Active Memory by Dan Wells

Author:Dan Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

“That was our last lead,” said Marisa. She was sitting in the police station again, staring at the same bare wall, though this time at least Sahara was with her. Bao and Anja had left before the police arrived: Anja because she didn’t want her father or his company dragged into this mess, and Bao because he simply didn’t want to be recognized by any cops. He lived fairly far outside the law.

Marisa was starting to realize that she did, too.

“The bioprinter was supposed to lead us back to the source of the DNA,” said Sahara, “but all he led us to was ZooMorrow again, and I don’t know where to go from here.” She stuck out her lip, thinking, and then shook her head. “I know there’s more to find, I just . . . don’t know how to find it.”

“I don’t want to have to tangle with Ramira Bennett again,” said Marisa. “And I definitely don’t want her to tangle with me.”

“The Wonder Mantis,” said Sahara.

“The WoMantis,” said Marisa.

“The Mantissassin,” said Sahara.

“Nice,” said Marisa.

“You know, you might not have a choice about seeing her again,” said Sahara, and cast her a sidelong glance. “If she can’t find Memo on her own, she’s coming straight back to us.”

“Thanks,” said Marisa, some of her giddiness draining away. “That was exactly the chipper pick-me-up I needed right now.”

They sat for a while in silence, waiting for Detective Hendel to excuse them. They’d already given their statements about Andy Song, and now Hendel was questioning Song for his side of the story. It was nearly two in the morning, and Marisa was exhausted. She closed her eyes, thinking about Fang—she never seemed to sleep at all. How did she do it? Though of course it was only five in the afternoon in Beijing right now.

Marisa’s eyes snapped open. “It’s afternoon in Asia.”

“Lucky them,” said Sahara, and yawned.

“Five in the afternoon in Beijing, and . . . what do you think in Moscow? Two? Earlier?”

“What does Moscow have to do with anything?” asked Sahara.

“Because Andy Song wasn’t our last lead,” said Marisa, and smiled for the first time in hours. “Lavrenti Severov is.”

Sahara sat up straight. “Holy crap. I forgot about Severov.”

“Grendel sent me those three names,” said Marisa. “Those three Maldonado enforcers who died the same day as Zenaida. My dad said the gang war ended a month earlier, and Severov fled back to Russia, but what if he struck back one more time from across the ocean? Sent some hitmen or an assassin or something.”

“A Mantissassin?”

“Maybe?” said Marisa. “My dad told me that Severov tried to kill Zenaida. Maybe he tried to do it again, and those were the three he had to get through in order to do it.” She grinned mischievously. “We won’t know until we call him.”

Sahara’s eyes widened. “You can’t just call a Russian mob boss.”

“Not with that attitude,” said Marisa. She was feeling drained and reckless. She blinked to open a search window and typed in the name: Lavrenti Severov.

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