Page 46 of Duke
“Eight.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “And they’re getting better every time.”
“But you’re the best, right?”
I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not; I shrugged. “In most situations, yeah. But there’s always someone better, somebody luckier. And it don’t matter how lucky or how good you are, they send enough guys, catch me with no cover and no backup, it won’t matter what I do. This shit is becoming a lot more serious than I assumed at first.”
“So what do we do?”
I sighed. “Same plan as before. I’ve got to connect with my guys. This is too much for me to deal with solo. There’s shit going on I’m not smart enough to figure out—I just don’t have all the information. I need Lear and Anselm and Puck. I need Thresh, goddammit. With that motherfucker by my side I can fuckin’ wreck the world. These jackasses won’t stand a chance. But on my own…trying to keep you safe? My options are limited.”
“So where do we go?” she asked. “How do you reach them?”
“Harris has his main compound not too far from here. Couple hours drive at most. I’m gonna head there. If he’s not there Layla should be, and she can reach him.”
I dialled Harris’s personal cell phone number, but it went straight to voicemail—unsurprising given that he only used his encrypted satellite phone when he was on assignment. Problem was, I didn’t have that number memorized.
I dialled Thresh, got his voicemail. Dialled Anselm, got his voicemail.
“Goddammit, nobody is fucking answering!” I shouted in frustration.
Finally, I tried Lear. He never answered his damn phone, although he’d usually call back if you left a message.
It rang half a dozen times, and then, thank god, he answered. “Hello? Who’s this?”
“Lear, it’s Duke.What the fuck is going on, man? Nobody is answering their damn phones.”
“Duke? Shit, man, it’s good to hear from you. You went AWOL, we’ve all been trying to find you.”
“Yeah, well, things are completely FUBAR, Lear—”
“You’re telling me,” he interrupted. “I’ve been scrambling for days, trying to find you, trying to dig up intel on Cain, trying to track down Thresh—it’s nuts, man. Look, I gotta go. Harris is waiting for my call.”
“Lear, wait a second. I’m in deep shit, still, I need—”
“Can you get to the compound?”
“I’m on the way there already, but—”
“Anselm is at the compound. He can sort you out. I really gotta go, man. Harris is the air circling, waiting for this intel. Get to the compound and talk to Anselm.”
And then the fucker hung up. I wondered what the chances were he’d even tell Harris he talked to me; when Lear was in hyper mode, he’s completely one-track, and forgets pretty much everything except what he was working on. I tossed the phone aside in frustration.
“Stupid tech monkey,” I growled.
We drove in tense, awkward silence, and then finally, after almost an hour of that, Temple swiveled her head to look at me.
“Duke, about earlier—” she started.
I took her hand. “We can talk later. Try to rest, yeah? It’s been an awful few hours.”
She eyed me levelly, and then nodded. “Fine. But I have things to say to you.”
I grinned. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
Temple rolled her eyes at me, and then reclined the seat and was soon snoring softly.
I was glad she could sleep; she seemed to be dealing with this mess better than anyone had a right to. I wasn’t sure I’d be sleeping any time soon, but that was a little different.
She was taking up a lot of my headspace, and even more worryingly, heart-space….something I hadn’t thought I even possessed. Yet she was digging in there and rearranging all my ideas, setting up shop somewhere inside my chest.