Bow Down(182)

“They’re not dangerous.”

He glanced at me. “They are. It worries me that you haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Look, we can argue about this all we want, but we’re still doing it. So can we try to get through this?”

“Fine,” he grunted. “But when this shit goes wrong, I’m going to look you in the eye and say, ‘I told you so.’”

“Fine.” I crossed my arms and looked out the window as the car sped forward.

He was so damn stubborn. He thought he was always right, but he couldn’t see this from my perspective. So far, the Spiders had done nothing but try to help me, and they had even offered to give us what we needed. Sure, they’d asked for a favor, but of course they had.

Rafa was going to have to deal with that. He could be annoyed all he wanted, but this was happening and there was no turning back.

We got into the city limits and slowly moved deeper into the heart of Chicago. We were heading toward the far side, closer to the lakes. As far as I knew, there wasn’t much around that corner, maybe an empty lot or an abandoned building or something like that.

Chicago was full of that sort of thing. Any big city was constantly changing, alive to the ebbs and flows of the world. Buildings rose and fell, people changed, lived, and died, and that was how the world went.

We pulled up at the corner. Rafa parked the car and we looked around.

Just like I thought. There was an empty field surrounded by a chain-link fence.

“You sure this is right?” he asked me.

“I’m sure.”

He sighed. “Come on then.” He climbed out of the car and I hustled to keep up with him.

We walked over to the fence. There was nothing beyond it, just an empty space with piles of dirt and trash. More trash had collected along the fence, proof of human life although nothing seemed alive anywhere nearby. Rafa began to kick through the trash, a permanent scowl on his face.

I moved around the fence, looking carefully. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I figured I’d know it when I saw it. The Spiders had said they’d leave something for us, and I had to believe that they would. I couldn’t see what they had to gain from lying about it.

I moved around to the other stretch of fence and spotted something odd. There was a gym bag on the ground with its handles looped through the chain. But instead of being all beat up and gross like everything else, it looked brand new.

“Rafa,” I said, kneeling down next to it. “Look at this.”

I reached out to open it.

“Stop,” he said. “Hold on.” He knelt down next to me and put his face next to the bag.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure there’s not a bomb in here.”

“Are you listening for ticking?”

He grinned. “I am. But I’m also trying to smell any plastic or molding putty.”

“And?”

He sniffed and waited. “Nothing.”

“Come on.” I grabbed the zipper and yanked it open.

No explosion.

I let out a breath. Inside the bag was a single piece of paper. I grabbed it and unfolded it. Written down the center was another address, not far from where we were.

“Fucking shit,” Rafa said.

“Come on.” I stood up. “We have another stop.”

“Fuck that. We’re not going.”

“Come on. We have no other choice.”

He stood up and shook his head. “Coming here, to a public place, was bad enough, but we don’t know what’s on the other end of this address. We’re not prepared for this, Cass. We need backup.”

“No,” I said. “The mob will ruin this. We need to go. This is our best chance, Rafa.”

He stared at me, and for a second I thought he was going to throw me over his shoulder and drag me back to the compound. Instead, he grinned and shook his head.

“You’re going to get me killed.” He got back into the car. “Well?”

I smiled and got in the passenger side. “Well, let’s go.”

He pulled out. We drove for a few minutes through the neighborhoods. It was a pretty bad area, and most of the houses were either empty or crumbling to the ground. Certain parts of Chicago looked like a war zone, with entire houses missing like smashed teeth. We got closer and closer to the address and finally pulled up outside a normal-looking row home.

“Doesn’t look bad,” I said.

He nodded. “That worries me.” He killed the engine and we got out.

The house was probably the nicest on the block. It had all its windows intact, its front door wasn’t covered in graffiti, and the steps weren’t littered with glass and trash. Rafa walked up to the door.