“They reached out, looking for help.”
“Who are they?” Sawtooth asked.
“Just regular folk, I think.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Can’t. But that’s what my gut tells me. I have a sense for these things.”
“That’s all fine and well, Destiny, but your gut has been wrong before.”
Before Destiny could answer Sawtooth, Blender fired a question. “Are they close?”
“I think so. At least relatively.”
“Wow, another nondescript response,” Sawtooth said. “You really don’t know jack, do you?”
Destiny understood their frustration, but it didn’t lessen her desire to be candid. “I wish I knew more, but in truth, they never did answer that question.”
“But you did ask it, right?” Flipside asked.
“I did. They’re probably just being careful.”
“I hope you didn’t tell them where we are,” Blender said.
“No, of course not. I’m not an idiot.”
“Did they ignore the question or straight up refuse?” Sawtooth asked.
Destiny knew her job just got harder. “No, at first the radio signal just went dead. Then, when they came back on air, we talked about other things.”
“So that means you really don’t know,” Blender said.
“No, but I plan to. And soon. We have another call scheduled. I’ll see if I can find out.”
“Sounds like a huge red flag to me,” Flipside said. “Are they looking to trade or hoping to buy their way in here?”
“Trade.”
“Do they have what we need?” Blender asked.
“Mostly. Though we still have to be careful.”
Blender shook her head. “Of course. Wouldn’t be the first time we got our hopes up, so to speak.”
“What do they want, exactly?” Flipside asked.
“Nothing much. Some plants, chemicals, and some specific equipment.”
“Like what?”
“Microscope and a centrifuge.”
“Do we have that?”
“No, but they don’t know that.”
“So you’re just going to screw them over?” Sawtooth interjected, his voice sharp. Then his tone turned cynical. “Yeah, that’ll go over well.”
Destiny shook her head, knowing these people were never going to agree to anything. Blender maybe, but the guys, no. It just wasn’t in their DNA to take the lead from a female. Yet she still had to try. “Screw them over might a bit harsh.”
“Well, that’s exactly what you’re planning,” Flipside said.
“Actually, I plan to renegotiate when we meet. Once they’ve traveled and committed to a meet, they will be mentally and emotionally invested. At that point, they won’t want to go home empty-handed. That’s when I plan to smooth it over and adjust the terms a bit. It’ll all work out, trust me.”
Flipside huffed a short laugh. “That’s a big assumption. Especially if they’re not who they say they are. Could be some rogue faction looking to hunt us down. Won’t matter then how you spin it, we’ll all pay the price.”
“Now who’s grasping at straws? Why is it always some rogue group looking to take us out?”
“Because that’s exactly what can happen. You know it as well as I do. We have to be vigilant.”
“But we also have needs. So we have to reach out when it makes sense,” Destiny said. “And I believe this one of those times.”
“Is that based on another one of your gut feelings or do you have something to back up that statement with?” Blender asked.
“Both, I guess. They have women and children they’re worried about, so that would seem to indicate that this isn’t some government kill squad or whatever.”
“Again, that’s just what they told you,” Flipside said.
“And you bought it,” Sawtooth added, his focus trained on Destiny.
“Look, you guys, until there’s a reason not to, then I think we need to go with it. See what’s what. Otherwise, we’ll never find what we need. We’re running out of time and who knows when we might have this chance again? If ever. It’s not like the radio is brimming with chatter from all over the world.”
Flipside nodded, though he didn’t look convinced, his eyes holding a pinched look.
Sawtooth sat there stroking his beard with his lips silent.
“It better be a neutral site, then,” Blender said.
“Of course. That’s what our next call will be about. Logistics and location.”
CHAPTER 23
Krista sat slumped in the chair next to Zimmer’s recovery bed while she prepared her words. She’d already been contemplating them for the past fifteen minutes, debating which topics she was prepared to discuss and those she couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.
Some of them were questions that had to be asked, while others would depend on the responses she received. All of them were important, but some of them she really didn’t want to hear the answer to—specifically the ones involving Zimmer’s apparent gun incident and the demand on Simms.
Zimmer stirred a moment later, his eyelids opening for the first time since he’d had life-saving surgery on his neck. The whites of his eyes showed first, then his pupils rolled into view.
Krista sat up with her back straight and waited until his eyes shed their glassiness and focused on her. “Hey buddy. Welcome back to the land of the living.”
“What happened?” he asked in a groaning mumble that was filled with an abundance of air, his Southern accent still in full effect.
She put a hand on his wrist, squeezing with a gentle touch. “That’s what I want to know.”
“Where am I?”
“Infirmary. Doc just patched you up. It was touch and go there for a while.”
He brought his hand up and ran the tips of his fingers across the bandage on the side of his neck. He tugged at the edge of it, looking as though he wanted to tear it off and poke around underneath.
Krista stopped him, yanking his arm away. “Easy there, cowboy. Don’t want to undo all of Doc’s work. You know how she hates to do things twice.”
He went to sit up, but his elbows didn’t appear to have the strength. He fell back against the pillow. “Did I get shot?”
“No, actually, it wasn’t a bullet. It was a set of teeth.”
“Scabs?”
She wished that were the answer, but she couldn’t lie to him. Nor could she pass along too much information ahead of time, needing to avoid tainting his response. “Not exactly. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Zimmer’s eyes drifted away and peered at the ceiling, looking as though he was on a mission to count the imperfections in the cement. “I was in my office doing paperwork.”
“That’s it?”
He held for a few seconds, then said, “Yeah, that’s what I remember. I was sitting there working on a couple of Needs Lists that had just come in, trying to figure out why certain families refused to get the message about not asking for toys for their kids.”
“And?”