Nathan wet his lips. It was hard not to avert his gaze to the moldy stain in the carpet. It seemed to grow a little larger each time he noticed it. He could practically feel the spores tumble across his skin like rotting insects. “I don’t know anything about that. Everything in my report is the truth.”
“Then you should know your next move should be swift and decisive. I’m rather disappointed to find you still trailing vapor trails and urban legends when your house of cards is about to collapse right on top of you.”
“I’m not trailing urban legends and you know it. I’m on the verge of unearthing who the Blurred Man is. I just figured I’d be harder to keep track of if I kept moving.”
“You figured wrong. While you’re smart enough to purchase burner phones, use cash and dump your electronics after use, you’re still remarkably easy to keep track of. How do you think I found you? And if I can, eventually the Feds will. If they haven’t already.”
“I haven’t broken any laws.”
Blackwell smiled. “Do you really think every soul rotting in federal prisons is guilty? You don’t need to break laws to be legally detained, you know that. You’re too smart, you avoid the media, and you’ve embarrassed the intelligence community. Not to mention you’re black.”
Nathan stiffened. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just listing factors which can quickly turn the public consciousness against you, Nathan. That includes race and gender. You know how it goes. What worked for you can just as easily work against you when you’ve been repainted in unsympathetic colors.”
Nathan took a deep breath. “And what — you have my best interest at heart? Get real.”
Blackwell scrubbed a hand across his mouth as if hiding an amused smile. “Still sore about the software appropriation?”
“Appropriation? You s-stole my program, used it to extort mega-corporations into paying you hundreds of millions, and got off scot-free. How do you think I f-f-feel?” He clamped his mouth shut, seething. He hadn’t stuttered in years, but one appearance from Blackwell disturbed him enough to allow the habit to sneak back in. He wasn’t sure if he was more furious with Blackwell or himself for the lack of control.
Blackwell shrugged off the accusation. “Technically I didn’t steal what you were giving away for free.”
Nathan took a deep breath, knowing Blackwell was baiting him. Manipulating him into unbalanced anger like he did in college when Nathan thought they’d change the world together. He chose his words carefully, not wanting to break into an uncontrolled stuttering fit. “You know what you did, Alex. Why I left the partnership. My case was shut down by the legal assassins your father hired, and I was left in the cold while you built an entire corporation off my work. You won, right? So why are we having a conversation?”
“The Aberration.”
The word hung in the air like a potent cloud of secondhand smoke. Nathan tried to keep his expression neutral while his heart pumped pure adrenaline through his veins.
“What about it?”
Blackwell cleared his throat. “Your work has caught the attention of some of my company’s top minds. Your notion of using enhanced paranormal detection equipment to pick up on energy signatures undetected by conventional sensors was a stroke of genius. And your networking circle of fellow enthusiasts is something to be admired. You’ve been able to compile data and unearth information explosive enough to stagger men and women loaded down with certifications and degrees in their respective fields. I need your research in order to take the next step in understanding aberrant energy. I’d like to hire you as a consultant for my Aberrant Investigation Team, or AIT for short.”
Nathan laughed. “You want me to work for you? Me?”
“Absolutely.”
Nathan folded his arms. “No way.”
“Would you rather continue your life on the run? Maybe hope the intelligence agencies lose interest in you? Your career and name will be publicly dismantled in retaliation for your accusations. You have nowhere to go, Nate. You’re a smart man. You’ve already figured it out.”
Nathan grimaced. “What does the AIT do?”
“It’s right up your field. An opportunity you won’t get anywhere else. And there are certain advantages to being an employee of Chimera Global. For one, all investigations against you will be permanently deflected. You won’t have to worry about looking over your shoulder anymore, I promise you that.”
“Is that any better than aligning myself with you, Alex? Chimera isn’t exactly a corporation without blemish in the eyes of the media and ethical watchdogs.”
“No one is without blemish, Nathan. You should know that, considering your rather… interesting childhood. You know, with your father.” Blackwell smiled at Nathan’s uneasy reaction.
“The point is, you don’t get anywhere in life without stepping on the toes of small-minded and inherently jealous rivals. What you’re referring to is pettiness in its purest form. Chaff that blows away at the slightest touch of a breeze. Nothing you need to be concerned about. What should concern you is the precariousness of your current situation, and the fact that I’m offering you an opportunity to escape from it. Not to mention the type of compensation no one else will even come close to offering you.”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of compensation?”
Blackwell pulled a phone from his pocket and slid across a couple of screens before holding up the backlit display. “You were never repaid for your software contribution. Consider this a signing bonus with a hefty upsize should you decide to join the AIT.”
Nathan tried hard to keep his face from displaying the shock that rocked his entire system. The amount of zeroes on the display could change his entire life; allow opportunities he only wistfully imagined in his most private fantasies.
He cleared his throat and tried to evoke a sense of calm. “I’m not doing this for money, Alex. I’m doing this for the truth.”
“You’re doing this because you want to prove yourself. Because you want to be more than just the one person who uncovered a mass conspiracy. You want to be a trailblazer, a pioneer in this new frontier that we’re facing. I’m offering you the chance to do just that. And be well-compensated in the process.”
He extended his hand. “What do you have to lose, Nathan?”
Everything, Nathan thought. But it would still be worth it to pull your company down from the inside and make you pay for what you did.
Chapter 3: Factotum
Elena Ruiz studied Nathan Ryder as he entered AIT headquarters. As usual, he had the grim expression of a man about to endure a life sentence in prison. Cold and distant, his aloofness wrapped around him like a thick scarf on a bitter winter morning.
“Hello, Mr. Ryder.”
She put on her customary smile for her sullen charge. She had been assigned to Nathan the moment he was cleared for access to the AIT facility months ago. Observe and report, were the orders she’d been given. Don’t let him out of your sight. You’re to be his shadow, his confidante, whatever it takes to be with him wherever he goes.
“Hello, Private Ruiz. Still wasting your career on this dead-end assignment, I see.” Nathan kept his eyes on the plastic tray that was passed to him by the burly security guard while his satchel rolled through the X-ray conveyor.
He secured his items and swiftly turned away, forcing her to walk quickly to match his pace. They strode down the hall of the redeveloped brownfield site that had been turned into an oxbow-shaped building housing a series of combined office and laboratory spaces. The interior cladding was furnished from wood salvaged from a decommissioned warehouse on the site, which combined with real plants and natural lighting to create an organic atmosphere.