Corruption

by Jessica Shirvington

  ‘Where do you stand on all of this, Liam?’ I asked, keen to move on.

  ‘I stand with my bank account. Pay me enough and I’ll do whatever you want,’ he threw back. No hesitation. No added info. His voice steady. His body language relaxed. He was perfect.

  Too perfect.

  I nodded, holding his eyes. ‘That works for me,’ I lied.

  ‘Right, well, let’s break this down into segments,’ Travis began, taking control of the meeting. ‘Gus will be in the garage of the Archstone apartment building, controlling the elevators and security cameras from his laptop.’

  Gus snorted. ‘I still don’t understand why I have to actually be there. I can control everything from here just fine.’

  Both Travis and Ned smiled broadly while Liam and Hex stared him down.

  ‘If things go belly up, you’re going to want to be as close to us as possible,’ Travis said. ‘Trust me, we will be your only hope of getting out of there, and if we get caught they’ll be here before you can get away.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘And they want you nearby in case we’re leading them into a trap.’

  ‘That too,’ Ned said, still with the toothy grin.

  ‘Memory alert!’ Gus snapped. ‘It wasn’t us who did the double-crossing last time, if I recall.’

  ‘True. More reason for us to be careful,’ Travis threw back.

  ‘Have you forgotten –’

  Travis snarled, cutting him off. ‘I haven’t forgotten anything, but I have to be alive to give a damn, now don’t I?’

  Gus backed down. Travis was right. Blackmail only worked when there was still a spark of hope that you would get through to the other side.

  I pointed to the map of the apartment building’s underground parking garage. ‘We go in here. We break into teams of two. One team will enter through the metro tunnels and the other two teams will be at this door, waiting for us to open it from the other side.’

  ‘Why don’t we all just go through the metro?’ Ned asked.

  I shook my head. ‘Too many cameras to dodge. Gus won’t be able to keep them all down – plus with ground security personnel along with all the commuters coming home during rush hour, there’ll be too many witnesses for six of us to slip through unnoticed.’

  Travis and Ned nodded.

  ‘So who’s in my team?’ Hex asked.

  ‘Hex, you’re with Ned. Travis, you team up with Quentin.’ I glanced up to check Quentin was okay with this. His eyes were darting back and forth between Liam and me. He knew me.

  ‘Works for me,’ he said.

  I bit back the smile. ‘That leaves us,’ I said, turning to Liam. ‘And we’re on the metro run.’

  Liam held my eyes for a moment, before nodding.

  By 6 p.m. I’d locked myself in the bedroom to change and collect the last of my weapons.

  I dressed in my usual black uniform and army boots then hitched my hair into a tight ponytail.

  Earlier in the day Quentin had snuck out to get me some more clothes. I’d roused on him for leaving the loft and taking unnecessary risks, but he’d just smiled and said, ‘I noticed you weren’t around when everyone was having lunch.’

  I glared at him. Damn it, I should’ve known he wouldn’t have missed anything. Not when it had to do with me. ‘I was getting supplies.’

  ‘Uh-huh,’ he said, shoving the bag in my chest and walking away, ending any further discussion on the subject.

  Now I was wearing the skinny jeans, long-sleeved top and new hoodie – all black – that he’d bought for me. And none of them had come from Target. Who knew black jeans could look so different from black jeans?

  I stared at myself in the small mirror. There was no denying I looked badass. The hoodie was more of a panelled vest that zipped tight, hugging what curves I had. And when I pulled the hood up, it sat in place, perfectly hiding me but not hindering my view. I moved closer to the mirror. I’d filled out in the last couple of weeks, regaining much of the weight I’d lost in my prison cell.

  I took a deep breath, staring straight into my own eyes.

  ‘You gotta do this, Maggie,’ I told myself. ‘This is your chance to change your path. To do something right for once.’ I pulled away and watched my features morph into something a little grittier, a little more familiar. ‘So don’t mess it up.’

  With that, I spun around, grabbed my backpack that was filled to the brim with weapons and blueprints, stuffed my taser in my hoodie pocket, my tranq gun down the back of my jeans, and joined the rest of my waiting soldiers.

