Page 92

A different, older Cassie, with a mission in her eyes.

“Hello,” she said. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”

The Book of Safety

The room was silent for a moment, as Barbary stared at her. Behind him, Drummond hung like a crucified man in midair, backlit by the window. Cassie’s stomach twisted in delight and excitement when she saw him. It had been ten years and he looked bedraggled and worn out.

Concentrate!

Barbary’s book was glowing by his side, as he held Drummond aloft.

“You,” Barbary said, narrowing his eyes to inspect her. “You look different.”

“Give me my book,” Cassie said. She wasn’t interested in a conversation about what had happened to her.

Barbary laughed. “Fuck off, bitch. I’ve started my own collection. I’ve got your book, and I’ve got his.” He pointed at Drummond behind him, and then crouched down to pick up the books at his feet, slipping them into his pockets one at a time.

Cassie took a few steps toward him, and Barbary’s eyebrows jumped up in surprise, a smile of delight stretching across his face. “Mr. Fox,” he said, speaking over his shoulder. “Your young lady has become rather bold. What are you going to do, dear? Are you going to scratch me and pull my hair?”

“Cassie,” Drummond said, the word a warning.

“You can’t do anything to me,” she said.

“Oh?” Barbary said. “Well, I am excited to test that.”

He moved his arm suddenly and Cassie was yanked forward into Barbary’s outstretched hand, his fingers around her neck as he lifted her off the floor, his face pressing close.

“You know, one of the worst things that ever happened was when all you women started thinking you were equal to us men.” Cassie could smell spicy meat and sweat, Barbary’s aroma, and she wanted to gag. “Sometimes I wish I lived back in the 1970s when the natural order was still in place. Life was so much simpler then. I could just give you a slap and send you away to make my dinner and nobody would even blink.”

He grinned at her, but then his mouth curled suddenly into a furious grimace. “You need to be taught a lesson, girl, just like the olden days.” Behind Barbary, Drummond dropped to the floor as if forgotten. Almost simultaneously Barbary twisted at the waist, judo-like, and threw Cassie down. Her body thumped audibly, and she felt the vibrations through her chest, but there was no pain.

The Book of Safety was protecting her; she felt its warmth through her clothes, and no harm could befall her. The reality of that truth was sunlight breaking through clouds in her soul.

“Stupid bitch,” Barbary muttered, as he stepped over her and stuck his head into the hallway as if to make sure nobody else was there. By the time he turned around again Cassie was on her feet. He blinked in surprise.

“Have to do better than that,” she said to him.

Then she raised the gun that she had taken from his holster when he had pulled her close. She had never fired a gun before, and this gun had a long tube on the muzzle that she assumed was a silencer, but she didn’t think it would be difficult to use. Barbary was a big shape, and he was very close. She pulled the trigger and there was a muffled thump and at the same time, it seemed, Barbary was punched backward at the shoulder into the hall.

“Get the books,” Drummond muttered behind her, pushing himself up from the floor.

Cassie approached the hallway as Barbary was sitting up, one hand on his shoulder.

“You shot me!” he exclaimed, apparently outraged.

“Give me my book,” Cassie demanded.

“Fuck off,” Barbary said again. He jerked his hand and Cassie shot upward, the small of her back thumping into the top of the doorway painlessly.

“You can’t hurt me,” she said to him. “But I can hurt you.”

She lifted the gun again and pointed it at his head.

His fingers flicked, and this time Cassie was thrown backward into the kitchen, crashing to a stop against the stove.

“Maybe I can’t hurt you,” Barbary said, reentering the room. “But I can keep you out of my way.”

Cassie fired again, slightly wide over Barbary’s left side. “Can you keep bullets out of your way?”