Ghost hopped out of the cart, taking a particularly stinky and stained bedsheet with him, and I had to bribe him with doggie treats to relinquish it. Last thing I needed was my dog rolling around in someone’s love puddle. Silly damned mutt. I over-bribed him, and he went off happy, wearing the kind of look successful con men use when their scam has worked exactly as planned.

He settled down in the entrance to the bathroom, belly on the cool tiles, head and front paws in the bedroom, nibbling the treats.

I removed my stolen jacket and hauled the dozing bad guys out of the cart, used flex-cuffs on their ankles and wrists, and sat them in a neat row against the wall. This room was a corner suite, and I booked the only adjoining room, which was empty, under another fake name. I turned on the radio, found an opera channel, and dialed the volume high.

There was a small medical kit on the bedside table, and I removed three small syrettes and placed them on the edge of the bed. The woman looked like Cruella De Vil, but without the obvious warmth or humanity. She sat on one side of Woodpecker, with Slenderman on her other side. I sorted through the IDs, ran them through the MindReader unit—making a mental note to send poor Otto Jäger something really nice for Christmas—and was in no way surprised when they all pinged as phony. So I used the touch pad on my tactical computer to take their fingerprints, and also sent clear photos, and I kicked all that stuff over via satellite to the MindReader mainframe in Greece.

Bug would be going nuts, and once more the RTI crew would know where I was and what I was doing. Somehow that mattered less to me then than it had before. I felt, one way or another, my time of hiding and running was coming to an end.

Which, of course, made me think of Junie.

I love you, babe, I thought, wondering if somehow—intuitive as she is—she could hear me. You deserve so much better than me. But I love you with my whole heart.

Ghost gave a single short bark. And when I looked at him, I swear to god he nodded. Only once, but I damn well saw it.

Jesus.

While I waited for replies, I set about examining the two cases. They were both the same make, model, and color, with nine-digit keypad locks. Very expensive, and this kind of case had steel mesh beneath the leather exterior. Pick-proof and cut-proof.

For just about everyone except cats like me.