Black Hat Blues (48 page)

“Fine, fine,” said Chloe. “Tell me good news and all is forgiven.”

“Good news. The money made it through all the way. 500,000 Euros

into the Frankfurt Account, then moved over to the Overseas Holdings

Group Account there and then to Belize and then to our bank in Belize

and then to our other bank in Belize. I took out a little traveling cash

to bring with us and the rest should be waiting for us wherever we go

next.”

“Well all mother fucking right,” said Chloe.

“But he’s got no idea how to kill me,” said Paul.

“I told him we could hire a hit man,” Sacco said.

“He also said he wanted to give Isaiah a cut.”

“I did not!”

Chloe laughed and laughed and poured them both cups of cham-

pagne. There had also been a running debate about whether or not to

tell Isaiah how egregiously they’d used his name and reputation in vain.

Chloe hadn’t spoken to him since their last face to face meeting, nor

had Sacco. They’d paid one of Chloe’s contacts, a member of Marco’s

Crew in fact, to play the role of Isaiah on the phone call knowing that

Marsh had the line tapped. And when Chloe had “stormed” into the

Baltimore squat to confront Sacco about it, they’d waited until Sacco

detected that Marsh’s security had secretly (they thought) activated the

phone’s microphone and were using it as a bug. Thus, Sacco was moved

out of the picture without arousing suspicion and more credence was

given to Isaiah’s invented threats against Marsh’s family.

They hadn’t quite imagined that Marsh would actually seize Chloe.

She’d left the flat in supposed anger so there was a plausible reason to

remove the bugged phone from the house while Sacco packed up and

Paul and Bee planned the next move. She’d intended to call Marsh and

then make the offer over the phone. Instead she’d been snatched. But

Sacco’s laptop was tied into Chloe’s phone just like Marsh’s security

team had been. She’d been flooded with relief when skinned-kneed Paul

had popped up in that garage. From there things had gone almost as

planned, certainly close enough to make it work out in the end. Sacco

had been left hanging at his rendezvous point for Bee to contact him

and thus had missed the entire FBI adventure, instead spending his

time setting up the location they’d hoped to lure Marsh into for nego-

tiations. If they’d been delayed a couple more hours, Sacco would’ve

bugged out himself, cutting all contact. At least that was what his orders

had been. Who knows what he would’ve actually done. Probably try

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and bust them out of federal prison on his own. Luckily they’d cut a

deal with Marsh before Sacco knew anything had gone wrong.

The hiccup with the leg bracelets had thrown them off a little, but

Bee had sorted that out. Yes, Ken got some semblance of his life back,

but they got his money and Sandee’s freedom, which she counted as

two points to his one. They still argued over whether or not to warn

Isaiah that Marsh thought he was the devil incarnate. Chloe didn’t

want to, Sacco said they should. Paul and Bee agreed it was better to

leave that particular sleeping dog lie. Since Paul was the one who’s face

was all over the news the following week (again), his vote carried extra

weight.

Even with the scruffy beard, the spray on tan, and the waving jet

black locks of his wig, Paul was still a very wanted man. Clover, in his

self-righteous, self-aggrandizing, self-important press conference had

offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to Paul’s arrest. They

hadn’t foreseen that little wrinkle either, but it only confirmed the wis-

dom of their original plan: it was time to leave the country. Even old

Ollie had gotten in on the act, blogging incessantly about Clover, Paul,

and spreading the word about his desire to form a hacker posse to bring

the rogue black hat to justice. Apparently Clover had subsequently hired

Ollie on as his full time computer security guy. With all that heat out

there, they only had Marsh’s word that they would be safe and there

was no way they could trust her anymore than she could trust them.

And she couldn’t trust them at all.

“So, Paul says the plan is to kill him,” Sacco said. “That seems a bit

extreme.”

“I don’t see any other way,” Paul said. “Hell, even after they think

I’m dead, it’ll probably take them years to remove me from the wanted

list. Might as well get started as soon as possible.”

“It’s a tough one, especially since we can’t actually kill you.”

“We’ll think of something,” Chloe said. She and Paul had already

tossed some ideas around. Yesterday she’d picked up everything they’d

need to draw a few pints of blood and remove one of his teeth without

causing too much pain or permanent damage. Paul had even offered to

give up a couple toes, but Chloe drew the line there. That was the other

reason for coming back to Key West. People knew him here, people they

could fool. They’d figure it out in a couple days, maybe three at most.

In two weeks she was betting they’d be out of here. “The next question

is, where do we go from here?”

“Belize,” said Sacco. “That’s where the rest of the money is.”

