“Do you think he’s the Adders’ man?”

“Well, that’s the question, isn’t it?”

“Where’d he get his boat and gas?” wondered Irv from across the table. “Not from the Adders, if they wanted our stuff so bad.”

Rousseau nodded pensively. “Or anything else they’re carrying. The Adder’s never been a tight operation. Not good at marshaling their resources.” He moved toward our group at the table as if relieved to find a rational corner of the room. “Something about this doesn’t fit right. What do we know?”

Jake said, “We can assume he’s lying.”

“But about what?” Rousseau mused. “He seemed genuinely surprised by the details of the raid.”

“I know a performance when I see one.”

“Perhaps. But all this about his so-called associates. And a trained escort, not some Adder thugs. Too organized. I’d say BlackAdder’s the tool, not the planner, and there’s a new player in the mix. Might be Bright. Might be somebody else entirely.”

I thought about the newly fortified building over on Seventh Ave, news I’d forgotten to convey. I asked Jake, “You told him about the guys selling protection at the Souk?”

“Never got that far.”

The watch bell clanging out on the walkway put us all on high alert again, until one of the scouts popped in, surprised to find all heads turned in her direction.

“Um, boss . . . there’s a boat from Empire just pulled up, asking for docking permission. Looks like the Tommys right behind them.”

Rousseau’s eyes lidded briefly, like things were heating up too fast for him. “Good, good. Signal them in. Get the mooring sorted out. Okay, folks. Let’s make room for our guests. Seating’s been set up in the Mess. Remember: be friendly, stay orderly, but suck up as much information as you can. Maybe Bright has paid others a visit.” He glanced around. “Where is the bookseller? We could use him at this meeting.”

I cleared my throat. “He took off.”

“When?”

“Middle of the night.”

“Huh. Not sure how to interpret that.”

“But he left his boat behind. I mean, like he’ll be back? Or he . . .”

“Or he what?”

“Or something’s happened.” I gave it a shot. “We could send someone up to check. Like, to the Souk?”

Rousseau shook his head. “Can’t spare anyone right now. But be sure to send him in if he shows up.” He turned away to greet the delegation from Empire State as they trooped into the hall. More of them than last time, spruced up and looking determined to be heard.

“Told ya.” Rubio was back at the map table, tethered to his latest obsession.

“Told me what?”

“No boat. We got bigger fish to fry.”

“Right. Never mind.” Didn’t need Rubio bringing his smug along. In fact, now that I thought about it, I didn’t need him along at all. I’d manage on my own.