Page 137 of Gates of Tartarus

Hideo shakes his head. “No. The woman who said it to you hasn’t spoken again since. We have no idea why she said it, what prompted it… The other four who are responsive haven’t mentioned anything. It’s all a guessing game at the moment.”

Nodding slowly and frantically thinking through options, I say, “We can’t lose this, though. I assume that Kronos knows what we’ve found at this point... Should I go in and interview the women?”

Walker and Jonah exchange frowns, and even Smith and Hideo look less than enthused at the thought.

“As soon as Cole sends over her employee roster – well, for any employees who would have access to the things we believe Kronos is looking for – we’re going to run those faces by the women.Ifthat doesn’t work, we can consider moving on from there, alright?”

I want to argue but honestly don’t know how I’d even last five minutes with my shields dropped right now, so I sit back and nod in reluctant agreement.

Smith turns to Jonah. “Shotridge? You had something for us?”

Jonah stands and moves around to the head of the table, near Smith. “Yeah,” he replies, a sort of vicious excitement in his voice. “While you were all off blowing up Kai’s brain–” here Walker makes a dark, dangerous sound, and Jonah inclines his head in acknowledgement and a sort of apology towards Walker alone, “I was following around Gomez like a good little lap dog, wasn’t I? I had to ‘escort’ her around the precinct, and let me tell you, she waspissedno one was here. You work for a real demon there, Tanaka.” The last was directed at Hideo with a cruel smirk, like he’s enjoying Hideo’s discomfort, and I frown. Hideo just stares at the table in front of him without acknowledging the jab, and Jonah shakes his head disdainfully before continuing. “She really thought she’d gotten an upper hand that couldn’t be countered when she allied with Tennireef. Andshe’s upset that she doesn’t have access to the Bleeders still on the payroll at SPD. Cruise made it very clear that my presence was a one-time thing, and that, if she’s not with Babylon, she has no real place at the department anymore. I’m not sure what she thought would happen when she cut ties with Babylon, but I got the impression you guys would kind of wine and dine her to get back in her good graces, not just cut and run.”

Smith rolls his massive shoulders, muscles flexing under his shirt, and grimaces. “We’ll have to, eventually, if this doesn’t play out. Babylon needs access to the CDS database. Weshouldhave copied it surreptitiously ages ago, but we thought, foolishly, that Gomez would abide by our agreement. Lessons learned.”

Jonah nods. “So we ended up wandering around the station for the better part of the day, but without a contact, there wasn’t much for her to do. Then Tennireef called her in for an impromptu meeting, running through some budgeting, I think, and she wanted to flex balls, so she brought me with her.”

“Flex balls?” I ask him, giggling despite myself.

He grins at me, little lightning bolts of happiness shooting out from his skin like tasers attaching themselves to me, even with Gemma’s numbing. “Flex nuts? Flex dick? I don’t know.”

“Please stop talking about flexing balls and dicks and nuts,” I groan. “It’s gross.”

Jonah looks hurt, then stares down at his lap and whispers quietly, “She doesn’t mean it, guys. She’s just upset. She’llloveyou when I introduce you. You’re not gross,” and Hideo chokes on his sip of coffee even as Jonah looks up and grins at me, his wide, teasing smile, and I, and surprisingly Walker, both laugh helplessly.

“Anyway…” Smith interjects, and Jonah rolls his eyes at me, winking, before continuing.

“Aaaaaanyway,” he echoes mockingly, and I start to realize how much anger Jonah is carrying in him towards Hideo and Smith, which maybe explains his ricocheting emotions, “they had me wait in Tennireef’s office while they were on a conference call with D.C. down the hall. For 99% of the time, they had some lacky sitting in the office with me. But he ran to the restroom like twenty minutes in, and I took the chance to switch out Tennireef’s Kindle charger with an identical charger, just with a camera in it.”

To say the team looks shocked is an understatement.

“What?” Smith asks, torn between anger and intrigue. “We didn’t have go-ahead on that! You can’t just act out on your own, Shotridge!”

Jonah looks supremely unconcerned with Smith’s anger and continues. “I saw him carrying his Kindle around with him in his briefcase, and had been hanging on to the camera charger just in case. They’re identical, except for the camera, which is almost indistinguishable from the charger. You wouldn’t see it unless you were looking for it. I switched it in thirty seconds. He keeps the charger on a shelf beside his desk.” Jonah frowns. “I don’t have much, and I wish I reviewed it sooner, but I’m not even sure it would have helped. Not given the timing of everything. But here we go…” and with that, he presses play on the laptop in front of him.

The angle and picture are strange. We’re looking at mid-level directly ahead, maybe from a shelf around shoulder height to the side of Tennireef, a cord covering one corner of the video. But we can see Tennireef sitting at his desk, making tiny checks on a piece of paper in front of him, face twisted in a smug, self-satisfied expression I hadn’t seen before. It was something private, the outer politician peeled away, leaving raw hunger and self-adulation in its place. His movements are anxious, however, as though he’s waiting for something or someone, eyes running down the list again and again. The quality of the video is low – we can’t make out what is on the paper in front of him, just see his pencil tracing a line down the sheet, tracing over already existing tick marks – check, check, check.

