Disruptor (14 page)

“What happened those three days,” Dani began
haltingly, not sure how to explain what she felt. “It was a thing
that was done to me. It was a nightmare, but the stuff that screws
me up are the things I did to myself. Decisions I made that were
wrong, and I can’t take them back or fix them. That’s the stuff
that.” She stopped.

“The stuff that haunts you,” he finished for
her.

“Yeah.” The momentary peace she’d bought by
beating the crap out of a bunch of assholes began to dissipate,
like air slowly leaking from a balloon. She rose and walked to the
parapet that protected the patio from the edge of the roof. A
helicopter took off from a nearby skyscraper. She followed its
progress until it was nothing but a pinpoint of light in the
distance.

Kevin joined her. “I haven’t been able to
find much about the sex trafficking business here in Point Sable.
Some vague articles about how it exists, and the programs that help
people who escape. Apparently the numbers in Point Sable are higher
than average. Women are brought here and if they don’t stay, they
wind up in smaller cities and towns across half a dozen
states.”

“So it’s a hub city for trafficking?”

“That was the impression I got. The lack of
detail was frustrating.”

“I’m guessing one of the details missing is
who runs it?”

He nodded. “Just some vague mentions of
organized crime.”

“No shit.” Just because the Russians were
involved didn’t necessarily mean they were in charge. “How powerful
are the Russians?”

“I don’t know. I could tell you all about
organized crime in this city decades ago, but now?” He shook his
head. “I don’t know enough to be sure of anything.”

“Can you find out?”

He was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, I think so.
I can tell you one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“The city’s organized crime used to be run
primarily by Irish and Italians. That’s changed. All the old guys,
they all died off or went to prison or went legit. That side of the
city is run by different people now, different families and
organizations. But I’d bet a big chunk of my trust fund that one
thing hasn’t changed.” He paused for a moment. “The old guys had
cops on their payroll. The current ones will too.”

Some part of her had known that, because of
her own bad experience with police. Crime at that level couldn’t be
run without corruption greasing the wheels. That wasn’t why she
hadn’t bothered with tipping off law enforcement about the dead
girl’s origin. “Even good cops don’t put much time into
investigating crimes against sex workers.”

“And the bad ones, they’d likely tip off the
Russians.”

“I failed today,” she said. “I can’t do what
I need to do like this.” She lifted her hand to indicate her
face.

Kevin grinned. “I, too, have trouble
accomplishing anything because I’m just so damned pretty.”

The joke took her by surprise. Surely there
was no place for laughter in a conversation like this. Maybe that’s
why it felt so necessary to let it roll out.

“A hoodie’s not so great,” Kevin said.
“Somebody might get close enough to pull it down and get a look at
your face.” Even in the limited light, it was impossible to miss
the twinkle in his eyes.

“Yeah, I had the same thought.” Dani pulled
the balaclava from the jacket pocket. “That’s why I grabbed this
when I took your jacket.”

He took the ski mask from her and studied it.
“If you go after Russian mobsters, you’ll have their enforcers
after you. You’ll have bad cops on their payroll after you.” He
raised the balaclava. “You’ll have good cops after you for being a
vigilante.”

She took it back. “I can take care of
myself.”

He tilted his chin up. “Not that you’ll tell
me just how you’re able to do such a good job of that.”

Dani leaned against the parapet, facing him.
He’d given her sanctuary. He was paying for a new identity for her.
Out of his trust fund, sure, but just because he was loaded didn’t
lessen the fact of his generosity. He hadn’t turned her in to the
police even though he probably should have. He was offering more
assistance by way of research. All this because she’d saved his
life.

So what did she owe him? By helping her, he
was putting himself in danger. He seemed to understand that, and he
still wanted to help.

And of all her secrets, it was hardly the
worst. Besides, she needed to download that photo she’d taken of
the Russian who liked using a stun gun. Better to tell Kevin and
have him prepared for that than freak out.

