Stark looked just as irritated as his charge. His heavily muscled and tattooed arms were crossed over his chest as he glared down at the top of the kid’s head, which was covered in a filthy black beanie that further obstructed determining the gender of the street punk. There was a tic happening in Stark’s jaw and I noticed he had a scrape across his forehead, while his glasses sat on his face crookedly.
“You wanted me to find who helped Tyler Finch get his new ID. You’re looking at him.” Obviously the kid hadn’t wanted to cooperate and proved that by glaring sulkily at both of us and sinking farther down in the chair without saying a word. I still wasn’t sold on the “him” part of that statement, but I didn’t question Stark’s assumption.
“You helped a young man pretend to be someone he is not so that he could get inside of my club. I don’t care who you are or what laws you broke in helping him. I just want a real name and a location where I can find him. Mr. Finch and I are long overdue for a conversation.”
Things at the club had been running like clockwork ever since the saboteur had been unveiled. There were no more incidents. No more sabotage, and even the patrons had all been on their best behavior. The cherry on my professional cake was when I purchased my new car with the money I had taken from the woman that tried to kill me. She had quietly left town, for once making the right choice. I also had all of Chuck’s guys and the rest of my security at my other locations on high alert in case the impostor was stupid or brave enough to show his face now that he had to know we knew who was behind the destruction.
The dirty street kid crossed skinny arms over a thin chest and just stared at me balefully. The fact that those eyes didn’t waver or even twitch had a little bit of admiration trickling in under my impatience to get this over with so I could find the impostor.
Stark swore and glowered at the kid, who seemed oblivious to all the heated anger being directed at him.
“I couldn’t get him to talk to me either. I thought maybe you’d have more luck. I kill things with code not with weapons or my bare hands.”
That made the kid stiffen. Tiny hands curled under the dirty fabric of the coat and that frail frame stiffened. Stark lifted his hands and scrubbed them over his face.
“A gamer buddy pointed me to a hipster coffee shop where a bunch of street kids that just happen to be really good with computers hang out and offer up stuff like new IDs for runaways and other kids that need to get off the grid. I asked a few of those kids, flashed around some of that cash you gave me, and they all told me to find Noe Lee.”
I felt both my eyebrows shoot up. “‘No’?”
The kid rolled dark eyes at me and finally spoke. “N-O-E. But it’s pronounced like ‘no.’”
The voice was clear and decidedly feminine, so I decided the kid had to be a young woman. That made the fact that Stark was sporting battle wounds even more impressive.
“So I go looking in every rathole hovel I can find, looking for Noe. I asked every hacker, hard-core gamer, programmer, and software engineer I could find who Noe is, and nobody had an answer.” He shifted his weight and uncrossed his arms so that he could put his hands on the back of the girl’s chair. “Imagine my surprise when I get home from a day of digging to find out that Noe decided to come find me. Every single thing of value I had in my town house is missing. My laptop. My desktop. Every hard drive, whether it was working or not, is gone. All my TVs are missing. If it was electronic, it’s gone, and this little asshole was just sitting on my couch like he had every right to be there. You’re footing the bill for all my shit, Gates.”
“I don’t like people digging into my business. I like to be left alone.” The girl snapped the answer, apparently far more defiant than she should be in her current position.
“You also don’t like showering if the way you smell is anything to go by.” Stark’s tone was petulant, and when the kid jerked her head back to glare up at him, the wool hat covering her head fell off and rivers of long black hair fell down around her dirty face. I saw surprise flash in the other man’s face and soon a red flush was vying for the title of brightest color on his neck amid all the ink that swirled there. The man had been robbed and knocked around by a girl that probably weighed less than half of what he did.
“I don’t like people in my business either and this kid you helped infiltrate my operation has cost me enough money and enough time. The only option you have here is to tell me who I’m after. I think you know that and I think that’s why when you heard one of my people was looking for you, you made yourself easy to find.”
“It’s easy to disappear on the streets.” Her tone was cold but I could see a sharp intelligence shining out of her dark gaze.
“It is. It’s also easy to go missing from the streets and have no one realize you’re gone.”
The girl bit down on her lip and looked up at Stark like maybe he would be her lifeline. The tattooed hacker touched the mark on his forehead and muttered, “You’re a goddamn girl” while shaking his head. Seeing that Stark wasn’t going to be any help, she turned her attention back to me.
“Look, I’ve been living on the streets and on the run since I was just a kid. I know the rules in a place like this and the top one is look out for yourself first. When I heard Nassir Gates was looking for whoever helped someone get inside his new club, I knew enough money and big enough threats were going to get passed around that my name was going to come up. I just figured I would have some fun on my way here.”
Stark grunted. “You stole all my shit.”
She tilted her head back at him and grinned and I could see that she was probably a stunner under all that dirt and grime that covered her from head to toe. I could see that Stark saw it as well. Suddenly he took a step back from the chair like the girl occupying it was toxic.
“You had great stuff. There’s nothing like a guy that knows his processors.”
“If you were going to come in to see Nassir anyway, why did you jump me? Why did you punch me in the face and hit me with a lamp?” Now Stark sounded like a petulant kid.
She lifted up her shoulders and let them fall. I tried not to grimace at the cloud of dust that her move released. “You grabbed me. I don’t like to be touched.”
