Page 74 of Sinful Crimes for the Artistically Inclined
Percy shifted in his seat, muttering, “Some people might think that’s not a very nice thing to say.”
“Okay,” Althea attempted, “what is a Spear of Destiny, what does she want with him, and what have I got to do with any of this?”
“You have nothing to do with any of this, I think,” Joe said. “The Spear of Destiny, along with its scabbard, which you stole for us tonight, are religious artefacts that hold enormous power. If she can get both pieces together, then… then things could get very bad. It’s obvious to me she’s just using Percy to get to them?—”
“How is that obvious?” Percy shouted.
“And she’s feeding something,” Joe continued, unheeding. “Something dark, with your blood. You’re just collateral, like the other girls. Whatever she’s planning…” A silence fell over the car, as much as it can when driving fast on a bumpy road with a smashed back window. Percy and Althea watched and waited for Joe’s final thought, which was, “Well, this just went from fine to fucked in thirty seconds flat.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ROAD STOP
They eventually surfaced from a web of skinny, dusty roads with no one tailing them, and found a bright white shopping mall just ahead. Percy was so pleased with Althea’s directions, he strongly considered offering her the first of a series of increasingly complex, illegal, and well-paying jobs that would benefit them both while allowing him to keep a close eye on her for the foreseeable future. Then he considered the likelihood that Joe would reach forward and strangle him if he did so. With that image in mind, he opened his mouth to make the offer, but was thwarted by Joe’s sudden and ridiculous notion they should be sealing the back window somehow, washing the car, maybe even renting a new one.
Percy pulled up and climbed out without a word, and led them, Joe still reasoning, into the supermarket. He told Althea, “Joe’s going to watch the back entrance while you get whatever you want. I’ll watch the front entrance. Find him after you’ve paid and we’ll all leave this way together. If there’s any trouble, go straight to Joe. Got it?”
Althea nodded, then, as Joe walked to his station,asked confidentially, “Want me to get something for the broken window?”
Percy was quite satisfied she had asked him and not Joe. “Thank you, no. But get me some interesting chips.”
“Crisps?”
“You know what I mean. Nothing boring. And I want you to do something extra. I can’t be dealing with changing that money over and it’s all the dinars we have left. I want you to spend as much of that money as you can in five minutes.”
Althea’s eyes lit. “Seriously?”
“Five minutes.” He flashed his watch for emphasis. “Run.” And she was gone.
Percy fired up a much-needed cigarette and took a seat on the stairs outside the shop. He stretched his long legs out, leaned back, and with a deep breath, let the smoke wind its way blissfully to the deepest recesses of his lungs. He shut his eyes to enjoy the sensation in full, breathed out slowly, then cast a glance backwards to confirm Althea and Joe were where they needed to be.
His eyes lingered on Joe, looking perfectly awkward, perfectly out of place, pretending to be looking at some batteries. He shoved his hands into his pockets in an attempt to at least do something with them, then with a flash of shock at himself, wrenched them back out again, worried, Percy conjectured, about being suspected of shoplifting, given how long and strangely he stood in the same place. He folded and unfolded his arms, then picked up a packet and pretended to read the back very carefully. He must have felt Percy’s eyes on him, because his gaze shifted across shyly. He smiled, perfectly rosy, perfectly bashful.
Beautiful Joe. Percy locked away the memory, sent him a wink, and turned back to the almost-empty parking lot.
He probably should have ended it already. If he had, Joewould most likely be at home right now, asleep in his beautiful, warm stone cottage. Safe.
But also alone. And heartbroken. And Percy would be heartbroken, too.
But then at least Joe, maybe, wouldn’t end up dead in the next few days.
Percy blew out a bitter puff of smoke. Who was he kidding? Joe’s little village was no safer than life on the road with Percy. It was a strange sort of paranormal hotspot, and Percy wondered, not for the first time, if that was exactly why Joe had chosen to settle there. It was in his soul to do some kind of good, and sticking dry wafers in people’s mouths every weekend was unlikely to cut it.
No, he and Joe, the both of them, he decided, were on a collision course with death no matter what they did. Why shouldn’t they face it together? All he had to do was keep Joe safe for as long as possible, until he himself died at least, not be a prick if he could help it, and perhaps he could offer Joe a better life, for a time, than he might otherwise have had.
Yet the hopeful reflection did nothing to ease his guilt.
He could be more awful still… Really let Joe see who he was deep down. Then Joe would break up with him, and he wouldn’t have this hideous self-reproach hanging over him—only the crushing disappointment. After all, it was only a matter of time until the cracks would start to show in the charming facade Percy was so determined to display.
But no. That wouldn’t do either. Not for Joe.
Evidently, he was going to feel guilty no matter what he did.
Percy’s sharp eyes were drawn with lightning speed to the car. The back seat. He was standing now, his hand on his gun, his unflinching gaze locked on. There had been something—some kind of movement. He listened carefully. Near-complete silence except for his own crunching footsteps as heapproached, his suddenly unsteady breath, a few distant cars. He smelled the air. Nothing. No perfume or gasoline or cigarettes other than his own, an expensive blend he’d had made especially and would recognise anywhere.
Yet he had seen something. He was sure of it. The slightest pale flash atop the back seat.
Percy rounded the car, distantly. He made one full circle to the front, then dropped to his knees. Nothing underneath. He checked his surroundings again, then approached the back passenger door, peering into the car.
