Chapter 10
NG eyed the jug and tried to calculate how much wine was left and how many goblets it could fill. His head was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol and a tingling in his cheeks gave away the fact that there was more than mild inebriation at play in here.
"Tell me about Badger," the Man said.
It wasn't often that the Man took an interest in individual guild personnel, but then it wasn't often that individuals in the guild put so much at stake.
"He's one of our best," NG said, swirling the last of his wine around the goblet. "It was worrying when he disappeared. But he's easily spooked and this business has upset the equilibrium surrounding a lot of our people. He sent word that he was going to disappear for a while so I'm hoping that he's either resettling somewhere and will be in touch soon or he's waiting this out before returning to Redgate."
The Man sat and watched, waiting and NG tried to figure out how much to say.
"It was a good place for O'Brien to go," he said finally. "If there was ever anything going on in the Between, Badger knew about it. He scrounged together technology and developed systems that Science would be envious of. With hindsight, I should have pulled him back here but as it was, he was too valuable to us on Redgate. I think he knew where LC was. The danger was if someone else found out that he knew."
-
Hil felt broadsided. He'd been expecting an introduction to Quinn, not a tab. What had happened to being off the list? And Skye wasn't ready.
NG carried on before he could say anything. "Skye isn't ready, we know. You'll be going out with Genoa. Kase and Martha will be running escort for you. This isn't a usual tab. These aren't usual circumstances."
Hil picked up the board. It had the usual details on it and even looked run of the mill but he wasn't ready. He still couldn't support his weight on his right arm and he hadn't been able to keep up with Sean without having to stop to catch his breath and ease the stitch in his side. How could he go out on a tab? With a ship he didn't know? The panic that rose up was unfamiliar and that panicked him even more. He put down the board before the shaking in his hand became too obvious.
He said, "Am I back on the list? The Chief said I was grounded."
NG jumped down and pulled up a seat at the table.
"This isn't a normal tab," he said again. "This has come from the same source as the one Mendhel was handling from Earth."
"How do you know what, where??" Shit, he couldn't think straight.
"We know. Don't ask how, it's complicated. But we know. Trust us. We know that it was a professional hit on Mendhel. And we haven't been able to contact his daughter."
NG let that hang in the air. Only a few people in the guild had ever met Anya. Mendhel was fiercely protective of his only daughter. They all were. This was getting worse and worse.
"You left here with LC presumably to meet Mendhel about this tab. He turns up dead, Anya is missing, LC is missing and we're still trying to piece together what that job actually was," NG said. "We want to sort this out. No one messes with the guild. We're not going to let them get away with this. This new tab is definitely from the same source. And they're asking for you, by name."
That in itself was massively suspect. Clients didn't request operatives by name. No one from outside should even have known his name. It was disturbing on a whole new level that made Hil feel queasy beyond his upset stomach and throbbing headache.
"How do they know who I am?"
"Hil, like I said, this isn't an ordinary tab. Whatever happened with Mendhel, these people now want you. We want you to take this tab and then we'll see what happens."
"So I'm bait?" The words popped out before he could decide not to say it out loud.
"Yeah." NG was nothing if not blunt.
"Does the Chief know about this?"
"It's not his decision. We want LC back and we want that package. You know what we have to do, Hil. You know we won't let anything happen to you but the integrity of the guild is everything. You know that, don't you?"
Yes was the only answer, again. He nodded reluctantly. Arguing that he didn't work well with company, or need an escort, wouldn't stick because right now, he didn't know what he needed. Food and more sleep were high on the list.
"Legal are trying to trace whoever is behind this but they're embarrassed at how long it's taking them to get anywhere," NG said, standing up. "And as far as this tab goes, Quinn will handle things from this end."
He looked at them both and walked to the door. "I'll leave you to sort out the details. But be aware that we are still investigating Mendhel's death and we're running an internal investigation. And however this goes down, we won't be losing anyone else."
He left the room and Hil could see him talking to the two guards. He watched, ignoring Quinn, feeling even more like he was under arrest or something. Like he'd done something wrong and it was his fault Mendhel was dead. It might be, for all he knew.
Quinn had stood up and walked around behind him before he realised. Quinn was a big man and one of the few handlers who'd never worked field-ops themselves. He was a pusher, not a doer and that was why it was tough working up any respect for him. Mendhel on the other hand had gone through the wringer as much as the rest of them before some injury had sidelined him. He never went into it, just impressed on all of them to keep their fitness up and take care. He'd always mother-hen'ed them and at the same time goaded them into being better and faster and never to shy away from a risk. Quinn tended to take easy tabs for his guys, easy successes but low rewards. The big man was out of his depth here.
Hil twisted around out of his chair and squared up to him. He wasn't going to be intimidated by a wanna-be.
Quinn was trying to dominate at full height, leaning forward to tower over him. "Mendhel was a fool to let two numbskulls like you and LC run rings around him," he said. "He deserved what happened to him. It was always coming. He was a na?ve fool to think it was him handling you and not the other way around. Things are changing around here. You're mine now."
