“Are you fucking with me?” I ask.
Anita holds up her hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
“I want to talk to Rebecca right now,” I say, fumbling my phone out of the pocket of my cargo pants.
“She’s asleep.”
I let out a weird laugh as though the 13-hour time difference is all a part of some plot against me. “This is a setup,” I say. “I can’t believe she’s falling for it.”
Anita takes in a steadying breath. Lord knows one of us needs to. “Rebecca agrees with him.”
“Agrees that Simon should come with me!” I’m yelling. Blue rises from where he is lying on the floor next to my feet and puts his head on my lap with a soft sigh. We are at my villa, sitting on the couch. James is asleep with Nila and Frank watching over him. Mulberry went over to the palapa to pick up some dinner for us. And Merl, I assume, is hiding from my wrath somewhere. “Where is Merl?” I demand.
“Mo-Ping is landing in fifteen, he’s at the airfield.”
“Oh.” Fine, Merl is meeting his wife who he has not seen in like a month. Maybe not everything is about me. Fuck. “I don’t see how this can make any damn sense. Even if we ignore Simon’s lies, we can’t ignore the fact that there is a bounty on him. Having Simon near James is dangerous.” I pet one of Blue’s velvety ears. He sighs in appreciation.
Anita shakes her head. “Remember what Simon said about the Scythe—”
I cut her off. “Just because she doesn’t take contracts on kids doesn’t mean they can’t get caught in the crossfire. And, I’m not using James as some kind of shield to protect Simon from assassins. Just no.” I lean back and cross my arms. Decision made, cheeks hot, heart pounding. Blue’s ear abandoned.
“Okay.” Anita shrugs. She sits back too, taking her beer with her and enjoying a sip. That looks good so I grab my own drink off the coffee table, squishing Blue’s head for a moment, and then sit back and take a long sip. The cold beer tastes really good in the sticky heat of the early evening. Buzzing insects bouncing against the screens fill the silence between us.
“Did Mulberry hear about this brilliant plan?” I ask, my voice still edged with anger. Anita nods. “Sorry,” I say, realizing I’m being a total bitch to her for no good reason. She shrugs like my outbursts are to be expected. Guilt joins the other ugly emotions in my gut. “Really,” I say, holding her gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t…I shouldn’t have shot the messenger.”
Anita gives me a smile. “Forgiven. You’re cute when outraged.”
I bark a laugh and Anita joins me. “I deserved that,” I say, taking another sip of beer. She gives me the side to side head shake. “I feel like I’ve made my feelings on the topic clear. But I’m guessing you and the others have a perspective that I should at least listen to.”
Anita cocks her head, mock surprise raising her brows. “How very reasonable of you,” she says, a sly smile tugging at her lips.
“Shut up,” I grumble.
She laughs again. When I open my mouth to speak she waves me off. “Sorry, you’re just so predictable sometimes.”
“And here I was thinking I was a loose cannon.” I grin.
Anita huffs a laugh. “Loose cannons are kind of predictable. They go off very easily.” I laugh again, the warm evening, cold beer, and good friendship leeching away the tension that the idea of having Simon join this mission set into my shoulders.
“Here is the thinking. With the accusations of Joyful Justice’s involvement in the New York City blackout, authorities are on alert for all of our most high-profile members.” She raises her brows again, indicating I fall into that category. “And even with an excellent false ID, Blue is hard to disguise.” She rushes to continue. “We all agree at least Blue should go with you, if not Nila and Frank—if only for James’s protection.”
I nod, appeased.
“Rebecca was thinking you and James could travel separately from Mulberry. And I imagine that if you contacted Robert, he could get you into the country easily enough.”
“That’s true…” I don’t like it, though. That gives Robert way too much power over me. I’m hoping to ask for a favor once I get there, and there are only so many I can ask for without the tables turning on me. “So, why bring Simon?”
“The thing is, do you really want to ask Robert to get you into the country?” Anita’s expression matches my internal thoughts: her brows are scrunched together, eyes tight. Everything about it says, bad idea.
