Chapter 7

I stepped into the public telecom booth and closed the door behind me, muting out the sounds of the busy street outside. It had taken a while to find a telecom in this district of Renton that actually worked, but it was necessary to mask our location. The last thing we wanted was to bring Rei's corporate goons right down on top of us by being sloppy. I glanced back at Diana where she leaned against the wall outside, trying to look nonchalant. She gave me a knowing nod, and I inserted my cred stick into the telecom's reader.

The telecom displayed the appropriate deduction from my account, and I entered the LTG number I wanted to call. Soon enough, the red "dialing" light began to wink at me as the telecom sought a connection. Finally the black screen was replaced with an Ayanami logo emblazoned over a cool blue background. Just a few seconds later, a youthful blonde face appeared on screen.

The woman flashed a plastic smile. "Good morning, you have reached Ayanami Corporate headquarters. How may I help you?"

"Yeah, let me talk to Rei."

"Ms. Ayanami? Of course sir, do you have an appointment?"

I frowned. "No. I just want to talk to her."

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Ayanami accepts phone calls on an appointment-only basis. If you would like to make an appointment, I can see if she has any free time to—"

"Just tell her it's Peaches."

She frowned. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Peaches. Like the fruit. She'll know who it is."

"I apologize sir, but she is unavailable at this time. If you—"

"Don't give me that corporate runaround bulldrek," I growled. "I know you can contact her if you want to, so dial her up and get her on the horn. It's important."

She obviously didn't like my tone, because her frown deepened into a scowl as she continued. "I'm afraid that's not possible sir. As I was going to say before, if you wish to make an appointment, I will be more than happy to—"

I had opened my mouth to cut her off again, when the screen suddenly went blank. For a moment I thought the little slitch had hung up on me, but scant seconds later a new face asserted itself over the screen.

The anglo man had a head of dark hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He was immaculately groomed, and the deep blue pinstriped suit he wore attested to the depth of his pockets. He smiled an oily shark's smile, the kind that executives saved for dealing with people they thought were below them.

"Mr. Peaches. I apologize for our receptionist's lack of decorum. She's not as familiar with your respective side of our business as I am."

"Yeah, well I'm not really that familiar with you, either," I said distrustfully.

He smiled again. "Ah, forgive me. My name is Geoffrey Michelson. I am one of Ms. Ayanami's associates."

"Can you get me in touch with her?"

"We might be able to arrange that, though the logistics of it all could be a bit problematic. Perhaps we could discuss it in person?"

I barked a laugh. "Yeah, right."

"It would involve an employment opportunity as well. I assure you, it would be well worth your while."

"I'm not interested in a job."

"You will be interested in this one. It pertains to the disposition of Ms. Ayanami." He gave me that shark's smile again.

I knew he was baiting me, but I decided to bite anyway. "What about her?"

"For that, we will have to meet face to face. How does three o'clock at my office sound?"

"Scrag that," I grunted.

"Alright then, a neutral site. Do you have any preferences?"

"The Red Tomato. Downtown Park, eight o'clock tonight."

Michelson nodded. "Very well then, eight it is. See you then, Mr. Peaches."

The LTG connection went dead before I could say anything else.

I stepped back out onto the street. Diana moved over toward me, shoving her hands in her pockets. "So what happened?"

"We've got ourselves a meet. Looks like there could be some money in this thing after all."

The Red Tomato was an open-air café situated in the middle of Seattle's downtown park. This time of year, only the evergreen trees still held their needles, and the café's stone terrace was littered with fallen leaves. Bare branches hovered above the various tables and benches, looming over the sparse patrons like skeletal hands. For the first time in over a week, the skies were clear. But the myriad of stars remained hidden behind the veil of light emanating from the city, drowning out all but the brightest pinpricks in its luminous haze.

The small café sat a short distance from the road, connected by a gravel path. This fall evening, it played host to only a handful of diners, all of them bundled tightly against the chill night—me included. I wore a black skully, wrapped tightly in my armored jacket with a steaming cup of soycaf cradled in my hands. Sugar sat beside me with her arms folded over her chest, growing more and more annoyed.

"Tell me again why you set the meet at an open-air café in the middle of November," she muttered sarcastically.

"I don't recall telling you in the first place," I said, taking a sip of the caf.

"Maybe not, but I'm starting to wonder the same thing," came Diana's voice over the radio transceiver nestled in my ear. "At least Blitz gets to sit in the van where it's warm."

I looked over to where Diana sat alone at a table, glancing at her watch every two minutes and trying her best to look like someone who had just been stood up on a date. "Yeah, well if it bothers you all this much, just think how much it'll mess with Michelson's cushy ass."

"Keeping him off-balance, huh?" Blitz's youthful voice said over the comm. "I like it."

"Yeah, well you wouldn't like it if you were sitting out here with the rest of us," Sugar shot back.

"I hate to end this rousing conversation," Diana interjected, "but my watcher spirit says there is a pair of humans on their way to the café. It's most likely Michelson."

"Alright then. Blitz, do you have that spy drone into position?"

"I'm on it, chief."

"Good. Be on your toes, folks. This guy could be on the level, but I doubt it. If he springs something, be ready to slot and run."

The others voiced their acknowledgement and fell silent.

