Right Through Me (The Obsidian Files #1)

by Shannon McKenna

  “We saved each other at Midlands,” Noah said. “We all did our part. I couldn’t have done it without every single one of you guys.”

  Sisko rolled his eyes. “Maybe in the battle itself. But after? We were wrecked. They would have scooped us all back up and tossed us right back into the shredder if not for you.”

  Noah scowled. “So what’s your point?”

  “You can’t do everything yourself,” Sisko said.

  “What about Zade?” Noah demanded. “You really think that he should be involved in this? Mark has his fucking codes. He can kill Zade in one second. From across the room.”

  “Yes, that is a problem,” Sisko conceded. “Let Zade work it out. He’s not a kid. And Hannah--”

  “No way. She can’t get near this.”

  “Why? Because she’s your baby sister? She’ll tear you to shreds if you cut her out of the action.”

  “Let’s argue about this when I’m not chewing nails.”

  “You could spit out the nails,” Sisko suggested. “Just a thought.”

  Then Noah saw the colors, slowly revolving on the walls and ceiling. Caro had sneaked out the bedroom door. She leaned over the railing, trying to listen in, her sig like a huge peony blooming in the darkness. He glanced up, and she pulled back with a guilty look.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping?” he asked.

  “Same reason you’re not, probably.”

  “Don’t think so,” he said. “I do soldier sentinel sleep. It’s a Midlands thing. We toggle brain hemispheres, resting one while we function at a hundred percent with the other. You, on the other hand, need regular sleep. I can see it from here. Go get some more of it.”

  Her sig got bigger, unfurling like the fan of some huge fantasy peacock, like it always did whenever her pride was involved. The image filled the room, silently defying him.

  It drove him nuts. OK, he could be a controlling bastard. But for a damn good reason. Controlling people was sometimes the only way to protect them. Worked sometimes. Or it crashed and burned. He hadn’t been able to control Asa. He hadn’t been able to protect Hannah. But God, he had tried. So fucking hard.

  If he couldn’t control Caro, then he couldn’t protect her.

  Caro ignored his command and descended the stairs, dignified as an empress. She seemed to drift an inch or so above the ground, in her swirling cloud of colors.

  “How did you know I was there?” she asked. “That door doesn’t squeak.”

  Sisko snorted under his breath. Noah shot him a quelling look. She didn’t need to know how acute their hearing actually was. At least not right now. Best to let details like that sink in gradually over time.

  “Your sig. It’s really bright,” he said. “I could see you from space.”

  “And I try so hard to be unobtrusive,” she murmured. The lights were ebbing now, Noah noticed. He wondered if she could control it.

  “So what are you guys doing?” she asked.

  He shrugged.

  “Fill me in, Noah.” Her voice was adamant.

  “You don’t need to know about things that don’t concern you.”

  “How could you conclude that this doesn’t concern me?” she demanded. “I wrote that note to Mark myself, remember? You’re the Keyholder. Mark’s the Keyseeker. I’m the goddamn key. Me, Noah. So yes, I’m pretty fucking concerned.”

  “You’re not getting anywhere near it,” he said.

  “I appreciate your protective instincts, but Mark won’t walk into your trap so easily. Plus, I assume you mean to take him alive, so you can question him about Luke. Then there’s the safe, which is a huge threat to everyone as long as he has it.”

  “Anything else?” She was on it, he had to admit.

  “So, with all that, you still think you have to go after Mark alone because only superduper you can handle him? Get over yourself.”

  Sisko crowed under his breath. “Amen, sister. Nailed it.”

  Noah exhaled slowly. “But it makes sense,” he said tightly. “It was my decision to let him run around loose for so long, so it should be me who makes it right. Plus, we’re evenly matched. Same advantages, no surprises. It’ll be like fighting myself.”

  “Yes, except that he’s a psycho.”

  “I don’t intend to fight fair,” Noah said. “When my AVP is running hot, I could give fucking Satan a run for his money. I can send Mark a video of you when we make contact with him.”

  “Send him what you want, but he still won’t show for a meet-up unless he knows for sure that I’m there,” Caro said. “And he’d be an idiot to come alone. So you can’t either. It would be a suicide mission. I’m vetoing it.”

