Page 42 (1/2)

"Oh, God," she said It ed--so no, it hadn’t stopped after all--and though a hard southwestern current shoved thehted itself Maria’s stomach dropped back into its usual position, and Henry’s ar so hard

The sky fell quiet, and Maria’s ears popped fro pressure of it all But the thruster was definitely daed, and the road stretched ht

"Do you think," she began It caain--louder this time, and once more near Henry’s ear "Do you think we can stillfrom the thruster, and took a moment to listen to the ominous hiss "I don’t know But we shouldn’t have to make it all the way there, should we? We’re bound to catch up to theht" She nodded

"If not, e set it down beside the road and hunt for a couple of very fast horses"

"You think we’ll get the chance? To land, rather than crash?"

"Oh, yes" He nodded back at her "Absolutely It’s a steering probleht land us in a field, or on top of somebody’s house, but I’ll land us"

"Good to know" She patted his ar to calm herself, with limited success She scowled out across the skyline "Nohere’s the other daible?"

Seventeen

"A plan?" Grant snorted "She’s already planned a thousand years ahead of us She picked a fight, and we reater speed and power than she expects Frankly, she expects so little in the way of return fire that it shouldn’t be that hard to surprise her"

Gideon put his hands to his forehead as if it ached "You’re right," he ad She has orchestrated this, and orchestrated it well--but we’re not so helpless as all that After all, we’ve forced her to i his brain to think of a misstep the woman had made thus far

"The murders," the coloredin the world Maybe it was, but he didn’t need to be so insulting

"Well, yes Those" Grant felt a little silly for not having seen it, but he was still feeling the whole uiltily, for the dead pawns--as she’d called them--had been captured on his behalf, and his fervor was fueled with an acute, painful awareness of it He wrestled with the le "But maybe not: she’s tried to silence and discredit you before"

"She did nothing but inconvenience ht If nothing else, her attempt to shut down my operation in the Jefferson droveof her schereed "She’s smart and ruthless, but she’s been sloppy with the details She’s very dangerous, but we are dangerous too Though we are few in nu a response Hell," he offered a rare curse, "we’ve done so already, as individuals Banded together, we ht successfully undo her"

"She’s only one woman, after all," Nelson Wellers noted

But Gideon Bardsley shook his head "She must have an are so s at once? And you don’t believe for a second that she killed those people herself, do you?"

"No, of course not But where would she get such an arhed "Fowler could coht from the Union’s forces Or soents who follow me about unless I threaten to shoot them"

But Lincoln didn’t think so "No, not our men And not the Service, either Not because they’re above such things, but because the evidence ht: mercenaries, hired from elsewhere Men like the Pinkertons, who’ve been accused of si so, Dr Wellers"

"Hard to argue with you," he said graciously "But these aren’t Pinks in her pocket right now; the head man wouldn’t play us opposite one another"

"Then that other firht’ve speculated further, but Polly knocked nervously on the doorjaet their attention Grant was startled to see the windblown girl wringing her hands, her cap and clothing askew and a dead leaf stuck to her hair She appeared on the verge of tears "My dear, whatever is the h voluhout the library