Julius woke Alexei at 3 p.m.
“I think we should go over our talking points,” Julius said.
“Okay, advise me.”
Julius inspected his notes for a moment.
“Okay, the first point is that you should admit no wrongdoing. You didn’t know about any malicious activity Gregor was involved with. An important consideration is that Gregor was acting solo, with no known accomplices. If the conversation is going well and you want to be generous, offer a list of Gregor’s known and unknown haunts. Oh, one other point—we should ask them for evidence of the hack and what brought it to their attention.”
Alexei memorized all talking points.
“I hope you brought a suit for the discussions,” Alexei said.
“I did, but we don’t need suits.”
Alexei looked puzzled.
“Why not?”
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“Because Roscoe, our driver, brought these.”
Julius opened the closet. Several full-length robes hung there.
“According to Malcolm, every participant must wear one!”
Alexei and Julius entered the main hallway ten minutes early. The plain dark gray robes were big enough for Alexei to wear slacks and a button-down shirt underneath it. He left the tie and sports coat behind.
“You’re early. Excellent!” Malcolm said. “The other guests have arrived.”
Malcolm led them to an adjacent room. Several tables had various food and beverages. Alexei recognized Hunter, but he didn’t know who the other man was.
“Let me introduce our guests,” Malcolm said. “From The Collective, we have Alexei Breven and Julius Shcherbakov.”
Alexei raised his glass in a toasting motion.
“From Black Iris, Hunter Garrison and Jony Clarke.”
Hunter nodded. Jony was expressionless, like a statue.
The men sized up their competition.
“I want to propose a toast to a productive and satisfactory dialogue,” Alexei said.
Hunter and Jony raised their glasses, but the motion seemed devoid of any meaning. Alexei thought he could hear the crackle of energy in the room. Having sensed the tension, Malcolm steered the men into the dining hall, where a three-course meal was served. Alexei noticed that Hunter had a visible limp.
Alexei was tired of Hunter’s brooding and tried to lighten the mood by engaging in some polite conversation.
“What do you think of this facility? Magnificent, isn't it?” Alexei said to Hunter.
“I would expect nothing less from the Shadow Dealers,” Hunter replied.