Meet me at Carlson HQ off 394 and 694 ASAP. Winter is leaving the country TONIGHT. One last chance to get a shot at him and then he’s gone; destination unknown.
17.
The car bucked slightly as I pulled it into the parking lot at the Carlson towers. The only other one here was Kurt, leaning up against the side of his car as snowflakes fell around him, illuminated by the lamps in the lot.
I pulled up next to him, keeping myself from actively running him over. I felt a surge of numbness coupled with faint irritation at the sight of him. The fact that it didn’t exactly translate into an instant desire to harm him gave me little hope for what was left of my soul, especially since I’d so recently done so much killing.
I threw the door open and took a long sniff of the night air. As I got out, the flakes came down on my shoulder and I felt the tingle on my head as they caught in my hair and started to melt. “Well?” I asked expectantly.
His face was shadowed, his acne scars even more prominent in the darkness. “Well, you’ve done it now. Eve got away and warned him, so now Winter’s fleeing the country. He’s out of here in less than an hour.”
“Didn’t know I could scare him that bad. No idea where he’s going?” I asked. I felt a sense of caution; after my most recent dream, I wasn’t quite sure where I stood with Kurt.
“Nope.” He shook his head. “But he’s lost the rest of his security detail except for Eve and Bastian. The other guys bailed on him; Jackson talked them out of showing up.” He let a half-smile. “Told ‘em it’d be hazardous to their health if they got between you and Winter.”
“Remind me to write him a thank-you note after I finish murdering the last of my enemies,” I said acidly, and Hannegan’s smile disappeared. “Where are they?”
“The airport in Eden Prairie,” he said, and any mirth he’d shown was gone. “It’s just down the street—”
“From the mall,” I said. “I know.”
“He chartered a plane,” Kurt said soberly. “Like I said, dunno where he’s going, but he’s getting gone. Eve and Bastian are going with him.”
I let out a sordid smile. “I guess Eve really does care more about saving her ass than her girlfriend’s.”
Kurt didn’t really know how to take that. “You killed her, didn’t you? Ariadne?”
I rode right past that one. “They got any weapons?”
Kurt looked uneasy, but answered anyway. “Whatever they’d normally have. Probably pistols. Hard to imagine them toting much bigger around the airfield, but I suppose it’s possible. They’re there now; you might wanna hurry.”
“Okay,” I said. I turned back to my car, not wanting to look at him as I said the next thing that was on my mind. “You knew all along he was gonna screw me over again, didn’t you?”
Hannegan flinched; I could hear it in the pause before his reply. “You found about that first time, huh? With Wolfe? I didn’t know he’d do it again. Not for sure, anyway. But then again, with Winter … no one knows what’s going on in his head.”
I nodded slowly as I turned back to face him. I took a step closer, inches from him. “Let me tell you what’s going on in my head right now. I’m gonna take this information you’ve given me, and I’m gonna make a run at Eve, Bastian and Winter. If I can, I’m going to kill every last one of them. If I fail and they kill me, that’s fine. That’s the name of the game. If I succeed but they kill me, that’s also fine. But if I fail … and I fail because you’ve screwed me in some way … “ I leaned closer and let my bare palm caress Hannegan’s pockmarked cheek, “I’ll be adding another name to my list.” I let him go and walked back to my car.
“It’s legit info,” Hannegan said, and I stole a look back as I got in the car. He was massaging his face, as though I’d actually hurt him with my touch. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
I stared back at him and let my glare hang between us. “Again, you mean.” I watched his face dissolve from anger, watched it fall. “You mean you wouldn’t do it again.” I slammed the door and started the car, and I didn’t spare him another look or another thought as I pushed it into gear and down the snow-slicked roads toward Eden Prairie.