Chapter Nine
Shay stared down at the disassembled pistol on the table in front of her. Field stripping a weapon wasn’t exactly a fun and sexy time, but properly cleaning a weapon cut down on reliability issues.
Back when she was a killer she had mostly confined her jobs to cities and towns. Since becoming a tomb raider, she’d ended up on every continent including Antarctica, in every type of environment. Spending so many days in the Outback had also reminded her that she wouldn’t always be able to grab new gear.
Having a gun jam in the middle of a fight because she had been slacking wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.
The wall leading to the Annex groaned open, and Peyton emerged a moment later with a few different coats draped over his arm.
Anything that was on the general racks wasn’t critical to the prepared identity packages, so it wouldn’t hurt her to let the man play dress-up on occasion as long as he cleaned up after himself.
Peyton stopped and blinked, obviously surprised by her being there. “Uh, hi, Shay.”
She chuckled. “Did I forget to tell you I was coming?”
“The last message you sent said you’d talk to me in Warehouse Two tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if you were even flying back tonight.” He tapped a code on the keypad and the wall slid shut. “Everything okay in Virginia?”
“Peachy.”
“And you just decided to stop by Warehouse Three and clean guns?”
“Yeah, actually.”
Peyton tilted his head to the side. “I miss her too. I was getting used to all the flipping and twirling and swinging through the warehouse.”
“I’m over it,” muttered Shay, lifting the gun.
Peyton took a deep breath. “If this is some sort of veiled threat, I’m not getting it.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “The universe doesn’t revolve around you.” She patted the table. “You should learn how to do this eventually, but I don’t have the patience to teach you right now. Or probably ever. That’s what the internet’s for.”
Peyton moved to a nearby table to lay down the coats, discomfort lingering on his face. “Since you’re here, I suppose I should let you know I found the gnome.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I—” Shay looked up from the pistol receiver she was cleaning. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope. I know exactly where is. He’s in a gnome colony in Iowa. It’s hidden by magic that cloaks it from most satellites and other photos, but it’s definitely there.”
Shay set the cloth and receiver on the table. “Iowa? Why Iowa?”
“Why not? It’s not like it makes more sense for a gnome to be in England or something.”
The tomb raider shrugged. “Good point.”
“Maybe they really like corn? Do they even have corn on Oriceran?”
Shay thought that over for a few seconds. “I honestly have no fucking clue.” She smiled. “Hell, I’m impressed, Peyton! I thought that shit was gonna take months, but you pulled it off in your spare time when I wasn’t around.”
He stood up straighter. “I think you forget how badass I am at times.”
“You’re skilled, but you’re not badass. Badass would mean you could find Lily.” She saw him wince and wanted to take it back… mostly. “And not to be a dick, but you confirmed our particular gnome was there, right, and not just a bunch of corn-gobbling gnomes?”
Peyton’s confidence fled. “I traced him there by records, but I don’t know how I could confirm his presence. Do you even know what he looks like?”
“Nope. I wasn’t given a description, just the name.”
“Yeah, so there’s a lot of gnomes there, and all the other lines of evidence point there. Sounds good enough to me.” Peyton shrugged. “It wasn’t like I got close enough to ask them, just close enough that my drone’s flight time wasn’t too long.”
“Oh, fuck. You didn’t…” Shay narrowed her eyes. “Close enough to ask them?”
Peyton nodded. “Yeah, I was…” He winced. “Oh shit.” He face-palmed.
Shay glared at him. “Let me get this straight. Not only did you leave LA, but you went all the way to Iowa to poke your nose into a nest of very magical beings?”
“Uh, yes? Look, I was careful, and I needed to go there to confirm things anyway. The evidence was decent but getting a few drone images actually proves there are gnomes there. Otherwise, all we would have is a suspiciously unchanging farm, and your gnome might have blown that off.” Peyton slapped a hand over his chest. “I had to go, for the good of the job.”
Shay looked down at the table and shook her head. She’d never felt such an odd combination of pride and rage in her life.
“I’m not gonna say you didn’t do a good job, because you obviously did. You found a gnome colony, and yeah, our guy’s probably there. Shit, you even got pictures, and I can show those to Tubal-Cain.” She lifted her head and tried her best to resist the urge to march over to Peyton and lay him out with a punch for taking the risk. “But you can’t just—”
A loud klaxon sounded from Peyton’s phone.
“What the fuck was that?” Shay inquired mildly.
Peyton slid his phone out of his pocket. “My search alarm.”
“Oh. Is it that French asshole again?”
“One sec.” Peyton swiped and tapped with a teenager’s frenzy. “No, it’s not Durand.”
“Who is it then?”
“Not a hundred percent sure, but they aren’t looking for you. They’re looking for me. I’m going to have to lay more false trails. It must be my brother’s guys.” Peyton rubbed his temples. “Damn it. I must have fucked up, and someone saw me in Iowa. Shit.”
Shay shook her head. “I’m not all that happy about you wandering off to Iowa by yourself, but it’s a coincidence.”
“A coincidence?”
“Yeah. Come on, it’s not like your brother has a bunch of guys hanging out in Iowa waiting for you.”
Peyton frowned as he tapped through a few more messages. “I should
