Chapter 15 · Ghost Signal - Chapter 15: Who Did Old Yuan Sell?

Old Yuan's safe house smells like burnt wire and old cigarettes. The kind of place you go when you need something no one else will give you.

I kick the door open. Qin's blood is still on my hands.

"Yuan!" My voice bounces off corrugated metal walls. The market district's supposed to be neutral ground. Safe. That's what everyone says until someone pays better.

Zero-Seven flickers in my peripheral, a shimmer of light that shouldn't exist outside my skull. "Lin. Weapon signature, left corner. Two more behind the server rack."

I don't ask how she knows. I'm done asking.

Old Yuan steps out from behind a stack of datachips, hands up, that same greasy smile he always wears. "Lin-ah, you look upset. Bad day?"

"You sold me." I don't pull my gun yet. I want to hear him say it.

He shrugs. "Business. You understand."

"Who bought?"

"Now that's premium information." He taps his temple. "Costs extra."

Zero-Seven pulses red in my vision. "He's stalling. The shooters are moving."

I draw. Yuan's smile doesn't even twitch.

"Put that away, girl. You need what I've got." He nods toward the back room. "The files you came for?