keeps the magazine. “No offense,” he says.

I shrug and don’t argue.

Each step I take toward my car is one more step on the path back to my wife.

I know there are still a dozen ways this can go wrong, but for the first time since that watch came into my life, I’m starting to feel hope.

Chapter41

Alexan

The Pomegranate House is busy on a Saturday night. Anyone who wants to do business with the Brotherhood is here, packed into narrow tables, spending lavishly on food and drinks. These days, that’s a lot of people.

Daron raises a glass. He’s drunk and happy. “Here’s to the happy couple,” he says. “And to having children. And to winning an impossible game. And to pregnancies, and arranged marriages, and?—”

“I think that’s enough,” Riley says.

Eric and William laugh. I hug my wife closer and drink to her health. Daron sways in his chair, beaming like a madman. “I still can’t believe it worked,” he says, his voice lowering as he leans in closer to me. “Honestly, Fungal Spread himself? That’s one bad motherfucker.”

“I have a feeling they didn’t look too hard.” I keep my hand possessively on Riley’s thigh. She doesn’t mind, though. These days, I have a lot to protect. “Once they got their crypto keys back and realized nothing had been stolen, I have a feeling they didn’t have much incentive to investigate too closely.”

“Still, what a fucking hack.” He sighs and drinks again.

“Can I admit something?” I raise my glass to him. “I was inspired by the perfect hack.”

His eyes widen. His mouth drops open. And then he bursts out laughing so hard he has to hold his ribs. “That story isn’t even true!” he shouts, cracking up. “Oh my god, you madman!”

Eric and William do their best to calm Daron down as half the restaurant looks in our direction. I lean in to Riley and kiss her neck, brushing her hair back.

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