Chapter Seventy-One
Raine
I snatch the device from the table, but force myself to wait two full rings before I answer.
“Locke.” My voice is mostly steady, which feels like a win.
“I understand you spoke with one of my employees this afternoon,” a man says. He’s older, with a sense of authority that tells me he’s not used to being questioned. Or blackmailed.
“I did.”
For a long moment, the only sound in the room is the music playing from the sound bar.
“My name is Theo Latham. I run Northbridge Containment.”
He waits, and I press my thumb over Asher’s challenge coin. “Raine Calder.”
“Ms. Calder. Now, we can have a conversation.”
A slow warmth spreads through my chest. Relief loosens my shoulders. “Then we can stop wasting time. Do we have a deal?”
“We do,” he says without hesitation. “Anyone currently detained by Coherent Path will be extracted and transported to Tacoma Memorial Hospital. They should arrive at approximately eleven thirty tonight.”
My grip on the phone tightens. I’m about to thank him when he clears his throat.
“But, I should be clear, Ms. Calder. This isn’t the end of our discussion.”
“So, you’re after information,” I say.
“Of a sort, yes.”
“What sort?”
“Why did you decide to call us in the first place rather than releasing the address and letting the fallout hit us?”
I push to my feet, move the window, and press my free hand to the glass.
“You share the building. But you don’t control what happens inside Coherent Path.
I’m not naive, Mr. Latham. I’m an intelligence operative.
I’m well aware that companies like Northbridge and Kovacs are sometimes…
necessary. Coherent Path is something else entirely. ”
Latham exhales softly, the sound almost thoughtful. “You have clarity many don’t.”
“I’ve been in this business a long time.”
“Then you understand my curiosity,” he says. “You had enough leverage you didn’t need to to give us a warning. So why did you?”
I let the silence sit for a moment before answering. “I don’t like unnecessary casualties. Coherent Path has created too many of those in the past few years. From what I know of you, the people you…process…don’t expire in your custody.”
“Practical,” Latham says. “I can respect that.”
“Enough to get me the data transfer as well?” I ask.
“Eventually. Though I can’t promise it will arrive simultaneously. Our systems aren’t fully integrated—on purpose. But we have ways of accessing the information. You’re convinced what you’re looking for exists?”
“I wouldn’t be having this conversation if I wasn’t.”
Latham lets that answer sit for a moment.
“That brings me back to the question I’ve wanted to ask from the beginning.
You’ve placed me in a position where I’m an active participant in an operation that could become public very quickly.
But you’ve also given us time to move before it does.
That’s a very significant advantage. Which means I now owe you.
” The certainty in his voice makes it clear he’s already thinking a dozen steps ahead.
“I’m not interested in collecting beyond what I’ve already asked for. I called because it was the most efficient solution.”
“I know,” he replies. “Which is why it counts. Eleven thirty. Tacoma Memorial.” After a brief pause, the sound he makes is almost a laugh. “You are about to have a very interesting evening, Ms. Calder.”
“It’s been an interesting…three weeks, Mr. Latham. If this all goes well, the next three will be much calmer.”
The call disconnects a moment later, leaving me in an empty apartment with music playing and my worry for Asher the biggest feeling in the room.