She nodded and rubbed his shoulder. “I have taught you well, young one.”
Cole put his hands on her hips and pulled her in close. Before she had a chance to react, he planted a kiss on her that made them both forget about the winter’s chill.
“What was that for?” she asked after finally pulling away.
“Seems like we’re gonna be busy,” he replied. “Just thought I should enjoy the quiet while it lasts.”
“You know me. Quiet never lasts very long.”
Chapter Three
Sauget, Illinois
The car they’d been given was a two-door, brown Chevy that was so nondescript it might as well have had “Unmarked Vehicle” stenciled on the bumper near the government plates. Paige laughed to herself when she saw it, but didn’t waste much more breath on it than that. They didn’t intend on driving very far, so it didn’t really matter if anyone tracked them. Both of them wore comfortable cargo pants that had been worn into a second skin during all of the time they spent with the IRD. Other than that, Paige wore a dark blue jersey that was so old that its Bears logo was almost invisible. Her hair had been recently trimmed and pulled into a neat tail that brushed against the nape of her neck. Cole looked about the same as always. As far as clothing went, all that had changed was the design on his T-shirt. Today, he wore one depicting the first screen of Donkey Kong.
“When did they reopen this place?” he asked while leaning forward to get a better look into the glare of early morning sun.
Paige pulled to a stop in front of a small club marked by a tall diamond-shaped sign that read, THE EMERALD. “This place wasn’t closed during the Mud Flu,” she reminded him. “That was Bunn’s Lounge. Get that straight before you go in to talk to the management.”
“It’s not Christov, is it?”
“Sure is.”
“Oh,” Cole grumbled. “Thanks for the reminder.”
They exited the car carrying the bags of gear they’d collected and walked across a nearly deserted parking lot. Even McDonald’s didn’t have a breakfast rush anymore, which made Cole wonder if the world truly had come to an end. Before they got close enough to knock on the tinted glass of the front door, the shade of a smaller window was pulled aside so a bald man with skin the color of a fish’s belly and forward-folded ears could look outside and jab a finger toward the side of the building.
“You told him we were coming, right?” Cole asked.
“Yeah. Why do you think he looks so pissed off?”
He was still laughing at that when the side door was opened by a shapely redhead dressed in flannel pajama pants and a sweatshirt cut to show about a millimeter of her smooth, flat stomach. Since she was a nymph, she made that ensemble look better than ice cream on top of a freshly heated brownie. “Hi guys, come on in.”
“Hello, Kate,” Cole said, fondly remembering her instantly, even though it had been more than seven months since he laid eyes on her. If only for that reason, it seemed like a harsh winter. The nymph smiled and stepped aside, allowing the Skinners to enter the club as another set of stomping footsteps rushed to meet them.
“You are not welcome here!” Christov said. He was flanked by two young bouncers who looked just as disheveled as he did. Between the three of them, they probably hadn’t gotten more than twenty minutes sleep since squaring away the club after the previous night’s business.
“We’re only passing through,” Paige said.
“Then why can’t you do it during business hours, eh?” Although bloodshot, his eyes were sharp enough to gleam after waggling back and forth between Cole and Paige. “See? I don’t forget. Last time you came, it was to get information about a killer. The next night, my club is infected with the Mud Flu, my customers are tearing it to pieces, and monsters are kicking down my door.”
When Cole tried to interrupt, he was cut off by a swiftly upraised hand that moved as if to erase him from existence. “And,” Christov continued, “not long after that disaster, my beautiful club is closed down by the state health board.”
“But you got another one,” Paige said while extending her arms. “All is right with the world.”
“No! All is not right. I am still paying off debts I got while buying out former owner of this dump. Now I must try to build it up to something half as good as Bunn’s.”
“All we need is to talk with Kate here,” Paige said. “Then we’ll be gone.”
“Gone, as in . . .” Christov waggled his fingers in the same way he would to make a coin magically disappear from beneath a handkerchief.
“Right,” Paige said. “Gone like that.”
“What about your car? I’m not running some kind of garage.”
“It’s yours,” she told him. “Might want to check it over before you use it. It’s government issue but I doubt anyone will be looking for it.”
“Stolen?” Christov asked, a hint of admiration showing in his eyes.
“No, but strip it for parts, swap the plates, do whatever you like. If anyone comes around asking for it, tell them we stopped by to partake in the buffet and left it here for safekeeping.”
“There is still a buffet, right?” Cole asked.
“Of course,” Christov huffed. “What kind of a place you think I am running? Fine. Leave the car and have your talk with Kate. If you like, I can get you a drink on the house. Only one.”
“Pass on the drink,” Paige said as she stepped inside.
The wind seemed especially cold as it blew across Cole’s face. He turned his back to the outside world, walked inside and allowed the heavy door to slam shut behind him. The Emerald wasn’t a large club and it sure wasn’t a deluxe one. It was, however, much different than the last time he and Paige had been there. Apart from an additional stage, there was a longer bar, a larger section curtained off as a VIP area, and bigger speakers bolted to the ceiling. At the moment there was only a pair of smaller bouncers turning the chairs right side up in preparation for the lunch customers.
Kate and Christov had taken Paige to the storage room behind the bar. Although it was the same room that was used as a temporary Dryad temple a while ago, there had been plenty of changes since then. First of all, the walls, floor, and bar were covered with Dryad glyphs that were either painted or burned into surfaces until they looked as if they’d been there since the wooden planks were cut from the forest. It wasn’t until he was reaching out for the edge of the door leading into the storage room that Cole noticed an illuminated sign hung up behind the bar that looked like a beer advertisement with a few glyphs worked into the background.
“You will pay for this!” Christov shouted.
Tensing his muscles in preparation for a fight, Cole stormed into the back room and asked, “What’s the problem now?”
“The bridge to Louisville,” Paige explained. “He wants us to pay for it. A hundred bucks.”
“Seems reasonable, considering how much you save in time and gas or plane ticket,” Christov said.
Seeing the scowl on both Skinners’ faces, Kate said, “It’s not too big of a jump. We’ve got the energy stored up.”
“You are my employees!” Christov barked. “Times are rough and I must make a living. Do you know how much I needed to spend to get this place up and running properly? Do you have any idea how expensive it is to turn this building into an A-frame?”
“Plus all that purple paint, huh?” Cole scoffed.
The bald man turned as if he was about to take a swing at him. “You’re damn right. I don’t care what else is going on outside, I have a business to run. I have seen wars in other countries and life must still go on. The people who aren’t fighting or dying must still struggle to pay for food and electricity just like before. Only now they must do so while waiting to hear about the next battle or get a call about the next person they know who is dead. I have to make ends meet and now it is harder than ever!”