“I can’t believe you haven’t even taken a peek at all that stuff in the office,” she told Peter, who was leaning on his SUV next to Ryan and Jane. “All this stuff we’re burning, gotta be something useful in there.”
“I’m not going to risk it for something. People already know too much. Last thing we want is someone coming over looking for the recipe of Ghost-unmaking serum.”
She winced at the idea of what a disaster it could’ve become had they not stopped it in time. With Philip’s death, the only way to get to the bottom of this was gone. Peter had said they were still going to look into it some more, maybe speak to Philip’s wife, try to figure out what exactly Philip had stumbled into.
“What about what they did to Dave? Dani share anything interesting?”
“Just part of the study. You gotta make a Ghost to unmake one. With this serum though, it could turn from bad to end-of-the-world bad very fast. So no, I didn’t take a peek. And you don’t want to either, trust me.”
Pain shrugged but mentally agreed. “What you gonna do about her?”
“Daniela?”
“Yeah. She knows too much.”
“I know. I offered her a job.”
Pain stared at him.
Peter added, “Doc said she—quote—got balls. We need balls.”
“You got a building full of ’em, Peter.”
“And not enough nurses to keep them whole,” he said with a wry smirk.
“Speaking of nurses and balls, Tiffany alone gotta have at least half a dozen.”
Peter pressed a hand to his face, struggling to contain a smile. “You do know it’s not about quantity?”
She grinned. “Sorry, that’s the gin talking.”
“What gin?”
“What?” She put on a blank face. “So where is she?”
Peter narrowed his eyes but let it slide. “Left already. With Phoenix.” Pain blinked. “Said, it’s okay, I trust him.”
“Yeah, she belongs with the circus all right.”
He chuckled.
She turned to look up at Chad. He was watching the fire with a distracted frown.
“Hey.” She squeezed his forearm, their armor making contact difficult. “We’ll find him.”
Chad snapped out of his thoughts, blinking fast as he looked at her. “They said he came back and left, and he’s not at his apartment.”
“He needs time.”
Chad winced. “He just killed a man, Pain. In cold blood. I thought he was getting better, but this?” His chin pointed at the spot still dark with Philip’s blood. “He needs more than just time. And I don’t know what to do.”
“First, we gotta find him. Then we’ll deal with the rest.”
“Maybe we could sweep the area around headquarters? Could be just sitting somewhere drinking, and it’s freezing. Could be trying to freeze himself to death, with his tendencies.”
“Okay,” she said, squeezing his arm once more. “We’ll do that. Just get me some more of that fine gin, and I’m good to go.”
He chuckled, and at last, she felt him relax.
* * *
Dave had lost count of all the shots he’d downed preparing for the long flight. The effect was already beginning to wear out, though.
“Just give me the bottle,” he said, dropping a bunch of bills on the bar. “Thanks.”
The cute bartender nodded with a subtle smile. Dave swept the bottle off the bar, stuffed it into his backpack, and got up. He waited until he was in the dark hallway before putting on his gear jacket—who knew who might recognize it here—and pushed the heavy door open.
A frigid blast hit his face, and Dave swore. Last thing he needed was this nasty wind.
The bottle came back out, and he took a big, healthy gulp. From his wallet, he dug out the crumpled piece of paper Albert had given him, and peered at it with bleary eyes.
Five hundred miles, Dave. You’re gonna need a tanker of vodka, not a bottle.
On top of that, when he’d checked the coordinates, it was a middle of nowhere. Literally. Just a bunch of Canadian rocks.
But Albert had given it to him, and said someone there could help him. He didn’t exactly have any other options. Returning to headquarters—or New York, for that matter—was out of the question after what he’d done. He’d fucked up, and brought attention to himself. Albert was going to be pissed.
Dave was done with the talking and the pity and the guilt, most of all. This whole nightmare had to be left behind. Forgotten.
He swallowed hard, pushing the memory of warm, slick blood on his fingers from his head. Everything he needed was in his backpack. Elena’s necklace was tucked under his sweater, resting against his heart. In a world as big as this, he had to find something to do, somewhere to be. They’re better off without you. Come on.
A deep breath, a shake of his head, and he left the country—and his life—behind.
Epilogue
The man on the rooftop was tired of waiting.
He’d waited long enough to escape from the damn lab, and then hours more on the bus they kept sending back and forth until it was full of people. He had gotten a chance to restore a little of his power, though, grabbing some confused boy while no one was looking, then dumping his body in the bushes after he’d drained him. But he needed more.
The big black man chatting on his phone and sipping from a whiskey bottle would certainly do the trick. For now. Then he had to track down the wonder boy.
