"You came."
The voice came from the shadows of the warehouse. Aria kept her gun ready, her back to the wall. She'd arrived thirty minutes early and checked the perimeter. She identified three exits.
This could still be a trap.
"Show yourself," Aria said.
A man stepped into the light. He is in his late thirties. He wore a leather jacket. His face is the kind of face that has seen too much. He kept his hands visible.
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you." He lit a cigarette. "Name's Viktor. I'm an information broker. I sell to the highest bidder. And right now, I've got something you need."
"How did you get my number?"
"Please. You've been making noise all over the intelligence community. Killing assassins and disrupting operations. People notice that kind of thing." He blew smoke. "I heard you're looking into Vera Santos. That's a dangerous rabbit hole."
"What do you know about her?"
"Enough to know she's not what she claims. And I
