“No less than twenty million. Double that would not be beyond probability,” the math girl answered.
“I got it,” I told them all.
And I did. It was a familiar song. I’d learned it as a tortured baby, and heard it the rest of my life.
What it always comes down to.
Them or me.
Just before we were ready to pull out the next morning, I went to see Lune. He was in the command center, working at his charts.
“Lune, will you do something for me?”
“I would do anything for you,” he said. “If it wasn’t for—”
“If it wasn’t for
“Just tell me.”
“Tell
“Why?” he asked, topaz eyes bright with something I’d never understand.
“Because, as soon as this is over, I’m going to try and find them for you, brother.”
And for the next couple of hours, I listened while the beautiful crazy man with the desperado’s searching heart told me all about his parents, who never were.
We went out the same way we’d come in. Not the same route, but with Heidi and the Latina pack-muling, while Levi led the way, his sniper’s eyes checking the path. Indeh trotted alongside, happy to be out working again.
Even though it was pretty much downhill, it was a good thing we had help lugging out our stuff. Lune’s crew had put together reams of material about Darcadia and the man behind it, and I was going to need it to get my work done.
They walked with us all the way to where Levi had stashed the Land Rover. The Latina gave Gem a deep hug while Heidi shook hands with me and said, “Good luck, Burke.” Then she turned to hug Gem herself. The Latina turned her back and started walking away.
Levi drove us down through the mountains, his Canary dog on the front seat next to him. He didn’t say a word until we got into Albuquerque.
“Lune gave you a way to reach us,” he said. It wasn’t a question.
“He did,” I acknowledged.
“There are always two tasks. One is to find the path; the other is to walk the path. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“There is no rule about walking the path alone,” he said.
“I won’t be,” I promised him.
“I would walk it with you, if you wish.”
I was too stunned at the Indian’s dealing himself in to say anything. Gem didn’t have that problem. “We would be honored,” she said.
On the trip back, I stayed inside myself, thinking through that last exchange. Gem didn’t press me, letting me have my silence. Finally, on the last leg of the flight into PDX, I told her where we stood: “What you said to the Indian … There’s no more ‘we’ in this, little girl. Understand?”
“It is not your choice,” she said, her lips drawn tight.
“You know what I have to do now?”
“Yes. I am not stupid.”
“I have to go back to New York,” I said, ignoring her tart answer. “To my family. I need a plan. This is a bad guy. With bad people backing him up. When it’s over, I’ll—”
“I will come to New York with you,” she announced, like it was something she planned to serve for dinner.
“You don’t understand, Gem. I got no place to go
“I will not. I have places I could stay there myself.”
“No.”
“No? You are my husband, not my master. I
“Gem …”
“In the meantime, it is better if we travel together. As I said before, that is not what people would expect of you.”
Two weeks later, I watched Wolfe’s tango-dancer legs flash in the sunlight as she climbed out of her battered old Audi. Her Rottweiler stayed in the car. I was glad of that, and not just because I was afraid of the beast. Seeing people with their dogs …
“I heard you were dead,” she said, sarcastically.
“Sure. Are you telling me nobody’s buying?”
“Oh, I think they are. Word is you got blown away by some drug dealers you’d ripped off a long time ago. Remember that?”
