work.”
“Change of plans,” Rich said. “We’re going to the Mason Tunnel.”
Taking a Bullet
Lemme go,” Aggie said.
“For the last time, shut the fuck up.” Bryan moved Aggie out of the hospital and toward the parking lot. “I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“But I need that baby.”
Aggie started to pull away, so Bryan squeezed the man’s elbow, just a little.
Aggie’s eyes widened. He looked like he’d just realized something about Bryan — something terrifying and abhorrent.
“Don’t take me back there,” Aggie said. “I swear to God I’ll get it done.”
Bryan wanted to ask this guy a million questions, but there wasn’t time. “Wherever
Bryan saw the Jessups’ black Dodge Magnum at the edge of the parking lot. Adam and Alder were standing outside. They seemed agitated. Adam saw Bryan, waved at him to come quickly.
As Bryan crossed the lot, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Robin. It was 2:00 A.M. — he expected it to ring a few times, but she answered right away.
“Hey, handsome.”
“What are you doing up?”
“Chief Zou called,” she said. “She needs me to assist Doctor Metz at a pickup.”
Bryan stopped walking. His tight grip on Aggie’s elbow made Aggie stop walking as well. “Fort Mason Tunnel?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “I’m just dropping Emma off at Max’s, then I’m heading out.”
Adam couldn’t wait anymore. He ran over.
“Robin, hold on a second,” Bryan said. He put the phone to his shoulder and looked at Adam.
“Someone broke into our house,” Adam said. He wore a gray jacket against the night’s chill. “We have automated alarms that send me pictures.” He held up his own phone. The bright screen showed a shadowy image of a massive man with a strangely shaped head. Bryan couldn’t make out many details, but he saw enough to know it wasn’t a normal person.
Marie’s Children had found out about the Jessups, had gone to their house.
Zou had pulled Erickson’s security detail.
She wanted Robin at the Mason Tunnel.
Bryan held up a finger, telling Adam to be quiet.
“Robin,” Bryan said into the phone, “I need you to listen to me carefully.
“What? Bryan, that’s crazy. Why would she—”
“I don’t have time for this,” he said. “I think shit’s about to go down. If you run into trouble,
“Okay,” she said. There was fear in her voice, but she wasn’t about to panic. “Shouldn’t I just get out of here?”
Bryan pulled Aggie to the Magnum as he tried to process all the variables. The Jessups’ house had already been hit. Would Zou give Robin a certain amount of time to show up at the Mason Tunnel before sending someone after her? Marie’s Children could jump across streets. They could scale buildings. They seemed to be at home hiding on building roofs. One might be on top of Robin’s building right now, waiting to see if she came out, ready to stalk her just as he’d stalked Jay Parlar in his dream. If she did leave her building, but didn’t go right to the Mason Tunnel, would they attack her?
Robin’s neighbor Max was a big guy, a bouncer. He knew how to take care of himself. He probably wouldn’t stand a chance against one of Marie’s Children, but Robin was far safer with him than alone.
“Go to Max’s apartment,” Bryan said. “Stay there. Keep quiet. Don’t call anyone. I’ll come for you.”
Bryan stopped at the Magnum’s rear. Adam opened the hatch and started pulling out equipment drawers.
“Robin, I have to go. I’ll call back as soon as I can.”
“I love you,” she said. “Do what you have to do.”
“I love you,” he said, then hung up.
She could be in danger, but he didn’t know that for sure. Erickson
Bryan needed to be in two places at once. The answer was obvious: put those two places together. It would only take a few minutes to pull Erickson out of the hospital, then everyone could head to Robin’s.
“Alder!”
The old man slid out of the rear driver’s-side seat. “I’m here.”
“We have to move Erickson, now. You think he’s well enough for that?”
Alder nodded. “I think so. At any rate, it’s probably worth the risk if you think they’re coming for him.”
“I do,” Bryan said. He unlocked the handcuff around his wrist. Aggie’s face lit up, then faded when Bryan clipped the cuff around Alder’s wrist.
“Alder, Aggie, Aggie, Alder,” Bryan said. He handed the key to Alder. “I don’t care what you do, but make sure Aggie doesn’t go anywhere. If you have to convince him this is a wise idea, convince him.”
Bryan turned to Aggie. “I’m sorry about this, Mister James, but I need to know what you know. If you run, I’ll find you. Oh, and something else you should know. That” — he pointed to Alder’s cane — “is a gun that will blow your head clean off. Understand?”
A wide-eyed Aggie stared at the cane, then at Alder, then at Bryan. He nodded.
Bryan clapped Aggie on the shoulder, then turned to the younger Jessup. “Adam, a shit-storm is coming our way fast.”
“Then let’s gear up.” Adam reached into a metal drawer, then handed over a black coat. “Take off your hoodie and put this on before you start babbling questions.”
Bryan shrugged out of his sweatshirt and slid into the stiff coat. He gave it a quick look in the Magnum’s curved, tinted window. He also saw the reflection of Alder behind his left shoulder, his face deeply wrinkled in an old-man frown.
“That looks ridiculous,” Alder said.
The reflection of Adam’s face appeared behind Bryan’s right shoulder. “Gramps, that shit looks
Bryan stepped back, looked himself up and down.
Long sleeves, black. Two rows of flat-black buttons down the chest. The wide collar lay flat against the coat, but flipped up it would wrap around Bryan’s head from temple to temple. The fabric felt heavy. He could see why Adam had chosen this design — navy peacoats
Alder used the silver wolf’s head of his cane to point at Bryan. “
“Hey, cop,” Adam said. “How did you know Savior when you saw him?”
“Because people don’t wear cloaks,” Bryan said. “I mean outside of science fiction conventions or a gay pride parade, that is.”
Alder angrily shook the cane at his grandson. “You could have at least given him a trench coat! Like Humphrey Bogart.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Hey, cop, tell my grampa what you pigs do when they see a guy wearing a trench
