Page 64 of Everything Under the Sun

When I made it back to the parking garage, Edgar, Overlord Wolf’s brown-nosing leech, was waiting for me.

“Put her on a horse,” Edgar said, stepping from the shadows on the other side of the street, “and they’ll spot her a lot easier.”

Storming my way over to Edgar, I drew my gun and pointed it at his head.

“Thais,” I said, just as she emerged from the parking garage, “take the horse—now.”

I dropped the rope and cleared the last few feet between me and Edgar, seized his elbow and shoved him out of the street and into the parking garage, too.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa!” Edgar put up his hands in front of him; the barrel of the gun was pressed dead-center in his forehead. “L-Look, I’m not here for the reason you think I am!”

“Keep your voice down!” I hissed. “Thais, bring the horse in here so no one sees us.”

Thais moved quickly.

“What are you here for then?” I demanded.

“I came to help.”

“Fucking liar.” My jaw stiffened; my finger danced on the trigger.

“I swear to you,” Edgar pleaded. “Look, I’m not who you think I am either. I’m—”

“You’re an ass-kissing piece of shit.” I tightened my other hand about Edgar’s throat, knocking the back of his balding head against the concrete wall. “How’d you know to follow me? Who sent you? What else do they know? Answer me! NOW!”

Edgar’s pudgy hands shook.

“I-I’ve had my eye on you since I came here,” he said. “You’re not like Wolf, or Rafe, or most of the soldiers here. I knew it was just a matter of time before you cracked, got fed up with the shit that goes on in this city, and decided to leave it.”

“Who are you?” I growled.

“Atticus?” Thais whispered.

I ignored her.

“WHO ARE YOU?” I repeated.

“I’m from the Southern Faction; a citizen of the Texas-Louisiana State,” Edgar explained. “I came all the way from Shreveport City.”

“Go on,” I demanded; the gun never moved from Edgar’s face.

“My leader, Gordon Brant,” he went on, “is a good leader. He controls most of the Southern Faction: half the state of Texas and all of Louisiana. But what he doesn’t control are run by our allies as far as Mississippi and Alabama.”

“Why are you here, Edgar?” I was growing impatient. “And what does any of this have to do with me?”

“The only thing Brant asks of the citizens he protects and provides refuge for, is that we all contribute to the rebuilding of society. I was never good at anything—couldn’t hunt, or build, or grow a goddamn carrot to save my life. But I was good at pretending; I was good at manipulating people, letting them believe I knew my stuff, that I was a trustworthy kind of guy.”

My hand tightened around Edgar’s throat to the point of choking him; the vein in the side of his neck pulsed and raced.

“Atticus, please.” Thais stepped up, placing her hand on my wrist that held the gun. “Please, just let him talk.”

I glared into Edgar’s shrinking face.

“So, then what are you doing here?” I said. “What are you doing in Lexington City? But more importantly, what are you doing here, and how long have you been following me?” I released my grip enough that Edgar could talk.

Edgar coughed. “In the…Southern Faction, I volunteered to…be a spy,” he said, catching his breath. “I was sent to Kentucky to get in good with Overlord Wolf, to feel him out and see if he was as bad as he was rumored to be—he is, no surprise there—and to gather information on his operations.”

“What about all of that information you gave to Wolf about the Southern Faction?” I challenged. “You expect me to believe you were just filling Wolf’s head full of bullshit? How do I know you’re not lying to me now?”

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