  “Is that right.” His hands clenched into fists as the data scroll speeded and flickered. “Since when did you get veto power?”

  “Since I took it for myself.”

  They stared at each other as her sig billowed out. If he were outside the house, he’d see it filling the whole dark forest. Rising up into the night sky.

  “Throwdown time.” Sisko’s voice was hushed.

  “Shut up,” Noah snapped. He turned back to Caro. “Got some brilliant alternative?”

  “No,” she said. “So far, my biggest ambition was just to prove that Mark killed Dex, and see him go to prison. Everything’s different now that you guys are involved.”

  “Yeah, well, somebody has to die,” Sisko said. “And it’s not going to be any of us. If he lives, he’ll punish us by hurting Luke. Unless we take him alive.”

  “Don’t know if we can,” Noah said. “He was the best back in the day, and he’s had twelve years to hone his killing skills. And even if we did take him alive, that doesn’t mean we’ll get Luke’s location out of him.”

  “That’s true,” Sisko conceded.

  The man was on his side again, at least for now. Noah continued. “We all had strong resistance to interrogation vectored into our genes. Midlander researchers probably built in some tricks to pry us open, but I don’t know what they are.”

  “If we make contact, he’ll follow the breadcrumbs right back through our security and Luke will be fucked,” Sisko said. “We need someone else to be our front man. Someone with no connection to us and genuine ties to the criminal underworld. Only a real-life, drug dealing, human-trafficking crime boss would be credible to Mark.”

  Noah’s heart thudded heavily. As if it was his body that had this crazy idea, but his brain lagged behind, unwilling to allow it fully into his consciousness.

  Even though it was kicking and banging. Breaking down the door. Asa.

  Sisko went on with his musing. “But dealing with those guys is such a fucking mess. Like handling a bag of rattlesnakes.”

  “A con.” Noah blurted. He stopped, and swallowed to keep his voice from vibrating. “You’re talking about running a con. On Mark.”

  “I am?” Sisko said. He and Caro glanced at each other, uncomprehending.

  “What do you mean?” Caro asked. “What kind of con?”

  “You lost me,” Sisko said.

  “Shhhh. Let me think.” He buried his face in his hands.

  This explained that crazy imbed. His subconscious mind had already known exactly what he had to do. This was the only way through this mess.

  But it was going to cost him big.

  He pulled out his phone and retrieved the message he’d received the other day after Caro’s dance. Waiting wouldn’t make this idea any less insane. He hit ‘call.’

  The line connected. He didn’t look at Caro or Sisko, who both watched him, bewildered. Five rings. Six. Seven . . .

  Click. He waited in the taut silence of the open line for a few seconds.

  “Danny.” An expressionless baritone voice. Deeper than he remembered.

  “I don’t answer to that name anymore,” he said. “I’m Noah now.”

  Asa grunted. “OK. So what? Did you know it’s two AM? Don’t you sleep?”

  “Hang up, if you feel inconvenienced. I won’t bother you again.”r />
  Asa just waited. “So?” he said, finally. “What do you want?”

  Noah controlled himself somehow. Too much backed up feeling, unsaid words. Keep it simple. “I need your help,” he said.

  “Tell me more,” Asa said.

  “Not on the phone. Are you in the Seattle area?”

  “I’m around. Should I come to the lake house? You never even brought that fiancée there. Or ex-fiancée, I should say. You have me to thank for dodging that bullet.”

  “I’m not thanking you for that or anything. And no, not the lake house. Come to this address.” He gave Asa the address of a nearby roadhouse bar. “How long?”

  “I could be there in forty minutes,” Asa said.

  “OK. See you there.” He hung up.

  Sisko’s eyes were wide. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “Is that who I think it was?”

  Noah let out a careful breath before he could trust his voice. “Only one person I know has the cred to pull off a con like that.”

  Sisko cleared his throat. “Uh . . . I wasn’t serious when I proposed it,” he said. “You said you didn’t even know the guy anymore. You sure it’s a good idea?”

