He didn’t look at me. His phone must have connected because he said, “I’ve got her. There’s a problem.”
Someone responded, then Dodge grunted. “Well, there’s two problems, then. Maybe three or four, come to think of it. Can’t talk about it now. We’re going back to her apartment tonight. Meet tomorrow at the Korean barbecue place. Right, near 5th. Twelve. Make a reservation for one of the private rooms. Easier that way.”
I stared at him. I must have missed something. It felt like I’d closed my eyes and at least an hour of events had passed, because nothing he said made any sense. “What – we’re not going back to my apartment. I mean,Iam, but you’re not – there’s no way in hell you’re going to my apartment. And I’m only going back to pack a bag and get on the next bus out of here.”
“You have to act normal,” he said, not looking at me as he put his phone back in his pocket. “Like you didn’t see anything fucked up in that kitchen. Right? If you scamper off like a frightened baby bunny and they see it, they’ll know that you must have seen something that frightened you. Those guys won’t stop to ask what you saw, they’ll just kill you.”
My stomach unbalanced and gurgled in warning. I couldn’t take my eyes off his face; he looked far too serious to be joking around or trying to scare me just for the hell of it. He said it so matter-of-factly that it almost sounded reasonable. Of course men who chopped up bodies with meat cleavers wouldn’t mind killing me if they thought I’d seen them. Sure. Apparently things like that happened in a world where bodies were chopped up and...
I gripped my knees until my hands ached. “Oh my God. Are they going to feed that – that man to the animals? To thetiger? The tiger’s going to eat him and then – then – oh my God. Oh no. Ohno.”
“Shit,” he muttered, then abruptly reached over and grabbed the back of my neck. He shoved my head down between my knees, his grip surprisingly gentle. “Breathe. Hands on the dash. Just breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Don’t think about it.”
It was easier said than done. Tears burned my eyes and nose and throat as I fought down the bile that wanted to escape. “That poor tiger,” was all I could think to whisper. Like he hadn’t suffered enough already. Those bastards would feed him – human meat, and then if anyone found out, they’d kill the tiger.
“I would have pitied the poor son of a bitch getting eaten,” Dodge said under his breath. “But that’s me.”
I must have made a disgruntled noise, because his thumb started stroking the back of my neck and he squeezed my neck and shoulder just a bit. “And poor tiger, too. Can’t imagine that guy tastes very good. From the looks of the meat-heads doing the chopping, he was probably fat and filled with cholesterol. Can’t be good for the tiger’s heart to eat a greaseball who’s been packing in the cured meats, salt, and vodka for fifty years.”
I wanted to laugh and barf at the same time, so I settled on groaning and covering my face. He kept up the gentle caress on the side of my throat, though it turned absent – like he didn’t remember he was doing it. It sent shivers through me, and not in a bad way. There was something very reassuring about a guy who knew exactly what to do in such a fucked up situation. Like not starting the car right away. I would have fired the engine up and peeled out of there like my ass was on fire.
I swallowed the sour taste in my mouth and slowly sat back up, confident I wasn’t going to pass out or barf – at least for the near future. His hand remained on my shoulder, and I resisted the urge to lay my cheek against it. “Why are you doing this?”
He glanced over and then dropped his hand, and my cheeks heated. I cleared my throat and gestured at my shoulder. “I didn’t mean... that. I meant...” And I gestured to take in the car, the sanctuary, everything. “This. Why? They could have seen you, too. They could still see you on the security footage. What if they want to hurt you, too?”
Dodge shrugged and turned his attention back to the road. “Because this is what I do.”
“What does thatmean?” I was desperate to understand. He was like someone from another planet. He had a set of skills I’d never imagined existed in the real world.
