guys. Is that good enough? Or do you want to sit on this goddamn stool collecting dollar bills from drugged-out kids until it’s time for you to go back to prison with an extended sentence? What the hell are your plans for your life?”
Tommy sank on his seat, looking like a petulant child.
“Wake up, kid,” Ward said. “This is your only chance. You’ve got to see that.”
“I’ll think about it.” Tommy scratched his head.
Ward shook his head in disbelief. What was the kid’s problem?
“We want your girl to come, too,” Ward added. “Esmeralda, the one who can speak with the dead? We want both of you. Go and talk to her about it, too.”
“You want Esmeralda, too?”
“Isn’t that what I said?” Ward glared at the dirty, long-haired kid and tried to keep his temper under control. “Go and talk to her about it,” he repeated.
“I guess I will.” Tommy shrugged.
“You’ve got twenty-four hours,” Ward said. “It shouldn’t take you twenty-four seconds to make this choice. At your age, it’s time to stop being a slacker and start being a man.” Ward handed him a plain white business card—no logo, no name, just a single phone number. “We’ll be back tomorrow. Call if you come to your senses before then.” Ward turned and walked away, followed by his two assistants.
“I’m not working tomorrow,” Tommy said.
“You’re barely working now,” Ward replied without looking back. “Don’t worry, we always know where to find you. Just don’t do anything stupid between now and then.”
When they returned to the car, the wheels in Ward’s mind were turning. He’d believed that Tommy had been the leader of a small group of paranormals, but he was starting to doubt that assessment. The kid could barely lead himself to the bathroom to take a piss. The faction must have had a different leader...maybe the zombie-master guy, but he was dead, according to Heather Reynard’s memories. Killed by Seth’s healing power, somehow.
So, Ward reasoned, maybe Tommy and Esmeralda didn’t have a leader anymore, they were just wandering without any direction at all. Ward was prepared to give them one.
Their next stop was a motel not far from Tommy and Esmeralda’s apartment, just off the interstate. They would listen to the device Buchanan had set up, a laser listening system pointed at the apartment window. The laser translated glass vibrations back into sound, creating a clean way to bug a room without ever entering the premises. They would be able to hear what Tommy and Esmeralda’s thoughts might be regarding whether to serve their country or not.
“Kid looks like a real loser,” Avery commented as they pulled out onto a busy boulevard.
“We’ll see,” Ward replied.
* * *
“You have to come with me,” Tommy said. He’d already crammed half his clothes into a duffel bag, and he was trying to shove more into it.
“The only thing I have to do is catch the bus,” Esmeralda told him, buttoning her blouse. It was seven in the morning and Tommy’s eyes were open, which meant he’d skipped sleeping after he’d gotten home from work. He looked disheveled, with a sheen of nervous sweat. “Why don’t you take a bath?” she asked him.
“You’re not listening, Esmeralda. They’re going to delete my prison record. If I don’t do what they want, they’ll probably send me back to prison. I don’t have a choice.”
“You could ride away,” Esmeralda said. “Go hide somewhere new.”
“If I did that, would you come with me?”
“I can’t, Tommy. I have school, and my mother. And you know how much trouble I had finding another job after I ran away last time.” She pulled on a pair of dark slacks. “And that crappy new job is where I need to be in thirty minutes.”
“This is our big chance to really do something with our lives. Don’t you want that?” He reached for her arm, but she shook him off.
“I am doing something with my life,” Esmeralda told him.
“What, putting make-up on dead people?”
“I like dead people. They tell interesting stories.”
“Don’t you want an interesting life?” Tommy asked. “Instead of just watching what dead people did with their time?”
“If you want to go off and be an assassin or whatever they want, that’s your choice. Staying here and living my own life, that’s mine.” Esmeralda trembled, feeling fear tinged with hope. Maybe he would go. Maybe this was finally it. He made her feel protected, but also miserable. Without him, she would be vulnerable and free.
“Then maybe I’ll go without you,” he growled,