"Not a good trade." Sterling craned his neck. "Untie me, and I might think about it."
"That's not gonna happen until we develop some trust." Koda tilted his head. "I'm not a bad guy, here. I do a lot of good things for our country."
Nick snorted.
Sterling laughed. "Trying to extract my intel isn't good. Even the government doesn't try to do that with the shit that's not on paper. They have to sign documents, get court orders, have congressional hearings, then bring me in and have civilized conversations."
Koda leaned back and raised his hands. "This can be civilized. If you want it to be. Just start talking." He pointed to one of the armed men that Sterling didn't know. "I'll get my guy to start recording, and we'll make it all official like."
"You're a regular diplomat," Nick said.
"Open your mouth again, and I'll have someone shut it for you. Permanently." Koda nodded his head at one of the guards, who marched over to Nick and pistol whipped him.
Nick twisted, his body slumped to the concrete. Groaning, he managed to right himself to a sitting position. He spat, blood spewing from his mouth.
"I don't like using force," Koda said. "It's one of the many reasons I went along with Doyle's plan."
"I never liked it," Rutgers said, but he didn't move from his position. Didn't even look up.
"It was a good plan. I'm sure even Sterling would agree." Doyle rubbed the back of his neck.
"It wasn't the worst," Sterling said.
"Well, it didn't work. And the thing is, I've wanted you in my organization. I've wanted that for a long time. Approaching you would've been crazy. You'd have turned me in faster than Superman could leap a tall building. But there are other ways to own a man."
"And how's that?" Sterling asked.
"Pressure points," Doyle mumbled. "Weak spots. Or having you work for him unknowingly. Doing something illegal and then having him hold it over your head for years."
"Is that what he did with you?" Sterling asked.
"Not exactly, but that's what I was doing with you," Doyle admitted. "If you had taken the job, it wouldn't have been straight forward because Granger is dirty as fuck. But it would have put you between a rock and a hard place because you would have crossed lines you couldn't have come back from."
Koda let out a long breath and lowered his head. "I'll deal with you later."
"I'm sure you will," Doyle said, fists dangling at his sides.
Sterling stole a glance at Nick who tilted his head.
Interesting dynamic in the room. Sterling would need to figure out how to exploit it because as of right now, he wasn’t going to be able to fight his way out of here.
"It doesn't have to be like this." Koda leaned back and crossed his legs.
"What do you have in mind?"
"You could come work for me. I'd even bring Colter on, too."
"Let's say I was interested," Sterling said. "What would that look like?"
"You'd both stay where you are. That wouldn't change. You'd continue doing whatever it is you do. But when I needsomething, you do it. And when I need what's useful in that brain of yours, you freely give it. To whoever I tell you to. And you don't question me. Ever."
"You honestly thought I'd just agree to that?" Sterling twisted his wrists.
"No. But I wanted to give the option." Koda shifted, pulling a cell from his back pocket. He tapped the screen and then pressed it to his ear. "Bring her in."
Sterling froze. He'd gladly die for a lot of people in this world. It wasn't just because it's who he’d been trained to be. It was who he was at his core. But there were only two women in his life that he would do absolutely anything for without even asking why he was doing it.
His mother, and now, Juniper.
