Frontiers of Chaos: A Pallas Group Solutions Thriller (Brave New Disorder Book 4) by Peter Nealen

Author:Peter Nealen [Nealen, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

22

The Club Xtessi definitely wasn’t Nick’s sort of place. The walls that weren’t covered with curtains displayed murals that looked like a cross between Salvador Dali and Hieronymus Bosch. The lighting was never clear, but kept fluctuating from red, to purple, to blue. The music was some sort of thrumming electronica, with words that he could never quite make out. It was distorted and strange, and probably sounded a lot better if you were on MDMA or ecstasy. Or something.

Nick had gotten past the bouncer, paying the exorbitant cover price, glad that it was coming out of PGS ops funds, and not his own pocket. The people who gathered here had money, and lots of it.

Which was probably why Larkin was there that night. Big money often meant big appetites and big corruption.

Nick found a table near the wall, where he could see most of the room and the expansive dance floor. At least, as much as he could see through the haze and the flashing lights. The entire aesthetic of the club seemed designed to disorient and distract.

Not many people in there had their phones out, but there were some. It still didn’t seem to be all that prudent to bring his out unless it was absolutely necessary. He ordered a drink and settled in to watch the room, his elbows on the table.

He’d spotted Doug shortly after he’d entered. His partner, somewhat to his surprise, was already mingling, a drink in his hand, wearing an expensive collared shirt open halfway down his chest, and designer jeans that looked entirely out of place on the man Nick had watched tear a column of cartel technicals to shreds with a .50 cal, yet somehow, he was making it work.

Larkin was making the rounds, chatting people up as he moved from table to table around the dance floor. He seemed to know a large part of the clientele. Even if he didn’t, he seemed to be the sort who could slide into a group and act like he was everyone’s oldest friend within minutes. It was a talent, and one that he appeared to be using for some of the deepest evil Nick could think of.

As the party went on, more and more drinks—and probably some stronger stuff—circulated around, Larkin seemed to be filling his client list for the night. Nick was starting to wonder, as Larkin made his rounds, whether they were going to be able to get to him in time, or if he’d have enough names to make a night before Doug could catch his eye.

Doug knew what he was doing, though. The man had been around. After they’d been on site about half an hour, he caught Larkin’s gaze, and after a moment, the facilitator broke off his current conversation and slid into the chair across from Doug.

Nick was much too far away to hear any of the conversation, even if there hadn’t been the weird music trying to cave in his skull. He sipped his drink,

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