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“So you need to deal with this now before it escalates.”
I nodded and then looked at Gerard. The message was clear despite any sympathies he might have. His duty was to the whole Community. He couldn’t coddle me, nor did I want him to. He was the judge we’d all chosen to stand behind, and I mended things. That was how it was. So when he told me to do something, I had to.
“In addition, there is something else I’d like you to look into,” he said, making my heart sink even lower. More to do meant less time to spend on Andrea. Despite how many others were looking for her, I couldn’t let it go.
“We should tell her while she eats,” Annalise said, a more sympathetic tone in her voice now.
“No need,” I said, though realizing that there might actually be some need. I had barely eaten in the last few days. Or slept. That was true. I had been looking for Andrea and hiding from Yorov, the FBI agent, and Detective Hansen all at once. Looking over my shoulder all the time was like a caffeine boost to me, but now, in the safety of Gerard’s house, I felt the fatigue sneak up on me.
“Come on,” Annalise said, leading me to the kitchen where I saw a takeaway bag on the table. “I got you something spicy,” she said as I opened it, the smell of chicken tikka masala rising up.
“Extra spicy?” I asked hopefully.
“No bland food for you,” she said handing me a fork, and actually smiling a little.
“There’s one more thing before we get into details,” Gerard said behind me.Threeproblems? I turned to see him leaning against the door frame.
“Yes?” I prompted, seeing his eyes meet Annalise’s a moment. I didn’t need to listen in on his thoughts to know he didn’t like what he had to say.
“I’ve reached out to Eddie Hays. You might need a new identity before this is over.”
I nodded and sat down to eat. There was nothing else to do. My time in Ashport might not last much longer whether I left voluntarily or someone took me away by force.
Chapter 2
Gary’s Auto Shoplooked worse than it was in the darkness. The large deep-green building could use a new coat of paint, sure, and maybe the yard could use fewer cars and junk, but all in all, it wasn’t much worse than any other auto shop out there. More importantly, it was run by Gary, who was an affiliate. That meant fewer questions when you had somewhat unusual car problems.
“Evening, Maggie,” he said as I walked in the door. The place was quiet this late, and Gary was putting away his ledger, having closed up the cash drawer for the night.
“Hi, Gary. Car ready?” I asked him as he turned back to me. He was about my own height, dark graying hair, a friendly face, and with a perpetual case of motor oil under his fingernails.
“It is,” he said, “but I talked with Gerard yesterday. Seems you’ve got people after you these days.”
I sighed. Of course Gerard had talked to him. He seemed to have talked to a lot of people. That was how he’d found out what I’d been doing the last few days.
“You said my car was ready,” I protested. I had called Gary from Gerard’s before coming and he’d told me it was done. Getting around town took too long on foot, and it had to be done by now. It had been in the shop for days.
“It is, but Gerard’s got a point. You’ll be spotted if you drive that thing around.”
I knew the chances of that, but I was starting to not care. It hadn’t been much of a problem when Hansen had driven me around, but that was not the case anymore.
Get out of my head.
I swallowed hard. “Come on, Gary. What am I supposed to do?”
He gave me a warm smile. “I said it was ready. God knows it’s not the first time you’ve come here with bullet holes in that thing.”
That was unfortunately true, and I was thankful we had an affiliate mechanic in town. Bullet holes were hard to explain away to both doctors and mechanics. People had tendencies to want to call the damn cops.
“Anyway,” Gary continued. “I won’t leave you hanging. But I’m not giving you your own car, either. Gerard’s orders.”
I nodded, understanding. “So…?”
“I’ve got one you can borrow. Just please try to bring it back without bullet holes.”
“You know I’ll try,” I said finding my wallet from my purse. We went through the usual bickering about payment. It was something I didn’t like much. A lot of people wanted me to get things for free on account of helping for free, but that was not how things worked. I could claim small favors from people, but that was it. All to avoid any extortion or misuse of power. These rules had evolved for centuries. Affiliates were no less greedy than regular people. Gary having waited for me after closing time, and lending me a car, was more than enough.
“Come on,” he said when I’d finally been allowed to pay my bill. “I’ll walk you out.” He switched the lights off and locked up. I was more capable of taking care of myself than he was, and we both knew it, but I appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.
