“What’s it to you, Asa?”
His brother looked at him hard. “Women get in the way. You know that. Or you did. Now look at you. Pillar of the community. Philanthropist. Job creator. Tight-assed tycoon with custom-built closets full of tasteful shit. You were on track to become a major criminal. What happened to you, my brother?”
“You already know everything about me. I don’t want to bore you with the recap.” He gestured toward the space in the booth next to Sisko. “Sit.”
Asa slid into the booth, staring. “Weird, how much you look like Dad now.”
“I don’t want to talk about the past,” Noah said. “It’s dead and gone.”
Asa pondered that for a moment. “If you want to talk about that tip I gave you the other day, I can’t discuss my sources.” His eyes flicked to Caro. “Not in front of unvetted strangers, anyway.”
“Forget it. I don’t give a shit about that right now.”
Only stillness betrayed Asa’s surprise. “I see,” he said. “You don’t want to talk about the past. You don’t care about the mess I just saved you from, including that stupid engagement. So why am I here?”
“What do you know about my engagement?” Noah snapped.
“That the buttoned up blond chick was all wrong for you. What were you thinking?” His eyes flicked to Caro. “Was this the one who convinced you?”
Caro calmly returned his scrutiny, refusing to drop her gaze. It took some effort.
Asa’s gaze slid over Caro’s cuts and bruises, then turned his gaze to Noah’s scabbed knuckles, the long scrape on his cheekbone. “Rough night?”
“That’s why we’re here,” Noah said.
Asa’s large, square fingernails tapped on the tabletop. “So? Tell me.”
Noah looked at Caro. “Go ahead.”
“It’s a long story,” Caro said.
“I get it.” Asa said. “Not your story. It’s her story. You didn’t call me to help my family. You want me to do a favor for your new girlfriend. For fuck’s sake.”
“You can leave,” Noah said. “Feel free.”
“Hell no. I’m curious. What could be so scary that a pack of bad-ass mutant freaks have to beg a low-life thug like me for help?”
Noah didn’t answer.
“Spill it,” Asa said. “If you want anything from me, I require full disclosure. Real name. Verifiable details. And be warned. I can smell bullshit a mile away.”
“My full name is Caroline Anne Bishop,” Caro said. “Eighteen months ago, that was the name on my driver’s license and passport. Before Mark Olund stole my life.”
“Mark Olund,” Asa mused. “I believe that was a post-Midlands alias. Right? But not one of your core group.”
“He broke off from our group a few months after the rebellion,” Noah said. “He went on alone.”
“And became a--?”
“Criminal. He’s good at it. Rich. Not as rich as you.”
“Huh. He wasn’t around when I started my surveillance on you guys.”
“How in the hell did you do that without us noticing?” Sisko sounded personally insulted.
“Some other time, Sisko. You can buy me a beer,” Asa said. “Focus. Tell the damn story.”
Caro did. Asa’s eyes took on a look similar to Noah’s when he was on AVP; both far away and laser-focused. Caro faltered when she came to the part about the belly dance at Angel Industries, but Asa’s eyes gleamed with enjoyment.
“You came in to shake your stuff during the meeting with Batello and the blonde? Wish I could have seen their faces.” He turned his gaze on Noah. “But let’s stay on topic. Why am I here?”
“We’re not done.” Noah went on to recount the events of the last few days. “When we make contact, Mark will follow us right back through our security,” he concluded. “There’s no keeping him out. The minute he figures out who he’s dealing with, he’ll try to control us by hurting Luke. Assuming Luke is still alive. That’s what we have to prevent.”
“OK.” Asa thought for a few seconds. “You need a proxy with a solid backstory that stands up to stellar hacking. Nice to know I’m so believable as a ruthless villain. I’m a data pirate, not a kidnapper.”
Noah shrugged. “Don’t take it personally. I just don’t know anyone better. Or worse, as the case may be. And an opportunist is an opportunist.”
Asa snorted. “Fuck you, Noah.”
“Didn’t know you were so sensitive,” Noah murmured.
“Neither did I,” Asa admitted. “Did you tell Hannah about my text message?”
“Yes,” Noah replied. “She wants to see you.”
“Ah.” Asa stared down at the table for a moment. “So what makes you think that I could pull this off?”
“Everything about you,” Sisko said. “I checked you out. You’re the perfect bad boy. We liked the data mining, the secret data auctions, the luxury properties. And you gotta tell me how you keep such a low personal profile. It was hard as hell to find a recent picture of you.”