“Is that true?”
“I just got into a groove and didn’t want to break it.”
“Well, I don’t know what any of that means, but we had an agreement and you broke it.”
I nod.
“You’re right and I apologize.”
“Apology accepted. If it don’t happen again.”
“It won’t.”
“What did you learn?” says Candy.
“Lots. Let’s go back to Bill’s.”
“It isn’t good news, is it?” says Bill.
“It’s mixed. Come on. I want to get out of here.”
Candy backs us out of the stand of trees and we move down the hill.
When we get to Bill’s place, we park the Unimog by the front door so we can keep an eye on it.
“What’s the story?” says Bill.
Candy sits down next to me and lightly butts me with her shoulder.
“Come on. Talk to us.”
“Here it is. The person I saw most was the woman. Angels came and went. Some brought boxes and some took boxes away. My guess is they were exchanging raw black milk for the processed, nonpoisonous version. I don’t know what the other Wormwood guys were doing, but they were inside most of the time.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” says Candy.
“Here’s where it gets worse. A lot more Legionnaires arrived last night. Maybe twenty. So, there’s a lot more firepower for us to contend with.”
“Anything else?” says Bill.
“I’m worried about those angels. The woman had a schedule, but the angels seemed to come and go when they wanted. If we make a move against the house, we might have to fight not only Hellions, but warrior angels.”
“Goddamn,” says Candy.
“Yeah.”
Bill scratches his lower lip, moves his finger up to brush his mustache into place in one smooth motion.
“What you’re saying—and correct me if I’ve misconstrued the thing—but we’re not preparing for an attack. This is a suicide run.”
“Not necessarily. But that’s a possibility.”
“In my experience, not necessarily usually means yes. So, we’re preparing to throw ourselves on the sword for king and country.”
“Like I said, maybe.”
“Twenty soldiers and maybe angels?” Candy says. “I’m with Jim. This is suicide.”
“Not if we don’t run straight at them. Yesterday I wanted to rush in and kill everyone. That was when there were maybe twelve guards. Now we might be able to do something else.”