I thought he’d say something like that. “Then a burner.”
“We don’t have one available.”
“So let me get this straight,” I said, thinking aloud, but on purpose. “You won’t tell me the time of day, you’ve taken away my only means of communication, and I feel like someone has been messing with me without my consent.” Taken a sample of spinal fluid maybe? Becausedamnmy back. I had new respect for my mom’s pain. I glared at Jen. “Oh, and youdruggedme.”
Dane checked his watch. “It’s 5:34 in the evening. As for everything else, I’m taking all the precautions I think the situation warrants.”
Shit. I’d lost most of the day. And fuck no, I wasn’t going to tell him about Jacob, who wasmyonly fail-safe. Hopefully, he’d tracked me to this pile of bricks in the desert before Dane sent the phones off. Had he heard enough to hide himself somewhere Dane’s people couldn’t find him?
But…even if Jacob did manage to evade Dane, it wasn’t like Jacob had any cavalry to send me or anything, no spellcasters or warriors. Just proof in the event of my very probable disappearance and/or demise.
This was bad. Like bog-gnome-eating-my-bones bad.
“Imogen,” Dane said. “Don’t make things worse than they are. Our deal still stands—a million dollars upfront for your cooperation in the capture of the suspected darknet moth tech smuggler who murdered Brayden Price. We’ve made contact with the suspect on your behalf and a meeting is set for seven o’clock this evening. And I’ve arranged for the transfer to your account.”
“I want to call my mom.” I sounded like a big baby, but I didn’t care.
“You can call her after.”
“This trust thing should go both ways.”
“Not with this much at stake,” Dane replied. “You’re a very intelligent woman—”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“—but you don’t have the intel to understand all of the implications if this goes wrong.”
“I can guess.”
“And then multiply that by a factor of ten.”
Everything inside me was screaming. The way Carlo—if that was his real name—lurked behind me made me think that they were ready to tranq me again if I made any sudden movement.
LikeIcould do anything to them. Hilarious.
Out of options, I aimed my unsteady steps toward the shabby couch. When I sat, I sank into the smell of dust and mouse turds. No wonder Dane had claimed the folding chair. I held up my itching hand. “And what about this?”
Dane glanced at it. “We examined the glove.”
“And?”
“Youdoneed it to trigger the power.”
“Like I said.” Duh. “But where is it?” Or had this cold bastard sent it away too? Leaving me stuck with no way to protect myself.
“It seems that within the glove,” he went on without answering me, “the nanotech created a microscopic matrix synergistic with the moths within to your nervous system.”
“My…nervous system.” That was new, and it didn’t sound good.
“The glove channeled and controlled the nanorobots. That symbiosis, however, shows signs of degradation. Your extreme fatigue is an early symptom of that. You’ll need care, and lots of it. Our thought is to use the glove to draw the remaining moths out of you and into its matrix.”
“So…upside.”
“Yes, upside.” Dane smiled. Actually smiled.
Of all the fishy shit at play here, the smile from him was the worst, and I wanted to sink all the way into the couch. Yeah, I was so going to die. Right now, I’d bet my million bucks on death by dissection. Too bad I wouldn’t be around to collect.
He picked up a piece of paper from the computer table. “You seem to have spoken to a few people by phone since the date of your infection.”