“No, I’d much rather surprise him,” I say as I start to pet the top of Blue’s head again, the soft fur settling me.
“He’s a dangerous man to owe favors to,” Anita says.
“Exactly my thinking.”
“So, we need to get you into the country without Robert or the authorities knowing it. Declan is a good resource, but any moves he makes will just expose us.”
I nod my agreement. Richard knows I’m a confidential informant for Declan. He will be watching any reports Declan Do Gooder submits. As will Robert.”
“So, Rebecca felt you should travel with someone—she didn’t want you and James alone entering the country. A nuclear family is a better cover than a single woman.”
“Why?” I ask, sipping my beer again.
“You’ll get less scrutiny if you’re with a man. Draw less attention.”
“There are a lot of single moms,” I point out.
“Right, and they get a lot more shit than partnered moms. You’ll be more of a target without a man with you.”
The smile that creeps onto my face makes Anita laugh. “Obviously,” she goes on, “we’re worried about anyone who gives you shit and you blowing up and exposing yourself as anything other than a sweet little mom.”
I laugh. “Fine, you want me traveling with someone. Not Mulberry because he’s a wanted man. Why not any one of these people?” I wave my beer around to indicate the dozens of men on this compound who are unknown to the authorities and would qualify.
“Well, they are not as good as Simon.” Anita shrugs at the bald truth of that fact.
“How hard is it to wear a mask?” I ask.
Anita’s eyes narrow at me. “It’s not a natural thing, to be able to…” She wets her lips, seeming to look for the right words. “Hide yourself so easily.”
I sip my beer. “People don’t want to see a female killer, much less a nursing mom killer, so they don’t see me.”
“It’s not that simple. You’ve got something that allows you to disappear into a crowd despite your notoriety. I’ve seen you do it, and I think it’s a skill others can learn—in fact that’s why we were so excited about Simon coming here. The plan was to have him train our members. But my point is that you’re good at it. Born with it, if you will.”
“Born to hide in plain sight.” The words come out sad and I don’t mean them to.
“Born for something.” Anita smiles like that something is worth being proud of.
I shake off the melancholy trying to wrap around my shoulders. “So, basically, you all think Simon should come with me as a cover because he’s the best at covers. Even though he clearly got caught here. The Mute Strangler found him in Santa Teresa. So what happened with that?”
Anita chews on her lip, her gaze falling to her beer. “Rebecca thinks Simon is right that we have a leak.”
Fear’s icy fingers trail up my spine. “Fuck.”
Anita nods. “She checked all the communications out of here, and while there was nothing on our network, she thinks there is an unauthorized satellite phone on the campus.”
“Okay, but no one else from the compound was anywhere near Santa Teresa.”
Anita winces. “Apparently, Scythe knows that Simon…” Anita swallows, almost like she’s nervous. “…is attached to you, and since he’s almost impossible to find, they’ve been using you as kind of a bait.”
“Well, that pisses me off.”
“I get it.” Anita nods.
“If I’m going to be bait,” I say.
“It’s going to be for your trap,” Anita finishes my thought for me.
“Exactly.” I nod. We totally get each other. “What are we going to do about this leak?”
“Rebecca has something set up so that if they use the phone again she will be able to pinpoint its location. Meanwhile, we’re thinking about the best way to put the leak to our use.”
“Spreading misinformation,” I guess.
Anita nods. “It’s a powerful tool.”
“Yeah,” I agree, my fingers finding one of Blue’s ears again. A breeze blows through the screen door, bringing the earthy scent of the jungle with it. I close my eyes for a moment, letting the darkness settle me. “You really think it’s a good idea for me to go with Simon?” I ask, opening my eyes and turning to Anita. His name is still weird to me. The man is Petey Poppins, not Simon…or Si, as he put it. I’m never calling him that.
“I trust Rebecca’s judgment. And I trust yours. If you say it’s a terrible idea I will have your back. One hundred percent.”
“Thanks,” I say.
She nods. “Of course.” I wait, guessing there is more. “He’s really good, Sydney. I think it will be safer with him than without.”