Chapter 46: Terms Of Engagement
"Step away from the door and back off slowly," the woman said, her gun steady.
Nathan obeyed, taking slow steps backward while maintaining eye contact. His hands stayed visible, palms open.
"You really don’t have to do this, you know," he said casually.
"I think I do," she shot back, closing the door. "Take a seat."
Nathan lowered himself onto the couch. The woman’s grey eyes rested on him, taking in his appearance like she was trying to solve a puzzle.
"Nathan Ledger. In the flesh."
Nathan offered a small smile. "Glad to see you too, Detective Della."
Della was silent for a moment. "What are you doing?"
Nathan looked around the suite as if the answer was obvious. "I’m enjoying myself?"
"That’s not—" She let out a sigh. "Why and how are you out of prison?"
Nathan raised his eyebrows and leaned back. "Why? Because I want to clear my name? And as for how..." He paused, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I got a tattoo of the prison layout."
Della wasn’t amused. "Did your sponsor have anything to do with the attack on the prison?"
"What? No," Nathan replied. His eyes moved to the gun in her hand. "Now can you put the gun down?"
"Why? Because from where I’m standing, you’re a suspect and an escaped convict," Della said, watching him intently.
"Is that so?" Nathan asked with a smile."Because from where I’m sitting..."
He crossed his legs. "You’re the cop still going after a case despite what your superiors have told you."
Della faltered for a moment. "How do you know that?"
"Does it matter? The important thing is we both want something, and we can both screw the other."
Della studied him for a long moment. "How do I know you aren’t planning on running?"
Nathan held her gaze. "Please. If I wanted to run I wouldn’t be in the penthouse suite in a luxurious hotel in Arkis."
"Besides... " He pulled up his pant leg, revealing the black tracking anklet wrapped around his ankle.
Della stared at it. A slow smile spread across her face. "Well, well," she muttered. "Seems someone doesn’t want you running either."
She kept her gun trained on him. "But that could be a trick. You might have put it on yourself to lower my guard."
Nathan shrugged. "True but you got the encrypted message right?"
Della studied him for a moment, her grey eyes narrowing. "Yes... That was you?"
"My doing, yes," Nathan replied.
Della relaxed, lowering her gun. "Of all the names you could have picked. Kalled Creed?"
"I had to make things interesting right?" he said.
Della rolled her eyes. "All you did was rearrange the letters in my name."
Nathan’s lips curved into a faint smile. "Imitation is the sincerity form of flattery or how they say it."
Della scoffed, keeping her gun in it’s holster. "Now," she said, folding her arms. "Tell me the information you have on Specter."
Nathan leaned forward. "Of course. But I have conditions."
Della raised an eyebrow. "Conditions?"
"Yes. The first condition is that you treat me as an equal in this investigation and you don’t turn me in obviously."
He paused, letting the weight of the words settle.
Della studied him for a moment. "Very well but I also have conditions too."
"I would expect nothing less," Nathan replied.
"Mine is simple. I do this by the book. No breaking the law," Della said.
Nathan raised a hand. "Excluding the ones I’ve broken right?"
Della’s eyes narrowed. "Yes."
Nathan smiled.
Della paused, her grey eyes hardening. "And no revenge on your friends or Specter?"
Nathan hesitated for a moment. "Why is that a condition?"
"Because I know it’d probably crossed your mind. But I want this done with the law," Della said. "Justice will prevail."
Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Considering justice has fucked me up before..." he let the words trail off.
Della did not waver, resting her eyes on him. "Do I have your word? No revenge."
Nathan sighed. "Very well, I give you my word. I will not lay a hand on them."
Della searched his face for several seconds, apparently weighing whether she believed him.
Finally, she extended her hand and Nathan shook it.
The moment their hands separated, Nathan made a mental note to buy some knives and bladed weapons.
I won’t lay a hand on them but I’m definitely getting that payback.
"Now," Della said. "What does Specter have on you or what did he offer you?"
"Nothing," Nathan replied.
