It was the water tank from the roof. She’d dumped it over the floating storm.
Scalding hot mud shot out from under the lip of the tank. It scalded me through my pants, and I dropped to my knees in the freezing mud to leach away the heat.
“Where did Issler go?” Annalise asked. Her clothes were in tatters, exposing pale skin from her chin to her ankles. She was completely covered with protective tattoos, as I had always suspected, but what I hadn’t expected was how she looked. She always wore clothes that were large and loose, but I never expected to see all her ribs, her bony hips sticking out through her skin … I wasn’t prepared for how starved she looked.
Then I saw that the sides and top of her head were burned nearly black. There was a section of undamaged skin on her face about the size of both her hands, but the flesh around it was actually smoking.
“Jesus Christ, boss,” I said, with more fear in my voice than I’d intended. I jumped up and slipped out of my jacket. She let me wrap it around her shoulders. Her usual expression of stony anger turned a little sour, but she didn’t shake it off. It looked as big as a quilt on her. The smell of her burns made my stomach twist into knots. “Is there something I can … Does that hurt?”
She pulled the jacket closed. “I hate it when they burn my clothes.”
“Issler is on the other side of the building. He was still alive when I left him.”
“I can fix that,” she said, and started walking in that direction. “Get away from the building.”
I sprinted for the line of cars and crouched behind the trunk of one of the BMWs. A few moments later, Annalise walked around the pit with Issler dragging behind her. His head hung at an awkward angle. Dead.
She lifted Issler’s corpse in front of her like a shield and kicked the front door of the cabin open. Flames roared out. She threw him inside, then trotted toward me. My jacket was smoking, too.
“Well,” she said when she reached me, “that was annoying.”
As we walked down the switchback trail, Annalise stayed a few paces behind me. I didn’t know whether she was sparing me the sight of her burned flesh, using me as a lookout so that no one would question her injuries, or using me as her wooden man again. It didn’t matter. We walked in silence, and when I glanced back to see if she was about to go into shock or something, she glared at me.
Back at the road, Catherine was waiting for us in the van. She slid open the back door to let us climb in. I stepped aside to let Annalise get in first.
“I thought I told you to find the sapphire dog,” Annalise snapped.
Catherine glanced at her, gasped, and shouted: “Oh my God!” She shoved her door open and fled into the road, running to the opposite shoulder to retch into the dirt.
Annalise knelt at a big plastic cooler behind the driver’s seat. She took out a Tupperware tub and peeled off the lid. It was filled with little cubes of uncooked red meat. She popped one into her mouth.
That was it for me. I slid back out of the van and walked a few paces away, grateful for the clean, cold breeze.
Catherine had finished, but she stayed on the far side of the street. She looked spooked, so I moved toward her.
“What’s she doing in there?” she asked.
“Healing her burns,” I answered. “She has a spell that protects her, and when she needs to recover from an injury, she eats meat.”
“She’s … eating?” The look on her face showed that she was close to losing control again.
Raw and fresh, I almost said, but I didn’t want to make either of us queasier than we already were. Instead, I went with: “Glamorous, isn’t it? Don’t worry, she’ll be back to normal soon.”
“What happened up there?”
That was a good question. Issler and Zahn had left a booby trap for us, and it had nearly worked. A normal gangster would have just left a bomb in that oven. It would have killed me in a blink. It wouldn’t have killed Annalise, though, or any of the other peers I’d met. Zahn and Issler had gone to a lot of trouble to set up that disaster, and when I thought about the tiny bones in the bottom of that oven, I wanted to kill Issler all over again.
Not that it would be enough. Nothing would ever be enough to set right all the things that had happened in Washaway.
“Issler is dead,” I told her. “We aren’t.” Then I remembered telling her Stuff. I gave her a quick rundown, making sure to mention what had happened to Penny and her son.
I shivered in the cold but didn’t head for the van. I didn’t care how warm it was, I didn’t want to see Annalise’s body—not the injured parts, not the uninjured parts.
