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"He did But that was during a tihtcliff Not theto suffocate if it didn’t h But it made life in these enclosed spaces a bit easier to cope with, so we all used to turn a blind eye Grillo, on the other hand …"

The rum burned pleasantly in Russell’s throat and warh where this conversation was going, and he didn’t think there was enough ruain "Go on, say it"

"Grillo didn’t get the memo Or," Alex said somberly, "more likely he did and tore it up His doctrine doesn’t see else, for that h fortitude to return to the couch He plopped doith a sigh and put his feet up on the coffee table He clasped his hands behind his head and stared at Alex for a long h theto do when sober, and all but iave up, spread his hands, and said, "How long until we run out?"

"A uess Of course we’ll still have cider from the farms"

Russell wrinkled his nose "That shit is vile Does the job though, I guess"

"Unfortunately," Alex said, "most of the farms with apple crops are still with Tania Shar it in the other" He leaned forward and rubbed his te he could think clearly "So are you telling ed "Rein hiive hi a leash, Russell If he turns on us--"

"Goddamn, is this what I’ve become?"

The comment stopped Alex short He looked at Russell with confusion

"Did you and Neil Platz used to sit here and talk about me like this?"

"Well …"

"I’ve become Neil Platz, haven’t I? Deposed the fucker just so I could deal with the sa else, but the ruured this would be the best bloody job in the world Top dog, all that shit Instead it’s one long series of headaches"

Alex let the rant fade before he spoke "I really don’t understand you"

"Huh?"

"I mean, deep down …" Alex paused He shifted in his seat, leaned forward "Deep dohat do you actually want? No, I’ot rid of Neil, disbanded the council We had everything, and then out of nowhere you gave half of it to a zealot slunored hi, despite the fact that you continue to insist on being involved in every little decision It’s like you climbed Everest and all you could think to say was, ‘Er, bit cold, isn’t it?’ "

"Bad analogy Io but down"

Alex spread his hands wide "Isn’t that the truth? You’re at the pinnacle of hureeable Both, more often than not I mean, what did you hope would happen e started this endeavor?"

Where’s this "we" shit co from all of a sudden? You were laid up with a broken collarbone the entire tiain A sudden melancholy fell over him like a blanket He took a deep breath, then went to sip his rulass on the wet bar He clenched his fist instead "What I wanted was to tie everything together, you know? Darwin and orbit in one cohesive whole, instead of the constant pissing match and forced friendship Both sides reliant on each other and yet reluctant to share, it seemed like a recipe for disaster"

"And you had that," Alex said, "but you broke it apart again when you gave Darwin to Grillo I don’t understand"

Russell shook his head "No It broke apart before that We were close, but then Tania had to go and take all the brightest er off to South Aoing to twist in your gut until the bitter end, isn’t it? Tania"

"Yeah Problem?"

Alex sank back in his seat He closed his eyes for a few seconds, either deep in thought or profoundly tired Probably both Russell waited He looked at his hand again for the liquid confidence, saas still e up to fetch it Given Alex’s mood, he decided it could wait

The ain and he met Russell’s eyes "You’re a hunter, Blackfield"

"Eh?"

"A hunter Not an adht for will never make you happy because you need prey"

"What the fuck are you on about? Are youyou what I see"

"Fascinating, Doctor Warthen"

"You had drive and aainst Before that I’ to take Arthur Braithwaite’s job in Nightcliff"

"That guy was a spineless fop"

"No argument there," Alex said "Point is, you need an eneh Russell’s state of intoxication He could almost taste the truth in them, and it tasted like salty chips He sith so as he could relass of water

Russell Blackfield hated a lot of things, but near the top of the list was being predictable Being solved For all his adult life the only proe course hen soe of the future was a powerful thing, and while so that what happened today would happen tomorrow, rinse and bloody repeat, others wielded that information like a weapon They’d be one step ahead, always Russell’s own rand ht her to be some kind of psychic, a mystical witch of a woman Try to take money from her purse only to find a h the pulsing pain of fingers nearly broken "Piss off, get a job and h the backafter a night of drinking and vandalis ed to collapse The fall to the floor hurt like hell, but worse was the fact that she’d fucking known

Her lessons were supposed to teach hi citizen It even worked, for a while But then he realized that if he stole hts, instead of every Friday, no trap would be set If he cah the front door, an hour earlier than usual, she’d miss him The new tactic worked so well that Russell decided to have the letters VTP tattooed on his right forearm Initials of some fallen friend, most people assumed They stood for "Vary The Pattern"

Alex Warthen went on "You’re a mess lately, and I think it’s because you’re torn between sos’ while what you really want to do is bring the runaways back into the fold You’re unable to focus And on top of that is the knowledge that you handed Darwin to so a da you say this shit because I’ht?"