Chapter 16

Part 3

The night sky lightened in preparation for a muggy dawn, and Squeeze’s purple derby created a domed profile as he paced on the dock, waiting for Jaden to tie up the boat. As anxious as Squeeze apparently was for the packages Jaden carried in his wet suit, Jaden was a lot more anxious to get hold of some anti-itch salve and collapse in bed.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of mosquito, yellow fly, and no-see-um bites distended the exposed skin on his arms, legs, and face. The salt water had palliated the itching for a while, but now the water had dried on his skin, adding to his misery.

Jaden hadn’t even set foot on dry land when Squeeze accosted him. “Did you get the stuff?”

“Two words, Squeeze: bug spray.”

“Well?” Squeeze rocked on the balls of his feet.

“It’s not an unrealistic amenity to expect. You could have warned me. Heck, for what I just went through, you could have thrown in a vial or two.” Jaden unzipped his wet suit, revealing the packets Squeeze was so antsy about.

“What’s in these anyway?” Jaden asked as he handed the penultimate packet to Squeeze and withheld the last one for himself. He turned the waterproof white container around in his hand, considering it.

Squeeze snatched it from him. “Stuff.” He quickly slipped it into his pocket. Now that his raggedy tuxedo bulged with packages from the U.Z., his normally oversize suit looked two sizes too small. “So, are you in love with a corpse?”

“I still don’t know,” Jaden said, letting the dealer change the subject. On the street, if someone didn’t want you in their business, you stayed out—and stayed alive. “No leads except that she’s either been fed to the gators or has set sail for some arcane raver paradise.” Jaden scratched his already raw arms some more. “Of course she may have been carried off by mosquitoes.” He sighed. At least he was too tired to worry about the bites keeping him up. “So you’ve got to send me back in. Soon, before something happens to her.”

“Well, you returned alive, which is my most pertinent prerequisite for a runner—”

“I’ve got to know what happened to her,” Jaden said. “Please.”

“You’re wound as tight as a perim guard on Internment Tuesday. You need a little . . . relaxer.” He held out a small envelope. “It’s on the house, for a job well done.”

A rush of sensuous memories washed through Jaden’s brain.

“I can give you a glow-key if you want to party—”

“No.” Jaden seized the envelope and downed the little orange pill. If he couldn’t be with Ally in the U.Z., he’d be with her now. “When am I going back in?”

“Tonight, if you don’t score more Joy between now and then. And get some rest. Where you’re going tonight, you’re going to need it.”