Page 14 of Cuckoo (Kindred)

“We met, in the Grand, on the night of the demonstration,” he said.

He was loose, sitting at an angle in his seat, lounging with an arm draped over the back. His positioning suggested confidence. There wasn’t any hint of hesitation about bringing up the meeting where illegality had been discussed.

Dancing in this mental parade, she stayed relaxed because she’d learned it was just as important for her to be assured and unhurried. If Kahlil thought she was uncomfortable then she’d cede the advantage, which could be crucial later.

“Yes,” she said. “I know who you are.”

He wasted zero time getting to the point. “When Grant told us we’d been unsuccessful in our bid for Game Time, we were surprised.”

The vultures were circling. Taking her lower lip into her mouth, she licked it and freed it again. It had been months since Grant had made his decision that Sutcliffe was the successful buyer. “I am sorry for that, but that project was tied up long ago.”

Pinning his eyes onto hers, he stayed silent for so long that she almost began to squirm. But he was measuring her, testing his opponent, and she couldn’t fail his examination. A smile slid to his face. “I have something for you.”

He opened his jacket to pull an envelope from his inside pocket. The long white paper was thick and of good quality. When he slid it across to her, she was reminded of the time Grant had given her a check in a similar envelope.

The offering intrigued her. “What’s in there?”

Smug yet casual, he was proud of himself. “A new bid,” he said and her chin darted up in another bolt of surprise. This one wasn’t so easy to conceal. “We know that Albert Sutcliffe did not use the device. Grant returned his payment. Exclusivity is still on the table.”

“How could you possibly know that?” she asked, on the ropes.

It was difficult to maintain her cool, but she was doing it. Keeping her expression neutral and her body upright in a pose she’d seen the arrogant business people who did their work in this building use, Zara was thrust from the past to the future. As far as she knew, no one had re-opened bidding for Game Time.

Kahlil was assuming a lot by coming here with an offer already on paper. He probably wanted to get in on the ground floor, guessing that with Grant gone and Sutcliffe ousted, Game Time would be up for grabs again.

“We are not without our own capabilities,” he said. “My superior was angry when we lost the deal. So angry that surveillance was ordered on Grant and on Albert Sutcliffe. We witnessed what happened in the Atlas warehouse and know that you are in possession of the device.”

“That was months ago,” she exhaled.

The Kindred had been so preoccupied by Leatt and what was left of Sutcliffe’s legacy that they’d missed the backdoor strike. They were watching the wrong fight! Leatt was long gone, and Rigor could handle any of Sutcliffe’s people who tried to return to their former home. Kahlil and his colleagues were coming for Game Time. They needed to switch focus, to find out what Kahlil’s boss wanted to achieve with Game Time.

Kahlil had to sense her bewilderment, but he kept the focus on business. “Yes. Grant wasn’t interested in accepting our new approach.”

So this wasn’t completely new. Grant had never told her about a subsequent offer for Game Time. Guessing that Grant had refused the offer without hesitation, she had to wonder about why Kahlil was trying again now that Grant was gone, he had to know that she had no authority over any of CI’s assets or products. But if he had witnessed what happened in the Atlas warehouse, he had to know that she had been the one to drive away from the site with the device in tow.

“What makes you think I will be interested?”

Linking his fingers, he rested his forearms on the desk. “Because you’re a woman,” he said, looking at her chest, which was concealed behind a conservative, fitted blouse.

Insulting the person you wanted to do business with was not a great starting point for negotiations. Suggesting that her gender made her more susceptible to his suggestion guaranteed that his hearing would not be impartial because she was already affronted.

“So, I’m supposed to do what you tell me?” she said, making no secret of her displeasure. “I wouldn’t even consider a deal until you revealed the identity of your superior and his intention.”

For a moment, she recalled what Benedict Leatt had said about his superior, and she wondered if they could be answering to the same individual. That idea was quickly quashed when Kahlil made his next admission.

“The players have changed since we last met,” he said and for the first time she saw a crack in his nonchalance.

“What does that mean?” she asked, trying to decipher why he would be so affected by a change in his colleagues.

He exhaled and his mouth contorted at the same time he averted his eyes. The confident exterior slipped long enough for her to recognize annoyance. Knowing what ruled your opponent was an excellent way to gain advantage. Changes in his manner and expression could betray those weaknesses, and they wouldn’t be recorded by any microphone, meaning it was up to her to catalogue them. Brodie had quizzed her about such things in the past, and she wanted to have all the answers should he do it again.

“I no longer work for the same man.”

So it wasn’t a change in his contemporaries but a change in his superior that disturbed him. Hazarding a guess that the separation had been acrimonious, she probed in hope of revealing the particulars. “Why not?”

If he’d switched allegiance, then it was possible Kahlil had been the one to reveal Game Time’s existence and potential to his new employer, whoever that was. Word about the device was beginning to seep into a wider circle and that was dangerous for CI, and for the Kindred.

The device and corresponding viruses were locked up at the manor. She’d always been assured that the place was impenetrable and for a man on foot with a handgun that was true. But Kahlil had connections. That much was clear from how quickly he’d bounced into new employment and had exposed Game Time to this new party.

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