“So that means I can’t trust you?” he said bluntly.
“Nor can I trust you.”
“Then how do we work this together?”
“I want to get back at the people who betrayed me.”
“Only I don’t see why you need me for that. Unless it’s also because you don’t want to see the United States government toppled.”
“Why should I give a flying fuck about that anymore?”
“And yet here you are. But since Mercedes King is probably on your to-do list, maybe you and I can achieve both goals at the same time. Although I’m not telling you anything you already haven’t thought of, am I?”
“You can tell me one thing I don’t know: How did you get on to us on that train?”
“A dozen little details that didn’t mean much alone but, cumulatively, told me that something bad was going to happen to me. I took countermeasures, and then when the men came after me, I did what I had to, to survive.”
“And me? You saw the knife in the window’s reflection, right?”
“But I’d already suspected you.”
“You mentioned I hadn’t added to my drawing.”
“That and you were trying overly hard not to look at your twofriends.”
She nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. “And why didn’t you kill me, too?”
“You were no longer a threat and I don’t kill people who aren’t a direct threat to me and…”
“And what?”
“And I thought, however foolishly, that you might repent your evil ways.”
“I’m not sure I would have done the same, had our positions been reversed.”
“Nor would I expect it,” he said.
“The contract on you is still open.”
“And you can still earn your money.”
“I’m not sure I’m that hard up, Devine.”
“So do we work together, or not?”
A second later a shot zipped between them and splatted against the wall.
CHAPTER
55
DEVINE AND JACKSON RAN DOWNthe alley while gunfire chased them. They turned a corner and were, for the moment, out of the field of fire. The area they were in was deserted, as far as Devine could tell. However, the fog had thickened, the temperature had dropped, and it was hard to see more than a few feet in any direction.
Devine looked around. “Okay, let’s get behind that wall over there and see if whoever was shooting at us shows themselves.”
Their guns at the ready, the pair eyed the foggy area in front of them from the relative safety of the wall. When Devine slipped out his phone Jackson asked, “Who are you calling?”
“Nine-one-one.”