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“All the more reason for you to leave,” Theo said. If he realized he was tightening his arm around Auggie, it didn’t show on his face. “I’m sorry for your loss, sorry for what you’ve been through. But you’ve got kids you need to take care of. You need to think about them. You need to watch out for yourselves.”
“They shot her through the fucking shower curtain,” Jem said. He could hear his voice, the cutting side turned outward toward these men, these strangers. These not-quite strangers who had come for him, to rescue him, in a hail of bullets. He tried to soften his voice. “They came in through the fucking balcony and shot her without even bothering to check they had the right person.”
Tean was staring at Jem, but not seeing. His eyes looked lost.
“Why?” North asked.
Jem looked at him.
“Why are they trying to kill you?” Shaw clarified.
“Yeah,” Auggie said. “It doesn’t make any sense. You stumbled onto their operation, ok. They didn’t like you poking around Yesenia’s disappearance because they didn’t want you to look too closely at Rod. All right, fine. They didn’t want you looking at Rod because Rod might flip on them and start talking. But Rod’s dead now. And you’re just some out-of-towner. Why not lie low and wait for you to leave?”
Jem glanced at Tean. Tean didn’t meet his eyes, but he nodded.
From between his feet, Jem grabbed the plastic Piggly Wiggly bag he’d rescued from a convenient trash can. He emptied it onto the small hotel desk. Prescription bottles spilled out, many with their labels partially removed. Plastic bags with powders and pills, with squares of dehydrated animal parts, with horns, with dried leaves. Passports, Social Security cards, driver’s licenses. Rings, necklaces, earrings.
The room was a held breath.
“They want it back,” Shaw said.
“We knew it wasn’t only animal trafficking,” John-Henry said as though speaking to himself. “We already knew that. So, what the hell is it?”
“This is what they were looking for,” Theo said. “When they searched your room. When they searched it again after they killed Missy. What is all this stuff?”
“Possessions of their victims?” Emery said, but it sounded like a question.
North made a considering noise, leaning forward, elbows on knees. The look he directed at Jem verged on impressed. “Where was it?”
An echo of a smile found its way across Jem’s face. “The next room. Adjoining door.”
North considered this and gave a nod. “Dumbfucks.”
“I think Theo’s right,” Auggie said. He looked so young, Jem thought. Not in a bad way. Just...young. “I think you should leave. Drop this stuff in a dumpster and go.”
“No.” Tean raised his head. His eyes focused. They were a little red, but they were clear and dry. His voice firmed as he repeated, “No.”
“I understand,” Theo began, “but—”
“They were trying to kill us, and now Missy is dead.” Tean braced his hands on his thighs. “They murdered her. We’re not leaving.”
“If you’re in danger—” Shaw began.
John-Henry cleared his throat. “The best thing to do might be—”
“You all heard him,” Emery said. The silence that followed had its own dark tattoo. “They’re not leaving. The only thing left to discuss is what we’re going to do next.”
North opened his mouth, but Theo moved first, reaching for something on the desk. At the last moment, he stopped himself. He pointed at a ring mixed into a tangle of thin gold chains.
Auggie broke the silence. “Is that what I think it is?”
John-Henry, when he spoke, had a compressed anger in his voice—the sound of someone mastering a tremendous emotion. “Yes.”
“What?” Jem asked. “What is it?”
“It’s a class ring,” Theo said. “From the high school where I teach.”
“That answers one question,” Emery said. “We’re going to Wahredua.”
