Veil (56 page)

“The seller!” Suren blurted out. “The actual
seller!”

“Precisely.” Ken snapped his fingers. “Only
that person could know the memory came from Jin and was
potentially—hell, probably—lethal. I asked Mariano to try to
remember carefully if the caller said ‘my’ memory or ‘the’ memory
and Mariano said he was specific, he said over and over ‘the’
memory.”

“The person knew the memory didn’t actually
belong to the seller.” Hunter was beginning to catch up with the
other two.

“Yep,” Ken smiled. “The only person who could
possibly know that was the seller. Other than myself, the only
person who could know the memory was Jin’s and that it was lethal
was the person responsible for it being out there. Maybe they had a
change of heart or something. I don’t know. But what I was willing
to bet was that the seller and Jin’s killer weren’t the same
person. I always assumed that was the case but I suddenly needed to
rethink it. There’s no way the man we’ve come to know, as little as
we do know, as Jin’s killer would have a sudden change of heart
like that. No way he would decide after a year that he didn’t want
anyone to get hurt. Whoever sold the memory was not Jin’s killer. I
was damn sure of it.”

“So? What does that mean?” Suren asked,
genuinely lost.

“It meant that Jin’s murderer was eventually
going to get wind of the fact that the memory was floating around
out there, like I did. And, knowing that type of person, knowing
how their ego operates, he’d come looking for it. Eventually. Like
you did, Suren. Certain people, simply because of who they were,
would go looking for that memory. I knew that.”

Suren nodded. Now she understood.

“It would be too much for him to resist.
Hell, if only to make sure the memory didn’t implicate him somehow.
So, what I told Mariano was that there actually
was
something wrong with the memory and that it put me in the hospital.
I told him it didn’t kill me but there was definitely something
wrong with it. I told him maybe, to protect both our asses, he
should at least warn people it was a vFlatline memory before they
bought it. Of course, he didn’t like hearing that but being the
businessman he is, he knew it was better than someone winding up
crazy or dead and it coming back to him.”

Suren nodded again, “Even when that little
man was faced with me, all he cared about was his bottom line. That
little rodent is all business, from top to bottom.”

Ken smiled and went on, “Right? I knew the
business angle would get him. So, I told him from then on he was to
inform everyone who inquired about the memory what risk it involved
and then to let me know every time it happened. He was to let me
know every time someone inquired. For the next three
months
,
maybe ten or fifteen people
inquired about the memory but after being told it was a vFlatline,
they naturally passed on it. Then
,
a few
months later I got another call from Mariano about some guy who
called and asked about the memory. He wanted to buy it over the
phone and have it delivered through his vHost at home. Mariano told
him it was possible but then explained the risks of it. He said the
guy was kind of fishy and asked a lot of questions and then hung
up. After he told me about that call my ears were all kinds of
perked up.”

“Ok, ok, so what happened? You’re starting to
drive me crazy,” Suren blurted.

“I’m getting to it, lady!” he jokingly
snapped. “So, the guy calls back a few days later, right? Same guy,
Mariano was sure of it. Said he wanted to buy the memory. But
wanted to do it over the phone and do the Veil through his own
vHost. He requested to schedule an appointment with the
Vault
,
so there was an exact time when it
could take place. Mariano contacted me and we scheduled it. The
time came and the guy networked-in. My host generated a key for
authentication and as soon as Mariano notified me the payment went
through, the guy uploaded his Witness, shadowed me
,
and got the memory.”

“And?” Hunter asked, beating Suren to it.
They both looked ready to crawl out of their skin.

“Calm down, you already know this doesn’t
lead anywhere. But, yeah, I let the person Veil me and I delivered
the memory to them. I figured it had to be Jin’s killer, because
only he would want it that badly. I sent it and then after I
recovered … after I was nursed back to health,” he nodded at
Hunter, “I looked the guy up by his VSN.”

“And?” Suren asked.

Ken pointed to the first name on the list,
“Don’t you recognize it?”

They both looked at the name and shook their
heads, looking more lost than ever.

“General Coffman’s trial,” he tried to lead
them.

They both kept shaking their heads.

“Coffman said he never met the guy he hired
because…” he continued to lead them.

“Jackson Page!” Suren shouted out and pointed
to the screen. Hunter’s eyes lit up as well.

“Yes!” Ken barked and clapped his hands
together once. “Jackson Page. Coffman’s contact for the
gun-for-hire and obviously not a coincidence.”

“They could never find him
,
though,” Suren remembered out loud
.
Ten years or not, she couldn’t believe she forgot
his name.

“Nope, but no need now, because he’s dead.
Death from trauma.”

“Ok,” Hunter spoke up. “So then what?”

“Then the second call came, about a year
later. Same guy, Mariano said. He wanted to buy the memory again.
Wanted to schedule another appointment and do it all over the
phone. Mariano said he never heard of such a thing—someone buying a
memory twice. But he figured he should talk to me about it. I told
him to schedule it.”

Although she knew it didn’t lead anywhere,
Suren wanted to get to the end. It hadn’t led Ken anywhere in six
years
,
but she still wanted all of it. She
wanted to know everything Ken knew. She felt if she had all of it,
she somehow had more of Jin.

“And?” she yipped.

“And same exact thing. The guy networked-in
and his vPort obtained the authentication key from my host. When
Mariano notified me the payment went through, we completed the
Veil. After I recovered, I did my legwork again, and it turned up
the second name on the list, which I don’t expect either of you two
to recognize. He is … or was … a plastic surgeon. A pretty shady
plastic surgeon. I’m sure I don’t have to lead you all the way down
that road, do I?”

