But another voice said, think of the money. Once I had the Cross"s riches I could do anything. Make amends if I wanted.
The thoughts chased each other round my head and I lay there a helpless spectator. In the end, just to break the cycle, I contacted the two Ringo dealers again. One wanted to trade immediately.
We set up a netmeet on neutral ground. His virtual presence, when he arrived, was shadowy and featureless, but the encryption was obviously shoddy. I knew I was behaving like an amateur, playing with amateurs. I could almost hear Devi chuckling at me. But I just wanted to get the case over.
“You have the code?” I asked.
“You have the money?”
It was the classic dilemma of illicit deals throughout history. Who would hand over first? I was in no mood for games.
“I"ll give