  “No,” Noah snapped. “It’s what happens when you’re driven into a corner. You do dumb things, because you have no alternative.”

  “Can someone fucking fill me in?” Caro snapped. “What dumb thing are you about to do?”

  “Get your shoes on,” he said. “You’re about to meet my long lost brother.”

  Chapter 27

  Caro warmed her chilly hands with a cup of reheated coffee. Not worth drinking, but it served its purpose. The roadhouse restaurant was dim, and a live band played in the next room. The twangy music not improved by a muddy, blatting sound system.

  She tried at intervals to speak to Noah, but he had retreated behind a wall of ice.

  Sisko kept at him, though, too stubborn to quit. “You should have talked to me before you called,” he said heatedly. “You don’t know if you can trust him.”

  “I know that I can’t trust him at all,” Noah said, his voice remote and cold. “But we need specialized help. From a crook.” He hesitated. “He’s a crook I can control.”

  “What makes you think so?” Sisko snapped. “You haven’t so far.”

  “He reached out to me,” Noah said. “He wants something from me. Whatever it is, I’ll bargain with that.”

  Sisko made a disgusted sound. “And what could that be? Your kidneys? Your firstborn? Jesus, Noah. What are you going to tell Hannah?”

  “Nothing.” Noah gave them both a hard look. “She has no reason to know.”

  “She’s going to find out. You can’t protect her forever.”

  “All the more reason to protect her for as long as I can,” Noah said.

  Silence descended between the three of them, but the clatter and hum of the bar got louder. Out-of-tune rockabilly music floated through the greasy smoke that hung in the air. They’d been waiting a half hour when Noah’s gaze flicked to the door.

  Sisko and Caro craned their necks to look at who had walked in.

  Asa Carr was big and tall, muscular and built, which was no surprise. He wasn’t similar to his brother in any obvious way, aside from his height and size. Asa’s long body was somewhat narrower than Noah’s, and his long-lashed eyes were a clear silver gray beneath a thick slash of dark brows. He had the same strong chin and stern mouth, and his dark hair was buzzed off short. The battered brown leather coat, jeans and heavy boots amped up the intense, brooding vibe. In fact, the subtle vibration of danger was the biggest similarity he shared with Noah.

  That, and the way every woman’s head turned as he walked by.

  Unsmiling, he walked toward them, his eyes locked on his brother’s. Caro sensed violent emotion beneath their blank expressions. The disconnect was eerie and unsettling.

  Noah slid out of the booth and stood up. “Hey, Asa.”

  Asa nodded. “Noah. Been a while.”

  “Yes,” Noah agreed. “Thanks for coming.”

  Asa nodded, and his gaze flicked to Caro and Sisko. “Thought you’d be alone.”

  “This concerns them too,” Noah said.

  Asa made no comment, just studied Sisko. “I’ve seen you on surveillance photos. Edward Sisko?”

  Sisko inclined his head in cautious assent.

  Asa turned his eyes on Caro. “Not you, though. You’re not, ah . . .” He slanted a questioning glance at Noah.

  “She’s not a Midlander,” Noah said, answering both the spoken and the unspoken question. “But she knows everything.”

  “I see,” Asa said. “That’s a first.”

  “How do you know about Midlands?” Sisko demanded.

  “Don’t want to get into that right now.” Asa looked at Noah. “So. You got a new girlfriend so soon?”

  The question had a strange edge, which Noah ignored. But he answered it.

  “This is Caro Bishop,” he said. “Caro, Asa Stone. My brother.”

  “I’m glad to meet you.” Caro held out her hand.

  Asa took it, and pulled her subtly closer to his towering body, as if he meant to somehow let her know who was boss. Caro pulled her hand away, taken aback.

  Noah took a menacing step forward. “Never touch her again,” he said.

  “Sorry,” Asa said.

  The single word conveyed bored contempt. Noah locked eyes with him.

  “Guess you’re serious about this one,” Asa commented, after a moment.

  “What’s it to you, Asa?”

  His brother looked at him hard. “Women get in the way. You know that. Or you did. Now look at you. Pillar of the community. Philanthropist. Job creator. Tight-assed tycoon with custom-built closets full of tasteful shit. You were on track to become a major criminal. What happened to you, my brother?”

