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He hooked it up and I handed over the disk,
watching intently as it clicked into place. The
drive spun up, made a couple of horrible clicking
noises, then began to flash an orange light right on
the front. I wasn t sure what it meant exactly, but I
was pretty sure I wouldn t like the news.
Hm, corruption.
Shit. I rubbed my eyes. What kind of
recovery can you do?
Maybe I can pull the whole thing apart and
put it in something else to extract the data. Alexei
shrugged. It costs more money, but I think I can
get it. If you want me to.
I do. How much will it cost?
Twelve hundred?
Done. Get to work.
Done? Just like that? No negotiation?
Okay, fine. I ll give you eight-hundred.
Are you crazy? I can t go lower than twelve
hundred!
Then I guess I ll pay& I shrugged. Twelve
hundred?
I m glad we could come to an arrangement!
Alexei turned his attention back to the disk. If I
don t get it back, then you don t have to pay.
68
Recollection
All right, Alexei. Let s see if you really learned
your daddy s trade or if you re just a poser.
Oh, not a poser, for sure. I know many
different things, but this& this is easy. You will
see. Have a little faith.
Faith is something on dramatically short
supply at the moment, but thanks for the offer.
Just step back then. Go watch your girlfriend.
Give me space to work. Alexei cracked his
knuckles. The crazy man jazz badger is in the
house.
I started to question the bizarre sentence, but
thought better of it. The fact that he was
enthusiastic was heartening. Whether or not he
was crazy was a concern. He seemed to know his
stuff though and had helped me with Megan
without too much of a struggle. I hoped I
wouldn t regret it, but, for the time being, I
decided to trust him.
Megan was stirring when I got back to the room
and I perched on the edge of the bed beside her.
Hey. I kept my voice low and she turned her
head, peering at me through lidded eyes. How re
you feeling? You okay? Do you feel warm or
anything?
I feel sick, she muttered. What happened?
I cleaned up your wound and you took a little
nap. It was pretty bad, but I think you re going to
be fine.
My arm s really stiff.
69
Caitlin West
Honestly, it would be good to get you to a
doctor& but we don t have a lot of time now. I
took a deep breath before continuing. I mean, I
could take you out of the game, but I m worried
your guys& well, the ones that are left at least,
might be looking to put a hurt on you. A hospital
isn t going to make you safe from it. They ll march
in with their credentials and could take you right
out.
I know. I don t want to leave you, she said,
not when we re getting closer to some answers.
Your wound is going to slow you down.
You ll have to take it easy when you can. I ll watch
your back to the best of my abilities, but& I m not
accustomed to protecting targets. I ll need your
help.
I ll do whatever I have to. I think& we might
need to call on a doctor. I have some contacts.
She frowned. They were on my phone but they
could ensure this won t slow me down too much.
We don t have time for lagging.
I hummed, turning to look at the door. I
agree& but we can t use your contacts. We don t
know who s being tapped by your buddies back
there. I ll call someone I know. He s a little
strange, but always did good work. We can go
there when Alexei s done with the disk.
So we re at Diminov s?
Yep, his son runs the place and he seems good
at what he does. We ll see. He s working on it
70
Recollection
now. I moved over to a chair and checked the
time. It might be a while. I ll call Gustav and set
up an appointment. Meanwhile, get some rest.
This could be your only chance for a while.
I envied her the opportunity. A nap sounded
good, but I didn t trust Alexei that much. Besides,
there was still too much to do and once the
information was off the disk, I d have to break the
encryption. I was certain I could figure it out, but
it wasn t going to be easy. I hadn t contemplated
Konrad s ridiculous security in years. I didn t need
it the way I did business. This all meant the next
few hours promised to be very interesting.
I wasn t a huge fan of interesting.
* * * *
Gustav answered with a chipper Hello in his
trademark, and fake, German accent. I counted to
three before I replied, speaking in the hushed
monotone the doctor preferred.
Good afternoon, I said, trying my best to
sound mysterious and dramatic without putting
emotion into my voice. That was one of the
hardest things I ve ever had to do, especially since
the guy was just coo coo enough to hang up on me
if I failed to meet his expectations. I believe you
may be able to help me with a problem of the
firearm variety.
71
Caitlin West
Ah, Mister Leprechaun. We both know I am
always available to my friend from the Emerald
Isle. How did it happen?
Friend of mine and it was& well, mostly an
accident.
Interesting. I was not aware that you had
friends in your profession. Have you picked up a
partner?
Temporarily, yeah& I guess. Do you have
some time in your schedule in a couple hours?
I would be in bed around then normally,
but& He chuckled. For you, I can make myself
available. How bad is the problem?
It was a clean pass, but the area around it& I
paused. I don t think it ll be all that trying.
We ll see you in a couple hours then.
Alexei had come into the room and was staring
at me with wide eyes and a stupid grin twisting
his chubby face. I thanked Gustav and got off the
phone, turning my full attention to the Russian.
What?
I ve finished your project, he replied. I
managed eighty percent recovery!
I hesitated, waiting for more information. When
it didn t come, his expression turned to one of
annoyance. I looked around before speaking up.
Is that& good?
Good! Alexei threw his hands up in the air
and brought them down to slap his hips. Good?
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