take a genius to figure that our canine patients had just switched from the toy and sporting groups to the hunting category.
I held the door and gestured to Malachy. “After you.”
Malachy gave me a familiar look of irritation. “I’m not playing around, you stupid girl. At least let me take a piss first. Unless you’d like to give me a hand with that, as well?”
Shit. We hadn’t discussed this. “All right,” I said, coming around his left side.
“Thank you from the bottom of my bladder,” Malachy said sarcastically.
Ah, the British. None of this euphemistic “going to the bathroom.” At least he hadn’t informed me he needed to take a … my hands stilled on the straps. “Wait a minute. This is another test, isn’t it?”
“You’re testing my patience, all right.”
I still didn’t undo the strap. There was some quality of tension and alertness about Malachy that wasn’t quite right. And the image of myself, lying dead in this office, was a useful reminder to be cautious. “On the other hand, Mal, why don’t I help you undo your trousers?”
“Now, there’s an idea,” said Malachy, and his eyes were burning with a fierce green light.
Uh oh. “Mal, I thought you said we had hours left before you changed.”
Malachy frowned as if I were losing my mind. “We do. Hours and hours. Now, let’s go see about the dogs.”
I held the door for him, just like before. As he walked through, I said, “You know, Mal, something just occurred to me.”
He turned and looked over his shoulder. “What?”
I slammed the door in his face and locked it behind him.
This isn’t Northside, I told myself. It looks like Northside, and it’s laid out like Northside, but this is a brand-new town, with brand-new rules. What looks familiar is what’s going to trip you up, so use your intuition.
I really wished I’d worn a brassiere today.
There was a pounding on the door as Malachy flung himself against the wood. “Abra! Let me out of here!” The dogs were racing around, too. Somehow, he’d gotten his shoes off and unlatched their cages with his toes.
“Don’t get your panties tied in a knot,” I said, trying not to get flustered as I took out the large office scissors and cut the legs of my corduroys off at the knee.
I had wasted two of my questions, but at least my fairy grandmother had managed to give me the ability to know what I knew. No more questioning my instincts. No more waiting for Malachy to give me permission or hoping Red would come to the rescue. I knew what was behind all this, and I knew what I had to do.
“Let me out now,” Malachy said in a perfectly reasonable tone, “and I won’t fire you.”
“I’m just changing my shirt,” I replied. “Give me a sec.” Working as quickly as I could, I used two wide dog leashes crisscrossed over my chest to create a makeshift bandoleer over my silk undershirt.
“Come on, Abra,” Malachy said, coaxingly, but with just the right hint of impatience. Whatever was behind that door had some of Malachy’s cunning, and without the moonstone, I wasn’t entirely sure that I wouldn’t have fallen for it.
“One more minute.” The tone was right, the words sounded like ones Malachy would have chosen, but the voice was a full register deeper, as if the chest around the larynx had expanded.
“Abra!!!” The door shook and the wood began to buckle as Malachy kicked it, hard. Looking at where the wood was buckling, I swallowed a lump in my throat. Crap, he was big. For a moment, I just stared at the door, mesmerized, waiting to see if the next impact would break through the wood.
You’re not watching a movie, kid. Keep working.
Ah, the small, clear voice of my intuition. Even if it did sound a bit like my mother, I was getting pretty damn fond of it. Using a thin rope leash, I secured the waistband of my baggy corduroys. Next, I stuck the scissors in the bandoleer on my right side, so I could pull it out quickly. I grabbed two syringes of phenobarbital, still missing the secret sauce, and then quickly mixed up four syringes of Telazol, inserting one into each boot and two into my crude ammo belt. The two syringes of phenobarb went up, closer to my shoulders, because it was less dangerous if something went wrong and it went into me instead of whoever I was aiming at. I added one more