Early to Death, Early to Rise - Kim Harrison [10]
“Sorry,” I said, not knowing why I was apologizing. Feeling weird, I turned and went back to Nakita and Barnabas. Eyes down, I slid into my seat and took a sip of shake.
Barnabas cleared his throat. “What was all that about?”
The ugliness washed from me, and I looked up, smiling at Nakita, then Barnabas. “I found our mark. It’s Ace.”
Nakita fingered her amulet as if she wanted to follow him out and scythe him in the parking lot. I was starting to understand why the seraphs believed light and dark reapers couldn’t work together. Getting Nakita to hold off until we’d given Ace a chance to change his ways wasn’t going to be easy. “Are you sure?” she asked, eyes alight and eager.
I nodded, sharing her enthusiasm if not the reason behind it. I could do this. I’d just relaxed as Barnabas had said, and let my intuition tell me. “Pretty sure,” I said. “Ace is good with computers and doesn’t mind breaking the law. He says school starts tomorrow, but that he’s ditching it. His mom works at the hospital and has such a tight leash on him that he’s probably ready to do anything to make her mad.” I watched Ace walk through the parking lot, all the while thinking about my dad and how closely he watched me. No longer in his apron, Ace looked kind of rough in a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt.
“Let’s go,” I said when Ace angrily smacked a car at random. “I’ve got to talk to him.”
We stood up as one, but Barnabas was hesitant. “I don’t know,” he said as we started after him. “It sounded like Shoe was the computer guy.”
I turned to him, the shake cold in my grip. “You heard that?”
“Everyone heard that,” Nakita said, tossing her hair. Her purse slung over her shoulder, she walked to the doors as if she were a runway model.
Doubt hit me, and my fast pace slowed.
“Shoe lost his temper first,” Barnabas said. “And if he’s the one who hacked the system, then he’s the one who can make the virus, not the guy who does the cover art.”
I frowned as we hit the doors and came out into the early afternoon sun. Past the yellow line in the employee parking area, Ace was standing next to a sporty car and arguing with Shoe. Biting my lip, I thought of Barnabas’s thousand-year-plus experience at this compared to my intuition. It was probably Shoe, but I didn’t want to lose sight of Ace. The memory of how quickly his mood shifted wouldn’t leave me. Something was wrong there.
“Okay,” I said hesitantly as we started to move forward again. “Barnabas, if you think it’s Shoe, you should follow him. Nakita and I will stick with Ace and learn what we can.” And it will keep you and Nakita apart, too.
Nakita made a pleased sound, clearly glad to be taking action. “I should be the one to follow Shoe, not Barnabas,” she said firmly. “That way, if he tries to put the virus in a computer, I’ll be there to kill him.”
I stopped short, and she went two steps before halting. My gaze went to Barnabas, and he made a helpless expression. “Um, Nakita, I thought you’d come with me.”
The reaper was clueless about many things, but she wasn’t stupid. A soft blush marred her face, and she went stiff, her black toenails shining in the sun. “You’re trying to keep me away from Shoe.”
I was trying to keep her away from Barnabas, too. I took a breath to protest, then let it out. “Yeah, but come with me anyway. Ace likes pretty girls. He’ll tell you anything.” Nakita squinted at me, and I added, “Come on. Help me out here. Ron can’t possibly know we’re out of Three Rivers yet, so we’ve got tons of time.”
“She is your boss,” Barnabas muttered, and Nakita frowned.
“Okay,” she said, capitulating, “but if Shoe does anything, promise you’ll call me, Barnabas.”
“You want me to call you?” Barnabas said, thumbs in his jeans pockets and the wind shifting his T-shirt. “How? You’re a dark reaper, and I’m light. Our resonances are too far apart for our amulets to allow it.”
Nakita smiled, changing her amulet from the Gothic cross back to its normal