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“Where you heading?” He licked his thumb and started sifting through papers on his desk. “Mountains? North?” He grimaced. “Further south?”
“I don’t care. Somewhere remote.”
He nodded. “Blue Ridge Mountains sound okay?”
“That remote enough?”
“In most places, sure.”
I shrugged him off and went to the right side of the office where he kept Polaroids of his plants on the walls. Some of them hadn’t survived the winter. I guessed this was his way of preserving them.
“What are you running from this time, Virginia?”
I ignored the question while tracing a picture of a moonflower. “You ever own any land, Fred?”
“Once upon a time.”
“And what brought you here? What did you run from?”
Silence. I guessed he was avoiding questions too. Who could blame him?
I sighed. “Fine then. Just let me know when everything is ready.”
“Hang on there, Virginia. You’re short about $300 here.”
“I’ll owe you. Put it on a tab.”
He stared at me. “That worked when we were in the same place. I can’t get you new documents if you’re going up to Blue Ridge in North Carolina.”
“I have to leave tonight, Fred. Our lives depend on it.”
“That’s what you said last time.”
I snapped my fingers. “And I’m saying it again.”
His lips twisted as he stared at the papers on his desk, the wad of cash, the old nineties computer, and the various burner phones he kept for whatever he did in his spare time. As he reflected, his expression calmed.
He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll make you a deal for the $300.”
“What’s the deal?”
“You get me into the Beaufort Creek pack, and I’ll get your documents.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“You want to add hearing aids to the list?”
“Don’t get smart, Fred. What in the world do you want to do inside the Beaufort Creek pack?”
His upper arm muscles flexed. “I have business. Just get me in.”
Damn it, now I was stuck. If I wanted my documents, then I had to go talk to Blake about getting Fred into the pack. Blake was welcoming enough for plenty of people, but explaining my reasons for wanting to trade places with Fred would be strange, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to lie like that.
I also wasn’t sure what I’d be subjecting my pack to with Fred taking my place. He dealt with the underbelly of things. What business did he have with the Beaufort Creeks?
“Tell me more,” I demanded. “I can’t get you a spot if you can’t be honest.”
His eyes shifted around the room. Even though his muscles relaxed a bit, I could tell he was still on edge. “The Beaufort Creek alpha will understand. I need to make sure that…” He blinked rapidly. “I have to make sure that something from a while ago has been handled properly.”
