Page 50 of Cease and Desist

Maria shook her head. “I don’t know anything. Only that your grandfather struggled with his secrets. And now those secrets are very dangerous to you. You must be very careful.”

Maria glanced at Hawk. “He will do his best to keep you safe. His best is very good, but there might be…someone who wants what you have. Several people. It will not be easy.” She turned and faced Hawk. “You have the gift,” she said.

He kept his face blank.

“I see you don’t like to talk about it, but it’s there. It’s very strong in you. You need to trust it. Your gift will not fail you. Only you can fail it.”

Hawk stared at her and then checked the window one more time. He turned back to Maria. “You have the token.”

She cocked her head and gave a little shrug.Maybe or maybe not.It seemed to say.

Remy wanted to scream. These two were playing some kind of game that she didn’t understand, and she wanted answers.

“It’s a key,” Hawk said suddenly.

“What? Why do you think that?” Remy demanded.

Hawk was still staring at Maria. Then suddenly he turned and reached above his head to pull something down from a gold beaded string. He held it up for Remy to see. It was an old-fashioned key with a winking skull as the bow of the key.

“Son of a bitch,” she said. “How did you know?”

Maria smiled. “Because he has a gift.” The smile slid off her face. “But now you must go. It’s a very dangerous time. Be very careful and trust no one.” She stood and gripped Remy’s hands with surprising strength, drawing her to her feet. She gave Remy a big hug, her arms tight around Remy’s shoulders. Then she stepped back. “Except him.” She pointed to Hawk. “You can trust him.”

Hawk had pocketed the key. He nodded to Maria and opened the door. He ushered Remy out and closed it tight behind him. “We need to move,” he said in clipped tones.

“How did you know it was a key?”

“We can’t talk about this now. Now we have to move.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her along the street. He turned right at the end of the block, and they headed south. A couple of blocks later, they were at the 72nd Street subway station.

“We’re going to catch an express train downtown.” Hawk’s gaze skimmed the crowd before he led her down the steps into the station. They scanned their metro cards and then took the escalators down to the tracks. Standing on the platform, waiting for the train, was nerve-racking for Remy. Hawk’s head was on a constant swivel. It was driving her nuts.

Finally, she gave in and asked, “Are you sensing anything?”

He shot her a cold look, and she immediately regretted her words. They’d talked about how hard it was for him when people depended on his talent. She knew it would be difficult for him to be in this situation, and she didn’t want him to be uncomfortable but, shit, her life was on the line, and he was as tense as a bow string. The least he could do was tell her if she was in danger.

“There’s…something.” He didn’t elaborate.

She knew asking him anything else would be pointless. As her belly rolled, she almost regretted asking him in the first place.

The train arrived, and they hopped on with a small group of what looked like college kids. Two of them had backpacks and the third had a scruffy beard and a tattered beanie. He smelled skunky, like pot. Oh, for the carefree days of university when her biggest worry had been what grade she got in the geology class she had to take as her single science credit.

The car was half empty, not surprising since it was midday on a Monday. A few businessmen in suits sat at the other end of the car, and the college kids sat chatting in the middle of the car. Hawk directed her to sit next to the end door. He stood in front of her and held on to the pole.

“Are we—” She stopped when he shot her a look.

Essentially, he was telling her to keep her mouth shut and do as he said. She got the message. Now wasn’t the time. Still, she had so many questions, and questions were good because they kept her from thinking about whatever threat was lurking.

The doors opened at Times Square, and more people got on. The train started moving again. The next stop was 34th Street. It was farther south than they needed to go. They should have gotten off at Times Square. She nudged Hawk’s shoe. He just shook his head slightly.

They stayed on the train until 14th Street where he hustled her off the train and out to the street. “I think we’re being followed.”

“What? How? Who?” She tried to turn around to see who was behind them, but he grabbed her arm and propelled her forward. “Take your phone out of your pocket and give it to me.”

She did what she was told as he kept her walking north. He pulled her into a small deli. “Stand here,” he said and then took her cell phone back out of his pocket. He asked the guy at the counter for a paper clip or a sharp knife.

The guy looked around and came back with a small safety pin. “Will this do?”

Hawk nodded and thanked the man. Then he used the safety pin to pop the sim card out of her phone. He broke the sim card in two and dropped it in the garbage can. He put her phone back in his pocket and pulled out his own, repeating the procedure.

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