Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey [54]
The face was familiar. Acne-pocked, controlled. The OPA armband from the bar. The one who’d had Mateo Judd killed.
The cop.
“Evening,” Miller said.
“Detective Miller,” the pocked man said. “I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. I was hoping we could try again.”
“Right.”
“May I come in?”
“I try not to take strange men home,” Miller said. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Anderson Dawes,” the pocked man said. “I’m the Ceres liaison for the Outer Planets Alliance. I think we can help each other. May I come in?”
Miller stood back, and the pocked man—Dawes—stepped inside. Dawes took in the hole for the space of two slow breaths, then sat as if the bottles and the stink of old beer were nothing to comment on. Silently cursing himself and willing a sobriety he didn’t feel, Miller sat across from him.
“I need a favor from you,” Dawes said. “I’m willing to pay for it. Not money, of course. Information.”
“What do you want?” Miller asked.
“Stop looking for Juliette Mao.”
“No sale.”
“I’m trying to keep the peace, Detective,” Dawes said. “You should hear me out.”
Miller leaned forward, elbows on the table. Mr. Serene Jiu Jitsu Instructor was working for the OPA? The timing of Dawes’ visit seemed to be saying so. Miller filed that possibility away but said nothing.
“Mao worked for us,” Dawes said. “But you’d guessed that.”
“More or less. You know where she is?”
“We don’t. We are looking for her. And we need to be the ones to find her. Not you.”
Miller shook his head. There was a response, the right thing to say. It was rattling in the back of his head, and if he just didn’t feel quite so fuzzy…
“You’re one of them, Detective. You may have lived your whole life out here, but your salary is paid by an inner planet corporation. No, wait. I don’t blame you. I understand how it is. They were hiring and you needed the work. But… we’re walking on a bubble right now. The Canterbury. The fringe elements in the Belt calling for war.”
“Phoebe Station.”
“Yes, they’ll blame us for that too. Add a Luna corporation’s prodigal daughter… ”
“You think something’s happened to her.”
“She was on the Scopuli,” Dawes said, and when Miller didn’t immediately respond, he added, “The freighter that Mars used as bait when they killed the Canterbury.”
Miller thought about that for a long moment, then whistled low.
“We don’t know what happened,” Dawes said. “Until we do, I can’t have you stirring up the water. It’s muddy enough now.”
“And what information are you offering?” Miller asked. “That’s the trade, right?”
“I’ll tell you what we find. After we find her,” Dawes said. Miller chuckled, and the OPA man went on. “It’s a generous offer, considering who you are. Employee of Mars. Partner of an Earther. Some people would think that was enough to make you the enemy too.”
“But not you,” Miller said.
“I think we’ve got the same basic goals, you and I. Stability. Safety. Strange times make for strange alliances.”
“Two questions.”
Dawes spread his arms, welcoming them.
“Who took the riot gear?” Miller asked.
“Riot gear?”
“Before the Canterbury died, someone took our riot gear. Maybe they wanted to arm soldiers for crowd control. Maybe they didn’t want our crowds controlled. Who took it? Why?”
“It wasn’t us,” Dawes said.
“That’s not an answer. Try this one. What happened to the Golden Bough Society?”
Dawes looked blank.
“Loca Greiga?” Miller asked. “Sohiro?”
Dawes opened his mouth, closed it. Miller dropped his beer bottle into the recycler.
“Nothing personal, friend,” he said, “but your investigative techniques aren’t impressing me. What makes you think you can find her?”
“It’s not a fair test,” Dawes said. “Give me a few days, I’ll get answers for you.”
“Talk to me then. I’ll try not to start an all-out war while you do, but I’m not letting go of Julie. You can go now.”
Dawes rose. He looked sour.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said.
“Won’t be my first.