Ivan eyed Turner, leery. He had been foolish to underestimate the younger Coalition leader. Now he was trapped. The Barbarian would have to be nimble with his thoughts and words if he was going to survive.
The big Russian moved to the small bar, poured himself a double shot of Vodka, and drank it down. He gathered his thoughts before he moved to the couch.
No matter what happened in the next twenty-four hours, the Barbarian knew he had at least one card left to play. He had set it up before coming to Los Angeles, in the event of something like this. It would end with him dead, but he would exit this world with a bang, and the dreaded Coalition would go down with him.
He sat down and painted on his charming Russian grin. “What you saw was not what you think you saw, my friend,” the Barbarian said.
“What am I thinking, Ivan?”
“You are thinking that the pattern reader does not matter. I believe differently. That is solely where our conflict lies. Not on our goals. Those remain the same.”
“And how do you think he matters?”
“He has become an icon to the people.”
“So? Icons come and go. If they interfere, they are disposed of.”
“It is better to leverage them then to martyr them.”
“Is that what you were going to do? Leverage Luthecker against me?”
“You are getting paranoid, my friend. How would I profit from your downfall? Without the Coalition, the structure behind my profits would cease to exist.”
“You’re a shitty liar, Ivan.”
“So are you.”
“So what do you want?”
“A better deal. As you say—adversaries, not enemies.”
“And what would that consist of? More money?”
“Money is not difficult for men like us. Nor is power.”
“What then?”
“Give me the pattern reader.”
“Why on earth would I give him to you?”
The Barbarian got to his feet and moved back to the bar. He poured himself another shot of vodka.
“You think you can turn him into an asset, Ivan?” Turner continued. “Your partner thought that, and look where he ended up. So did my predecessors.”
“My needs are different than theirs. And I have something to offer him.”
“Such as?”
“I am an old man,” the Russian began. “Wealthy and powerful, yes, but with an uncertain future. I prefer certainty. I believe the young man can provide such for me. I’ve seen what the young man can do, what he did to my former partner, and I’d prefer to not have him as an enemy.”
Turner burst out laughing. “You think he’s going to save you from your past? Forgive your sins? I think you need to go to church for that, my friend.”
“I simply seek a truce.”
“You’re a monster, Ivan. That’s pretty damn clear to anyone who’s watching. What makes you think he wouldn’t destroy you?”
“I’ll give him what he wants. I’ll free many slaves. Not enough to disrupt our profits, but enough to give him a victory. Surely, he will negotiate. He will understand it would be better than the alternative.”
“Which would be?”
“His death.”
“And you certainly wouldn’t use him against me, now would you?”
“Again, I profit from your structure. And my actions could prove beneficial to you.”
“How so?’
“He is your sworn enemy. I can keep him from destroying you.”
“From destroying me?”
“As he did your predecessors.”
“You’re so full of shit, Ivan. I know you, and you don’t give a fuck about saving me, or Alex Luthecker. I don’t either, but my board is filled with fearful old men, and so I have to pretend like I do. You’re just trying to save your own ass. Granted you’re on the spot, but that’s the best you can come up with?”
“I am sincere.”
“Fuck off. Nice try, but you’re not getting him.”
“You will kill him then. Such a waste.”
“Yes, I’m going to kill him. And with good riddance, I want to go back to a sense of fucking normalcy around here. But I can’t do it yet. I need his goddamn girlfriend first because she’s the one creating havoc right now. But after I have her and she cooperates, yes, I plan to kill him. He’s caused this organization far too many problems, and it’s time to bring that to an end.”
“And myself?”
“Well, that’s where the fun starts.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not done with you yet, Ivan.”
“Whatever you may be planning, understand that without me, you lack access to the underground economy.”
Turner got to his feet and made his way to the bar. He poured himself a shot of vodka, lifted the tumbler, and swallowed the vodka in one gulp. Turner grimaced from the burn.
“I don’t know how you drink this shit every day.” Turner turned to Ivan. “I don’t need you to access the underground economy, Ivan. I own it now. What I’m going to do is throw you into the lion’s den, Ivan. For fun.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve heard all the rumors. I’ve read all the reports, but I’ve never actually seen it. I want to watch him take you apart. I’m going to put you in the cage with the beast and witness it myself. I want you to talk to Alex Luthecker.”
25
Our Choice
“She’s really pissed. She’s cooling her heels waiting. Chris and Masha are watching her. The question is why did you bring her in the first place?” Yaw asked Nikki. “Rika Muranaka works for the Coalition. She’s the enemy.”
“It’s hot in here. How about some AC?” Nikki asked, her face dripping with sweat.
“It’s out. I’m sorry.”
Nikki looked to the cab of the van and saw that half the console controls were either broken or missing. Parked in the basement level of a parking garage, the vehicle was a 1995 Chevy G20 model, gray, innocuous, with no GPS and apparently no AC.