“If I’m following all this,” Suren got up and
paced the room, “the man who killed Jin is using Jin’s memory to
eliminate anyone who can identify him?”

“You got it.”

“What about the third?” Hunter interjected
and looked at Suren. “You said there was a third.”

“A third?” Ken perked up.

“Yeah. On the list Mariano gave me, there
were three sales listed. Not two. Three. Three.”

“Hmmm, no there were definitely only two. I
think Hunter and I would both remember,” Ken frowned and shook his
head.

“I’d definitely fucking remember,” Hunter
huffed
.

Without saying anything, Suren left the
office. Hunter and Ken looked at each other, and Hunter shrugged.
When Suren returned
,
she was carrying her
purse. She plopped onto the couch, placed her purse on her
lap
,
and unzipped it. She pulled out a
folded sheet of paper
.
Suren opened it,
leaned forward
,
and tossed it face up onto
Ken’s desk
.

“Three.”

Ken looked down at the sheet of paper with
the four names on it. When he got to the third name, his eyes
widened.

“Holy shit! … Shit!” he cried out and went
for his laptop. His hands vibrated
.

Suren and Hunter scooted forward on the couch
until they were on the edge
.
Ken’s
excitement was magnetic; it drew them closer and closer to the
desk. Ken fiddled with his laptop and turned it around. One of the
videos he showed them earlier was paused on the screen. He held up
Suren’s piece of paper, with a finger underneath the third
name
.

“That—” he pointed at the security guard who
rushed into the elevator when Jin was discovered inside, “—is Royce
Houze.”

H
e didn’t know how
long they stood there and stared at each other, but he suddenly
remembered it was his turn to speak.

“Ms. Tsay, please,” he wailed, “puh—”

“Don’t you say my name. Don’t you dare say MY
NAME,” she howled and released the last two words with such a force
that her voice deepened by countless octaves, and he swore it shook
the panes of glass in his door.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He lowered his head
and looked down at her feet. He put one hand out in front of him,
his palm facing her. “But please, please, puh—puh please.”

He was still staring at her feet when he saw
her take a step forward, so he took a step back. She kept coming
toward him, so he walked backwards and slowly raised his head to
look at her, his arm still outstretched. She was pointing the gun
at him, holding it with both hands.

“Do not speak to me, unless I ask a question.
I have nothing to hear from the man who stole and sold my husband’s
last memory,” she yelled while she walked forward. “The memory of
his brain getting ripped in half. That man has no right to speak in
the presence of the GREAT WIDOW TSAY.”

Her boom of a voice was unwavering in its
dominance. She lifted one foot behind her and kicked the door
closed. It slammed hard enough to knock everything in the room off
of the walls. She ignored the sounds of crashing and glass
breaking
.

He didn’t know what to do. He had to make her
understand, but every time he spoke she became more and more irate.
He didn’t know what to do other than kneel down before her and kiss
her feet. So, he did. Not because she was pointing a gun at him,
but because the wrath and fury of the Great Widow Tsay could bring
the strongest of men to their knees. Her presence was a flaming
chariot
,
and her voice was a tornado.

As he went to touch her feet, she raised her
right arm and swung down, bringing the butt of the gun into the
side of his head. It sent him tumbling over as blood streamed down
his cheek and forehead.

She spat in his face and hissed, “Don’t you
ever fucking touch me, you piece of filth.” After she said the word
‘filth
,
’ she turned her head away from him
and spat again, as if she decided he wasn’t even worthy of her
spit.

“Puh … puh—” he tried to plead, but was too
scared to form any words. He would’ve rather suffered at the hands
of the rest of the world for what he did than have to face the
Widow Tsay. He hoped she would pull the trigger. He almost begged
her to pull it. Tears ran down his face.

“Oh,” she laughed manically. “Are those tears
of fear or tears of guilt? Tears of shame? I can’t tell.” She
walked around him and surveyed the room. She refused to sit on
anything in that man’s home. She preferred to stand.

“This doesn’t look like the home of a man who
earned one million dollars for the memory of the Great Jin Tsay,”
she mocked him. “It looks like the home of a RAT!”

He was still lying upon the floor on his
side, so she kicked him in the small of his back with the tip of
her high heel. He groaned.

“Such a big man. Selling the memory of my
dying, defenseless husband. Look at you, such a big man.” She
crouched down next to him. Through her clenched jaw, she growled
her words, which sent spittle flying from between her teeth. “Who
do you think you are? Who the fuck are you? You’re nothing.”

She stood up, walked around to his
head
,
and pointed the gun at his face.
Still lying on his side, he looked up at her from the corner of his
eye. Blood continued to stream down his face and pooled on the
floor.

Unable to hold it in anymore, he finally let
go. “Do it! Do it please! Please do it! I can’t take it
.
I can’t take it anymore. I didn’t know what to do. I
didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to help.
Just help. Please just kill me
.
I can’t do
it myself. Please kill me. I killed the Great Jin Tsay. I deserve
to die, please kill me! Puh—”

To shut him the fuck up, Suren shrieked and
pulled the trigger.

As he begged her to kill him, she felt a
twinge of disgust and something close to pity, although she would
not let herself pity that creature. She lowered the gun slightly,
and as she pulled the trigger the bullet missed his head by a
little over an inch. It was enough to shut him up, and that was
good enough for her. All she wanted was for him to shut up. She
wished his shutting-up would last forever. However, what he said to
her, what she heard, she could not let slide. She would make him
explain.