Behind them, lights flashed from atop police cars that sped toward the duplexes the Skinners had blasted apart. Rico barely acknowledged the commotion as he shifted in his seat and said, “I was contacted after I put the word out that the old man was dead.”
“Which old man are you talking about? Lancroft or Ned?” Paige asked, knowing how close Rico had been to the older Skinner who lived in St. Louis. “You remember Ned, don’t you? He was the guy who owned the house that you live in when you’re not on the run. He’s the guy who taught you how to read those runes that have been cropping up more and more lately. He’s also the guy that Lancroft killed during that whole Mud Flu outbreak.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Steve insisted. “There are bigger things at stake. First of all, you should tell us where to find these men who follow Dr. Lancroft so closely.”
Paige turned to look at him. Her eyes lingered on him even when it bordered on being a detriment to her driving. She’d been uncertain about the other Skinner several times before, but had always put her fears to rest one way or another.
Rico nodded and adjusted the shotgun so it was sure to kill Paige even if it went off by accident. “They’re based out of Louisville,” Rico said. “That’s all I know right now. I been looking into these guys ever since I started digging into the shit that Ned was into. They’re barely organized, but with all that’s happened lately, they’ve been pulling together real quick.”
“Speaking of our last business with Ned,” Paige said, “you seem to glaze right over the Mud Flu thing. Did you forget that Lancroft made that to infect people so they’d be attacked by Nymar and shapeshifters?”
“And when they were attacked, the flu killed those bloodsuckers
Paige felt a knot form in her stomach. It only grew when she looked into the rearview mirror at Steve. “I always thought the same thing about you, Rico,” she said earnestly.
“The Skinners as we know ’em are done,” Rico continued. “The Nymar saw to that, and they could never have done so much damage if we hadn’t all been too preoccupied or just too damn short-sighted to prevent it from happening.”
“So what’s the plan from here?”
“We have to solve this problem right now,” Steve said.
“You’re right,” Rico replied.
Paige agreed with him as well, which brought three problems to mind. For one thing, she’d never agreed so many times in a row with anybody. The second problem was that Rico wasn’t the kind of guy who took direct orders from anyone without at least attempting to buck against them or grumble about it. And yet, Steve was able to order him around with more ease than Ned ever could. Considering how highly Rico thought of Ned, that was saying a lot. The third problem was in the rearview mirror. For some reason, the harder she thought about those other problems, the hazier Steve’s reflection became.
“We’ve got options,” Rico said. “Lancroft’s followers have been keeping tabs on Full Blood movements for a while now. They even know about at least two more that have come to North America since the Mud Flu was wiped out.”
“You think Dr. Lancroft’s cult is capable of so much?” Steve asked.
“Don’t talk about them like they’re a joke,” Rico snarled as he twisted around to stare into the backseat. “They’re doing important work. Work that needs to get done before it’s too damn late. A lot of blood’s about to be spilled. The Full Bloods have always been happy to roam their territories, keep out of sight and do their thing without kicking up enough dust to be noticed. Liam changed that when he attacked Kansas City. He put a storm in motion, and the others like him are set to take advantage of it. We’ll need all the help we can get once the shit really starts to hit the fan.”
“After the siege of Kansas City, the Mud Flu, and everything else,” Paige said, “you still don’t think the shit’s hit the fan?”
“Honey,” he grunted, knowing all too well how a nickname like that would grate on her, “it ain’t even started to stink yet.”
Driving north on the expressway, Paige casually watched the side of the road for anything that might be useful. A stalled car or some debris could make a big enough boom when she hit it. Even a large pothole in the right spot could jostle her passenger enough to give her the opening she was looking for. Instead, all she saw was evenly spaced traffic and clear road. Damn Canadians and their fully functional infrastructure. “So why do you have the shotgun pointed at me again, Rico?” she asked.
“He saw the same thing you did,” Steve replied. “Tell him what you saw.”
“I found a list of Skinner contacts being used by the Nymar,” Paige said.
“I really wish you hadn’t seen that list, Bloodhound. I wanted to make sure you’d be on board with this before doing something drastic. Once you saw my name, though, I didn’t have much choice.”
She glanced over to him and said, “I didn’t see your name on the list, Rico. Just Jory, some of the Philly Skinners, and some others I didn’t recognize.”
Rico was stunned.
“You did see his name,” Steve told her. “Just like we found yours in an e-mail that explained how you betrayed all Skinners to the men flying that helicopter that brought you to Denver.”
Paige watched the road, still looking for anything that could be put to use.
Steve moved so he was looking at her like the proverbial devil sitting on Rico’s shoulder. “Tell us about those people who flew in that helicopter.”
“They helped me once,” she said. “They’re not exactly on my Christmas list.”
“Are they with the government?”
“No.”
“Cops?” Rico asked.
“Getting colder,” Paige sighed.
Steve placed a hand on Rico’s shoulder and said, “She’s trying to manipulate us.”
When Rico’s fingers tightened around the Mossberg, Paige thought she could hear the shotgun bend within his angry grasp. “Cut the bullshit and tell me everything, Bloodhound.”
The expressway was clear and straight enough for her to see she wasn’t going to get the break she’d been hoping for. There was always the chance of making a move that was sudden enough to get the drop on the big man in the passenger seat, but she’d worked with him for too long to expect his trigger finger to let her live through something like that. In an earlier time of her life, when she’d first been introduced to the darkness that crept in around society’s edges, Paige might have welcomed an opportunity to roll those dice and risk going out in a quick blaze of shotgun fire. Things might have become even darker, but she’d found something else to cling to. As much as it had torn her up to leave that something behind back in Denver, she wasn’t about to forget it anytime soon. In fact, it was a rare moment that she wasn’t thinking about him.
“You have to tell us about the group,” Steve said. “You can trust us.”
“It’s got some military ties, but it’s privately run,” she said. “They’ve also got friends in the press. And before you ask, yes. They do have some important jobs for me to do in exchange for the protection they can offer.”
“Protection?”
Paige shook her head solemnly. “I’m not saying another word.” When Rico placed the shotgun to his shoulder and pointed it at her cheek, he braced his arms and legs as if the kick of the Mossberg and the turbulence that would follow once the car was without its driver were both as inevitable as the rain.
Looking at her in the mirror, Steve said, “He’ll shoot you, Paige.”
She saw the image waver once more, so she looked away from it and to the familiar face beside her. “I know you would, but never based on so little. We’ve been through worse, including when you finally agreed to help Gerald train me.”
When Rico let out a breath, a fond smile accompanied it. “Gerald knew his way around the sticks, but we could