The driver’s door suddenly swung open. “Let’s go!” Annalise called out. Her little voice had a nasty sharpness to it.
Catherine and I crossed back to the van. “I’m still driving,” Catherine said. I laughed and went around to the side door.
Annalise had changed into heavy canvas pants and a heavy canvas jacket. Her head was pale and healthy and completely bald. She pulled a knit cap on, then opened her jacket and began alligator-clipping ribbons to the inside lining.
I knelt between the two seats. “You okay, boss?”
She tossed my jacket at me. I pulled it on. It stank of smoke and other things I didn’t want to think about, but I was too cold to be fussy. “Except for all the spells I wasted, yes. Now, did you find the sapphire dog?”
Catherine started the engine. She wouldn’t turn her head to look at Annalise. “I left you a message, but I guess you’ve been too busy to get it. I didn’t get close enough to see it, but I’m pretty sure I know where it is.”
“Then go.”
Fat, damp snowflakes that wouldn’t stick were still falling. Catherine pressed the gas and we pulled onto the road. I knelt on the metal deck and watched where we were heading. I didn’t need to. I already knew.
We had to take the long way to the fairgrounds. The feeder road we had used to chase the plumber’s truck was blocked by two pickup trucks and three men with deer rifles. We drove around the property into the main parking lot. There were men here, too, but they didn’t display their weapons. I was sure they were close at hand, though.
Catherine stopped when one of the men raised a hand. She rolled down the window and said: “Is there a problem?”
“Not here,” the man said. He wore a big, beautiful cowboy hat with a plastic rain cover. There was no white mark on his face. “But we’ve had some disturbances nearby.”
“I’ve heard about that,” Catherine said. “What’s been going on?”
“Don’t know,” Waterproof Cowboy answered. “Outsiders have been causing trouble, and some of our own folks have suffered for it. We’re being careful this year.”
“Good Lord,” Catherine said. “I wish people had the decency to keep their messes in their own yards.”
“Me, too. Most of the outsiders have left Washaway, though. We’re not seeing as many shoppers as we used to.”
“Well, I hope you’re not going to send me away without a poinsettia. And I have some last-minute gifts to buy.”
Waterproof looked us over and nodded. “Be sure to try the sugar cookies. The proceeds help the food bank.” He stepped back and we drove in.
We pulled ahead and parked. There were a lot of open spaces. Once Catherine had slipped the shotgun under her jacket, we climbed out of the van and started down the slope. The snow-making machine was off, and there was a quiet chill in the air. Catherine and Annalise spoke in low voices, pointing out toward the tents. I was about to join the discussion when movement off to the side caught my attention.
Six men marched toward Waterproof Cowboy and his pals. They carried hunting rifles, and one had a banana-clipped assault rifle. They spoke for a few minutes in a way that wasn’t friendly or unfriendly. Waterproof tilted his head as though something puzzled him, but the newcomers stood in neutral positions with very little body language.
Finally, Waterproof shrugged and led his buddies toward the tents. The replacement
s took up their positions.
I jogged to catch up with Annalise and Catherine.
“This is a waste of time,” Annalise said. “There’s no evidence the predator is here. Just her guesses.” She held out her hand.
Catherine sighed and gave her the van keys. “It wants victims. This is where the town is going to gather. Isn’t it—”
“I’ll go to a hotel until you have something solid.”
“Boss, there is something weird going on here. Look.”
The nearest tent was twenty yards away. A pair of heavyset women were beckoning for another to come out from behind her glasswares stall. Their persistence wore the other woman down. She followed them toward the cinder-block field house.
Annalise didn’t respond, but Catherine said: “I’m guessing that’s where we need to go.”
We walked toward the field house. The stalls we passed were all set up but completely abandoned.
