“Fuck you,” Deborah spat. “She’s my wife, and the security and safety officer. Arlene did a walkthrough of the vault before new deposits were logged last week. There was nothing out of the ordinary.”
Jonah stared at her for a second. He could feel the threads trying to knit together in his head, but they didn’t quite click. It was like there was just one piece of the puzzle that hadn’t come in the box.
Before he could try and work out what he’d missed, Deborah started to raise the gun again.
“Move,” she said. “I’m sorry for Luke, but this isn’tmyfault.”
Jonah shrugged. “Then what harm is there in looking?”
She lowered her aim and fired into the ground in front of his feet. The bullet pocked a hole into the concrete and made him jump back. Deborah looked as surprised as he did. She lifted her free hand to press it against her ear.
“Shut up!” she yelled. “Just get out of my way. I don’t deserve any of this.”
“You probably do,” Jonah told her as he got into the truck. “You just need to work out why.”
He didn’t bother to close the door. It hung open as he reversed until he cleared the space. Deborah gestured with the gun for him to back up more. He did as he was told and waited, hands loose on the steering wheel.
Deborah kept the gun on him as she stumbled back to her car. Before she got in, she squinted one eye shut and shot the side of the truck twice. Jonah cursed under his breath and threw himself halfway into the passenger seat. He heard the distinct, flat pop of something being pierced, but it was only when he felt the truck start to settle to that side that he realized she’d shot out the tire.
He straightened up just as Deborah got into the car. She started the engine and lurched backward out of the space past him
Jonah jumped out of the truck before she could throw the car back into drive.
“Someone broke the Crows’ hex,” he called over to her, voice pitched to carry. “If it wasn’t you, then who?”
If he’d gotten through to Deborah, he couldn’t see it on her face through the dusty windscreen. She yanked the wheel to the side, swung past his truck, and then peeled out around the side of the motel. Her wheels screeched as she made the turn, fresh rubber laid in black ribbons on the gray concrete.
Jonah watched her go, then glanced down at the flat, shredded front tire as the last of the air hissed out of it. Being a good guy was a lot more trouble than laying hexes, he thought dourly, and people were less grateful too.
He kicked the flaccid tire, sighed, and went to get the spare off the back.
If there’d been a way to hex himself out of this, he might have used it. He certainly couldn’t swear that he wouldn’t.
