Page 58 of Never Enough

“Hey there, kitty cat. Wondered when you’d get here.”

Haskell stepped up next to him at the table and looked at the contents, divided into a grid system with two of whatever was in each box. “What’s all this?”

Without looking at her, Nemo replied, “This is my supply kit.”

Out of his peripheral vision, he watched her categorize each item one by one.

“Why are there two of each item?” she asked.

“I figured you were traveling light and probably didn’t have your supplies, so I just put together a second set for you.”

In the silence that followed, he could feel her gaze burning through his brain.

“Why?” she eventually asked.

“Why?” He frowned.

What is she confused about?

“Yes, why? Why would you do that for me?”

“I just said. You’re unlikely to have your own stuff.”

“You’re not responsible for me.”

He shrugged. “It’s not rocket science. You can’t go into this with no tools to work with. If you have to steal something, you need your bag of tricks. If you get stuck in a ventilation shaft, a conduit, or somewhere else, you’ll need tools to get out. It would be irresponsible of me to put my partner into a dangerous situation.”

“Is that what we are? Partners?”

“For all intents and purposes for this project, yes.”

“Why are you and your friends helping us?”

Nemo leaned on the table’s edge, elbows locked, as he paused and thought about how to frame his words. He replied, “A few reasons, actually. One, a couple of months ago, your employer helped us rescue TB’s girlfriend. So we owe them a favor. Two, these guys you’re dealing with are up to their necks in some serious shit. Plus, they’re using Kubrick’s brother to do it. We’ve been searching for him since February, so we’re not going to pass up the lead. Three, you’re not going to stop pursuing them, are you?”

“No,” Haskell agreed.

“Right. So since Waters knows I would follow right after you to help you, he’s going to put Tribe behind you as backup.”

“Backup?”

“Yup.”

“Not protection?”

“From what I’ve seen, you can handle yourself pretty well. You don’t need protection.”

He watched her scan the table, but it was clear she was considering his words. She picked up the mini-dispenser of sticky note, flag-style, double-sided tape. “You carry this tape, too?”

He wondered if the non sequitur was her way of avoiding the implications of what he wasn’t saying.

“That’s the stuff you used to reset the top of the Saturn Diamond’s showcase, right? I read about the theft in the local newspaper. The authorities found residue from what they assumed was double-sided tape on equidistant points of the lid. Thought it was pretty smart. I used to carry a collapsible bar that had multiple joints that I used like a pry bar to lift off the tops of display cases or whatever.”

Haskell looked around the table. “I don’t see a pry bar.”

“Nope. When I saw what you used in Gabon, I thought it was ingenious, and I retired the pry bar. Your option is way better.”

“How do you know I used that in Gabon?”

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