Della frowned. "You told me you have info–"
"And I do but you have it wrong." Nathan replied, his expression slowly darkening. "I didn’t confess willingly, I was forced to."
A confused look appeared on Della’s face. "Forced to? Like a threat?"
Nathan shook his head then explained the incident during the courtroom.
Della listened, her eyes parting in surprise and realization. When Nathan was done explaining, there was a silence that hung in the air as she processed the words.
"An ability that forces you to speak," She said with a slightly surprised tone.
"Maybe even more than that," Nathan said quietly.
Della was silent for a moment. "Then I’ve been going about it all wrong." She furrowed her eyebrows. "But he’s not registered as a meta."
Nathan scoffed and crossed his arms. "The registration relies on an individual willingly going to the bureau. There most likely exist heroes and vigilantes that the public doesn’t know their powers."
"And given his choice of profession with an ability like that, of course he’d keep it a secret," Della added with a thoughtful look.
Nathan looked at her. "And if he managed to operate for this long, there’s a good chance he has connections. Maybe law enforcement."
Della remained silent and that told Nathan what he needed to know.
He smiled faintly. "So I’m guessing we’re on the same page."
Della sat down and folded her arms. "It would seem so."
Nathan leaned back. "So what’s the plan? Get him to confess on tape? Cause I don’t see how we can get him to use his powers. It’s not exactly flashy."
Della frowned. "Video evidence isn’t that simple anymore. A competent defense attorney could argue that the footage was fabricated or generated."
Nathan frowned, considering it. "So what do you propose?"
"I don’t know, yet," Della replied.
Nathan’s brows knitted in thought. He opened his phone and sent a message to Moe.
[Do you know any good hackers]
Della looked at him, curiosity lined on her face." What are you doing?"
"We need more information," Nathan replied without looking up.
Moe’s response came seconds later.
[@ISimpForLadyMight : Yes I do but he’s a bit strange and quite pricey.]
[No problem.]
Moe sent a link and also gave him a code and also informed Nathan he still hadn’t found a building yet. Nathan sent a thumbs emoji and thanked him.
He opened the link on his laptop and it was a website with a chat box.
The page looked like something generated without any effort which made Nathan doubt for a moment.
But he found the section of the page that looked like a chat box and clicked it. The page asked for a code and he inputted the one Moe gave him.
He sent a message requesting for services but didn’t get a response immediately so he turned to Della.
"How much do you know about Specter?"
Della scratched her temples. "I know the basic stuff. His education, his parents, associates, wife and kid–"
Nathan narrowed his eyes. "He’s married?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... can’t we talk to his wife? She probably knows something," Nathan said.
"She might be loyal to her husband," Della said. "And even if she wasn’t, we can’t talk to her."
Nathan frowned. "Why not?"
"I tried talking to her one time and she closed up," Della said with a shrug. "And as you know, I’ve been warned not to investigate him so I can’t be speaking with his family."
Nathan smiled. "That sounds like a problem. I can do the talking."
Della shook her head. "It’s too risky."
Nathan let out a sigh. "We need other options then."
A response came on his laptop screen.
[I don’t work cheaply.]
Nathan smiled and sent a reply. [I’m aware. How much are you looking for?]
[I’m interested in a certain item that’ll be auctioned soon.]
[If you can get it for me, I’ll get you the information you want.]
Della had already stood up to come see what Nathan was doing as he typed a response.
[What’s the item and when is the auction?]
A response came showing the image of a manuscript with the date, location and time of the auction.
Nathan nodded and sent a response.
[How much does the item cost?]
The typing indicator appeared on the other end for several seconds.
[Does it matter?]
[If you’re rich enough to afford my services then it shouldn’t be an issue.]
[Now can I get your request?]
Nathan read the messages. He typed his request. He wanted information on Specter.
Anything they could uncover. Bank logs, security footage and others. He got a thumbs up response and one last reply.
[Do your part and I’ll do mine.]
The chatbox interface collapsed and a sudden ’error 404’ message appeared on the screen.
Nathan refreshed the page many times but nothing happened, almost as if it had been taken down.
She looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"An auction?"