Okay. Okay. Just tell him. What’s the worst
that could happen? He could bail on her. Then she’d lose her new
ID, and all of his help. Surprisingly, that paled in comparison to
losing his…friendship? No, they weren’t friends. They couldn’t be,
because she couldn’t stay in Point Sable.

On the edge of losing her nerve, she blurted
out, “Into every generation…”

Kevin rolled his eyes and turned to leave.
She grabbed his arm to stop him. “I was sold to a lab.”

Mouth open, brow furrowed, he stared as if he
hadn’t understood.

Dani swallowed the last of her hesitation. “I
was used as a lab rat. Experimented on. Some stuff didn’t work, and
some things…did. They changed me. A lot of gene therapy, to make me
stronger, faster. They put things in me. Implants. My hearing, my
vision. A neural interface.”

He continued to stare, and she wondered if
anything she’d said had made sense to him. “I was there for five
years before I escaped.”

“You’re not a slayer,” he said. “You’re the
thirty million dollar woman.”

“Huh?”

“Six million in the mid-seventies, adjusted
for inflation.” He rubbed his jaw. “What’s a neural interface?”

Dani paused. She’d done it. She’d told him.
Told
someone
. It felt…for the first time since she’d
escaped, she felt truly free, standing in front of someone as
herself. She smiled. “Tell me your Wi-Fi password, and I’ll show
you.”

“What’ll you show me if I give you my ATM pin
number?”

“How about I show you how hard I can punch?”
Were they flirting? She’d done so little of that, she wasn’t sure.
She just knew she liked the sunlit, weightless feeling it gave
her.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Hey,
you can’t be mad at me for trying. Not only are you hot, but you’re
a superhero? I had to hit on you at least once.”

A jumble of emotions cascaded through Dani.
Pleasure that he found her attractive. Unexpected disappointment
that he might only flirt with her this one time. And finally shock
at the word he’d used –
superhero
. There was nothing heroic
about her at all. The voice that haunted her nightmares would be
there to remind her of that every time she slept.

It made sense. It was crazy, but somehow it
made sense. Kevin had no trouble believing Dani. Maybe that meant
he was just as nuts as her claims of being a genetically enhanced
superhero, but the way scientific advancements were rushing
headlong into the future at a speed most people couldn’t
comprehend, it just didn’t surprise him. Sean wasn’t the only one
in the family who read Moynihan Consolidated investment reports.
Just because Kevin didn’t want a corner office and a long-winded
title didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about what the company his
family had built was involved with. Some of the work being done in
the Applied Sciences division was truly remarkable.

But none of it could hold a candle to
this
. He watched in silence as Dani sat motionless, her eyes
half closed, face drawn tight in concentration. Every few seconds
he flicked his gaze to his laptop to check the progress on the
download. The circular icon advanced slowly, as if downloading a
large zip file. With her neural interface, which he wanted to know
absolutely everything about, and the five megapixel camera in one
eye, she’d taken a photo of the Russian mobster who liked to use a
stun gun. Now she was downloading the photo to his laptop.
With
her brain
.

Holy shit.

The circle flashed green then settled,
indicating the download was complete. Dani remained still for a
moment, then slumped back against the sofa cushions. She pressed
the heels of her hands against her closed eyes, the color drained
from her face.

Kevin said, “What do you need?”

“Rest for a few minutes,” she said. “Maybe
some orange juice and a snack.”

“Does it mess with your blood sugar?”

“It just takes a lot of energy, and I was
tired already.” She dropped her hands and sat up a little
straighter. “They were working on improving the download technique
to make it easier, but I left.”

A thin line of red leaked from her nose.
“You’re bleeding,” he called out as he rushed to the bathroom. When
he returned with a handful of tissues, Dani was sitting with her
head back again, right hand at her nose and smeared with blood.

She held a tissue to her nose with her left
hand while he cleaned the right. “Sorry about the mess.” She
wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Don’t be absurd. Are you okay? Do I need to
get you a doctor?”

