CHAPTER 027
ANOTHER DRINK
Fox and I sat at the bar of the Northstar Lounge, a bottle of Black Spot between us, watching G and CAT cavort on the otherwise empty stage. The chairs were still flipped up on the tables. The rest of the passengers and crew were long gone, off to be debriefed by a team of lawyers before their formal interviews with the Lunar Security Force.
“How do you think Frankie pulled that one off?” I wondered aloud.
“I’ve learned better than to ask Mr. Denaro questions like that,” Fox replied, refilling our glasses.
“Questions like what?” Frankie Denaro crossed the room and scooped G up into his arms. I hadn’t even seen him enter. Judging from Fox’s expression, neither did he.
“We were just discussing how you managed to hold LunaSec off long enough for everyone to get their stories straight.”
“Stories? What stories?” Denaro feigned ignorance. “A prankster took over the intercom system and made some idle threats. In an unrelated incident, a small group of passengers had to be treated for minor injuries they suffered during an expected bout of turbulence.”
Fox suppressed a grin. “Turbulence, sir? In space?”
Denaro waved his hand. “Or whatever the word is for it. The important part is that no one was hurt, and no one saw nothin’. And if they change their minds, I have some very persuasive video that will help change them right back.”
“What about Matteo and Tamsworth?” I was far past the point of restraint.
Denaro set G down on her feet. “Honey, why don’t you go wait with your uncles?” I looked at the lounge entrance. Marco and Luca glowered back.
“Okay. Bye, CAT.” She knelt down and gave him a big hug. “Bye, Max. Bye, Dilly.” She scampered off to the Russos, who promptly whisked her away.
“Dilly?” I repeated.
“Don’t ask,” Fox said dryly.
Denaro waited until G was out of sight to continue. He reached over the bar, grabbed a glass, and poured himself four fingers of Black Spot, topping off our drinks as he went. “We’re still making the arrangements concerning Matteo and Mr. Tamsworth. I am sure you two can be trusted to keep mum on the matter until we do.”
His intentional vagueness was not the sort to invite follow-up questions. Still, I could not help myself.
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“What about Michelle Benoit? Aren’t you worried she’s going to publish everything that happened on the Express?”
Denaro took a long, thoughtful slug of his drink. “Ms. Benoit and I came to an… understanding. As it turns out, her sister’s death was tied to the tech industry, just not in the way that she thought. In exchange for giving her the resources necessary to pursue the story, she’s promised us a modicum of privacy in handling these sensitive affairs.”
“That’s great. For you, I mean.”
“Not just me, for all of us. She gets the answers she’s been looking for, I save face, and the two of you don’t get arrested for tampering with a crime scene. Multiple crime scenes, I might add.”
I did the math, trying to figure out how many people were aware of the deaths on board. “And you’re sure you can keep everyone from spilling to LunaSec?”
“Miller, if I didn’t think I could, I wouldn’t be here today. And I mean that quite literally. I would have hung your ass out to dry in a second.”
Considering everything we had just been through, his bravado was especially unnerving. I forced down another sip of my whiskey.
“I’m kidding, Max. I find that in my line of work, if you can’t laugh in the face of danger, you won’t be laughing for long. And speaking of work.” He refilled everyone’s glasses to the brim. “I’ve got an assignment for the two of you. As you might imagine, the Express has been grounded for the time being. Matter of fact, all nonessential transit between Luna and Earth has been temporarily suspended. Something about an out-of-control ship almost crashing on the way in because their flight systems had been hacked?”
Fox and I exchanged glances. Burke had been more than happy to release the override on the Express’s flight system in exchange for me prying CAT off him.
“Anyhow, since you no longer have a ship to fly, and you’ve got no ride home, I figured you had the time to look into something for me.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Denaro, you promised me that you had a lead into my family’s murder. I’m planning on taking a sabbatical to look into it.”
CAT, sensing my need for moral support, trotted across the room. He stood on his back paws and placed his head in my lap for scratching.
“Then I know you’ll be interested. To make good on my word, the first thing I did when I got back from Earth was put one of my top engineers on the Interstellar explosion off Titan.”
I straightened up in my seat, jostling CAT back to the floor. He meandered over to Fox, who stroked his head absently. “And? Did he find anything?”
“That’s the problem. No one’s been able to get in touch with him since. Total radio silence.”
My mind flashed back to what Burke said about someone commissioning the hit on the shuttle. That same person would have been heavily invested in keeping that news under wraps.
“And you want us to find him,” Fox guessed, nudging an insistent CAT back to the ground.
“Like I said, it’s not like either of you have much else going on. And with Matteo gone, I’m taking the Russos out of commission for the time being. Silver lining for you is that it frees up a chunk of, shall we say, operational budget.” Denaro refreshed the glasses one last time, emptying the bottle. “Tell you what. Think on it. This round’s on me.”
He raised a toast. Fox and I joined.
“Just make sure you lock up when you’re done. And keep in touch.”
He pressed a small envelope to the bar and left.
Fox and I stared at the envelope for a long moment after he left, neither one of us wanting to make the first move.
“So what do you think we should do?” Fox asked.
I reached over the envelope and grabbed a bottle out of the bar well without looking. It didn’t matter what it was.
“I think I’m going to need another drink.”