Winter Halo (Outcast 2)

“So it would seem.”

“Who is your new target?” Nuri asked.

“Charles Fontaine. He’s the—”

“Financial director at Winter Halo,” Nuri finished for me. “And the perfect subject for information gathering.”

I frowned a little at the odd emphasis she seemed to place on information—it was almost as if Charles had more information to give than just about Winter Halo. And maybe he did—it wasn’t like I knew all that much about him at the moment. “My selecting him was more good luck than good judgment.”

Nuri smiled. “Perhaps. And perhaps the goddess is favoring our quest.”

“Maybe. None of us are dead yet, after all.”

Her smile grew. “What did you tell Fontaine about yourself?”

“Not a lot. I’m currently between jobs and enjoying the free time.” I hesitated. “I’m also going to need more clothes. I cannot keep meeting him in the same tunic.”

“Especially given that the seams on the current one would appear ready to give way,” Jonas commented.

“Nice of you to be worried about such an event happening, Ranger.”

His smile flashed. “Oh, I’m not. Trust me on that.”

An answering smile tugged at my lips, though I didn’t reply.

“Everything you’ve asked for we can achieve,” Nuri said. “Even if it will take some time to do so. It does create another problem, however.”

“Just the one?” I said, amused. I tore off some more bread and dunked it into my stew. “And what might that be?”

“The Winter Halo security position. While they might not question Fontaine gaining a new lover, they most certainly will if said lover also applied for a position at Winter Halo.”

“I couldn’t apply as Cat—wrong hair color for a start.”

“Which isn’t a problem, given you can change it at will,” Jonas said.

“Yes, but then my looks won’t match my RFID chip, and that is a problem.”

“That it is,” Nuri said. “Perhaps what we need is not only someone already working at Winter Halo with the same blood group as you, but someone who happens to be left-handed.”

I frowned at her. “How is that going to help the situation?”

“RFID chips are always inserted into the dominant hand,” Jonas said.

“Meaning I could wear two separate chips, and no one would be the wiser?”

“As long as you kept aware of which hand you were using in each identity, then no, they shouldn’t,” Nuri said.

“How much more difficult will it be to find a left-hander?”

She shrugged. “We have some access to their personnel profiles.”

I refrained from asking how. Right now I really didn’t want to know just how close their links with the government were—and I just hoped Nuri meant it when she said both my ghosts and I would be left alone when all this was over. “And these profiles list whether you’re right- and left-handed?”

“RFID chips do. Even sexual preferences are listed on the things.”

“Is nothing sacred?” I asked, somewhat bemused by this news.

“Not since the war. What blood group are you?”