Geek Mafia: Mile Zero (22 page)

Afterward, they lay beside one another, sweaty and relaxed. Chloe lay on her back, eyes closed and smiling.

Paul, on his side next to her, gently stroked up and down her body, petting her just the way she liked.

"Good morning," he said.

"It's starting to get good," Chloe replied.

Paul lay there and stared at her for a while, admiring her skin as his hand moved over it. He didn't want to break this blissful moment, but there was too much going on out there that he couldn't -- and more importantly, shouldn't -- ignore.

"Did Winston come by?" he asked.

"Yeah. And Lily. They took care of... everything," she replied, eyes still closed. "Win said you two had breakfast?"

"I brought some muffins. They're downstairs. Cranberry almond."

"What'd you guys talk about?"

"Me and Winston, or when I met with Isaiah and Winston?"

"Either. Both."

"The meeting with Isaiah was pretty short. I told them what we'd found and what we thought happened and all that."

"I don't remember you and me talking about Eddie being our prime suspect," Chloe said in calm tones. Paul wasn't sure if she was angry or not.

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"Well, I didn't think of it until I was there talking to Isaiah. It just kind of occurred to me, you know? And it seemed to fit."

"So you just threw it out there?"

"I guess I did, yeah." He knew what she was going to say next.

"You talk too much; you know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I do. I know, but I needed to tell them then and there so I could get them thinking in the right direction."

"How do you know it's the right direction?" she asked, eyes still closed, voice calm.

"Well, I don't know for sure. But it makes the most sense right now. It's just a theory."

"You mean a hypothesis."

"Sure, yeah. But before you ask, I didn't tell them we had Eddie under surveillance or that we'd set him up at the Party last night. I just mentioned that Eddie might have some friends that he was trying to bring into the corporation thingy. Or friends that were serious enough about staking a place for themselves at the table that they'd kill Raquel."

Chloe lay there and seemed to mull this over for a few minutes. "That could be," she said. "That could be it.

Makes as much sense as anything at this point. Have you told Bee?"

"No, I came straight in here. I assume she's up in her room."

"She is. I got a description of someone who was in Raquel's guest house around the time that her body might have been dumped. She's looking for him on the videos."

"That's a good lead. If she finds someone, we should try and see if we ever have him and Eddie together."

"That's what I was thinking," said Chloe.

"I should go tell her," Paul said, sitting up. He was excited about the lead Chloe had found. If they could connect the killer to Eddie or his Crew...

"Not yet," said Chloe, putting a hand on his leg. "She's in her zone. Let her find the guy first. She knows what Eddie looks like, so if they're in a video together, she'll notice."

"Ok," said Paul, lying back down next to her. He wanted some kind of break though, anything that would help resolve this mess and get life back to normal.

"What did you and Winston talk about over breakfast."

"Mostly about Isaiah's plan," said Paul. In fact, that was all they'd talked about for over an hour, bent over the table and speaking in hushed voices while Winston used a signal jamming box that was supposed to interfere with any wireless listening devices in the area.

"What did he say?" asked Chloe.

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"A lot. He can really talk and talk. And talk."

"Don't I know it," said Chloe with a smile. "But what was the gist of it? Does he support Isaiah's plan or not?"

"I'm still not sure. He talked a lot about pros and cons. I don't think he's made up his mind one way or the other. There was a lot of concern about how Raquel's murder might only be a sign of things to come."

"Winston has a soft spot for signs and portents," said Chloe. "It's all that hippie crap."

"Well, he had a point. Banding together with Isaiah in his shadow corporation means getting into bed with other Crews that we can't necessarily trust or that we just plain don't like. Take Eddie and his guys for example. Maybe they're the killers. Maybe they're just jerks. Either way, you'd have to have serious second thoughts about working with them on something this big."

"Hmmm," said Chloe.

"Hmmm what? You don't agree?"

