Zero History

“Depends how much it matters to him. But we’ve got bad history, that way, between us.
If he bullshits me again, and I find out about it, I’m gone. He understands that.” She
looked Milgrim in the eye. “You aren’t high on anything, are you?”
“No.”
“You seem different. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m in recovery,” said Milgrim. “I’m supposed to be different. If I were high, I
wouldn’t be different.”
“You seem angry.”
“Not with you.”
“But you weren’t angry, before.”
“It wasn’t allowed,” he said, and she heard his amazement, as if in saying this he’d
discovered something about himself he’d never known before. He swallowed. “I want to
find out if Sleight’s telling him where I am. I think I know how to do that.”
“What did Bigend say about Sleight?”
“He warned me to be careful of the Neo.”
“What’s that?”
“My phone. The brand. They’re bankrupt now.”
“Who is?”
“The company who made it. Sleight always knows where I am. The phone tells him.
But I’ve known that.”
“You have?”
“I thought Bigend wanted him to. Did want him to, probably. It wasn’t a secret.”
“You think he listens through it?”
“He made me leave it in the hotel, yesterday. Charging. He does that when he wants to
reprogram it, add or subtract applications.”
“I thought he was in New York.”
“He programs it from wherever he is.”
“Is he listening now?”
“It’s in my jacket. Over there.” He pointed at the bag check. “I shouldn’t leave it there
for long.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Did Blue Ant make the hotel reservations?”
“I did.”
“By phone?”
“Through the hotel’s website. I didn’t tell anyone where we’d be. What do you want to
do?”
“We’ll get a cab. You get in first, tell the driver Galeries Lafayette. Sleight won’t hear.
Then I’ll get in. Don’t say anything about Galeries Lafayette, or about the hotel. Then I’ll
block the GPS.”
“How?”