The boat’s engine coughed to life. Shadows moved in the stern. The launch backed, turned, and pulled sharply away, sending up a hard spray that drenched me where I stood. I swore after them and made sure not to swallow, glaring helplessly at their wake. Free to go wherever they wanted. Damn every one of them. But as the water ran away into the spaces between the floorboards, a bright sparkle was left behind. Dripping, I bent to retrieve it.

A woman’s bracelet: two rows of small, clear stones set close together, fastened with a broad gold clasp. Could not have been there before. I’d have seen it.

Dark Boy? I was sure it was just coins he’d thrown down.

I waited for the launch to whip around and speed back, but its roar faded between the buildings. The bracelet was mine. The redhead must’ve dropped it while I was paying Dark Boy too much attention. But what a thing to be careless about! Well, her loss, my gain, and best be out of there. I stowed it in my grab bag. I curled my lip at Dark Boy’s scatter of change, then scooped it up anyway and ran, leaving a trail of wet footprints all the way up the gangway.

The ramp emptied through a blown-out window onto a third-floor hallway. Walls and floor stripped to the raw concrete, lit by LEDs spaced too far apart. Probably sucking power from the Causeway—in most pass-thrus, you floundered around in total darkness unless daylight filtered in. I stopped just inside the entry to wring out my sodden tee and dig out my headlamp, then slid down the wall into a damp huddle till I could control my shakes.

Too much input. Fear, envy, outrage, all twisted up like a bundle of string ends. I couldn’t pull them straight to see where one began and the other ended. From where I sat, the Causeway was laid out like the background in a video, pulsing with light and music, its glowing pavement all but deserted. Another lesson here, if only I could see it clear.

I glanced down the ill-lit hallway, wishing I didn’t have to go there. Spunk warned us about doorways: people might live or just be hiding behind them. Highest danger rating was a door busted in or missing, open to dark and ravaged interiors, handy for an ambush. These doorways were safely sealed with cinderblock, though the blind turn at the end of the hallway gave me some pause. But what choice did I have?

I dragged to my feet and started off. Sure enough. Around the blind corner, a long stretch of black openings yawned back at me. Nothing for it but to go quick and quiet.