“No! No, I’m fine. This happens sometimes
with downloading. Like I said, they were still working on
perfecting the process. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” She folded the tissue again,
swiped it at her nose and held it up. “See, it’s already stopped.
No big deal. I could go for that snack, though.”

Kevin nodded, unsure of what to say. So
instead of speaking he rose and went to the kitchen. She needed a
snack, so he’d get her one. Several minutes later he returned with
a tray piled high with a sandwich, sliced apples, a glass of orange
juice, and a cup of Greek yogurt.

Dani smiled weakly. “Dude, I asked for a
snack, not a meal.”

He arranged the food on the coffee table then
brought his laptop over and sat next to her. “I just wanted to make
sure you got enough to eat.” He opened the photo of the Russian. It
was taken at night but still a good shot of his face. “I can try an
image search but I wouldn’t hold out much hope of learning anything
that way. The press is pretty circumspect about what they print on
organized crime. They have to be, unless someone is arrested. Then
it’s a matter of public record.”

“So if he’s been arrested, you should be able
to get me a name?” Dani scooted forward on the couch, picked up the
sandwich and took a bite. “This is good, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Kevin copied the photo then
cropped it to focus on the Russian’s face. Next he uploaded it to
the internet and ran an image search. It came back with some hits
with similar faces, but no match. “Either he’s never been arrested,
or it was kept out of the news.”

“If I can’t find the girls, I need to find
him before he finds them.” She downed half the glass then wiped her
mouth with the back of her hand. “I need to get back out there
tonight.”

Tension spread rapidly through Kevin’s neck
and shoulders. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“I need some sleep. Then I’ll be fine.” She
picked up an apple slice and crunched it. “I need you to find out
everything you can about the Russian mobsters here. Who they are,
where they hang out, what they’re into.” She used another apple
slice to point at the laptop screen. “Anything you can find out
about this son of a bitch.”

“What are you going to do if you find
him?”

Dani kept her eyes on the screen. “Make sure
he never hurts anyone again.”

Kevin closed the laptop then set it aside.
“What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means?” She still
wouldn’t look at him.

“I know you want to save those girls.”

“It’s not just them,” Dani said. “I can
guarantee, that’s not the first time he’s killed. He’ll keep doing
it, until somebody stops him.” She launched from the sofa, a coil
of unreleased energy, and paced in front of the glass wall
overlooking the city.

Kevin followed her, leaning against the cool
glass with his arms crossed over his chest. “I understand
self-defense. Defending others. But what you’re talking about.” He
stopped short, not sure how far he wanted to push this
conversation. How far he wanted to push her.

Dani paused in her restless back and forth.
“What I’m talking about is protecting women. Those traffickers,
they don’t even think we’re human. The women they buy and sell,
they’re nothing but property. Like you buying a new car. Shit, they
treat their fucking cars better than they treat the women they
sell.”

“I know they’re bad guys, Dani. I just don’t
think you want to be a bad guy, too.”

“You think I’m a bad guy because I want to
stop a killer and a sex slaver? How the hell do you figure that?”
Unspent violence radiated through every line of her body.

If she was as strong as she claimed, she
could easily hurt him. He really wanted to back down but more was
at stake than his physical safety. “There’s a right way to do
things and a wrong way. Murder is wrong.”

“So because I killed some of those bastards,
you think I’m as bad as they are?” Hurt simmered beneath the anger
in her voice.

“No, that’s not what I think at all. You did
what you had to do, to give those girls a chance to escape, and to
save yourself. But maybe you could find another way now.”

She exhaled slowly, nostrils flaring, her
hands balled into fists at her sides. “Okay. Okay, let’s hear some
ideas. How do I convince the cops these girls are worth looking
for? If I get lucky and find a cop who isn’t on somebody’s payroll.
How do I do it without admitting what I did?” She shook her head.
“Because no way in hell am I going to jail. For one thing, the
people at the lab, they’ll find me in a matter of hours if I’m
fingerprinted. Then they’ll come get me, and I won’t go back
there.”