"Then why waste the time and make you more suspicious? Generally speaking, you are quite perceptive-given enough time. And I know you well enough to know that I do not wish to have you as my enemy."

I glowered at him.

He arched an eyebrow, meeting my gaze without fear or hostility.

"Why do you want the Shroud?"

"That's none of your business."

I scowled. "Actually it is. Literally. Why do you want it?"

"Why do you?"

"Because the Denarians are going to kill a lot of people with it."

Marcone shrugged. "That's reason enough for me as well."

"Sure it is."

"It's simple business, Mister Dresden. I can't conduct business with a mound of corpses."

"Why don't I believe you?"

Marcone's teeth flashed. "Because given enough time, you are a perceptive individual."

There was a beep in the headphones, and Gard said, "Fifteen seconds, sir."

"Thank you," Marcone replied. "Dresden, why should these people take the Shroud and this plague of theirs to St. Louis?"

"It's another international airport," I said. "It's the central hub for TWA. And hell, as long as they're there, they could probably go for a swim in the Mississippi."

"Why not simply stay in Chicago?"

I nodded toward Michael and Sanya. "Them. Plus I figure they know that Murphy and SI would give them a hard time. Even the regular cops were out in force looking for them."

He looked speculatively at Michael and Sanya. "I assume you have a means to locate the Shroud if that is the correct train?"

"Yeah," I said. "And here's the deal. You drop us off, and we get the Shroud."

"I'm going with you," Marcone said.

"No, you aren't."

"I can always order Miss Gard to return to O'Hare."

"Where we'll all die of the plague, since we didn't stop the Denarians."

"That may be. Either way, I'm going with you."

I scowled at him, then shook my head and leaned back against the seat, shivering. "You suck. You suck diseased moose wang, Marcone."

Marcone smiled with just his mouth. "How colorful." He looked out the window and said, "My people tell me there are only three trains leaving Chicago for St. Louis this evening. Two freight trains and a passenger train."

"They won't be on the passenger train," I said. "They'd have to ditch weapons and goons, and they won't."

"Even odds that this is the one, then," Marcone said.

The chopper descended until the trees near the tracks were swaying in the down blast. That's the nice part about the Midwest. Go twenty miles from a town hall and there's nothing but lightly settled farm country. I looked out the window and saw a long train rumbling along the tracks.

Michael sat bolt upright and nodded to me.

"This is it," I said to Marcone. "Now what?"

"I bought this helicopter as Coast Guard surplus. It's fitted with a rescue winch. We climb down it onto the train."

"You're joking, right?"