Page 85 of Sweetwater and the Witch

“Bethany was in love with Covington Kavanagh when they married. But he turned out to be a brutal, controlling man. He was a charismatic, high-rez strategy talent. He married Bethany for her money. It costs a lot to go into politics.”

“And?”

“And he had another talent, one no one knew about. He was an aura disrupter.”

Ravenna let out her breath. “A monster. I think I see where this is going.”

“Kavanagh terrorized Bethany with his talent, but he was very, very clever about it. There was never any physical evidence of abuse. Nothing that could be used to prove intolerable cruelty. Nothing that could prove he was one of the monsters. She was afraid he would eventually murder her.”

“You offered to pretend to have a very high-profile affair with her. You knew that in his rage, Kavanagh would try to kill you.”

“I knew he would try to kill mefirst,” Ethan said, his tone very even. “And then he would murder Bethany.”

“Kavanagh tried to destroy your aura, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Obviously he failed. How did that happen?”

“I’m a pretty good engineer.”

Chapter Forty-Three

“What happened to your car?” the trucker asked. He studied the remains of the Slider through the wraparound windshield of his big rig. “Looks like one heck of a fire.”

He had introduced himself as Calvin Miller, and Harriet had taken to him immediately. Ethan considered it a good sign, but Ravenna had warned him that the dust bunny’s judgment might have been heavily influenced by Calvin’s huge truck. Whatever the case, Harriet had offered Calvin the last pate a choux. The trucker had been charmed.

Calvin had been the first trucker through the hot zone that morning, barreling down the highway shortly after sunup. He had braked to a stop when he spotted the small group at the edge of the highway. As far as professional truckers were concerned, the code of the road dictated that you didn’t leave anyone at the side of the highway in the middle of a vast stretch of desert, hot zone or not.

At dawn, Joyner had begun to surface, but he was only partiallyconscious when Ethan loaded him into the back of the truck cab. He did not seem to have any notion of what was going on, and every few minutes he dropped back into a troubled sleep. Ethan had managed to keep him awake long enough to get the code needed to send confirmation of the hit to whoever was on the other end of the one-way communicator. The device was sophisticated tech, however, which meant it wouldn’t work until they got to Connerville.

“It was a very bad fire,” Ravenna said.

Ethan glanced at her. She was squeezed against him on the wide passenger seat. She looked more petite than ever, wedged between himself and Calvin. You’d never know she could set the entire front of the cab on fire if she took a notion to do so. He smiled at the thought.

Calvin put the truck in gear. The massive vehicle rolled forward, picking up speed. Harriet got excited.

“Any idea what caused the fire?” Calvin asked. “Engine problem?”

“The cause is in the back of your cab,” Ethan said.

Calvin glanced at the rearview mirror. “Figured you weren’t best friends. Road pirate?”

“Yes,” Ethan said. He and Ravenna had concluded that was the easiest explanation under the circumstances.

Calvin made a disgusted sound. “Should have left him back there in Nightmare Cave.”

“We definitely gave that some consideration,” Ravenna said. “But in the end we concluded it would be best to turn him over to the authorities.”

“What did he use on your car?” Calvin asked.

“Some kind of explosive,” Ethan said.

“Those pirates are bastards, but never knew ’em to operate in this zone,” Calvin said. “Too dangerous. That guy back there must not be real bright. Any idea why he went after you two? Pirates usually work in gangs and stick to trying to stop us long-haul guys. We’re not easy targets, but they figure the cargo is worth the risk.”

“How do truckers defend themselves and the cargo?” Ravenna asked, neatly sidestepping the question of motive.

“We’re all armed,” Calvin said. “But our main defense is the truck itself.” He patted the dashboard with its array of gadgets. “These rigs are built like fortresses. Drivers aren’t afraid to plow straight through a roadblock and anyone standing in our way.”

---