“Of course not! I was?—”
The opening of the van door cut Veronica’s protest short.
“Where are we going?” the driver asked from the front of the van.
“The fuckingpelicansare saying we have to do a daylight raid right now, because too many fucking people know and they’re going to close the day care permanently if we wait and then we’d be chasing them all over the fucking town one at a time. This is the best way to get them all at once.”
“They’ve got an agent working at the day care,” another voice warned.
“Files say he’s not regularly armed.”
“Fucking shifters don’t fucking have to be.”
“They’re not fucking bulletproof. Hunter says these darts will drop a shifter.”
“You ever tried to shoot a fucking raven that’s flying at your face?”
The swearing was starting to numb in Clarice’s ears.
“I can get you in,” Veronica said, her voice ringing steady and clear over the others. “I’ve got the keycode for the alarm and an emergency key. It doesn’t have to be a raid; you can just walk right in and take what you’re looking for.”
The van silenced, as if they had forgotten about Veronica and Clarice in the back.
“You told Hunter you couldn’t?—”
“Hunter’s an idiot, but I’m ready to cooperate withyou,” Veronica said sweetly. “I have a condition.”
“Sure, sister, let’s hear your terms.” Clarice was pretty sure they were patronizing her.
“Let Clarice go.”
There was a moment of silence. Clarice held her breath.
“She’s dating one of them?—”
“Hunter said to?—”
“Fuck Hunter,” the driver said. “The storks are paying our bills, and they didn’t sayhowto do the job. We leave her here, you get us in.”
“That’s the deal,” Veronica said. How could she sound so calm and collected, like she was driving a simple bargain for final repairs before closing costs? Clarice’s heart was hammering in her ears like the sea. “She’d only get in our way.”
“Veronica, you can’t?—”
Veronica’s elbow found Clarice’s side. “Screw shifters. I hope you capture every one of them and lock them in cages like they deserve. But Clarice is just a human, and Ilikeher. I don’t want to have to train another assistant. Let her go and I’ll help you.”
The conversation in the front went to a hushed, hurried debate, punctuated with more swearing that was the only part Clarice could make out. She was shaking and having trouble breathing in her hood. Veronica’s hand found her knee and squeezed. Was it part of her act? How was it so convincing?
“Veronica, I?—”
“We’re just going to get rid of a scourge and clean up Nickel City. They aren’t even kids, they’re justanimals.” Veronica managed to make it sound like she’d just found something unsavory at the bottom of her shoes. “I’m doing the town afavor. They should give me the keys to the city. Will you please stop leaning on me, Clarice? This skirt is a Chanel.VintageChanel, from before they sold out and went mass market.”
“We’ll need the space in here for the kids, boss. Storks are paying for any we can get.”
“Let’s do it. We’ve got the tranqs, but we’ll need to stop at the hotel and change into something less conspicuous if we’re going downtown.”
There was a rustle and someone took Clarice by the arm and dragged her to her feet, not careful about bumping her off the seats as they pulled her to the open side door.
“Be sure to untie her!” Veronica sang, as if she was merely directing someone to make coffee correctly.
