Jackson Temple jogs out of the Harbor Unit office and snatches up Dallas by the sleeve before he reaches the car. He keeps glancing past the lot, like the shadows have ears.
Jackson Temple
Don’t say his name out here. Sloane, he knows who listens. I didn’t tell Clara because I thought... I thought he’d hear me through the walls.
His hands shake. The flickering office light cuts across his pale face, then drops him back into gray.
Jackson Temple
There was a second transfer. Not the chips, the paper trail. Eli Mercer was carrying a log copy, and Sloane took it off him by force.
Dallas Fontaine
Mercer was a courier, not the source. Sloane was cleaning up after him.
Jackson Temple
He said if anyone asked, I was nowhere near the south slip. Then he smiled at me. Like he already had my statement.
Jackson jerks his chin toward the marked route on the map inside the office, then clamps a hand over his own mouth, realizing too late he has said too much.
“I ask Jackson what Sloane said to Mercer”
SUCCESS (Legendary Interrogation, rolled -1)
Dallas lets the warning sit, then asks what Sloane said to Mercer. Jackson swallows hard, eyes fixed on the wet pavement instead of the lot.
Jackson Temple
He told Mercer the same thing twice, stay in the truck, keep his mouth shut, and don’t look at the crate. Then he said, if Mercer talked, the water would solve the rest.
Jackson rubs a hand over his face, ashamed and furious at once. The office light stutters behind him, but he keeps talking.
Jackson Temple
Mercer didn’t answer. He just nodded like he was already broken. That’s when I knew Sloane had something on him.
Dallas Fontaine
What kind of something?
Jackson Temple
A family name, maybe. Or a record. Sloane deals in leverage, not loyalty. He made Mercer carry the paper copy so there’d be someone to blame when the chip transfer surfaced.
Jackson reaches into his coat and presses a folded slip into Dallas’s hand, eyes finally meeting his.
Jackson Temple
South slip, blue door. If Mercer is alive, he’ll be in there. And if he’s not... then Sloane already got to him.
+ New Item Acquired
Folded slip of paper
“I head to the south slip”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +0)