Ciphers, Matt Rogers [a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT] 📗

situation other than to do things the old-fashioned way. I’m sure Violetta already laid that out.’

‘She did,’ King said.

‘Well, I’m here to reinforce it. The two of you are going to have to go into the Bowery, get inside that building, and find whoever the brains behind the operation is. It’s probably going to be a whole team of rogues. You can’t let a single one of them escape. You’re going to need to persuade them to hand over control of the substations. I’m not going to walk you step-by-step through how to do that. I’m sure you know.’

King’s heart sank in his chest.

He tried not to show it, but Violetta noticed.

Probably because Slater was sporting the same signs of distress.

She said, ‘What?’

‘I figured we’d just need to smash up some hardware,’ King said. ‘You sure there’s not another way around it?’

Alonzo said, ‘If you destroy their computers, that doesn’t achieve anything. They’re still in the system. They’re still the only ones with access. They need to manually hand it back over.’

‘We’re not going to be able to do that,’ Slater said. ‘I’m telling you now.’

‘Why not?’

‘Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing,’ King said. ‘They had reasons for it. They knew their location would be compromised. They’re willing to die for the cause. In comparison to everyone in this room, Slater and I don’t know shit about technology. But we know people.’

Slater said, ‘We could torture them to within an inch of their life and they wouldn’t give up.’

Alonzo said, ‘If you made it hell for them—’

‘They’d break,’ King said, ‘but they wouldn’t reverse it. They’d tap away at their keyboards and do something to stall. We wouldn’t know what we were looking at. But they’d never hand it back over. Not while they’re alive.’

Alonzo stared at them.

Didn’t respond.

Violetta stared at them.

Didn’t say a word.

Then Alonzo leant forward and said, ‘I don’t know how else to put this.’

They waited.

He said, ‘You’re going to have to. Or tens of thousands of people will be dead by the end of the week.’

Slater nodded.

King nodded, too.

Dread crept into the atmosphere.

Violetta said, ‘Let’s get you geared up, then.’

With his stomach twisted in a knot, King followed her and Slater through a doorway.

32

Everything was taken from them.

Rico said, ‘What did your family do?’

Samuel said, ‘Went out and got what they wanted. Didn’t care what the law thought about it.’

‘Mine does that, too.’

Samuel looked over. ‘Maybe we’re similar.’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘You do important things, by the sounds of it. You know … like, kill people. I don’t get to do any of that shit.’

‘You just did.’

‘Not for my family.’

‘You’re not involved in their business?’

Rico scoffed. Reached up and wiped sweat off his forehead. ‘Of course not. Why do you think I’m here?’

‘Your English is good. You come to America often?’

‘I had lessons when I was younger. But, yeah, I’m here quite a bit. Nothing else to do.’

‘There’s nothing to do back in Mexico?’

‘My father doesn’t tell me shit. I don’t see him.’

‘You want shit to do?’

‘I’d kill people for him if that’s what he wanted. Like you do. That’s got to be the life. Out on the edge, walking the fine line. I love it.’

‘Ain’t feel like much of anything if we’re being honest,’ Samuel said.

His voice sounded hollow.

Like he was speaking into an abyss.

Rico said, ‘I need a taste of it. I can’t go anywhere in Mexico. I’m too valuable. Papá’s rich and powerful, so I’m what his enemies would use for extortion. So, yeah, I’m in a nice house, with a few nice cars and some toys, but it don’t mean shit. I can’t do anything. I can’t even party over there. The cartels attack each other in the clubs now. They’re hyper-violent. There’s no more unspoken agreements. Nowhere is safe. So I have to come here to party.’

‘That’s all you do over here?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Do you like it?’

‘It’s alright. It gets old, cause I can’t help thinkin’ about the future. My brother’s eight years older. He’s mature, apparently. Smarter, if you’re all about booksmarts. He’ll probably take over the cartel when Papá bites the bullet. And that leaves me with fuck all to do, you know? Got all I’d ever wanted, but at the same time it isn’t worth a damn thing.’

‘I wish I partied more, before…’

‘Before the killing?’

Samuel lapsed into silence. Rico thought he heard a sharp, rattling inhale.

Like the kid was trying to keep his composure.

Samuel said, ‘I was always fucked up. But they made me do some bad things, man. Bad, bad things. Now I’m all the way fucked up. There’s no going back.’

‘Who made you? Your family?’

‘What’s left of them.’

Rico mulled over that, then said, ‘The two men that ruined your family. They’re the two you were searching for earlier?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What did they do?’

‘We used to be feared. Used to own this city. Not anymore. All thanks to them.’

‘Who’s we?’

Samuel smirked. ‘You’ve got a lotta questions. What’s your name?’

‘Rico Guzmán.’

‘Guzmán.’ Samuel rolled the name off his tongue. ‘That must be a powerful name in Mexico.’

‘It is.’

‘I wish it were mine.’

‘And I wish I was involved in family affairs like you seem to be. If only we could swap lives.’

‘You don’t want my life,’ Samuel said. ‘Not for a second.’

‘And why’s that?’

‘Because we contributed to this,’ Samuel said, waving his hand around in the darkness. ‘And there ain’t no happy ending to this.’

Rico stared.

Tried to look deep into Samuel’s eyes to figure out if the kid was telling the truth, but there wasn’t much to see. It was too dark, too obscure. On a whim, Rico lurched to his feet, but he’d forgotten how drunk he was. He staggered a few uncontrollable steps into the middle of the path, and laughed as he righted himself. Samuel laughed too.

Rico said, ‘You got any of that coke left?’

‘A bit.’

‘Take it. Then come with me.’

Still seated, Samuel withdrew the baggie and snorted another hit. Rico didn’t see it, but he figured it must have been a sizeable amount, because Samuel leapt