Page 23 of Wolf
“No,” she answers, her eyesvacant.
“This guy was lying in wait,” I suggest. “It might’ve even been two ofthem.”
“So you’resaying—”
“I’m not the only one with eyes onyou.”
Her eyes roll. “My house is probably in ashes right now, so yeah, I got thatpart.”
“No, this guy’s not with those men. Look at his clothes. He’s acivilian.”
“You’re trying to tell me there are at least three parties out there interested in whether I live or die, two of which prefer a dead Rose more than a liveone?”
“You could put it that way. But they want Marie McClintock, the witness, not RoseAdams.”
“I’m the same person. I’m both. They want medead.”
“And they’re doing a shit job sofar.”
“By the way, thanks for scaring me, then making up for it by savingme.”
“You’rewelcome.”
“But you trashed my car. I’m not entirely overit.”
“It’s a windshield,” I remindher.
She points a thumb backward. “And a dead guy, and blood all over theupholstery.”
“I saved yourlife.”
She circles her index fingers over her temples, massaging the pressure points. “Great now we’reeven.”
“How many people do I have to kill for you to trustme?”
“As many as it takes,” she answers with a shrug of her shoulders. “Moving along, what’snext?”
“We’ll find a place to lay low, I’ll punish your ass for making my job twice as hard, then I’ll work on tracking down some information to fix this forgood.”
“What does fix this for good look like exactly? Two between myeyes?”
“Don’t start with me again. I’m on your side. We need leverage to negotiate an exit for you. If that doesn’t work, you have to leave the country. Disappear for awhile.”
“If there are more than one interested party, who are we supposed to negotiatewith?”
“Whoever’s highest on the totem pole. The person with the most to lose. Probably Murphy. I’ll figure that outtoo.”
“I have to worktomorrow.”
“No. That’s not happening. We need to break the pattern. Those guys followed you from yourjob.”
“What do yousuggest?”
“I know a place. Get on thebike.”
On our way toward my ride, she turns to me. “Punishing my ass is on your to-dolist?”
“Until it’s raw,yes.”
