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He scowled. “Emerson, do you know him?”
Emerson hesitated. Unfortunately, the hesitation was enough of an answer for Emerson’s employer. “Kill him.”
My heart stuck in my throat and adrenaline flooded my limbs. Before I could do or say anything, the guard directly to Ethan’s right shuffled, looking torn. “Uh, sir?”
“What?” He sounded impatient.
The goon trembled slightly, but he motioned to Ethan. “He’s wearing a Goliath necklace.”
For several seconds, the world around me seemed to freeze. I could only stare at Ethan, not believing what I had heard. It must have been a mistake. Either I had heard wrong, or the guard had been mistaken. Ethan couldn’t be associated with Goliath. That was one of the biggest gangs on Fairfax, whose specialty was selling and exporting drugs off-planet.
Everyone else seemed just as surprised as I was except for Ethan. His face looked like granite, hard and unyielding. The guard went to touch him, and Ethan slapped his hand away. Guns lifted, but no one dared fire on him. Ethan’s eyes practically bore holes into Emerson’s employer. “You heard him, Lyle Archuleta.”
That name rang a bell. I blinked, trying to cover my surprise. Lyle Archuleta was a high-level crime boss known for running guns and drugs to places like Lithios, Desoto, and Arcadia Prime. He was based on Esmuna, and that made it next to impossible to arrest him. I knew a few agents in organized crime, and he was one of the big fish they all wanted to catch. He was a career maker.
How Ethan had recognized him was beyond me.
Archuleta seemed unhappy by the fact that Ethan had named him, but he also seemed unwilling to call him on it. Ethan brushed his sleeve off and stepped forward, closer to me and Archuleta. He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a necklace I hadn’t noticed before. A pendant hung at the end of the chain, and I recognized it immediately. It was the symbol for the Goliath gang.
“I know who you are, Lyle, and I know who supplies you with your drugs. Not only am I one of Goliath’s men, but I’m also third-in-command. Ethan West. You can call Goliath to verify. He’ll tell you who I am. He’ll also tell you it will beverydetrimental for your business if you kill me. Goliath supplies the bulk of your drugs. I know a lot about your operation, and I know it would be a crippling blow if you lost your relationship with him. Stop ordering people to kill me. Is that clear enough for you?”
I shivered at the deadliness in his voice. I had never imagined he could talk like that. I still couldn’t believe his words were true, but I couldn’t come up with another explanation. He couldn’t have concocted a cover story like that out of thin air. Was the climatology thing a lie? It couldn’t be. There were too many ways it could unravel. Plus, he had one of Goliath’s symbols. Those were specially made and only given to the top ranking in the gang. I didn’t work drug enforcement, but Jordan had worked there for a while after I had moved to diplomatic security. I learned a fair bit about Goliath from him.
Archuleta didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t challenge Ethan. He simply turned to Emerson. “Find my merchandise. I want it back—now!”
Emerson met his gaze coolly. “You’ll get it back when I find it. Harping at me won’t make it happen any faster.”
“Don’t press me, mercenary.” Archuleta growled at him. He turned and marched towards the door. The men who had divested us of our weapons dropped them on the floor and followed their leader out.
Ethan watched them go with disdain in his eyes. In that moment, I could see him as a high-ranking member of the Goliath gang. Doing what needed to be done, protecting the business. It all suddenly made sense. Goliath was a Novem gang. They could legally grow a number of drugs on Fairfax. Exporting them was illegal, but they didn’t have to hide the rest of their operation. They could grow and manufacture drugs openly. Their product was considered one of the highest qualities out there. They were packaged with a brand marking them as Goliath, so you knew you were getting the real deal.
I used to buy Goliath’s products. It had given me the best high. It smelled sweet when I smoked it, and the high was euphoric. But that hadn’t been enough for me. I had quickly moved on to harder drugs. Hypodermic needles had become my best friends.
Mentally, I forced myself to push away the memories. I couldn’t afford to go there right now. My side was still throbbing insistently, and it would be far too much temptation to remember what it was like to exist without pain. Drugs were not the answer, not for me, not anymore.
The thought of Ethan being part of the world that manufactured those drugs hurt. It hurt deeper than I thought it would. I felt tears pricking the back of my eyes and I turned my back on him, focusing instead on Emerson. I couldn’t fall apart now. We certainly weren’t in a safe place for me to break down.Show no weakness.
I forced a smile onto my face. “Emerson. Good to see you again.”
There was almost a note of humor in his flat voice as he answered. “Carter. I could almost say the same of you.”
Ethan moved behind me, drawing up next to me. I refused to look at him. I suddenly needed to get out of there. I needed to get away fromhim. “Shouldn’t we be going?”
Emerson looked from me to Ethan and then back. He didn’t comment, but questions were swimming in his eyes. Instead of voicing them, he turned and headed for the door. “I see we have much to discuss.”
“Like how we’re going to track down your client’s missing merchandise?” I kept my voice light, continuing to play along.
He grunted. “Among other things.”
Ethan and I grabbed our weapons and followed, saying nothing as we walked. Emerson’s two men seemed more than a little curious about our sudden appearance, since Emerson obviously hadn’t told them we’d be showing up, but they were smart enough not to ask questions. They looked familiar, and I was sure I had seen them the last time I was on Emerson’s ship, but I couldn’t remember their names. I wasn’t about to trust them with my real identity, so any conversation Emerson and I were going to have would have to wait until we were alone.
Outside the building sat a large SUV hovercar with black paint and tinted windows. It was such a stereotypically criminal car I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I got in without commenting. I was just happy we had finally tracked Emerson down. Ethan climbed in beside me, and I shifted away from him. I turned to look out the window. Anything to not look at him. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t deal with him yet.
No one said a word as we drove. I didn’t ask where we were going. I didn’t want to know. All I needed to do was get Emerson alone and see if he would help me. There was a good chance he would help me get to Viridis just so he wouldn’t have to deal with me, though it did seem as though I had kind of forced myself into helping him locate this shipment of Archuleta’s. It was not something I had any desire to do, but when push came to shove, I would do it if I had to.
Before long, the car landed. I peered out the window at the large, suburban-looking house with snow piled up along the corners. I glanced around at the surrounding houses, surprised to realize we actually were somewhere in suburbia. I hadn’t even noticed we’d left the city.
Everyone piled out of the car. I waited before opening my door and climbing out. Ethan appeared in front of me, offering me a hand. I hesitated, but finally took it and pulled myself from the vehicle. I released his hand and brushed past him.
