Not even if she begged him.
“I mean, why would he say no? Especially after what happened today,” she added.
My gaze snagged on a cloud in the sky—a cloud cut in the shape of a rabbit. The zombies would invade tonight. I frowned. Was I ready?
Better question: Would I be invited to help?
“Uh, guys. I think someone’s following us,” Reeve said, her voice trembling with apprehension. “What if it’s the guys from the mall? What should I do?”
I turned in my seat, peering out the back window. “Call—” I stopped myself before I said his name. “Which car?”
“A black SUV, dark-tinted windows.”
It was two slots back, on the left. As big as it was, six people could be inside. The odds weren’t great, but they weren’t terrible, either. “Take the next exit ramp and pull over.”
“What!” she and Kat demanded in unison.
“Just do it. Please.” I was armed. I was also in a terrible mood.
If Anima hoped to scare me, they’d soon learn the error of such a fruitless endeavor. If the guys from the shopping center craved revenge, I’d give them something else to cry about. If this was just one big misunderstanding, I’d make sure it never happened again.
Reeve obeyed, reluctantly, and the moment the car came to a stop, I palmed my daggers and jumped out of the car. The SUV had tracked us off the highway and slowed down as it approached us. A window rolled down.
“Miss Bell,” said a man I’d never before met. He was old enough to be my grandfather, with a full head of salt-and-pepper hair, thick glasses, an aquiline nose and dark brown skin. “I’d like a word with you.”
He knew my name, and he’d come at me in the most secretive of ways. He had to be a Hazmat.
I didn’t need to know any more than that. I threw one of my daggers, just as Cole had taught me, and the tip embedded in one of the SUV’s tires. Air hissed out.
The man scowled at me. “Was that really necessary?”
“Probably not.” I held up my other dagger. “I doubt what I do next will be, either, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
He flashed me a look full of disappointment. “Very well. When you’re curious about your condition, you’ll have to come to me.” He tossed a card out the window, and as the paper floated to the ground, the SUV sped away.
Chapter 7
Of Rotting Monsters and Tasty Men
Normally, I would have hunted Cole down and told him what had happened. Today, I decided to tell Mr. Ankh.
On my way to his office, I ran into Nana. “Ali, honey, I have a surprise—”
“I’m sorry, Nana,” I rushed out. “But I have to talk with Mr. Ankh about something. Rain check?”
Disappointment clouded her features. “All right. No problem.”
Instant guilt. I’d hurry here and spend the rest of the day with her. I marched into the office without an invitation, a first for me, and shut and locked the door. He glanced up from the stack of papers on his desk.
He had dark hair and eyes, like Reeve, but he was almost always tense and formal, and I rarely left his presence feeling better about my circumstances. Right now, though, he was my only choice.
“Good,” he said, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you. Sit down.”
I obeyed, saying, “There’s been an incident.”
“All right,” he acknowledged, folding his fingers together. “How bad is it? Does it need to be covered up?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just—”
“So there are no dead bodies?”
“No.”
“No zombies?”
“No. Just—”
“Then listen,” he said, once again cutting me off. “I’ve been told you’ve been cleaning up the house and only eating bagels and cream cheese. That isn’t acceptable, Miss Bell. I pay someone to take care of the house, and I have enough food for an army.”
“That’s wonderful, but I’m not going to take advantage of you. Now. We went to a strip mall today and—”