"You have to see it, Macey."
"A hooker gave you a clip I gotta see? Where have I heard that before, Lenny?"
"It's Zander."
Mace's expression hardened instantly. "You know how I feel about this wiretrip shit. Gimme the trodes." She sat down hard, unflinching obsidian gaze fixed on him. He arranged the SQUID receptors over her smooth, tightly braided cornrows and pushed play. Her full lips parted slightly, and she drew a ragged breath, her back arching slightly.
Lenny took this rare opportunity when Mace was still and silent to stare at her, to marvel at the fact that she was still with him after all he had put her through. She was as beautiful as she was tough, though there was little that was soft about her.
They lived in a converted loft in Century City above Mace's limousine and securities company. She had her own fleet now; she had grown tired of working for others and had gone out on her own a few years after the millennium, and she was now the elite choice for secure transportation in L.A. for visiting dignitaries, politicians, actors and musicians and others who preferred their identities kept secret. Mace's business had reached the heights, her reputation as a combat specialist and her discretion and reliability were matchless, but staying at the top required her full attention; competition was fierce, and she was constantly on the prowl for innovation, constantly battling to stay one step ahead. That left little time for anything else, and she and Lenny missed each other fiercely, and time together was jealously hoarded when they could find it at all.
They had met far earlier than the events of the millennium. Lenny had been one of the responding officers the day Mace's ex-husband was arrested at their home, a small-time hustler and petty thug who had bet it all on a big score and lost. Mace had come home from work that day to find Lenny reading a book to her son Zander, hoping to comfort him while Lenny's fellow officers were tossing the place and hauling Zander's daddy away in cuffs. The connection between Lenny and Mace had been instant and unbreakable, though Lenny had sorely tested it many times over the years.
Much of their early relationship had consisted of Mace driving Lenny around in her limo when his car was in the repo yard, or beating the shit out of Philo Gant's thugs every time he sent them to kick the shit out of Lenny, which was often. Lenny had been too blinded by Playback and by Faith Justin then to see the love that had motivated Mace's actions. Those day were behind them now, and they were on equal footing, each focused on their careers. The only thing that ever came between them was Playback, and now it had again.
"That boy hasn't got an enemy in the world, Lenny," said Mace when the clip ended. "Who the hell would threaten him?"
"He doesn't, but we do. Someone wants our memories of that clip, Mace. Jeriko's murder. The brain is the ultimate SQUID recorder. It files away every detail, every moment of our lives. It's just a matter of recall."
"Which means our memories of that clip are as good as having the clip itself."
"Yeah. Exactly. Milan said whoever gave her this clip said to tell me Steckler says hello."
"Steckler! Oh, Jesus, Lenny. This is bad." Mace stalked away, pacing, her black limo driver's uniform clinging to her curves. Lenny appreciated every angle of the view as she moved, despite the circumstances.
"Steckler," said Mace again, mostly to herself. Steckler had come close to murdering her that New Years Eve, desperate to get back the clip of him and his partner shooting Jeriko One in the head for what should have been a random traffic stop. One of the most influential black men of their time, a politically motivated execution that had heightened rumors of a death squad within the ranks of the LAPD, watered the seeds planted by Rodney King and the ensuing race riots, rumors validated in the court of public opinion by Jeriko's murder, and the paranoia that followed had only festered during the intervening years. Paranoia that was now just reality on a finer scale, as one of Lenny's many enemies had once said.
"Lenny, you gotta find out who gave Milan this clip," said Mace urgently, his deck in her hand.
"I know. I've already contacted my best informants. I'm going back out to troll tonight. I'll find them, Macey."
"I'm going to get Zander and bring him here, until this is over."
Lenny tried to smile reassuringly at her, but it felt as forced as it looked. They held onto each other for a moment before going their separate ways again, wistful at the loss of another evening together.
