Page 60 of Prior Claim
“I’m overseeing the recent incident you were involved in quieting. Been informed you’re on the ground with the loose end of the engagement.”
“Your information is correct.” Sevastyan moved to the hallway to pace.
Dirk cleared his throat. “It’s been decided that the asset is too valuable to release.”
Sevastyan’s first urge was to grit his teeth, but he had too many years of playing games to even let his body react from behind the barrier of a phone. So the Merchari were not going to cut Bak Gyeong loose and let Gang Junseo go, even with the massive media attention on the case. “What kind of investment is expected to be collected?” Do you want him dead or alive, in public, or sold on the black market? And who is making this decision?
Dirk’s voice stayed measured, speaking in veiled language. “A return to status quo is preferred. No more extra curricular engagements for the principal. We need a plausible public timeline and resumption of relations. The status quo was a more lucrative deal than you probably realized in your short time on the ground. And not just for the local operatives.” We want him back performing and working for BBB3 but we won’t sell his body at night. There’s money involved you don’t know about.
“Details on anything were in short supply,” Sevastyan agreed easily. “I’m glad clarity is coming to the situation.” I see. I’m not going to openly disagree but I do not have information that agrees with this decision.
“So you’re not going to fight me on this?” Dirk said.
Sevastyan let out a wry chuckle. “Perhaps I’ve missed something, but why would I?” I’m not an idiot. I don’t have a dog in this fight.
Dirk’s voice took on a slight edge but stayed conciliatory. “I was informed that your recommendation was to cut off the source and let the locals take the heat.” I know you have good reasons to disagree.
Sevastyan countered smoothly, his anger well behind his teeth. “I’m assuming you’ve found a way to keep management from being implicated. If so, all the better.” You’d better have found a good solution, and never doubt my loyalty.
Dirk cleared his throat again. “We’ve found levers. Legal levers. The principal in question should return of his own volition soon enough.”
Sevastyan forced calm through his body. The thought, ‘You think you have a lever larger than Richard Reevesworth?’ crossed through his mind but he pushed it aside. “I’m certain most of this conversation should happen face to face if it needs to happen at all. I’ll need direct communication from the Yadro to change course. I’m not crossing the directors.”
Dirk ignored the reference to the Yadro. “Just keep eyes on the principal. The more information on close associates the better. Evaluation of mental state if possible. The principal’s last move was . . . unfortunate.” Gang Junseo’s choice to testify to officials from two countries has been a difficulty.
It had been designed to be. Jun had excellent advisors. His lawyer boyfriend had gotten him in front of officials from the United States and South Korea with a polygraph test and secured his testimony in sworn form without even an arrest or a trial. As far as Sevastyan had been able to gather, Gang Junseo’s testimony was considered absolutely damning for Bak Gyeong and BBB3.
“The principal has significant public support.” Jun is popular and in the public eye.
“Yes.” Dirk cleared his throat. “But legal procedure can outweigh public support. We’re counting on it. Murder charges have a way of changing minds.”
So that was what Dirk and his associates were running with. “So, keeping the old management?” You’re going to save Bak Gyeong?
Dirk hesitated. “The current management has significant internal support.” Someone high up in the Merchari power structure had something to lose or gain from this course of action.
Who the fuck in the Merchari thought Bak Gyeong was a sound horse to back? And how were they benefiting? Bak Gyeong was a gambler, debtor, and owed all his apparent success to the talented young people he’d trapped into contracts when they were children. Money ran through his fingers like water. He’d long since stopped being steady in paying the interest on the debts he owed. Despite the massive amount of profit his idol groups brought in, he’d been so short of cash he’d been forced to kidnap and sell one of his idols to make his latest payment. So what had he offered up to get this kind of backing and retain his position? It would have been better for the Merchari to simply take over BBB3 and run the agency as a legitimate asset themselves. It wouldn’t have been the first business the Merchari collected.
“Well, then,” Sevastyan said. “It’s good to hear the situation on the ground has calmed significantly from my time there. It was a mess when I passed through.”
“A lot has come to light. We appreciate what you did while you were here.” Dirk sounded cagey. He was still not mentioning the Yadro.
Sevastyan pretended not to notice. “On this end, it’s quiet. Unless it’s urgent, I’m not blowing my cover to get closer. Those are my orders”
“Not urgent. We’ll be in contact. Expect to see me in person soon.”
Dirk hung up.
Blyat. Fuck. Kuso. Sevastyan let himself curse in his head in three languages, teeth clenched together. He stayed in the hallway for a long moment, staring at the carpet runner. Dirk Hardy was not a man he wanted near—not in Chicago, not anywhere close to Rei. That last comment had certainly been a threat. Why was Dirk making threats when Sevastyan was cooperating? Unless . . . unless his authority was slimmer than he wanted Sevastyan to know. He hadn’t actually verified his authority. He could be blowing smoke up Sevastyan’s ass.
Dirk was covering something up. What he was covering up was not clear, but he was almost certainly keeping something from Sevastyan and going hard from the start to keep from being questioned. It was possible he was also keeping things from the directors, or at least some of the directors.
Time had almost run out. He didn’t have time to collect himself and rethink the future without Anton’s support. If he let the Merchari have Gang Junseo now, he was no better than Anton. Rei would not survive. He would ask Sevastyan to keep the one promise Sevastyan knew he would keep.
Sevastyan closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the wall. He could see in technicolor the moment he’d made the promise. It had bought Rei time. It had brought Sevastyan the only happiness he’d known in the last five years—-happiness he did not deserve and had clung to all the same, like a starving man.
He cursed Bak Gyeong, cursed Anton, cursed Raska.
Most of all, he cursed himself. He had to find a way to make himself jump off this cliff. Had to find the way to say the words he had not been able to utter that morning in the museum, facing Ellisandre for the first time in a decade. He had to force his own hand.