  ‘Liam, you ready?’

  Liam nodded, and came to stand beside me.

  ‘Gus, you set?’

  ‘You mean to die?’ Gus closed his laptop and threw it in his carry bag. He gave me a pointed look before adding, ‘Or worse?’

  I raised my eyebrows.

  Gus snorted. ‘I apologise. I forgot I’m supposed to be clambering to get behind you in your all-new superhero-vixen wear, as though just because we’re on the right dirty-rotten team for once, that means we’re somehow going to prevail.’ He paused and took a breath before carrying on. ‘I mean, for chrissake, look around.’ Gus waved a finger around the room. ‘We’re a combination of lowlifes and criminals, led by a she-bitch and …’ he paused at Quentin, ‘a guy who basically equates to the devil’s spawn.’

  I crossed my arms and tapped my index finger.

  Gus sighed.

  I grinned.

  It was like old times.

  ‘Anything else?’ I asked.

  ‘No point delaying, I suppose,’ he said, hoisting his bag on his shoulder. My grin widened. For Gus, it was a quick turnaround.

  ‘Here,’ I said, holding out a small bag to Gus.

  He tilted his head and took the bag, glancing inside. ‘Seriously? You risked going back to your place to get these? For me?’

  I shrugged. ‘Yep.’

  Gus stuffed them in his bag and flashed me a grin laced with mischief to hide his gratitude. ‘Cool.’

  ‘Travis?’ I asked, noting that Travis and his crew had gone all out with camouflage paint on their faces. Apparently it made them more difficult to ID on surveillance footage. ‘Travis, are you good to go?’ I asked.

  ‘All good,’ he said as he grabbed his gear. Ned and Hex followed suit.

  I steeled my heart and turned back to Quentin, who was leaning up against the wall by the elevator doors. We hadn’t spoken much since I’d told him I would leave our relationship in his court. He’d gone out to buy me clothes and had been part of planning the break-in, but that was it. Which meant he still didn’t trust me. Or worse, didn’t want me.

  ‘You sure you want to go down there again?’ I asked, hoping he’d changed his mind.

  He smiled sadly, adjusting one of the bandages on his hand – he’d stripped most of them away so he had movement. ‘And miss seeing my father finally exposed for what he really is?’

  As much as I wished I could keep him somewhere safe until this was done, I also understood that, just like me, he needed to do this.

  ‘I’ll see you down there,’ I said, turning to follow Liam who was already waiting in the elevator. We were taking the metro, leaving the others with the vehicles.

  Just as I started through the doors, Quentin grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back to him. He wrapped his hand behind my neck and dropped his forehead against mine, causing every nerve in my body to ignite.

  He breathed in and out deeply, and it stirred the emotions that I would never again be able to deny. Staring into his steel-blue eyes, my breath caught. I got the distinct impression that he was locking this moment of closeness away in his mind. As if he didn’t believe there would be another. Suddenly I was frightened in a way I had never been before.

  I gripped his arms fiercely. ‘Promise me you’ll stay with Travis,’ I said. ‘Don’t leave his side.’

  He nodded, his thumbs trembling as they grazed my cheeks. I could feel that he wanted to kiss me. But he couldn’t. Somethin
g was still holding him back. I made the decision easier for him and stepped away.

  I glanced at Travis, who had watched the exchange and no doubt heard my words. ‘Don’t stuff this up, Travis,’ I warned.

  He locked eyes with me. ‘I’m clear on my role, and I don’t make mistakes.’ It was the best damn thing he could’ve said. Because as far as I was concerned, Travis’s only function was making sure Quentin stayed alive.

  Nineteen

  Being in the metro reminded me of the time I’d seen a neg jump in front of a train to avoid being taken in by M-Corp security. It also happened to be one of the times I’d been trailing Quentin, preparing to tear his world apart. It was strange how the neg had seemed to instinctively know that the promises of rehabilitation and reintegration were all lies. The instant he’d seen the security team, he’d known he couldn’t put his life in their hands.