Finally, just a few dozen yards from the entrance to the field house, we came to an occupied stall. A little old gray-haired lady in a parka with a fur-lined hood stood in front of a huge display of gift chocolates and candies. ALL HOMEMADE, the sign said; she’d obviously spent a lot of time getting ready for this day.
She smiled pleasantly at us as we approached. “Excuse me—” Catherine said, but the woman interrupted.
“You should get out of here right now.” She didn’t let her smile falter, but the look in her eyes was fierce. “Right now. You’re in terrible danger here. Go quickly.”
“We’re here to help,” I said.
The woman glanced to the side, and her smile turned bitter. “Behind the table,” she said. “Get in and get down. Quickly!”
Catherine rushed around the edge of the table and crouched behind the white tarp that covered it. I followed, herding Annalise in front of me. We hid.
“Why are we hiding?” Annalise asked. She sounded annoyed. “We should find the most heavily defended spot and attack.”
I wanted to kill the sapphire dog with as little collateral damage as possible, but Annalise had other priorities. “The sapphire dog is fast,” I said. “We have to sneak up on it, or it’ll get away again.”
The woman in the parka kicked me and said, “Hello, Rich. Back again so soon?”
“Come with me, Livia,” a man’s voice said.
“I’m not here to go to your town meeting, Rich. Whatever you have there, I’m not interested. I’m here to sell, not buy.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I heard his footsteps squish in the mud as he came around the stall. Then I saw his legs. He was wearing puffy snowsuit pants—the kind you’d see on a toddler. They were bright red with little candy canes on them.
I surged upward at him, but Catherine was faster. She slammed into his legs, knocking him to the mud. He fell facedown and was still. Weird. I grabbed the shoulder of his candy-cane jacket and rolled him over.
It was the bartender from the night before. He’d been holding a syringe and had fallen on it. The needle stuck out of his shoulder. I had no idea what was in it, but he was out cold.
I turned to Catherine. “Don’t use up our good luck on mooks.”
She was about to laugh when Livia hissed at us. “Get back under there and don’t do that again! More are coming!”
She started pushing me down to the ground. I didn’t want to fight her, so I got down on my knees and hid under the table.
“I’ve been hearing gunshots and explosions all morning,” Livia said. “I think they’ve already killed a number of us. I can’t get to my car, and I certainly can’t walk out, not with my heart. But maybe I can distract them long enough for—well, if you’re really here to help, maybe long enough for you to help.”
I knelt in the mud and kept quiet. Annalise and Catherine did the same. If we raised a commotion here at Livia’s stall, we’d draw every armed citizen in the fairgrounds. The sapphire dog would run, and we’d have to hunt it down all over again.
Besides, I wasn’t keen on killing the sapphire dog’s victims. I was hoping that, once the predator was dead, the townspeople would return to normal. Hey, it could happen.
There was a supermarket milk crate on the ground beside me. I looked inside and saw candies. My mouth watered and I wished I’d stolen a little time for breakfast.
More footsteps approached.
“Livia,” a woman said. “Everyone is waiting. Join us.”
“Thank you, Constance,” Livia said, “but no.”
“No one is coming today,” Constance said. I wished I could see her face. “There’s no one to sell to. You know I’m right.”
“I’m still staying put.”
“The pastor is asking for you.”
“If he wants to buy some truffles, send him over.”
Catherine was kneeling beside another of the plastic milk crates. She looked inside.
“I’m already here,” a new voice said. It was Pastor Dolan.
From where we were hiding, I could see back to the church and the pastor’s house. There was a sudden flash of reflected sunlight in an upstairs window. I tapped Annalise’s shoulder and nodded toward the house. The flash came back, and she saw it. Someone was watching from there.
Livia’s voice was strained but still pleasant. “Come to buy some chocolate-covered almonds, Pastor?”
I heard the distinctive double click of a revolver being cocked. “Livia,” the pastor said, “if you don’t come out right now, I’m going to shoot you in the stomach. Then we’ll drag you back to join the others. You won’t live long, just long enough. Now come on.”
