Page 53 of The Hard Way

“What the fuck,” I breathed.

We all watched as Odin interrupted whatever was happening.

“He’s good,” Zeus said. “He just wants a look at him.”

Odin handed Annie the money, then turned and strolled toward us. We headed to the heavy, stained-glass door, with Odin right behind us.

“What the fuck?” I said once we were in the parking lot.

“Just wanted a look at him,” Odin said. “Told Annie we’d been called away.”

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“Sometimes you need to get a look at a man,” Zeus explained, like it was so obvious and simple.

We sat around at Margie’s for a while and headed back out after eleven. Thor took off to the motels in the smaller rental car while Odin and Zeus and I waited on the street near the Piggly Wiggly.

Splitting us up into teams of three and one made little sense.

When the last car was gone, we stole around to the delivery entrance. Odin went to work on the locks. Zeus leaned up against the building in the shadows, keeping watch.

I leaned next to him. “What’s up with you and Odin?” I asked him. “Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have him help canvass motels?”

He glanced at Odin, who was crouched in front of the door, hard at work. “I want him with us.”

“Why?”

“He’s just, you know, not sleeping.”

“You think he isn’t making good decisions?”

“His decisions so far have been good,” Zeus said.

“You think that could change?”

“You have a calming influence on him. When you touch him, his pulse actually lowers. Have you ever noticed?”

I shook my head. But I understood now. He wanted me to be with Odin to calm him, but for him to be with him if he did really go dark.

“I’m not going to lie to you, goddess—this really is a careful crime. It’s a strong, well-planned crime without a lot of hope of physical evidence. He was right about that.”

“Are you preparing me for failure?” I asked.

“We’re not giving up. But sometimes the bad guys win. Right now, it looks like the bad guys might win. We’ve seen it before, and we handle it, but Odin’s in some kind of trauma network. Did you see his face when you recognized Hank’s voice?”

“No.”

“I did. Look at Hank. A despicable man with a lot of power over other people. A bad man getting away with hurting others. Who does that remind you from Odin’s life?”

“Oh,” I said. I didn’t need to say it out loud. Mahfoud the Sadist. The man who ran the prison Odin was kept in. The place his nightmares came from.

“So let’s just keep Odin close. I don’t need him paying a visit to Hank Vernon. It won’t be good for Hank, but it’s Odin I’m worried about.”

I nodded.

“It’ll be hard from here,” he added.

“If we have a little more evidence, I bet we’ll be able to make Nancy tell.”

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