Game of Death (22 page)

I walk up behind her and tap her on the shoulder. ‘Hey,’ I say.

She jumps, startled. ‘Shit, you scared me,’ she says.

‘We need to talk.’

‘Yeah, we do,’ she says. Her voice is excited. ‘I think I’ve just about got it nailed.’

‘In my office,’ I say, cutting her off from saying anything more while we’re still on the floor. She gives me a curious look, and I glance across the floor toward NetMaster,
who is standing there, watching us. She looks over at him.

‘What’s he doing here?’

‘In my office.’ I jerk a thumb in the direction of my door. ‘We can talk in there.’ She gets up and follows me in.

‘What’s going on?’ she asks.

‘I’m not sure. But things aren’t making sense.’

‘How so?’

I take a deep breath and think for a moment. ‘We met with Kendra Madison,’ I start. ‘She’s the one who’s in the LifeScene I’ve walked. The one with the black
hair.’

Yvette’s eyes narrow and she gives me a slightly annoyed look. ‘That must have been very exciting for you,’ she says sarcastically.

‘You don’t understand – this has nothing to do with me,’ I say. ‘But she said some things that were a little disturbing.’

‘Like what?’

‘She dated Pinkerton,’ I say. I watch that sink in.

‘Josh Pinkerton?’ she says. ‘How did that happen?’

‘They met at the photo shoot. She says that she and he dated on and off for nearly four years. And that he ended up getting violent.’

‘Josh? I don’t see that.’

‘That’s what I thought too, but she swears, and she seemed pretty credible. She said that he brought in NetMaster and they started trying to control her life. When she pushed back,
they pushed back harder, literally.’

‘Well, I can certainly see that of NetMaster,’ she says, thinking it over. ‘Do you think this has anything to do with the murders of the three girls?’

I shrug. ‘I have no idea. It could be a coincidence, but it’s worth thinking about. It’s certainly worth investigating.’

‘So is Killkenny doing the digging?’

‘I don’t know. He didn’t seem convinced. It didn’t feel like it was something he was going to pursue. He actually accused her of being after Josh’s
money.’

She frowns. ‘Killkenny wasn’t convinced? Is it possible that she’s not really credible?’

I think about telling her Killkenny’s theory that Kendra Madison is running a whorehouse, but decide against it. There’s no point in spreading that kind of a rumor without having any
actual proof, and somehow I still feel protective of Kendra Madison. ‘All I can tell you is what I saw and heard and, to me, she was very believable.’

‘Are you sure you weren’t listening with your dick?’ Yvette has never had trouble expressing herself clearly.

‘What?’ I choke out. ‘What are you talking about?’

She looks disappointed in me. ‘Come on, Nick – it’s me. I know you. I saw you when you were coming out of the GhostWalk that first time you were in
De Sade
’s
Scene with this girl. I was in the room with you when you walked it for the second time. I saw your face, and I know you well enough to recognize infatuation when I see it.’

‘And you think that’s clouding my judgment?’

‘I think it
could
cloud your judgment. I have no idea whether it is clouding your judgment, but it’s clear that you came away with a different impression than Killkenny did.
That raises a question mark for me. I mean, you tell her you’re looking for a killer, and she tells you that Josh Pinkerton roughed her up. You’ve got to admit, that might give her
leverage over Pinkerton to get something out of him.’

‘Fair enough, but we hadn’t told her about the murders when she told us about the violence.’

‘Really?’

‘Really. She thought we were there to investigate him for some sort of misuse of information. We didn’t tell her anything about the murders until she’d already laid out her
whole story.’

Yvette considers this. ‘That’s strange.’

‘It is.’ I rub my forehead, trying to make sense of all of it. ‘Look, I’m not saying this is connected at all. I’m not even saying that she’s telling the
truth, but I find it all very disturbing, and we should look into it further, y’know?’

‘Yeah, I hear you.’

‘How about you? You said something about almost having this nailed? What did that mean?’

‘It means I think I’ve isolated a whole bunch of LifeScene segments that all seem to be connected to
De Sade
, and it looks as though they may all originally have been
created on computers actually on our network.’

‘Computers, plural?’ I ask. ‘He’s using more than one?’

