“What?”
I point to Declan’s corpse.
“This isn’t the last time this shit is going to happen. If anything, things are going to get worse as the Angra get closer and people start scrambling for whatever they can grab.”
“See? Looking for any excuse to get rid of me. I told you you’d do this.”
“I brought you here to save your sorry ass, but I guess you forgot that. What we’re talking about right now, though, this is your choice. You don’t want to be a team player? Fine. I’ll help you get back in our old room at the Beat Hotel. But just remember that from now on you’re going to be watching your own back, and if you want any more work from Manimal Mike, you’ll be paying for it yourself.”
“You’re going to let him do this?” he says to Candy.
“Sorry. I’m on the crazy man’s side on this one,” she says.
“This is how it is from now on. Everyone works with everyone else. You want to play lone wolf, you’re on your own.”
Kasabian rubs his chin with a metal paw.
“So what, we’re going all Super Friends now?”
“Something like that.”
“He wasn’t trying to get me shot?”
Candy shakes her head.
“No. The bastard was trying to get me shot.”
Kasabian thinks for a minute.
“Okay. You have your demands. I have mine. You drop all the ‘Old Yeller’ stuff. You want me to be a team player, you treat me like part of the team and not the equipment.”
“That’s downright cruel, man.”
He holds up a finger.
“And my leg. I want it no-shit fixed.”
I nod.
“I’m working on that. There aren’t a lot of listings for hellhounds on Craigslist. I’m going to have to go Downtown and beg or steal one.”
Candy clears her throat.
“You know, it might pique someone’s interest if you call the concierge for a bunch of bleach and a body bag.”
“Use the blankets and towels to get up as much blood as you can. Then call down for new ones. If they ask about the old ones, tell them we’re taking care of them.”
“That won’t make them suspicious.”
“I’m Mr. Macheath. I work in mysterious ways.”
Kasabian gets up and whirs and clanks into his bathroom to get towels. Candy gives me some of the cash people have been paying me not to bend them into balloon animals.
“Sorry about making you play damsel in distress tonight.”
“Tell me you didn’t plan it in advance.”
“I was improvising. I promise.”