Page 4 of Capitol Matters

Reaching into the fridge, I pulled out a tray of bottles to hold aloft. “Just trashing the place, then?”

I’d barely gotten the words out when an electronic alert sounded from the corner of the room. It must have been on battery since the rest of the power was out. But the working bell was far less troubling than what might have tripped it.

Startled looks were shared amongst us before Vinton put a silencing finger to his lips. He stepped toward the hallway leading to the building’s front entrance. After several tense seconds, the bald man glanced over his shoulder at us. His expression confirmed what we already knew.

We had company.

I thought about makinga break for it.

The gang could handle late night interlopers, but I couldn’t risk being seen here. As far as the Capitol and the general public was concerned, I had learned from my near-execution experience and turned from my wicked ways. In ten short hours, I was scheduled to report for duty as a criminal consultant, paying penance for my life of crime by helping bring about the end of the Bloody Hex.

It was Grimm’s idea, or maybe his way of bringing me to heel, but it seemed risky. Certainly not an assignment I would have given myself. I knew how unreliable I could be.

Before my escape plan fully formed, Vinton returned, dragging a struggling man and a woman alongside him. At first, I thought their shapeless garments were medical scrubs. Closer inspection found them to be janitorial uniforms. Theovernight cleaning crew had arrived.

I slid the tray of medicine back into the fridge and let the door swing shut.

Beams from our flashlights bounced around before settling on the distraught cleaners.

The pair looked at us with their eyes stretched wide, then started sputtering protest.

“We didn’t see anything!” the man said, covering his face. “You weren’t here. Neither were we. We won’t tell a soul, I swear!”

The woman burst into tears.

“Why’d you bring them back here?” Ripley snapped at Vinton.

“Now we have to kill them.” Avery shrugged.

Vinton nodded. “Tie ‘em up, Donnie.”

Donovan searched the room before asking, “With what?”

I snorted a laugh.

Vinton turned to me, hauling his human cargo by the collars of their shirts. “Why don’tyouhold them still, puppet boy?” he said more than asked. “Might as well make yourself useful.”

A smug smile spread across my face. They needed my help after all, and we’d only just arrived.

I elbowed Donovan. “Does that count?” I asked. “Check the time.”

Avery approached while pulling rope from his sleeve like a magician’s scarf trick. He wound it into a loose coil and offered it to Donovan, who looked stunned.

“Thanks,” Donovan mumbled.

Vinton shoved the female janitor at him. Shecollapsed and crumpled on the floor, sobbing. Donovan stepped back, staring at her while holding the rope limply. With nothing to bind them to, I assumed he would hogtie her wrists and ankles. That thought seemed to elude him, so I grabbed the rope myself.

The woman shuddered and sniffled as I crouched beside her. Donovan watched from above.

“Hang tight,” I whispered to her. “Let them bumble around a bit, then you’ll be on your way.”

We had no reason to kill these people. They might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they were harmless. As far as what they’d seen and heard, that could be dealt with. Murder wasn’t the answer to every problem, regardless of what Avery believed.

The woman stared at me, aligning my face with her tear-streaked one. Did she recognize me? I’d done very little to change my appearance, despite the news broadcasting my mugshot nonstop. I imagined a mental checklist scrolling through her mind: young guy, blond, tattooed, with a lip ring… Oh, and he was in the company of the bunch of thugs currently arguing in the background.

About the time I finished my self-assessment, she must have done hers.

“M-Marionette?” she gasped.

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