Itake it you’re not here to sell me some information about Loring,” North said.
He spoke to Ralph but Sierra realized he was watching her very intently. She knew he was trying to determine if she was going to panic. She raised one hand slightly and unobtrusively slipped off a leather glove. Her captor paid no attention. Joe’s attention was fixed on North.
“We’ll ask the questions,” Ralph said. “What were you looking for inside Loring’s place?”
“I told you earlier today we’re trying to locate him,” North said. “That was the truth. We were hoping to find something inside the house that would tell us where he’s headed.”
“What did you find?” Ralph demanded.
“Not much,” North said. “Do you know where he is?”
“None of your business.”
“Why do you two care if Ms. Raines and I want to find Loring?” North said.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Sierra said. “They’re working for him.”
“She’s right,” Joe said. “We’re his private security team. It’s our job to protect him.”
Fierce pride rang in his words.
“Well, damn,” Sierra said. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a couple of Puppets.”
“In hindsight, I guess we should have seen this coming,” North said.
“I suppose so,” Sierra said. “By the way, don’t worry about me. I’ve got this one.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yep. Joe here is not my first Puppet.”
“Shut up,” Joe yelled.
“What the fuck are you two talking about?” Ralph demanded.
“You obviously think Loring has some serious psychic talent,” North said. “And maybe he does. But if he told you that he could give you paranormal powers, he was lying. That’s what guys like Loring always tell their Puppets. Doesn’t work like that.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ralph snarled. “Dr. Loring is fucking brilliant.”
“Puppets,” North said. “They’ll believe anything.”
“Are we done here?” Sierra asked.
“Yes,” North said. “You go first.”
“Stop talking,” Ralph shouted.
Sierra gripped her locket, got it open and sent a wave of destabilizing energy into Joe’s aura.
Joe went abruptly limp. His arm fell away from her throat. He dropped to the ground. The knife landed in the mud.
Alarmed, Ralph swung the beam of the flashlight toward his partner. The glow played across the unconscious man.
“Joe,” Ralph said. “What the fuck?” He aimed the light at Sierra’s face. “What did you do to him?”
“I told him I don’t like to be touched by strangers,” she said.
“You heard the lady,” North said.
Ralph appeared to remember he had another problem. He started to turn back toward North, but it was too late.
North was already spinning into him with a high-flying karate kick that sent Ralph to the ground.
North glanced at Joe.
“How long will he be out?”
“I don’t know,” Sierra admitted. She picked up the flashlight and aimed it at Joe. “I haven’t done this sort of thing often enough to collect a lot of data. It’s not exactly the kind of trick you can practice whenever you have some free time. Hard to find volunteers.”
Ralph groaned and started to pull himself up out of the mud. North gave him a swift chop that sent him onto his back. This time Ralph did not move.
North crouched beside him and quickly went through the downed man’s pockets. He confiscated Ralph’s wallet and keys, rose and crossed to Joe, where he repeated the pat-down and retrieved another wallet and more keys.
Joe groaned. North straightened. “Let’s go.”
“Are we just going to leave them here?” Sierra asked.
“Were you thinking of hauling them inside and making them a cup of hot cocoa?”
“Ah, no,” Sierra said. “No, I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Don’t worry, they’re not going to drown. We need to get on the road.”
“Shouldn’t we call the local police?”
“We don’t have time. It would take too long to explain this situation to a local cop.”
“You’re still planning to hit Riverview?”
“Yes.”
“What do you expect to find there?”
North held up the key ring that he had taken from Ralph. “I would really like to get a look at Loring’s lab. I want to know what instruments and drugs he was using in his experiments.”
They reached the SUV. North climbed in behind the wheel. Sierra opened the passenger-side door and jumped up onto the seat.
“If you’re going in, I’m going with you,” she said.
North cranked up the engine. “Bad idea.”
“Maybe, but there is no other idea handy. We’re in this together. We’re a team now.”
North concentrated on navigating the driveway. When they reached the main road he evidently came to a decision.
“Yes,” he said. “A team.”