“What now?” I asked.
“Friday night, we show up at the game.”
“Do you think we’ll spook Blakely if he spots us?”
“He won’t think it’s strange if you’re at the game, and I’ll be in disguise. I’ll grab him and drive him to some property I own near Sebago Lake. It’s empty up there this time of year. Bad for Blakely, good for us. I’ll get him to tell me about the prototypes, where he’s fabricating them, and we’ll find a way to deactivate them. Then I’ll keep him permanently under my watch. It’ll be the end of his days working with devilcraft.”
“I should warn you that Marcie thinks she’s going to be involved in interrogating him.”
Patch lifted his eyebrows.
“It was the price I had to pay for getting this information,” I explained.
“Did you swear an oath to let her tag along?” Patch asked.
“No.”
“Do you have a conscience?”
“No.” I bit my lip. “Maybe.” A pause. “Fine. Yes! Yes, I have a conscience. If we ditch Marcie, I’ll spend the whole night feeling guilty. I lied to her face this morning, and it has haunted me all day. I live with her now, Patch. I have to face her. Maybe we can use this to our advantage. If we show her she can trust us, she just might give us more info.”
“There are easier ways to get info, babe.”
“I say we let her tag along. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“She could figure out we didn’t really break up and tell the Nephilim.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
“Or we can let her tag along, and I can erase her memory later.” He shrugged. “No guilt here.”
I mulled this over. It seemed like a viable plan. It also pretty much made me a hypocrite.
A hint of a smile crept to Patch’s mouth. “Are you going to take point on this operation, or are you going to babysit Marcie?”
I shook my head. “You do the dirty work, and I’ll keep tabs on Marcie.”
Patch leaned sideways and kissed me. “As much as I’m going to enjoy questioning Blakely, I’m disappointed I won’t get to watch you battle it out with Marcie.”
“There’s not going to be a battle. I’m going to calmly explain to her that she can come along for the ride, but that she’ll have to wait with me in the car while you face off with Blakely. That’s our final offer. She can take it or leave it.” As I said it, I realized just how stupid I sounded for believing it would actually be that easy. Marcie hated taking orders. In her book, the only thing worse than taking orders was taking them from me. On the other hand, she might very well come in useful in the future. She was Hank’s legal daughter, after all. If Patch and I were going to build an alliance, now was the time.
“I’ll be firm,” I promised Patch, adopting a no-nonsense expression. “No backing down.”
By now Patch was full-on grinning. He kissed me again, and I felt my mouth soften its resolve. “You look cute when you’re trying to be tough,” he said.
Trying? I could be tough. I
Watch out, Marcie.
I was a few miles from home when I passed a police car tucked out of sight on a side street. I hadn’t gotten fifty feet beyond the intersection when the cop switched on his siren and wailed after me.
“Great,” I muttered. “Just great!”
While I waited for the officer to approach the window, I mentally added up my babysitting money, wondering if I’d have enough to pay off the ticket.
He rapped his pen on my window and motioned for me to lower it. I glanced through the glass at his face— and stared. Not just any cop, but my least favorite one. Detective Basso and I had a long-standing history of mutual suspicion and strong dislike.
I lowered my window. “I was only going three over!” I argued before he got a word out.
He was chewing on a toothpick. “I didn’t pull you over for speeding. Left taillight is broken. That’s a fifty- dollar fine.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
He scribbled on his pad and passed my ticket through the window. “Safety hazard. Nothing to joke about.”
“Do you follow me around looking for ways to bust me?” I asked, half sarcastically, half under my breath.
“You wish.” With that, he sauntered back to his patrol car. I watched him steer onto the road and cruise past. He waved as he did, but I couldn’t bring myself to make a rude gesture in response. Something wasn’t right.
My spine tingled, and my hands felt like I’d plunged them into ice water. I’d felt a cold vibe rolling off Detective Basso, chilly as a blast of winter air, but I had to have imagined it. I was getting paranoid. Because—
Because I only felt that way around nonhumans.
CHAPTER 13
FRIDAY NIGHT I TRADED OUT MY SCHOOL CLOTHES FOR cords, my warmest merino wool sweater, a coat, hat, and mittens. The football game wouldn’t start until dusk, and by then the outside temperature would have plunged. As I tugged the sweater over my head, I caught a flash of muscle in the mirror. Halting, I took a closer look. Sure enough, there was definition in both my biceps and triceps. Unbelievable. I’d trained one week, and it was already showing. It seemed my Nephil body developed muscle at a much faster rate than I ever could have hoped for as a human.
Loping down the stairs, I kissed my mom on the cheek and hurried out. The Volkswagen’s engine protested against the cold, but eventually turned over. “You think this is bad? Wait until February,” I told it.
I drove to the high school, parked on a side road just south of the football stadium, and called Patch.
“I’m here,” I said. “Are we still going with plan A?”
“Unless you hear from me, yes. I’m in the crowd. No sign of Blakely yet. Have you heard from Marcie?”
I glanced at my watch—the one I’d synchronized to Patch’s earlier tonight. “She’s meeting me by the concession stand in ten.”
“Do you want to go over the plan one last time?”
“If I see Blakely, I call you right away. I don’t approach him, but I don’t let him out of my sight, either.” At first I’d been a little disgruntled that Patch wanted me to stay a safe distance from the action, but the truth was, I didn’t want to take Blakely down on my own. I didn’t know how strong he was, and let’s face it, I didn’t even know my own strength. It seemed like letting Patch, who was far more experienced in this kind of tactic, handle the take-down was the smartest move.
“And Marcie?”
“I stick to her all night. After you grab Blakely, I drive her to your cabin near Sebago Lake. I’ve got the directions right here. I take the long route, giving you time to question and incapacitate Blakely before we get there. That’s everything, right?”
“One more thing,” Patch said. “Be careful.”
“Always,” I said, and pushed out of the car.
I flashed my student ID at the ticket booth, bought a ticket, and meandered toward the concession stand, eyes alert for Blakely. Patch had given me a thorough description, but as soon as I was inside the stadium, mingling with the crowd, half the men in sight could have passed for Blakely. Tall and distinguished-looking with gray hair, a wiry build, and the intelligent but slightly nerdy appearance of a stereotypical chemistry professor. I wondered if, like Patch, he’d be in disguise, which would only make picking him out of the crowd that much more challenging. Would he be dressed in lumberjack clothes? Standard CHS Razorbills garb? Would he go so far as to dye his hair? If nothing else, he would be in the top percentile when it came to height. I’d start with that.