He barked out a swearword and his entire face flushed red. “You broke into my home and hijacked all my stuff. Of course I grabbed you.” He sounded so exasperated that the entire thing would’ve been hilarious if I had more time and any kind of patience at all. “You don’t need me anymore, do you, Gates? I need to get out of here.”
“You wanted me to find who helped Tyler Finch get his new ID. You’re looking at him.” Obviously the kid hadn’t wanted to cooperate and proved that by glaring sulkily at both of us and sinking farther down in the chair without saying a word. I still wasn’t sold on the “him” part of that statement, but I didn’t question Stark’s assumption.
“You helped a young man pretend to be someone he is not so that he could get inside of my club. I don’t care who you are or what laws you broke in helping him. I just want a real name and a location where I can find him. Mr. Finch and I are long overdue for a conversation.”
Things at the club had been running like clockwork ever since the saboteur had been unveiled. There were no more incidents. No more sabotage, and even the patrons had all been on their best behavior. The cherry on my professional cake was when I purchased my new car with the money I had taken from the woman that tried to kill me. She had quietly left town, for once making the right choice. I also had all of Chuck’s guys and the rest of my security at my other locations on high alert in case the impostor was stupid or brave enough to show his face now that he had to know we knew who was behind the destruction.
The dirty street kid crossed skinny arms over a thin chest and just stared at me balefully. The fact that those eyes didn’t waver or even twitch had a little bit of admiration trickling in under my impatience to get this over with so I could find the impostor.
Stark swore and glowered at the kid, who seemed oblivious to all the heated anger being directed at him.
“I couldn’t get him to talk to me either. I thought maybe you’d have more luck. I kill things with code not with weapons or my bare hands.”
That made the kid stiffen. Tiny hands curled under the dirty fabric of the coat and that frail frame stiffened. Stark lifted his hands and scrubbed them over his face.
“A gamer buddy pointed me to a hipster coffee shop where a bunch of street kids that just happen to be really good with computers hang out and offer up stuff like new IDs for runaways and other kids that need to get off the grid. I asked a few of those kids, flashed around some of that cash you gave me, and they all told me to find Noe Lee.”
I felt both my eyebrows shoot up. “‘No’?”
The kid rolled dark eyes at me and finally spoke. “N-O-E. But it’s pronounced like ‘no.’”
The voice was clear and decidedly feminine, so I decided the kid had to be a young woman. That made the fact that Stark was sporting battle wounds even more impressive.
“So I go looking in every rathole hovel I can find, looking for Noe. I asked every hacker, hard-core gamer, programmer, and software engineer I could find who Noe is, and nobody had an answer.” He shifted his weight and uncrossed his arms so that he could put his hands on the back of the girl’s chair. “Imagine my surprise when I get home from a day of digging to find out that Noe decided to come find me. Every single thing of value I had in my town house is missing. My laptop. My desktop. Every hard drive, whether it was working or not, is gone. All my TVs are missing. If it was electronic, it’s gone, and this little asshole was just sitting on my couch like he had every right to be there. You’re footing the bill for all my shit, Gates.”
“I don’t like people digging into my business. I like to be left alone.” The girl snapped the answer, apparently far more defiant than she should be in her current position.
“You also don’t like showering if the way you smell is anything to go by.” Stark’s tone was petulant, and when the kid jerked her head back to glare up at him, the wool hat covering her head fell off and rivers of long black hair fell down around her dirty face. I saw surprise flash in the other man’s face and soon a red flush was vying for the title of brightest color on his neck amid all the ink that swirled there. The man had been robbed and knocked around by a girl that probably weighed less than half of what he did.
“I don’t like people in my business either and this kid you helped infiltrate my operation has cost me enough money and enough time. The only option you have here is to tell me who I’m after. I think you know that and I think that’s why when you heard one of my people was looking for you, you made yourself easy to find.”
“It’s easy to disappear on the streets.” Her tone was cold but I could see a sharp intelligence shining out of her dark gaze.
“It is. It’s also easy to go missing from the streets and have no one realize you’re gone.”
The girl bit down on her lip and looked up at Stark like maybe he would be her lifeline. The tattooed hacker touched the mark on his forehead and muttered, “You’re a goddamn girl” while shaking his head. Seeing that Stark wasn’t going to be any help, she turned her attention back to me.
“Look, I’ve been living on the streets and on the run since I was just a kid. I know the rules in a place like this and the top one is look out for yourself first. When I heard Nassir Gates was looking for whoever helped someone get inside his new club, I knew enough money and big enough threats were going to get passed around that my name was going to come up. I just figured I would have some fun on my way here.”
Stark grunted. “You stole all my shit.”
She tilted her head back at him and grinned and I could see that she was probably a stunner under all that dirt and grime that covered her from head to toe. I could see that Stark saw it as well. Suddenly he took a step back from the chair like the girl occupying it was toxic.
“You had great stuff. There’s nothing like a guy that knows his processors.”
“If you were going to come in to see Nassir anyway, why did you jump me? Why did you punch me in the face and hit me with a lamp?” Now Stark sounded like a petulant kid.
She lifted up her shoulders and let them fall. I tried not to grimace at the cloud of dust that her move released. “You grabbed me. I don’t like to be touched.”
He barked out a swearword and his entire face flushed red. “You broke into my home and hijacked all my stuff. Of course I grabbed you.” He sounded so exasperated that the entire thing would’ve been hilarious if I had more time and any kind of patience at all. “You don’t need me anymore, do you, Gates? I need to get out of here.”
