“Thank fuck for that,” Resnick muttered. “I’ve learned your favors have a pattern of me nearly getting killed.”
“You’re still alive,” Sam pointed out. “Look, what if I told you that we’re about to take Maksimov down for good and there’s a good possibility that we’ll take A New Era down with him.”
There was a strangled choke as if he’d just inhaled a drag from his cigarette and it poured out of his mouth and nostrils in an excited rush. “You’re shitting me. No fucking way. You’re out of your goddamn mind.”
Then his voice became suspicious. “We’ve been after Maksimov for years. Hell, everyone has been after that bastard for years, and no one has ever gotten close enough to him to bring him down without dying.”
“You’re acquainted with Titan,” Sam said mildly, knowing the reminder would only piss Resnick off. “Hancock in particular. And Hancock has been hunting him for a very long time. He’s gotten close on two occasions only to let him go to avoid getting an innocent killed.”
Resnick snorted. “Hancock would sell out his own mother to achieve his mission.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong,” Sam said, his voice deadly soft, suggesting insultingly that Resnick didn’t know fuck-all about Hancock. “Maksimov fucked up big this time. He has something very valuable to Hancock, and trust me when I say Maksimov is a dead man.”
“Tell me how Maksimov gets us ANE.” Excitement edged Resnick’s voice and Sam could hear the inhales and sharp exhales of repeated cigarette drags.
“Can’t promise anything, but what Maksimov has that Hancock wants is also what ANE wants and will pay a lot of money to get. The plan was to stage the exchange, take out Maksimov and then set up a similar exchange with ANE.”
“A FUBAR then,” Resnick accurately guessed.
“Exactly.
“What is it that Maksimov has that both Hancock and ANE want so desperately?” Resnick asked.
“A woman,” Sam said quietly.
Resnick groaned. “Fuck me. A woman? You Kellys and goddamn women. Swear to God.” And then as if what Sam had truly said sank in, shock registered. “Hancock has lost his shit over a woman?”
There was a long pause as Resnick took his time to sort through all the what the fucks Sam knew were circling his mind.
“Okay, so as shocking as it is that Hancock would lose his shit over a woman, what the fuck could ANE possibly want with this same woman?”
“Honor Cambridge ring a bell?” Sam asked.
“Of course. She was killed in an attack ANE took credit for. It was a relief center. Mostly Western volunteers and doctors and nurses.”
“She survived.”
“The hell she did,” Resnick sputtered. “There were no survivors.”
“She lived,” Sam said quietly. “Not only did she live, but she evaded capture for over a week. She made ANE look like weak fools. They lost a lot of face and she became a beacon of hope to an oppressed people. ANE wants her and they want her bad. ANE fucked Maksimov over in a deal. Not ever a good idea. Bristow, the man Hancock was working for undercover as a way to Maksimov, learned of Honor’s survival and sent Hancock to get to her before ANE did. Bristow wanted favor in Maksimov’s organization. So he was going to give Honor to Maksimov, and then Maksimov was going to give Honor back to ANE for a hell of a lot more money than they originally fucked him out of.”
“Okay,” Resnick said thoughtfully. “That all makes sense. Right up to the part about Hancock losing his shit because Maksimov has the woman Hancock planned to hand over to him from the very start.”