said with a crooked grin and half a sideways glance. “If you would’ve asked me about this earlier, I might have had some time to get into the whole story.”
“We got time,” Rico growled. “After you take the next exit, we need to get onto Queen Street and head into the Upper Beaches area.” Seeing the way she raised her eyebrows, he added, “I can do research too, you know. What makes you think this Cobb guy is even there?”
“Before he was taken away, Cole told Prophet how to intercept some of the e-mail the Nymar have been using to communicate with each other. Prophet got a few hits, he sent them to some techie guys, MEG helped out a little more, and finally we got our little fingers into the Nymar Web ring. Remember those bloodsuckers you flushed out of Cedar Rapids?”
“Oh yeah. They talked a big game but didn’t have anything to back it up. Ran like a bunch of bitches.”
“Damn right they did,” Paige said. “Ran straight to me. After some colorful questioning techniques, they told me some more about the guy running the Nymar communication network. He’s supposed to be based here in Canada, and even if he’s not in the house where we’re headed, there should be someone in the area to point us in the right direction. Hope wasn’t the only double-seeded Nymar working on that uprising. I’m thinking one of the others will be guarding this place.”
“Could be Cobb38 is double-seeded too,” Steve offered.
“You really think so?” Paige asked. “Leading a bunch of Nymar on the street is one thing. Those double-seeded bloodsuckers are usually too hungry to do anything on a scale like this.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Rico said. “There should be a computer setup or at least the remains of one in a Nymar safe house. Did you pay close enough attention to Cole when he was around to learn some of those geek skills of his?”
Paige pulled in a breath, blinked heavily a few times and nodded once.
“Good,” Rico said. “That’s our exit.” Waiting until she was committed to making the turn, he added, “That means you’ve got some time to explain yourself where Denver is concerned. Before you flip me any more of that shit about only explaining to Cole, you gotta remember that you left me, Prophet, and all them Amriany out there to fend for ourselves too. Me and the Gypsies don’t exactly see eye-to-eye, but they held their own that night.”
“Remember Officer Stanze?”
“The cop from Kansas City? Yeah.”
“Before Liam tried to tear that city down, he found a Half Breed carcass and started asking around about it. He even tried to sell it online. I was the one who bought it, but there were other people who took notice of the auction. Once werewolves of all shapes and sizes started charging down metropolitan streets, those people put some very important pieces together. One of them was in that helicopter.”
“Another cop?”
“Not quite.”
Although that eased Rico’s nerves a bit, it didn’t help much. “What, then? A fed?”
“No. I’m going to Kenilworth Avenue, right?”
“That’s right. Tell me who those guys are.”
“They’re the ones that have been keeping all of this from boiling over into something a hell of a lot worse than it is.”
“All of what?” Rico asked. “You mean the crap that the Nymar pulled? Coming from someone whose home was burnt down by those vampire motherfuckers, it’s hard to believe you’re saying this shit hasn’t already boiled way the hell over.”
“Skinners have been going through hell,” Paige told him, “but we signed up for it.” She drove down a section of Queen Street that was lined on both sides with two-story storefronts ranging from small restaurants and bars to specialty shops and a few little apartment buildings. Traffic was getting worse, but she held her own thanks to a Chicago driving attitude that shifted between persistent and crazy. “It’s not just the casualties we need to worry about anymore,” she continued. “Everything from Misonyk and Henry’s first rampage in Chicago to the vampires running amok a few months ago is out there for the whole damn world to see.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that. The news and God only knows how many websites have been packed full of bullshit about dog attacks and vampires. Most of it’s either dried up on its own or been pushed aside for bigger news.”
“Like the Mud Flu,” Paige said. “And that was one of ours too. Somehow, we were still able to