Let the Devil Out (Maureen Coughlin #4)(5)

“Fine, you’re right,” Maureen said. “But you know as well as I do that Madison killed two men.”

“Allegedly.”

“You’re her attorney now?” Maureen said.

“Those two men followed her to New Orleans,” Dice said, her voice heating up, “and hunted her when they got here. All Madison wanted was to get away from them and the rest of their stupid group of fake soldiers. What did they call themselves?” She made air quotes again. “The Watchmen Brigade.” She made a show of rolling her eyes. “Whatever. Those two men who died, you and I both know they had it coming. The world is better off without them. Don’t even tell me you don’t believe that.”

“We don’t get to make those decisions.”

“There you go again,” Dice said, “spouting shit that you don’t believe.” She moved a step closer. “Think of it this way, then. If Madison is the killer you seem to think she is, look at what she did to those Watchmen. She cut both of their throats. You think it’s best being out here alone after dark chasing after her when she’s this crazy murderer?”

Maureen scratched at her scalp. Why had she not gone home hours ago? She’d forgotten what a pain in the ass Dice could be, like a gremlin you couldn’t quite grab. And how smart she was. “Can you even tell me if she’s stayed in town?”

“I could,” Dice said, smiling, “but I won’t.” She paused. “Maybe.”

“Look who’s playing games now,” Maureen said. “What does that even mean?” She reached for her wallet. “You know what.” She pulled out a ten, handed it to Dice. “This is why you followed me. Because you need f*cking money. The rest of this is playing games to make yourself feel better about begging from me.”

Dice shook her head. She didn’t take the money. Her face had darkened. The games were over. “You should stop looking for her.”

“And why is that?”

“People are starting to talk about you.”

“Like I give a f*ck about that,” Maureen said.

Dice picked at a thread on her glove, considering, Maureen could tell, what to say next, how much of a chance to take. Dice said, “You’re not the only one looking for her, either. Someone else has been coming around asking questions.”

“Who?”

“It’s not important,” Dice said, “and I don’t know who he is or who he’s with, I haven’t talked to anyone in person about her myself, I’m only telling you what I’m hearing. Now, the other street kids, they’re starting to talk. They want to know who this Madison Leary person is that the cops are looking for, that other people are looking for. None of this attention is doing anybody any good. There’s a mess about to be made.”

“Tell me who this guy is,” Maureen said. “Tell me what he looks like. I can help back him off. Trust me on that. Is he with the militia, too?”

She waited. Dice said nothing.

“Can you tell me if he’s law enforcement, then?” Maureen asked. “Can you tell me that much?”

“No,” Dice said. “I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

Dice sighed. “This conversation is having the opposite effect I wanted it to.”

“Is it the Watchmen again?” Maureen asked. “Is that who’s looking for her? She stole from them. She knows things about them law enforcement can use against them. They’re going to keep coming after her. These guys, Dice, you laugh at them, but they’re fanatics and they’re armed to the teeth. Completely psycho. They shot my house to shit in broad daylight. I have bullet holes in my headboard.”

“You’re bragging,” Dice said, giving Maureen a wry smile.

“These guys think of themselves as an invading army,” Maureen said. “They’re moving crates of guns into the city.”

“Tell me more about your headboard.”

“Spare me the flirty bullshit,” Maureen said. “They’ll kill you without a second thought.”

“You should leave her be,” Dice said. “Leave Madison alone.”

“So she’s in town,” Maureen said. “If she wasn’t here you wouldn’t tell me to leave her alone.”

“She only did what any woman would’ve done,” Dice said. “What you would’ve done, what I would’ve done. She was just defending herself. As is her right as an American. She was standing her ground.”

“If you’ve got nothing useful to tell me,” Maureen said, “why’d you even come find me tonight?”

“Word’s around that you’re looking,” Dice said. “It’s in the streets. I heard people talking and I knew it was you. I don’t think they’ve figured you out for a cop, but that’s coming. And if they don’t figure you for a cop, they might figure there’s something valuable in protecting her in a more emphatic way than just saying they don’t know her, since she’s so interesting. So what I came to tell you is that you should stop looking.”

“Is that a threat?” Maureen asked, laughter in her voice. “Who are you delivering messages for? Who’s got you making threats for them? How well do the Watchmen pay?”