Drawing Dead (44 page)

“I know what makes people act stupid,” Tiger said. “No joke. There's one sure way.”

“I know! I know!” Princess thundered, raising his hand like a geeky kid in a classroom.

Tiger put her hands on her hips. “You tell them, honey. Tell them what I taught you.”

“Love!” Princess said, his voice jumping up a register. “If you're in love, you don't think about nothing else, right? Right?”

“Yes, baby,” Tiger said. “But Wanda—”

“Wait!” Cross cut her off. “Rhino, on that tablet you cracked, it was there all the time. We just didn't pay enough attention to it. We were all sure Wanda knew me…and wanted me dead. But what we forgot was that she knew Tracker was
with
me when we hit that house.”

“What difference—?”

“Rhino, stop looking for her. It's not going to happen; she's not going anywhere close to that back channel again. But there's something on that tablet.
Maybe
something. If it's there, it's time for voodoo.”

“What in the name of Sappho are you taking about?”

“I had to do something once, Tiger—it doesn't matter what—but I learned something I thought I'd never have a use for. All voodoo has the same root….Maybe that's why they
use
roots; I've heard Sharyn talk about them a few times. For healing or for hurting…”

“That's just a Gypsy hustle,” Tiger said. “For all we know, they passed it along to people on one of those islands a couple of hundred years ago.”

“The
root,
” Cross continued as if Tiger hadn't spoken, “the root of all voodoo is that the dead can walk.”

Sweetie made a noise nobody could interpret. Even Princess—he'd never heard it before.

“Rhino,
scour
that thing. Somewhere in there, we could find his special e-mail, the one he made just for her.”

“Thalidomide Man?” Tiger said, trying to keep the skepticism from her voice and not quite succeeding. “You going to make
him
walk?”

“Not me,” Cross replied. “I couldn't do it. I couldn't…feel him enough to even try. But Rhino…”

“IS HE
okay?” Princess asked anxiously.

Cross and Tiger looked over to where Rhino had been sitting on the floor, filling the entire corner with his enormous bulk, the custom-sized laptop resting on the thighs of his gray jumpsuit. The huge man's eyes were closed, and his breathing came in a measured cadence. He had not moved for almost three hours.

“He's fine, baby,” Tiger assured Princess. “He's trying to solve a problem in his head, that's all.”

“But he hasn't even—”

“Princess, you know Rhino would never leave you. He found you, he brought you back…right?”

“Sí,”
said the child who had been turned into a cage fighter by narco-guerrillas and given to their boss as a special prize, unconsciously lapsing into the first language he'd learned.

“So…?”

“What if he's…getting hurt? I wouldn't let anyone—”

“Sweetheart, Rhino knows that. We all know that. There's nothing you can do, not now.”

“Later?”

“Maybe,” the Amazon said, very gently. “We won't know until he comes back from…from wherever he's gone to. But you have to stop fussing, okay? If Rhino thought
you
were in trouble, what would he do?”

“He'd never let anyone—”

“See?” Tiger said, softly. “If you get too anxious, you could make him stop before he gets where he needs to go. Look at Sweetie. He's getting all restless, just like you are. But he's getting that way
because
of you. He feels what's inside you. He wants to protect you, but he doesn't know how. That's not fair, is it? To make your dog all upset just because he loves you?”

Princess never hesitated. He pulled the Akita to him, patted his head, stroked his fur. “Easy, Sweetie. Nothing's going to happen to me. I know you want to help, but I'm fine. Okay?”

The dog settled at Princess's feet, thoughtfully nibbling at the wide strip of dried pork the huge child dropped.

If Rhino had been watching, the parallel would not have escaped him. He had never been called by the name on his birth certificate—he never would be. His search was painful. Deliberately putting himself in a state of near–suspended animation, traveling back to when his life was at the bottom of a deep lake. Always looking up, never seeing light. Going back to a time when he was sustained only by a faith that light would appear. A faith he could not have explained; a faith no religion could have produced.

He was back to when that dot of light had first proved true…whispered words in the ear of an always medicated monster kept chained to a wheelchair, whispered by a prison-hardened youth whose own name had come from what others had been saying about him for years:
That guy over there, the one you just said don't look like much? Trust me on this, bro—that is one kid you do not want to cross.

And then he felt about in the darkness until he found that thread that connected him to Thalidomide Man—an accident of nature the world would never acknowledge.

But, just as Rhino's IQ had been grossly underestimated by his captors, Thalidomide Man had a mind that was far more powerful than his body—a mind unknown to those who kept him in the most luxurious of surroundings but allowed him no human contact.

“I can do it,” the giant said, opening his eyes. “At least I think I can. And I've got to try. I owe it to—”

“No,” Tiger said, stopping him. “You didn't do anything to him. Or to her. How they connected, we'll never know. Or even what Wanda must have gone through to…get like she is. He's gone. And she can't go where he's gone to. All that's left for her is revenge. She blames us for what happened. The whole thing. Either we stop her, or she stops us. I'm…sorry for…for both of them, I guess. But
we're
your people, not them.”

“Yes,” Rhino said, nodding his head as if reinforcing her words.

“Sweetie was worried,” Princess said.

“Wanda doesn't even know about—”

“He was worried about
you,
” the armor-muscled man said, sneaking a glance at Cross.

“I understand,” Rhino said. “Tiger, is there a place to take a shower here? I want to get on this, but I need—”

“Everything you want,” the Amazon assured him.

“RHINO, HE'LL
be fine,” Cross told her, as Princess and Sweetie departed. “Blondie's gone. The G wants Wanda gone, too. I don't think Percy could find her, but Ace isn't so sure of that—he says the guy's full-bore crazy. And not squeamish about wasting anyone that gets in his way.

“One thing we all know, both sides: Percy isn't going to stop, and Wanda knows that. Knows it
now,
for damn sure.”

“BEFORE YOU
try, can I tell you something, brother?”

Rhino gave Cross a quizzical look, the
When did you ever need to ask permission?
unspoken but clearly transmitted.

“I don't know what people believe. Or even why they do. I don't know how those two connected, and it doesn't matter anymore. But let's say Wanda knew what Thalidomide Man did—maybe she was even part of it. If she thinks there's any kind of…hereafter, or whatever…that's the key. There's only one way she can be sure to be with him in the same place. She wouldn't be looking for a hiding place—she'd be looking for a Suicide Bridge. One they can jump off together, holding hands.”

“I understand,” Rhino said.

Without another word, he started attacking the keyboard.

An hour later, he looked up. “I've put the packets everywhere I can think of. But it has to work twice over. Wanda has to believe he's been looking for her. And that it's actually him that's looking. If she makes contact, even if its only to ask questions–just making sure it's not a trap—this thing will start beeping and flashing. Just like his would, if he was still here.”