Rain leaned back—he was still at the foot of the long staircase to the high-ceilinged basement area, and leaning back meant resting his tailbone against the end of the post that was the railing. He didn’t talk, and with his mask on, his expression was hard to read.

“I can’t help but feel you have ulterior motives for approaching this this way,” I said. “What was it you said about having multiple reasons for everything you do? That’s how you have to operate at your level, isn’t it?”

“It would be, but maybe I’m not in charge of New Brockton while March is on the warpath, and maybe I’m operating on two fewer cylinders.”

Her hands gently touched her knees, indicating the injured legs.

“‘Maybe’ is such a weak word, and you used it twice,” Swansong said. “Be straight with us.”

“I’m being remarkably straight, considering you came here of your own accord and possibly led March to me—we’re going to find out soon,” she said. She winced. “I should have asked for more pain meds. I did have multiple motives, yes. I’ll be straight: when you do what I do, you end up playing games of chess with other masterminds, and that’s its own thing, but you also end up playing five simultaneous games of chess with lesser players. March doing what she’s doing has forced me to stand up and take my eyes off the boards. If you want to be on top of this, you need to be on top of that.”

“Watching chessboards?” Swansong asked.

“No. The moment I had to stand up and walk away, they got to make their moves, knowing I couldn’t respond. Big plans can unravel.”

“Your plans,” I said. “You’ll have to give us more details if we’re supposed to think that your plans are our priority.”

“Ashley knows how a sudden void in the criminal structure can shift the landscape. If I’m not there to supply key information or resources, then others will. People will move into New Brockton, and they won’t be as nice as I am. Other people are going to move outward. This will have ripple effects, and when a city is held together with yellow duct tape, ripples can rip.”

“You want to use us to protect your position?” I asked.

Tattletale sighed loudly. “I didn’t invite you to come here. If you want my opinion, you want to use yourselves to protect my position. You want to protect the status quo, keep things sane, as you put it. You brought up how I aimed to do multiple things at once. Apply that to yourselves.”

“You think we aren’t?” Swansong asked.

“We’re in the middle of other things, and this plays into it,” I said.