The Austin Job Read Free Page B

Austin. I’m a private consultant, making you a—”
    “A hired informant. I got it. Sheesh. And I assume I’m not supposed to ask what that contraption was?”
    Lickter nodded. “You’re supposed to tell me what Oleg’s got planned and get the hell out of here before we’re seen together.”
    “It’s my ass on the line.”
    “Report.”
    Lickter’s mole kicked a discarded tin can with his boot. “There isn’t much. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
    Using his imposing size, Lickter stepped close enough for the cocky greenling to smell the onions on his breath. “What the hell do you think I’ve been paying—”
    “He’s been focusing everything on the auction, tomorrow.” the mole said.
    “For the love of all things, I’m the one who told you that!”
    “But…”
    “But?” Lickter couldn’t believe this kid’s flare for the dramatic.
    “He’s got us all gathering tonight.”
    Lickter perked up. “A pep talk?”
    “Maybe, but I think it’s something else.”
    “What else?” Nearly throttling the kid, Lickter chose instead to run his hand under the brim of his hat. “Give me something I can work with. Where’s his lab?”
    “I don’t know, okay. I’m working on it.”
    “Working? Courting co-eds at a bar downtown—”
    “Hey, she’s close to him,” the mole defended himself. “Anyway, we get further instructions tonight. All hands on deck. Trust me, this is it. He always gets like this just before.”
    “Like what?”
    “Angry. Self-righteous.” The mole shook his head. “The little prig. He keeps talking about the cleansing fires. I think he’s snapped.”
    Lickter backed off and twiddled the toothpick dangling from his lips. “Alright, good job. But make sure you’re on time tomorrow. If this guy’s about to go off half-cocked, I need to know about it.”
    Cheers and thunderous applause arose from the street. “That’s my cue.” The mole disappeared around the back of the building while Lickter crept cautiously toward the ruckus.
    “Protestors.” Lickter surveyed the scene from behind empty vegetable crates. The crowd was over a hundred people and growing—a mixture of farmers on foot and horseback peppered with students. His mole popped out from the next alley down and joined their ranks without a hiccup. The little pain in the ass is a good actor, I’ll give him that .
    It wasn’t until he himself decided to join the crowd that he spotted the focus of the adulation. The sight nearly caused him to bite his toothpick in half.

THREE
    Warming Up

    Before Starr could duck back into the restaurant, Oleg gripped him by the elbow. Twisting it, the diminutive professor slipped behind the much larger senator and levered him into the midst of the mob. Moments later cheering students had filled the void behind them. Oleg released his grip and smiled, waving to his fans with one hand and embracing Starr with the other.
    In the time it took Starr to swallow the bite of sausage in his mouth, he’d been politically tied to an anarchist ringleader over the largest and most explosive issue of the day. It felt worse than drawing the local flea-bitten nag at the rodeo finals. Then at least he could’ve ridden out the eight seconds doing his best to put on an elaborate show for the crowd. Without any better ideas he decided to do just that. Rodchenko wasn’t the winning ride, but if he rode what he was given he might still taste prize money.
    Smiling, he followed Rodchenko’s lead as the two men swam deeper into the cheering ocean, bobbing up and down amid chants and placards. Before he knew it, the human wave crested down Sixth Street, headed for Congress Avenue and the heart of the downtown financial district. The closer they got, the worse his scar twitched.
    The angry contingent of tenant farmers represented the 53% of the farming profession statewide who worked land they didn’t own. After two straight years of terrible drought they’d been saddled with an untenable burden.