Torch Song: A Kickass Heroine, A Post-Apocalyptic World: Book One Of The Blackjack Trilogy (27 page)

“Hear what!” Lizzie roared, raising her fist again.

“Not talking.” He clamped his lips shut. Drew was surprised. He never would have thought the freckled freak could hold out this well. How much more did he have in him?

Lizzie punched him in the stomach again, hard, and his lunch spilled out of his mouth. Tears streamed down his cheeks, mixing with the blood and snot from his nose. Sickening. Drew didn’t like it. He was glad his fist wasn’t smashing into that ugly mess. Lizzie didn’t seem to mind.

“No one will ever know who told us,” Drew said.

Billy spat on the ground and mumbled, “Fuck you.” Lizzie’s fist hit him squarely in the teeth.

“Damn! Ouch!” she yelled, shaking her hand. The knuckles were bleeding. “I don’t want to keep hurting you, Billy. I don’t want to do anything worse than what I’ve done so far. But I swear I’ll cut off your balls if you don’t tell us.” Drew was shocked. His little sister. Not so little any more. Was she actually carrying a knife? He hoped not. No. He didn’t believe her.

But Billy did. Finally, he gave it up, crying. Terrified. A 17-year-old kid, not a brave soldier. Drew had to wonder how long he himself would have lasted under Lizzie’s torture.

“You think you know so much? You don’t know nothin’. We were going to kill her because we thought she works for you guys and we don’t want no fuckin’ Blackjack Coleman mayor. But Newt heard about it and stopped us. She really works for us. When we found that out, it made everything different.”

As bad as this was, Drew couldn’t squelch that “I told you so” feeling. He couldn’t wait to tell his mother he’d been right. He didn’t like Hannah. And she was a spy. In their army, in their family. Lizzie’s face was red with rage.

He released Billy’s neck and Billy ran.

Lizzie swung around, snarling, “What’d you do that for, Drew!”

“Because he told us.”

“But now he’s going to warn Hannah.”

“I doubt it. To do that, he’d have to admit that he caved. He won’t want to.”

Lizzie was sucking on a tooth-gashed knuckle. She spat and nodded. “You’re smart, Drew. Smart as Mom.”

That made him feel good. He wasn’t completely happy that they’d made a mess out of Billy, but the results were worth it. And he did feel smart. At the same time, he wasn’t sure Billy really would be afraid to confess he’d outed Hannah. He thought— hoped— he wouldn’t have the guts, but he’d only pretended to be sure of it to make Lizzie feel better about letting Billy go.

What else could they have done, anyway? What was Lizzie planning on doing to keep him from talking? He didn’t want to know.

“Thanks. We’d better get home and let everyone know.”

* * *

Jo and Judith had been sitting in Judith’s office for the past hour discussing the Rocky issue and considering their political options.

Frank had already told Iggy Santos that the spies were in jail and being questioned, but of course, everyone knew that. And everyone would be waiting to hear what the Rockies had to say. Iggy stood ready to blog and email to those who had the means to receive, and to put the newspaper out, as well, the day Frank escorted them to the border. Judith had agreed that they needed to avoid a trial. They could not kill them in town and it would be almost as obvious to arrange an “accident” en route. The double dose of propaganda the incident was creating was well worth any minor threat this particular bunch of causies might pose. To Rocky: take your recruiters back and shove them. To the citizens of Sierra: Rocky’s out to get us.

The candidate issue was not quite as complicated but harder to resolve.

Jo was putting together a list of contests and candidates and once again was all too aware that she needed more people who were both trustworthy and free of other essential duties. There was that old saw: need something done, ask a busy person. But there were limits to the practicality of that.

“Up for election, Mayor and Cabinet, some seats on the Sierra Council.”

Judith nodded, staring into the depths of a snow globe, tapping it and watching the white stuff lift and fall on the petals of the single red rose. Jo found that snow globe disorienting. She always expected to see the rose freeze and shrivel.

She continued. “We’ve got Hannah Karlow. That takes care of the mayor. I’ve talked to Zack about the cabinet. He’s smart and loyal. I’d really like to send him to the council but Samm says he needs him as a lieutenant. He doesn’t want to lose him even the one or two days a week the council meets in Hangtown. Monte— he’d be solid on the Council.” Judith nodded again, jotting a note, probably something about who could help out or even be promoted to Monte’s head cashier job. “And have you thought any more about Drew?”