  I was hoping that, like him, there were other people out there in the general population who questioned the legitimacy of the M-Corp brand. The company’s public image was a hard one to tear down – people had become accustomed to accepting their technologies and their word. But I had to pray that when we showed people the truth, they would be willing to listen.

  They had to listen. We were going to give them so much evidence that they wouldn’t be able to turn a blind eye anymore. By tomorrow, every free person in the world would be asking the same question: could they take me next? And I was going to make sure they understood the answer was: hell yes.

  My father may not have been the victim I’d believed him to be. He’d turned out to be the very opposite. But on my path to finding him, I’d discovered beyond any doubt that there were thousands of people locked beneath the city who were innocent. They deserved to have their lives back and be with their families.

  As we took the long escalator down to the underground platform in the Court House Metro, my thoughts wandered to the population-control documents we’d uncovered. Gus had kept copies and tomorrow, once we were somewhere safe, they would be leaked to the world. Within minutes, every man, woman and child would know why the Poverty Tax really existed; that M-Corp were using the tax to fund production of a drug designed to prevent third-world countries from breeding; that they were stealing their rights to fall in love and to have children. Destroying their lives, futures, legacies.

  Liam followed close behind me. He seemed relaxed, but I knew he was watching everything. If I was sure of anything, it was that this guy was more than a black-market thug. He was too good. I pulled a small bag from my backpack and threw it in a large trashcan before making my way to the other end of the platform.

  ‘There’s a good few people around. You sure this is going to work?’ Liam asked, looking dubious.

  I ignored him, pulled out my handheld cell and called Gus.

  ‘Ready for the fireworks?’ he answered.

  ‘As soon as the cameras are taken care of, we’re good to go,’ I responded.

  ‘Okey-dokey. Cameras … are … down. You have sixty seconds to move out of range. Twenty seconds until boom time.’

  I hung up, keeping count.

  Liam huffed. ‘Well?’

  I turned my attention to him and forced a smile. ‘I have a question I’d like to ask you, Liam.’

  ‘What?’

  I pointed down the tunnel. ‘Run first. Questions second.’

  As soon as I finished speaking, a series of small explosions sounded from the other end of the station. A number of sparks flew high as Gus detonated the package of fireworks I’d just dumped in the trashcan.

  Some commuters exchanged panicked looks while others laughed as the colourful and harmless explosions continued. In the meantime, Liam and I had jumped down onto the tracks and run at full speed until we were within the darkness of the metro tunnel.

  I concentrated on sprinting until I spotted the concealed doorway that blended almost seamlessly into the tunnel wall.

  ‘Christ. I can’t believe that actually worked,’ Liam said, barely panting from the hard run.

  I shrugged, trying to hide my deep breaths, and focused on the narrow key-slot in the door. I slipped in an electronic card connected to a decoder that had cost more than three months of my old salary. And Gus’s.

  As we waited, Liam started to get jittery.

  ‘Not to sound clichéd or anything, but I’m pretty sure I hear a train coming our way.’

  I ignored him.

  ‘Seriously. Did you guys check the schedule?’

  The door finally clicked with the right code and slid open. I followed Liam inside and then the door closed behind us, leaving us in complete darkness.

  Before Liam had time to do anything, I pushed him hard into the wall and slammed my elbow against his neck, my other hand pressing my tranq gun into his stomach.

  My throat was closing in on me and my heart was racing, but I ignored it and pushed on. ‘What you’re feeling down there is my tranq gun,’ I said, my voice laced with deadly threat. ‘You say the wrong thing, you try to fight me, I’m going to tranq you and leave you here for M-Corp to find. And considering what we’re about to do, finding you will be a very, very bad thing.’

  ‘You wouldn’t leave me down here,’ Liam hissed through gritted teeth.

  ‘Oh, Liam. You have no idea what I’m capable of doing. Of just how many people I have left down here. Now tell me what you are hiding.’

  ‘I’m not hiding anything,’ he bit back.

  ‘Yes, Liam. You are.’ I’d been around enough liars to know with absolute certainty when I saw one. ‘And you’re going to tell me, or I’m going to shoot you. This is the last time I’m going to ask. What are you hiding?’

