Chapter Twenty-three
The van was one of those big ones, with half the seats turned to look backward. Glenn and Ivy were sitting next to each other with their backs to the front of the vehicle. There was a faint tension between them, a hesitation that hadn’t been there before, and I wondered if my capture had been the straw that tripped the camel. Or whatever. Wayde sat at my left, currently gripping the chicken strap and looking ill. I couldn’t blame him. The revolving lights were on and we were running red lights and swerving a lot.
A blueprint of the subbasement at the library was spread across our collective laps. It was laid out like a fortress with nested rings connected by the occasional passageway. Not what you’d expect under a city library, but Cincy was one of the oldest cities in the U.S., and she had more than a few surprises under her skirts. The money for the failed subway had gone somewhere after all.
Jenks hovered over it all as if nailed to the air as we bounced and swerved. “I didn’t know that was there,” he said, his hands on his hips and lighting a small circle of schematic.
The paper rattled as we took a turn and Glenn’s grip on it tightened. “It’s an abandoned military post from the Turn,” he said, leaning so close I could smell his aftershave. “They mothballed it shortly after, but if you know your history or think to look for it, you can find it.”
He looked up when Ivy bumped his knee, and she said, “That was good thinking, Glenn.”
“Thanks.” He didn’t look at her, and she met my eyes and shrugged, her expression sad. Jenks’s wings hummed as he noticed our exchange, and I made a mental note to ask his opinion of Glenn’s attitude when this was over. He was better than a lie detector in finding discrepancies between words and body language. I knew he liked Glenn, but he had liked Pierce, too. Man, I was glad I didn’t need to feel guilty about the man’s death.
The car began slowing, and I looked out the front window as the driver stiffened. “Sir?” the man said without turning around. “We’re at the outside perimeter. I was going to go straight to the drop point, but we’re being flagged down.” His voice shifted, and he added, “It appears to be I.S. personnel bumming a ride.”
Glenn looked over his shoulder, and Jenks darted to the front, stopping just short of hitting the windshield. “It’s Nina,” he said, his wings turning a particular shade of orange that meant he had mixed emotions. Ivy, too, looked uncomfortable.
“Pull over,” Glenn said, sounding tired. “We have room.”
“You’re taking her in?” Wayde said loudly, and I winced as Ivy’s jaw clenched. “She killed a man. Why isn’t she in custody?”
Ivy took the map and folded it smaller as the car rocked to a stop. “The vampire she was channeling at the time is high up in the I.S. If he wants to go, she’s going. I doubt very much he’s going to let her take the fall for his error in judgment.”
“Besides,” Glenn said as he leaned over to open the door, “if we don’t pick her up, Felix will commandeer another car. The fewer outside the library, the better.”
I was unable to find fault with his argument even though I was sort of agreeing with Wayde for a different reason. Nina was in over her head, and Felix was dragging her into deeper water. Nina would be a detriment in a fight, but as Glenn had said, if she wanted to be there, she was going to be there. Might as well try to have a say in where she’d be.
The wind from the river was brisk as the door slid noisily open. Nina stood waiting with her hands behind her back, looking professional in her elegant, sharp dress suit, her haunted eyes and posture telling me that it was she alone. Ivy’s words lifted through me, and I hoped we weren’t making a mistake. Both Felix and Nina had failed by murdering that suspect, but that’s probably not how Nina saw it. Behind her was a slew of I.S. and FIB vehicles, officers yammering as last-minute details were hammered out. We were about a mile from the library, and it was still too close for me for the level of activity.
“Mind if I ride with you?” she asked meekly, and Ivy pushed Glenn over to make room.
Nina hesitated, looking for recrimination in everyone’s faces, and from the front of the car, Jenks shouted, “Get in, will you? Were you born in a stump? It’s cold out!”
The light was eclipsed as Nina gracefully entered in a wash of nervous vampire and expensive perfume. My mood worsened as she shunned the space beside Ivy, sitting beside me instead. I found out why when Nina shivered, pulled herself straighter, and turned to beam toothily at me, Felix firmly in control once more.
