“I didn’t tell him anything. He asked what I wanted with Nicki, and I said it was classified. He said he was here to protect her… He doesn’t seem to be after the ring. Wouldn’t he have stolen it already if he was?”

“Probably.” He stands and paces the length of the room. “But I don’t know what else he could want, unless he’s trying to create some kind of alliance…” He comes to a stop, his fingers drumming on the back of the couch. “Maybe Simon has access to some technology we don’t know about, or it has something to do with the kidney farm…”

“Who are the people we work for once we’re initiated?” I ask. “That’s who he said he worked for.”

Garrett snorts. “There’s no one person. There are hundreds of collectors out there and also different factions of Disconnects—some with their own personal agendas. He could work for any of them. I don’t know whose side he’s on.”

“But you used to be friends?”

He comes around the couch and sits on the coffee table, facing me. “A long time ago. We grew up together, and we were close as kids, even though he’s a couple years older than me. He’s a legacy, too. His mom is one of the greatest thieves of all time—”

My stomach twists, and I know who she is before he says it.

“—Crystal Harrison. She was an Influencer who disconnected to Keystone when she was pregnant with him, and his dad was a Corporate crook, for sure.”

I’m too sick to respond.

He changes the subject. “Anyway, I think I’ve figured out how to switch the rings.” He hands me a brochure.

“Ring Around the Rosie?” Grateful for the distraction, I focus on the glittery gold letters being repeatedly spelled out, as if written by a ghost hand, across the brochure. “It’s a little on the nose, isn’t it?”

Pursing his lips, he ignores me. “It’s a traveling play—a Bubble Car tour of the city. At every stop, there are performances, and you interact with the actors. I thought it might be a good way to make the transfer. We could plant Chloe in another car. Once we get the ring, we can pass it to her, and she’ll drop it for us.”

I hand him back the brochure. “Will she help? Won’t she be jealous of you and Nicki?”

“Why would she be jealous?”

“She’s your girlfriend. If you were my boyfriend, I wouldn’t be very happy watching you flirt with another girl.”