Deceptions (Cainsville 3)

The guard didn't appear to be more than thirty, but when he turned his gaze on me, I saw someone much older. "I'd be concerned about your sentimentality if I didn't know you were only pleading for his life because it benefits you. Edgar here is a genius. But that does not mean we consider him an ally or that we don't feel the need to bathe in bleach after dealing with him."

Chandler made a noise that might have been a protest but came out as a terrified bleat.

Ransom continued. "He is a self-absorbed, egotistic maniac, Olivia. That means he lies. Consistently and pathologically. He will not tell you the truth. He will tell you whatever version of it best suits his needs. If you want answers, come to us. Only us. As for Chandler . . ." He leaned down to the man's ear again. "You hear them coming, don't you?"

Chandler's head bobbed.

"Good. Then I need say no more." He patted Chandler's shoulder and looked at us. "Visiting time is over."

--

On the way out, I hit the restroom. I couldn't have been more than five minutes, but from the look Gabriel gave his watch when I exited, you'd think it had been hours. Waiting was one thing. Waiting without doing anything productive was quite another.

"You could have gone out to the car," I said.

"I'm not leaving you alone."

"I'm in a prison. The only danger I face is that they might decide I should stay."

As we passed through security, I recognized the man ahead of us. It was Ransom. When we reached the parking lot, he continued to the streets beyond.

"I'd like to follow," I said. "See where he goes."

CHAPTER SIX

The neighborhoods surrounding the jail were . . . well, pretty much what you'd expect for neighborhoods surrounding a jail. There were good areas in East Garfield Park, but they didn't extend to the doorstep of the nation's biggest prison. Still, it wasn't such a bad neighborhood that we looked out of place. Ransom stuck to the sidewalk, moving at a purposeful stride down one street after another.

"Where the hell is he going?" I muttered. "I've seen them vanish, so why not just walk into the guards' change room and never come out? Do you think he knows we're tailing him?"

"Possibly."

Ransom turned down another street, this one industrial, with a building in the throes of demolition on the left.

"They can't actually disappear, right?" I said. "It must be some kind of Jedi mind trick."

"I believe you are conflating your fantasy worlds."

"You know what I mean. He alters our perception so we no longer see him. Rather than actually vanishing."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. I want limits, damn it. I'll accept omens and portents and second sight. I'll accept giant black hounds and creepy ravens and magpies. I'm still working out the fae and Wild Hunt thing. But I draw the line at people disappearing into thin air. Don't give me that look, either."

"Look?"

"You're laughing at me."

"I'm quite certain I didn't even smile."

"I can feel the laughing."

His lips twitched. That's when Ransom did disappear, if only around the side of a coin laundry. I picked up my pace. Gabriel laid his fingers against my back. "Careful, Olivia."

He was right--I'd left my purse in the car, to avoid checking it at security, which meant I was unarmed.

We caught another glimpse of Ransom as he turned into the gap between two buildings. Gabriel stopped me before I could follow. He surveyed the area and then swung his gaze back to that gap, his eyes narrowed. If he were a cat, his fur would have been standing on end.

"Trouble?" I said.