‘That’s what it looks like,’ she says. ‘I’m still running the analysis. He’s done a pretty good job of wiping his trail, but I think I’ve found the
string. It should only take a couple more days, and I should be able to track it back to the source.’

‘That’s great,’ I say. Looking at her, I can tell that she hasn’t left the office. That means it’s been days since she’s been home. ‘You need to get
some rest,’ I say. ‘You look tired.’

‘Thanks. A girl loves a compliment.’

‘You know what I meant.’

‘Maybe I do.’

‘I’m serious. You need rest. This is too important, and we need to make sure that we don’t make any mistakes, you understand?’

She glares at me. ‘You think I don’t understand how important this is? Why do you think I’ve been working as hard as I have been?’

‘I know,’ I say. ‘I’d rather have you working on this than anyone else in the world. There’s no one better at this kind of work. But you can’t kill yourself
over it, okay?’

‘This is how I work best.’ I realize there’s no point in arguing with her on this.

I look through the window from my office out onto the floor. NetMaster is still there, watching us. ‘I’ve been summoned to the boss’s office,’ I say. ‘He’s my
escort.’

‘Pinkerton’s office? Why?’

‘I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out. If I disappear, tell Killkenny where I was going.’

‘Don’t joke,’ Yvette says. She’s looking at me, and I can see the worry in her eyes. Suddenly I feel guilty for bringing her into this.

‘It’ll be fine,’ I say.

‘You think?’

‘Maybe.’

She looks out at NetMaster, waiting impatiently for me. ‘Nick, what do we do if I trace the LifeScenes back to their source, and it turns out it’s Pinkerton?’

I take her by the shoulders. ‘We’ll deal with that if it happens. Don’t worry, we just have to track this back to wherever it goes and then figure out the plan after that,
okay?’

She nods. ‘Okay,’ she says. ‘Be careful when you talk to him. I don’t trust him.’

‘You don’t need to trust him. Trust me.’

‘You know I do.’

NetMaster insists that I accompany him in his car to the NextLife building in Brighton, but I refuse and get into my own car. He glares at me as I put my key in the ignition,
and only lumbers away when he realizes that I am not backing down, and that I am pulling out irrespective of whether he is ready. His car is only a half block away, and he hurries so that he can
fall in behind me in the traffic. I can see him in my rearview mirror the entire way out west. At one point I deliberately slow down near the end of a green light and then speed through on the
yellow, just to see how he will react. He hits the gas as well and flies through the red light, drawing a chorus of angry honks from drivers at the intersection.

He pulls into the parking lot just behind me, and I hear him slam the door as I walk toward the building. He catches up and we get on the elevator together. I can feel his stare like a laser on
the side of my face, but I ignore him, and when the elevator reaches the top floor I get out ahead of him, leaving the giant huffing to catch up with me.

Pinkerton’s assistant holds up a hand to me as I approach, but I ignore her. ‘You can’t go in there!’ she calls to me.

‘He asked for me,’ I say. ‘Don’t worry.’

I push the door open, and I can see Pinkerton standing at the window, looking out toward Boston. He turns and sees me. ‘Nick,’ he says quietly. ‘Come in.’

‘Josh,’ I respond. ‘I’m already in.’

NetMaster comes through the door. ‘I instructed him to come at once!’ he barks, defending the time it took for him to produce me at Josh’s office. ‘He would not
listen!’

‘I understand,’ Josh says. ‘Not to worry.’

‘He went into the Cambridge facility.’

‘Of course.’ He looks at me. ‘I’m sure you had something to do that was urgent, no? Otherwise you would have come immediately, isn’t that right, Nick?’

‘Everything seems to be taking on additional urgency these days,’ I say. ‘I’m just trying to deal with it.’

He looks back at NetMaster. ‘You see? It’s alright. Would you mind letting me talk to Nick privately?’ NetMaster looks incensed. He stands there, spluttering, but after a
moment he nods – almost a bow – and backs out of the office. ‘He’s crude, but loyal,’ Josh says. ‘One of so many necessary evils that someone in my position must
tolerate.’

‘Are there many other evils you tolerate?’ I ask.

