Page 12 of License to Kill

“Well, it’s nice to know the black market has some morals.”

“Some markets, some operators. That market is generally a free-for-all except for a few things. No kids, no tainted drugs. A lot of the markets bar tainted drugs. They don’t care what happens to the drugs after it leaves their market, but while inside, those drugs are the best money can buy, and it’s a death sentence to fuck with them. And you better believe they quality check. Fail the test? Your ass is out, and you’ll be lucky to live through your eviction.”

“Sounds harsh.”

“Losing base clients because of shit practices is bad practice, and the operators have warned if their drugs get linked back to contaminated batches, it will be bad news for the dealers who made the purchases in the first place. It’s bad for business if the junkies fall over dead because of contaminated drugs.”

“Right. Dead people can’t buy more drugs.”

“And the higher the number of dead people who can’t buy more drugs, the more likely the whole operation will be busted. So, they’ve been cleaning up the ops. The contaminated drugs tend to come out of other markets.”

“Other markets?”

“Like the markets in Mexico and elsewhere. They’ll do their own runs across the border rather than wait for the market ops to bring stuff in. That’s the shit that’ll get you killed.”

“This is surprisingly complicated,” I admitted.

“We’re just getting started, Karma. But stick with me, and you’ll know the ins and outs in no time—and know which markets to avoid. It wouldn’t do to offend your delicate FBI sensibilities too much.”

“For some reason, I think my delicate FBI sensibilities have already been laid to rest. The fucker helped kill a kid.”

“We all have lines,” the woman replied. “And going after a fucker that went after a kid beats the moping, so let’s get to the murdering part of our plans efficiently, shall we?”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Only if you don’t want to murder the fucker.”

“Let’s just murder the fucker cleanly. I’m not into torture, no matter how much the fucker deserves it.”

“You have a deal.”

Four

Do I look like I’m available for questioning?

Armed with the knowledge Andrew Linsc had aided and abetted the murderer of at least one child, Amelia and I busted ass to gather the evidence required to burn him out of the FBI. Closure would be a bitter pill for the Gianni family to swallow, but with the help of the disgruntled black market operators, within a week, we had everything we needed to fully lay the little girl to rest.

Her death had begun with an irate business partner wanting Mr. Gianni to focus more on his business and less on his family. Eliminating the girl, who took up more time than the business-driven assholes liked, had been viewed as a small price to pay for wealth.

From bank accounts to pay for the kill to a full disclosure of Andrew Linsc’s activities in and out of the FBI, I prepared it all, cleaned the laptop of all evidence of my involvement, covered Amelia’s tracks as well, and followed the black market operator’s recommendations on how to best deliver the intel in triplicate. From solid evidence to mountains of circumstantial evidence that might become admissible should the FBI and other branches of law enforcement take the correct steps, I provided everything needed for the prized conviction.

If all cases panned out so well, there wouldn’t be a need for so many investigators working the streets.

“You’ll be brought up as part of the case,” Amelia observed while I meticulously finished erasing our tracks from any digital systems we’d touched, including a complete wipe of the laptops, overwriting both hard drives until they were full to the point they crashed, only to wipe them again to mitigate any chance of somebody resurrecting information on our activities.

“That’s fine. Do I look like I’m available for questioning?”

“No, but they’ll question if you were involved in the hit.”

“Unlikely.” I wrinkled my nose. “My ex-boss’s boss was pretty aware of my feelings about that fucker and the way that case panned out, but I’d been among those fairly convinced it was going to be a cold case. Considering my inability to do anything other than walk the straight and narrow? No, I really doubt anyone will think I’ve decided to switch teams.”

“More like batting for the same team in an unconventional method. I mean, you’re definitely going rogue, but you’re doing so in a way that closes a murder and cleans the FBI up. It might get you transferred to a different section of the FBI if you show just how good you are at ferreting out the shit stinking up the bureau.”

“So much shit, so little time,” I complained.

Amelia chuckled. “While you have been working on that project, I’ve gathered what I do have on the Greenwich case, from the names of double agents and traitors to enough black market intel to make the bureau cry when they find out how much of the government’s supposedly secret information has fallen into the hands of crooks. Since you’ve done such a good job burning Linsc and handling the intel for that girl’s death, the ops have rewarded you with what they have on the weapon system in question.”

“They have information on the software security for that weapon system?”