A few moments later, the crunch of feet upon gravel heralded the new arrivals. I turned to see a pair of men dressed in expensive-looking long coats walking along the trail toward the café. The one on the left I immediately recognized as Michelson. The other was a bit smaller than his counterpart with a shell of blonde hair plastered on the crown of his head. He looked every bit the corporate assistant, but there was a steely look in his eyes that gave me the sneaking suspicion he was something more.

Diana's voice came over radio. "Heads up. The blonde one is awakened."

"Great, a magician," I muttered under my breath.

As Michelson and his crony approached, the exec flashed me a winning smile. "Mr. Peaches. Good of you to meet us on such short notice. I hope you don't mind. I brought a friend along."

I shrugged. "Fine by me. I brought some company as well."

He smirked. "Yes, well I understand you and your friends like to run in packs, so I figured as much." He nodded to Sugar, "Pleased to meet you by the way." He took a seat on the bench, but his buddy remained standing.

"Same here," she muttered, but the scowl on her face made it clear she was anything but.

"Alright," I interjected before either one could say anything else, "let's skip the small talk and get to business. What's the deal with Rei?"

"Very well. I assume you have heard the recent news item concerning Ayanami Incorporated?"

I nodded, but didn't say anything. I didn't want to tip my hand to how little we actually knew.

"Well, most of what has been filtering out over the news broadcasts is true. What's not public knowledge, however, is that Ms. Ayanami has discovered the better part of valor and flown the coop."

I frowned. "But I thought they hadn't filed charges yet."

"They haven't, but Ms. Ayanami evidently thinks that charges are pending. And given the recent escalation in the investigation, I would have to concur."

"So, just like that she left?"

"Three days ago she was en route to a business meeting in another sector of Seattle when she and her body guards simply vanished. They failed to show up at the conference, and we haven't heard from her since."

"So how do you know she wasn't kidnapped or attacked?"

"No wreckage, no police report, and above all, no ransom notice. Believe me, Mr. Peaches. No outside forces were involved in Ms. Ayanami's disappearance. This is all her own handiwork."

"So, formal charges are going to be filed against her?"

"That remains to be seen. But whatever the outcome, the veracity of her intuition does not change our predicament." He sighed. "Mr. Peaches, I'm afraid this whole incident looks rather bad for the company. If Ms. Ayanami truly was involved in any wrong-doing, we want to make sure it is she that bears the responsibility of those actions, and that the weight of her misdeeds does not fall on the company."

"This is fascinating and all, but where are you going with this?"

"We need to put our best face forward if we are to survive as a corporation. If at all possible, we would like to find Ms. Ayanami and turn her over to the authorities in order to cooperate with their investigation. As of yet, Lonestar has been reluctant to issue a warrant for her arrest, but we feel it is only a matter of time before the evidence accumulates. When it does, we want to be able to hand her over as a gesture of good faith."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"We've heard about your little run-in with some of Ms. Ayanami's hired help. No doubt she was trying to get rid of some of the evidence of her transgressions before investigators could track you down." He smiled. "And if I understand you correctly, you're simply itching to get back at her. Am I right?"

I grunted noncommitally.

"If that's a yes, then you're in luck. I'm here to offer you that chance. You want to get your hands on her to settle the score, and I want her to save my company, but in the end, we both want the same thing—to make her pay for what she's done. To that end, I am prepared to offer you one hundred thousand nuyen plus expenses to track down her down, capture her, and return her to Ayanami."

I tried not to show my surprise. I don't think I succeeded very well, because Michelson grinned. "So you'll do it then?"

A hundred grand was a damn lot of dead presidents—too much to pass up. That's what made me nervous. In the shadows more than anywhere else, if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was. But the simple fact was we didn't have the cred or the resources to track her down ourselves. Like it or not, Michelson was our best chance to track down Rei and end this once and for all.

"Alright," I finally said. "But if I'm going to do this, I'll need all the information you have on Rei—family background, medical history, the works. I'll also need access to her house."

"If you're thinking of trying to find a DNA sample to track her down, it won't be that easy. My people already combed her appartment from top to bottom and found nothing of use. It had been picked clean before she even left." He smiled appologetically. "I'm sorry, but it is going to be a little more difficult than that. Though, the information I can get you. Will there be anything else?"

"That'll do for now. I'll forward the equipment needs later."

"Very good, then." He took a business card from his coat pocket and handed it to me. "This is the contact information for my private telecom line. You can reach me here if you have questions or any other needs. And please, once you have Ms. Ayanami in your possession, waste no time in turning her over."

I took the card and slipped it into my back pocket. "I'll call you later for the background file."

"Good." Michelson stood. "Well Mr. Peaches, it has been fun, but I should be going now. I still have duties to attend to."

"We'll be in touch."

That predatory smile reappeared on his face. "You can count on it." He stood and headed back for the road, his bodyguard just a step behind.

I took a sip of the caf, watching them as they eventually disappeared from view. "Did you get all that, Blitz?" I asked over the comm.

"Yeah Boss. The drone recorded it all."

"Good work. Diana?"

"He wasn't being overtly deceitful, but his aura still wasn't totally genuine. Then again, I would probably be more suspicious if it was genuine. Then I'd think his wagemage was masking him somehow. As it stands, I don't think so. He seems to be on the up and up."

"That doesn't make me feel much better," Sugar muttered.

"Me neither," I said, "but we still have a job to do. Let's saddle up and head home. I have a feeling we're going to be burning the midnight oil on this one."