Let’s just say I know a little birdie at the Department of Corrections. I must say, you’ve managed to impress me even more. Well done.”
“I’m glad you find a stint in prison to be impressive,” I said sarcastically.
“Oh, I had no doubt you’d be able to handle yourself in a federal penitentiary. What impresses me is your loyalty and resilience, not to mention your patience when it came to taking out Mitch Henslow. I do wish I’d put the pieces together earlier, I could have taken care of him for you long ago. Then again, the ability to conceal your past from me of all people just points to how good you are at staying the course. I knew there was something special about you from the moment we met.”
I groaned at the blatant overkill. “What are you buttering me up for, Silas?”
“Why can’t you ever take a bloody compliment? You would think it would mean something coming from someone like me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You mean someone so brilliant and powerful that us mere mortals should kiss the ground he walks on?”
“Yes, exactly,” he replied with a straight face.
“Alright, big shot,” I laughed. “Tell me why you’re here.”
“Why else? I have a job for you.”
“I might not be the best person for it right now, Silas. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Feds are keeping an eye out, I should probably lay low on anything that could put me in front of a grand jury for a while.”
He held up his hand to shut me up. “I know you turned over evidence but I’m not concerned. If there’s one thing I’ve always had utmost confidence in, it’s your ability to stay invisible even under heavy surveillance.”
“I take it you’re also aware of who my husband is?” I added. “I can’t take work that could affect his organization.”
He waved me off and shook his head. “This client isn’t in any circles that could cross paths with the MC. I had a feeling you’d bring it up and can assure you I did my homework, there’s no crossover. I wouldn’t be requesting your assistance if it weren’t of utter importance. You’d never let innocent people get hurt, now would you?”
“Appealing to my compassionate side, Silas? That’s hit or miss at best. It depends on the people and you don’t exactly hang out with an innocent crowd.”
“Ah, but we both know behind your hardened facade lies a sweet little bleeding heart. Have you ever considered why we make such a good team? I strongly suspect it’s because you balance out my lack of one, and appealing to that particular organ should tell you this is serious.”
I raised a brow and stared at him, intrigued but skeptical. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the job?”
“My client is a private weapons developer, local but operating covertly behind an electronics manufacturing front. They’re designing and building armed drones, the extremely portable kind. I’m talking the size of a raven’s wingspan and nearly silent in-flight, with a recoil-muzzled, fifty-round drum. High caliber. They’re also equipped with cameras and heat sensors. All you need is a laptop and joystick to operate one.”
Jesus, I didn’t even know where to start. “That’s got bad idea written all over it,” I muttered. “Who the hell are they selling these to? Fuck, if they hit the streets here…”
“Which is exactly why I mentioned the possibility of innocent people being hurt,” he explained. “The drones aren’t intended to stay in the country, FTX is funded by international investors from war zones trying to protect their civilians against guerrilla armies and terrorist cells.”
“Until they fall into the hands of exactly those people,” I pointed out. “Anywhere.”
“Well, without the ground equipment and software, the drones themselves are useless. The developer is currently working on adding an encrypted fail-safe in case the drone and controlling device are both captured.”
I let out a deep breath, feeling conflicted over potentially enabling fucking fly-by shootings if I took the job. Whatever it was. “There’s no fail-safe against greed,” I reminded him, “but I assume you’re not here to ask my opinion. It sounds like they have an extremely capable tech team, what do you need me for?”
“About a month ago, a hacker attempted to worm his way into the company’s servers, specifically targeting their design files. Fortunately, he didn’t get far before alarms sounded. They have several layers of encryption to protect against such intrusions and all the servers were taken offline as a precaution.”
Great, I didn’t understand what the