Page 19 of The Rut in the Road

“Before that,” I said softly. “The driver was waiting for a sign from God. But the important part—he thought about a Preacher Dale.” I met Maza’s brown gaze. “Just like the driver of that other one.”

His jaw set. “Are you telling me this is adifferentdriver?” he asked.

I bit my lip, nodding.

“You’resure?” He held up his hands when Ward drew in a breath. “I’m not questioning your skill, mind you. But I need you to confirm that you’re certain, or I need you to tell me how sure you are. Percentage-wise.”

“I’m sure,” I told him. “A hundred percent. Well. Ninety-nine. Thoughts are like fingerprints or faces. They’re distinct from person to person.” I shrugged. “There have been a few studies on twins and siblings that suggest their thought patters are similar and could be confused. Or if you have someone with pluralism or Dissociative Identity Disorder or another condition that causes significant personality shifts, it could be confusing to read their thoughts as being from the same person, but for the most part, it’s pretty clear.” I’d done some research into this for my Arc-Humans and the Mind class, which asked us to pick one ability and do an extended research project on how it worked. I’d taken advantage of this to study my own abilities.

“Huh,” came Maza’s response. “The more you know.” He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his short hair. “But you’re telling me there’s more than one asshole out there thinking about some Preacher Dale who is picking off Nids with their car?”

I nodded.

“Fuck.”

I nodded again. “He also thought about someone named Jerry, in a way that…” I trailed off, thinking. “Maybe Jerry was the first driver? He thought about how Jerry was right about the thrill.”

Maza ran his hand over his face. “Ugh.” I agreed with him.

“Do you want me to call Hart?” Ward asked him.

Maza sighed again. “No, I owe the grumpy bastard a beer, anyway.” He nodded to me. “Thanks, Rayn. It might even make my life easier—if we’re looking at an organized group targeting Nids, I can probably foist this off on Hart and the feds, instead of having to deal with it with no budget and even less enthusiasm from the brass.” He flashed me a weak smile. “I can’t say I’m going to complain, given how overworked I already am.” He gave me a nod. “Seriously, thanks.”

I nodded back. “Of course.”

“Good luck, Dan,” Ward put in. “And let Hart know we’re here if he needs us.”

Maza smirked. “Oh, he’s aware.” He glanced between Ward and I. “And I have the feeling you’ll be hearing from him. Both of you, most likely.” He nodded again, a farewell. “Have a good one, gents.”

Ward sucked in a long breath after Maza left, and I waited, knowing this was his way of gearing himself up to say something.

“This one isn’t going to be open-and-shut,” he said, his voice serious.

He was probably right, but I didn’t really have the experience to say so, so I just waited.

“It’s going to get ugly, too, given the… views of the drivers of these cars.”

I nodded, then wondered if this was the sort of thing Violette would be interested in working on, once she became a lawyer. If she’d be interested in working on it now.

“Ward?”

“Yeah, Rayn?”

“My sister—she wants to become an Arc-Arcanid advocate. Go to law school.” I swallowed. “If I end up having to work on this case?—”

“Does she want to take over your front desk duties?” he finished for me, a half-smile curving his lips.

“I mean, I don’t know if she would or not, but it might let her see what we do. What that kind of work would look like. In a way that…”

“Would let you spend time with her?”

“Would be safer. Than it might be otherwise,” I countered.

Ward let out a half-hum that was his thinking noise. Mason did it, too. I wondered which one of them had picked it up from the other.

“It would be, in comparison to her going out on her own,” Ward replied, the words slow as he thought about it. “But that kind of work just… isn’t safe.”

I nodded. “I know.” I knew that better than most people. “But she’d be here, where there are people who would look out for her, and could learn about her magic. And?—”