"The jury's still out on Eddie as far as I'm concerned. Obviously if he's the killer, that's one thing. I'll have nothing to do with him. But if he's not..."

"Then he's just a jerk."

"But a charming jerk," said Chloe, and Paul felt an unexpected twinge of jealousy. When he'd watched her flirt with him at the bar and the party, he'd known it was a con. He'd long ago tamed any qualms he had about Chloe using sex (or at least the suggestion of sex) as a tool of the trade.

"Don't tell me you fell for his line of..."

"No, no, of course not," said Chloe. "I didn't fall for it. But that's because I'm me and I know the game, and I know he's a player. But that doesn't mean he's not good. And Isaiah wouldn't have invited him here if he didn't have some real skills and contacts."

"So you'd be willing to sign onto Isaiah's corporation if Eddie was involved?"

"I'm willing to consider it anyway. He reminds me of Raff when I first met him. Charming and ruthless. You gotta respect that."

"He reminds you of Raff, and that's good?"

"You know what I mean," said Chloe.

"I know Raff ruined my life and nearly got us killed."

"We're not talking about Raff." Anger was creeping into her voice now, and she sat up in bed. "Why're you doing this? You know what I'm trying to say."

"I know," said Paul. And he did. Her point was that in their world you had to respect competence and ability, and if you could make someone with both work for you, all the better. He also knew what she meant about Eddie reminding her of Raff. He'd thought the same thing, which is probably why he'd taken such an instant dislike to the man.

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"So what else was Winston worried about?" asked Chloe, changing the subject.

"He didn't want to expose other Crews he knows to any unnecessary risks. He also doesn't like the whole corporate metaphor angle."

"Was there anything he did like?"

"Yeah. He sees the potential in Isaiah's plan and he definitely agrees that the target is worth taking down. He told me that if it worked as promised that it could actually achieve a kind of revolution. Or at least a path for secret secession."

"Secret secession?"

"A way for people to drop out of society entirely but still live within it to whatever extent they desired. If Isaiah's right, then more and more people could move out of the public eye and into private, really actually free lives. Secede from the union without anyone knowing."

"Which is exactly what Winston did thirty years ago," said Chloe. "And ever since then, he's been preaching that the Revolution will come,' but it never does."

"And I think he realizes that," said Paul. "Which is why he finds Isaiah's plan interesting. It might actually achieve what he's been trying to do for decades."

"Or, more likely," said Chloe, "knowing Winston, he thinks he might be able to seduce the rest of us with his own ideology and use the organization for his own goals." Paul was surprised to hear Chloe talk about Winston's motives in such Machiavellian terms, but looking at the smile on her face, he realized that she wasn't expressing criticism but rather admiration for the old man's scheming.

"Maybe you're right," he said.

Chloe must have detected a hint of doubt in his voice, because she asked, "You don't think so?"

"I don't know what to think," said Paul. "It's all a little crazy sounding to me, either way. I just want them to all go away."

"And then what?" asked Chloe.

"What do you mean?"

"After they're gone. Then what? Do you want to join Isaiah's shadow corporation or not?"

"I don't know. With all the uncertainty about Raquel and Eddie and..."

"I mean assuming we clear up all that shit. Assuming we catch the bad guy and Eddie goes away or whatever.

Assuming it all comes out perfect. Then what?"

Paul looked away, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling fan. He could sense that this was not a conversation he wanted to have right now, but he couldn't see a way out of it. "I don't know."

"Well," said Chloe. "It's something we need to think about. We need to be ready to give Isaiah an answer."

"Then shouldn't we be talking to Sandee and Bee too?"

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"We will," said Chloe. "But right now it's you and me I'm talking about."

"What about you?" asked Paul. "What do you want to do?"

"I think we should join up if we get the chance."

"Just like that?"

"Assuming everything checks out, then yeah. Just like that."

"Why?" asked Paul. "Don't we have everything we need here? The Keys Condos and Estates deal gives us stable housing and plenty of opportunities. The party is yielding more and more money and results every week. We're building up a great network here. Bee says she'll have the whole island covered within the year..."