There were three open seats on the seven-seat council. The cabinet would pretty much belong to whoever was elected mayor, as always.

They’d discussed Drew as a possibility for the cabinet or the council, but they hadn’t said anything to him yet. He had a full schedule already and she wasn’t sure what part of it could be sacrificed. He was working in the restaurant and was about to learn bartending and poker and blackjack dealing. Samm said he was a good soldier, but Jo saw him as something more. He had a quiet about him, a depth. He thought about government and history and he had his doubts about Jo and Judith’s vision of the future. Jo liked his questioning. When he came to agree with her, and she was convinced that he would, he’d be a very strong leader. The only drawback was his extreme youth; he’d be easier to appoint to the local cabinet than he would be to elect to the regional council.

“I have. Let’s talk to him. About the cabinet.”

“That’s what I was thinking. But we still need to run someone for those council seats.” Of the four members who were not up for re-election, one was clearly in Newt’s camp, two solidly in Jo’s, one stubbornly pretending there were no sides. If she could elect two more she would control the council with four reliable votes out of seven, no matter who won the third vacant seat.

“I think it may be time,” Judith said, “for us to consider moving actively, openly, into the hierarchy. I think I should run.”

Jo choked back her first shocked reaction, taking a moment to think. Judith would make a terrific candidate, with her obvious leadership and presence. And no one had so far tried to kill any council members. But there was no guarantee the job would stay safe, especially if the Colemans had a majority. Jo would rather take a chance on her own life than Judith’s. The thought of losing Judith made her feel weak and sick. She wasn’t sure she could keep going. And what about Drew and Lizzie?

Judith was watching her. She laughed. “Nobody’s going to kill me, Jo.”

“What makes you so sure? Maybe it would be better if I ran. If we can’t find anyone else,” she added quickly. “It wouldn’t keep me away from Tahoe that much. And it’s not even a two-hour ride if you need me.”

Judith tapped that damned rose snow globe again. She sighed. “I’d prefer to keep us both out of it, but I don’t think that’s possible. I’m the logical choice for now. I just don’t see you as a legislator. You do better behind the scenes, planning and plotting.”

That was true. If Jo was going to run for anything, it would be mayor. She knew she’d find the slow negotiating and wheedling and blather of the council irritating. She wanted a job where she would just tell people what to do and they’d do it.

Jo shook her head. “Maybe we do need to be more public. But I don’t like it the idea of having you up there as a target.”

“That’s sweet, Jo.” Jo gave her a look that a few decades before would have been incomplete without a protruding tongue. “But who else would you suggest? Samm doesn’t have the temperament for politics.”

“Oh, my god, no!” They both laughed this time. “As a tribal chief, maybe…”

“So we’ve got Monte to run for council, and me. We need one more to cover all three seats. Let’s sleep on it for a night. Someone will come to mind.” They couldn’t sleep on it any longer than that; they wanted to hold some kind of rally to coincide with the spy revelation, so they could get people revved up over that and connect the threat with the ability of the Coleman candidates to deal with the threat.

“Okay. That leaves the cabinet. I’ve been thinking about Timmy.”

Judith looked up from her globe, brightening. “That’s a wonderful idea! He has maturity, stability, charm. Everyone knows him. I love it.”

Jo sat back, pleased. Drew and Timmy on the cabinet. Perfect. “I’ll ask him. When will you file?”

“Today. Actually, I’m looking forward to it. Trips to Hangtown, building alliances, playing the grande dame. I’m glad you talked me into it.”

They were still laughing about that when Drew and Lizzie came through the door, sweating and flushed. Lizzie’s hands were a mess.

“Is that blood on your shirt, Liz?” Jo was sure it was. What was the girl doing now? And Drew— his collar was ripped nearly off.

“Yes. Wait until you hear—”

“Sit down.” Judith looked stern. “And tell me whose blood it is.”

“Billy Scorsi’s— but you’ll be glad when you hear what we found out.” The kids threw themselves onto the couch, side by side, Drew watching his sister. “Hannah Karlow is a spy for Newt Scorsi.”

Jo felt bile rise in her throat. Oh shit. Samm had been off the mark on that one. Why hadn’t she seen it? Against her own uneasiness, she’d convinced herself the fixer would do.

Okay, who are we going to run for mayor now? Maybe, she thought wryly, I can convince one of the Rocky recruiters to take the job. On pain of death.

