Free Acolyte by Seth Patrick

terms with that. Eventually she would exhaust her leads. Hopefully before she exhausted
herself.
    She served up the coffee and toast. Jonah took a wary bite but it seemed to sit well in his stomach.
    â€˜So what have you been up to?’ Jonah asked her. ‘How’s the, uh, investigation? You closer to knowing who’s in charge?’
    One of Annabel’s key interests was understanding the structure Andreas’s companies had been left with since his death. Some of her earliest enquiries had revealed unnecessarily opaque arrangements and suspicious levels of security in some areas; a hacker she’d used successfully in the past had found plenty of unexpected barriers. Annabel’s concern had been
why
such barriers would have appeared, now that Andreas was dead. Why would those high up in the company want to disguise their intentions?
    The benign explanation was a simple one, the result of power struggles within a multi-billion dollar business empire, and of senior people covertly jockeying for position.
    Annabel, though, wasn’t looking for benign explanations, however much Jonah tried to convince her.
    â€˜Slow progress,’ she said. ‘I had some information that Andreas Biotech is investing heavily in areas related to revival at the moment, but none of the feelers I’ve put out have got me any more details. I’m also trying to nurture some Afterlifer contacts, to see if I can get anything about where all their extra funds have been coming from.’
    Jonah groaned inside. It sounded like she was expanding the scope of her enquiries, and if that was true, then the prospect of her stopping was receding fast. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘at least then I’d know who to throw things at.’
    â€˜Something interesting came up yesterday,’ she said, ‘when I was in Fort Worth.’
    Jonah looked at her, bewildered. ‘I thought you were in San Diego. Hard to keep track of you.’
    â€˜Got there the night before last. I had a long talk with someone who used to be involved in Afterlifer fundraising, but they didn’t know the source of the extra money. Internally, they’re saying it’s a huge growth in grassroots donations, but my contact didn’t believe that.’
    He gave her a serious look. ‘You’re being careful, right?’
    â€˜
Yes
, I’m being careful,’ she said. ‘Quit nagging me.’
    He shrugged. He
did
keep nagging her to be discreet and cautious. The Afterlifers had a violent past, and Andreas Biotech was a wealthy company with dark secrets. It seemed to Jonah that neither organization would need much provocation before resorting to extremes.
    And not just them: there were also the military connections, the intelligence organizations who had been keeping their eyes on Andreas and on the Afterlifers. Jonah thought of Kendrick, the man responsible for Baseline research which sought to use revival as a method of interrogation – killing someone, then torturing information from their corpse. Kendrick had been atReese-Farthing that day, trying to find out what Andreas was up to. It had been one of Kendrick’s men who had shot Jonah. It had always been Kendrick’s face that Jonah’s fears made him see in crowds, not the face of Andreas.
    Because Kendrick was still out there.
    It was important that Annabel kept off everybody’s radar.
    â€˜So how about I make you take a break from all this?’ said Jonah, smiling.
Be upbeat
, he thought.
Get her to relax. Maybe she’ll lose momentum, lose interest.
‘I’ll take you out for a meal this evening. I’ll avoid alcohol, you’ll get pampered, and we can catch up properly.’
    Annabel’s smile fell. ‘Jonah, I –’ She paused, and looked down. ‘I can’t stay.’
    Stunned, all Jonah could do was stare.
    â€˜I have to get a flight in two hours,’ she said, looking up again.
    Jonah said