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That said, he couldn’t get aboard by being stupid.

You can’t cash in wishful thinking.

“I want it in writing,” he said, crossing his arms. “All of it.”

“Of course,” St. Luke replied. “We’ll draw everything up nice and legal for my protection as well as yours. We both have to do our part in this agreement. And I want you to be clear: none of this is worth a dime if you can’t keep my operations going until the end. If this fails, I fail. And if I fail, you certainly fail.”

Lincoln let out a chilling laugh at that, which Korigan ignored. “And what end is that?”

“You’ll know,” St. Luke promised. “Believe me. When it comes, you’ll know.”

That was a warning bell if ever Korigan heard one, but he was in too deep to care. He had no idea what St. Luke was thinking, but he was now certain the billionaire had finally passed eccentric and gone straight to mad. But that was fine with him. If the old man wanted him to play along with this Z3X scam, Victor would play the best game he’d ever seen. It’s not like he gave a damn about Chicago. This cold, windy place was just another job to him. He’d bring the whole damn city to its knees if that was what St. Luke wanted, because when the end did come, it wouldn’t matter. With St. Luke’s wealth at his disposal, Korigan could escape any hell the crazy old man brought down on their heads. St. Luke was one of the richest men in the world. Even if Korigan only managed to salvage a fraction of that, he’d still have enough money and power to finally stop worrying about finding that next job and keeping ahead of all the people who wanted him dead. With that much money, he could finally rest, finally relax.

Maybe even have enough time to wipe off all the blood he’d gotten on his hands throughout his life…

To hell with that—someone else can wash my hands for me.

And it was almost in his grasp. He just had to keep doing what he was so good at doing.

Winning.

“All of your wealth,” he said again, voice shaking in eagerness. “Transferred to me. Legally. In writing. Notified and witnessed.”

“Yes, yes,” St. Luke said, waving his hand dismissively. “All the bells and whistles. Now do I have my man or not?”

Korigan thought it through one more time, searching madly for the catch. In the end, though, he couldn’t find one big enough to risk losing the reward. “You have a deal,” he said, holding out his hand. “I want the papers in my office first thing tomorrow, and I want full access to your illegal operations here in Chicago. As soon as I have guarantee of payment and control over all the necessary pieces, I will lock down this city so tight, there won’t be so much as a kid shoplifting without my say-so. Come hell or high water, you will have no disruptions to your Z3X operation.”

“Spoken like a true mercenary,” St. Luke said proudly, gripping Korigan’s offered hand and shaking it for far too long. “I’ll have it to you by noon tomorrow. Lincoln will deliver it personally so he can fill you in on our Chicago narcotics operations.”

Black did not look happy about that, but he nodded just the same, and Korigan’s stomach began to flutter. He was close. He was so close. But he had to get out of here now, before St. Luke’s apparent madness shifted and he changed his mind. “I should go, then,” he said as he finally pried his hand out of St. Luke’s. “It’s late, and we’ve much to do.”

“Of course, of course,” St. Luke replied. “But do feel free to enjoy the party upstairs before you go. I always encourage people to make the most of their baser urges.”

Another time, Korigan gladly would have taken him up on that, but right now he wasn’t even thinking about the pleasures upstairs. Nothing would satisfy him now other than the promise this apparent madman had just made him, and the only thing on his mind was what he was going to do to make sure he didn’t lose it. He was already making contingency plans as he said goodbye to his host and strode away, barely even noticing the horrors this time as he half walked, half ran through the zoo, back to the elevator and the work that lay beyond.

“You’re making a mistake.”

St. Luke glanced away from Victor Korigan’s retreating back to see Lincoln Black sitting cross-legged on top of one of the long lab tables with his sword in his lap. “How so?”

“The police chief,” Black said. “He’s a blind idiot.”

“You underestimate him,” St. Luke said, shaking his head. “He is blind, true, but no more than most men. Despite that, he’s as scheming and ambitious as I could ever ask, and that makes him useful.”

The swordsman snorted. “Only if you like dull knives. What kind of fool do you have to be not to accept that there’s more going on than meets the eye after seeing that?”

He nodded toward the black box in the center of the room, and St. Luke chuckled. “Not everyone is as open-minded as you. But it’s not that he didn’t notice it. It’s that he chose to ignore it in favor of his own goals.” He grinned. “Like I said, ambitious. And very good at his job. He’s certainly kept you out of trouble. Or did you think it just happened that no one noticed all those gang lords you decapitated and threw in the river during the takeover?”

Black shrugged. “I figured it counted as a public service.”

“If you ever do a public service, it really will be the end times,” St. Luke said with a laugh. “But don’t worry. We won’t have to put up with him for long.” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “Wise generals make sure that soldiers like Korigan don’t outlive their wars.”

“I did notice you left out a few key bits of information while you were promising him all the kingdoms of the earth,” Black said, reaching down to poke the baggies of Z3X. “But are you sure about trusting him with so much? It’d be some dramatic irony if the great St. Luke got taken down by the underling he underestimated.”

“I’d never fall prey to such melodrama,” St. Luke said in disgust. “Trust me. I know how to deal with men like Korigan. He’s learned to play it smooth, but deep down he’s still the same frightened little boy willing to do anything for the power to keep himself safe. Why do you think he jumped so fast and so high when I offered him my fortune? To a man like him, I’m the top.” St. Luke laughed out loud. “He has no idea.”

“We don’t need him.”

“Not technically,” St. Luke agreed, rubbing a hand on his chest like it pained him. “But we can still use him, and, it’s nice to have someone covering our backs. Federal investigations can be quite annoying when you’re on a deadline.”

“Feds die just like anyone else,” Black pointed out. “But we’re about to have bigger problems. Ones Korigan can’t touch.”

St. Luke’s smile faded. “What do you mean? Was there a problem with the last catalyst?”

“Not at all,” Black said, shaking his head. “For all his protests, the veteran bum went out nice and big. Full transformation, just as predicted. The problem came later when he tried to attack a woman, some doctor who’d treated him in the past. Things were about to get nice and ironic with him ripping the arms off the very person who’d come to help him, when who should appear but our favorite Bible-quoting, sword-wielding friend.”

The billionaire’s eyes went wide. “Are you kidding me?” When Black shook his head, St. Luke slammed his hand down on the table, denting the metal surface. “And you’re only telling me this now because?”