“Kalico,” Yvette told her. “It’s going all over town.” The woman shook her head. “Damnedest thing. Kylee Simonov might have been the devil’s spawn until she smacked the piss out of Hofer and stood by the Briggs boy. But now that this toilet-licker Soukup left her and Dek’s sister out there? You’d think she walked on air.”

“Anyone told Dek yet?”

“Nope. But I saw him headed into the hospital with Tal, Raya, and that marine. He’s going to know any moment now.”

Kalico could hear the next shuttle coming in, the roar growing in the east. “Has there ever been a time when a Corporate Inspector General was lynched by a mob?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Well then, I guess we’ll be around for the first.”

Chapter 71

  71  

Talina descended the stairs in Inga’s. The crowd below, catching sight of her, stilled from a low roar to a speculative rumble. And Inga’s was crowded. Word had traveled like wildfire. As Tal took in the crowd, she noted a lot more heavy rifles than was usual; some of the locals had also opted for a brace of pistols on their hips.

The soft meat, who’d come for the novelty of it—or because they weren’t sure what it meant—were looking both excited and nervous in their much-too-new, much-too-clean coveralls and shiny shaved heads.

Kalico and Shig were already at the end of the bar and now turned to watch her arrival.

At the bottom of the stairs, it was Hofer who called, “What are we doing, Tal? Kicking Corporate ass? What they did to that kid? After she pulled that shit-sucker out of the wreck? I say we pack his ass up and haul him right back out there where he left ’em.”

“No fucking white-assed Corporate patsy’s worth a smear of shit on my shoe!” another called.

“Hey! Stow it!” Talina bellowed. “Anyone lays a finger on the IG, they’ll deal with me. The scum sucker’s under my protection, so, back off, and let us handle it.”

She felt the quetzal presence in her blood stirring, could feel Demon’s hiss.

Grumbles and growls came as a response from the crowd.

Crossing the flagstones, Talina hoisted herself up on her stool. Kalico was nursing two fingers of whiskey and chowing down on a plate of poblanos stuffed with red sauce and diced quetzal meat. A pensive look was on the Supervisor’s face. Next to her, Shig—with a similar meal and a half-glass of wine—was staring thoughtfully at the backbar, blunt brown fingers tapping at his chin.

Kalico asked, “Dek and Step got off all right in the airtruck?”

“They did.”

“Then, what the hell are you doing here? I figured, given that it was Kylee, you’d be with them.”