had given me a Magnetic Poetry set a couple of months back, and houseguests were forever messing with it. Bridgett herself could spend upwards of an hour mixing and matching words. The phrase "beautiful but without rice" caught my eye.
"Wow," I said.
"Yeah. The sex must have been really something if Joseph can still conjure it after six thousand years."
"Okay, so he's sprung."
"Potentially sprung. Belief in reincarnation is not a mental defect."
"Fair enough," I said. "Find out why he got expelled."
"First thing in the morning. And how was your day, snookums?"
"I could tell you. But it would take most of an hour, at least. You might want to sleep."
"Nah. I'm lying here with the phone in my ear. If you bore me, I'll just nod off."
"You're in bed?"
"Yup," she said. "Naked, even. Tell me a story."
I told her about my day. She didn't nod off.
When I finished, she said, "I'm coming home."
"Why? You're doing more good following up on Keith than you can do here."
"I'm afraid for you, that's why."
"Don't be. There's nothing that can be done tonight. Moore thinks the Drama stuff is bullshit, anyway."
"Moore doesn't impress me the way he does you," Bridgett said, and I could hear her moving, imagined her rolling up onto an elbow. "Drama's already visited you once when you were alone in that apartment. I don't want that happening again. If I'm there, you've got a little more protection."
"I'll tell you what I told the others, Bridie. Even if she is on the move, she's not coming here."
"And I'll tell you what they should have said in response, Atticus, which is that you cannot possibly know what she will or will not do. From what you've told me about her, she made a point of singling you out. She's targeted you before."
"She singled me out because I was running the operation. If she's truly after Lady Ainsley-Hunter, she won't come here, because that'll tip her hand. Which means that the only other reason to come here would be a personal one, and since she didn't bother to hunt us all down after everything with Pugh had been resolved, I'm inclined to believe she's not interested in taking things personally. Havel's book hasn't changed that."
"Oh, fuck you," she said softly. "I hate it, I absolutely hate it, when you start using logic."
"Well, I do it so rarely," I pointed out.
"You got that right. Just be careful."
"I will be," I said. "You, too. Get some sleep, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Don't worry about me."
"It works two ways, you get to tell me to be careful, I get to worry about you."
Her silence seemed suddenly sullen. Then she said, "Is that how it works?"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"It's late, Kodiak. I'm tired. Drama's maybe gunning for you. You'll forgive me if my tone isn't everything it should be." She wished me safe rest, and hung up.
I went to bed, thinking that the phone never had been my friend, and never would be.
Chapter 8
We met at six on the nose the next morning, all of us in our work clothes and Kevlar vests, and before we did anything else, I shared Moore's news about Oxford. At first, they all thought it was a bad joke.
"My sense of humor, while damaged, is not quite that morbid," I told them. "Moore has reliable intelligence that another of The Ten is on the prowl in our neck of the woods."
"Jesus Christ," Natalie said. "Two of them?"
I nodded. "This one's called Oxford. There is a positive, however."
"Her Ladyship has canceled her trip?" Corry asked hopefully. "She has taken vows and entered a convent in Upper Volta?"
"Not that positive," I said. "Moore's intelligence mentions nothing of Drama, and in fact, indicates that she has been inactive for much of the last year."
They considered that. Then Dale said, "So Moore's intelligence on Drama is basically that he has no intelligence on Drama."
"It's better than him confirming what Gracey and Bowles told me yesterday," I pointed out.
"Becomes a question of who we believe."
"Yes."
"Which leads us again to the question of
"Wow," I said.
"Yeah. The sex must have been really something if Joseph can still conjure it after six thousand years."
"Okay, so he's sprung."
"Potentially sprung. Belief in reincarnation is not a mental defect."
"Fair enough," I said. "Find out why he got expelled."
"First thing in the morning. And how was your day, snookums?"
"I could tell you. But it would take most of an hour, at least. You might want to sleep."
"Nah. I'm lying here with the phone in my ear. If you bore me, I'll just nod off."
"You're in bed?"
"Yup," she said. "Naked, even. Tell me a story."
I told her about my day. She didn't nod off.
When I finished, she said, "I'm coming home."
"Why? You're doing more good following up on Keith than you can do here."
"I'm afraid for you, that's why."
"Don't be. There's nothing that can be done tonight. Moore thinks the Drama stuff is bullshit, anyway."
"Moore doesn't impress me the way he does you," Bridgett said, and I could hear her moving, imagined her rolling up onto an elbow. "Drama's already visited you once when you were alone in that apartment. I don't want that happening again. If I'm there, you've got a little more protection."
"I'll tell you what I told the others, Bridie. Even if she is on the move, she's not coming here."
"And I'll tell you what they should have said in response, Atticus, which is that you cannot possibly know what she will or will not do. From what you've told me about her, she made a point of singling you out. She's targeted you before."
"She singled me out because I was running the operation. If she's truly after Lady Ainsley-Hunter, she won't come here, because that'll tip her hand. Which means that the only other reason to come here would be a personal one, and since she didn't bother to hunt us all down after everything with Pugh had been resolved, I'm inclined to believe she's not interested in taking things personally. Havel's book hasn't changed that."
"Oh, fuck you," she said softly. "I hate it, I absolutely hate it, when you start using logic."
"Well, I do it so rarely," I pointed out.
"You got that right. Just be careful."
"I will be," I said. "You, too. Get some sleep, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Don't worry about me."
"It works two ways, you get to tell me to be careful, I get to worry about you."
Her silence seemed suddenly sullen. Then she said, "Is that how it works?"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"It's late, Kodiak. I'm tired. Drama's maybe gunning for you. You'll forgive me if my tone isn't everything it should be." She wished me safe rest, and hung up.
I went to bed, thinking that the phone never had been my friend, and never would be.
Chapter 8
We met at six on the nose the next morning, all of us in our work clothes and Kevlar vests, and before we did anything else, I shared Moore's news about Oxford. At first, they all thought it was a bad joke.
"My sense of humor, while damaged, is not quite that morbid," I told them. "Moore has reliable intelligence that another of The Ten is on the prowl in our neck of the woods."
"Jesus Christ," Natalie said. "Two of them?"
I nodded. "This one's called Oxford. There is a positive, however."
"Her Ladyship has canceled her trip?" Corry asked hopefully. "She has taken vows and entered a convent in Upper Volta?"
"Not that positive," I said. "Moore's intelligence mentions nothing of Drama, and in fact, indicates that she has been inactive for much of the last year."
They considered that. Then Dale said, "So Moore's intelligence on Drama is basically that he has no intelligence on Drama."
"It's better than him confirming what Gracey and Bowles told me yesterday," I pointed out.
"Becomes a question of who we believe."
"Yes."
"Which leads us again to the question of
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