Free Geek Mafia: Mile Zero by Dakan, Rick

These people definitely came prepared. "Thank you," she said in her lilting voice.
    Isaiah didn't seem mad, continuing as if the interruption hadn't happened. "Unlike the rest of us here, Raquel is not part of any Crew. She is - sorry, was - a strictly solo operator. She'd been in this game for fifteen years and she was very good at it. In this particular case, I'd approached her about consulting for us on some law enforcement issues..."
    Winston interjected at this point, "What you have to know about Raquel is that she was a bon vivant. She loved to party, have a good time and to scam her way through life. And she was amazingly good at it. She didn't work for Crews. Crews worked for her, but only when she allowed it or when the score was too big for her to handle alone. She was like the James Bond of grifters - all charm and confidence and chutzpah."
    "What Winston says is true," said Isaiah. "But what made her so effective is that she had the smarts and did the homework necessary to back her brashness up. She was particularly adept at infiltrating, manipulating, and taking advantage of bureaucracies of any kind. Particularly law enforcement agencies."

    Chapter 06
    41
    "Most of us, wisely I think, keep as much distance between ourselves and the police as possible. Not Raquel,"
    Isaiah continued, admiration and respect creeping into his voice. "She cultivated cops and special agents as contacts. While the rest of us ducked for cover in the post 9-11 security crackdown, Raquel rode the institutional paranoia and limitless homeland security spending like a wave."
    Paul listened in wonder and creeping panic as Isaiah praised Raquel's skills. All this was way, way, way beyond his league. Cultivating cops? Homeland Security money? What the fuck was Isaiah drawing them into?
    "Raquel had invited my Crew to work with her on several occasions," Isaiah said. "And I believe you had worked with her too, right Winston?"
    "Indeed," he said. "It was always interesting."
    "So I asked Raquel to use some of her contacts..."
    "Her law enforcement contacts," Winston interjected.
    "Yes," said Isaiah. "Her law enforcement contacts. I asked her to do some background checking and look into a few things for us."
    "What kind of things?" asked Paul.
    Isaiah paused, searching for words. "It's complicated," he said. "Let's just say that..."
    "Ok, hold on," said Paul. He'd had enough of this cryptic bullshit. He just wanted to know what the fuck was going on. "Can you please, dear God, please, just tell me what the fuck is going on?" he asked Isaiah.
    "That's what I was trying to do," Isaiah replied, his voice cold.
    "I know, I know. I'm sorry," said Paul. "But can you give me the onesentence synopsis, just so I can get my bearings."
    Isaiah stared at Paul for a long, uncomfortable moment. Paul met his gaze at first, but then broke eye contact, looking down at the table, then over to Winston for support. The old man just nodded, which could've meant anything.
    Paul started to say something, but Isaiah held up a hand. "Give me a second," he said.
    It took more than a few more seconds, but finally Isaiah started to explain himself. When he did, Paul could scarcely believe what he was hearing.
    "As the man said, I have a dream," Isaiah began. "It started out as a very personal dream - just a bunch of things I wanted for me and my family. This was when I was in my teens, hacking with the school computers and on a cobbled-together machine my uncle had in the back of his shop. I grew up. So did the damn dream.
    After, it was just me; it was just me and a few friends. Kids who didn't like playing the street gang game any more than I did. We were made our own gang - The Kobra Kommandos, if you can believe that G.I.
    Joe-inspired shit. Just a bunch of black and latino hackers trying to stay out of the drug life but still wanting a taste of the thug life. We wanted cash to buy shit. We wanted to see cool shows and wear expensive clothes and drive fast cars just