"Honey, could you please not do that when I'm loading a shotgun," I said.
She ignored me, putting her hand to the back of my forehead like she had earlier in the day. Then she scowled and told me to stick out my tongue. I did, and the scowl stayed put, so I put my tongue back in place.
"How are you feeling?" she demanded.
"You mean aside from having been kicked in the face and taken a lungful of pepper gas?"
"Yeah."
"A lot better," I said, and then I realized why she was asking.
Bridgett set the Benelli against the wall and got out of her chair, storming down the hall like she was intent on doing someone harm. I went after her, found that she was in the mess of our kitchen, standing in front of the open refrigerator, with both Chester and Corry looking on.
"Show me what you ate last night," Bridgett demanded.
"I made oatmeal," I said.
"Anything I should know about?" Corry asked.
"What did you drink?" Bridgett asked. "Did you make coffee? Tea? Did you have a beer? Any juice?"
My stomach suddenly felt as it had that morning. "Orange juice. I finished off the pitcher last night, made more this morning."
Without comment, Bridgett took the pitcher and dumped the remaining juice out in the sink. Then she took the open half-gallon of milk and dumped that out, too.
"I didn't have the milk," I pointed out, too late.
"Yeah, but there was no way she could know you wouldn't, was there?" Bridgett snapped the faucet on so hard I thought she might break the fixture from the wall, running the water until no drop of milk or juice remained.
"It's okay," I said.
"It is not okay, all right?" She swung around and looked at me, and for a moment there was naked hurt on her face. "For fuck's sake, Atticus, that bitch broke in here and poisoned your fucking food."
A quick survey confirmed that no one had taken food or drink in the apartment since their arrival, simply because that had been the last thing on their minds. Bridgett noisily cleaned out the refrigerator and then announced she was going to do some shopping. Chester, who had stayed in the kitchen, watching Corry work, volunteered to go with her.
"No way," Moore told her. "You're not leaving this apartment."
I thought she'd get shrill again; instead, she got quiet, and that made her frustration all the more evident. "I'm not in any danger, and I'm not doing any good here. I'm just being bloody useless and getting in the way."
"You're Lady Antonia's friend, and that makes you a target, Fi. You're staying put."
"You are not my employer, Mr. Moore."
"What Her Ladyship hired me to do extends to you. You're staying here."
"For how long?"
"For as long as it takes."
The two stared at one another for a couple seconds longer, and then Chester turned and slammed out of the kitchen.
"Maybe you should let her…" Corry started to say.
"I'm not going to lose both of them!" Moore snapped.
"You know what, I'll go alone," Bridgett decided. "I should be back in twenty minutes."
I locked the door after her, then stuck my head into the bedroom, where Dale and Natalie were working with the sweep equipment. "Almost done?"
"Almost," Dale said.
"Soon as you're finished, we need to talk about Chester."
On the monitor in Natalie's hand I could see the LCD readout cycling through frequencies in search of a signal that would indicate we were being bugged. She looked up from the screen to me, and her expression told me she knew not only what it was about Chester I wanted to say, but what conclusion I'd reached. Which meant she'd reached it, too, and therefore it wasn't just the bruising on her face making her appear so pissed off.
"When we're done," she said.
"Take your time," I said, and went back to the living room to load more guns.
"I know what you're thinking, Atticus," Natalie said. "Chester is a valid target, yes, she needs protection, yes, and that means she's got to be locked down until this is over. But I'm not the person for it."
"You're the only person for it," I said. "If we go mobile we'll need Dale behind the wheel of one of the vehicles, and Corry will have to man the gear."
Natalie pointed at Moore, who was leaning back in his chair with his hands folded across his chest. "Chester is his principal by proxy. He should do it."
"Like bloody hell," Moore said. "She's my secondary principal, if we're going to be picky, and if there's a prayer of retrieving my primary, then I'm on that action. It's got to be you or Atticus. Since Drama has already fingered Atticus as a player, it's you."
Natalie pivoted to face him, using both hands to indicate her bruised face. "I think this qualifies as a fingering, don't you?"
"Well, maybe as The Finger."
"Asshole!"
Moore nodded placidly. Natalie turned back to me, eyes blazing.
"You're the best one for the job," I said. "Even if it wasn't a question of vehicles and electronics, you'd still draw the straw, Nat."
"That's crap."
From the couch, Dale said softly, "Neither Corry nor I are as good at the close protection as you or Atticus."
That gave her pause. She ran a hand through her hair, then seemed to remember it had been cut, and scowled. Then she said, "Well, I'm not going to be the one to explain it to her."
We all looked at Moore, who said, "I'll do it, but after dinner. We've had one case of poisoning here already, no need to push our luck."
The meal helped ease the tension somewhat, and after that, Moore took Chester aside and spoke quietly to her, explaining she would be staying at the apartment with Natalie until we had a definite resolution to the situation. The two of them spoke for a long time.
I made up the bed in the office and told Corry he should take it. No one had even broached the subject of heading to their own home for the night; we all expected the call to come during the darkness, and no one wanted to be out of the loop. Additionally, there was safety in numbers.
"I called Esme," Corry said as he helped me make the bed. "She's taken Eddie to my mother's in the Bronx."
"Dale might want to call Ethan."
"He did at the office. Ethan said he wasn't going anywhere until Dale came home. They had a fight."
"I didn't know."
"Natalie told me about it while we were unloading the van." He plumped up the pillow, then dropped it on the bed. "This'll do me just fine."
"As long as you're comfortable."
"Speaking of, how's the briefs? The elastic loose?"
"Surprisingly snug, actually. Get some sleep."
"You, too."
I left him alone, shutting the door after me. Bridgett was already at the kitchen table with Moore, and she informed me that everyone else was down for their naps. We stayed in the kitchen, by the phone, and tried to keep from getting too much on one another's nerves, and it was a challenge because all of us were caught between a tension that wouldn't let us consider relaxing and the boredom that sets in when all you can do is wait. I made coffee and Bridgett made tea, and for a while Moore seemed unable to decide which he wanted more.
"Make up your fucking mind, dammit," Bridgett snapped at him.
He had one cup of each.
A few minutes after ten Bridgett stopped playing with the tin of Altoids she'd emptied hours earlier and said to Moore abruptly, "She's going to want Atticus to make the swap."
Moore, who was field-stripping his Browning for the fourth time, stopped his hands and considered, then went back to reassembling the gun. "Could do, yeah. Been thinking it's what she's got planned."
I put my back to the window, sitting on the sill. The closed blinds rustled against the glass when I bumped against them. "I don't," I said.