Chapter Twenty-One

Magnus

With the cops and the death investigators long gone, the vehicles towed from the canyon, Jade and I drove down the winding road without worry. Oh, sure, Arnaud might scope the area out. But I suspected word of what happened spread to his thugs. An unknown number dead, the single survivor badly injured.

"His people might not be so eager to come after us," Jade remarked as I slowed the Jeep to more closely examine the place where she'd slammed the truck into the mountain. The scars on the rocks would remain there for years.

"Let's hope his troops are deserting," I added, speeding up. "They want the spoils without endangering their lives. Now we've proved them as vulnerable as their victims."

"He's only one dragon," Jade mused. "If he retains a few loyal dudes, they may not want to go after their former brothers."

"Wouldn't it be great if they all tossed in their hands and took off for Canada?" I laughed. "I'd love to see that."

As we encountered no vehicles coming the other way, I felt encouraged no humans witnessed the dragon fight in the skies over the canyon a few days previously. I'd watched the news and roamed the internet seeking any word of a witness to such while Jade healed.

Nada.

Funny, I never saw anything regarding the dead dudes, burned and wrecked cars in the canyon, either.

Upon reaching the interstate, I merged into its light traffic, heading east. With a full tank of gas, my lady beside me, I felt invincible. When we crossed the city, perhaps hidden within its heavy traffic, and no black SUVs or any other vehicle attempted to accost us, I started to believe my pop's goons had indeed deserted him.

Her still healing scars hidden by a hoodie, Jade surfed the internet in the passenger seat.

"Looking for anything in particular?" I asked.

"News of any suspicious deaths," she answered, scrolling. "If Arnaud killed any of his people. I've got time here while you drive, so I might make use of it. See if I can tell what he might be doing."

"He works very quietly," I said. "Anything he does won't make the news."

"Bodies in dumpsters are news. Corpses in alleys are news."

"Unless he burned them to ashes."

"Okay, there is that. Smart ass."

"I wonder if he used his contacts to silence the story of our epic battle," I mused. "Surely a bunch of cars in that canyon and dead guys would make national news. Reporters listen to cop scanners."

"He must have. If the folks not under his control started digging, Arnaud would be up shit creek, sans paddle."

"I just love it when you speak Latin," I gushed. "Makes me all tingly inside."

"Blow me."

"I did. Want it again so soon?"

Jade chuckled. "Let me rest from the last one. It was epic."

We reached the furthest eastern edge of the city and its massive suburbs, the freeway downsizing to two lanes. The wide prairie opened up under the blue skies, and our fellow travelers all seemed to be driving semis. Snow from the blizzard had mostly melted, leaving stalks of yellow grass poking toward the sun from the scraggly remains.

I glanced at Jade. "What are you looking at now?"

"The blackmail lists," she answered. "Too many high-powered people on it."

"And?"

She leaned her head back and looked at me. "Arnaud can't possibly have everyone in city hall, every police force, every assistant district attorney on his payroll. Right?"

"I'm following you."

"So why aren't the ones that aren't at least trying to do the right thing? They have to know about the corruption."

"Those are jobs, right?"

She frowned. "Yeah. So?"

"Well paying jobs," I continued, watching a herd of antelope graze on the prairie grass. "They have families, bills, mortgages. Get the picture?"

Sighing, Jade nodded. "I get it. Talk, lose everything."

"And when orders come down from the governor, jobs are seriously at risk. They pretend it isn't happening. Oh, don't talk to the CNN reporter? Sure thing, I don't know anything anyway. The canyon and dead bodies? I sure don't know about that, sir."

"Bloody hell," Jade snapped. "Why is it we're the only ones trying to stop him?"

"Because if we don't, we're dead."

"Good point."

I nodded toward the laptop. "Anything else in there we missed?"

"We didn't miss this name as such," Jade replied, clicking the keyboard. "But I searched the net and called up an important gent on the governor's staff. He's on our list of bribe takers, by the way."

"And?"

"He's also being investigated for securities and tax fraud."

I clicked my tongue. "Bad boy. No get out of jail for free card for you."

"He's staring at a lot of years in prison," Jade mused.

"Again, and?"

"The feds waive a get out of jail for free card at him and he sings like a canary."

My mouth dropped. "Are you, like, a genius ? Or something?"

"Bored looking at all that brown grass. Just speculation. But I wouldn't put it past the FBI to think the same way. A chink in Arnaud's armor."

"Let's hope Arnaud doesn't realize he has said chink."

"Or that bad boy may go up in smoke."

***

Hours later, we crossed the state line. The scenery didn't change much, nor did the music on the radio. We passed antelope, grain silos, cattle, what remained of cornfields after the harvest, and lots and lots of emptiness. Jade took a turn at driving while I sought a quick nap while using her pack as a pillow.

I'd just passed into dreamland when her hand on my knee shook me awake.

"We've got trouble."

"Huh?"

Blinking, I sat up, then glanced in the mirror. "Shit."

"I'm not speeding, there's nothing wrong with the car," Jade commented, her tone tense. "One of Arnaud's?"

"Maybe. Just pull over. Maybe he's lonely out here and wants to say howdy."