“And then?” asked Chloe.

Rick Dakan

261

“I know where I’m not going, kids,” said Sandee. “I’m not going back

to jail. I love you. I love all four of you to death, but babies, I ain’t up

for any more hard time.”

“We’ll be more careful from now on,” Chloe said. “You don’t have to

do anything you’re not cool with.”

“I’m done, Chloe. I’m sorry, but I’m done. It was all a game. It was

a lark. It was an adventure. Right up until when it wasn’t any of those

things. Then it was scarier than sin. I’m sorry, but it just won’t work.”

“No,” said Bee, “No, please, San, you can’t.”

“Oh honey, we’ll keep in touch. I’ll come visit, if you’ll have me. I

swear I will. But right now I’m staying right here.” He looked around

with a critical eye. “Well, not right here on this awful boat, but here in

Key West for another few days. Then I think I’ll try LA. I took a shine

to California when I was there, and you know, there’s a city where a girl

like me can get comfortably lost. And despite the brown skin, I’m just

not cut out for third world countries or life on the run.”

“But…” said Chloe, before she could think of anything to follow it

up with.

“He’s right,” said Paul. “If he wants to stay, he should stay. Fuck, if I

could stay, I’d stay. It might feel like we won, and I guess we did, but

being wanted by the feds, it just plain fucking sucks. I mean, really.

This was all too close a call. Listen to me, talking like we’re already

free and clear when there’s probably some private eye or fed or fucking

Blackwater mercenary sitting on the dock watching our every move.

Sandee should make a new life for himself and so should anyone else

who wants to. The rest of us have to go. But what we do when we’re

gone, I’m not sure anymore.”

This was the first Chloe had heard of these new doubts of Paul’s.

Well, probably not new doubts, but never before said out loud ones.

“Now, what are you saying, Paul?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“I don’t know what I’m saying, Chloe, I really don’t. But I’m with

Sandee, we can’t do this again. This was too close. Like I just said, it’s

still too close.”

“What the hell else do we know how to do?” she asked, which was,

she realized the wrong question. Paul could write and draw. Sacco could

program. Bee could build or repair anything. All Chloe knew how to

do was lie, cheat, and steal. What the hell else would she do?

“I don’t have any answers,” Paul said, staring into her eyes. He under-

stood what she was thinking, no doubt about it. And right then, as

scared as she was to face her own limitations, she knew he’d stick by

her. They’d figure it out together. “Whatever it is, it’ll be something

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we all want to do, and maybe something that’ll do some other people

a little bit of good.”

“And cool,” said Chloe.

“Yes, and cool.”

“And exciting.”

“Exciting, absolutely.”

“OK,” she said. “We’ll figure it out. We will. Right now though, I

need another drink. Anyone else with me?”

They all were. She skipped the half-empty bottle of champagne and

pulled out the Glen Morangie. They drank and thought of ways to kill

Paul. She liked the shark plan, personally, but some of the others weren’t

too bad either. When Sandee volunteered to make a run to the store for

fresh supplies, he asked if anyone had any requests. Bee needed some

AA batteries. Sacco wanted different beer. Paul said he was fine.

“I’m out of pink hair dye.” Chloe said.

“Maybe it’s time for a change of color?” said Sandee, who’d long lob-

bied against the pink.

“Oh no,” Chloe said. Some things she wouldn’t give up. “Get me

pink.”

THE End

a l s o av a i l a b l e f r o m p m f i c t i o n

Geek Mafia

PB ISBN: 978-1-60486-006-1

$15.95

Fired from a job he hated at a

company he loved, videogame de-

signer Paul Reynolds is drowning his

sorrows in late-morning margaritas

when he meets an al uring, pink-

haired conwoman named Chloe.

With her gang of technopirate

friends, Chloe helps Paul not only

take revenge on his former employ-

ers, but also extort a smal fortune

from them in the process. What

more could a recently unemployed,

over-worked videogame designer in

Silicon Val ey ask for?

In return for Chloe’s help, Paul agrees to create counterfeit comic

books for one of her crew’s criminal schemes. In the process he fal s in

for their fun loving, drug fueled “off the grid” lifestyle almost as fast as

he fal s head over heels for Chloe. Wary of the Crew’s darker side, but

eager to impress both the girl and the gang, Paul uses his game design

expertise to invent a masterful con of his own. If al goes according to

plan, it wil be one for the ages. But can he trust any of them, or is he

the one who’s real y being conned?

“The story is gripping as anything, and the characters are likable and

funny and charming. I adore caper stories, and this stands with the best of

them, a geeky version of The Sting.” — Cory Doctorow

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