Staying off the grid without knowledge that PHOEBE was redirecting CCTV cameras, audio pickups, and satellite feeds was getting to be extremely difficult. Even sitting in the back of this van was a risk. But every command Nikki had given PHOEBE was being ignored, and the commands the software was following were causing large-scale effect somewhere else in the world. And until Nikki could communicate with PHOEBE and understand the problem, she was effectively helpless.
Until then, they would have to be extra careful when it came to security simply as a precaution.
“I brought her because PHOEBE arranged for Rika Muranaka and I to meet, and I have no idea why. But there must be a reason. That’s what I thought Alex could tell us. In fact, I was sure of it. And now you’re telling me the Coalition has him.”
“It shouldn’t have happened, the Coalition getting Alex. Jimmy did his job, and our security was tight, and PHOEBE makes us invisible. So I have to ask you—now that you know that PHOEBE is going off script, do you think she was proactive on this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think she gave Alex up?”
“No. Absolutely not. I’m not sure of much right now, but I’m sure of that. She would never set him up.”
“But how do you know for sure? She’s not talking to you, and she’s acting out, doing things that you haven’t told her to. It’s clear that there’s some trust issues between you two.”
“I never said I didn’t trust her. I do. It’s just a glitch in the system, and I need to solve it. I think she wants me to figure out what to do next before she’ll let me talk to her again. That’s the only explanation for Muranaka. But one thing I know for a fact is that she would never give up Alex.”
“But how do you know that?”
“Because she’s part of me, goddammit.” Nikki realized her voice was raised.
She was angry, not only at the implication, but at herself for things going wrong and at PHOEBE for shutti
ng her out. She felt guilty enough for PHOEBE’s behavior, but the possibility that her own creation had led to Alex’s capture? No. She couldn’t allow herself to think it.
Yaw put his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay. If you say so, I believe you, Nikki. And I mean that. So what do we do?”
“Coalition Properties west coast headquarters is the head of the entire organization now and part of a much larger complex than before. They’ve bought up all the surrounding property, so it’s not just the tower, it’s a matrix of several buildings, and they’re all digitally connected. They’re testing new technology there, and it’s things I’ve never seen before. We couldn’t just walk in before, and we sure as hell can’t now.”
“And we don’t have PHOEBE to help us either,” Yaw added.
They both sat in silence for several moments.
“We still gotta try,” Yaw finally said. He turned to Nikki. “It’s up to you and me now. You’re his love, and I’m his best friend. So we gotta step up and find a way. We gotta lead this. No one else can. And as far as the crew, wherever we go, they’ll all follow. You know that.”
“Yes, I know. But do we want to get them all captured or killed? Do you actually think we can just march in there and go get him? Again? Because that’s impossible.”
“No. I don’t think that at all. I think there’s much more going on here. I’ve been watching everything, and I mean everything. And listening, too—to everything. Nothing too small, nothing too big. I’ve been quieting my mind and paying attention. Just like Alex taught us to do. And when you do that, when you still the mind and stay in the moment, Alex is totally right—things really do come together. I mean, I’m not at Alex’s level, I ain’t got that. None of us do. But I think I get it now. I think I see enough to know exactly what it is we need to do in this moment.”
“And what’s that?”
“Stay in the moment and trust our training. I think this is the time, the one he kept hinting about. I can sense it. I think this is our time. We’re going to end this, Nikki, right here, right now, once and for all.”
“You mean end the Coalition?”
“Maybe. Or at least just end the running. ‘Cause I’m tired of it, Nik. We all are.”
“I know. I am too. But when he said that the end was coming, he also implied that maybe all of us wouldn’t make it. I listened too.”
“Alex always said things could change if we’re willing to change. But if we die trying then so be it. If it’s our Karma to move on from this world, then it’ll be for what we believe in. Winn didn’t hesitate, and we won’t either. But it’ll be our choice. It always is.”
“Our choice,” Nikki repeated under her breath, like a mantra.
“Shit,” Yaw said, remembering something and shaking his head at the memory.
“What?”
“I sent Alex a message. Via courier. Before he got caught up. It don’t make much sense now, but it’s about you, so you should probably know.”
“What did it say?”
“I said they weren’t after him…they were after you. That you were the one, the key—not him.”
“Why’d you tell him that?”
“Because they flat out said it—they’re afraid of PHOEBE. More so than they’re afraid of him.”
“That’s a mistake.”
“Wouldn’t be the first one they made.”
Nikki thought over Yaw’s words for several seconds. Then something dawned on her. She realized that Alex’s interpretations of life patterns had grown beyond a single individual. It was no longer one-dimensional. It was no longer limited to him and his interactions with others.
Was it possible that Alex could now see a collective dynamic as a single entity? He had trained the group to be his eyes and ears. Could it be that they were now an extension of his abilities? Were they really that closely connected? It was possible that he could see ten moves ahead now, not just one, with the family as pieces on the board.