  “You already know everything about me. I don’t want to bore you with the recap.” He gestured toward the space in the booth next to Sisko. “Sit.”

  Asa slid into the booth, staring. “Weird, how much you look like Dad now.”

  “I don’t want to talk about the past,” Noah said. “It’s dead and gone.”

  Asa pondered that for a moment. “If you want to talk about that tip I gave you the other day, I can’t discuss my sources.” His eyes flicked to Caro. “Not in front of unvetted strangers, anyway.”

  “Forget it. I don’t give a shit about that right now.”

  Only stillness betrayed Asa’s surprise. “I see,” he said. “You don’t want to talk about the past. You don’t care about the mess I just saved you from, including that stupid engagement. So why am I here?”

  “What do you know about my engagement?” Noah snapped.

  “That the buttoned up blond chick was all wrong for you. What were you thinking?” His eyes flicked to Caro. “Was this the one who convinced you?”

  Caro calmly returned his scrutiny, refusing to drop her gaze. It took some effort.

  Asa’s gaze slid over Caro’s cuts and bruises, then turned his gaze to Noah’s scabbed knuckles, the long scrape on his cheekbone. “Rough night?”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Noah said.

  Asa’s large, square fingernails tapped on the tabletop. “So? Tell me.”

  Noah looked at Caro. “Go ahead.”

  “It’s a long story,” Caro said.

  “I get it.” Asa said. “Not your story. It’s her story. You didn’t call me to help my family. You want me to do a favor for your new girlfriend. For fuck’s sake.”

  “You can leave,” Noah said. “Feel free.”

  “Hell no. I’m curious. What could be so scary that a pack of bad-ass mutant freaks have to beg a low-life thug like me for help?”

  Noah didn’t answer.

  “Spill it,” Asa said. “If you want anything from me, I require full disclosure. Real name. Verifiable details. And be warned. I can smell bullshit a mile away.”

  “My full name is Caroline Anne Bishop,” Caro said. “E
ighteen months ago, that was the name on my driver’s license and passport. Before Mark Olund stole my life.”

  “Mark Olund,” Asa mused. “I believe that was a post-Midlands alias. Right? But not one of your core group.”

  “He broke off from our group a few months after the rebellion,” Noah said. “He went on alone.”

  “And became a--?”

  “Criminal. He’s good at it. Rich. Not as rich as you.”

  “Huh. He wasn’t around when I started my surveillance on you guys.”

  “How in the hell did you do that without us noticing?” Sisko sounded personally insulted.

  “Some other time, Sisko. You can buy me a beer,” Asa said. “Focus. Tell the damn story.”

  Caro did. Asa’s eyes took on a look similar to Noah’s when he was on AVP; both far away and laser-focused. Caro faltered when she came to the part about the belly dance at Angel Industries, but Asa’s eyes gleamed with enjoyment.

  “You came in to shake your stuff during the meeting with Batello and the blonde? Wish I could have seen their faces.” He turned his gaze on Noah. “But let’s stay on topic. Why am I here?”

  “We’re not done.” Noah went on to recount the events of the last few days. “When we make contact, Mark will follow us right back through our security,” he concluded. “There’s no keeping him out. The minute he figures out who he’s dealing with, he’ll try to control us by hurting Luke. Assuming Luke is still alive. That’s what we have to prevent.”

  “OK.” Asa thought for a few seconds. “You need a proxy with a solid backstory that stands up to stellar hacking. Nice to know I’m so believable as a ruthless villain. I’m a data pirate, not a kidnapper.”

  Noah shrugged. “Don’t take it personally. I just don’t know anyone better. Or worse, as the case may be. And an opportunist is an opportunist.”

  Asa snorted. “Fuck you, Noah.”

  “Didn’t know you were so sensitive,” Noah murmured.

  “Neither did I,” Asa admitted. “Did you tell Hannah about my text message?”

  “Yes,” Noah replied. “She wants to see you.”

  “Ah.” Asa stared down at the table for a moment. “So what makes you think that I could pull this off?”