Lizzie told the entire story of how they’d broken Billy. Judith didn’t look pleased, but she wasn’t angry, either. They had done what had to be done, on their own initiative. Jo didn’t want to discourage that any more than her sister did. Because, after all, they’d succeeded.

She pulled her sys out of her vest pocket and punched in Samm’s numbers. He had to know about Hannah right away. And they had to decide what to do with her. Kill her? Offer her more money than Newt was paying?

They had to find her first. Jo hadn’t seen her around the casino, she realized, since the night before.

* * *

There was only one word for Tim and Fredo’s cottage: cute.

We’d gone to lunch again at our Chinese place and then I’d driven them to the house so I could see it.

The chief topic of conversation was, of course, the arrest of the Rocky spies. I told them I’d seen the whole thing, including the shooting. Timmy was just full of stories about what was going on at the jail. The spies, he said, were being interrogated. And the word was that they were confessing to some pretty terrible things. He’d heard that one of them had said they were doing reconnaissance for an invasion Rocky was planning. I was seriously wishing I could be in on those interrogations. I had no reason to disbelieve what Timmy had heard, but I had to wonder, just a little, when he said the information had come from Drew by way of Jo.

“Imagine!” he said. “The nerve of those people. Just let them try it!”

The house was on the northern edge of town. Small, two little bedrooms, a twelve-by-fifteen living room with a nice stone fireplace. Old. Built before the regs that demanded pellet-burning stoves.

Oh, yeah, that had really helped a lot. It wasn’t wood smoke that ended the world.

The yard was big and backed up to woods. Pines flanked the front walk. A picket fence, for god’s sake.

The house had needed paint, inside and out, but the inside had been finished the day before. I caught a whiff when we clomped in.

“Tomorrow he’s going to start painting the outside!” Fred was clearly ecstatic. Tim had found the money to actually hire a neighbor, a handyman named Daniel, to paint the place for them.

I wandered through the rooms. Nice sim-wood floors. Not old enough or new enough for the real thing. At least it didn’t have that ridiculous carpet you found in a lot of the relics, stained and smelly, holding decades of bad memories and pet piss. In the too-bright yellow kitchen, the faucet leaked and the sink was stained with rust. I suggested that Hannah could probably take care of that for them. Timmy thought that was funny.

“Maybe. Some time next year when she runs out of bigger jobs. We’ll have to let Daniel give it a try.”

I couldn’t decide whether I was jealous of their domesticity or glad to be free of it. I suppose, if I were as happy with someone as they were with each other, I would want to nest. Both Sylvia and Jo passed through my mind. What an idiot I could be.

I was fiddling with the fireplace damper in the living room when the button-sized sys-link Newt had insisted I carry “in case of emergency” vibrated. This was the first time he’d used it. Could be important. I strolled aimlessly around the corner, back into the kitchen, flicked it on and stuck it in my ear.

“This is all your fault, Rica! Hannah’s gone. I told the boys not to kill her, she’s ours, but now she says she doesn’t trust them not to blabber. She says everyone is watching everyone else, following everyone else. That Jo had someone following the boys. Last straw, she says. She isn’t hanging around waiting for the Colemans to find out and kill her.” He took in a ragged breath. Since this device was listen-only, I couldn’t respond. “So! Now! You’re going to have to make up for this by working twice as hard, taking her place. I want you to join their army right away. And another thing. Hannah says that they never had those war games anywhere but the one place, they don’t move them around. You lied to me.” Oops. I waited for more. He seemed to be gone.

I flicked the “heard-you” button with my fingernail and stuck the thing back in my pocket.

Was I supposed to run for mayor, too?

I couldn’t wait to get back to Blackjack and see if the Colemans knew she was gone. It amused me to think that she might have literally flown the coop in the Gullwing. But I didn’t really care how she left, I was just delighted that she was gone.

* * *

Jo was waiting in her office for word of Hannah. Samm had commandeered Drew and a dozen of his other soldiers, left Zack running the poker tables, and searched for Hannah through the afternoon. Jo was not surprised when he reported that she was nowhere they’d looked. Not in the storage room fixing slots, not in the bar, not at the poker table, not in her motel room and nowhere on the strip. They’d prowled through Scorsi’s Luck, earning glares and gasps of surprise, even opened Newt Scorsi’s office door, slamming it back against the wall, to find him deep in conversation with his brother Larry, Billy’s father. They got out fast when he called for help. No time for a fight. They had a fugitive to catch.