Sesi slicked her shock of black hair out of her eyes.Callie noticed her shaved sides.A dated hairstyle, but she had no visible cyberware.No strength amplifier patch on her bare arms.No Opti.No magstrip.The style suited wearables.“That’s a trade secret.”
“So why are we here?”
“You don’t want to be here?”Sesi knew the question was ludicrous, but people tended to be more agreeable if you held the key to their relief.Annoyance just made that key a little bit shinier.
Callie rolled her eyes.Sesi grinned.She was cute.Freckles – far more than the smattering Talia wore.Short platinum hair and grey eyes.She permitted herself to enjoy the moment.In this context, her stare might be taken as threatening rather than salacious.
Freckles though.Sesi found something else in the look she returned besides anger.The eyebrows didn’t quite knit together as much as they should.Her look failed to achieve the pointedness required forrealfury.Something else, indeed.There might be potential.
Sesi lowered her stare to her lips, pink and tense.Then back to her other eye.There it was; a slight flush.The corner of Sesi’s mouth rose just a hint.Freckles lowered her eyes.The fit was so much easier with someone whowantedto be controlled.Like a glove you’ve been wearing for years.Sesi didn’t know if Freckles knew what she needed, but it pleased her thatshedid.
“I need something from you,” Sesi said after their little gazing game had concluded.
Callie narrowed her eyes.“You couldn’t just ask?”
Sesi laughed.“I’ll be honest, I hadn’t considered that.It’s a bit rare in this business.”
“What business is that?”Callie bit the corner of a fingernail.
Sesi considered.So far, Freckles had been direct.She probably wouldn’t appreciate a grand manifesto or an appeal that they actually did a lot of good in the Rhea district.Because they weren’t actuallygood guys.Good guysdidn’t exist.Not by a long shot.There were only people who did things and people who looked the other way, but still reaped the benefits.
“The Adlets’s business.”Sesi watched the revelation spread over Freckles’s face.She was being held by the local gang.One she had probably heard stories about.Most of which were also true.Was it fear?Resignation, maybe?
“Why me?”Callie shifted her weight.
Sesi slid further down the chair, tenting her fingers.She hadn’t expected that response.She enjoyed Freckles more than she had predicted, based on what little intel Siku had gathered.
Callie didn’t know how she could possibly be comfortable sitting like that.She probably wasn’t.It must be an act.
“We need you to ask Model 21 something.”
“You know it lies constantly, right?”
Sesi pursed her lips and tilted her head from side to side.“Kind of.”
“What do you mean,kind of?”
“It only lies when it doesn’t know.”
Callie narrowed her eyes.“How do you know this?
“Because one of ours works with Model 2.And another one designed the Ruskov chambers.”
Emotions swirled in Callie’s head as she put two and Model 2 together.Talia.That explained everything about that night.
“You sent Talia.”Callie pointed her finger with the accusation.
Sesi frowned.“What?”
“Talia.You sent her to… I don’t know, do something with me on New Year’s Eve!”Saying this out loud made Callie a lot less certain of what she knew for a fact only seconds ago.For the second time.
Goddammit, Talia, don’t you ever do what you’re told?Sesi thought.Of course, she didn’t.That was one of the many things that Sesi had loved about her.Still loved, if she was being honest.Which she wasn’t.
“No, we sent the mixer.Talia wasn’t even supposed to be there.”At least Callie had indirect confirmation that Talia was one of theirs.No second date then.A mixture of disappointment and embarrassment swirled in her stomach.She couldn’t help but notice the hint of annoyance in the woman’s voice, though.
“The one that Sparx knew?”Callie’s eyes flitted to her unconscious friend still lying on the floor.
“We’re well acquainted with Sparx.Sparx is less-well acquainted with us.”
