Hunter had limited knowledge of the Dark Web; his talents lay elsewhere. He had friends in the London underworld, and if anyone knew about a secret society, they would. Hunter picked up his phone.

“Hey, it’s Hunter. Is Torin there?” Hunter asked when somebody answered.

He heard a muffled yell: “Hey, is Torin here? This bloke Hunter is looking for him.”

Another man picked up the phone. “You have some big brass monkeys to be ringing after your last cock-up,” Torin said.

Hunter didn’t respond.

“Are you gobsmacked, or are you going to tell me why you’re bothering me?” Torin asked.

“The cock-up . . . wasn’t my fault,” Hunter replied. “Your dodgy new recruit left us all holding the bags. I need you to get me information on a hacking organization called the Timeslicers. Remember, you still owe me one for Prague.”

“No, mate. If I get you this information, consider my debt paid, and you owe me another. What do you say, chum?” Torin said.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Bloody hell,” Hunter mumbled.

“Is that a yes?” Torin said in a taunting tone of voice.

“Yes, but we are on a clock,” Hunter said.

“Brilliant! I will call you soon, mate,” Torin said.

Hunter felt uneasy about owing a thug like Torin any favors.

Two hours later

Hunter hadn’t come up with anything regarding the hack. He was about to check to see if Jony had had any more luck when his phone rang. It was Torin again.

“I had a gander at some of the orders for extra muscle, or hacking talent from region boards, and I couldn’t immediately find anything. I was about to give up when my mate Murdo rang. He lives near Glasgow, and I asked him if he had received any recent interesting orders for hacking or muscle, and Murdo did receive an order for some perimeter guards in Edinburgh.”

“What is a perimeter guard?” Hunter asked.

“It is another term for a Darknet Market, but it really refers to a special fence for particular items and services.”

“Interesting. Continue,” Hunter said.

“Murdo got a special order for three hacker elites to add to his perimeter guard in Edinburgh,” Torin said.

Three elite hackers normally wouldn’t be needed unless the customer had a lot of cash—and a need for them, Hunter thought.

“Thanks, mate!”

“No bother. Remember, you owe me one—or was that two?” Torin laughed as he severed the connection.