"And that's all great," Chloe interrupted. "But then what? We're still working our asses off to basically just keep our heads above water. If we're going to grow, we're going to make real money, then we need to look beyond this damn island. It's too small. Everyone knows everyone else, and that's not the best environment for con artists. And how many cameras did Bee lose in the last hurricane? Something like 50 percent? And the next storm could strip this whole island bare, and then where would we be? This fucking place is a dead end."

"So you want to leave?" asked Paul. Chloe grumbled about the heat and the bugs and the storms, but she'd never been this explicitly negative about Key West before. Paul found that her anger didn't really surprise him that much - he'd sensed her frustration but had chosen to ignore it.

"Not necessarily," she said. "Not right away. But there's no future here for us, Paul. There's just more of the same. More of the endless party and more of the fleecing tourists and more watching everyone all the time from Bee's little fortress of solitude. But then what?"

"What is it you want?" asked Paul. "What more do you need to do? What do you need or want that we don't have here? We've got money, friends, fun. Each other. Plenty of free time to do other things..."

"What other things?"

"Well I do my art... some writing. And just planning the party is fun for me."

"And of course your damn game," she snapped.

Anger and frustration rose in his throat. "Let's just leave out the game, ok?"

"Fine. We'll forget the game. But those are all the things that make you happy. I need more. I need to move forward and accomplish things. I need..."

"You need a hobby," he said.

"Fuck that," she said, rolling out of bed and wheeling around on him with an accusing finger pointed at his face. "Maybe your art's just a hobby for you now, but it used to be your passion. Well I don't need a hobby, but I do need a fucking passion. And playing landlord and party pimp is not my fucking passion."

"I thought I was your passion," said Paul, hurt and confused by her onslaught. "I love you Chloe. I love you so much..."

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"I love you too Paul. You know I love you so much. But that's not enough. I need more. I need more for myself, for my own ambitions."

Paul looked away from her. He knew she was right, of course. As far as he was concerned, life on Key West was (hurricanes and murders aside) idyllic. But he wanted Chloe to be happy too; he just didn't know how to make that happen. She came around the bed to his side and sat back down beside him, stroking his hair.

"Remember when you suggested moving here," she said quietly. "Remember how you said you wanted to do more socially conscious cons. More like Robin Hood or whatever?"

Paul did remember. That had been their goal at first, but playing Robin Hood was harder than it sounded (and it didn't sound terribly easy). Like Chloe said, they spent a lot of time and energy just covering their own expenses, which were pretty high. Especially maintaining Bee's camera network. The party only started paying for itself in the last month or so. Their free housing scam was as close as they came to being socially responsible.

"Yeah, sure" he finally said.

"Well don't you see? Isaiah's company thing might be a way for us to do that. Like Winston said. Secret secession or whatever. Go after the real bad guys."

"I do see," said Paul. "But I'm still not convinced it's a good idea. There are too many unknowns."

"But if we sorted all of them out..."

"I'll have to see then," said Paul. "I just can't make any promises. The whole thing is too new. Too weird. I'm not going to commit to anything now."

She took her hand from his hair and stared in silence. "Sure," she eventually said. "That makes sense."

She stood up and moved over to the closet. He watched her dress in silence, wanting to say something but not quite knowing the right words or even what it was he really wanted to say. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that said, "I Read Your E-mail."

"Just remember, Paul," Chloe said. "There's going to have to be some sort of commitment to change at some point."

"I know," said Paul.

"Because things can't keep going like this. It just won't work."

"Ok."

Their eyes met across the room and he saw sadness there. "I'm going to go check on Bee," she said, and left. P

AUL snapped awake at the sound of Bee's voice from the doorway.

"Paul?" she was saying. "Paul, are you awake?" He sat up in bed and looked in bleary-eyed confusion at her.

It was bright outside. Past noon maybe? How long had he slept?