Devon Monk - Hell Bent

“Which is how he got to Allie and Zay,” Clyde said.

“Yes.”

Clyde took off his baseball hat and rubbed his fingers through his thick black hair. “That, boys,” he said gravely, “is a situation.”

We ordered in lunch. Terric and Clyde eventually went into the closed-off office to talk about responsible Authority things. Which was what Terric and I had planned.

That left me and Dash to dig into old Authority files on Thomas Leeds. I was hoping something in there would give me a little inside information on Dessa.

Not a lot on Thomas I could use. An old photo of him, looked like it was taken in a sports bar with friends. I didn’t see much of the family resemblance, except maybe around the eyes and forehead. Otherwise, he looked like a guy you’d expect to be running a small but useful business of some sort, who spent his weekends watching football.

All of the addresses on his file were in the Seattle area, the phone was disconnected, and when it came down to the list of family and friends, the file had been wiped.

Thanks, Victor.

Bored, I went outside to smoke and pace. Hadn’t even gotten a puff off my cigarette before I heard a voice behind me.

“Four sugars, four creams?” Dessa said.

I grinned, turned.

She had on jeans, a white collared blouse, and a short black jacket. No purse, shoes she could run in without breaking bones. She also had a cup of coffee in each hand.

“Dessa,” I said. “How did you know it was time for my coffee break?”

“I bugged the office.” She smiled, held the coffee out for me.

“That kind of behavior will get you in trouble,” I said.

“Bugging your office?”

“Ex-office and no, telling me about it. And I prefer six sugars and six creams, thank you.” I took the cup.

“I know.” She reached into her pocket and handed me extra sugars and cream.

“Why are you here?” I popped the cup lid, stuck a thumbnail in the creams, poured, and tore sugar packets with my teeth. Didn’t bother to stir. I liked a sweet kick at the end.

“You make it sound like I want something.”

“Because you do.”

She took a drink of her own coffee. “Yes, I do.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s hear it.”

“I want you to take me to whoever is in charge of the Authority.”

“So they can tell you who killed your brother.”

“Am I that predictable?”

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I think you already know who killed your brother. And you know why he did it.”

Everything about her stilled, tensed. If she had a gun smuggled somewhere on her body, all signals pointed to her pulling it.

“Who told you that?” Her voice had gone from playful to dead serious.

“Do you know a woman named Brandy Scott?”

Her brows tucked down, folding a line between them. “The name sounds familiar. But I’m not placing it. Should I know her?”

“Thomas’s killer thinks you should.”

“You talked to his killer?” That drunk ’em and trunk ’em look flashed in her eyes.

“We heard from him.”

“You know giving me a name—Brandy Scott—is enough to lead me to him.”

“Might be if you can find the connection. That’s not how I want this to play out.”

“How you want it? You had your chance, Shame. I asked you to help me, remember? You said you didn’t want to get involved. So I don’t see why you should have a say in what I do or don’t do with this information.”

“Wouldn’t dream of having a say. I want to make you a deal. You help me find Brandy Scott and I will cut you in on all the info we have on the killer.”

She hesitated. It was a tempting offer. “I’m supposed to believe you’ll do that?”

“I’m not a man who makes a habit of lying.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay. Yes, fine. But this is the truth.”

She drank coffee, thought about it. Then, with regret, “You’re still holding all the cards, Shame. And I know you don’t really want me involved and you’ll find a way to go around me. Sorry. I need to do this on my own.”

I don’t know why, but I hadn’t expected that. “Really? We had pizza together. I thought we had a certain something.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “We did. We do. It’s why I’ve changed my mind. I started this alone. I think it needs to stay that way. Then whatever we have . . . or don’t have, we can figure that out on its own terms.”

“Dessa.” I reached over and touched her arm, but I could see that she had made up her mind. I pulled my hand away. “Be careful.”

“I’ll let you know how things turn out.”

“Unless we find her first.”

That got a smile out of her. “I suppose that could happen. Did you look into that thing with Jeremy Wilson yet?”

“We spoke.”

“Is he dead?”

“Not yet.”

“But what I said about him was correct? That he’s a part of the Black Crane and using Terric?”

“Yes.” I knew the point she was making. She’d held up her end of the deal, and she wanted me to hold up mine.

“So, please don’t follow me,” she said. “Please don’t come after me. Good luck, Shame.” She turned and walked down the street, dropping her barely touched coffee in the nearest garbage bin.

Eleanor had been leaning against the building. I glanced over at her and she shook her head. She mouthed, Stupid .

“She’d have found out anyway,” I said. “She bugged the office. I’m sure she’s bugged my room by now too. This way I’ll know what lead she’s following and I can follow her. I’m going to put a Hound on her.”

Eleanor rolled her fingers outward and shrugged in an obvious “why?” pose.

“I don’t want her hurt in the cross fire.”

She cupped her fingers together to make a heart shape, and raised one eyebrow. I turned my back on her.

“Not listening.”

I pulled out Terric’s phone I’d nicked and called Zayvion.

“Hello?” Allie’s voice, not Zay.

“Hey, Al. Where’s the man?”

“Sleeping. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to check in on you two. What did the doctor say?”

“That he’s lucky the knife missed his lung. It’s going to hurt for a while, and they gave him antibiotics, but he’s going to be fine.”

The relief in her voice was an almost tangible thing.

“And you? Honest, now, love. How are you?”

“Shaken. I’m okay now, but when he came in the door, Shame . . .” She paused.

I lit another cigarette, ignored Eleanor, who had come around to stick her tongue out at me.

“When he came in the door,” she went on, “I froze. I’ve never frozen in my life. All I could think was I was going to lose the baby.”

“You did fine. Just fine. And the baby’s okay, right?”

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“So it’s all good. Just like it should be. Is Stone there with you?”

“He showed up after the police left. He’s next to me right now. Hasn’t left my side. And Nola’s here too. With her shotgun.”

I had to grin at that. You could take the girl out of the country, but you couldn’t take the country out of the girl.

“So you don’t need anything?” I asked. “Anything I can bring you?”

“No. We’re good. I’m good. Thanks, Shame. For being here earlier. When we needed you.”

“Wouldn’t be anywhere else. Say, Allie, did you know Thomas Leeds?”

“I don’t think so. Was he a Hound?”

“No. Closer. I don’t suppose you knew a Dessa Leeds?”

“My memory’s pretty sketchy, but neither of those names rings any bells. Why? What do you want them for?”

“They’re tied to Eli. I’m looking for someone to follow Dessa. You got any spare Hounds I could borrow?”