  It was so dark that if I hadn’t been pressed up against Liam’s form I wouldn’t have felt the defeat that washed through him, causing his body to slump slightly.

  ‘Take the flashlight from my belt. It’s just there near your right hand.’

  ‘Why?’ I asked, leaving my right hand – and the tranq gun – exactly where it was.

  ‘Because you want the answer and I’m going to show you.’

  ‘Fine,’ I said, reaching down with my left hand until I felt the flashlight. I clicked it on and a small ray of light highlighted our silhouettes and the space between us. Instantly a wave of relief ran through me. I pointed the flashlight at Liam’s face. Yep, he was pissed. The veins on his forehead and neck looked like they were about to pop.

  ‘Unbutton the top of my shirt,’ he instructed.

  I rolled my eyes. ‘You’ve gotten the wrong idea, you idiot –’ I started, but was cut off by him shoving me so hard I was flung back onto the opposite wall, my hand going wide.

  Liam was on me in a second. Our roles quickly reversed as his pinned my gun hand to the wall and used his brute strength to crush my body.

  ‘All I wanted was some goddamn money and to get it by busting up something M-Corp,’ he murmured, more to himself than me.

  Suddenly he was off me, stepping back.

  Slowly I raised the flashlight to see his face. He was shaking his head, his hands behind his neck. When he brought them down and opened the top two buttons of his shirt, I followed his movements with the flashlight, pausing at the expanse of skin exposed at his collarbone.

  The scar ran at least ten centimetres wide. Not a scar. A branding.

  ‘You’re a neg!’

  He looked down, studying the marking. He dropped his arms. ‘When they didn’t have tattoo equipment, they improvised.’ He buttoned his shirt back up. ‘I was military. I had a wife. A son.’ He swallowed. ‘When Phera-tech started, we rated real strong.’ He half laughed. ‘As if I needed a damn computer to tell me we had it going on.’

  I found myself relaxing my stance.

  ‘I was off on assignment and just before I was due to go home, I was offered a job in the private sector. The details were sketchy – apart from a crazy amount of money, I didn’t know much else. Anyway, couldn’t figure out how my skills could come to anything
good in the private sector, so I turned it down flat. Went home to my wife.’ He sniffed and coughed, masking his emotion. ‘Made it as far as the airport before I was picked up by M-Corp guards, who switched on my Phera-tech. And wouldn’t you know …’

  ‘You rated neg,’ I finished for him.

  He nodded.

  ‘I escaped from the processing camp. Never made it down to this shithole. I’ve been lying low in the black market ever since. Travis helps me go unnoticed and stay funded, and in return I do the jobs he asks. No questions.’

  ‘Why didn’t you go and find your wife? Take her and your son away?’

  His shoulders dropped and I instantly regretted the question.

  ‘You think that wasn’t the first thing I did? But they’d gotten to her. Fed her all the lies. Made her believe I was evil or something.’ He looked up at the ceiling and I lowered the flashlight from his face. ‘She’d killed herself.’

  ‘Oh my God. I’m sorry, Liam,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, his voice thick but strong. ‘Well, now I only have my son and I’m not about to let him down. He’s in a good home. Better than what I can give him right now. But with this job and a few others, I’ll have enough money to get us both off the grid, so that’s why I’m here. For him. And if I get my chance to give M-Corp the middle finger on the way – then that’s just fine with me.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘How about you’re sorry for shoving a tranq gun in my gut and you’re ready to get on with business?’ he said. I didn’t need to have the flashlight on his face to know he had mustered a smile.

  I nodded. ‘Sorry for shoving a tranq gun in your gut. Let’s go.’ I held out my hand with the flashlight, ignoring the slight tremor that came with finally having to accept I was back in the tunnels. Back in the dark.

  He gently pushed my hand away. ‘Keep it. I’ll follow.’

  I nodded and started to walk. ‘Liam?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘What did you used to do for the military?’

  He was silent for a time. I waited.

  ‘Chemical weapon delivery.’