AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t blame you, but here we are. Come help me. I’ll protect you and when this is all over, I’ll give you all the money you could need. And if it eases your mind at all, Burian’s a real piece of shit, and the world will be better without him.”
So says this guy. Burian could be a real gem, while Lanzo’s the actual devil, for all I know.
I close my eyes, processing.
He’s offering more money than I ever thought possible. Safety from a very dangerous man. A future for myself and for Grandpop.
All I have to do is put myself in this psycho’s hands and trust that I’m not aiding the wrong person.
If this Burian guy is half as bad as Lanzo says, then I want to help get rid of him. That’s not the issue.
The real problem is Lanzo.
I don’t trust him. Not even a little bit. He’s keeping things from me, a ton of things, and I’m worried that once I find everything out, I won’t want to be involved with him anymore.
“I need transparency,” I say, sitting up straight as something occurs to me. If Lanzo’s been chasing after Burian for five years, that means he’s desperate. That means I have leverage, and I can use that against him if I’m smart about it. “I want answers.”
He tilts his head. “I told you, the less you know—”
“I don’t care what you said. From where I’m at,youneedmyhelp. Like you said, I’m the only person in the whole world that knows what Burian looks like, so you’d better start playing ball, or else I walk and I take my knowledge with me.”
His eyes light up. I expected him to get angry, but instead he looks excited by the challenge, which only confirms my suspicion.
Lanzo is a grade-A freak.
“You really would, too,” he says, shaking his head, astonished in a good way. “All right then, if you agree to work with me, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Within reason. There are some things I can’t say.”
I purse my lips, not happy with that, but it’s a start. “First thing’s first then. I want to know who you are. Who youreallyare.”
Lanzo studies me for a long moment before putting his gnawed-at bagel aside. “I’m a freelancer. I do security work for various countries, including the United States. I specialize in computer systems, from hacking server farms to phones, and everything in between. I’m versed in espionage, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and assassination techniques. I do morally gray jobs so the good guys don’t have to get their hands dirty.”
I shiver, nodding to myself, not surprised. This is all some action-movie crap. I’m not sure how much of it I believe, but I’m also not sure it matters. I can trust that there’s some truth hidden in his absurd lies somewhere. “And who’s paying you to find Burian?”
“Nobody.” His face remains impassive.
“Why? What did he do to you?”
Lanzo shakes his head. “That’s personal.”
I hesitate, surprised by his answer. I expected something else, like it’s classified or too dangerous, but that?
It’s hard to imagine Lanzo having a personal life.
I spread my hands, trying to put this all together. “All right, so let me understand this. You’re a mercenary. You work for whoever pays. You do dangerous stuff. And you want to kill Burian for reasons you’re not sharing.”
“Pretty much. If it helps, Burian’s here in the States for an important job. That dead FBI agent is probably the first of many bodies that are going to appear in his wake. Burian never travels far from his home in Russia unless there’s something big going down. Peirce was just the beginning. We can stop him if we work together.”
I finish my coffee, trying to stall.
None of this sounds appealing.
Frankly, if it’s as dangerous as he says, then I should run screaming.
Three million isn’t nearly enough if I don’t live to enjoy it.
But Grandpop might.
“If we’re doing this, and I haven’t decided yet, how would we get started?” I ask, tentative.