“Good afternoon,” she said, her voice smoother than before, and now holding the cloying richness of caramel. “What a wonderful day for a procurement.”
My welcoming smile faded, and I said nothing, not happy with the man behind the woman. Slowly Nina’s smile vanished. Ivy wasn’t happy, either, and when the door shut, the car smoothly reentered traffic. The lights were off, and I inched away from her, trying not to look like I was.
“Mmm, is that a schematic?” Nina extended her hand, and Ivy gave it to her. “This is a much better copy than we have,” the vampire admitted, spreading it open on her lap, her knees spaced apart far more than I’m sure Nina normally would allow.
Glenn leaned back into the seat, clearly not liking her on the run, much less in the car with us, even if it was his idea. “It’s the original,” he said.
“The detail is exquisite,” Nina breathed, her finger tracing the circular defenses. “We have nothing like this. You say it was in the FIB files? Ah, here’s the secondary entrance. That’s where I will be.”
“I have a team there, but you’re welcome to observe,” Glenn said stiffly.
Nina looked up from the map as we rocked to a halt at a stoplight. “Observe. Yes,” she said, smiling in a way that said she’d be doing a little more than that if he/she got her way. Glenn was frowning, but I thought it was a good place for an unreliable vampire. She’d be out of temptation’s path unless the excitement came to her, whereupon she’d be justified in letting loose and doing some damage to fleeing felons.
Glenn stiffly took the map up and refolded it. “Your people have a net sink in place?”
A shadow of annoyance crossed Nina as the map slipped from her, but she stifled it and smiled at the FIB detective. “It took me all morning, but I found three witches in the tower with the skill to set one and the ability to work together.” Her eyes came to me. “Witches are a funny lot, picky about whom they share their minds with. If anyone tries to jump out using a line, they’ll find themselves in a cell.”
I stifled a shiver, and feeling it, Nina said, “How are you doing, Ms. Morgan? I’ll admit I’m surprised to see you after your capture and injury.”
Jenks snickered from the rearview mirror, and Glenn shoved the folded map into his jacket pocket. “I’m not,” the detective said sarcastically.
Jenks flew into the backseat. “You thought she’d stay home and watch my kids?”
Nina ignored the pixy yo-yoing up and down, instead looking at me with a worrisome intentness. “I understood you were shot at close range,” she said, her gaze flicking to the patch job on my pants and back again.
I shrugged, wishing she wasn’t sitting so close. “It was a small rifle,” I said, trying to downplay it. “Algaliarept ran a healing charm. I’m better than before.” My lips pressed, and I didn’t care if my anger pushed her buttons. “Don’t you think it’s odd, how HAPA always seems to get away?”
Nina glanced sidelong at Glenn. “Yes, I do, actually. But very well,” she said as if she had a say in the matter. “If you say you’re a hundred percent, you’re a hundred percent. What concerns me the most is your reputation, Detective Glenn.”
Ivy stiffened, and I wondered if I should ask the driver to crack the window. It was starting to smell really good in here. Which wasn’t good at all. What was Felix playing at? There was no reason he needed to be in Nina right now. He was making matters worse.
“There’s nothing wrong with Glenn’s reputation,” Jenks said for the rest of us as he came to land on the headrest of the empty front-passenger seat.
Nina shifted the hem of her dress coat and smiled, showing no teeth. “I’m starting to wonder if HAPA is even there,” she said, and Jenks made a rude sound, his wings folding, and turning his back on the vampire. “My amulet has failed to ping, and we’re right on top of them. There’s no line to interfere. From all appearances, we are descending upon an empty bunker.”
I felt a stab of worry. I looked at Ivy, who was looking at Glenn. Glenn wasn’t looking at anyone, his jaw set and his focus distant. Crap on toast. Were we out here when my amulets hadn’t worked?
“They are there,” the FIB detective said defensively as the car eased to a halt at a light and I braced myself.
