The mercenary’s expression twisted. Breath fogged as he hissed through teeth, his hands reached up to grip the dog’s leg, as if he could alleviate the pressure by lifting it—but that was next to impossible.

“I don’t know what you want me to say! You’re utterly insane!”

“True, but iffy.”

“Fuck you!”

“True, but also iffy phrasing. The intent is there.”

I folded my arms. I knew that Candy didn’t have any emotion sensing or lie detection power. This guy worked with the Undersiders and seemed to be under the impression she did, or that it was possible.

I glanced again in the direction of the restaurant.

“We should take this elsewhere.”

Rachel shook her head, glancing at me. “If we take it elsewhere it’s going to be so they don’t see any bodies.”

“True,” Candy said, mischievously.

Rachel shot her a look.

“Whatever. Let’s just move elsewhere, then discuss.”

Rachel whistled, and gestured for the dog to move its paw.

We lifted him up, Rachel, Rain and I draping him over the dog’s back. As we finished, I saw Rachel glance sidelong. First at Foil, then at mercenaries.

Foil was hanging back, apparently looking at Chastity and the henchman, but with a vantage point to see the entire group, the other mercenaries included.

“The only way this goes okay for you is if you cooperate,” I told the mercenary.

“There’s nothing to cooperate about!”

“Lie.”

All based on a look, and a little girl pretending to be a lie detector.

I felt uneasy.

“You want to give us answers before we get where we’re going,” Rachel said.

“I don’t have any to give!”

“Lie.”

I saw the man’s expression twist. I gave Rain a look, discreetly pointing between him and the man. He nodded.

Guilt and regret aura in effect.

He twisted his head around, looking at the other mercenaries.

I spun around, relying on flight, not feet. Already, the two mercenaries were acting, their expressions set somewhere between annoyance and alarm.

Foil’s actions were smooth, as she stepped in close. As one drew his gun, she struck his arm. It fired in the moment of impact, and the gunshot hit the ground right behind Rachel’s right heel.

Rain and I hit the other mercenary at the same time. Rain’s hand caught the guy’s arm. His mechanical hand reached up to grab the gun as I grabbed the guy, keeping his other arm from doing something. Mechanical fingers worked at the gun, and pulled away the gun’s slide.

The mercenary knew some martial arts, and tried them on me. A grip at my arm, pulling me forward, a twist of his body—