Hero didn’t look up from their whittling. “If you’re so beside yourself about it, Winslow, I can chew on toothpicks and sling racial slurs with the best of ’em. Might need to practice some, but I’m sure I can get in fightin’ shape by mornin’.”

Houndstooth laughed—a genuine, easy laugh—and then sat heavily on the bed next to Archie.

“Look around the room, Hero. What’s missing?”

Hero glanced around the suite. “Palpable body odor.”

Houndstooth laughed again, but this time, the laugh seemed forced. Adelia and Archie exchanged a glance.

“We’re missing a white boy,” Adelia murmured, stroking her belly.

“So what?” Archie huffed. “If we need one so bad, I am sure I can drag one back up here for you, Winslow. There’s no shortage.”

Houndstooth was staring at Hero. Hero stared back at him for a long moment.

“What is it? What are we failing to understand here, Winslow? What’s so tough about pulling off this hippo caper without Cal on board?”

Houndstooth dropped his head into his hands. “We need your supplies, Hero. And nobody on the Harriet is going to sell your supplies to a stranger, not even for easy money. We’ve been corresponding with a dealer and he’s expecting Cal to come buy the goods from him, and we’re working with him on the strength of Cal’s reputation on the Harriet. He’s expecting Cal. He’s expecting a white man with a terrible mistake of a moustache.” He rubbed his face with his hands, groaning. “And it’s not a caper; it’s an operation.”

Hero whittled faster, sending hickory shavings flying into the plush red carpet. “Right, right. All aboveboard. So, ask your federal boy. I’m sure the army can send something.”

Houndstooth looked uncomfortable. “I can’t ask him.”

Hero’s lips quirked into a half smile. “Oh, honestly. You’re embarrassed?”

Houndstooth scowled at them. “No, I’m not embarrassed, it’s just that—he doesn’t know what we’re going to do, here. He’s assuming we’ll net each feral, one by one, and escort them out of the swamp. That’s why the contract is for a full year.”

Adelia swore under her breath. “That’s . . . idiotic.”

“That’s dangerous,” Archie added.

“That’s why we’re not doing it that way,” Houndstooth said. Houndstooth slapped the edge of the map, his cheeks pink. “It was a great goddamned plan, and it’s sunk.” Hero put a calming hand on his arm. His cheeks reddened further.

“So we need a white boy por quoi? To buy dynamite?”

Hero nodded. “Lots of it. And detonators. Fuses, timers—oh, and wax. A lot of wax.”

Archie left the room without saying another word.

“Where is she going?” Adelia asked.