Afterward, she closed the laptop and went into her phone’s contacts list and messaged Diana. She might be Adair’s right-hand woman, but she was a good hacker, and Nita was sure there’d be something at Tácunan Law that she could pay Diana with, if she didn’t want any of the money she’d just stolen from Almeida. To deal with security cameras at Tácunan Law, Nita would need a hacker. She’d also need to contact Diana on her own, without Adair knowing. Just in case.

A couple of minutes after she sent the text, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, found it was from Toronto. She hesitated for a moment—she really hated phone calls, why couldn’t people just text?—before she finally picked up.

“Nita?” The voice on the other end was soft. “It’s Diana.”

“Oh. Hi.”

“You messaged me about the security camera system at Tácunan Law?” Diana sounded unsure, her voice a little high.

“Yeah.” Nita took a deep breath and leaned back. “I want to know if it’s hackable.”

Diana was quiet a moment before she asked, “Why should I help you?”

Nita sighed softly. “I’m trying to take down the DUL with the information I get there—why wouldn’t you want to help me? You’ve spent years haunted by the fear that ghouls will go up one day, that you’ll suddenly be on a kill list when you’ve never hurt anyone. It’s in your best interest to get rid of that list, the same way it is mine.”

“I know.” Diana’s voice was hard. “I know that very well.”

Nita’s voice was firm. “If it’s money you want, I just got a nice payment from a corrupt Brazilian diplomat. Easily enough to pay college tuition for you.”

With plenty left over to pay for my own tuition. Nita wouldn’t have made the offer if her own future wasn’t secure. She would go to college, but with Almeida’s funds. She could afford to be magnanimous and send Diana as well.

Diana hesitated, then whispered, “I don’t want money. I mean, I do. But more than anything, I want a promise that no matter what happens, you won’t ever try and hurt Adair again.”

Ah. So that’s what this was about.

“I’ve no interest in hurting him. Unless he does something that puts me in direct danger, you’ve no reason to worry for him.”

Diana let out a little sigh of relief. “Okay. All right. Good.”

“So, will you help?”

Diana hesitated, then asked softly, “You really think you can take down the Dangerous Unnaturals List?”

“I’m damn well going to try.”

Diana hesitated another moment, before whispering, “All right. What do you need me to do?”

“CCTV. I don’t want the cameras picking me up. Can you hack them?”