but Canada had a calmness to it that struck a Skinner like the tranquil look in a deer’s eyes when it had no clue how many rifles were pointed at its head. “Maybe me and Ned weren’t exactly sentimental, but that still don’t mean you get a pass on what happened in Denver.”
The bulk of the city was behind them, leaving a wide open expanse of concrete to fill the windshield. The evening rush hour was over, but just barely. Rain that had fallen weeks ago remained pooled on the side of the road, illuminated by the dimming rays of the sun and streetlights that were too weak to cast more than a glow before night fully took hold. Paige scanned the signs marking the upcoming exits and allowed herself to settle into her seat. “What happened in Denver is what needed to happen. I’ll see to it that it gets explained to Cole, but I don’t need to explain it to anyone else.”
“The hell you don’t. I’m the only one of us that trusts you anymore. The only way for that to change is for you to come clean because you sure as hell can’t survive in this fight alone.”
“So when you talk about the other Skinners, are you referring to the ones like Abel and Selina who joined up with Hope and Tara to set us all up for this fall? Yeah, I really want to make sure they don’t think badly of me.”
She didn’t have to look over at Rico to know he was glaring at her. “Some of ’em double-crossed us,” he said sternly, “but there are plenty out there just trying to stay alive. We lost some good people when Liam and those Mongrels hit Lancroft’s place. Even if there are fewer of us now, the ones that are still on the right side of the fence can pull together like never before. We can finally open our eyes to all the shit we’ve been missing and start fighting to win for a change.”
“You’d better not tell me I wasn’t fighting to win.”
“I know you’ve still got your eyes on the prize, girl. That’s why I came all the way up north with you even after you refuse to tell me everything I need to know. We’re all in this together. Ain’t that right, Steve?”
The younger man nodded. “That’s right. We’re in this together.”
Paige took some comfort from that, even though she wasn’t exactly sure why. “That’s not the only reason you’re here right now,” she said to Rico. “You’re keeping tabs on me to make sure I don’t step any further out of line.”
“Could be.”
After rounding a bend on the expressway, Paige turned to look at the big man so she could study him when she asked, “And what happens if I do anything else you don’t agree with? Are you going to take me out?”
Rico’s hand lay casually on his hip. It was close to the Sig Sauer holstered under his arm, but he hadn’t made a move to pull the .45 from its resting place. “You’re worked up,” he sighed. “We been through too much for you to believe shit like that.”
“We have been through a lot. The Nymar have risen up from a pain in our asses, skipped over being a thorn in our sides, and become the stake in our collective chest. As ironic as that is, it means we’ve all got to be careful.” Now that she’d turned onto the Don Valley Parkway and was headed north, she paid closer attention to the street signs and cars around her. “I don’t know,” she grumbled. “Is that even irony?”
“I think so.” After scratching his roughly stubbled chin, Rico asked, “Is that irony, Steve?”
“Nope. That’s just a bad play on words.”
“Look, Bloodhound, I get that everything’s been flipped upside down. I was there when it happened. We been on the run for over a month, hiding, laying low, and living day to day. But that don’t cut it no more. It’s time to stop hiding from the shit storm and start dealing with it.”
“Amen to that.”
“And if we’re gonna deal with it, we need to deal the right way.”
Paige cut him short by holding up a hand to show him one of her scarred palms. “And that means me telling you everything I know, including who those guys were that brought me to Denver in that helicopter. Am I right?”
“That’d be a good start.”
“Too bad we’re almost at our exit,” she