Selene sat in close, which would have been a lot cozier if she hadn’t just abducted me. She was still in her battle-tattered rags, the shallow gash across her temple still wet. Her large wolf — Enkidu — lay across from us, looking half-sleep. I knew better, though. What I didn’t know was how she bypassed the button boys so fast. Until I remembered a lot of them were probably on her payroll.
As the ride rolled forward, I put on my most innocent face. “Well, I guess everything turned out all right in the end. You got your leg back, the New Man got what was coming to him, and the world won’t be ending. Not tonight, anyway. So why so grim?”
“You feel it, don’t you? That this isn’t really over?”
“Not really,” I lied. “Look, I don’t do the ‘feeling’ thing. Either I know something or I don’t. And right now I don’t. So, I guess for you the next step is grafting the leg back on?”
“Immediately. I had a few of my girls take it to my hospital and prep for surgery before I left Tommy’s hideout. Or what’s left of it, anyway. We managed to get out right when the brass showed up. The leg was my priority, which is why we were a bit late on coming here. I have a top surgeon who will perform the operation as soon as I return. It seems as though I owe you for that.”
“Well, I guess no one can claim you’re not generous. Speaking of which, I think there was a reward promised to me somewhere along the line… ”
Her lips curved again. “Yes, I suppose you did uphold your end of the deal.”
She leaned forward and slid a hand down my chest. I’ve had worse times.
But the fun stopped when she pulled the card from my shirt pocket. When her thumbprint and code was verified, the dibs downloaded into my personal account. The gig was finally over. No one could claim I didn’t earn it this time.
“Try not to drink it all away. You’re too valuable a commodity to waste.”
“Thanks, but old habits die hard. Kinda like the New Man.”
“Very well, Mick.” She tilted her head. “What will you do now?”
“Try to take it all in. Got a few loose ends to wrap up. What I can’t figure is, you knew where the orb was the whole time. It was tattooed on your leg, after all. Which tells me Beck is just a patsy. This city is always strapped for energy. If someone came up with a renewable source, they could own this place. Why didn’t you ever try to use it?”
“Because I didn’t know how. I found the code by using Dr. Faraday’s memory scanning technology against him via a mole in his tech team. All we knew was it was important to Dr. Faraday’s most secretive project. But we couldn’t find anyone who could crack the code. Imprinting it to the art on my leg was my way of securing it without risk of theft.”
“Or so you thought.”
“Correct. In my wildest scenarios I never imagined my actual leg being stolen. Dr. Faraday was the only person who could tell us what the code contained. And he was not at all cooperative, as you can imagine.”
“So you let him cool off in a meat locker to think things over, that it?”
Neon lights slid across the glass and reflected on her face. “We hardly had a choice. After his involvement with the Secret Service, it was clear he had become a major liability to our operations. He was too valuable to kill, so we had him put away for safekeeping.”
“Why not just replace him with another big brain?”
“You have to understand that men like Dr. Faraday only come along once or twice a generation. You can’t just replace that.” Her voice trailed off in a near whisper. I knew she had the same thought I did.
The genius of Dr. Faraday was gone. Wasted in the struggle between those who wanted power, and those who wanted more.
I cleared my throat. “You said we, — as in you and the other Gestalt members.”
Her eyes grew cold. “Be careful about the use of that name. The society is kept secret by any means necessary.”
“Gotcha. I’m surprised the lot of you would agree to just lock the old coot up. The Gestalt I’ve heard about are a pretty ruthless bunch. The kind who doesn’t hesitate to resort to torture and even worse in order to get what they want.”
Her face flushed. I smiled.
“I see. You didn’t tell your buddies about the orb. Explains why Tommy would make such an aggressive move against you. I figure rubbing him out was less motivated by my safety than by keeping your affairs under wraps.”
Her face became a porcelain mask again; her eyes cool as frost. “You know a thing or two, Mick. As do I. Like your relation to Hunter Valentino. It would be a shame for certain elements to know he possesses all of your memories. Even greater if it became known a Secret Service agent is in our midst.”
I nodded. There were no shortage of cats who would love to give me a case of the New Haven Blues in this town. Even more who would sell me out to the SS at the mere whisper of profit. Comes with the gig. “Well, I guess we can agree to keep each other’s secrets, love. No point in running the train off the track.”
She leaned in closer. “And what will you do about the much bigger elephant in the room, Mick?”
“Maybe I’m not seeing what you are. Gotta get my eyes checked.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. This Haven functions on the memory implants inserted in the minds of the populace. Having been a part of that, what will you do now that you know the truth?”
“The truth?”
Enkidu’s amber eyes glimmered as he raised his head. I decided to lower my voice.
“Dr. Faraday told me about what your little secret society of hoodlums forced him to do. An entire Haven of brainwashed residents? That’s low, even for a criminal organization like the Gestalt.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is that what you think? Maybe your investigative skills aren’t as adept as I thought.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dr. Faraday was like anyone else, Mick. He told you only what he wanted you to know. You’d better believe there was plenty he held back. Like the truth about his implantation process. No one’s memories were transplanted by force, Mick.”
I took a long look in her jade-colored eyes. “You’re trying to tell me—?”
“Do you know what this place is called by the residents of other Havens? The City of Forgetting. It’s a nirvana for people who want nothing more than to lose the horrors of the past. The residents of New Haven volunteered for the transplants. New Haven is a place for new beginnings. A chance to start from scratch.”
“What are you saying? This place is legal?”
“You should see the waiting list. People on other Havens will kill for a chance to come here. Many of the residents here already have killed for that chance. And now they live without those memories. You’re trying to tell me they shouldn’t get that opportunity?”
“And all this is from the kindness of your heart? Get real, sister.”
“No.” She leaned back, cool as ever. “Kindness has nothing to do with it. Money does. Money and power. Kindness was what Dr. Faraday had to offer. This Haven would have been filled to bursting with the poor and neglected, all with their hands out and mouths open. Who would have taken care of them? You?”
I couldn’t think of anything to say. No matter how she twisted it, it was still wrong. But only the same wrong that’s around every corner. The same wrong that’s in the eyes of anyone with a step up over the next man.
“When the Gestalt took the reins, we made sure only those who could afford the chance would get it. It may not be pretty, but it’s necessary. The SS doesn’t want to infiltrate us because we’re breaking the law. They want in because the UH want to control the revenue. They want this Haven to be a part of their network, under their dominion.”
There it was. And there I was, stuck in the middle of a war between two very powerful groups, with ties to both. All eyes would be on me and where I stood. Too bad I didn’t know. Because it sure felt like I stood in quicksand.