“This is what Ido,” he said, tone sharper than I expected. He didn’t even bother to look at me as he gritted out the words. “I spent years chasing after stupid, idealistic kids who went bouncing off into the worst places in the world because they thought they knew how to save everyone from sin and drug traffickers and terrorists and corrupt governments and diamond smugglers and every other stripe of criminal. Then those stupid kids get themselves tangled up in all the shit they thought would never hurt them. And then guys likemehave to go save them. Have to kill and even be killed in the process, all because some entitled little shit thinks he knows better than the people who have been doing the work for decades.”
He ran out of steam and ended with a long, low growl that reminded me of the wolf-man in the Evershaws’ basement. My hands went cold and I sat very still. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. So that’s how he saw me. A stupid, idealistic kid who thought she was going to save the world, one tiger at a time? I swallowed the knot in my throat and managed to speak in a relatively normal voice. “Then thank you. I’ll try not to do anything else stupid.”
Dodge exhaled with a groan, the breath almost whistling in his teeth, and ran his hand through his already mussed hair. “I didn’t mean – I didn’texactlymean you.”
It was better than nothing. I slowly drew my legs up onto the seat so I could hug my knees, staring out the window without really seeing anything that went by. We were in the city and heading toward my neighborhood. He drove like he knew exactly where he was going. I tried to process, tried to understand. Nothing made sense anymore. I’d met this guy – just that morning. Could it really only have been a few hours since I stood on that porch and petted the cat and thought it might be a weird but lucrative job?
My vision blurred. How ridiculous and naive. I’d been walking around like the only thing that mattered was paying off my student loans and making a name for myself, while there was so much awfulness in the city around me. I shivered and hugged my legs tighter. What the hell was I going to do? How could I just – go on after all of this? If I survived, anyway.
What if Ms. Bridger called? Did she know about what Geordie was doing? Would Geordie check the security footage and realize I’d been there really late?
My breathing hitched and I tried to swallow it down, to sound normal, as Dodge glanced over. The last thing I needed was him thinking I was useless dead weight, some stupid idealistic kid who would get him killed. Except I was, for the most part. I swallowed hard and pressed my forehead against my knees. I just needed to get into my apartment and lock the door so I’d feel safe, and then I could figure out a plan. I could run away. Move cities. If I left fast enough, they wouldn’t track me down.
I rocked a little, needing to feel like I was moving or doing something, but I knew that trying to open the car door, even as the car idled at a red light, would make Dodge react. Given his earlier... efficiency in getting me out of the kitchen, I wouldn’t get very far. I just needed to breathe. Breathe and think. It would all be fine.
It all had to be fine.
Chapter 12
Dodge
Dodge knew the moment Persephone got stuck in her own head and started to lose it. Her breath hiccupped and her shoulders hunched forward. She did a damn good impression of a hedgehog curling itself up into nothingness to hide from a predator. He wanted to reach out, to reassure her, but didn’t know what to say. He’d never been good at the touchy-feely bullshit when the team ended up rescuing hostages, all those stupid kids who thought God or their parents’ money would save them from the militias who didn’t care about anything but protecting their diamond mines. Dodge was better at the practical stuff – getting her out of danger, moving to a safer location, identifying the threats, finding the next step, making a plan. Keeping everything moving.Thatwas his specialty.
He really wished he had Silas next to him, though. Silas would have known what to say to make Persephone feel better.
Dodge parked her car in the lot next to the apartment building, making sure it was in the open and easily seen, and turned off the ignition. She moved numbly, automatically, to open her door. His hand shot out to capture her wrist. He leaned over the console, his face very close to hers, as she froze. Dodge lifted his free hand to touch her cheek and kept his voice low. “This is how we’re going to do things. We’re going to pretend that we just had a fun date and you’re inviting me upstairs for a drink, okay? I’m going to walk around and open your door to help you out, because you’re going to struggle a little.”
“I will not,” she whispered, though there wasn’t much heat to it. Her wide eyes, dark and mysterious, stared at him from a few inches away. She was close enough to kiss. He wouldn’t even need to lean very far or put in much effort. Her lips stayed parted as she tried to breathe.
