Just like GameShack.
Huh.
Colleen turned to Tristan. “Okay, and that makes GameShack a cryptocurrency-mining operation with a videogame streaming service sideline, which has rented storefronts for infrastructure purposes, not retail operations.”
He glanced at her. “Yeah. They’re mining the CurieCoins but not allowing them into circulation. It’s like a whole other business that’s hiding inside GameShack.”
Knocking bonked on the door and echoed through the airplane.
“That’s breakfast,” Tristan said. “Plus snacks and drinks. I’ll let them in.”
As he stood, he noticed Colleen smiling at him, but he didn’t think anything more about it as he showed the caterers where the galley was and put the breakfasts in the oven for the four of them.
One was markedHindu Vegetarian.
Yep, good.
44
48 Hours
Colleen
Anjali and Colleen were sitting at a table near the front of the airplane. Anjali was doing her best to marvel at the luxurious private plane when she could, but she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
Colleen kept asking her if she wanted to sleep but kept getting a negative answer.
While they were talking and Tristan was still puttering around in the galley kitchen at the rear of the plane, the pilots announced that they were cleared for takeoff. Colleen held onto the table as the airplane jerked and rolled out of the hangar toward the runway.
Outside the porthole window, the early morning sunlight gleamed on small airplanes they were passing.
With a quick turn and a roar, the plane sped and leaped into the sky.
Colleen was just about to yell for Tristan to sit down when she noticed that he had already taken a seat in the back with Jian.
The engines screamed like eagles as the plane climbed in the thin summer air, and the strain vibrated through the table under Colleen’s hands and the floor under her feet.
Anjali was resting her head on her arms folded on the table.
Colleen sighed. “You shouldn’t hang around me, Anjali. It’s too dangerous. I’m the type of friend who gets you kidnapped.”
Anjali rolled her head on her arms, signifyingno.“No, yah. You’re the type of friend whorescuesme after I’m kidnapped. We are staying friends.”
Colleen reached over and held Anjali’s hand.
“Anjali, honey, I need you to tell me the truth. We’re going to stop in New Jersey, and I need to know if you need to see a doctor there. Did they molest you, or assault you, or rape you?”
Anjali shook her head sadly, but it didn’t seem like she was hiding anything. “They terrorized me. They said terrible things. They hit me and grabbed my arms, but it was not sexual assault.”
“Even if you don’t want to tell me, if you need a doctor, I can take you to one discreetly. Tristan and Jian won’t know. Do you need a morning-after pill or an STD preventative, or just to talk to someone about it?”
Anjali shook her head again. “They did not assault me in that way. I will hate them forever. When I can get back to college, I will go to the police and press charges. But I do not need a doctor.”
Colleen squeezed her fingers. “If you change your mind, or if you want to talk to a therapist about just the physical stuff, you can tell me and I’ll get you to somebody.”
“I want to get as far away from them as I can right now. I hope I never see that horrible Sergey or the people he worked for, the Butorins, ever again. But I swear to God, when I am finished with my computer science degree, I will hunt them down on the internet and send them malware. I will break into their bank accounts and donate all their money to human trafficking relief. I will figure out every person in their organization and put them all on the no-fly list. I will make their liveshell.”
Colleen smiled at her. “And I will help you.”
