2. CHAPTER TWO #2
Hallie had to give him credit for a direct approach. “We are looking for someone that you have done business with.”
“Lady, if I ran my mouth on everyone I spoke to, I wouldn’t be in business for long, would I?
” Manju asked, holding up a hand as if to try to stop her speaking.
“For instance, I’m sure you won’t want me talking about your little operation here.
A Conclave Investigators’ office in the heart of Minamaan? ”
“We won’t be here long,” Hallie told him, finding his unsubtle threat distasteful. “We just came to find you, and now that we have, I expect we’ll be leaving soon.”
“And me?” Manju asked. He was trying to seem disinterested, but the slight shift of his shoulders betrayed inner tension. He might be outwardly confident and self-assured, but he was no fool.
“That depends on what you tell us,” Girard put in. He sounded his usual calm self, but had somehow managed to lace some level of threat into his words.
“Findo Trask,” Hallie said, watching Manju closely.
He flinched. It was the tiniest movement, and if she hadn’t been watching so closely, she would have missed it.
But he did flinch. She struggled to keep her face calm and not betray the little frisson of excitement that ran through her.
Manju recognised the name. She and Girard might have an actual lead on the elusive criminal. Finally.
“I’m not familiar with the name. Friend of yours?” Manju asked, taking another sip of tea.
He really was a superb liar. There was nothing in his face or voice or the way he held himself to tell Hallie that he was lying. But her truth sense told her, a sour taste blooming in her mouth.
“Someone we’d like to find,” Hallie said. The truth sense also made it very difficult for her to lie, and impossible for her to lie effectively, so she kept as close to the facts as she could. Holding back information was second nature.
“Ah, now, so you want my services?” Manju smiled. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? I’d be delighted to help the Conclave Investigators find this, what did you call him, Findo Trask?”
Hallie couldn’t help a small smile and shake of her head. She’d met a few charming rogues like him over the years, but he was the most impressive.
“We know perfectly well that you’ve had dealings with Findo Trask.
Our enquiries so far have told us that much,” Girard said.
His normal calm was laced with a hint of temper.
Perhaps he had been hurt more badly than Hallie had guessed.
She looked across at him, trying to hide her concern. His attention was fixed on Manju.
“If you have so much information, what do you need me for?” Manju asked. He and Girard glared at each other across the table.
“Are you frightened by what Findo Trask may do?” Hallie asked, leaning forward a little, breaking the stand-off between the two men.
Being worried by Findo Trask was perfectly sensible, as far as Hallie was concerned.
The powerful veondken - a non-human - had operated an illegal fighting ring in Hallie’s home city of Daydawn, many miles from here, which had led to the deaths of several still unidentified individuals and one hochlen.
It was the involvement of hochlen in Findo’s fights that had drawn the attention of the elite.
Hallie couldn’t help but think that if the veondken had just stuck to pitting karlen, the common human folk of her city, and veondken against each other, he might still be running his operation in Daydawn instead of being a fugitive wanted by the Conclave.
Now not only was he responsible for the death of at least one hochlen, he’d also escaped Conclave custody and - at their last encounter - had shot down the Conclave Investigators’ helicopter.
At least, Hallie and everyone else who had been there was assuming it had been Findo who had launched the attack.
And the death, the escape, and the attack were not things that any of the elite, or the Conclave, would ignore.
She and Girard might not have found Findo yet, but she knew that they would. Eventually.
“Lady, anyone sane would be frightened of that man,” Manju said.
He was quiet for a moment, brows drawn together, gaze moving between Hallie and Girard.
Thinking. There was none of his mischief or charm on his face.
Instead he looked older, tired. After a pause he seemed to come to a decision and blew out a breath, shoulders slumping.
“Findo is one of the most dangerous people I’ve ever dealt with.
Do you know he killed someone by putting an electric collar around their neck? ” Manju had paled. “It was horrifying.”
“You saw that death?” Hallie asked, her own mouth dry, stomach unsettled.
She thought she knew the killing that Manju was describing.
Back in her home city, Devin, a genius with electronics, had been killed by an electric shock collar that he himself had made.