Jade signaled, then drove onto the shoulder to park. She retrieved her license, the Jeep's temporary registration, and the insurance card while watching the trooper in a heavy coat approach. She rolled down the window.

Without speaking, she handed the documents to him. He, too, had little to say as he glanced at them.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?" he asked at last.

"Nope," Jade answered. "Do you?"

"There's a big reward offered for you folks," he advised, his hand on the butt of his service weapon. "The man wants you."

Jade and I exchanged a quick glance.

"Ah." Jade nodded sagely. "And you're to take us to him?"

"That's right. Get out of the vehicle."

She looked at me and shrugged. "Okay."

We both stepped out, and I ambled around the back of the Jeep. The trooper, a young dude I noticed, suddenly swallowed hard. He eyed the two of us, and his grip tightened on his gun. A damn rookie.

"You know what we are," Jade said lightly. "That's obvious. Have you maybe heard what happened in the mountains a few days ago? Yes?"

"He said those were lies." The kid swallowed again. "It didn't happen."

Lowering her hoodie, Jade half-turned to reveal her still healing wounds. The kid's jaw dropped.

"It happened," I said. "You really don't want to mess with us, dude. Arnaud isn't paying you enough to die for him."

"But." He was perilously close to drawing his gun and shooting blindly. "I'm placing you under arrest."

"On what charge?" Jade asked sweetly.

"Driving under the influence." His chin rose defiantly.

I laughed. "And when we get to your jail, son, and explain to your sergeant, or lieutenant, that your name is on a certain list, well, I think you'll be in that jail cell."

He gulped.

I glanced at his name tag. "J. Swanson. Jade, wasn't there a Swanson on the ledger of those accepting Arnaud's bribes?"

"Sure is. Kid, Arnaud is going down. You've heard of us. We have the evidence to put him in jail for a very long time. Drop this now, and we'll tell the FBI how you cooperated with us. That you're willing to have a chat with them. You are. Right?"

"Christ," he moaned, turning away. "Man, I got a wife, kids. I only took his money because I had to. I needed it. He told me I wouldn't have to do much for it. Just run certain errands now and then."

"Smuggle arms?" I suggested. "Drugs?"

Swanson nodded miserably. "Then word came down. Arrest you two. Take you to him. I'd get a shit load of money. Enough to put away for my kids' college. Only –"

"Only you heard about the guys who'd died," I said softly. "If dragons could die, what would happen to you?"

He pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger, and sniffed. "Yeah."

"Go back to work," I ordered. "You didn't see us. We'll put in a good word with you with the big kahunas. And if they contact you, tell the truth. He's not worth losing your wife and kids for."

Swanson nodded and sucked in a deep breath. He handed Jade her papers and tipped his cap. "Good luck."

Only after he returned to his unit, then drove away, did Jade and I return to the Jeep. By habit, I drove, and Jade sat in the passenger seat. We didn't say much as I drove the interstate eastbound, my thoughts on the trooper. I had no idea what Jade thought. Until she spoke.

"Arnaud's organization is failing," she said at last.

"How so?"

"That boy. Had he the might of Arnaud's forces behind him, he'd have reported us and never made the stop."

I frowned, confused. "I don't get it."

"He's desperate for the reward," Jade went on. "Catch us, claim it, put the money away for college. He knew Arnaud might not be around long enough for him to win the big bucks unless he acted right now. Before the end. So he took a chance that we'd be too scared to not resist arrest. Nor did he know we had all the goods on Arnaud."

"Or his name in the ledgers." I eyed her sidelong. "His name is in there? Yes?"

"Shit if I know," she answered with a grin. "I didn't memorize them all."

I laughed. "It must be. His reaction said everything."

"Word must have spread," Jade mused, gazing out the window. "Among his people. We escaped him. We killed his dragons. We took something from him that he desperately wants us killed over. Are his people panicking, running for cover?"

"We'll know soon," I replied, gazing over the bleak and brown terrain. "The feds will know more, I hope. But we have easily two days of driving to get to Washington. Anything can happen."

***

Except nothing did.

Jade and I, laptop on the table, waited nervously in a conference room for a special agent in charge. In the offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation itself in Washington, D.C. Not just any old FBI agent would do. We'd made it. We'd insisted upon talking only to a high-ranking agent directly involved with human trafficking into the United States.

A minor agent left us with bottles of water, promising a big and important personage would arrive soon. "Make yourselves comfortable," he said, "if you need anything, I'm right outside."

"Thanks."

I held Jade's hand, feeling her palm bloom moist with nervous sweat. As had become my habit, I lifted her hair to inspect her healing wounds. Jade hissed at me and grabbed my hand.

"We're on camera," she gritted without moving her lips.

I glanced at the round black camera pointed at my face. "Right."

Drinking the water, feeling the need to pee, I sat and waited for the big man to arrive. Jade powered up the laptop in preparation, then surfed the net to entertain herself.

The water gone, me needing to pee more than ever, the conference door finally opened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The youngish, handsome, FBI guy dressed in a black suit, black tie, and white shirt entered the room. "I'm Special Agent in Charge Ralph Anderson."

He sat at the table and eyed us expectantly. "What can I do for you?"