Chapter 30 · Debt Comes Due

Ryan kicked in the door to Derek's rathole apartment and found him strapped to a chair with a device clamped around his neck.

Not strapped. Welded. The restraints were fused directly into the chair frame, and the thing on Derek's throat had status lights blinking amber and red. Derek's eyes tracked him but his head didn't move. Couldn't move.

"Took you long enough." Derek's voice came out hoarse. "Door was unlocked."

"Yeah, well, I was busy watching your face on every screen in the district." Ryan circled the chair. The neck device had corp-grade casing and a countdown timer he couldn't read from this angle. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Kill switch. Verner's insurance policy." Derek tried to laugh and it came out as a cough. "She locked it before she ran. One hour till it fries every implant in my body. Neural port, pain regulators, the works. All of it goes active at once."

Ryan crouched to get a better look. The device had three separate locks and a biometric scanner. "She did this because you sold her out?"

"I didn't sell her out. I sold *you* out. She just found out about it." Derek's jaw clenched.