Hil stood his ground. "What the hell did happen to Mendhel?" he said angrily. "No one will tell me a thing."
"He was stupid and it cost him. Trusting you two maniacs was stupid and he died for it. He broke all the rules to protect you and got himself killed on Earth in that safe house he was foolish enough to think he could keep secure."
Scenes flashed through Hil's mind but there was nothing he could pin down. He'd been at the safe house before with LC and Mendhel many times and a memory that sparked up, of sirens and smog-heavy rain, could have been from any time. Except he flashed on a look on LC's face, LC scared and hurt. LC was never scared. Hil tried to grasp the scene around the brief memory but it was fleeting and gone before he could hold onto it.
"Mendhel was shot in the head," Quinn said. "God knows what guild material he had stashed in that house that was compromised."
"Nothing!" Hil snapped back. "He kept nothing there that had anything to do with the guild. It was a safe house." He took a step forward and Quinn glowered at him. "You wouldn't know, because you never leave here. We go out there and we do our stuff and Mendhel was always there when we needed him."
Only he hadn't been.
Quinn saw his hesitation and pushed him back, pushing out with the flat of his hand against Hil's chest. Bad move. Hil resisted, balancing his weight on his back foot ready to fight back, fists clenching by his side. He heard the door open and Quinn broke eye contact to glance over. Hil tensed, ignoring the door, weighing up his chances against the bigger man and reckoning it would be a breeze to knock him down.
NG came into his line of sight behind Quinn and the moment was gone. Quinn stepped aside and Hil relaxed, feeling the shakes start again.
"Sit down," NG said to Quinn. "Hil, go up to my office and call into Medical on the way for some painkillers, for Christ's sake."
It seemed like an age, waiting outside NG's office, but it gave the meds time to work their way into his system and ease off the
aches. He was still wound up from the confrontation with Quinn but pacing up and down had only irritated NG's staff to the point where they threatened to throw him out. So he sat down and bounced his legs up and down against the deck and flexed his wrist trying to decide if he could take the brace off yet. His two bodyguard buddies watched from a distance.
NG turned up eventually and showed him inside.
"Sit down," he said in a softer tone than the one he'd used with Quinn.
Hil sat.
NG sat down and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I need you to work with Quinn, Hil. I know your history with him and I know Quinn's reputation. But he's our best handler right now. Forget anything that has happened previously. Just get out there and let's see where the flak flies." He paused and his dark eyes looked up suddenly, and when NG looked right at you, it was hypnotic.
"We have concerns over Mendhel's recent activities," he said finally. "We still don't know who put out the contract on LC and we don't know yet whether he is on the run from us or from some other party."
Or dead in a ditch.
"And to be honest, Hil, there have been concerns voiced over you and your position in this."
That cut deep and Hil had to stop himself from jumping up and telling NG to go shove it.
"You can't be serious," he said calmly.
"There are inconsistencies."
"In what? No one has explained anything to me yet." Except what Kase and Fliss had thrown at him before he was sent out of the way with Sean.
"Where did you go with LC when you left here?"
Hil straightened up, feeling the atmosphere switch. He didn't feel up to an interrogation but he sure as hell wasn't going to slink away while god knows what was said about him behind these doors.
"I don't know," he said stubbornly.
"You two are the best operatives we've ever had and you've both always outright refused to team up then you suddenly take off together without a word to anyone. What did you do with the boards for the tab you took?"
Data boards were always copied onto the ship's logs then left in storage with Legal. "I don't know," he said again belligerently, knowing fine well that he hadn't done that for some reason. It was just the reason that was eluding him.
NG looked exasperated. "Hil, calm down. There have been concerns voiced. Not in this office. I'm not accusing you of anything. We know you left with LC. There were no boards because the tab didn't originate here. We want to know how that information was passed out to you."
Blank on that.
"Really, I don't know," he said feeling foolish that he'd over-reacted. "I can remember being with LC on Earth, at Mendhel's place. But I don't know if Mend was there or not, or what. It's coming back slowly, in bits."
For all he knew, he might have just signed his death sentence, admitting to that.
"Something was wrong," he said. "LC was upset about something." But beyond that, he couldn't remember a thing except now he had a really unsettled feeling inside that it hadn't been a routine tab, it hadn't been an easy grab and whatever had scrambled his brain had done a really good job of blanking out any memory of a situation that had gone badly wrong.
"We have people trying to find out what happened, Hil. Trust me. Liaise with Quinn, go out there and we'll be watching closely this time."
"Why Genoa?" Hil said, hearing himself sound petulant.
"She's a good ship, Hil, and she volunteered. Just go and do the job. We need to find out who these people are. Come home safe and trust us to sort the rest. I've told Quinn to meet you in Acquisitions. Legal are getting more material together for you. Take your time. Work on it for a couple of days and try not to come to blows."
Hil stood up. "Do you trust LC?" he asked before he turned to go.
"I do," NG said. "But there are parties in the guild who don't. Someone has got through our defences and it's unsettled everyone."