Page 74 of Skin Trade

“You should come in. Yes. We can get you settled. Get your father here.” She took Payton’s hand, not waiting on an answer and led her out. Not that they could get so far. Riggs might have left the door open, but there was another door blocking them. This one only led to the desk at the office where he was working. “Riggs,” Nancy yelled. “Riggs, it’s her.”

Payton waited for Riggs to break into the same kind of smile Nancy had, or to at least seem happy, but if anything, his expression became harder. “I need to search her before she goes through,” he said.

“Search her? It’s Payton Mathews.”

“I understand that, but she is still entering. Do you have any weapons on your?”

“But you--”

Payton got her hand out of Nancy’s grasp. “It’s okay. He’s just doing his job, right? I have a knife and a gun.” She took both of them out of her hoodie pockets. She still had the breakfast bar, but he surely wasn’t going to take that away. The water she’d taken from Seth’s had gone when she’d almost had herself clawed up.

“Hands on the desk.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“Just doing my job.”

Payton put both hands on the desk and leant over so he could pat her down. He reached her jeans pocket and pulled out the cylinders with the pellets in. “What are these?”

“Water drops,” Payton said. Because that’s what they looked like and they were Seth’s. Sky had said he’d made them himself. She didn’t want to lose them. Not when they didn’t belong to her. She’d not want that to happen to things she’d created. Not for them to land in someone’s hands and just be given away.

Riggs pulled the cap off the cylinder and rolled one pellet into his hand. He sniffed at it, pressed it. “What do they do?”

“For hydration.”

He offered her one. “Show me.”

“Really, Riggs …” Nancy put her hand on Rigg’s arm, but the look he gave her, anyone would think she’d just wiped her nose across his arm.

“I’m doing my job, Mam. You do yours.” He turned back to Payton. “Show me what they do.”

“You want me to drink it?”

“It’s just water?”

He handed her back one of the pellets. It was small and soft, like one of those weird liver capsules her mother used to take for her skin. She didn’t want to put it anywhere near her mouth, but if she wanted to see her father… Taking a breath, she popped the pellet into her mouth, rolled it around her tongue and caught it with her teeth.

Riggs folded his arms across his chest as he waited for her. She was going to have to bite into it or go home. Instead of closing her eyes like she wanted to, she met Rigg’s glare and bit down. The liquid oozed into her mouth, like slime going along her tongue. She braced herself for the most foul-tasting thing she could imagine, but … garlic. The damn thing tasted like garlic. She almost laughed out loud with it. But her heart was hammering so much, and Riggs was waiting. Swallowing, she opened her mouth to show him it was empty. “See? Just water.”

“Hmhmm.” He capped the cylinder and gave it back to her.

When he picked up the breakfast bar, she said, “need me to taste that too?”

“Why? Is it poisoned?”

“No.”

“Can we go in now?” Nancy asked.

Riggs gathered Payton’s things together. He put the gun and the knife far away from Payton’s reach. “These stay here. The rest can go.”

Nancy had a car waiting for them outside. It was a small town car. Not like the big things Seth used. This one was enough. It still had a driver with it. Nancy held the door for Payton to get in and she slipped around the other side.

“Where is my father?” Payton asked when she got in and the doors were closed. “I know you said he is working.”

“Another town. New Kent,” she said. “A fair few miles from here. Don’t you worry, though. We’ll get him home. You’ll see him before the day is out, I promise.” She patted Payton’s leg. “He’s a man of importance now. I think you’ll be proud of him”

“I always am.” She leant back into her seat. “You all really thought I was dead?”

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