Неизвестный - 6. Justice For All

They passed through an archway into a formal library where a fire

• 262 •

Justice for All

burned in a marble fireplace. A laptop occupied the center of a huge desk positioned in front of floor-to-ceiling windows with a million-dollar view of the city. Several books rested on an antique cigarette table next to one of the chairs facing the fireplace. An open bottle of wine and a single glass sat on a silver tray on a low table between the two empty chairs.

“Please.” Talia gestured toward one of the chairs. She retrieved another wineglass from a sideboard near the fireplace and poured two glasses of wine. Handing one to Sloan, who had remained standing, she said, “Let me take your jacket.”

Sloan placed the wine on the low table and shrugged out of her jacket, aware that Talia was watching her intently. She wore a black T-shirt with her jeans. She tossed the jacket on the floor next to her chair and sat down, retrieving her wineglass. “No need to bother hanging it up.”

Talia settled into the opposite chair, one leg tucked beneath her.

Her gown clung to her thighs, opening enough to show a triangle of tanned flesh from her knee to the top of her leg. Sloan glanced down briefly, then looked up into her eyes, waiting.

“How did you find me?” Talia asked, cradling the wineglass in her palm.

“Phonebook?”

Talia laughed. “I don’t think so.” She sipped her wine and regarded Sloan over the top of the glass. “Unlisted.”

“Of course.” Sloan grinned. “This is an excellent red.”

“A modern classic.” Talia leaned forward to replace her wineglass on the table between them. The folds of her gown shimmered, affording a tantalizing glimpse of the inner curve of her breast. When she settled back, she ran her fingers casually from the base of her throat down the center of her chest and back up again. “I believe it’s your move.”

Sloan positioned her wineglass next to Talia’s and bent down to reach into the inner pocket of her jacket. She withdrew an envelope and passed it wordlessly to Talia. Their fingers touched briefly as Talia accepted it. Talia’s long, tapered fingers were warm and soft. The only sound in the room as Talia looked through the prints, one after the other, was the crackling of the wood in the fireplace. At length, she replaced the photos in the envelope and handed it back.

• 263 •

RADclY fFe

“You’re better than I expected,” Talia said.

“You weren’t easy to track,” Sloan replied. “Cost me a few sleepless nights.”

Talia smiled wryly. “I suppose that’s some comfort.” She gestured toward the envelope that Sloan had dropped onto her jacket. “She’s very beautiful.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Zamora is quite taken with her.”

“If he touches her, I’ll kill him.”

Talia regarded Sloan intently. “Is that why you came? So that I could give him a message?”

“No. If he doesn’t already know that, he’s a fool. And I don’t think he is.”

“Then why expose yourself to me?”

Sloan chuckled. “Have I? You already know who I am.” Her smile disappeared and her voice dropped. “And you know what matters to me. What else is there?”

“Yes, but now I know that you know who I am. So you’ve lost the advantage.”

Sloan spread her legs, draped her arms over the sides of the antique chair, and watched the fire eat away at the substance of the wood. “On the surface it looks like a stalemate.” She glanced over at Talia. “But I have one more move to make.”

“What would that be?” Talia refilled their wineglasses. “You can’t prove I sent those images. I often have visitors. My computer is readily accessible.”

“I doubt any of them have the skill to infiltrate a highly protected computer network at Port Authority, intercept and reroute dozens of shipping containers, and alter the security programs set to track them.”

Sloan was impressed with Talia’s nerves. Her expression didn’t waver.

She gave no sign of being shocked or anxious. “But you do. And given time, I’ll be able to prove it.”

Talia crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. “An ambitious undertaking.”

“Do you want to bet against me?”

The silence stretched for several minutes until Talia sighed. “No.

I don’t think so.”

Secretly, Sloan was relieved. Talia was good. Very good. And the

• 264 •

Justice for All

odds were probably sixty-forty that Sloan would actually be able to prove her complicity in the human trafficking operation at the port.

She had wagered that like her, Talia would bet the odds. And when losing meant decades in a federal prison, a smart woman would not risk coming up short.

“I should tell you,” Talia said, “that I am not in his employ. I’m a freelancer. I don’t have any information of value.”

Sloan and Rebecca had discussed the merits of arresting Talia and trying to force her into testifying against Kratos Zamora. They’d agreed that the evidence supporting her involvement in anything illegal was thin, and cyberevidence was often the least convincing to a jury because they didn’t understand it. Any good attorney would know that and advise Talia not to deal.

“I would imagine that your freelance enterprises must be very interesting. I’d really like to get a look at them one of these days.”

Sloan spoke casually, but she knew that Talia would get the message.

Sloan had the skill to chase her through cyberspace for as long as she wanted, monitoring her activities and making it very difficult for her to do business. Eventually, Talia would slip up, and when she did, Sloan would be there. She was not only a threat to Talia’s business, but her freedom.

“While I think you’re terribly attractive,” Talia said, “and I admit I had hoped we would have the opportunity to share some of our skills privately, I’m not interested in a long-term relationship.”

“No promises if your name surfaces in the future,” Sloan said,

“but at the moment, neither am I.”

“Then what is it you want?”

“Nothing very complicated. I just want you to send your…

client…a report with a little something extra from me.”

“You understand that if he discovers I’ve compromised him, he’ll kill me.”

“Fortunately for you, there are only a few of us good enough to prove it.” Sloan grabbed her jacket and stood up. She removed a jump drive from the front pocket and held it out to Talia. “I think you know what to do with this.”

Talia rose and closed her fingers around Sloan’s. She stepped so close their bodies touched. Skimming her palm over Sloan’s chest, she said, “It’s not too late for that private conversation. After all, we’ve

• 265 •

RADclY fFe

already started, there’s still half a bottle of wine, and we both know it would be good.”

Sloan extracted her fingers and dropped the jump drive into Talia’s open palm. “You were quite a challenge, and I enjoyed the hunt. But make no mistake. If any harm comes to Michael, I’ll come for you too.

And I’ll never stop.”

“I envy her,” Talia said.

Sloan shrugged into her jacket and started toward the door, Talia beside her. “Thanks for the wine.”

“You’re welcome. I’m only sorry I couldn’t offer you more than that.” Talia kissed her on the mouth, then opened the door. “Good night.”

v

As soon as Sloan turned the corner, she saw Rebecca’s Corvette parked across the street from their headquarters. She rolled into the garage, parked, and rode the elevator to the third floor.

“That was fast,” Rebecca said. Rebecca was alone in the conference room. “Should we have gone in wired?”