Despite everything she’d learned, Hallie still felt guilty about Devin’s death.
She’d taken the shock collar to him, not knowing he’d made it, and he’d agreed to ask some questions to see if he could track down where it had come from.
He’d been killed that same night. The fact that he’d originally been blackmailed into making the collar and helping Findo didn’t seem to help her sense of responsibility for what had happened.
She and Girard had found the old man dead, and it had not been an easy death.
“There’s a video of it.” Manju picked up his cup with hands that weren’t quite steady and cradled the glass between his palms as if he needed the warmth. “That poor man.” He looked across at Hallie. “So, yes, I am frightened of Findo Trask.”
“A video?” Hallie asked, her voice harsh, nausea churning her stomach now. The fact that Devin had been killed was bad enough. The idea that someone had made a video of it was somehow even worse. “How did you come by it?”
“Findo made sure I saw it. Me and doubtless a lot of others. Wanted to make sure we wouldn’t talk.
I don’t have it anymore. One viewing was enough.
” Manju was shaken, his face looking pinched, but his eyes sharpened when he looked at Hallie.
He put the empty cup down in front of him. “You know something about this.”
“About the death, yes. I knew Devin. He didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Hallie said, her voice not quite steady.
“I never met him, but he had a reputation for genius and discretion and, no, he did not deserve that end. I am sorry for your loss,” Manju said. The sincerity of that made Hallie’s eyes sting.
“If you’ve seen what Findo is capable of, then you will understand why we want to find him,” Girard said. He’d lost the edge of temper, his voice a little softer.
“He’s been moving around a lot lately,” Manju said, his tone brisk and business-like.
“There’s a rumour he was in Conclave custody for a while, but no one I know has been brave enough to ask him if that’s true.
His usual base is Daydawn but I’m not sure he’s been back there.
Last I heard, he’d been holed up on Paradise then headed for the Lucien Islands. ”
“Not there,” Hallie said. “We’ve had people looking.”
“Then I’m not sure what to tell you,” Manju said, spreading his hands. “Those are the places I am sure he’s been.”
“You said his usual base is Daydawn. Where else would he do business?” Girard asked.
“All over,” Manju said, a sour pull to his mouth.
“He’s been here a time or two.” He paused, staring down at the empty cup.
“He likes to meet the people he deals with first.” His voice was soft, as if caught in a memory.
Not a pleasant memory, from the way his shoulders hunched and his face tightened. “I wish I could be more help.”
A soft knock at the door interrupted whatever Hallie or Girard might have said next. Kasmo appeared in the doorway and inclined her head slightly.
“I am sorry for the intrusion, sir, ma’am. The director has called and would like an update,” Kasmo said. “He’s waiting on the video link.”
Hallie’s brows lifted. They had a daily check-in with the director of the Conclave Investigators, but that wasn’t due for another hour or so, and it was usually a brief phone call, not a video link.
“Thank you, Kasmo. Could you and Oreste please show our guest to the downstairs bedroom and see he has any refreshments he needs?” Girard asked.
“Of course.” Kasmo glanced outside the door and made a small motion with her hand that brought Oreste to stand beside her.
Hallie wasn’t surprised to find that Oreste had been close by.
He seemed very protective of his younger cousin, and both of them would have seen the flexi-cuffs Manju had been wearing when he was brought into the house.
“We’ll talk again later,” Girard told Manju.
“So, I am to be kept here for a while?” Manju asked, with a return to the mischief he’d shown earlier. “Is there a bath, at least?”
“There is,” Girard confirmed. He rose to his feet, Manju standing with him. “I wouldn’t advise trying to escape. There are defences in place.”
With a wry smile, Manju tilted his head to Hallie and left the room under the watchful care of Oreste and Kasmo.
#
Hallie poured herself some more mint tea while Girard fiddled with the electronics.
She really wanted coffee, but it was late in the day and she’d learned that the bitter, strong brew served here would keep her awake far into the night.
Moments later, the television screen above the table came to life, showing a pale, anonymous office space with a table and a few chairs and plain walls.
A red light above the screen let Hallie know that the integrated camera was on and would be beaming an image of her and Girard to the screen under the other camera.