Page 55 of Jump or Fall
“The one who told me you were coming: Silva Lasko, Master Gunsmith at Hyperion.”
Chapter 19
Gordon - One Year Earlier
Kim would be at the bar in a few minutes. He’d been back for a couple of days now, crashing at the same hostel he’d landed in when he was first dumped on Scarlet Row. Finding something permanent was nearly impossible without Kim's help. Even if Division Eight was a lawless dump, necessity had made it tight-knit and wary of newcomers.
The stool beneath him was even more wobbly than before, and the floor stuck to his shoes with the stink of stale beer. Across the room, a woman laughed as she leaned into a man’s shoulder. He was pretty sure she was the same one who’d been loudly fucking his neighbor three years ago.
He took a swig of whiskey, just as a hand clapped him on the back. He turned to see Kim smiling at him, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She’d aged since he’d last seen her, obviously, but she still looked so young.
He reached out for a friendly embrace. Her shoulders loosened, just slightly, as she accepted it.
“How’ve you been, Kim?”
Her brows came together. “A lot has happened since you left.”
Gordon had a suspicion. “Your mom?”
“Yeah… Last year,” she said quietly.
“I’m so sorry.”
Blinking back tears, she shook her head. “I tried to tell myself I shouldn’t feel so sad. She did it to herself… but it still hurts so much.”
“Loss can be complicated like that.”
She waved the barman over for a drink. Other Divisions had screens and bots to handle orders, but Eight tried to keep as many human workers as possible. With restrictions on movement and work, it was the only way for enough people to earn a living. For the ones who couldn’t find a job, it was common to see them selling whatever odds and ends they found in the alleys.
“What was Naxos like?” she asked.
He took another drink and snorted. “Fucked. You thought the bird was crazy? I caught a spy mouse one day.” He wasn’t going to tell her about Deirdre.
Her mouth dropped open. “A mouse? Why do they need that?”
He shook his head. “No idea. Oh—” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small statue of Deyela. “I brought this for you.”
Kim’s eyes widened. “Where did you find this?”
“There’s a whole neighborhood of you in Naxos. I almost called a random woman ‘Kim’, but once I got closer, it was obviously not you.” He laughed, the whiskey was slowly creeping up on him.
A small smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “Thank you, Gordon.”
He nodded. “Your sister finish school yet?”
Kim pressed her lips into a hard line. “Yeah. I wanted to ask you something.”
Not liking the sound of where this was going, he ordered another drink.Please don’t ask me to track someone down again.
She looked away. “What do you know about the Secretary of State Security?”
“I know Naxos wants him gone, and that’s why I’m back. Silver psychopath who leads the rest of the Silver psychopaths. Why?”
“He has Nella.”
His stomach dropped. “Kim…”
“Can you get her back?” Sea-green eyes met his, pleading.