He smiles at me, and I feel cold at the sight. ‘Please, Nick, sit. Let’s talk.’ We sit on two incongruous, uncomfortable chairs set at an acute angle to each other. He leans
forward, bringing his hands together, locking his fingers and resting his chin on his knuckles. ‘I spent the morning talking to our people at Morgan Stanley,’ he starts. He looks at me
to see whether I’ll have any reaction. I just stare back at him. ‘Do you want to know what they said?’

‘If it’s something I should hear,’ I say. At the moment I really couldn’t care less. I know that’s foolish; I have millions of dollars riding on what happens to the
company, but it’s just not what I’m thinking about at this point.

‘Oh, it’s something you should hear. They think we’ll be ready to announce within the month. More importantly, they think the valuations for the IPO are going to go even higher
than we originally anticipated. We initially had a goal of somewhere in the range of thirty-five dollars a share. That would be excellent. But looking over the numbers, and judging the interest on
the street, our investment bankers are now thinking that the price is going to be over forty. Maybe as high as forty-five. Do you know what that would mean?’

‘It means a lot of money for you,’ I say.

‘It would mean that we will have had the largest IPO in history. We will have done it! And, yes, it would also mean a lot of money, but not just for me. It would mean a lot of money for
everyone at the company. Every single employee we have has some level of equity participation. I checked yours, and at forty-five dollars a share, you will be making over thirty million dollars.
Can you imagine that?’

‘I can’t,’ I answer honestly.

‘I would think that would help to make whatever time your mother has left much more comfortable, wouldn’t it?’ I glare at him. ‘Yes, I remember your mother, Nick. I met
her when you first joined the company, and I remember that if it hadn’t been for the opportunity I gave you, she would not have gotten treatment. Tom Jackson came to me and told me about this
brilliant young man who was in a hard place, and he said you were exactly the kind of person who would be an exceptional asset to the company. He was right, you know? What you have created in your
little black-ops section is remarkable. The research you are able to gather guides virtually all of the company’s decisions on products at this point. You created that. No one else.’ He
leans back in the chair. It is awkward because the chair back is low and leans at an angle. ‘You know, I think you may be even more talented than Tom himself. I’ve wondered recently
whether you shouldn’t be heading up our revenue development.’

‘I’m not taking Tom’s job,’ I say firmly.

He shrugs. ‘It was a thought. In any event, depending on what happens in the near future, I may have to move Tom out.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m not convinced that he is aggressive enough with respect to revenue generation.’ He pauses. ‘And recently I’ve started to have questions about his ability to
judge the character of those he has hired.’

It hangs there between us for a moment, both of us fully cognizant of what he is implying. Then he leans forward again.

‘How is this unpleasant investigation going, Nick?’

‘It’s going.’

‘Is it? I understand that you met with Kendra Madison this morning.’

‘How did you know that?’ I ask.

He smiles icily again. ‘Oh please, Nick,’ he says. ‘You wouldn’t imagine that I would fail to stay informed about something as . . . sensitive . . . as this, would
you?’ I don’t answer, and he looks away for a moment. ‘She’s a very disturbed young woman,’ he continues. ‘It’s sad, really. She’s very beautiful.
Very . . . sexy. I remember when I first met her, I was enchanted. She holds that power over men. Do you know what I mean?’ This time it’s my turn to look away. He chuckles. ‘Yes,
of course you do. I spent some time with her for a number of years. It was nothing serious, obviously, though I think she wanted it to be. She was a remarkably sexual creature, with very . . .
unorthodox . . . tastes.’

‘What do you mean?’

He hesitates, leans in and says in a conspiratorial tone, ‘She likes pain.’ I look at him, and he nods solemnly. ‘She likes to inflict it, and to have it inflicted on her.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I was intrigued by this for a time. I think it’s a product of being successful, and still not feeling that I’m finished. I confess that I sometimes
fall prey to idle speculation about the meaning of it all. All this,’ he sweeps his arm around the room, ‘what does it all mean? Questions like that have, on occasion, led me into
unproductive behaviors. My time with Kendra was one of those times.’

I think about her. I have trouble drawing the distinction between the real woman and her incarnation in
De Sade
’s LifeScene.

‘Do you understand why I’m telling you this?’ I nod.

‘Good.’ He grins. ‘As you move forward, and as you and Detective Killkenny discuss these matters, I want you to have a full picture of who I am. I hope I have accomplished
that.’