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The ed, and Peri took the hot chocolate to the atch the dark street for Taf, currently out getting Howard a circuit Silas had agreed to help Peri get her talis back what had happened at Global Genetics, but there was a reluctance in hi her confidence--and it was beginning to get on her nerves
It ht be that Opti car at her apart before Opti could react ht be an issue, but the five thousand under the silverware caddy meant she had more resources and didn’t have to rely on Silas any her drink as Silas juer away fro
"Taf is back," she said, and Howard looked up, brightening
"Good I could use her little fingers," he said, but Peri didn’t think it was just her hands he was glad to see Thinking their past ht, Peri shifted the blind to keep the young wo cars, she was the picture of privilege, a blond goddess with that swagger of hers and a little bag dangling froht in with the other Motown shoppers Letting the blind fall, Peri listened to the guys downstairs flirt with her, and then the creaking of her steps on the stairs There was no way up theht-eyed and cheerful, Taf strode in, looking sharp in her "rescue attire" Peri rubbed ruefully at her new jeans They’d gone shopping thiswhat Allen had said about the ease of finding her, she’d left everything she liked on the rack The faded fabric and sweater felt untidy, but since "not her" had been her goal, it would do
"I think I got what you wanted, Howie," Taf said as she shoved Silas farther down the table and upended the bag "Ss are expensive They were going to charge me full price until I poured on the southern charm That and I paid cash This town loves its cash"
Yes, it does, Peri thought, hotin hand as she sat at the kitchen table before the half-knitted scarf she’d found tucked a the throw cushions
"That’s it Thanks," Howard said as he ripped the plastic off, and pleased, Taf took her coat off and slipped in where Silas had been Seeing her ponytail inches from his dreadlocks made Peri smile They were so unlike, but they co, Silas stood, looking massive next to Taf’s petite bounciness Clearly the odd man out, he went to the dusty shelves to eye the titles of the books and movies
"Howard and I will swing by your apartht to see if Opti is still there," Silas said as he pushed the button on the SS Enterpriseand prosper
Peri’s brow furrowed She didn’t like hi anywhere," she said as she set her knitting down and joined Silas "Getting inhis hand as the shed "Taf and I can help," he said, glaring at her mirth "Distract them Draw them off"
"And have you end up in an Opti cell?" Peri protested "No We’ll find another way"
Taf snorted as she used a pencil to hold soht I know someone in Detroit with a sweet bike Totally uncatchable"
Howard looked up, blinking "I’ve never driven a bike before"
"And that’s not going to change," Taf said "You sit behind "
Silas frowned "No," Peri said, agreeing with hi to be a distraction Opti kills people," she added Opti kills people I kill people
"What the blazes are we here for, then?" Taf complained
"Extraction" Peri plucked the picture of twelve ten-year-olds in tutus out of Silas’s hand before he picked her out of the group, setting it next to the autographed picture of Putin riding a Photoshopped bear where it belonged "Three g’s, and an r: Get in, get the info, get out, relocate" They weren’t her words, but Jack’s She didn’t rehed "I can do more than drive I can shoot, too All us debutantes learn how to shoot before we get our first push-up bras"
"Extraction is where sos," Howard said, his head low over his work, and Silas snorted
"You’ve got the entire Buffy series on disk?" he said, and Peri flushed, e the that she loved the people on the covers was undeniable, though
"Oh, cool Let’s watch a few tonight," Taf said, looking at the dusty Blu-ray player under the obsolete gen-one glass ht after we sneak into Peri’s apartuys, and save the world," Silas grumped as he fiddled with the biker’s cap on her Goth American Girl doll "Maybe we can stop to pick up popcorn on the way"
"You don’t have to be so snide about it," Peri ht thee frohteen, filled with the things she loved and wanted never to forget It had always felt like a tree clubhouse to her, and Silas was poking about like it was a junk shop