Hostile Takeover by Kuhn Shane

Author:Kuhn, Shane [Kuhn, Shane]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

27

Sue took me to a massive block of housing projects near Fort Apache in the South Bronx. This is a place abandoned by police and emergency responders. It’s literally a lawless island on the end of an island and it’s the least likely place to be under any kind of surveillance by the authorities. 911 doesn’t exist there and even professionals like us stand the chance of being dusted by any number of gangs with ominous names and blank-staring youth soldiers. We drank beer in a burned-out apartment in the projects that used to be one of Sue’s foster homes.

“You look like shit,” I said to Sue.

“The dragon lady’s added years to my life, JL. HR is a clusterfuck and I’m ready to tie a noose at the end of my rope. Good to see you too.”

“What’s been going on?”

“Alice is . . . man, she’s a mess. Angry. Damn. Everybody on eggshells. And paranoid. Got a dozen mercs, armed to the teeth, always at her side. Surveillance everywhere. She’s watching us all the time, even at home, like that dumbass show Big Brother.”

“Any heat from the FBI?”

“Nah. None that I can see. I have seen a few ghosts, though.”

“What kind of ghosts? Christmas past?”

“Spotters. Probably why Alice is freaking out.”

“Think she’s been greenlit?” I asked.

This would not have been outside the realm of possibilities. The FBI has a long history of using contract guns to do its dirty work. The long arm of the law is often attached to a big briefcase full of cash.

“If she has, they’re taking their sweet time.”

“We have to assume, at least, that whoever it is has her on twenty-four/seven surveillance rotations.”

“Definitely. She opened the juice can this time.”

“Yeah. More competition for me. Makes it interesting. How’s business otherwise?”

“Popping. We always got gigs, but they feel like B-list marks. Come with a lot of low-life clients, which makes her paranoia even worse.”

“What about Alice? What’s she working on?”

“She’s kept it pretty close to the vest, but I dug into it just to make sure she wasn’t driving the bus off the edge of a cliff again, you know?”

“I don’t blame you. I should have never agreed to the FBI job. I did it to placate her and ignored my instincts. Love . . . guaranteed to transform you into a complete dumbass by the second date.”

“Won’t argue with you there.”

“What’s she got cooking that’s so top secret?”

“Looks like a cupcake. Chinese guy named Zhen. He’s the CEO of some company I’ve never heard of called CIS, Inc. HQ is in Midtown.”

“When’s she going to initiate?”

“I think she already has. I haven’t seen her as much in the office lately, thank God. Before, she was up our asses daily. I figure she’s got to be working.”

“How long you think?” I asked.

“Maybe a couple of weeks. I’ll look into it some more, if you want.”

“I want.”

“Whatever you need, JL. I’m with you.”

“Are you?”

“Hell yeah—”

“This is my fight, Sue. And it’s going to get ugly. You can stand on the sidelines and feed me some intel and stay out of the fray.

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