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“No. I need to move. Too many people in and out. It’s not secure. ”
Pansy rolled her eyes. “Not what I needed today. All right, we’ll move. But first, Bryn needs her inhibitor booster, and then I’ll send them on their way. ”
“All right. ” Manny pointed at a set of boxes across the lab. “Third carton from the bottom. I packed it underneath the extra saline. ”
The boxes weren’t labeled, Bryn realized—not a single one. “Do you remember what’s in every one of them?” she asked.
Manny looked at her. “You can put your hands down,” he said. “I’m not going to shoot you. ”
“Yeah,” Pansy said, as she walked toward the indicated boxes. “But only because I took his gun. ”
“You really remember what’s in the boxes. There must be two hundred of them!”
“Two hundred thirty-six,” he said. “Not counting the crated machines. Yes. I do. ”
“What happens when they mix them all up in moving vans?”
“I pay them to make sure they get stacked and delivered in order. ” His green eyes were less crazy now, and he frowned as he looked her over. “You don’t look so great. ”
Bryn laughed a little. “It’s been … stressful. ”
“They were letting her rot,” Fideli said, “for science. ”
“Really?” Those eyes gleamed suddenly. “Did you get any records? Video? That would be very useful. ”
“Jesus. ” Fideli raised his voice. “Pansy, you really sleep with this guy?”
“I keep one eye open,” she called back, as she restacked cartons—keeping them, Bryn noticed, in precisely the same order as they’d been. “Got it!” She held up an IV bag and needle kit. “Manny, stop being so creepy. It was awful for her. It really was. ”
He didn’t look noticeably sorry. “I’m sure it was, but still, the opportunity to study something like that …”
“Yeah, well, I hope you won’t have the opportunity to do it on me,” Bryn said. “Where do I sit?”
“Over here,” Pansy said. She hooked the IV bag on a rolling stand that hadn’t yet been packed and pulled over a straight-backed chair. Bryn sat and let Pansy numb the back of her hand, then guide in the needle. It still, as always, hurt, but the cool rush of fluid into her veins soothed things nicely. “Should take about an hour. I’m going to get you some more water. Anything to eat?”
Food. Bryn’s stomach rumbled, and she realized that she hadn’t really even thought about food for so long, it was an abstract concept. “Uh, anything,” she said. “Whatever isn’t packed, I guess. ”
“I’ll find something. Joe?”
“I’ll have what she’s having. Minus the IV. ” Fideli put his back against the wall and leaned. Now that he wasn’t under threat of death, he allowed himself to look tired. He nodded to Manny. “So you’re the FBI guy, right? The one McCallister knows. ”
“You know McCallister. ”
“Yeah, old friends. I kinda work for him. ”
“Then I suppose you’re all right,” Manny said grudgingly. “He’d probably take it badly if I’d shot you. “
Fideli grinned, a surprising flash of white, even teeth. “I’d like to think so. Glad I didn’t shoot you, too. ”
Manny raised his bushy eyebrows. “Do you think you could have, before I fired the shotgun?” Fideli stared back. He didn’t answer, and he didn’t need to, really. Manny nodded and sat down on the edge of one of the wooden pallets. “Interesting. ”
“Mutual, if you do half the stuff he says you do. ”
“Interesting that he’s talked to you about me, and not to me about you. ”
“I’ve known him longer,” Fideli said. “And he meant to bring me over here. He just didn’t get the chance. ”
That made them fall silent for a moment. Bryn felt the anxious flutter in her stomach at the thought of McCallister, still missing, and she knew Joe was feeling it, too. Maybe even Manny was, as well.