Kunchin’s words now made perfect sense to her, as did Alex’s behavior. As did her own. There were no acts of random at work here. With Alex, there never was. There was only cause and effect. A smile slowly moved across her face.
“What?” Yaw asked in reaction.
“It does make sense. Your message. It makes perfect sense.”
“How so?”
“Because that message wasn’t for Alex. It was for me. Alex knows us all, better than we know ourselves. He’s always ten moves ahead. And you were meant to give me that note, at this moment, right now. He saw this moment. I don’t know how, but he saw it.”
Yaw thought over Nikki’s answer. His head tilted in realization. “We’ll I’ll be damn,” he replied. “My boy’s three dimensional.”
“And he knew we’d figure out what to do. Gather everybody,” Nikki said. And I mean everybody. Because I agree, this is it. Alex knows it, and so do we. And I have an idea how we can win.”
Camilla Ramirez watched carefully as her young daughter Kylie toddled across the floor of the two-bedroom Terminal Island apartment that the family still called home.
Yaw had sent a courier message to her that the Coalition was holding Alex and things were coming to a head. He told Camilla to be ready to move out on a moment’s notice, that PHOEBE couldn’t be trusted to protect them.
So Camilla made sure that the Go-packs were ready, and the refugees moved out of sight to the basement level until further notice. Camilla was ready to run if trouble came, something she realized she’d spent her life being ready to do, but at least for the moment, she allowed herself to treasure the stillness of watching her young daughter play on the floor.
She loved her child more than anything, like most mothers do, and she and Yaw had even discussed the possibility of having more children, the maternal instinct being that strong. It was a difficult subject, as Yaw often reminded her that the future was far too uncertain.
Yaw was a good father and always there for the family. There was never any question of that. But with the death of Winn and the rise of Alex as leader, Yaw had become more the day to day manager of this off-grid group dedicated to saving the lives of those being trafficked, and his passion to help free those enslaved by others was only growing stronger.
It worried Camilla to a certain extent, as the level of risk from both the Coalition and other sources increased. She had seen it first hand in Mexico, with the death of a sixteen-year-old boy, and she felt the dread far closer to home when Yaw had recently been incarcerated. Alex had somehow managed to secure Yaw’s release, but it left Camilla worried for the future.
They had a family now, and they could not always rely on Alex. It was after the trip to Veracruz that the two of them agreed Camilla would be the one to take less risk for the sake of Kylie, at least for now. It was the smart decision, but Camilla didn’t want their daughter growing up without a father, or constantly on the run.
At the same time, if she was honest with herself, she was growing restless on the sidelines. Camilla wanted back in the game. She understood the paradox that her situation presented. She could also sense a change in energy, an anxiety in the air that kept growing, one that was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Her instincts told her it was a call to action.
But she had a child now, so she dismissed these instincts from her mind. She attributed those instincts to her restlessness and shifted her focus back to Kylie, who scooted toward her mother with purpose.
Camilla smiled at her daughter as she scooped the young girl up onto her lap.
“You’re heart is not wrong,” Maria said, startling Camilla.
Camilla turned to see the ten year old standing in the bedroom doorway of the small two-bedroom apartment.
“You scared me, Maria,” Camilla said. “Are you okay? Goodness, your English is getting very good and quickly. Alex left you with some books to look at. Did you find one you like? Do you want me to read it to you?”
“I have read them.”
“Really? Which
one?” Camilla asked, not believing her.
“All of them.”
“Well, which one was your favorite?” Camilla asked, playing along.
“Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle.”
Camilla nearly dropped Kylie.
“You have to go now. It is time,” Maria continued, her eyes locked on Camilla.
“Time for what, sweetie?” Camilla asked, trying to maintain control in her voice.
The ominous fortitude coming from the voice of a ten year old had clearly rattled Camilla.
“When you left your father’s home, it was night and you were cold,” Maria started. “You wanted to cry, but you didn’t. You didn’t because you were filled with anger, and to cry would be the first surrender, and you swore to yourself that you would never surrender.
“You left because you knew that you were meant for something better, that this moment you feel right now would come, but you did not know in what form. Your biggest fear has always been that you would miss this moment, that you would not be prepared, and that your having run away would have been for nothing.
“You smiled and you laughed, but underneath there was always sadness and the search. And always the anger. And then Yaw came and gave you strength. And then Alex came and gave you confidence. And then Kylie came and gave you purpose. And then you had no anger. But you still fear missing your moment. Camilla, you have nothing to fear.”
Camilla got to her feet. Her knees shook, and she pulled Kylie close.
Maria’s words chilled Camilla to the bone. The tone, the certainty, had struck Camilla to the core.
Maria’s fierce young eyes looked over Camilla with ravenous intent.
She had seen this before, with the only other person who had said such things to someone in this manner: Alex Luthecker.
“Maria, you’re just a child, how could you…”
Revolution: Luthecker, #3 Page 19