Free The Darkness Beyond by Alexis Morgan

you.”
    Ray nodded, already packing up his stuff. “Fine. Once I know where the hacker lives, I’ll send someone after him. We’ve got trusted contacts in most major cities, so we’ll be able to snap him up without any problem.”
    Yeah, right. Like kidnappings always went smoothly. Once they had the hacker sequestered, they’d milk him for all he was worth. They just had to make it clear that the more useful he made himself, the longer he’d live.
    â€œTalk to you soon, Ray. Enjoy your day.”
    â€œThanks, I will.”
    Todd wandered back to his own office and studied the file he’d been compiling on Colonel Kincade’s escapades. So far, he’d found information on three contacts the bastard had established on the other side of the barrier. One of them was now useless, thanks to the Seattle Paladins. When they’d caught Kincade with his hand in the till, they’d also found where he’d been trafficking with the Others.
    Todd walked over to the window. The sun glinted off the St. Louis Arch, to the east. It had been built to represent the Gateway to the West, at one time a brand-new world for humans to exploit and explore. Little did those people swarming underneath the structure know that the real gateway to another new world already existed.
    The Paladins saw the barrier as something to defend, a door they’d nail shut if they could. More forward-thinking men like Todd recognized it for the opportunity it really was: the route to a new land to exploit for profit. The entrepreneurs of an earlier era had funded the men who’d done the actual exploring.
    Well, that and the dying.
    Just like those pragmatic businessmen, Todd was willing to finance the rape of Kalithia. It might be possible to reestablish contact with the other two Kaliths on Kincade’s roster. Considering how willing they were to sell out their own people in exchange for time spent in the light of this world, they’d no doubt deal with whoever could make that possible. Soon, he’d reestablish the flow of blue garnets across the barrier.
    So far, the human scientists who’d been studying the blue stones hadn’t had much luck replicating them or even generating the energy they were supposed to produce. The researchers insisted that eventually they’d be able to figure it out, but it was going to take more time and more money. Lots more money.
    Which brought Todd back to the hacker Ray was tracking. Once they found the guy, they’d set him to work on finding the cash Kincade had squirreled away. In exchange, they wouldn’t prosecute him for his illegal incursions into the Regents’ server. Todd smiled. That was a bluff, of course. The Regents would never risk their existence becoming public record.
    They normally found a way to leverage someone into keeping their mouth shut. Money bought an awful lot of silence. He, on the other hand, wouldn’t bother with trying to finesse the situation. His Kalith business partners would take care of the problem for him in exchange for services rendered.
    He stared out the window as he reviewed his mental checklist one last time. There was nothing more to be done until they found out if the hacker was going to take the bait. If not, they’d punt, but that didn’t seem likely. As a breed, hackers were curious. It was part of what kept them parked at a computer for hours on end.
    If they added a financial incentive, they’d reel him in. But enough of that. Ray had the right of it—it was beautiful outside. No use in wasting the whole day working.
    A knock at the door startled Reggie into dropping the report, sending paper scattering all over the kitchen floor. She left them where they fell and hurried to the door. Her pulse picked up speed. Was D.J. back?
    No, it was Cody. She ignored the brief surge of disappointment. What was he doing here? Only one way to find out. But first she needed to put on something