Polaris Read Free

decorated the chandelier centered over the table.
    More noticeable than the decor were the two men standing behind the crime lord. Jeth couldn’t see any weapons, but he knew they were armed. He cocked an eyebrow at Wainwright. “I thought this was supposed to be a private game? Looks more like an interrogation.”
    â€œI find life itself enough of a gamble.” Wainwright waved to the man to his right. “Check him, Albert.”
    The man came around the table at once and began to pat Jeth down. As Jeth had hoped, Albert checked his pockets, soon pulling out the token. He tossed it onto the table.
    Wainwright scooped it up with one small, feminine hand and examined it. “Is this what I think it is?”
    Jeth adjusted his jacket and sat down. “We are here about the cipher, yeah?” He grabbed a grape off the tray and popped it into his mouth, doing his best to stifle a moan ofpleasure as the taste burst over his tongue.
    Wainwright cleared his throat. “I’d prefer to think of the cipher as just the opener.”
    Jeth’s hand stilled midreach for another grape.
    â€œWhat does he mean?” Lizzie’s voice whispered in his ear.
    Jeth recovered quickly, but instead of a grape he picked up a die from beside the tray, its gold and silver surface glittering even in the murky light as he rolled it between his fingers. “I don’t recall any talk about further business. The deal was for the cipher.”
    â€œIt was .” Wainwright picked up the pipe resting in the stand next to his elbow and took a long drag, filling his cheeks with smoke that he let out slowly a moment later. “But from what I hear you have something much more valuable to offer than the Mirage Cipher.”
    Jeth slid the die into his pocket for safekeeping then leaned back in his chair as if bored. Beneath his cool surface, his heartbeat began to quicken, sweat stinging his armpits. “Hate to contradict you, but you heard wrong.”
    Wainwright set the pipe down and brushed off ash from the sleeve of his pinstriped suit. “I have it from a reliable source that you possess something of great importance to the ITA, something to do with the failing metatech.”
    Jeth didn’t move, didn’t breathe, not until he managed to corral the thoughts stampeding through his mind. He knows about the Aether Project . Word was bound to get out sooner or later that Jeth possessed a data crystal that contained all of the ITA’s secrets about space travel and the metatech that made itpossible. But the timing couldn’t have been worse.
    He composed himself. How much did Wainwright know? If all he knew about was the data, things would be okay. But if he knew about Cora . . .
    With a deep inhale Jeth let a slow, cocky smile stretch across his lips. “No offense, but if I had something that valuable, I wouldn’t be wasting time on a deal as small as this one.”
    Wainwright rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his dark mustache, his expression inscrutable. “Perhaps. But my source was quite reliable. An undercover ITA special operative one of my captains found tracking an unknown target, one he later revealed to be you. He was a tough one, didn’t want to tell me what he was after, but it’s amazing how forthcoming a man can become when you start to remove his skin.”
    Jeth was too familiar with crime lords and their methods to react. He widened his grin, baring teeth. “Oh, I’m sure he talked a right storm, but you should know better than to believe he was telling the truth. ITA special ops don’t break so easily. He fed you a story. An easy one to swallow, given my reputation, but that doesn’t make it any more true.”
    Wainwright let out an exaggerated sigh. “I sincerely hope not. If you don’t have the information I’m after, there’s no point in our talking further.”
    Trying to ignore the flush spreading up his neck,