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Marianella reached out and ran one hand down Sofia’s hair. Her fingers trembled. She seemed afraid.
“Don’t become a monster like him,” she said.
Sofia caught her hand and kissed its palm. Marianella sucked in her breath and looked off to the side, her face blank with guilt, but she didn’t take her hand away.
“I won’t,” Sofia said.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ELIANA
The bell chimed against the door in Eliana’s office. She was hunched over the open drawer of her filing cabinet, rifling through old files—a former client had called because her husband had showed back up, and the client had a question about the legalities. Eliana looked up at the sound of the bell.
“Oh,” she said, her heart pounding. “Hello, Mr. Gonzalez.”
Mr. Gonzalez stepped into the office. He slid off his hat and hung it on the coatrack. His eyes glowed golden in the dome light beaming in through the window.
“Miss Gomez,” he said. “I was in the neighborhood. I hope you have some information for me.”
“What? Oh, sure. Yeah. Have a seat.” Eliana plastered on a bright smile. Mr. Gonzalez did not return it, only strode forward and dropped into the client chair. He watched her as she jammed the files back into the cabinet; she could feel it, his eyes boring into the back of her head like a gunshot.
She whirled around. “You having a good day?” she asked, trying to buy herself some time.
“Yes. What do you have for me?” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wallet fat with bills. Eliana slid into her seat behind her desk and pulled open the bottom drawer. She’d stuck her notebook in there. It was currently filled with two pages of fake notes that she’d scribbled down three nights ago.
“Not a lot.” She set the notebook on the desk and opened it to the first page. Her handwriting looked huge and loopy and unfamiliar. “Normally I gather evidence—photographs, documents, that sort of thing. But it was pretty much impossible with a robot.”
Mr. Gonzalez watched her and said nothing.
Eliana took a deep breath. “I went down to the park, walked around a bit. It’s creepy.”
“Yes, it’s certainly seen better days.”
“That’s putting it lightly.” Eliana smiled at him, trying to be disarming. He kept his face blank. Not a single hint about who he really was or who he was working for or what he wanted with Sofia. “I couldn’t find this Sofia. I spent a good three hours wandering around the park, and the only robots I came across were those old-fashioned steam-powered maintenance drones, the ones the city doesn’t use anymore. You know the kind I’m talking about?”
Mr. Gonzalez frowned slightly, the first show of emotion she’d seen from him, and nodded. “And that’s all you found?”
Eliana shrugged. “None of the maintenance drones could talk. I tried. Probably looked like a fool, trying to carry on a conversation with one of those things—and, well, I guess I was a fool, seeing as they didn’t actually tell me anything.”
“She was most likely hiding. You can go back, try again. I’ll pay you.”
Underneath her desk, Eliana pressed her nails into the palm of her hand. “I didn’t see any signs there were andies living out there. She’s probably rusted into parts now. Or been stolen away by some rich guy—”
“If that’s the case, then you’ll need to track her down. This is what I hired you to do.” He leaned forward over the desk, and Eliana kept her spine straight, didn’t recoil at all. The air shimmered with a sense of menace.
“If you’re not interested in working with me,” Mr. Gonzalez said, “I can always take my business elsewhere.”
Eliana surged with panic. She sat very still, but inside her chest her heart pounded and pounded. She’d come up with the false information so she could get rid of him and get the second half of his payment, but now she realized she hadn’t thought her plan through. If he went elsewhere, off to one of the big PI offices downtown, they’d find Marianella and they wouldn’t keep her secret. Digging up a cyborg was the sort of thing those assholes lived for. And Eliana couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t be so hasty,” she said, smoothing out her voice. She folded her hands on the desk. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to track her down. All due respect, she’s a robot, and most of my techniques won’t work with them. But I still might be able to help you.”
“And how’s that?”
Her brain whirred. He wanted a robot, and if she couldn’t deliver the robot itself, what was the next best thing? Information. And that was easy. Robots were nothing but information.
“She was part of the amusement park, correct?”
“I already told you that.”
“Of course.” Eliana waved one hand dismissively and prayed that uneasy feeling she got from him wasn’t the result of him being high up in the city’s bureaucracy. “Here’s what I’m thinking. The city keeps all their old records, as I’m sure you know. I’ve got some contacts down there, so I may—and this is a big ‘may’—be able to yank some of her files.”
Mr. Gonzalez didn’t move. “Is that true?”
Thank God. He didn’t have access to the park files himself. She might be able to salvage this after all.
“Of course it’s true. You’re paying me, right?”
“Yes.” Mr. Gonzalez rapped his fingers against the wallet. “I’d like to see those files very much, Miss Gomez. I’ll pay you thirty dollars for visiting the park, and then five hundred if you can bring me any information about her programming.”
Eliana didn’t flinch. Five hundred dollars. With her savings, that brought her up to the three thousand she needed for a visa, although not a ticket on one of the ships. Not yet.
Her ears buzzed as she answered him, trying to keep her voice calm.
“That sounds excellent,” Eliana said. “I’ll put in the call this afternoon, and I’ll let you know just as soon as I find anything out.”
For a moment Mr. Gonzalez didn’t move. Then he extracted a thin stack of bills from his wallet and laid them on the desk.
“Would you like a receipt?”
“No, Miss Gomez, that won’t be necessary.” Mr. Gonzalez stood up. He had a graceful way of moving. Sophisticated. Cultured. He didn’t seem like a city man at all.
Eliana stood up too and they shook hands over the desk. His palm was cool and dry. Maybe he was with Cabrera after all. No matter. She was going to get rid of him after she handed off the files, and she was going to be rid of this city not long after that.
“Have a good day, Miss Gomez.” He tilted his head down, a genteel sort of bow, and then turned and left the office.
She watched him leave. When the bell twinkled into silence, and his shadow had disappeared from the window in her door, she dialed Maria’s work number. Maria answered on the second ring, her voice harried.
“Hope City budget office, how may I direct your call?”
“Maria?”
“Eliana? Jesus, I haven’t talked to you in ages. Thought you might have finally caught that ship to the mainland without saying good-bye.”
“I’ve been busy. I do have a favor. I can pay. A lot.”
“Oh, I can’t talk right now, sweetie! Listen, I’m meeting Essie at some party down at the warehouse district tonight. Why don’t you come? Better than just calling me up at work asking for favors, right?”
Eliana laughed. “Sure, yeah. I’m sorry. I’ve just been so busy—”
“Hey, working girl, I’ve got it.” Maria’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I seriously can’t talk right now, though. Party’s at the old Azevedo supply warehouse. Eight o’clock. I’ll meet you out front.”
“Sure thing.”
They said their good-byes, and Eliana set the receiver back into the cradle. Her office seemed empty and cold, like Mr. Gonzalez had turned it into a vacuum. She shivered, then stood up and adjusted the radiator. It rattled more insistently against the wall.