Page 57 of Anarchy Missing

“None of this is funny, Lulu. What do you know about blowing up Blue Corp?”

“Did you do it?” I ask.

He rubs a hand over his jaw, looks at me from the corner of his eye. “If I tell you the truth will you stay and not call the police?”

“Depends.”

“Depends on what? You can’t say depends, Lulu. That’s very uncool, OK? We’re here having this amazing bonding moment over secrets and it’s your job to play your part.”

“My part? What are we, ten? We’re in your little backyard treehouse about to be blood brothers? Do I have to spit on my hand before we shake on it?”

“That is usually how it’s done when you’re ten,” he sneers. “But no, we’re grownups now, so I was thinking we’d just fuck afterward.” He shrugs again. “You know, to seal the deal.”

“God,” I say. “You’re so stupid.”

We both laugh.

“Seriously, Lulu,” he says with a sigh, lowering the hand holding my phone. “Bad things are happening and I need to trust you. But I can’t if your first reaction is to go running to the police. Or your stupid boss. I can’t believe you work for Randy Shits.”

“It’s Shultz,” I say. But RandyShits is almost as funny as DickCage. “And it’s not my fault you’re mixed up in all this illegal shit. I’m a goddamned lawyer, Case. I represent Cathedral City in court. It’s my job to follow the law.”

“Exactly,” he says, tossing me my phone back. Which I catch—one-handed, I might add. “You,” he says, pointing at me, “represent the city. And the city needs help, Lulu. That’s why you need to trust me.”

“That makes no sense. You and your friends are the ones messing it all up.”

“No,” he says. “You’ve got it all backwards. Lincoln has been doing his best to rid the city of bad people for a long time now. Thomas took over Blue Corp and kept things going after all that shit went down in the spire. And I—” He stops. Like he’s not sure where he fits in. “I’m the one the city talks to at night. I’m the one it’s counting on this time.”

Holy shit.

He really is fucking crazy.