Page 25 of Capture of Capricorn

“Who me?” He chuckled. “Let’s just say in my line of work, you need people you can trust. Aquarius isn’t just my friend. He’s my coworker, and this kind of thing isn’t new to him.”

“Aquarius?” She snorted. “Are all your friends named after the Zodiac?”

“They are. You’ll probably meet a few of them of them soon.”

“Why would I meet them?” she bluntly asked.

“I assumed you’d want us to stick together until we know you’re clear of trouble, or would you rather part ways?”

Her hand rested on the satchel by her side, knowing without asking she wouldn’t be allowed to keep it once he hooked up with his friends. “Your buddies as handy as you in a fight?”

“Very.” His lips quirked. “Honestly, you’re probably safest hanging with us for the next bit until we get Adam and Cetus sorted out.”

“They won’t mind me crashing your sausage fest?” Given his alpha-male vibe, she assumed his friends were guys.

He chuckled. “I do believe you’ll get on quite well with them.”

“Sure. Why not? Guess I can’t really go home until Crius is behind bars or six feet under, but I will need to call my mama. She’s probably worried sick about me. I usually call her every Sunday.”

“We’ll figure something out, but speaking of your mama, if you’re close, and if Adam is looking for you, she could be a target.”

Her eyes widened before narrowing as she spat, “That fucker better not lay a hand on my mama.”

“More likely he’ll have her phone tapped and his goons watching her place to see if you show. On my next call to Aquarius, I’ll be sure to have him surveil and set up protection for your mom to make sure nobody tries shit.”

“Thanks.”

Bobby emerged, swinging his keys. “Ready to go?” he asked.

She took the backseat of his Honda Civic, the space cramped, forcing her to sit sideways. Her lip curled at the garbage filling it, food wrappers and empty pop cans needing to be shoved aside to make room for her to sit. In the front seat, Capricorn questioned Bobby, asking him about the Area 51 base, of which the young man knew little other than it was a popular tourist spot.

The motel clerk dropped them at a hardware store, along with his number written on a French fry paper sleeve saying, “Call me if you need a ride back to the motel.”

As Bobby drove off, Zora glanced at Capricorn. “We’re not going back, are we?”

“Until we get these bracelets off, we have to keep moving lest Adam’s thugs catch up to us.”

“How far a range do you think they have?” she asked, eyeing the band of seemingly seamless metal.

“Depends. Could be they only emit a Bluetooth or Wi-fi signal, which would mean a short range. But if they’re satellite-linked?—”

“Then they could track us anywhere in the world,” she muttered. The bracelets had to come off.

The store had exactly what she needed: acetylene can, torch head, igniter, and safety glasses, although the welding gloves weren’t as nice as she’d like. Since money was no object, she splurged and bought a welding apron instead. It would be easier to wrap around the flesh on their wrists.

“Where should we go to remove them?” she asked as they exited with her purchase.

“There’s an alley right here,” he indicated. As good a place as any.

Zora wedged the apron between her flesh and the band on her wrist but also wrapped as much of her arm and hand as possible to protect them. A good thing they’d put the bracelet on her right one, because she so happened to be lefthanded. Or as Nana used to call her,the devil’s child.Old-school superstitions that Mama often huffed about whenever they’d visit Nana, who would do things to try to force Zora to use her right hand instead.

The torch ignited quickly, the blue flame a solid jet. She wore didymium glasses as she worked to melt her bracelet, a tad bit worried it would prove to be impenetrable like the sphere. However, the metal of it heated and softened. In under a minute, she managed to peel the thing off and then kept heating it until it was a puddle of slag.

“My turn.” Capricorn held out both his hands since he had one on each wrist. She wrapped them one at a time, the torch making quick work of the bracelets. She melted them into unrecognizable lumps before turning off her torch.

“Try and find us now, motherfucker!” she crowed.

“Good job,” he praised.

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