watching the woman's face grow more sour the closer she got. In better light it was difficult to
be sure how old the taller woman was. Interface sockets glittered in the half-light, making a line over her right temple.
"This is Kel," Denny was saying. "She's in the market for some intelligence."
He was going to go on, but his companion waved him into silence. "I am getting a distinct taste of blue in my mouth," she hissed. "You bring a
cop on the boat? Are you an idiot?"
"Widow-"
"What?" Anna gave her a disgusted look, then glared at Denny. "This again? I thought me and you had gone through all that who-the-fuck
are-you crap already." Kelso had targeted Denny through some files she'd skimmed from a contact at the DOJ, and worked him to get under
this cover as "Kel," an out-of-towner looking to buy some information. She turned away. "Forget it. I don't have time for this."
"Kel, wait." Denny turned to Widow and glared at her. "She's clean. I ran her jacket. Not even a touch of blue."
Widow folded her thin arms. "Then she's definitely a cop."
Anna put on an angry snarl that wasn't all fake. "Who the hell is this skinny bitch and why am I listening to her talk? Didn't we have a deal,
Denny?"
"You know who I am?" Widow snapped back. "Go-Five, that's who I am. I'll rip your life open in ten seconds. Zero everything you ever owned!"
Go-Five meant GO5, also known as the Gang of Five. They were a collective of hacker guns-for-hire well known by the FBI's cybercrime
division, with a lengthy rap sheet packed with all kinds of interesting digital larceny. The other interesting thing about them was that the Gang
of Five were all faceless ghosts, which made it easy for someone to wear their name and reputation with little fear of being proven a liar.
"Bullshit," Anna retorted. "Go-Five are all Koreans, everyone knows that."
Widow snorted, and it was then that Kelso knew she had her on the line. The hacker community was driven by rep, and any one of them was
only as good as their last score. Studying Widow in the actinic glow of the screens, Anna saw a woman trying to hide her age, running hard to
keep up and not quite making it. She was maybe twenty if she was a day; old for a keyboard queen. All it would take to turn this around was to
apply pressure to her vanity.
"I'm better than any K-towners," Widow said, doing the job for her. "Better than those Juggernaut dinks and that day-player Windmill."
Gotcha. "Prove it," Anna demanded, handing her a data spike. "Denny asked me to come here because he said you people could cut ice for me.
Can you do it or not?"
Widow snatched the spike from her hand, pale fingers with red enameled tips flashing. Inside it was every piece of information Kelso had,
carefully stripped of any identifying markers that might show its origins from a law enforcement agency database.
"Get her money," growled Widow at Denny, and stalked over to a desktop setup.
The other hacker blew out a breath. "So we do it like you asked, right? Run the face on the file through the net, see what comes up."
"I need to know who he is."
Denny shrugged. "No guarantees, Kel. It's pay-for-play. Outcome is what it is. I told you that already."
"I need to know" she said, nerves bunching. Anna felt her mask of self-control slipping and took a moment to center herself. "If she's as good as
you said..." Her mouth went dry and she drifted off for a moment. The jittering in her hands was coming back again, and she buried her fists
inside the pockets of the hoodie. The other tell, that weird chemical taste in the back of her throat, like dry earth, was getting stronger.
Anna resisted the urge to reach for the ampoule pen in the pocket on the arm of the fleece and hunched forward. "Are we doing this or not?"
she demanded, off the odd look Denny put her way. "Tick tock," she added, irritably.
Denny held out his hand. "Cross my palm."
She fished inside an inner pocket and came back with a
be sure how old the taller woman was. Interface sockets glittered in the half-light, making a line over her right temple.
"This is Kel," Denny was saying. "She's in the market for some intelligence."
He was going to go on, but his companion waved him into silence. "I am getting a distinct taste of blue in my mouth," she hissed. "You bring a
cop on the boat? Are you an idiot?"
"Widow-"
"What?" Anna gave her a disgusted look, then glared at Denny. "This again? I thought me and you had gone through all that who-the-fuck
are-you crap already." Kelso had targeted Denny through some files she'd skimmed from a contact at the DOJ, and worked him to get under
this cover as "Kel," an out-of-towner looking to buy some information. She turned away. "Forget it. I don't have time for this."
"Kel, wait." Denny turned to Widow and glared at her. "She's clean. I ran her jacket. Not even a touch of blue."
Widow folded her thin arms. "Then she's definitely a cop."
Anna put on an angry snarl that wasn't all fake. "Who the hell is this skinny bitch and why am I listening to her talk? Didn't we have a deal,
Denny?"
"You know who I am?" Widow snapped back. "Go-Five, that's who I am. I'll rip your life open in ten seconds. Zero everything you ever owned!"
Go-Five meant GO5, also known as the Gang of Five. They were a collective of hacker guns-for-hire well known by the FBI's cybercrime
division, with a lengthy rap sheet packed with all kinds of interesting digital larceny. The other interesting thing about them was that the Gang
of Five were all faceless ghosts, which made it easy for someone to wear their name and reputation with little fear of being proven a liar.
"Bullshit," Anna retorted. "Go-Five are all Koreans, everyone knows that."
Widow snorted, and it was then that Kelso knew she had her on the line. The hacker community was driven by rep, and any one of them was
only as good as their last score. Studying Widow in the actinic glow of the screens, Anna saw a woman trying to hide her age, running hard to
keep up and not quite making it. She was maybe twenty if she was a day; old for a keyboard queen. All it would take to turn this around was to
apply pressure to her vanity.
"I'm better than any K-towners," Widow said, doing the job for her. "Better than those Juggernaut dinks and that day-player Windmill."
Gotcha. "Prove it," Anna demanded, handing her a data spike. "Denny asked me to come here because he said you people could cut ice for me.
Can you do it or not?"
Widow snatched the spike from her hand, pale fingers with red enameled tips flashing. Inside it was every piece of information Kelso had,
carefully stripped of any identifying markers that might show its origins from a law enforcement agency database.
"Get her money," growled Widow at Denny, and stalked over to a desktop setup.
The other hacker blew out a breath. "So we do it like you asked, right? Run the face on the file through the net, see what comes up."
"I need to know who he is."
Denny shrugged. "No guarantees, Kel. It's pay-for-play. Outcome is what it is. I told you that already."
"I need to know" she said, nerves bunching. Anna felt her mask of self-control slipping and took a moment to center herself. "If she's as good as
you said..." Her mouth went dry and she drifted off for a moment. The jittering in her hands was coming back again, and she buried her fists
inside the pockets of the hoodie. The other tell, that weird chemical taste in the back of her throat, like dry earth, was getting stronger.
Anna resisted the urge to reach for the ampoule pen in the pocket on the arm of the fleece and hunched forward. "Are we doing this or not?"
she demanded, off the odd look Denny put her way. "Tick tock," she added, irritably.
Denny held out his hand. "Cross my palm."
She fished inside an inner pocket and came back with a
Similar Books
