The Most Dangerous Dame

“You don’t understand. I can override your holoband in a second and install spyware you’ll never detect if I wanted to. But I won’t. I want you to be able to trust me, but it’s your choice. Just keep in mind that the alternative is allowing your enemies to continue tracking your every move. You’re a gambler, Mick. Toss the dice.”

“All right, do it. But don’t think this means I’m working with you, Ms. Sinn. I’m just in your debt, is all.”

Her smile was sly. “Not to worry. Consider this is an advance on a friendship. Call me when you need me again.”

The screen winked off. My holoband gave no indication of any changes, but I knew Sinn had already inserted her unique modification. My holoband was tricked out with the best security in the business, but it may as well have been unlocked and undefended when it came to bioroid superiority. I just hoped Sinn would stay true to her word and not hack my entire network, but it didn’t look as if I had a choice in the matter.

We strode across the parking lot where Maxine waited. Her doors slid open as I approached. Natasha stopped in mid-stride. “Wait. Were there any others?”

“Other what?”

She stared at me like I was the stupidest man alive. “Other women, Mick. Were there any more you’ve been—” She blushed.

“—familiar with? Not really. Desiree was the only working girl I dealt with.” I paused. “And there was Scarlett, of course. Oh, and Ming Li, but that was only one time. She stole my winnings and put me in debt with the Russians before skipping town. And uh, let’s see…there was a singer in that flophouse on the Southside, what was her name…?”

Natasha’s lip curled. “Do you need a minute to write them all down? Let’s start with the ones you had at least some type of relationship with.” She shook her head. “Geez, maybe Angel was right about you, Mick.”

I froze. “Angel.” My heart went into overdrive as the realization hit me.

“What about her?” Natasha’s eyes widened. “No, Mick. Are you saying—?”

“Get in the ride. She’s the next hit on the list.”

Chapter 13: A Familiar Face

“Maxine, call Angel.”

“Calling.”

Maxine squealed across the damp streets, weaving in and out of morning traffic. Buildings and shifting crowds became blurs of movement and lights as we roared past. The buzzing sound of the outgoing call seemed unnaturally loud in the silent interior as we held a collective breath.

“The call went to her voicemail, Mr. Trubble. Would you like to leave a message?”

“No. Scan the wire for any recent shootings or fatal accidents.”

“I’ve picked up seventy-six reports of gunfire, twenty-six arsons, two drownings, and seventeen reports of vehicular manslaughter in the last twenty-four hours.”

I looked at Benny, who shrugged. “Hey, this is New Haven.”

My teeth ground together. “All right. They were supposed to be on their way to Customs. Maxine, centralize your search to the route they most likely would have taken.”

“Right away. You have a new call coming through. Do you want to take it?”

“Put it on screen.”

The heads up display fizzled on, morphing into an image of a shadowed figure. It was the same silhouette I saw earlier right before she pumped me full of lead. The wide brim of her Bogart still hid her features. It was hard to see her surroundings, but I guessed she was laying dormy in some cheap flophouse.

“I left you a little present at the brothel. Did you enjoy it?” The tone was wickedly playful, but just like before her actual voice was electronically garbled, leaving me no clues to tickle my memory.

I fought to control the rage that clawed at my throat. Purposely keeping my voice casual, I shrugged. “Not my type of gift. Why don’t we arrange a face to face so I can show you what I really enjoy?”

“Things didn’t go so well for you the last time we were face to face. How does it feel, knowing at any moment I could do the same? This time I wouldn’t count on your healing system to save you. I’m pretty sure it overtaxed itself knitting you back together.”

“Why the games, sister? You wanna to take me out, just do it. Leave the others out of it.”

The shadow tilted her head. “Listen to you. Caring about people. Do you realize how inane that sounds? The reports are true, then. You really have changed. What a mind job Dr. Faraday did on you.”

“I got no complaints.”

“That’s because you don’t know who you really are. What a blissful quandary for you. Without your memories you can go on pretending to be this charming scoundrel of a man, putting your life on the line to help other people. What would those same people think of you if they knew how many people you’ve tortured and murdered?”