"He only called for me. It is I who has suffered the most at Pugli’s hands."
I splutter my indignant disbelief. "Who the fuck cares who heaskedfor? HE NEEDS YOU ALL! This is not the time to honor his self-sacrificing wishes, Nicolai. It's time to rally the goddamned troops, call in the fucking cavalry, and rescue the man who has given all of you your fucking lives back!"
"Self-sacrificing?"
"Yes, self-sacrificing! He redeemed you, right? That wasyourword. Not just you, but your brothers. The women who are in love with you. He finances your entire existence. And now he's the one in trouble, Nico. What was the vow you took?"
"Once you're in, there's no going back. Never take a life. Loyalty to the brotherhood above all."
"I'd think the man who created your little club would be the number one brother in the brotherhood, the one most deserving of your loyalty. Which I'm not doubting, Nico. What I'm questioning is why you're the only one out here helping hunt down this vicious motherfucker. He’s threatened all of you, and now he's usingJakobas bait."
Nico seems stunned. "Perhaps you have a point." A beat, a slow breath. "I have operated alone for so long that it is difficult to consider other strategies. Hunting Pugli is…"
"A group project. So call the boys, Nico."
He reaches over me to open the glove box and withdraws an old school flip phone. From his hip pocket, he produces a SIM card—he ejects the battery, puts the SIM card in place, replaces the battery, powers it up, and hits a saved speed dial number without putting it to his ear; it rings three times—tinnily, distant—and then clicks to dead space. "Operator," Nico says. "Roll call—laser, alpha, sedition, calculator. Time of recording is—“ he glances at the dashboard clock. "Sixteen-twenty-four Echo Sierra Tango."
After that mouthful of nonsense, he claps the phone closed, removes the battery and SIM card, tosses the SIM card out the window, and then tosses the battery and phone into the cupholder near the dash.
I eye Nico. "Are you going to explain what that was?"
"A coded messaging system. It notifies my people that I'm reaching out."
"Why not just call them?"
His expression doesn't say I'm stupid, but it suggests that I'm probably missing something obvious. "Pugli has resources you cannot imagine. Tapping and tracing phone calls is easier than child's play. That is reason number one. But more to the point, none of us has a cell phone. Not like you, or other people whom you would consider normal citizens. Cell phones are the singleeasiest way to track a person. The phone doesn't even have to be engaged in a call—with the right software and expertise, one can triangulate a cell phone's location as long as that device is powered on."
"So, but…" I frown again, shaking my head. "You took the battery out and threw away the SIM card. How will they be able to reach you?"
"They do not reach me; I reach them. Sophia will receive a notification, power on a specific device, and wait for me to call again within a specific window of time."
"And that window of time is what?"
"Seven minutes and thirty seconds from the end of the coded message."
I glance at the dashboard clock. "Three minutes have elapsed."
"I know." He opens the console between our seats, produces a plastic card containing multiple SIM cards, punches one free, and hands it to me as the dot representing the car Jakob is in leaves the freeway, a few miles ahead. "Put that into the phone, if you would, please."
"Um, sure." I reassemble the phone, but do not power it on.
Nico watches the dot closely, taking the same exit and remaining several miles back, well out of sight. When he's sure they're continuing down the state highway, he indicates me with a flicked finger. "Power it on, if you please, and then give it to me."
I do so, and he dials another pre-saved speed dial entry. This time, he puts the phone to his ear as it rings. "Sophia, hello. Are you with the whole crew?"
He listens, glances at me, and then puts the device on speaker. "Sophia, you are on speaker. With me is Brys Bennet, who has been… traveling…with…Jakob." He pauses before he says the name again, as if saying it were strange and unnatural.
The voice that greets me isn't exactly cold, but it is cool and professional, faintly Hispanic-accented. "Miss Bennett." I think she intends this as a greeting. "When Nico says traveling, I assume that means you have been unwillingly drawn into our ongoing web of difficulties involving one Roberto Pugli."
I snort. "Ongoing web of difficulties," I echo. "That's one way of putting it. But sure, yeah, call it that. Jakob literally ran into me, tried to act like we were just a couple making out in an alley, and now people are shooting at me. I've seen the contents of not one but two men’s skulls. I’ve been chased, shot at, and pulled out of cars. But yes. Ongoing web of difficulties is certainly one way of putting it, Sophia."
The silence that ensues is thick and tense. "He kissed you?"
"To distract the killers pursuing him through the streets of Manhattan, yes."
Another pause. "Jakob Kasparek…kissedyou."
"That's his real name, huh? Jakob Kasparek? Not Caleb Indigo?"