A phone beeps, a strange, almost rhythmic sound, not a normal ring tone, but it’s too soft to hear clearly. He reaches into his briefcase on the desk in front of him, unlocks a small, zipped compartment in the side that blends into the case seamlessly, and answers the call, flipping open a small, nondescript black phone.

“Hello?” His voice is cautious, deferential, and I want to lean forward to hear better, but can’t. “Ah. Rhea. Yes, I’m able to talk. The room is blocked at the moment,” and he glances up off camera for a second. Even seemingly alone in the room, his shoulders tighten, and he sits almost at attention, straightening up and glancing at the list in front of him again. There is a long pause, then a flash of loathing, lips twisted in a sneer, and he bites out, still respectfully, “If Aphrodite could have done anything, she would have by now, no? But my hands are tied–the press…” Again a pause, and then, “Iagree with her there, at least. Artemis was untested… It was too large an operation for her to plan... Of course it’s your call, Rhea. My suggestion?” He’s lost in thought, pencil tapping on the desk as he runs through options in his head. “Ares, possibly? He has… trouble... keeping calm, which wouldn’t be an issue in this specific situation. But he’s in Eastern Europe at the moment, for arms. Hestia is at Mt. Ida, so she’s off the table. She’s – this isn’t her specialty anyways... not careful enough with this sort... What is Athena doing...?” He sighs deeply, then says reluctantly, “I’d choose Aphrodite. This is one of her strengths… I know, Rhea… I understand. No, I can’t. There’s no way. I’m being watched too closely…”

His face creases in worried lines. There’s something he’s hearing that he doesn’t like, but he waits until the line is quiet.

“Yes, I’m ready.” He takes a breath, then appears to run down the list in front of him. “Financing is secure, as you know, which means, per our deal, that I should have full access to CDS research within the month.” A pause, he nods. “I already have two low-level operatives in place there. Everything should be copied and transferred before the New Year… Yes. If Babylon wants to maintain any sort of relationship with the CDS, then I’m the liaison, so things are moving along nicely. We’ll have full read-in on CDS, and then Babylon shortly thereafter… Thank you, Rhea.”We all exchange worried looks. Tennireef clearly knows at least something about Babylon, as does Rhea.A small smile breaks across his face, and he draws a line through the first two sections of the paper in front of him. “I don’t anticipate a problem there. The information CDS has acquired is too valuable for Babylon to pass up. I think they’ll probably want to keep the gates of knowledge open, so to speak. My assumption is that they’ll think they can handle me. Most people do. They’ll think they’re running the game, but… Well, whether or not they do now, they’ll have to after my run for President.”

He stops short, face growing pale. “No, Rhea. No, of course. I don’t anticipate a wait that long. I merely meant it will happen sooner or… yes. Absolutely. Sooner rather than later.” Breathing deeply through his nose he continues. “Moving on. Reed’s movements have been neutralized, for the moment at least.”

Frowning, Jonah and I look at each other, as Tennireef continues. “The restaurant manager made the call to the press. Yes.” Nodding, he smiles, and his face lights up in a beautiful, perverted sort of happiness. “I can keep that going as long as you’d like. I have no trouble pursuing that.” He laughs, a strange sort of threatening and mirthless laugh that sends shivers down my spine. “No, no, Rhea. I know you have plans for her. I’ll be a perfect gentleman, I promise… The bike? That wasn’t my call. It would have brought too much attention after such a public outing. Just bad luck… You’ll have to follow the trail. I know you wouldn’t have wanted her injured. I truly don’t know, but I can’t look into it, or… correct.”

Something being said catches his complete attention, and he leans forward, eyes closed, forehead leaning into his hand, and he nods along with whatever is being said.

“Of course I can handle that, Rhea. Yes. I’ll have a list of CDS field operatives – yes, their recruiters – by the week’s end for you… Do I?” He shreds the paper in front of him, then steels himself, “Yes, actually. I need an assistant, Rhea. No. A proper assistant. I’m interacting with them too often to trust…” Smirking, he replies to whatever has been said, “Well, reassign Artemis’. She doesn’t need one now anyway. And she’s on a little…vacation…at the moment, no?... Yes, I realize we don’t have many, but I need to be blocked more often than I am. Especially with that redhead dropping in at all hours.” Grinning, he says, voice deferential, “Thank you, Rhea. I won’t let you down.” An eager, hungry tone enters his voice, an almost sexual longing skirting the edges. “And Rhea, when do I get the… Well, Aphrodite’s had hers so I thought…” His jaw flexes, clenches, and he bites out, “Of course. Yes, I understand. I’ll continue to endeavor to prove myself... Well, as you said, Rhea, sooner rather than later, correct?... I will. Thank you.”

Snapping the phone shut, he puts the list he’d been marking over and over into the shredder beside him and buries his face into his hands, breathing hard.

“AUGH!” he screams suddenly in frustration, making all of us watching jump in surprise. “AUUUUUUUUUUUGH!”

There’s a flurry of sound, and the door across from him bursts open, a muscular man bursting into the room with gun drawn, looking around wildly, yelling, “Stand down! Stand down!’

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