The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler

Author:Barry Eisler [Eisler, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
ISBN: 1503904261
Google: qh1wuAEACAAJ
Amazon: B07DL1Y4GV
Barnesnoble: B07DL1Y4GV
Goodreads: 40492305
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2019-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

chapter

twenty-seven

LIVIA

Hey,” Livia said as soon as Little picked up. “It’s me.”

“Livia. Damn it, I’ve been trying to reach you.”

It sounded like something was wrong. She pressed the phone tighter to her ear and pushed back a ripple of anxiety. “I’ve been traveling. Is everything all right?”

“I know you’ve been traveling. You flew from Seattle to Washington Dulles.”

The ripple turned into a small wave. She glanced at the men. They were all listening intently—Rain in particular.

“How do you know that?”

“ICE records. Which anyone at Homeland Security can instantly access. What are you doing out here?”

“Following leads.”

“Never going to trust me, are you?”

“No more than I have to.”

There was a pause, and she sensed he was tamping down his frustration with her. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter,” he said. “I have information for you. Where can we meet?”

“Better over the phone.”

She noticed Rain was looking at her closely. The man was obviously agitated by the idea that her contact had proposed meeting in person.

“Forgive me, Livia, I’ve about had it with your bullshit. I’ve gone out on a major limb for you, I’ve uncovered information critical to what you’re up against, and I’m done with you disrespecting me and calling all the shots. And think hard about hanging up on me again, because this time I will not be calling back.”

Shit. On the one hand, she didn’t think meeting him would be a problem. But she knew it would be for Rain, and maybe for the others. And regardless, she hated that Little had taken her measure and was calling her bluff. Hated feeling he was in control of her.

“I’ll call you back in five minutes,” she said.

“Fine.”

She clicked off, trying to find some satisfaction in not having capitulated, and in his acquiescence to her refusal to give him an immediate response.

But it was just a salve. She knew he had won. She tried to focus on the substance, which was his assurance that he had valuable information.

She looked at Rain, knowing he would be the one with the strongest objections. “He says he has information,” she said. “I have to meet him.”

But Rain didn’t respond. Carl did. He said, “Why would that be necessary? I told you, the phone’s encrypted. Anything he can say in person, he can say over the phone.”

“There’s no time to get into my whole history with him right now. His information has always been solid before. I trust him enough to meet him.”

“All right,” Carl said. “It’s your call. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to be there with you. Can’t hurt to have someone watching your back.”

Even as tense as she was, she couldn’t help appreciating how carefully he’d phrased it. She didn’t know if it was conscious or if he just had great intuition, but Carl knew not to tell her what she needed to do, and when he screwed up he always found an instant way to fix it. And maybe on some level his approach was manipulative, but what mattered most was the way it made her feel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.