“Prove it.” The girl raises her brows. “Give mesomethingbefore I say another word.”
Kane’s jaw clenches. This is exactly why he doesn’t negotiate with enemies. But her information is too valuable to waste more time on posturing. “I’ll give you intel on a supply run. One that could be easily exploited.” Echo will set up a decoy route that loses them only a few hundred credits.
Her mouth sets in a line. “Fine. Guess that’ll have to do.” She glances at her leg, still bleeding through her trousers. “But can I get this taken care of before I bleed out and die in your shitty HOV?”
Rafael tilts his head to meet Kane’s gaze, and he gives the nurse a nod.
“Fine. But I expect my questions to be answered.”
A slight smile crosses Rafael’s face as he rolls up her pant leg, using the same careful touch he’s shown everyone else. He sprays biocleanser over the wound, drawing a wince from the girl, then runs a dermal sealer along the gash. The device hums as synthetic tissue knits the injury closed.
Once Rafael peers up and gives a gentle nod, Kane doesn’t waste time. “How did you get past my border patrol and the holowall? And how did your people breach it before?”
“Don’t know about the first attack. Wasn’t there,” she answers with a shrug. “But this time—it was simple.” Her smirk returns. “We exploited a flaw in the holowall’s sequencing—just waited for the refresh cycle and slipped through. As for your guards…they spotted me coming and going for days but couldn’t catch me.”
Kane’s fingers tap the rifle. A few days before the attack, Coda mentioned that the drones had flagged movement along the border. He insisted on verifying the intel himself before making decisions. As he always did. Only a deal with Echo took priority.
“Who’s your current leader?” he follows up, shifting focus.
Her eyes dart around the room. “I…don’t know her real name…”
His teeth gritted together. “Appearance. Describe her.”
She hums. “Uh…blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin.”
The description could match several old members, but Kane narrows his suspicions to a select few. Still, there’s no point in pressing further. His overlay shows no signs of deception, and it’s clear she doesn’t know much about Natural Order’s leadership.
“We move synth from a dealer in South Marina every Tuesday evening,” Kane offers. “He takes a route from the old packing warehouse through the docks. It’s barely covered.”
The girl’s grinning, but his attention shifts to Rafael running the dermal sealer along the last of the wound. “Can she move?” he asks.
Rafael glances up, assessing her for a moment before nodding. “She’s stable enough.”
Kane holsters his rifle and grabs the girl’s arm, forcing her off the stretcher. She mutters a complaint under her breath but doesn’t resist.
When she’s standing, he glances over his shoulder and shouts, “Wren!”
The lieutenant appears at the back of the HOV in seconds. “Yes, Baron?” She glances between the three of them.
“Take her to the border.” Kane shoves the girl toward Wren, who catches her and snaps a pair of cuffs around her wrists. The girl struggles, but Wren holds her tight. “Coordinate with Viper on crossing the holowall. Make it look like an accidental return. Hand her wristlink to Coda for extraction and intel.”
“Hey! You never said anything about taking my—”
His sharp glare silences her. “You’re lucky you’re going home at all.” Kane jerks his chin at Wren. “Go.”
“Let’s go.” Expression hardening, Wren tugs her away from the truck. “And don’t try anything funny!”
Kane leans against the wall inside, but his mind won’t stay quiet. He shut down Echo last week for suggesting less aggressive tactics. Today, he let a nurse influence an interrogation. Even worse, the suggestion worked.
Across the truck, Rafael fusses with supplies, shoulders drawn tight. He stays silent, but his disapproval is clear.
It shouldn’t matter. The Chrome Baron doesn’t answer to anyone, least of all a corpo nurse.
But the words claw their way up before he can swallow them. “I was never going to pull the trigger.”
Rafael turns, and for a moment, something flashes in the nurse’s expression. Understanding, maybe, or at least the beginning.
He cuts off any chance of responding. “The threat of violence is usually enough.”