That was it. Whether we had to sneak up on the sapphire dog or not, I couldn’t just cower here while this woman was led away at gunpoint. My ghost knife would be useless against them, but I still had the gun. And since they couldn’t feel fear anymore, I couldn’t control them at gunpoint. I’d have to shoot them.
I started to move out from under the table. Livia held her hand in front of my face. It wasn’t visible to the people she was talking to, but she was telling me to stop.
God help me, I did.
Livia sighed. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” She walked around the edge of the stall.
“What about the strangers?” Dolan asked. “Rich said you were talking to them.”
“I told them to get out of town.” Livia sounded just as pleasant, but I couldn’t see her face. I assumed she wasn’t smiling anymore. “I warned them off, and they ran that way. They’re out of your clutches, you self-righteous little fucker.”
“Get her inside,” the pastor said. Squelching footsteps receded.
“We don’t have enough guns,” Constance said. “You shouldn’t have sent so many men into town.”
“We need to gather everyone. He’s hungry.”
“She needs to be protected more than she needs to be fed,” Constance responded. I guess they didn’t like to call the sapphire dog it, or look under its tail.
“When the next missionary group returns, we’ll keep them here. Better to be safe, I guess, until the outsiders are caught.”
“I’ll get some people together to search,” Constance said, her voice flat.
More footsteps receded. Catherine turned toward me and said in a low voice: “We can’t stay here. As soon as Livia is turned, she’ll tell them everything.”
“I’m leaving,” Annalise said.
“What?” Catherine’s voice was too loud.
I held up my hand to Catherine, and she calmed down. It had worked for Livia, and it worked for me. “Boss, do you want to go after Zahn right now?”
“I do. He’s a slippery bastard, and I don’t want to let him run back to whatever hole he hides in. What he did at the cabin is SOP for that fucker. It’s not enough to keep the sapphire dog from him; he needs to be dead, and the society has been hunting him for fifty years. Besides, I bet he didn’t bring any predators with him. We may not get a better shot.”
“What about the sapphire dog?”
&nb
sp; “I’m leaving that for you two.”
It was my turn to be shocked. “What? You’re going to face him without me? Boss …”
There really wasn’t a delicate way for me to ask if she could take him in a fight. She was powerful, but she wasn’t the most powerful. Besides, she’d used up a lot of her spells on the floating storm. She needed me.
She narrowed her eyes at me. As it turned out, I didn’t have to ask that delicate question. She understood exactly what I was going to say. “Yeah, he’s dangerous, Ray, but you know what? If he can be killed, I can kill him.”
“Okay, boss.”
Annalise turned to Catherine. “You follow his lead in this. You’re good at what you do, but he knows this.”
Catherine nodded and looked at her shoes. Annalise turned to me. “You just worry about taking care of that predator.”
“Okay,” I said. I didn’t like it, but I didn’t have much choice. Annalise rushed out of the booth and slipped into the tree line.
“What’s the plan?” Catherine gave me a steady look.
I pulled the ghost knife from my pocket, then stuffed it down the front of my pants. I had an absurd moment when I worried it might slice off something I wanted to keep, but of course it didn’t. It didn’t cut through the bottom of my pocket, after all. “I’m going to get myself captured. I’ll make a big enough distraction that you should be able to get to the parking lot and steal a car. Can you steal a car?”
“Yes, but Annalise—”
“Annalise told you to do what I say. The best way to get through all these people is to let them bring me to the sapphire dog. If I can kill it without hurting them, maybe they’ll get better.” I tried to say it with conviction, but I didn’t have any. I’d never had much luck curing the victims of a predator. I didn’t expect it to work, and I didn’t expect to get out of there alive. But there was no need to say that aloud. “But you’re an investigator. You got us where we need to be.” I was tempted to say You don’t have to die, too. “You have kids.”
Game of Cages Page 27
