Remote by Donn Cortez Read Free Book Online

over at the window.  “Shitty picture, anyway.”
    Jack permitted himself a small smile, because he knew Nikki would expect it.
    Inside, he felt colder than ever.
     
    ***
Jack: If we’re going to work together, it’ll require a certain amount of trust.
 
Remote: Of course.  I’ve provided you with details of my process; are you offering to share some of yours?
 
Jack: I don’t think you’d be interested.  My methods are directed at obtaining information, not obedience.  They tend to be extended and brutal.
 
Remote: I had deduced as much—and you’re right, the mechanics of suffering hold little interest for me.  I was merely being polite.  Courtesy is a necessary element of any partnership, too. 
 
Jack: Let’s work on trust, first.  I think we should meet.
    As Jack had expected, the next reply took a while to arrive.
Remote: I see.  I don’t think that would be wise.
 
Jack: Why?  Don’t you trust me?  Or is it your own deductive skills you’re questioning—perhaps I’m not who you think I am after all?
 
Remote: No, I’m quite sure you are exactly who you claim.  But I’m afraid I’m not quite as mobile as you are, and having you visit my base of operations presents difficulties I can’t go into detail about.  But I’d like to suggest an alternative, if I may.
 
Jack: Go ahead.
 
Remote: A swap.  From what I know of your methods, at the end of your process you simply dispose of your subject; when I’m done with one of mine, I let him or her go.  But perhaps we would both benefit by exchanging our respective subjects once we’re finished with them?
    Jack frowned.  It wasn’t what he’d expected, and he didn’t like it.  It smelled too much like what a police officer would suggest; it removed a potential hostage from the situation while exposing Jack to possible capture. 
Jack: I don’t currently have a subject on hand.
 
Remote: I’m willing to wait until you acquire one.  And interrogate him, of course. 
    That was more promising.  A cop would never suggest Jack continue with his modus operandi—stalking, kidnapping and torturing a suspected serial killer until Jack’s subject provided details of every one of his kills. 
Jack: I can understand why you’d want one of mine.  But why would I want one of yours?  Your subjects are guilty only by association—they have no crimes to confess.  Certainly nothing that would require my particular talents. 
 
Remote: In most cases that would be true.  But—much like the queen of a hive—I sometimes need soldiers as well as drones.  To this end, I’ve recently acquired a subject you might well be interested in.
His name is Gordon Mason, but he’s known to both friend and foe as Goliath.  He stands six foot seven, and masses somewhere between two hundred and sixty to two hundred and eighty pounds.  Goliath is a member of a motorcycle club called the Diamond Demons, based out of New Mexico, and has been for the last twelve years. 
His arrest record is long and colorful.  Convictions range from assault to possession of an unregistered firearm, though he’s managed to avoid any lengthy jail time.  He’s been accused of rape twice--though the charges were dropped both times, once when the victim mysteriously vanished—and is the prime suspect in two arson cases, both involving rival clubs.  In one, a clubhouse was burned to the ground and three bikers died; in the other, a bar owned by a rival gang was torched.  An adjoining house also caught fire, killing a young couple and their three children. 
He was surprisingly easy to trap.  A man of his bulk and reputation tends to think he’s invulnerable, and that simply isn’t true.  He’s in my possession now—but I think you could make better use of him than me, don’t you?
    Bait .  Jack could smell it.  Tailor-made for the Closer, exactly the kind of remorseless killer he’d made a career of ending.  But what did Remote stand to gain in return?  A