Chapter 3

3

The arms dealer never knew what hit him. From the security footage, the whole thing took less than forty-seven seconds. A woman dropped from the vents while a man burst through the fire exit.

Our coordination was perfect down to the millisecond. I suppressed the guards while he moved for the target. When the dealer pulled a gun, my bullet hit his hand, and Sterling’s bullet destroyed the contract.

It was clean and professional. During the escape, Sterling pulled me toward a helicopter on the roof. It was his, branded with his logo.

A bearded pilot looked back and blinked in confusion. “Who is this?” he asked. “My wife,” Sterling replied.

The pilot almost dropped his helmet. Sterling sat across from me and crossed his legs. The legs that were supposed to be paralyzed were now resting firmly on the floor.

“Your legs?” I asked. “Fake,” he said, tapping his knee. “Carbon fiber exoskeleton. I lock the joints to look paralyzed.”

He explained it helped him avoid social obligations and keep his relatives at bay. “And your face?” I pushed.

“Special effects makeup,” he said, spraying a bottle on his skin. The scars melted away like wax, revealing his real face. “It takes thirty minutes every morning. It’s a pain.”

I understood. I didn't have to wear scars, but I had to look sickly and weak every day. My family thought I was a failure because I left the military.

They didn't know I was recruited into a special operations unit. “Special forces?” Sterling guessed.

“Former,” I said. “Now I’m a freelancer. Hacker, medic, and occasional shadow operative.” I looked at him. “What about you? You’re more than just a hacker.”

He was silent for a moment. “The Faceless isn't just one person. It’s an organization,” he said.

He told me his parents were murdered when he was seventeen. He built this intelligence network to find the killers. Hacking was just the doorway.

I saw something familiar in his eyes. It was the look of a child who decided to never rely on anyone again. I was the same way at eighteen.

“Now you know the truth,” he said. “I’ll give you a divorce and a massive settlement if you want out.”

I looked at him for a long time. Then I ripped the Faceless patch off his arm.

“Divorce?” I stuck his patch onto my own arm next to my J emblem. “We’re just getting started.”

Sterling was stunned for a second. Then he gave me a real, deep laugh. “Fine,” he said. He took my J patch and stuck it to his chest. “Let’s play this out.”